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Chapter 196 - Yin and Yang Heavenly Rivers

Yin Mengyao came out to greet Long Chen when he arrived. He hadn’t seen her in many days, and it looked like her cultivation had improved.

Her personality had always been cold, but she was much warmer around Long Chen and Dongfang Xuanxiao.

After Dongfang Xuanxiao left, she asked anxiously, “Long Chen, how was it? Any news?”

Long Chen told her all the information he had received in the Star Devil Prison.

Her brows furrowed when he was done, her cold features tightly scrunched together. “So we need to get the Azure Dragon Halberd in order to free him?”

“That’s right. The Azure Dragon Halberd tournament will begin in about ten days. I will do my best,” said Long Chen.

Looking at his determined gaze, Yin Mengyao said, “I will work hard too. I’ve spent the past few days sparring with the wooden puppets in the Martial Hall and practicing my Flowing Water Body. Actually, I’ve made some decent progress.”

“Martial Hall? Wooden puppets?” Long Chen had never heard these terms.

“The Martial Hall is located in the Xuanyu Pavilion, and the younger disciples usually cultivate there. Stepfather was the one who took me. There’s an area in the Martial Hall where there are ninety-nine wooden puppets in total. When you enter, all the puppets will swarm you.” Even Yin Mengyao found the wooden puppets strange.

“Wooden puppets? How do they compare to the steel puppets?” Based on the name, the steel puppets sounded stronger.

“You’ve participated in the outer family qualifiers, so you must think the steel puppets are stronger. But that’s not the case.” She shook her head. “The steel puppets are predictable and stiff, but the wooden puppets are agile and unpredictable. Also, they are made of quality wood that is even tougher than steel. They can even use simple martial techniques. When ninety-nine wooden puppets form an array, they’re not easy to defeat.”

Long Chen realized that the Lingwu inner family spent a lot of effort on nurturing the next generation.

After chatting with her for a while, she started on her cultivation task for the day. On the other hand, Ling Xi had been urging Long Chen many times in the Ling Xi Sword.

Now that they had the Sky Soul Fruit, she intended to cultivate it immediately, but she couldn’t because Yin Mengyao was still around.

Once Long Chen returned to his quarters, the tiny Ling Xi flew out of the Ling Xi Sword. She was over the moon, grinning like a blooming flower. She looked adorable. “Long Chen, time to give me the Sky Soul Fruit,” she quickly begged, seeing as Long Chen hadn’t given it to her.

“You’re younger than me. What do you think you should call me?” teased Long Chen with a stern face.

“Brother Chen, Brother Chen!” Ling Xi didn’t care about anything else when there was a delicious fruit in front of her.

“Good girl.” When he saw the girl acting as if to please him, he took out the fruit and said, “Seeing as I have sacrificed one year’s quota of rewards for you, you may call me ‘Brother Chen’ from today onwards. It makes me happy when I hear it.”

Ling Xi was so moved by his gift that she felt a little guilty. She nodded like a chick pecking at some rice and called him “Brother Chen” sweetly a few times.

Long Chen felt chills when he heard her call him that. “Xiao Xi, it’s scary when you’re so gentle!” said Long Chen, pursing his lips.

“You! Hmmph!” Taking the green jade box from his hand, Ling Xi didn’t bother to argue. But when she thought about how he had sacrificed a year of rewards to get her this, his position in her heart had skyrocketed to a very, very high status.

He calls me ‘Xiao Xi,’ but I still call him ‘Long Chen.’ It does seem a little distant. He is indeed older than I am, and he treats me so well. I’ll just call him ‘Brother Chen’ from now on; it’s worth it, Ling Xi thought to herself.

There was also an underground room provided for cultivation purposes within his quarters here. Long Chen brought Ling Xi into the room, then he closed the door and said, “Xiao Xi, you can start cultivating already. I’ll cover for you.”

“Alright.” She nodded obediently. The tiny girl dragged the large jade box over and placed it on the ground. Then she opened it excitedly.

Long Chen was greeted with a soul-shaking fragrance. He took only one gentle inhale, and it made him feel a few times more awake. It looks like the Sky Soul Fruit is very useful for cultivation too. It’s no wonder it’s worth ten million divine jades. If I were to sell it ...

There was a green, translucent fruit inside the jade box, shaped almost like an apple. It sparkled in the light, and countless vessels could be seen within its translucent body. A green liquid flowed through the vessels like blood.

“It really is the Sky Soul Fruit ...” Ling Xi completely lost her cool when she saw the fruit. Even her voice trembled.

“Xiao Xi, hurry up and cultivate. Delaying will only lead to more problems,” reminded Long Chen, looking at the fruit.

Ling Xi nodded and looked at him with gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Brother Chen!” Then, she used a secret technique to refine the fruit.

The Sky Soul Fruit was quickly enveloped by her soul power.

Long Chen was bored, so he started to study the last two flashes of the Nine Dragon Flashes. He only had a small portion left to master before he would achieve the late stage of mastery and also Dongfang Xuanxiao’s level.

Time passed slowly. Long Chen could sense Ling Xi slowly getting stronger. He guessed that the life force of her soul was the one that was strengthening.

The Soul Grass was an intermediate Black-tier spirit herb and the Sky Soul Fruit was classified as an advanced Black-tier, but it was closer to the Earth-tier and it was on a whole new level.

How could a spirit herb worth ten million divine jades be that simple?

That was why Long Chen estimated that once she refined this Sky Soul Fruit, he wouldn’t have to worry about her mortality for a long time. At the same time, if his life was ever in danger, Ling Xi could provide some assistance.

Six hours had passed, and it was already evening. Long Chen had long stopped cultivating and was sitting at the side, watching over Ling Xi. She was completely wrapped in white mist, so he couldn’t see her clearly.

That was when the mist started to clear, revealing the tiny girl. Her eyes were still closed, but he noticed that she was a little different.

Ling Xi’s skin was almost the same as delicate, white jade. It wasn’t a physical body; her soul power was just more condensed. However, this level of solidification made her not much different from a physical body.

“I think the girl became prettier.” Long Chen felt tempted when he saw her. It was a tragedy that such a beautiful girl could be destroyed by a broken sword.

Ling Xi’s eyes sprang open and a ray of divine light, bright enough to shake Long Chen’s soul, shot out from her eyes, startling him.

She’d just woken up when she saw that he was startled by her and burst into giggles. “Brother Chen, you’re so timid.”

“Who said that?” Long Chen asked sternly. He eyed her up and down, then he asked, “How do you feel?”

“I have completely absorbed the medicinal power of the Sky Soul Fruit. If I don’t use any power, I can live for at least five years. If I do, I think I can withstand a hit from a First River Stage cultivator.” She stretched. Although she was tiny, she had beautiful curves.

“First River Stage?” Long Chen wasn’t familiar with the Heavenly River Stage. All he knew was that the Heavenly River Realm was above the Divine Core Realm, and there were only a few people beyond the Divine Core Realm in Yuanling City.

The legendary four patriarchs of the Lingwu family were masters at the Heavenly River Realm. As for the Beast Soul Palace and Ling Xi’s faction, Long Chen knew nothing about them. At the very least, Emperor Yuan of the Beast Soul Palace was probably at the Heavenly River Realm. “There are eighteen heavenly rivers in the sky of the Dragon Continent. They are all made of countless stars. Nine of them appear during the day, and the other nine at night. Every Yang river matches with a Yin river. Heavenly River Realm masters absorb the star power from the heavenly rivers until a starry sky manifests inside them, forming eighteen heavenly rivers within their bodies. When a Yin and a Yang river merge and start flowing together in tandem, one River Stage is formed. The Heavenly River Realm has nine stages, and once nine Yin-Yang heavenly rivers are opened within the body, the cultivator reaches the Ninth River Stage.

Knowing that Long Chen wasn’t familiar with the Heavenly River Realm, Ling Xi explained the concept to him. “Heavenly River ... Star power ... Yin and Yang heavenly rivers ... The Heavenly River Realm also has nine stages? Xiao Xi, which stage do you think the four old geezers of the Lingwu family are at?”

Long Chen was in awe. Being only in the initial Earthly Core Realm now, he was very far away.

“Yuanling City doesn’t have any experts, so I think they’re at the First River Stage.” Ling Xi shrugged.

Long Chen was speechless.

The four patriarchs were on an untouchable level to Long Chen, yet Ling Xi had said that there weren’t any experts. “Don’t give up, Brother Chen. I believe you’ll surpass them very soon,” cheered Ling Xi, shaking her fist.

“Mhm. Right, where would we find the Ninth River Stage experts you speak of?” asked Long Chen.

“Yuanling City is a county within the Cangyang Kingdom, whose masters are concentrated in Cangyang Imperial City. The imperial city should have masters of that level. It’s the capital of the kingdom, so it’s definitely much larger than Yuanling City.”

“Imperial city?” Long Chen had heard of it before. The gigantic Yuanling City was a county city under the jurisdiction of the imperial city. Right now, Yuanling City’s ruling faction was just a branch of the imperial city’s administrative power. Just like how the rulers of Baiyang Town, the Yang family, was a branch of the Lingwu family.

“You shouldn’t be thinking about a place like the imperial city right now, Brother Chen. You should be thinking about getting the Azure Dragon Halberd,” said Ling Xi.

He nodded. The Sky Soul Fruit had been successfully absorbed, so both of them emerged from the underground room. Long Chen saw that Yin Mengyao still wasn’t back. “Sister Mengyao said she’d be back at dusk, but it’s already nightfall. Unless ... is she in trouble?”

Frowning, Long Chen walked towards the Xuanyu Pavilion.