Chapter 99 - Merge!

When he received Long Chen’s consent, Supervisor Zhao laughed heartily. “This place isn’t suitable for you to merge with the Blazing Thunder Crystal. Long Chen, I’ll take you to somewhere quiet!”

Long Chen nodded, then they left through a back door and entered a large yard. Supervisor Zhao found him a vast, quiet room.

There wasn’t anyone present, but Long Chen wasn’t afraid that Supervisor Zhao would bear any ill intentions towards him right now. First, he was very poor. Second, Ling Xi had consumed two Soul Nourishing Fruits in a row and now possessed two more. These spiritual herbs were enough for her to use her power without being in mortal danger herself.

“I’ll place five Blazing Thunder Crystals here. I hope you know your limits when it comes to the number of crystals you can merge with. If you know you can’t withstand another, you must not force it. Do you understand?”

As he spoke, he took five Blazing Thunder Crystals from his Universe Pouch and placed them on the floor of the quiet room.

Staring at the five beautiful crystals swirling with tiny lightning and fire sparks, Long Chen nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Zhao. I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t throw my life away because of greed.”

Supervisor Zhao looked at him approvingly. “Then I won’t disturb you anymore. I’ll be waiting in the yard outside. If anything unexpected happens, just shout for me!”

He waited for Supervisor Zhao to leave, then he finally asked the question he’d been holding in. “Xiao Xi, you wanted me to merge with the Blazing Thunder Crystals. Are they really good for me?”

Ling Xi had been holding it in for a long time too and was very excited to be able to speak. “Of course they’re good for you! They’re amazing! Long Chen, you’re a Dragon Warrior, so your body is tougher than the average person’s. Later on, you’ll be able to get a feel of your limits after you’ve merged with one crystal.”

Long Chen didn’t merge immediately but picked one up. He felt a prickling sensation as the tiny lightning and sparks grazed his skin.

“The Blazing Thunder Crystal is great because the higher your cultivation level and the tougher your body is, the more crystals you can merge with. There isn’t an upper limit, making it much more powerful than the average Body Combat Technique!”

Long Chen was very tempted based on what she had said, but he was not brash. After mulling over it, he said in puzzlement, “Xiao Xi, my relationship with Supervisor Zhao isn’t at all deep, yet he wants me to undergo this experiment with Blazing Thunder Crystals. Do you think he’s trying to test the extent of my talent? If that is the case, if I merge with too many crystals, he’ll definitely do everything in his power to recruit me into the Dawn Trading Alliance, even involving the higher powers of his organization. And if I still am not willing, they might kill me ...”

“Is that so?”

Ling Xi was startled, and fear crept into her heart. She quickly patted her chest, stuck out her tongue, and said, “You’re a Dragon Warrior. The Dragon Brand in your body will naturally be strong enough to tame the Blazing Thunder Crystals. If you try your best, you might merge with many more crystals than a normal person is capable of. So what you said is indeed possible ...”

Such an amazing treasure was now within reach, but obviously, Long Chen dared not merge with them all. The grief he felt made him want to vomit blood.

“Wait!” Ling Xi suddenly cried. “Didn’t you see how casually he took five Blazing Thunder Crystals from his Universe Pouch just now? And the fact that he’d use them to test you means that the Dawn Trading Alliance has many things like this. They might even have Blazing Thunder Crystal mines. You could casually merge with one or two here and then leave. I’ll then turn back and take his Universe Pouch from him!”

Long Chen’s jaw dropped at such a bold proposition, and he said hurriedly, “Hey, boss, please don’t do that. It was so difficult for me to get you the four Spirit Nourishing Fruits to make sure you’re safe. Don’t you dare get yourself into mortal danger again! Are you kidding me?!”

Ling Xi pursed her lips. “Hey, idiot, do you really think I’m that useless? I now have the spirit power of four Soul Nourishing Fruits. I’m just going to steal a Universe Pouch from a guy who is at the mid Earthly Core Realm. This is a piece of cake to a master like me!”

Ling Xi, who was usually very timid, had spoken with so much confidence that when Long Chen thought about how the crystals could make him a lot stronger, he was swayed. He asked doubtfully, “Xiao Xi, are you sure you can steal the Universe Pouch without anyone noticing?”

She glared at him furiously. “Of course! I’ve never been one to take cultivation seriously, but I was number one in special techniques! Even my father always praised me for it. How dare you underestimate me, you idiot! You just wait and see!”

With Ling Xi’s promise, Long Chen felt a lot calmer. They had no time to waste, so he looked at the five Blazing Thunder Crystals on the floor. “I don’t have much time. Let me test out these crystals, and we’ll see just how magical they are!”

The five Blazing Thunder Crystals on the floor were placed in a row. He picked one up and held it in his palm. Then he sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and gazed at it. “Supervisor Zhao said that I can merge with it by activating my Qi and guiding the crystal into my body!”

With that thought, faint, red Qi slowly flowed from his palm, gradually swirling and surrounding the Blazing Thunder Crystal. The unmoving crystal, as if it had awakened, suddenly turned into a fiery, blue electrical current and merged into his body through his palm!

“This crystal is not as simple as it seems!”

When the electrical current entered his body, it quickly spread to every corner, and he was instantly bathing in a burning, fluid-like current. He started emitting a faint, blue glow, and he slowly felt a prickling pain appear in every corner of his body.

It was a prickling pain at first, then it turned into waves crashing repeatedly into his body. It stung and intensified with every wave, finally turning into intense pain. Every part of his body, including his blood, internal organs, tendons, bones, and muscles, was being torn apart by lightning and burned by flames!

Such agony was enough for anyone to break down!

Blue lightning and flames appeared on the surface of his skin, quickly swimming about. His eyeballs suddenly had lightning and flames burning within them. Suddenly, a powerful zap of electricity shot out of his eyes!

Although the pain is difficult to bear, my body is slowly becoming stronger. This feeling is much more frightening than the time I cultivated the Constellation Body!

It’s no wonder Xiao Xi wanted me to merge with them. Blazing Thunder Crystals truly are great treasures!

The wrath of the crystal finally faded after almost an hour. Long Chen heaved a sigh of relief and stretched. He noticed that his body had strengthened significantly, and it was very tough!

Supervisor Zhao said that my Qi would contain the power of fire and lightning after merging with the Blazing Thunder Crystal. He was telling the truth—my Qi has changed significantly!

However, when compared to the light-red Qi, the blue Qi’s power was significantly weaker. The wisp of blue hadn’t even entered his Human Core; it remained in the blood-red mist outside of it.

“Indeed, one Blazing Thunder Crystal is far from my limit!”

Although the experience had been terrifying, he would have to experience much hardship if he wanted to become a master. Long Chen had long understood this.

“How are you feeling?” Ling Xi asked anxiously.

Long Chen grinned. “Good, very good! Xiao Xi, I’m going to reward you so well for this! You’re amazing!”

Then he turned to the rest of the crystals and smiled. “I’ll leave these four Blazing Thunder Crystals here. Xiao Xi, I’ll leave the rest to you. Remember that the crystals aren’t that important. Your safety is the top priority! Do not force it!”

Ling Xi was filled with sweetness when she heard how much he cared about her, but his next words made her face darken once more.

“If anything bad happens to you, it’s just going to make me very busy and very tired. I can’t afford to be injured right now.”

“You bastard!”

Ling Xi gritted her teeth when she thought about his stupid face.

Long Chen decided to leave the room and look for Supervisor Zhao.

Once he opened the door, he saw immediately that Supervisor Zhao was sitting in a pavilion far away and hurried over. Supervisor Zhao quickly noticed him too, and seeing as he had emerged in less than an hour’s time, he had a bad feeling. “Long Chen, how was it? How many did you merge with?”

Long Chen gave a look of exasperation and said, “I can only blame myself for being useless. I only merged with one.”

“One?”

Supervisor Zhao didn’t quite believe it. He knew that Long Chen had a tough body and estimated that he could merge with at least two, maybe even three. He was very disappointed that Long Chen had only merged with one.

He initially thought that Long Chen was a rare talent that he could poach from the Lingwu family. If Long Chen’s future was bright, he would also benefit from it. However, it looked like he had wasted his time, which left Supervisor Zhao feeling defeated. He waved at Long Chen and said with some annoyance, “If that’s the case, you may return.”

Long Chen was impressed by how his extreme friendliness had cooled the moment he realized that Long Chen was weak.

That was good too. Initially, Long Chen was feeling bad about stealing the Blazing Thunder Crystals. Now, there was no hesitation.

“If that’s the case, let me excuse myself!” Long Chen smirked coldly and left.

The Dawn Trading Alliance probably has many Blazing Thunder Crystals. Having Ling Xi steal some probably isn’t too unreasonable ...