Chapter 173: Chapter 110: Ziwei Palace, Lord of the Celestial Stars!

The onlookers, whether they supported Ji Qinglian or Ji Qingyue, were all utterly dumbfounded.

The way they looked at Zhong Ming was incredibly complex.

’How can you be so arrogant and self-righteous about it?’

They were marveling at him, but some also wanted to mock him out loud.

"Still talking tough when you’re about to die!"

"Heh..." Standing before Zhong Ming, Ji Qinglian was so angered she let out a cold laugh.

But just as she opened her mouth to say something, a HUM echoed as a pinprick of light, like a candle flame, blossomed from Zhong Ming’s left eye.

BOOM!

The next moment, this light flared and spread across Zhong Ming’s entire body.

As the Flame spread like ripples on water, a bright point of light, like a star, appeared on the surface of Zhong Ming’s body.

"Uh..."

This sight made the words Ji Qinglian had been about to say die in her throat.

Having a thorough understanding of the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch, she knew this was one of the thirty-six acupoints on the body’s surface.

For a point of light to appear in this location meant only one thing: Zhong Ming... had successfully begun cultivating.

However, this scene also shattered her composure.

"Impossible!"

She couldn’t believe it. The hearts of the people behind her also skipped a beat, their breath catching in their throats.

It took them a long moment to react, and they cried out with faces full of shock, "This makes no sense!"

"How could an arrogant bastard like you possibly comprehend the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch!"

"Isn’t this Cultivation Technique only supposed to be practiced at night?"

"I don’t believe it..."

As they exclaimed in unison, Zhong Ming simply spread his hands, a look of helplessness on his face.

"See? This is what I don’t get. Why do you all find this so difficult? Achieving Initiation for a Cultivation Technique is something anyone with hands can do."

As he spoke, the fiery light from his left eye continued to spread across his body.

HUM!

And soon, another acupoint on his body lit up.

Zhong Ming merely gave it a nonchalant glance before saying with a sincere expression:

"See? Isn’t it easy?"

"You just burn it with fire, and the acupoint opens up."

As he spoke, Zhong Ming spread his arms wide and took a step forward. "Difficult? What part of it is difficult?"

"Why don’t I feel it at all?"

HUM! HUM! HUM!

Before he had even finished speaking, three more bright points lit up in succession on his body.

The five flickering points of light, combined with the rippling Flame, made it seem as though Zhong Ming was wearing a robe adorned with starlight.

"I..."

"This..."

"Cough, cough... PFFT..."

Zhong Ming’s words, coupled with the successive acupoints lighting up on his body, caused the expressions of Ji Qinglian and her followers to twist in frustration.

With their mouths agape, they stared at the illogical yet very real scene before them, completely at a loss for words.

Someone became so agitated that they couldn’t catch their breath and directly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Well... this happened not just because of Zhong Ming’s taunts, but because their Dao Heart had shattered.

They despised Zhong Ming for being arrogant, conceited, disrespectful, and crude. Those who followed Ji Qinglian had looked down on him.

But now, the very person they despised, Zhong Ming, had achieved Initiation in the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch in an incredibly short time. In contrast, they had studied the Cultivation Technique for nearly half a month and achieved nothing.

They simply couldn’t accept this disparity.

Because of this, someone collapsed to the ground, their eyes staring blankly. "Why? Why are the heavens so unfair? To grant such Talent to such a stu— a divine person!"

While they were spitting blood and having breakdowns, the changes on Zhong Ming’s body were not yet over.

HUM!

Soon, two more acupoints lit up on Zhong Ming’s body. At this point, the number of lit acupoints on him had reached a total of seven.

The Flame, wreathed in starlight, made Zhong Ming look like a celestial being.

Maintaining this posture, Zhong Ming advised Ji Qinglian in a sincere tone, "Princess, what I told you before was truly for your own good. These failures who can’t even achieve Initiation in a Cultivation Technique... there’s simply no need to recruit them."

"You are a Commandery Princess. You can’t be so desperate that you’ll take just anyone."

"Parading around with such losers is just pathetic."

CRACK!

Zhong Ming’s belittling of Ji Qinglian’s followers was too much for them. They could no longer bear it. One of them stood up and roared at Zhong Ming, "You..."

His voice had just rung out when, with a HUM, another ’star’ lit up on Zhong Ming’s body.

"..."

This sight made the man who had stood up choke on his words, leaving him speechless.

Zhong Ming raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"Where do you think I was wrong!"

HUM! The ninth star lit up on Zhong Ming’s body.

Faced with Zhong Ming’s questioning, and seeing the stars light up on his body one after another, the man didn’t know what to say, much less how to argue... His eyes rolled back, and he ’fainted’ on the spot.

"..."

This scene left even Zhong Ming a little speechless.

’He’s quite a character, this one.’

Not wanting to make things difficult for the man, Zhong Ming turned his gaze to Ji Qinglian and said earnestly, "Princess, really, you should eat better... cough, cough, I mean, you should recruit some real geniuses. At this rate, people will think there’s no one of worth in Prince Qinghe’s Mansion..."

Halfway through his sentence, Zhong Ming seemed to remember something, and the look he gave Ji Qinglian changed. "Wait, you were the one who started this bet... Don’t tell me you also think cultivating the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch is difficult, do you?"