Chapter 7, Breakthrough

Since there was such a plan, Yichen drove directly back to "Chinatown"

A faint blue radiance gradually emerged from Feili, and a strong chill enveloped the entire room. Chekhov suddenly shivered several times and cried out, "No..." He quickly grabbed his laptop and rushed into the dark door. Circles of sparkling ice crystals surrounded Feili, and her silver hair began to flutter gently, with tiny ice crystals scattering in all directions.

Yichen happily accepted the small plate, kissed Feili, and said, "Good girl, you go back to your room by yourself tonight. I will see if I can come up with something this evening."

"Achoo!" ... The jester, deeply immersed in marijuana, suddenly woke up, trembling all over as he rushed out of the room, muttering: "Damn it, boss, you’ve gone crazy again. Phyllis, you, you, you are ambushing me. I wasn’t prepared at all. So cold, so cold..."

At that moment, time seemed to slow down, and a sudden surge of energy stirred within Yi Chen's heart. Seizing the opportunity as the foreign true essence struck the jade pendant, the four elemental star forces within his body rapidly condensed towards his dantian. A silvery light flickered as the powerful star energy from the void was absorbed by Yi Chen. Upon introspection of his primordial spirit, a star core, the size of an egg, gleamed with a silvery hue, surrounded by countless miniature stars that spun incessantly. Subsequently, the formidable true essence surged and flowed throughout Yi Chen's body, effortlessly dispersing the foreign true essence.

Yi Chen revealed a malicious smile and said to Jester: "Damn it, Jester, you should consider using heroin. Don't think that marijuana has no destructive power on your superhuman bodies and act recklessly. Chekhov, can't you play a proper account by yourself? Kane, well, please take stock of the personnel and distribute this month's salaries to everyone."

The elevator doors opened, and Yi Chen, lacking even the most basic courtesy, said in a low, cold, and stiff tone: "Me? I am an undocumented immigrant in the mainland, or I smuggled myself into the UK."

Unlike other bosses, Yi Chen's facade is purely to prove that he is a legitimate businessman, and that his business can match his noble identity. Therefore, in reality, there are not many daily affairs. The few clerks hired are staring blankly at the simple reports in front of them, seemingly unable to understand why the mere entry and exit of a few hundred tons of ore requires seven people to be busy, and even their two supervisors, Phil and Gore, are working hard.

Feili quickly jumped up, walked over to him, gently stroked Yichen's long hair, and smiled as she asked, "Is there any news from Russia? They wouldn't just transfer the money to our account and then completely ignore everything, would they? What about those financial experts?"

Yi Chen's figure became blurred as he stood up, swiftly performing the Seven Star Steps in the air. He circled around the jade pendant, and beams of star power, resembling lasers, shot out from his ten fingers, causing the pendant to shimmer with a rain of light. The crisp sounds of 'ding ding ding ding' could be heard even by Feili and the others, who were over twenty meters away.

Yichen silently recited the "Demon Subduing Heart Mantra" of his master, his ten fingers dancing swiftly. A series of dazzling silver lights formed intricate symbols in the air, rapidly imprinting onto the jade pendant. As the starlight flickered, countless symbols and patterns appeared on the surface of the jade pendant, shimmering with enchanting silver light

Yi Chen was fiddling with a small paper cutter, his eagle-like eyes fixed intently on the two brass buttons on the sidewalk across the street. He maliciously pondered, "If I were to throw a knife from here, I wonder if it could pierce their heads." However, upon seeing the thick brass helmets perched high on their heads, Yi Chen abandoned this idea. A knife falling from a height might penetrate a human skull, but if it could also penetrate such a thick helmet, then the English police would surely have to get busy again.

Filly stuck out her tongue and dared not speak

Yi Chen furrowed his brows and said, "It's alright, if something is broken, we should compensate for it. How much is it?"

The small universe that has already taken shape within the jade pendant, the power of the Four Symbols swirls countless strands of silver, slowly winding towards the central lunar star force. The chill left by Feili on the jade pendant is gradually being drawn into this vortex, and a tiny visible bright point appears at the center of the pendant's ring hole.

Along with the prayer beads and the inkstone, the boss, considering they were both Chinese, casually asked for five hundred pounds. Yi Chen casually grabbed the inkstone and walked out with Fei Li. Fei Li, with great interest, put the prayer beads on her wrist, looked at them a few times, and said: "Boss, I heard that these prayer beads can bring blessings from the Buddha."

The boss let out a bitter smile and said, "The real thing? Who would dare? Sigh..." With a sigh, it was hard to tell how much bitterness and helplessness was expressed.

Seeing a few young people dressed in colorful clothes glancing at the store entrance, Yi Chen walked over and nodded slightly, indicating that he understood the boss's difficulties. Feili had already chosen a small string of jade Buddha beads over there and turned back with a smile to ask, "Boss, how much is this?" Little did she know, her hand accidentally knocked a nearby piece of jade to the ground.

Jester, in a state of utter boredom, was smoking marijuana in the party room, while Chekhov was frantically attacking a European "Diablo" server, having gained certain privileges that allowed him to modify a dozen or so premium IDs for himself. As for Kane, it goes without saying that he was toying with the handgun in his hand

Having returned to London for over a month, after navigating through various trivial matters, February has already arrived. The fog of London has temporarily lifted, yet its renowned drizzle has begun to stir things up again. Yi Chen sat in his office on the twenty-third floor, yawning out of boredom, gazing at the gray, overcast weather outside. He started to understand why Sherlock Holmes once sighed over the lack of criminal activity in London. This ancient city, shrouded in a glorious aura, has begun to decline. If no stimulating events occur, life feels as dull as the scenery outside, failing to evoke any interest whatsoever.

Yi Chen directly arrived at his secluded training chamber, closed the three thick steel doors, and activated the defensive array he had set up. He sat cross-legged in the center of the room and began to contemplate. His right hand transformed into a sword finger, and a seemingly substantial sword shadow appeared. As strands of starlight flowed, Yi Chen swiftly carved the small disc, quickly shaping it into an object resembling a jade pendant, with a central hole of one centimeter in diameter, an overall diameter of five centimeters, and a thickness of no more than five millimeters, with edges polished to a remarkable smoothness. Yi Chen caressed it, beginning to familiarize his body with every detail of the jade pendant, gently manipulating it in the palm of his hand

Yi understood naturally why Feili liked the rainy season; her source of power was extreme low temperatures. The raindrops falling from the sky appeared to her as countless bullets. Of course, as a fire attribute, Jiesite was completely disinclined to move in such weather. Yi Chen nodded, stood up, grabbed the coat that had been carelessly thrown on the boss's desk in front of him, and secretly pulled Feili away to run.

Yichen firmly said: "You can ask Phil and Gore to accompany you, but I absolutely will not go shopping with you"

Yi Chen gave a faint smile: "The UK really is not suitable for cultivating to become an immortal; there isn't even a bit of good material to be found."

Yi Chen cast a cold glance at the boss and said to Feili: "This is a counterfeit, a fake." Yi Chen's eyes swiftly scanned the items displayed in the store, and he shook his head at the boss, saying: "These goods are hardly convincing even to the Japanese. There are discerning buyers among them as well. Boss, when doing business, you should at least put some genuine items out there."

Yi Chen walked past a trash can and casually threw away the white jade inkstone in his hand. However, just as the inkstone left his hand, a sudden shift occurred in his heart, and his right hand transformed into a dragon claw. Five strands of true energy subtly extended out, retrieving the inkstone that had already traveled several centimeters away. The passersby on the street did not notice this scene, and only Fei Li curiously asked: "Boss, what do you want with this broken inkstone? Are you going to write? But you already have a very good one..."

Feili obediently took the damaged inkstone that Yichen handed to her, and, feeling puzzled, asked him: "Boss, what is this..."

With a clang, the ordinary white jade inkstone, roughly the size of a palm, flew off and broke a corner. The shopkeeper was momentarily stunned, and Yi Chen quickly said: "It doesn't matter, I will take both of these items."

Yichen closed his eyes to enjoy the comfortable sensation on his head and softly said: "Fatadio doesn't know what to deal with, perhaps it has something to do with the many political enemies his master has recently. Well, regardless of that, they certainly won't miss the opportunity to get rich. Feli, is there anything fun happening lately? Dance? Opera? Polo? Or something else?"

Philly gently twisted his ear and said, "No, there are only a few football matches that you are least interested in, hehe, why not accompany me to go shopping instead"

Many Londoners suddenly saw the stars in the sky, and they exclaimed, "Oh, tomorrow will be nice weather"

Phil, who was engrossed in his work with the typewriter, looked up to see Gore, who was seriously instructing a blonde and blue-eyed beauty. Gore glanced at the sneaky figures of Yichen and Feili, shook his head helplessly, and, with great enthusiasm, leaned down, placing his hand on the clerk's shoulder, smiling as he said: "Oh, is it here? There might be a slight error in the data, but it doesn't matter; our boss won't care about the loss of a few thousand kilograms of coal... Do you have time tonight? If the boss doesn't come back, we can make it and go to dinner together."

Fei Lin made a sound of acknowledgment and began to pull Yi Chen in and out everywhere. From a distance, a strong aroma of garlic wafted over, stirring a slight reaction in Yi Chen, who had grown accustomed to eating steak. However, his mind quickly regained its calm, and he even began to forcefully suppress any thoughts of that familiar everything.

Yi Chen was drenched in sweat, a powerful energy force surged from every pore of his body. At the same time, streams of star power, resembling smoke and interspersed with countless points of light, rushed in wildly from the crown of his head, causing the Four Symbols and Twenty-Eight Constellations to spin frantically. Yi Chen felt an unparalleled sense of comfort as a surge of turbid energy rose from his lower abdomen. He suddenly tilted his head back towards the sky and let out a roar. A silent shockwave pierced through the earth, penetrating tens of thousands of meters of atmosphere, and in the high altitude, it erupted like thunder, scattering air currents that swept away large patches of cloud, allowing beams of starlight to shine down. Yi Chen felt an unparalleled sense of comfort as a surge of turbid energy rose from his lower abdomen. He suddenly tilted his head back towards the sky and let out a roar. A silent shockwave pierced through the earth, penetrating tens of thousands of meters of atmosphere, and in the high altitude, it erupted like thunder, scattering air currents that swept away large patches of cloud, allowing beams of starlight to shine down.

Yi Chen smiled triumphantly. The star core had been successfully refined, and upon introspection of his primordial spirit, it seemed that all the seals left by the elders within his body had been completely eliminated. His own power was finally on the verge of being restored.

In the confined space, Yi Chen, who had been spinning wildly, suddenly came to a halt. His clothes had been shattered by the force emanating from his pores, yet there was no visible change to his body. His eyes, however, emitted a piercing light that shot out over five meters. The jade pendant that had been ravaged by Yi Chen for half a day had inexplicably shrunk to one-third of its original size, leaving behind a pendant no larger than a silver dollar. It was entirely snow-white, with a faint, almost imperceptible chill circulating around it, transforming in an instant just like Yi Chen himself.

Yi Chen began to construct a cyclical system of the twenty-eight lunar mansions within the internal structure of the jade pendant. He suppressed the malevolent energy of the White Tiger with the agility of the Vermilion Bird, restrained the overly lively nature of the Vermilion Bird with the coldness of the Black Tortoise, influenced the rigidity of the Black Tortoise with the regal aura of the Azure Dragon, and provoked the vigorous and agile spirit of the Azure Dragon with the fierce energy of the White Tiger. The four directions and four symbols, under Yi Chen's maintenance, achieved a dynamic balance. The star power of the four symbols took shape, and the small patterns of the dragon, tiger, tortoise, and bird naturally appeared on the four sides of the jade pendant. This was an image produced on the pendant by their essence after being nourished by the innate spiritual energy of the four symbols.

Yi Chen said with a smile, "Come, use your cold energy to slightly modify this inkstone. By the way, create a cold jade disc approximately six to seven centimeters in diameter at its core, and a thickness of about one centimeter will suffice."

Gradually, Fei Li led Yi Chen into an antique shop. The owner, an elderly man in his seventies or eighties, who still appeared quite spirited despite having several age spots on his face, warmly greeted Fei Li as she jumped in: "Miss, may I ask what you would like? All the items here are genuine..." Suddenly, he noticed Yi Chen following closely behind Fei Li, and his previously flowing words were abruptly cut off.

After more than ten days of drizzling rain, it finally stopped, and a grayish light appeared in the sky. Although the pressure in the air still made it hard to breathe, at least it was much brighter. In the suburbs of London, in several neighborhoods where the Chinese community is relatively concentrated, Feili looked with great interest at the Chinese signs on both sides of the street and listened to the various accents of Chinese being spoken. She asked Yichen, "Where are they all from?"

Yi Chen glanced at the boss without saying a word. Feili was very interested and stared at a Tang Sancai wine pot, repeatedly asking, "Boss, is this real?"

The jade pendant gradually emitted a white light, with strands of silver dots appearing around it. This was due to its inferior material, which could not contain too much star power essence. However, as the ancient Chinese proverb states: "With enough effort, an iron pestle can be ground down to a needle." After undergoing countless purifications of star power, this jade pendant began to accumulate a certain amount of strength and gradually floated up.

Yi Chen suddenly thought of something and smiled at Feili, saying: "Feili, my dear, come here with the book and help me with something." At that moment, Yi Chen's smile resembled that of a slave owner who had just spotted a free laborer, filled with a certain glee and ill intent.

Yi Chen placed the jade pendant three feet in front of himself and began to circulate the star power within his body. Slowly, after an unknown number of cycles, the situation remained unchanged; the star core could not be condensed. However, gradually, strands of star power began to flow into Yi Chen's body from the fontanel. Yi Chen realized that the sun had set, and with the interference of the sun's true fire gone, the star power of the celestial bodies began to dominate this world

Feili smiled and nodded, increasing the output of her strength. The pitiful white jade inkstone in her palm suddenly appeared with countless cracks, and then fine powder began to drift down. In her palm, what remained was a small round dish that completely met Yichen's requirements, radiating a dazzling cold light. With a series of 'crack' sounds, all the wine bottles and water cups in the middle of the room were frozen and shattered.

Yichen praised her from the side, saying: "Feili, you are truly beautiful now, simply like the ice and snow goddess from Nordic legends. Be good and work hard."

With a slight sigh of relief, Yi Chen activated the power within the jade pendant, beginning to form a tiny core inside it in the same manner he had condensed the star core within his body. In this way, this ordinary jade pendant could gradually absorb a small amount of star energy on a daily basis, becoming imbued with a certain degree of spirituality and slowly growing stronger on its own

Yi Chen shook his head and said, "It's nothing, let's make use of the waste. Speaking of the Buddha's blessings, I realize that I haven't cultivated anything for a long time." When Yi Chen was expelled, all the few magical artifacts he had refined from heavenly materials and earthly treasures were confiscated. After the elders dispersed the spiritual energy from them, it was unclear who benefited from them. At this moment, although Yi Chen had not yet condensed a star core within him, the accumulated power of the stars was growing increasingly vast, just right for refining some useful small items.

A trace of stellar energy was continuously being absorbed, absorbed, absorbed. Gradually, Yi Chen's body could no longer contain such immense power. Yi Chen's hands formed a lotus shape, and his ten fingers slightly released a wisp of energy. The stellar energy flowed through these ten channels and surged into the jade pendant located three feet in front of Yi Chen.

Filly pondered for a moment, bent down close to him, and whispered in Yi Chen's ear: "Then, let's go take a look at the Chinese community. We can sneak out together without letting Phil and the others know, to avoid a crowd following us, which would be too troublesome... I really like this kind of rainy day."

Although the feng shui of "Chinatown" is extremely poor and it is not a point where the energies of heaven and earth converge, Yi Chen's mental method is different; he directly absorbs the power of the stars, so there is no need to pay attention to these matters. While a location with excellent feng shui and spiritual energy would be more beneficial, if Yi Chen were to attempt to occupy such a place with his current strength, he would likely return with a head full of injuries.

A few Chinese individuals, with blank expressions, watched as the strangely composed Yi Chen walked out, embracing an extraordinary beauty. A young man softly exclaimed, "Oh, I think I've seen this person in the newspaper..."

Jester and Chekhov were immersed in their own world, paying no attention to Yi Chen, while only Kane nodded steadily, picked up his pistol, and walked out.

Yichen helplessly looked at Feili, who was flipping through a fashion magazine beside him, and said with frustration: "Feili, my dear, I am a traditional good man. I do not do drugs, I do not visit prostitutes, and I do not harm society (!). Why is it that the life of a good person like me is so boring?"

Yi Chen let out a cold snort: "Where does the Buddha find the time to bless us? If those deities were to bless people all day long, they would exhaust themselves to death. Do they really think their power can cover the heavens and know everything? If God is truly omnipotent, why does the Almighty not save His own people who are killing each other?"

As for this jade pendant, although it seems somewhat inferior to Yi Chen at this moment, it is still a fine piece of jade if merely used for appreciation. Moreover, it also contains considerable power, which can help reduce one's own consumption when utilized.

Jester had Kane watching over his place, and it was impossible to gather a table of people to play cards. Yi Chen stretched his body and sighed, saying: "People say that immortals have it good, damn it, a thousand years of loneliness, let’s see how good you are. These days are almost suffocating me, why don’t the Iraqis plant bombs at the Tower of London?" The Iraq War had been ongoing for several years, and the coalition forces of the United States and the United Kingdom still could not quell the conflicts within Iraq. The guerrillas had gradually evolved into a regular army. Yi Chen now hoped for a few bomb attacks to add some excitement to his daily life.

The old man immediately broke into a smile and said to Yi Chen, "This inkstone has already lost a piece; I fear it is of little use now"

Yi Chen stood in the elevator with Feili, surrounded by several other Chinese individuals, all of whom were employees of a Chinese trading company located on the upper floors. Feili looked at Yi Chen with curiosity, while Yi Chen showed no intention of greeting his compatriots, maintaining a stiff expression as if he were not of black hair and yellow skin. However, a middle-aged man, approximately in his forties, took an interest and asked Yi Chen: "Where are you from, my friend? How many years have you been in the UK?"

Yi Chen's thoughts fluttered as he carefully drew in the powers of the two malevolent stars, Jidu and Luohou. A trace of killing intent surged from Yi Chen, who meticulously controlled his state of mind, which flowed as lively and pure as a brook. He guided the star powers of the two malevolent stars to the central ring of the jade pendant. The star powers of the two malevolent stars immediately clashed with the powers of the Four Symbols. Seizing the opportunity while they were engaged in their fierce battle, Yi Chen introduced the immense star power of the Taiyin Star (Moon), perfectly complementing the chill left by Feili on the jade pendant. This single move suppressed the two malevolent stars, merging the killing aura of their star powers with that of the Four Symbols into one, indistinguishable and harmonious.

As if it were an unparalleled treasure, Yi Chen carefully examined this jade pendant. Lacking the innate cold jade that could naturally suppress inner demons, Yi Chen had no choice but to ask Feili to create one on-site. Although it possessed no spiritual energy, the extreme chill within it was three degrees colder than that of ordinary cold jade.

Yi Chen shook his head and said: "I can't tell. I used to come from Sichuan, and I have always been in the mountains, so I don't really understand their language. Baby, take a look and see if there's anything you like. Chinese goods are still much cheaper than Western products."

A subtle breath within Yi Chen suddenly stirred, as if it had discovered the star core that was about to take shape within the jade pendant. For reasons unknown, it suddenly surged along Yi Chen's meridians towards the jade pendant, intermingling its own power into the perfect vortex halfway through, causing the star core that was on the verge of crystallization to dissipate immediately.