Chapter 7

**Slap**

A resounding slap landed on the black face, cutting off his words. The force was so powerful that it sent him flying, and several of his long teeth rolled to the ground.

"Sorry, my hand just itched," Long Chen said apologetically, looking at the black-faced man who was dazed from the slap, speaking in a polite manner.

The slap echoed throughout the entire Skill Pavilion, reaching every corner. Those who had been frantically flipping through the skills put down their books and looked over in shock.

"Who dares to cause a commotion in the Skill Pavilion?"

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out, and a man in black appeared in the Skill Pavilion, his face stern as he looked at Long Chen and the black-faced man.

The moment he appeared, a surge of blood energy radiated from him, like a mountain pressing down, making it hard to breathe. Long Chen couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.

"A Blood Condensation Realm expert?"

He hadn't expected there to be a Blood Condensation Realm expert hidden here. But then again, this was the Skill Pavilion, a crucial area, so it made sense to have a powerful guardian.

The Skill Pavilion was a no-fighting zone. Engaging in combat here would result in solitary confinement, a rule that no one was unaware of.

"Explain, what exactly happened?" the Blood Condensation Realm expert demanded angrily.

"You should ask him," Long Chen said innocently, shrugging slightly without any fear.

The black-faced man was furious. Clearly, he had been slapped, so why was he being asked? "Sir..."

"Sir,"

At that moment, Zhou Yaoyang, who had been hiding in the distance, hurried over and said to the Blood Condensation Realm expert, "It's like this, Wang Mang suddenly had an unbearable itch on his face and slapped himself. It wasn't a fight, please investigate, sir."

The black-faced man, Wang Mang, looked surprised, wanting to say something, but seeing Li Hao desperately signaling him from a distance, he swallowed his words.

"Are you the son of the Barbarian Marquis?" the man asked Zhou Yaoyang.

"Yes, sir," Zhou Yaoyang quickly replied.

The man nodded, glanced at Wang Mang on the ground, and said, "If your face itches, just scratch it. Your actions made it seem like you were itching for a fight. I don't want to see this happen again. Clean up the mess you left behind."

With that, the man turned and left, leaving everyone in shock. They hadn't expected Zhou Yaoyang to help Long Chen.

"Hehe, did you hear that? You're such a big person, yet you can't control your urges. Clean up your mess,"

Long Chen chuckled, as if he had anticipated this, and turned to walk away, continuing to leisurely browse through the skills.

"Damn it,"

Watching Long Chen's arrogant figure, Wang Mang's eyes blazed with anger. The slap had been humiliating.

"Wang Mang, bear with it. If you accuse Long Chen of hitting you, he will be confined for a month, and he will come out unscathed after a month. But if you swallow this, Li Hao will help you get your revenge tomorrow. So you must bear it," Zhou Yaoyang said.

Wang Mang nodded. He knew about Li Hao's upcoming duel with Long Chen, but he had been used to bullying Long Chen and hadn't thought much about it, just playing around.

But today, he had played too big and received a harsh slap, with no place to vent his frustration, a classic case of swallowing his teeth and keeping them inside.

They quickly picked up the scattered teeth and cleaned the bloodstains. Zhou Yaoyang suddenly said, "Your face isn't too swollen. It seems Long Chen's strength isn't that great, so why did he knock out so many of your teeth?"

The others were also puzzled. Normally, only immense strength could knock out such sturdy teeth.

"Who knows, it's really strange," Wang Mang said, feeling depressed. He didn't know that Long Chen was skilled in alchemy and had a deep understanding of the human body.

The slap had used a precise force to loosen his gums, causing half of his teeth to fall out.

Long Chen's move was very cruel. Teeth were hard to regenerate, unlike other injuries that could be treated with medicine. In the future, Wang Mang would have to eat with only one side of his mouth.

With Wang Mang's lesson, everyone became more cautious and no one dared to provoke Long Chen again.

Long Chen was happy to have some peace and quietly browsed through the books. The skills and techniques here could only be read here and couldn't be taken away.

"Buffalo Strength"

It was a skill. In this world, all skills were divided into three ranks: Heaven, Earth, and Human. All the techniques and skills here were of the lower Human rank, the lowest tier of skills.

However, even the lowest tier skills were extremely valuable. The fact that a Blood Condensation Realm expert was needed to supervise even the noble princes showed how much the Fengming Empire valued skills.

"Although it's a lower Human rank skill, the spirit energy circulation route is simple and straightforward, direct and effective. Very good,"

Long Chen nodded after reading the skill. It was very suitable for him, especially since he was well-versed in the body's meridians and could master it quickly.

He read it again carefully. With his powerful soul strength, his memory was almost photographic.

After memorizing "Buffalo Strength" thoroughly, he put it back and noticed another auxiliary skill—Wind Chasing Steps.

Wind Chasing Steps was a footwork technique that channeled spirit energy through specific meridians to the feet, enhancing speed and explosive power. It was very effective for both long-distance travel and short-range evasion.

"Very good, another practical skill,"

Long Chen smiled and quickly memorized the spirit energy circulation route and the specific activation method.

"Time's up. All princes, put down the manuals. If anyone dares to hide them, they will be executed without mercy!"

The Blood Condensation Realm expert appeared, his cold voice echoing in everyone's ears. Everyone quickly put down the manuals.

Some people shook their heads in regret. The Fengming Empire managed skills very strictly, allowing them only half a day each month to study here.

Many people spent months refining a single skill, but despite their dissatisfaction, no one dared to complain.

Long Chen was slightly surprised by how quickly time had passed. If others knew he had memorized two skills in just over two hours, they would be shocked.

Many records in the skills were obscure and difficult to understand, especially the terms related to spirit energy circulation and meridian pathways, which required simultaneous study and practice to verify.

Leaving the Imperial Academy, Long Chen greeted the others and whispered a few words to Shi Feng.

Shi Feng's face showed surprise at first, but he quickly composed himself, though the shock in his eyes was hard to hide.

Back home, Long Chen saw that the house that had been shattered was already cleaned up, though it was no longer habitable. Fortunately, there were many houses, and they had prepared another room for him.

He first went to his mother's room to check on her. The recent events had made Lady Long very anxious.

Since Long Chen had woken up, he seemed to have changed, giving her a sense of unfamiliarity.

However, Long Chen had adjusted and spent some time talking to his mother, which reassured her. He didn't mention the upcoming duel with Li Hao.

After returning from his mother's room, Long Chen went back to his room, locked the door, and took the second Fengfu Pill.

As the second Fengfu Pill was refined, the Fengfu Star in his foot grew slightly.

With the growth of the Fengfu Star, it could store more spirit energy, similar to a dantian.

However, the Fengfu Star was still in its embryonic form and needed many more Fengfu Pills to fully form.

This was why Long Chen had been shocked when he learned about the cultivation method.

Now, after taking two Fengfu Pills worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins, the Fengfu Star was still in its embryonic form, far from the three true stages of formation, gathering, and transformation. The legendary Nine Transformations of the Fengfu Star were still unknown, and the Fengfu Star was like a bottomless pit.

However, Long Chen knew this was his only way out. Otherwise, he would lead a mediocre life, or even worse, be at the mercy of others.

After two hours of refining the Fengfu Pill, the Fengfu Star grew slightly, and he could control a bit more spirit energy.

It was already midnight. Long Chen quietly left his room and went to the shed, took a deep breath, and slowly circulated the Buffalo Strength. For Long Chen, who was well-versed in his meridians, a lower Human rank skill was easy to learn and master.

He walked to a stone mill, a tool used to husk rice, weighing over a thousand pounds.

He wrapped his arms around the stone mill and strained his arms.

"Up!"

The massive stone mill lifted in response. Long Chen sensed that he still had some strength left, and his current strength was around 1,500 pounds.

Before being defeated by Zhou Yaoyang, his strength was only 150 pounds, now it had increased tenfold.

"Very good. Just with my current strength, I'm almost on par with a Fifth Stage Qi Gathering expert,"

Long Chen felt excited and looked forward to the future. Just forming the embryonic Fengfu Star had such a significant boost. He wondered what level he would reach when the Fengfu Star was fully formed.

After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't resist the urge. He sank into a horse stance, and a hot force slowly flowed through his meridians into his fist.

"Buffalo Punch!"

"Bang!"

Long Chen's punch hit the stone mill, causing a loud explosion. The massive stone mill was sent flying and crashed into the wall, collapsing it.

Long Chen was stunned by the immense power. He had only wanted to test the strength, but the result was much more dramatic than expected.

Looking outside, he saw that many rooms in the mansion had their lights on. Realizing his actions had alarmed everyone, he quickly sneaked back to his room and fell asleep.

However, his excitement kept him awake for a long time. He wondered what level the skill was and what the power would be like when all nine stars were gathered.

That night, Long Chen lay awake in endless excitement. When the first rays of sunlight entered his room the next morning, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Hehe, you want my parts? That's a great ambition, but it seems you can't achieve it,"

After getting up and washing up, he could still hear the servants talking about the strange incident in the shed last night. Facing the rising sun, Long Chen couldn't help but think:

"Today is a good day, and all my wishes will come true."