As if he had been woken from a dream, Long Chen suddenly thought of how he could control his power. After igniting his divine flames, his 108,000 stars were like volcanos. Once he activated them, those volcanos would all erupt at the same time.
The 108,000 stars were one body. There was no way to separate them, and no way to take out only a portion of their power. Either he didn’t use them, or he used them all.
It had already been quite a few days since he had entered the Divine Flame realm. Theoretically, he should have long since grown accustomed to using the power of his divine flames. But he had not.
He had always thought that his control had yet to reach a sufficient level. If he tried using that overbearing power, he would only harm himself.
When he had used Zhao Wuzheng to test himself, he had used that power. The injury to his arm was actually only partially from Zhao Wuzheng. A portion also came from a backlash from his own power.
It was because he was unable to control his new power that he had not increased his cultivation base at all during this time. However, today, Long Chen was enlightened by these star diagrams. It wasn’t that his control was lacking. He was lacking something else.
The Starry River Sage had created the Starry River of the Sky Art based on the Seven Star Battle Armor. The reason that he succeeded was because he had his Yin and Yang core to bear the brunt of his astral power. That was the Yin and Yang fish in the Dantian of that person in the mural.
As the Yin and Yang fish revolved, Yin and Yang alternated. The harsh astral power was softened, and then the astral power that could not be controlled before became usable.
The Starry River Sage had changed his Dantian to contain this Yin and Yang forcefield. It was an extremely brazen idea.
At first, Long Chen hadn’t had this spark of insight. But then when he saw the spots on the nine star heir’s arms, he thought of his own scales when he used the Azure Dragon Battle Armor.
He had no Dantian. He couldn’t give rise to Yin and Yang energy. But he had the dragon scales that could contain his power. First he would send his astral power into his scales, and through his scales, he would control them. That would achieve the same effect as the Starry River Sage’s Yin and Yang forcefield.
He had 108,000 stars, and also 108,000 scales when he used the Azure Dragon Battle Armor. That couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. In the past, when he used them both, they resonated with each other. But that feeling of resonance had vanished after entering the immortal world. He hadn’t quite cared about that before.
However, now he realized that the Azure Dragon Battle Armor was an equally miraculous technique. If it was merged with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, he was completely confident in being able to control the power of his divine flames.
Thinking of that, Long Chen began rapidly thinking of how he could merge them. That would solve his present predicament.
Right now, his divine flames were like sledgehammers. If smashed on the earth, they would smash a giant hole, but the sledgehammer itself would shatter. He himself would be injured.
What he needed was a softer handle, one that could still unleash the power of the hammer, but without injuring himself. That softer handle would be the Azure Dragon Battle Armor.
“Hey…!”
Suddenly, just as he was immersed in his calculations, someone slammed their hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He looked back to see Bai Shishi.
Seemingly surprised that someone as fearless as Long Chen would jump from a pat on the shoulder, Bai Shishi smiled. It seemed she felt it to be humorous, but also felt a bit apologetic.
“What are you smiling about? Don’t end up letting out some snot,” said Long Chen irritably.
“Scram!” Bai Shishi’s smile vanished, replaced with anger. This fellow’s mouth really was irritating.
“What did you hit me for?” demanded Long Chen.
“You’ve been staring at this mural for too long. Sometimes you’re frowning, sometimes you’re smiling. I was afraid you would become a mad dog and start crazily biting people,” snorted Bai Shishi.
Long Chen had been staring at the mural, and his expression had changed many times. They had also been rather extreme. Although his spiritual fluctuations were normal, Bai Shishi was worried he was in danger, so she had tried to draw him out of his stupor. For her good intentions to be responded with by Long Chen’s cold words, she was naturally infuriated.
Long Chen shrugged. “Fine, I blamed you wrongly. I apologize.”
Bai Shishi was caught a bit off guard by this apology. Long Chen’s character changed far too much. She stared at Long Chen, not knowing if this was a sincere apology or just groundwork for more treacherous words.
“I cultivate the Starry River of the Sky Art. There are many aspects that I wasn’t sure of, but after seeing this mural, I feel enlightened, as if the clouds have parted. That’s why I was immersed. Right now, I need to go into seclusion for a short time. I’ll trouble you to protect me,” said Long Chen.
“Seclusion? Now?” Bai Shishi stared at him like he was a monster. Their current situation was pressing, but he wanted to go into seclusion?
“It won’t be long. At most, six hours. If there’s danger, you can wake me at any time,” said Long Chen.
Just at this moment, a jade plate on one of the Heaven Female Alliance’s disciples’ waists lit up. She said, “Someone has entered the passageway and triggered the alarm.”
Everyone’s hearts tightened. Their path had been discovered. The five powers had already gathered, and now all their experts were definitely going to rush here. They had been discovered.
That path was also the only way out. Now they were trapped. The five powers would definitely immediately seal that exit, and their top experts would be coming in.
Bai Shishi looked at Long Chen. He smiled. “It’s fine. Let them come. You can continue gathering the murals. I’m going into seclusion.”
Long Chen sat on the ground just like that. A layer of silver scales appeared on his body. Following that, a small star appeared on every scale.
After the stars appeared, flames slowly ignited. Those flames caused this space to shudder. Even Bai Shishi’s heart shook. An explosive power was now coming from Long Chen’s body.
“Hurry up! Gather the murals and get into top condition. Prepare for battle!” shouted Bai Shishi when she saw that everyone was just staring at Long Chen in shock.
Everyone quickened the pace. After two hours, all the murals had been gathered. They took inventory right there before giving them to Bai Shishi.
During this time, the disciple skilled in formations received multiple signals that their enemies were pressing forward, continuously breaking through their traps and getting closer.
“Guild leader, our enemies are about to reach the palace entrance. I feel like we should seal that location to occupy the territorial advantage,” she said.
“No need. Let them through.” Just at this moment, Long Chen’s voice rang out.
Everyone was delighted. Long Chen had finished so quickly. He slowly stood and smiled brightly. It seemed that he was in an excellent mood.
“Do you have a battle plan?” asked Bai Shishi.
“No need. Have the guards pull back. I’ll treat you to a marvelous show.” Long Chen’s smile was so sinister that it gave Bai Shishi goosebumps.
