si-mexico Chapter 187 Apprenticeship
Chapter 187 Apprenticeship
At 9 a.m. the next morning, under the watchful eyes of the three men, Li Chenglong slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he opened his eyes, a powerful aura emanated from him, instantly shattering the medicine vat and spraying the liquid inside everywhere. However, the liquid, before it could even get close to the three men, fell to the floor of the room.
Li Chenglong slowly stood up, staring at his hands in astonishment. He seemed unable to believe his current state. But while he was still in a daze, he suddenly heard a girl's scream, followed by the sound of a door opening and someone running out. Li Chenglong then realized he was completely naked, wearing nothing at all. Looking up, he saw an old woman and a young boy staring at him. Now it was Li Chenglong's turn to scream. He immediately grabbed a large shard of a medicine vat and used it to cover his private parts.
The old woman smiled and said, "Get dressed first, we'll talk later. El, could you help tidy up the room?" Then she left. Li Chenglong took a towel from his storage space and dried himself, then took out a set of clothes and put them on. He originally intended to help the boy tidy up the room. But he saw the boy stand still, gently extend his right hand forward, and the fragments and dregs of the medicine jar automatically gathered together. Then the boy clenched his fist, and the pile of trash vanished instantly.
Li Chenglong stared wide-eyed, somewhat incredulous. The boy took out a basin, wet a towel, and began manually wiping the medicine cabinet beside him, paying little attention to Li Chenglong. Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, he left. The house was entirely made of wood, and the furnishings were extremely simple. A young girl was cooking at the stove, while an old woman sat in a chair, beckoning to Li Chenglong: "Come and sit down. You must have many questions for me, and I also have some things to tell you."
Li Chenglong nodded, glanced at the somewhat peculiar-looking old woman, and then sat down. He spoke first, "Hello, Grandma, my name is Li Chenglong. Well, how should I put it, I'm definitely not from around here." The old woman smiled and said, "Li Chenglong, 28 years old, city lord of Shuguang City, Donghai Province, China, the third planet of the solar system, a level 10 SS-rank Dragon-Phoenix Physique Awakener, right?" Seeing Li Chenglong's surprised expression, the old woman continued, "Let me introduce myself too. We are residents of Hailan Star in the K236 star system. My name is rather long, so you can just call me Grandma Lena. Those two are my granddaughter and grandson, one is named Xiao Cui, and the other is named El."
Li Chenglong asked in surprise, "K236 Galaxy? Do you know how far it is from Earth? How can I get back?" Grandma Lena said, "Let me calculate. According to your Earthly way of speaking, we are 100,000 light-years away from Earth. Even if you travel back at the speed of light, it would still take you 100,000 years." Hearing that it was so far away, Li Chenglong deflated like a punctured balloon and remained silent for a long time.
At this moment, the old woman said, "However, I can help you go back, it only takes 15 days on Earth." "Really? Thank you, I'll pay any price as long as you can help me go back," Li Chenglong said happily.
However, Grandma Lena waved her hand: "There's no rush to go back. I know most of what happened to you. I also know that you cooperated with Planet Meral, injected yourself with their super drug to become an Awakened, and by chance advanced to an SS-level Awakened. But your Earthling bodies aren't really suited for combat, so you can't fully utilize your abilities yet. Even if you go back now, you might be able to kill some level 11 opponents, but you'll still be helpless against level 12 opponents."
Li Chenglong immediately stood up and said, "Grandma, is there any way to further improve my combat abilities? The alien alliance is about to launch a major invasion of Earth, and time is really running out. If you know of any way, please tell me."
The old woman gestured for him to sit down, then slowly said, "Actually, I did a lot when I was treating your injuries. My first step was to completely sever the connection between your Dragon-Phoenix bodies. Although Shinapus's youngest daughter temporarily used her abilities to sever it between the two of you, it's not permanent, and it will gradually recover later. Although the connection between the two of you seems to have advantages, there are more disadvantages. First, because one of you suffers the backlash from the Dragon-Phoenix blood, the other will also feel it, which will greatly affect your battle. Second, if one of you loses their life, the other will also die, which is definitely not acceptable."
Just then, Xiao Cui brought out plates of food, and El, having finished cleaning, came out. Grandma Lena gestured for everyone to eat, and they talked as they ate.
She continued, "This time, I've completely severed the connection between your bloodlines, so you can be free from worries and will be more adept at future battles. My second step was to modify your body; you can study the details yourself later. The Izamley metal has been integrated into every segment of your cells' genes and will replicate along with your cells. Moreover, due to the properties of the Izamley metal, your aging process will be much slower. Even at your current level 10, you will have at least 1000 years of lifespan, equivalent to that of Earthlings. You Earthlings should theoretically live to at least 160 years old, but you usually reach your limit around 80 or 90. That's because the activity of your cells deteriorates after replicating a dozen or so times, and they are prone to replication errors, leading to various age-related diseases."
At this moment, El said, "Grandma used a total of 300kg of Aizamlai metal to modify your body. This metal is extremely precious even on our planet Hailan. With my grandmother's strength, she could only collect 100kg in 50 years." Upon hearing this, Li Chenglong immediately stood up and said, "Grandma Lena, I, Li Chenglong, will never forget your great kindness. After I restore peace to Earth, I am willing to go through fire and water for you without hesitation."
Grandma Lena smiled and said, "Sit down and eat first. To improve your strength, this last step is crucial: the G-Crystal. The G-Crystal was created by my son, the father of these two children, with almost a lifetime of effort. It contains enormous energy, but to prevent this super energy from destroying you, I used a large amount of Izamre metal. I also added an energy limiter to protect your body from being damaged by the energy." As she spoke, the old lady pointed to a sky-blue circular emblem on Li Chenglong's right hand, which had a two-winged angel design on it.
Xiao Cui proudly said, "My dad once told me that G-Crystals have amazing abilities. If someone can use it, not only will their combat ability increase by more than double, but their energy reserves, energy flow rate, physical fitness, and so on will also be greatly improved. They can even transform."
Grandma Lena nodded, then said to Li Chenglong, "It's good that you've reached level 10 and can transform to a basic level. There's a suit of armor hidden in the G-Crystal, but it doesn't have a name. You can name it whatever you want. That armor can be upgraded as you level up. With this armor, your combat power will be enough to handle some level 12 hybrids on Planet Meral. But dealing with true level 12 experts will be more difficult, because from level 10 onwards, your combat power increases significantly with each level up, and the difference between each level is huge. It's already quite remarkable that you can handle some mid-level level 12 opponents at level 10."
She then explained the G-Crystal in detail. The more she explained, the more Li Chenglong felt its power. Besides the armor contained within, it was itself an extremely strong energy source. Unless Li Chenglong fought against opponents of a higher level for more than an hour continuously, his spiritual energy would never run out. Furthermore, when Li Chenglong had some free time, it would absorb some of his spiritual energy to nourish itself and replenish its lost energy. Another point was that it would work in conjunction with the Izamlai metal to gradually strengthen Li Chenglong.
After dinner, El and Xiao Cui went out to play. Grandma Lena said to Li Chenglong, "I've basically told you everything I needed to say. Now there's only one last thing left: sending you back. Before I send you back, I have two requests. First, when you enter the universe, you must stand firmly on my side. But it's a bit too early to say that now. I only need your promise. However, I can guarantee that I and my people will never harm you or your Dawn City, nor will we harm Earth. Second, you must defeat my grandson and granddaughter to prove that you have the strength to face future dangers."
Li Chenglong immediately said, "You've helped me so much this time, I'll never forget your life-saving grace. You've also taught me so many abilities, you're like my master. I wonder if I could become your disciple?" Grandma Lena smiled and nodded, "It's good that you have this intention. I've lived for over a thousand years and have only ever taken one disciple, my son. Today I'll accept you as my disciple. But what I can teach you is limited. I'm better at healing and saving lives than fighting. So, as a gift, I'll give you something." As she spoke, a faint blue light emanated from her eyes, which she then channeled into Li Chenglong's spiritual energy ring.
To Li Chenglong's surprise, the area of the psionic ring had directly increased to 4 square kilometers, and there were also some things in the warehouse that looked very similar to Dawn Rice. Grandma Lena smiled and said, "When I was traveling on the planet Meral, I saw that their food was not bad, but it contained a little less energy. After my cultivation, I upgraded it. I'm giving you several thousand kilograms. You can plant it slowly, and it will definitely solve your food problem."
Li Chenglong stood up solemnly. "A teacher for a day is a father for life. From now on, you will be my second mother." He was about to kneel down when Grandma Lena quickly stopped him. However, seeing that Li Chenglong insisted on bowing, she smiled slightly and nodded, accepting Li Chenglong's deep bow.
A moment later, the two little ones came in, playfully bickering. As soon as they entered, Xiao Cui laughed and said, "Grandma, look what this is! Another Kiel alien!" She then casually tossed the Kiel alien's corpse onto the ground. Li Chenglong looked at the corpse and was astonished to find that it was none other than Lagula, who had escaped earlier. He was the strongest of the five brothers, yet this girl had so easily killed him.
Grandma Lena frowned. "Too many people have been coming here lately. Looks like we'll have to move. It's not that I'm afraid of them, it's just that they're incredibly annoying. Plus, according to the alliance, I can't just attack them." She turned to Li Chenglong. "Take some time to familiarize yourself with your new abilities. But once you defeat either of them, I can send you back. Before you leave, I'll give you something else. When you leave Earth, you can use this to contact me."
After saying that, she handed something about the size of a cell phone to Li Chenglong, then yawned, stretched, flapped her wings twice, and flew up to the second floor. El smiled and said, "Big brother, Grandma's gone to rest. Do you want to challenge us now, or wait a while?"
Li Chenglong shook his head: "Let's wait a bit, I need to familiarize myself with it first." Xiao Cui then said, "Big brother, use your eyes to see who has higher attributes, me or my brother." Li Chenglong activated his True Dragon Eye: Cui Si, Level 11 esper, Constitution 635, Strength 608, Agility 655, Spirit 672, Skills unknown. El, Level 11 esper, Constitution 644, Strength 652, Agility 624, Spirit 632. Skills unknown. "Wow, such high attributes, and they're even Level 11!" Li Chenglong thought, then said, "Although your individual attributes vary, they're roughly the same overall."
The siblings nodded. Since Li Chenglong didn't immediately challenge one of them, they began disposing of the Gil alien corpses. Li Chenglong, following instructions, went to the room prepared for him and began to meditate. He activated his True Dragon Eye. Li Chenglong, Level 10 SS-rank Dragon-Phoenix Body Awakener, Constitution 577, Strength 562, Agility 559, Spirit 550. His skills included: Dragon Emperor Sword Level 10 (Max Level 15), Heaven-Splitting Dragon-Phoenix Slash, Galaxy Starburst, Dragon-Phoenix Heaven-Shattering Fist (cannot be used alone), Dragon-Phoenix Blood, Dragon Soaring Technique, Spiritual Energy Space Level 9 (Max Level 15), Spatial Transmission, and Dragon Fist Burst.
He sensed a significant change in his skills. Some skills that previously had levels were now unleveled, and he could no longer use the Dragon-Phoenix Heavenly Fist alone, likely due to the severed connection. Most importantly, his previous psionic form had vanished—his trump card. However, his attributes had greatly improved. To put this in perspective, Erica, also a level 10 Awakened, only had 460, 420, 457, and 500 in her four attributes. This was likely due to the effects of the Izamlai Metal and the G-Crystal. Furthermore, he was absolutely certain that his master, Grandma Reina, was at a very high level, because even when she used her superpowers, Li Chenglong couldn't sense any psionic or energy fluctuations—a situation he had never encountered before.