HPDBC Chapter 88 Heavenly Punishment
Chapter 88 Heavenly Punishment
chapter 88 heavenly punishment
translator: borntobe
covered by the darkness of night, long chen climbed to the peak of a mountain. the bright moon hung high above, lighting up his surroundings so that he could see the scenery hundreds of miles around.
at this time, long chen no longer had to be as worried as he had been while being chased by marquis ying. this was an exceptionally good spot for him to cultivate.
within this primal forest, the spiritual qi in the air was several times greater than in the capital. he needed to borrow that advantage to advance to another level.
ever since he had run into marquis ying after killing xia changfeng, he had repeatedly fought on the brink of death. long chen’s resolution had actually greatly advanced from that.
he could feel that a certain bottleneck was starting to weaken. this was his best opportunity to attack the next realm.
the peak of the mountain top could only be reached by climbing up extremely steep cliffs, so he had no need to fear any beasts disturbing him. sitting cross-legged atop a boulder, his twelve cyclones began to revolve.
space trembled and twelve huge vortexes appeared behind his body, growing to a terrifying size of three hundred meters.
this was the first time long chen had fully summoned his cyclones outside his body since arriving past the tenth heavenstage.
that was because he had been afraid that this oddity would have alarmed his opponents. it was unheard of for someone to possess ten or more cyclones in qi condensation. but in this place, he finally had free rein to use his full power to absorb heaven and earth’s spiritual qi.
those twelve huge cyclones were like twelve gaping maws, like whales drinking in water, greedily absorbing spiritual qi and sending it to long chen’s fengfu star.
space started to warp as all the spiritual qi within hundreds of miles began to gather towards long chen, practically so dense that it could be seen with the physical eye.
boom!
in just six hours, long chen’s fengfu star emitted an explosive sound. that was because his spiritual qi had reached a critical boundary, a sign that he was about to enter the next realm.
but long chen still wasn’t the slightest bit excited because he knew that this was just the start. there was still a long process which he had to work his hardest to get through.
back when he had condensed his tenth cyclone, he had experienced the trouble of being ‘close’ to advancing. he was already used to how unorthodox the nine star hegemon body art was.
for most martial artists, advancing would only require breaking past a single barrier, which was often thought of as breaking out from a single pair of ‘shackles’. extremely talented people might have to break through multiple shackles. but no matter how talented someone was, to break through out of qi condensation would definitely never require breaking out of more than nine shackles.
however, when long chen had broken through to the tenth heavenstage, although he hadn’t been counting, he was sure that he had long since surpassed a thousand shackles.
the next two times he had broken through, long chen hadn’t even bothered remembering how many barriers he had had to break through of. in any case, it was just a continuous charge by him until he finally broke through.
so when his fengfu star emitted this first sound, long chen wasn’t excited at all. he simply continued absorbing energy.
more and more energy began to pour into his fengfu star. it began to quickly circulate, at the same time, emitting continuous explosions.
long chen didn’t bother with that. he simply did his best to absorb more and more energy. clouds and winds gathered around him. all the energy in the vicinity charged towards him.
hundreds of miles away from long chen was an enormous tree. at the top of the tree was the forest god’s white-dressed figure which was now watching him.
“what a powerful foundational aura. it looks like the human race will gain another astounding figure.” after muttering that, her figure faded away.
long chen’s fengfu star was incessantly trembling. this wasn’t out of long chen’s expectations.
this continued for three full days. long chen’s fengfu star was beginning to circulate slower, and in the end, it completely paused. long chen couldn’t help but celebrate. this was the true sign he was about to make a breakthrough.
this made him feel completely dispirited. in front of that lightning, he felt that he was completely insignificant. his joy from advancing to the thirteenth heavenstage was immediately extinguished.
“you did very well.”
the sky once more returned to its sunny state as the black clouds scattered. it was as if everything before had been just an illusion. the white-robed woman appeared in front of long chen.
long chen was about to say something when he once more vomited more blood. that thunderbolt had greatly shaken his internal organs.
the forest god waved her hand and a drop of green liquid came from her body and fell into long chen’s mouth. long chen only managed to sense that it tasted sweet before it quickly slid down his throat and rapidly spread throughout his body. his wounds began to quickly heal.
the black burnt parts of his skin slowly fell off. in less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, his body had recovered eighty to ninety percent. this was much more miraculous than any healing pills!
“no need to be surprised. the first heavenly punishment is mostly focused on destroying your will. if your will wasn’t sturdy enough, your mind and soul would have been exterminated by the heavenly punishment,” explained the forest god.
“what is this heavenly punishment?” asked long chen.
“it is the will of the heavenly daos. anyone that can threaten the heavenly daos will attract its punishment when advancing.”
threaten the heavenly daos? could that be pointing to the nine star hegemon body art?
“there are some things that i can’t tell you too much about, or it wouldn’t be beneficial to you. rest a while and consolidate your cultivation base. i will be returning.”
without waiting for long chen’s response, her figure turned into a wisp of mist, slowly disappearing in front of long chen’s eyes.
seeing her disappear, then looking at the flattened mountain peak, and then looking towards the completely cloudless sky, long chen felt as if he had been dreaming.
thinking back to that bolt of lightning, long chen shivered. that lightning bolt was something he had been completely unable to resist. why hadn’t it killed him?
then was it really as that woman had said, and the first heavenly punishment only tested his will? if his will had broken down, he would have been destroyed beneath that heavenly punishment?
that heavenly punishment had released an unstoppable aura. he had been trying to flee originally, and it was only with the forest god’s warning that he had dared to face the heavenly punishment head-on.
without her warning, perhaps he would have already been exterminated in both body and soul. lingering fear filled him.
at the same time, he also understood just how important a powerful will was for martial cultivators. cultivation was fundamentally a path of no retreat.
he took a deep breath. with the forest god’s warning, it seemed as if he was seeing an even vaster world unfurling before him.
space trembled as long chen returned his thirteen cyclones into his body. he wanted to clearly test whether his cyclones had changed.
long chen noticed that they hadn’t grown any larger. but what amazed him was that after the heavenly punishment, there was now a link between all thirteen cyclones. they were completely tied together.
now the thirteen cyclones had a ring of light connecting them. they were no longer independent but had formed a single entity. spiritual qi flowed throughout it.
under long chen’s control, the ring of light, which was really his thirteen cyclones, lightly trembled and began to quickly revolve. the ring of light spun around, forming a huge whirlpool that madly absorbed heaven and earth’s spiritual qi.
the absorption speed was at least ten times greater than before. even if long chen fought a powerful enemy again, he would not have to worry about running out of spiritual qi like before.
back when he had fought alongside wilde against marquis ying, it was precisely because the consumption had been too great that he had run out of spiritual qi, making it so he was unable to continue fighting. now that his thirteen cyclones had linked together, he would basically never have to worry about that problem again.
furthermore, he also noticed that when the mysterious ring had connected his thirteen cyclones, another thing had appeared in his body which was filling him with strength.
slowly closing his eyes and examining his body, long chen suddenly shook and went crazy with joy.