Breakthrough

  It's been over a month since I returned to London, and after all the trivial things that have happened, it's already February. The fog in London has temporarily subsided, but its notorious fine rain has started to torment people again. Yi Chen sat in his 23rd-floor office, yawning listlessly as he gazed out at the gloomy weather outside the window, and began to understand why Sherlock Holmes had sighed about the lack of crime in London. This ancient city, shrouded in a brilliant aura, was already beginning to decline; if nothing exciting happened, life would be just like the view outside the window - completely uninteresting.

  Yi Chen fiddled with a small paper knife in his hand, his hawk-like eyes fixed intently on the two copper buttons (Londoners' nickname for patrolmen) on the pedestrian path across the street. He maliciously pondered: "If I were to throw a knife from here, I wonder if it could pierce their skulls." However, looking at the thick copper helmets on their heads, Yi Chen abandoned this idea. A small knife falling from mid-air might be able to penetrate a person's skull, but if it could also penetrate such a thick helmet, then Scotland Yard would have to start getting busy again.

  Unlike other bosses, Yī Chén's storefront is purely to prove that he is a legitimate businessman and his business can match his noble identity. As a result, there are actually no daily affairs. The several young female clerks who were recruited also stared blankly at the simple reports in front of them, seemingly unable to understand why seven people were needed to busy themselves with the import and export of just over 100 tons of ore. Even their two supervisors, Phil and Goll, were frantically busy.

  Jester brought Cain to his own place to watch the house, and it's impossible to gather a table of people to play cards. Yi Chen stretched her body and sighed: "People all say that immortals are good, damn it, a thousand years of loneliness, see if you're good or not. Nowadays, life is almost suffocating me, why didn't the Iraqis put bombs in the London Tower?" The Iraq War has been going on for several years, and the US and British coalition forces have still failed to quell the conflicts within Iraq, with guerrilla groups gradually evolving into regular armies. What Yi Chen hopes for now is just a few bombing raids to add some fun to her daily life.

  Yi Chen looked at Fei Li, who was flipping through a fashion magazine beside him, with a helpless expression and said: "Fei Li darling, I'm a traditional good man, I don't take drugs, I don't visit prostitutes, I don't harm society (?!), why is the life of such a good person like mine so boring?"

  Fei Li quickly jumped up, walked to his side and stroked Yi Chen's long hair, smiling and saying: "Is there any news from the Russian side? Can't they really not care about anything after transferring the money to our account? What about those financial experts?"

  Yi Chen closed his eyes and savored the comfortable sensation on top of his head, whispering: "Fatadi doesn't know what he's doing, probably because his master has too many political enemies lately. Hmm, anyway, they won't let go of a chance to make money. Feili, is there anything more interesting recently? Opera? Theater? Polo? Or something?"

  Fei Li grabbed his ear and twisted it gently, saying: "No, there are only a few football matches that you're least interested in, hehe, why not accompany me to go shopping instead?"

  Yi Chen said firmly: "You can ask Phil and Goll to accompany you, I absolutely will not go shopping with you."

  Fēi lì sank into thought for a moment, then bent down and whispered in Yì chén's ear: "So, let's go take a look at the Chinese settlement area. Just the two of us will sneak out quietly, don't let Fēi ěr and the others know, or else they'll all follow us, it's too much trouble... I really like this kind of rainy day."

  Yi Chen naturally understood why Fei Li liked the rainy season, her power originated from extremely low temperatures, and the raindrops falling from the sky were like countless bullets to her. Of course, as a fire-attribute user, Jester was too lazy to move in this kind of weather. Yi Chen nodded, stood up, grabbed the jacket that was randomly thrown on his desk, and secretly pulled Fei Li to run away.

  Phil, who was busy typing on his typewriter, looked up and glanced at Goll, who was seriously instructing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty on her work. Goll looked at the sneaky figures of Yicun and Philina, shook his head helplessly, and with great enthusiasm, bent down and put his hand on the shoulder of this clerk, smiling and saying: "Oh, here? Maybe there's a little mistake in the data, but don't worry, our boss won't care about the loss of these few thousand kilograms of coal... Do you have time tonight? If the boss doesn't come back, we can go out for dinner together."

  Yi Chen stood in the elevator with Fei Li, surrounded by a few other Chinese people who were employees of a Chinese trading company upstairs. Fei Li looked at Yi Chen strangely, but Yi Chen didn't have any intention of greeting his compatriots, his face stiff as if he wasn't one of them himself. Instead, a middle-aged man in his forties asked with interest: "Where is this friend from? How many years has he been in the UK?"

  The elevator door opened, and Yichen emerged with the most basic courtesy, saying in a low, cold, and stiff tone: "What about me? I'm an undocumented immigrant on the mainland, or a stowaway to the UK."

  Several Chinese people stared blankly at the strange-looking Yī Chén embracing a stunning beauty and walking out, a young man softly exclaimed: "Huh? I think I've seen this person in the newspaper before..."

  The drizzle that had been falling for over a decade finally stopped, and the sky revealed a dull gray glow. Although the air was still heavy with pressure, making it hard to breathe, at least it had brightened up considerably. In the suburbs of London, in several streets where Chinese people were concentrated, Fei Li looked with great interest at the Chinese signs on both sides of the street, listening to the various dialects of Chinese being spoken, and asked Yi Chen: "Where are they all from?"

  Yi Chen shook his head and said, "I couldn't hear it. I was from Sichuan before, always in the mountains, not very understanding of their language. Baby, take a look yourself, Chinese things are still much cheaper than Western goods."

  Fei Li nodded and started pulling Yi Chen around, far away, a strong garlic flavor wafted over, making Yi Chen's heart stir slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and even began to force himself not to think about the familiar things.

  Gradually, Fei Li led Yi Chen into an antique shop. The old boss, who was in his seventies or eighties but still looked quite spirited with several age spots on his face, saw Fei Li jump in and immediately greeted her warmly: "Miss, what can I help you find? My goods here are all genuine..." He suddenly caught sight of Yi Chen following closely behind Fei Li, and his words were abruptly cut off.

  Yi Chen glanced at the boss, but didn't say a word. Feili stared intently at an antique Tang tri-color glazed wine jug and asked repeatedly, "Boss, is this real?"

  Yi Chen gave the boss a cold look and said to Feili, "This is counterfeit." Yi Chen's eyes quickly scanned the items on display in the store, shaking his head at the boss. "These goods are even difficult to deceive foreigners with. Among the foreigners, there are also those who can tell good from bad. Boss, when doing business, you should at least put some genuine things outside."

  The boss smiled wryly: "The real thing? Who dares to? Alas..." A sigh, and who knows how much bitterness and helplessness was expressed.

  Looking at several young people with floral clothes wandering around the entrance of the store, they walked past. Yi Chen nodded, indicating that he understood the boss's difficulties. Fei Li had already selected a small string of jade Buddha beads on the other side and smiled back to ask: "Boss, how much is this?" Who knew that her hand was careless, and she accidentally knocked over a piece of jade next to it onto the ground.

  "With a crash, the ordinary white jade inkstone, about the size of a human palm, flew off one corner. The boss was stunned for a moment, and Yichun quickly said: "Don't worry, I'll take both of these things.""

  The old man immediately showed a smile and said to Yicun: "This inkstone has already been smashed into pieces, I'm afraid it's useless now."

  Yi Chen furrowed his brow and said: "It's okay, we broke something, we should compensate for it. How much money?"

  Along with the rosary and inkstone, the boss, considering they were both Chinese, reluctantly accepted 500 pounds. Yichun casually picked up the inkstone and walked out with Fei Li. Fei Li was delighted to put the rosary on her wrist, examined it for a while, and said: "Boss, I heard this rosary can bring blessings from Buddha."

  Yi Chen snorted coldly: "Where does the Buddha have the energy to protect us? If those gods are busy protecting people all day, they would be exhausted themselves. Can their power really cover the entire sky and know everything? If God is truly omnipotent, why doesn't He save His own people from self-destruction?"

  Fei Li stuck out her tongue and didn't dare speak again.

  Yi Chen walked past a trash can and casually threw away the white jade inkstone in his hand, but just as it left his hand, Yi Chen's heart suddenly moved, his right hand transformed into a dragon claw shape, and five strands of true energy subtly reached out to retrieve the inkstone that had already been thrown over ten centimeters away. The pedestrians on the road didn't notice this scene, only Fei Li curiously asked: "Boss, what do you want this broken inkstone for? Are you going to write with it? But you already have a good one..."

  "No big deal, let's just make use of this trash. You mentioned that Buddha thing, it reminded me that I haven't cultivated something in a long time." When Yi Chen was kicked out, the few pieces of equipment he had on him, which were made from heavenly materials and treasures, were all confiscated. The elders then dispersed the spiritual energy within them, but who knows which senior brother benefited from it? At this moment, although Yi Chen's body didn't have a condensed star core, the accumulated star power was becoming more and more massive, just right for cultivating some useful small things.

  Since he had made up his mind, Yi Chen drove directly back to Chinatown.

  Although the feng shui of "China Town" is extremely poor and not a gathering point for any heavenly spiritual energy, Yi Chen's method is different. He directly absorbs the power of the stars, so he doesn't need to pay attention to these things. Although a place with excellent feng shui and spiritual energy would be more beneficial to oneself, if Yi Chen were to try to occupy such a place with his current strength, he might end up getting beaten back with a swollen head.

  Jester was extremely bored in the party room and started smoking weed, while Chekhov was crazily attacking a European 'Dark Destruction God' server, having obtained certain permissions, and modified a dozen or so extreme item IDs for himself. As for Cain, it goes without saying that he was playing with the handgun in his hand.

  Yi Chen revealed a sinister smile and said to Jester, "Damn it, Jester, you should consider heroin, don't think that marijuana doesn't have any destructive power on your super-powered body just because you're reckless. Chikov, can't you little brat create a decent account for yourself? Kane, hmm, take stock of the personnel and distribute this month's salary to everyone."

  Jester and Chekhov were absorbed in their own world, ignoring the dust, only Cain's steady nod, grabbed his pistol and walked out.

  Yi Chen suddenly thought of something and smiled at Fei Li: "Fei Li, my baby, come, help me with something." Yi Chen's smile at this moment was somewhat like a slave owner who had found a free laborer, full of excitement and ill intentions.

  Fei Li took over the damaged inkstone handed to her by Yi Chen, and asked him in a daze: "Boss, what's this..."

  Yi Chen smiled and said, "Come on, use your cold energy to slightly modify this inkstone. Right, in its core, create a cold jade disc about six to seven centimeters in size, and make it about one centimeter thick."

  Fiona's body gradually emitted a faint blue glow, and a strong chill enveloped the entire room. Chekhov shuddered violently and let out a pained cry: "Don't...!" He quickly grabbed his laptop and rushed into the hidden door. Rings of crystal ice encircled Fiona, her silver hair fluttering strand by strand, as tiny shards of ice scattered everywhere.

  Yi Chen praised her from the side: "Feili, you are really beautiful now, just like the ice and snow goddess in Northern European legend. Good girl, work hard."

  Fairy smiled and nodded, increasing her power output. The white jade inkstone in her palm suddenly appeared with countless cracks, and then a little powder floated down, leaving behind a small circular dish that perfectly matched Yi Dust's requirements, emitting a piercing cold light. 'Ka-chak' sounds echoed through the room as all the wine bottles and water cups in the middle of the house were frozen and shattered into pieces.

  "Achoo!"... Just as Jester was indulging in the hemp, he suddenly sobered up, his whole body trembling as he rushed out of the room, muttering: "Damn it, boss, you've gone crazy again, Ferri, you, you, this is a sneak attack, I wasn't prepared at all, so cold, so cold..."

  Yi Chen happily accepted the small plate, kissed Feili and said: "Good girl, you go back to your room by yourself tonight, I'll see if I can come up with something tonight."

  Yi Chen directly went to his own practice room, closed the three thick steel doors, activated his own warning array, sat cross-legged in the center of the room, and began to ponder. His right hand suddenly formed a sword finger, and a seemingly substantial sword shadow appeared. Among the flowing starlight, Yi Chen quickly sliced at the small plate, soon turning it into something similar to a jade pendant. The center had a circular hole with a diameter of one centimeter, an overall diameter of five centimeters, and a thickness of no more than five millimeters. The edges were polished to be extremely smooth. Yi Chen stroked it gently, starting to let his body become familiar with every detail of the jade pendant, lightly caressing it in the palm of his hand.

  It was as if it were a rare treasure, Yī Chén carefully examined the jade pendant. Without the natural cold jade that could suppress the heart demon, Yī Chén had to ask Fei Li to create one on the spot. Although it didn't have any spiritual energy, the extremely cold air inside was three times colder than ordinary cold jade.

  Yi Chen smiled wryly: "The UK is really not suitable for cultivating immortals, even finding some good materials is impossible."

  Yi Chen placed the jade pendant in front of him, three feet away, and began to circulate the star power within his body. Slowly, he didn't know how many cycles he had circulated, but it was still the same, unable to condense the star core. However, gradually, a thread of star power began to surge into Yi Chen's body from the crown of his head, and Yi Chen knew that the sun had set, losing the interference of the true fire of the sun, the star power of the stars began to dominate this world.

  A thread of star power was continuously being absorbed, and gradually, the body of Yidun could no longer contain such a powerful force. Yidun's hands formed a lotus shape, and his ten fingers slightly emitted a wisp of energy. The star power followed these ten channels and surged into the jade pendant three feet in front of Yidun.

  The jade pendant gradually emitted a white glow, and silver light dots appeared around it. This was because its material was too inferior to contain the star force essence. However, as an ancient Chinese proverb says: "As long as the work is deep, the iron rod can be ground into a needle." After being washed and refined by countless star forces, this jade pendant began to accumulate a certain amount of power and slowly floated up.

  Yi Chen silently recited the "Demon-Subduing Mantra" of his sect, his ten fingers moving swiftly as a series of sharp, silver lights formed complex talismans in mid-air before rapidly imprinting themselves onto the jade pendant. The starlight flickered, and countless talismanic patterns appeared on the surface of the jade pendant, shimmering with an entrancing silver glow.

  Yi Chen began to build a circulating system of the twenty-eight mansions within the jade pendant, using Zhu Que's spiritual movement to suppress Bai Hu's evil energy, using Xuan Wu's yin coldness to suppress Zhu Que's excessive liveliness, using Qing Long's royal wind to stir up Xuan Wu's dullness, and using Bai Hu's fierce and evil energy to provoke Qing Long's vigorous and nimble spirit. The four directions and the four images, under Yi Chen's maintenance, achieved a dynamic balance, and the four-image star power took shape. The small dragon, tiger, turtle, and bird patterns naturally appeared on the four sides of the jade pendant. This is the image produced by their original body on the jade pendant after being nourished by the spiritual energy of the four images.

  Yi Chen's thoughts were in a state of turmoil, and the two major malevolent stars' powers were carefully drawn into the jade pendant by Yi Chen. A thread of murderous aura emanated from Yi Chen's body as he skillfully controlled his emotions, much like a gentle stream flowing with clarity. The two major malevolent stars' powers were then drawn to the central ring hole of the jade pendant. The two major malevolent stars' powers and the Four Symbols' powers immediately clashed in a fierce collision. Seizing the opportunity while they were engaged in a heated battle, Yi Chen drew in the immense power of the Tai Yin star (Moon), which perfectly complemented the lingering cold energy left by Fei Li on the jade pendant. With one swift motion, he suppressed the two major malevolent stars and merged their powers with those of the Four Symbols into a harmonious whole, blending together like water and milk, indistinguishable from one another.

  He let out a slight sigh of relief in his heart, and Yi Chen activated the power within the jade pendant. He began to condense a small core inside the pendant using the same method he used to cultivate his own stellar nucleus within his body. This way, this ordinary jade pendant could absorb a bit of stardust every day, giving it a certain level of spirituality that would allow it to slowly grow stronger on its own.

  Inside the jade pendant, a small universe that had already taken shape, the power of the four images rolled up countless strands of silver silk, slowly wrapping around the central Taiyin star force. The cold air left on the jade pendant by Fei Li was also gradually drawn into this vortex bit by bit. A tiny bright spot visible to the naked eye appeared at the center of the jade pendant ring hole.

  A faint, subtle breath inside Yì Chén's body suddenly stirred, as if it had discovered the star core that was about to take shape within the jade pendant. For some unknown purpose, it suddenly flowed along Yì Chén's hands' meridians and surged towards the jade pendant, inserting its own power into the perfect vortex just in time, causing the nearly successful star core to instantly dissipate.

  At that moment, Yī Chén's heart was suddenly stirred, and he took advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the jade pendant. As he did so, the Four Symbols Star Power within his body rapidly condensed towards his Dantian, shining with a silver light. The powerful star power in the void was absorbed by Yī Chén, and his Yuán Shén inner vision revealed a star core the size of a chicken egg, its entire body shining with a silver light, surrounded by countless tiny stars rotating ceaselessly. Following that, the powerful True Yuan Power within Yī Chén's body burst forth in all directions, instantly dispersing the strange True Yuan.

  Yi Chen's figure blurred, his body stood up, and he quickly stepped out of the Seven Star Steps in mid-air. He circled around the jade pendant, rapidly revolving, and a series of star powers shot out from his fingers like laser beams, striking the jade pendant with a burst of light, causing it to fly about in a flurry of light. The crisp sounds of 'ding ding ding' were heard by Fei Li and others more than 20 meters away.

  Yi Chen's whole body was sweating profusely, with powerful energy bursting out of every pore. At the same time, a swirling mist-like force filled with countless points of starlight poured into his crown chakra, causing the twenty-eight constellations to spin wildly. Yi Chen felt an unprecedented sense of relief and comfort throughout his body. A dark energy shot up from his lower abdomen, and he suddenly threw his head back and let out a mighty roar. A silent shockwave pierced through the earth's crust, traversing tens of thousands of meters of atmosphere before exploding in mid-air like thunder, dispersing clouds and revealing a scattering of starlight that shone down on him.

  Many Londoners suddenly saw stars in the sky and exclaimed: "Gee, it's going to be a fine day tomorrow."

  In the sealed room, Yi Chen's frantic and rapid movements suddenly stopped. His clothes had been shredded by the air currents bursting out of his pores, but his body showed no external changes except for two beams of intense light shooting out from his eyes over five meters away. The jade pendant that Yi Chen had ravaged for half a day had shrunk to one-third its original size, leaving only a silver-dollar-sized piece behind. Its entire body was snow-white, with an almost imperceptible aura of cold air circulating around it. Like Yi Chen, it had undergone a transformation in the blink of an eye.

  Yi Chen couldn't help but smile. The stellar core had successfully condensed, and his primordial spirit's inner vision revealed that the seals left behind by the elders in his body seemed to have been completely eliminated. His power was finally about to be restored.

  As for this jade pendant, although it has become somewhat inferior in Yichun's eyes at the moment, if it is only used for appreciation, it is still a pretty good piece of jade. Especially, it also contains a not weak power, taking it to use, can also reduce one's own consumption.