Chapter 138: The Secret of the Heavenly Constellation Body Tempering Art, Zi Ning I Can Bear Sons
Chapter 138 – The Secret of the Heavenly Constellation Body Tempering Art, Zi Ning I Can Bear Sons
Gongsun Huaiyu rolled her eyes at Zi Ning’s cold analysis, though she offered no rebuttal.
Her own observations yielded the same grim conclusion.
……
The dust settled as another challenger fell.
Su Tian and Ye Hensheng stood in the center of the ring, their breathing ragged and their robes stained with grime and blood.
The Purple Mansion Holy Land truly deserved its storied reputation; every disciple they had faced was a mountain of iron and spirit.
Yet, a more chilling realization clawed at their minds: they could sense even more powerful auras lingering in the periphery, eyes cold and calculating, waiting for their moment.
Those true experts had held back, perhaps out of a twisted sense of respect or to spare the “guests” a total humiliation.
But the hour was waning. The time for mercy had passed.
As the previous challengers retreated, two figures detached themselves from the shadows and stepped into the light.
“The prowess you two have displayed is evident to all,” one of the men said, his voice level. “However, your essence is depleted. Why not conclude this in a draw?”
Before the offer could even hang in the air, Chen Changsheng’s voice cut through the arena like a frozen blade.
“There are no draws. In my presence, there is only the victor and the carrion.”
“If you settle for a draw, all of you can crawl out of this Holy Land and never return.”
The inner disciple let out a soft, amused huff. “It seems the Holy Son demands a definitive end.”
“In that case, Feng Yuxiu shall have to offend.”
“I have heard that Brother Su practices the Heavenly Constellation Body Tempering Art, a path that borrows the radiance of the firmament.”
“It so happens that the art I have tempered is the Star Plucking Hand. Brother Su, guard yourself.”
The air shrieked as Feng Yuxiu lunged, his hand moving with the lethal grace of a falling star, striking directly at Su Tian’s vital gates.
Su Tian snarled, channeling his starlight to form a defensive shroud.
Yet, the star power that had once seemed impenetrable fractured like brittle glass under Feng Yuxiu’s touch.
An expert reveals the depth of their Dao in a single breath. The moment Feng Yuxiu struck, every prodigy present saw the end of the fated path.
Su Tian saw it too.
“Tsk, tsk.”
“This Feng Yuxiu actually has some bite to him,” Gongsun Huaiyu remarked, her fingers twitching with the urge to draw her weapon.
“I wager Su Tian falls within thirty breaths.”
Zi Ning watched the exchange with a predatory stillness.
“Not thirty. Su Tian will be broken within fifteen.”
“Before I claimed the title of Holy Maiden, Feng Yuxiu was one of my most dangerous rivals.”
“His Star Plucking Hand has reached a state of divine fluidity. Years ago, I only narrowly overcame him by a hair’s breadth.”
“Had his innate talent for cultivation been but a fraction higher, the seat of Holy Son might have belonged to him instead.”
Gongsun Huaiyu looked over, genuine surprise flickering in her eyes.
“You’re not exaggerating? Even you only won by a single move?”
“Why would I waste breath lying to a thief like you? The Star Plucking Hand is a technique focused on the external tempering of the form. He only turned to such a brutal art because his internal potential reached a ceiling.”
“It is a tragedy, truly. The Star Plucking Hand is a pinnacle art of our Holy Land, but it can never touch the ultimate Dao.”
Gongsun Huaiyu’s gaze shifted back to the field, her competitive spirit burning.
“If Feng Yuxiu is one of your ‘dangerous’ rivals, then who is the other?”
“Him,” Zi Ning said, tilting her chin toward another figure. “Yang Feng. The ‘Mad’ in his name is earned.”
“He practices another taboo art of the Purple Mansion: the Mad Demon Boxing.”
“He is the direct disciple of the Fourth Elder, and his lethality is no less than mine.”
“He failed to become the Holy Son only because the Mad Demon Boxing carries a ruinous price—the soul of the practitioner is easily consumed by the demonic heart.”
“A Holy Son or Maiden is the sovereign-in-waiting. One needs more than raw violence to rule; one needs a calculating mind.”
Gongsun Huaiyu looked Zi Ning up and down with blatant skepticism.
“You? A calculating mind?”
“Aside from your chest being a bit too heavy and your backside being a bit too round, I don’t see a single merit in you.”
“You…!”
Zi Ning’s spiritual essence flared, her hand half-raised to strike the girl beside her.
Then, she forced a sharp, cold smile and lowered her hand.
“I may not be able to suppress you in a duel today, but I didn’t lose to you—I lost to Chen Changsheng.”
“This new path of cultivation is far too profound to have originated from a little thief like you.”
“Before Chen Changsheng entered Secluded Cultivation, he gave me a vow.”
“Should my tally of completed missions exceed yours, he will bestow the secrets of that new path upon me.”
“As of this moment, I am thirty missions ahead. Your days of posturing are coming to an end.”
Gongsun Huaiyu’s face flushed with indignation.
“You cheated! You used your influence as a Holy Maiden to hoard missions. Your numbers are a lie!”
“Scream all you like. The defeated always seek refuge in excuses.”
“The Purple Mansion Holy Land is my hunting ground. Why would I not exploit every advantage it offers?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Gongsun Huaiyu hissed. “I’ll convince the Master not to teach a vixen like you.”
“Try it. Even if Chen Changsheng wavers, I have ways to ensure he guides me. After all, as you noted, I have my merits.”
Gongsun Huaiyu sneered. “What merits? Your vanity?”
Zi Ning leaned in, her voice a low, sharp murmur.
“The merits you just listed.”
“I am well-endowed and built for the lineage. I may not become the strongest under heaven, but I can bear him sons.”
“Once I carry his heirs, I’ll have the authority to command even a ‘thief’ like you.”
“You… you shameless…!”
Gongsun Huaiyu trembled, her face turning a deep shade of crimson as she turned away, unable to find a retort sharp enough to cut through Zi Ning’s audacity.
Even if she didn’t believe the girl would truly interfere with Chen Changsheng, losing a war of words to such a brazen woman was maddening.
……
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
While the women bickered, the battle had reached a bloody crescendo.
Su Tian and Ye Hensheng were reeling, both spitting mouthfuls of gore as they were hammered back.
Desperation mounted in their hearts.
It wasn’t just the fear of loss—it was the agonizing frustration of knowing they held a trump card they couldn’t quite reach.
They felt a hidden power within their own bodies, a key to reversing this slaughter, yet it remained maddeningly elusive.
As his vision blurred, Su Tian’s mind echoed with the cold, detached words of Chen Changsheng.
“If the Heavenly Constellation Body Tempering Art were merely a path for tempering the flesh, it would have withered into obscurity long ago within the Xuanwu Kingdom.”
Su Tian looked down at the starlight clinging to his skin like a failing shroud. In that instant, the fog in his mind burned away.
He had been a fool. He had been using the art upside down.
The celestial radiance coating his skin suddenly inverted, surging violently into his meridians.
As the star power collided and fused with his spiritual essence, an aura of primordial fury erupted from his pores.
In the distance, Chen Changsheng’s lips curled into a faint, predatory smirk.
“Finally, the spark catches. Perhaps he isn’t a total waste of breath.”
The Heavenly Constellation Body Tempering Art was never an external art of the flesh; it was a profound internal law.
The star power was a primordial spark, a bridge for the soul. Once integrated into the essence of the cultivator, it unleashed a transformation unique to the individual’s own Dao.
The previous Emperor Zuo had been a titan of physical strength not because the art gave it to him, but because he had used the star power to ignite his own innate physical gifts.
This was the true, sacrilegious secret of the art: it was a mirror that magnified the soul’s intent.
To grasp it was to see a vast, golden path. To fail was to remain a mediocre ant.
Su Tian had finally stepped onto the path.
……