Chapter Forty-Nine: The Aura of the Celestial

Ignoring Shi Feng’s persistent questions, Luo Chen walked straight out the door.

As the last rays of the setting sun faded, night fell. At nine o’clock, Ellie and Joanna arrived at the training grounds right on time for their evening tutoring session.

Luo Chen was already standing quietly in the arena. The three of them had spent enough time together to know each other fairly well by now, but tonight, when Ellie and Joanna saw Luo Chen standing there, they both paused in surprise.

Something about him seemed different tonight.

It was the same face, the same plain clothes he always wore, and he hadn’t made any special effort with his appearance. Yet, both girls sensed a change. It wasn’t something on the surface, but rather something deeper, from within.

That strange feeling was hard to put into words. Because they already knew Luo Chen fairly well, Ellie and Joanna found him both familiar and yet, in some inexplicable way, foreign. They couldn’t quite say what had changed, only that he felt different.

Seeing the two girls regarding him so curiously, much as Shi Feng had earlier that morning, Luo Chen felt puzzled. What on earth was going on? Had a flower bloomed on his face, or had he suddenly sprouted a massive pimple?

He instinctively touched his face—thankfully, nothing unusual.

When he noticed the girls still staring at him, Luo Chen cleared his throat and said, “Ladies, while I do believe my looks are at least presentable, isn’t this a bit much…”

That snapped them out of their daze. Joanna snorted, “Please, go charm yourself in the mirror if you want to admire someone so much. Do you really think we’re staring because we find you handsome?”

“No, no,” Luo Chen quickly waved his hand. “I admit, at best I’m not an eyesore to the public, and that’s exactly why I’m confused. Ellie, why are you looking at me like that?”

Joanna relented this time. “At least you’re self-aware.”

It wasn’t until after the night’s tutoring ended and Luo Chen had left that Joanna turned to Ellie and said, “Lily, did you notice something odd about that guy tonight?”

Ellie nodded. “So you felt it too. I’m glad it wasn’t just my imagination. It’s like…a strange sense of déjà vu… What could it be?”

She frowned in thought, when Joanna suddenly blurted, “Celestial?”

Celestials were the elite among those who cultivated spiritual energy—far more powerful than even superpowered warriors. While superpowered warriors could manipulate combat techniques with their minds, Celestials had mastered the very laws of nature itself. They could merge with the natural world, drawing upon its power at will. Their abilities were said to be truly terrifying; they could summon storms, call down lightning, and each one was a force to be reckoned with.

Yet Celestials had an odd presence. At first glance, they seemed utterly ordinary, displaying not the slightest hint of their strength, entirely unassuming and at peace with the world. Only in battle did their overwhelming aura erupt forth.

Those who interacted with Celestials regularly could sometimes sense this subtle return-to-nature quality in them. But because Celestials were so rare, ordinary people rarely, if ever, saw one, let alone spent time with them.

Joanna, however, was one of the lucky few who had frequent contact with a Celestial—her grandfather, Jobs, one of the very few Celestials on the Azure Continent, who wielded the power of the Wildfire. It was said that in a fit of anger during a battle, he once used his Wildfire to evaporate an entire lake, roasting every fish within it—an impressive feat, to say the least.

Ellie’s eyes lit up. “That’s it, Joanna! Luo Chen gave me the same feeling I get when I’m with your grandfather!”

Because Ellie and Joanna had been friends since childhood, Ellie often visited the Golan household and saw Jobs frequently. The kindly old man who always wore a warm smile and never put on airs was, in fact, powerful enough to dry up a lake when angered.

“Celestial? Him?” Joanna immediately dismissed her own suspicion. “Come on, Lily, that’s the coldest joke I’ve heard all day!”

It was laughable—a fourth-level spiritual warrior compared to a Celestial was as absurd as comparing a pebble to a mountain.

Ellie giggled. “Of course it’s impossible. But he really did feel a little like that, didn’t he? You noticed it too, right?”

“That’s just because he’s putting on an act, trying to look all mysterious and cool.” Joanna gave what she thought was the most reasonable explanation. “If pretending were all it took to become a Celestial, then if I wore my underwear inside out, I’d be Superman.”

Ellie gazed at her helplessly. “Joanna, can’t you be just a little more ladylike? You’re a girl, after all. This constant talk of acting cool is so unseemly!”

“This is just who I am,” Joanna declared, unabashed. “I’m just being my real self—not pretending. What’s wrong with that?”

Ellie blinked. “If that’s the case, then Luo Chen’s manners in the cafeteria the other night were just his real self too. So why did you call him a pig?”

“You—you—Ellie!” Joanna huffed. “How could you compare me to that pig, who eats enough for four people in one sitting? That’s outrageous!”

Ellie giggled, “But, Joanna, didn’t you just say there’s nothing wrong with not pretending?”

“Lily, didn’t you just say girls should be ladylike? You’re not exactly setting an example yourself, are you…”

Of course, Luo Chen was no Celestial. Celestials could borrow the power of nature because their bodies, after intensive tempering, had developed a profound affinity with spiritual energy. This unique connection allowed them to absorb spiritual energy directly through their bodies and to exchange energy with the natural world, integrating so harmoniously that their presence became indistinguishable from ordinary people.

Luo Chen’s simulated spiritual energy cycle, powered by his spiritual core, also caused a continuous exchange of energy with his surroundings—very similar to a Celestial. That’s why Ellie and Joanna had misunderstood. Shi Feng could sense Luo Chen’s “act” as well, because he too often interacted with another Celestial. An ordinary student wouldn’t have noticed the subtle change in Luo Chen at all.

While the two girls bickered playfully, Luo Chen was already making his way toward the academy’s back mountain.

Whether he was improving, or Joanna was going easier on him, Luo Chen was no longer getting beaten quite so badly during their sessions. Even after tutoring, he still had the energy to continue training at Thunderfall.

Stripping off his jacket, Luo Chen stood atop a boulder over ten meters high beside Dragonfly Pool. Taking a deep breath, he leapt into the air, twisting and rolling as he arced downward, before straightening out and slicing cleanly into the water, barely making a splash.

The movement was seamless—powerful and graceful, the perfect balance of strength and poise that the new generation of humanity possessed. Had there been an ancient Olympic Games, Luo Chen’s dive would surely have won gold.

As he dove deeper, darkness enveloped him. The further he went, the colder the water became, and the greater the pressure on his body. Any deeper and his chest would ache from the strain; yet, Luo Chen felt nothing but exhilaration—this was the joy of a fish in water. Thanks to his ability to breathe through his pores, the deep no longer held any fear for him.

After swimming freely for more than ten minutes, Luo Chen finally surfaced, feeling wonderfully refreshed and full of confidence for the future.

Bread, a house—my dreams—I’ll make them come true.

No, no, perhaps it’s time I aimed even higher.

The early bird catches the worm, the early thief gets the votes. Fellow students, don’t forget to toss your recommendation tickets to the Thief!