The Rise of Long Chen: Chapter One - The Pill Emperor's Memory

“Who am I? I am Long Chen!”

“Am I the peerless Pill Emperor, who looked down on the world and disdained the heavens – Long Chen? Or am I the bullied, untalented good-for-nothing – Long Chen?”

His mind was a chaotic mess, and his body throbbed with excruciating pain. Long Chen couldn't help but stop his swirling thoughts, a low groan escaping his lips.

“Chen’er, you’re finally awake? That’s wonderful! Your mother was so worried, why did you have to duel that person?”

A gentle voice, filled with joy and relief, sounded in Long Chen’s ears. But as it continued, a hint of a sob crept in. Long Chen slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry at first, but as the scene gradually cleared, a woman’s face came into view.

The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, incredibly beautiful, though deep crow’s feet, unbefitting her age, marred the corners of her eyes. At this moment, she gazed at Long Chen with tear-filled eyes, brimming with love and doting affection, which warmed Long Chen’s heart.

“Child, you scared this mother half to death,” she said, her eyes growing redder as tears streamed down her face.

“Mother?”

Long Chen looked at the face, both familiar and somewhat strange, and uttered the word with a trace of confusion and surprise.

“Child, don’t scare your mother! Do you not even recognize me?” Her face immediately contorted with panic.

Beside the woman, an elder appeared. He glanced at Long Chen and said, “Madam Long, Young Master Long Chen’s occipital bone suffered a severe impact. His mind might need time to recover. Please don’t be too anxious. We just administered medicine to the young master, and its effects haven’t fully taken hold. It’s best to let him rest more.”

Madam Long cast a worried glance at Long Chen, then nodded reluctantly. With a hint of lingering reluctance, she followed the elder out of the room.

Long Chen vaguely heard the elder speaking softly to the woman, “Madam Long, Young Master Long was fortunate to even survive this time. Some things cannot be forced.”

Madam Long’s voice trembled, “Master Pharmacist, do you mean my son…?”

The elder, referred to as Master Pharmacist, sighed, “The Young Master’s occipital bone suffered a violent concussion. To be honest, waking up is already a miracle. However, the after-effects are quite severe. Even memory loss would be understandable…”

By then, their voices faded as they walked further away. Long Chen could no longer hear them clearly, only the faint sound of Madam Long’s sobs.

Long Chen stared at the ceiling, feeling the intense pain throughout his body, especially the throbbing ache at the back of his head.

“What exactly is going on? I am Long Chen, and Madam Long is my birth mother. Why do I feel a sense of unfamiliarity towards her? And where did all these chaotic memories come from? I feel like an incredibly formidable figure, yet also a pitiful good-for-nothing. Pill Emperor Long Chen? Waste Long Chen? Which one is the real me? Is the Pill Emperor reborn through me, or has the 'waste' integrated the Pill Emperor’s soul?”

Endless questions churned in Long Chen’s mind. “Forget it. No matter what, I am Long Chen. Whether a waste or a Pill Emperor, the most important thing is that I am alive. Since these two sets of memories have merged into one, indistinguishable from each other, why should I bother with such a foolish question? What I need to do now is recover as quickly as possible.”

He assessed his body. There were multiple fractures, three broken ribs, and two breaks in one arm. The back of his head, especially, had a large section of the skull caved in. “Truly vicious methods.”

“Huh, though I can’t gather spiritual energy, my divine soul power seems incredibly strong! I can actually sense an area ten feet around my body!”

Long Chen felt a surge of pleasant surprise. According to his fragmented memories, divine soul power was extremely precious, especially crucial for a Pill Master.

“A huge gain, a massive gain! Whether it’s the Pill Emperor being reborn or fusing with his memories, it’s an immense benefit for me.”

“The former means a second life through transmigration, while the latter means possessing the soul of an absolute powerhouse. How incredible is that?”

However, as he thoroughly examined his body, Long Chen’s expression changed dramatically:

“My Spirit Root has been absorbed! A piece of my Spirit Bone is missing from my chest – it must have been dug out! There’s a hole in my heart? Who could be so cruel? My Spirit Root, Spirit Bone, Spirit Blood – all stolen! No wonder I can’t cultivate!”

Long Chen was furious. His soul power was now incredibly strong, allowing him to perceive his inner body. He immediately discovered the secret behind his current useless state.

The Spirit Root was a mass of innate energy located in the dantian, the very foundation of cultivation. Without a Spirit Root, one couldn't even sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, let alone absorb and cultivate it.

Spirit Blood was a trace of innate blood that everyone possessed from birth, though most cultivators were unaware of it.

The Spirit Bone was located in the chest, slightly protruding. Ordinary people didn’t have a Spirit Bone. Even among cultivators, it was one in ten thousand, a mark of a supreme genius.

The area where Long Chen’s Spirit Bone should be clearly showed a missing piece, undeniably a mark of it being dug out.

Long Chen’s face was extremely grim. If he hadn't merged with these memories, he would never have known that his body had been tampered with. Logically, although these three things were precious, once removed from the body, they were useless. To harm him, why go to such lengths? Such methods were designed to make his life a living hell.

But fury was fury. Now that these three things were gone, anger was pointless.

“I hope I never find out who did this.”

Long Chen gritted his teeth. It was too sinister. With a Spirit Bone, even an idiot would know he was an absolute genius. Now, thanks to this despicable scoundrel, he had become a useless cripple, subject to bullying and contempt.

Just as Long Chen’s rage boiled over, the door gently pushed open. A pretty girl, appearing to be thirteen or fourteen, walked in. This was Long Chen’s personal maid, Bao’er.

“Young Master, it’s time for your medicine.”

“Medicine? What medicine do you have there?” Long Chen’s nose twitched slightly as he asked.

“This is the Tiger Bone Pill that Madam spent a fortune to acquire. It can heal your external injuries very quickly, Young Master,” Bao’er replied.

She then opened a delicate small box in her hand, revealing the pill inside. “They say this pill comes from Master Yun Qi, the Pill Master. Its medicinal power is incredibly potent. Young Master, let Bao’er help you take it.”

Long Chen looked at the object in her hand with a strange expression. Could this thing really be called a pill? It was misshapen, neither round nor flat, like a lumpy meatball. Its shape aside, “Damn it, the color is pitch black, without a trace of luster. If it weren’t for the faint medicinal aroma, I’d even suspect it was a sheep’s dropping.”

After observing it for a long time, Long Chen sighed. To waste over eighty percent of a pill’s medicinal properties—“It’s truly a feat for this ‘master.’ I wonder how he managed it? To be bad to this extent.”

Pills were classified into five grades: Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, Exquisite, and Peerless. The pellet in his hand clearly didn’t belong to any of these five grades. Long Chen suddenly realized it was a defective product, a waste pill. Typically, Pill Masters would never sell such pills; it would be too embarrassing. They would usually dilute them into liquid medicine or simply discard them.

“Young Master, don’t stare. Madam sold her own jewelry for this precious pill. Please take it quickly,” Bao’er urged.

Long Chen’s heart ached. In his memories, his mother loved him dearly, to the point of spoiling him. She almost never refused him anything he asked for. For him, his mother had worried herself sick. Madam Long, a great beauty in her youth, was only in her thirties, but the deep crow’s feet around her eyes showed how much she had sacrificed for Long Chen.

Looking at the pill in his hand, though it was a defective product, the raw ingredients were excellent. Even with eighty percent impurities, it would still be effective enough to treat his injuries.

After taking the pill, Long Chen instructed Bao’er not to reveal his condition, not even to his mother. Although Bao’er was puzzled, out of trust for Long Chen, she obediently nodded.

With the medicine consumed, and though Long Chen couldn't cultivate to refine its power, he used his powerful soul energy to guide the medicinal properties directly to his injured areas. The recovery effect was remarkably swift.

The next day, Long Chen slowly opened his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. He stretched his limbs.

“Very good. While the pill itself was subpar, the quality of the ingredients was excellent. Aside from the back of my head, most of my injuries have recovered by more than half. It was more than enough for external wounds.”

He slowly walked to the mirror.

Looking at the handsome youth with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes reflected in the glass, Long Chen solemnly declared, “From today onwards, I, Long Chen, will no longer be the Long Chen of the past. I shall rise!”

Though his body still felt somewhat weak, walking posed no problem. Long Chen stepped out of his room, where the morning sun was already rising.

Long Chen thought deeply for half an hour, then called Bao’er over. He wrote down a list of medicinal herbs and asked her to procure them.

Bao’er’s face showed some difficulty, and Long Chen immediately understood. The Long family was currently very strapped for cash. Bao’er couldn’t get money from the accounting office. Otherwise, his mother wouldn't have sold her dowry jewelry, which was extremely precious. The Long family had indeed fallen on hard times.

He patted his pocket. Inside were still over eighty silver coins. Though not much, it was enough to buy these herbs.

Bao’er was diligent. In less than an hour, she returned with the herbs. Long Chen immediately began to prepare them, mixing them in different proportions and placing them in a clay pot to simmer.

Three hours later, the rich medicinal liquid began to emit a fragrant aroma. Long Chen looked at the bowl of inexpensive medicinal liquid, a smile gracing his lips.

“My rise, Long Chen, will begin with this bowl of medicinal soup.”