Chapter Nineteen: The Sword Technique Takes Shape

  Every Star City's largest building is the Lord's Mansion, and the Star City where Ye Chen is located is no exception. The Lord's Mansion covers an area of 10 acres, with pavilions, water features, green trees, and houses that are disorderly yet connected in some way. Apart from the massive Lord's Mansion Hall at the entrance, the buildings behind it include backyards, independent small buildings, separate single-story houses, and even a standalone thatched cottage.

  In the connected wing rooms on the right side of the city master's mansion, Ye Chen lay quietly in bed, with Ye Xue carefully attending to him by his side. Chen Tao sat at a table savoring the fragrant tea brought over by the maid, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

  "Cough." Lying in bed, Ye Chen coughed lightly, startling two people.

  "Brother, brother, are you awake?" Ye Xue excitedly rushed towards Ye Chen on the bed, and Chen Tao also ran over in surprise.

  Ye Chen opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a canopy made of flowing cherry blossom silk. This kind of canopy, which shone with a soft glow, was said to be extremely precious, not something Ye Chen could afford. Ye Chen wanted to get up, but felt a wave of headache, frowning and rubbing his forehead with difficulty, it took a while before he felt a little better.

  Ye Xue and Chen Tao looked at Ye Chen in surprise, not disturbing him. Although both of them were extremely excited, they held their breath as they looked at Ye Chen now, fearing that something bad might happen.

  "Where is this?" Ye Chen asked after a while.

  "Brother, brother, is it really okay? Is this true?" Hearing Ye Chen's words, Ye Xue couldn't help but burst into tears and excitedly threw herself onto Ye Chen's body, shouting loudly.

  "Yè chén!" Chen Tao also shouted.

  "Hehe..." Ye Chen stroked Ye Xue's hair and smiled, "Brother is fine now, but where are we? What happened?" Ye Chen's mind was a bit confused at the moment. He remembered being pierced by Rong Feng's sword and should have died. Hmm... it seemed like he had practiced the Sword Transformation Technique in that darkness.

  A jumbled mix of memories in his mind made Ye Chen almost dare not confirm whether it was true or not.

  "Brother, you scared me to death." Ye Xue tearfully hugged Ye Chen and then told him what had happened to her. Chen Tao also recounted the part he knew about.

  Ye Chen quietly listened to the two people's descriptions, combining his own memories, and gradually pieced together all the events. He didn't expect that Old Hu was actually the City Master's teacher, which made Ye Chen very surprised. Afterwards, Ye Chen also thought about hearing Old Hu's voice in the darkness, and it must be true.

  Ye Chen struggled to sit up, feeling his body, and suddenly his face changed greatly. His internal skill that had reached the sixth rank had actually dropped in rank, now it seemed to be only at the second rank.

  "Brother, what's wrong?" Xiaoxue exclaimed with a worried expression as she watched Yechen's face change color.

  "Yechen, are you alright?" Chen Tao also anxiously asked on the side.

  Seeing the two worried looks, Ye Chen immediately collected his thoughts and showed a reassuring smile: "It's okay, maybe it's just a little uncomfortable after waking up, it'll be fine in a while."

  "Hehe, you two don't have to worry, I know my own affairs, there's nothing big," seeing the two still looking uncertain, Ye Chen smiled and gently patted Ye Xue's head, indicating that she didn't need to worry.

  "Hmph! Don't do that again next time." Ye Xue pouted, slapping away Ye Chen's palm, her face slightly flushed with anger.

  "Alright..." Ye Chen smiled wryly and immediately thanked Chen Tao.

  "You little scamp, you're really lucky this time, to have survived after all that happened." Chen Tao said with a smile.

  "Haha, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have turned into a pile of rotten meat sauce long ago."

  "Haha, as long as you're alive, that's all that matters. If you were dead, I'd have to take care of Xiaoxue for you too, and you know how lazy I am, my own life is already a problem, so it's better if you take on this challenging task." Chen Tao burst out laughing.

  "Chen Tao, gege!" Ye Xue angrily clenched her fists and shouted at Chen Tao, expressing her discontent.

  "Haha......" Ye Chen and Chen Tao both burst out laughing.

  "Hmph, I'm ignoring you guys." Ye Xue's face slightly red, she let out a soft hum and turned her head to the side.

  "Alright, alright, can't a brother be wrong?" Ye Chen smiled and coaxed Ye Xue.

  Three people chatted for a while, and Ye Xue and Chen Tao also put down their tense nerves, relaxed their brows, and chatted with Ye Chen happily. It wasn't until after a while that they left the room, letting Ye Chen rest well after just recovering.

  When Ye Xue and Chen Tao walked out of the room, Ye Chen's originally cheerful face also became solemn. He didn't want to let Ye Xue and Chen Tao worry, so he had been forcing a smile earlier. After all, whoever falls from a higher realm to a lower one wouldn't be in a good mood. Although compared to being lucky enough not to die, falling only in cultivation realm wasn't something difficult to accept, but there was still some sense of loss.

  Ye Chen's mind was racing as he tried to calm his breath, but his face changed color again. How could the internal energy of a second-stage cultivator become like this? Ye Chen felt that what should have been a scattered and uncondensed internal energy had instead become extremely condensed, emitting a sharp feeling that made him feel like he was about to be torn apart.

  "What is this? Ye Chen was shocked and then carefully examined it. After three rounds of operation, Ye Chen finally confirmed that it had indeed become sharper!"

  What's going on? The route of this operation is not the same as the previous one, although most of it is the same, but there are some that have never been before. After these meridians operate, they actually make me feel comfortable all over my body, and this is the correct route for practicing qigong.

  Could it be that I've actually cultivated the Sword Transformation Technique? Ye Chen felt a sense of incredulity, thinking to himself that this was just something he had imagined in the darkness, without any physical involvement. When did he really decide to cultivate the Sword Transformation Technique? Ye Chen knew how perverted the Sword Transformation Technique was - not only did it require an extraordinary sword, but also required inserting one's own body into the Hundred Meetings Acupoint on top of one's head; wasn't this just seeking death?

  Right, I don't have a long sword in my body, how can I cultivate the Huajian Jue? A string of questions swirled in Ye Chen's mind, Ye Chen thought for a moment, but couldn't think of any answer.

  Ye Chen is a calm person, many things are rarely revealed on the surface. If he can't figure it out, then he won't think too much about it and will close his eyes to continue cultivating. The realm of Mortal Stage Second Order has brought Ye Chen a sense of crisis, this kind of realm can easily lead to death if not careful!

  Time slowly passed as Ye Chen cultivated, the sharp internal energy causing his meridians to ache with a tearing pain from time to time. This was the result of excessive circulation and uncontrolled internal energy.

  Outside the door, Ye Xue and Chen Tao exchanged simple words while waiting for Ye Chen to come out. The architecture of the city lord's mansion was elegant and leisurely, and the two people sitting on the stone table in the courtyard also looked relaxed.

  It was soon time to eat, and the maid came to call people to dinner. At this time, Ye Xue and Chen Tao also happened to feel a little hungry, having eaten almost nothing all day, passing the time in anxiety. As soon as they relaxed, hunger pangs had already attacked their hearts. However, as guests beforehand, the two also had self-awareness and didn't want to ask for food that wasn't theirs.

  "Knock, knock..." The sound of knocking and the voice calling out came at the same time, "Brother, come out to eat." Xiaoxue's voice made Ye Chen, who was secretly sweating, feel a warmth. Slowly withdrawing his energy, Ye Chen could sense that his internal power had indeed changed, matching what was recorded in the Huajian Manual very closely, so he couldn't help but restart his cultivation of the Huajian Manual!

  "Here!" Ye Chen's face was adorned with a faint smile, and in front of his sister, he would always be the best role model. No matter how difficult things got, Ye Chen would never let his sister bear anything. Although this might seem like spoiling Ye Xue to others, so be it - as long as Ye Xue was happy and joyful, everything was worth it!

  "Let's go, I want to thank Old Hu properly!" Ye Chen said with a smile, stroking Ye Xue's head.

  "En!" Ye Xue nodded cleverly.

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