Chapter 162 - 162: A dream of the beginning

"Sorry sir, but we only have a single room available" The receptionist replied with a smile.

"Does this room have two separate beds? " Long Chen inquired as he looked at the receptionist.

"No. I apologize but this room doesn't have two separate beds. Instead, it has a double bed, which is wide enough for two people to sleep comfortably. It's a couple's room and it will cost you one silver coin for the night" The receptionist replied as he stunned both Long Chen and Princess Mingyu with his words.

Long Chen thought for a little while as he finally decided to get the room.

"Alright. Getting a single room is better than getting none," Long Chen said as he gave a silver coin to the receptionist and received the keys. After getting the directions to the room, he left with Princess Mingyu.

"I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you" Princess Mingyu let out in a soft voice as she entered the room after Long Chen.

"Don't worry, I won't attack you" Long Chen chuckled as he sat on a chair inside the room. 

" You can sleep on the bed, I'll place the mattress, that you keep in your storage ring, on the ground and sleep on it" Princess Mingyu let out as she stood in front of Long Chen.

" Hah... I will say it again. You don't have to worry about me. I won't sleep with you so you don't have to worry. I'll cultivate the whole night. You can sleep on the bed" Long Chen said with a smile.

" Alright... If that's what you want. " Princess Mingyu said as she agreed instantly.

The room was just as the receptionist had described. Although there was only one bed inside, it was pretty big as it could easily accommodate four people.

"Go on... I won't invade your space" Long Chen said with a chuckle as he gazed at Princess Mingyu. 

Lu Mingyu walked towards the bed and sat on it but she kept looking at Long Chen with a wary look. 

Long Chen glanced at Mingyu with an amused look on his face. He stood up and walked to an empty place inside the room as he sat down on the ground. After a moment of peace, Long Chen began his cultivation.

Princess Mingyu watched Long Chen for over an hour before she finally lowered her caution. She lied down on the bed and soon fell asleep.

Long Chen cultivated with the nameless cultivation technique as he crazily sucked the Qi from the atmosphere and increased his cultivation at a fast pace as always. He cultivated for over five hours before he decided to stop. He slowly opened his eyes as he looked towards the bed. 

He stood up as he walked towards Princess Mingyu.

'She is so beautiful… That's why It is so strange... I had spent so much time with such a pretty girl yet I am able to control my emotions without becoming a beast and forcing myself on her. She is so pretty that I feel crazily attracted to her yet I haven't lost control. Is my heart demon going easy on me? Is it because of the girl in front of me? Is she special? Or is it because I have gotten stronger and made progress in taking control of my heart demon? Whatever it is... I hope it always stays like this' Long Chen thought as he gazed at the beautiful face of Princess Mingyu.

He turned back as he walked towards the bathroom. As soon as Long Chen left, Princess Mingyu opened her eyes.

'He didn't attempt anything... As I guessed, he isn't bad ' She thought with a smile as she looked towards the bathroom. 

Long Chen stood inside the bathroom as he closed the door. He brought out the mysterious egg from his storage ring and looked at it with a smile. 

"Time for Dinner, little guy" He whispered as he held the egg with both his hand and began transferring his Qi to the egg which crazily began absorbing it.

After half an hour, Long Chen walked back inside the room as he again sat down on the floor. 

He again began his cultivation, but this time he decided to cultivate his body. He used the Qi from the atmosphere as he fed his heart demon which in turn changed it to demonic Qi and sent to Long Chen's body to strengthen it. 

'Something is not right! This conversation speed… It's so less compared to the last time I cultivated with the heart demon'

Long Chen felt something strange as he cultivated.

He stopped cultivating and sent his consciousness inside his martial space to check things out.

As he observed his martial space carefully, he noticed a difference. His martial soul and Red core still looked the same yet his heart demon was different.

The heart demon was wrapped in a red cocoon-like thing that was pulsating with energy.

'What the heck? What's going on?'  He thought as he looked at the scene. 

After observing it for a short time and finding no change in its condition, Long Chen retracted his consciousness from his martial space.

"Xun! " He called in his mind as he allowed Xun with access to his thoughts for a short duration. He didn't want to talk to Xun on the outside as he was in the room with Lu Mingyu.

"Finally allowing me to read your thoughts. What do you need now" Xun's voice sounded inside Long Chen's mind. 

"My heart demon is behaving strangely. It's inside a red cocoon-like thing. What's happening?" He asked her.

" Something big is happening which is good news for you and bad news at the same time" Xun replied to Long Chen in a serious tone.

" Can you tell me honestly? What's good and what's bad? What's actually happening?" He asked again.

" Well… The good thing is that you won't have to worry about your heart demon for quite some time…And after that time period ends, your body cultivation speed will increase as well. That too by a lot" 

Before Long Chen could ask why her voice again sounded.

"... And the bad news is that your worries will increase by a lot as well, from the moment your cultivation speed increases, because what's happening with your heart demon is that it's breaking through to the next stage." She replied to Long Chen.

"It's breaking through? What's that supposed to mean?" Long Chen exclaimed in a stunned tone.

" You'll know more about it when it breaks through. The thing you need to know is that if it successfully breaks through to the next stage, it will become much more powerful than it is now. There's a silver lining though. The chances of a successful breakthrough are pretty low." She explained to Long Chen in a serious tone.

"Should I stop cultivating Demon Monarch Physique while it's going through this process?" He asked again. 

"You don't need to… As that won't change anything. You can still cultivate as you did before. Only your cultivation speed of Demon Monarch Physique will decrease while your heart demon is undergoing this process" Xun's voice again sounded.

"Alright. I think I understand now. Thanks for informing me" Long Chen replied as he again closed Xun's access to his thoughts.

He again began cultivating his physique. He cultivated like this for over three hours before he felt like it was enough for the day.

"There's still time for some quick nap"Long Chen muttered as he brought out a mattress from his storage ring. He placed it on the ground as he fell asleep.

_____________________________

"A dream? " Long Chen mumbled as he found himself in an unknown city which was filled with people. He tried talking to one of them but he received no reaction. It was as if he didn't exist in this world.

"What is happening? This dream... it looks as real as the dream I had when I was below Heavenly Cliff" Long Chen let out as he continued roaming in the crowded city.

The city had many beautiful structures and really dense Qi The people all looked like strong cultivators. 

Long Chen was waiting in the street when he saw someone on the street who attracted his attention.

A boy ... A boy who looked to be 16-17 years old was walking on the street but unlike most of the people, he was wearing worn-out clothes that were torn at places. Although he looked malnourished, he had a smile on his face as he continued ahead.

"Why do I feel that I have seen him before? " Long Chen muttered as he looked at the boy.

Long Chen found that boy familiar though he couldn't put his finger on it. The boy continued striding ahead as he reached the walls surrounding a large building.

"Star Martial Academy!" Long Chen read the name on the board that was hung on the building. 

"Hmm... so it's a cultivation academy... Does he want to learn martial arts?" Long Chen mumbled as he smile appeared on his face.

Although it was a prestigious building, the boundary walls surrounding it were pretty short, Only 1.5 Meters in height.

Long Chen saw the boy picking up a box that was nearby as he placed it near the wall. He climbed up on it as he peeked inside.

"Is he trying to find something?" Long Chen muttered as he saw the boy looking here and there as if he was trying to look for something. Soon, the boy's eyes were fixed in a direction as he looked like he had found what he was looking at. A gentle smile appeared on his face as he kept looking in that direction.

" Let's see what he's looking at" Long Chen smiled as he jumped in the air and landed on top of the wall.

Long Chen looked in the direction the boy was looking at and noticed there was a girl. A girl who looked to be 16-17 years old was practicing her martial skills while the boy was gazing at her.

"Is he in love?" Long Chen couldn't help but smile as he saw the boy looking at the girl with a caring look on his face. 

"Who the hell is there!!! What the hell are you peeking at!!!" A boy who was practicing inside the martial academy exclaimed loudly as he noticed the red-haired boy in worn-out clothes looking at the blue-haired girl. His loud voice attracted the attention of others inside as well. Soon, everyone was looking at the red-haired boy.

"Isn't that Shen?" Someone exclaimed.