Chapter 53: Hegemon of the Palaces
Translator: Irene Editor: X
If there were words to describe how Ai Hui felt then, it would have to be that his heart was being pierced by a thousand arrows!
The sharp metal elemental energy entered his body from all angles, and he felt as if he was a cloth puppet being stung by bees. Unfortunately, this happened only after his numbness disappeared, allowing the pain to intensify.
If it was not for the fact that he was used to the pricking pain from his stay in the Suspending Golden Pagoda, he would have been shrieking miserably and endlessly.
His time in the pagoda had trained him to better endure agony like this.
“Your stamina is quite impressive, huh.” The old man was amazed. Ever since this prototype was created, he had been the only test subject. He had experienced the pain from the fire attribute armor. His ghostly howls and wails gave an assistant teacher such a shock that he lost control and threw the operating compass far away.
On the other hand, Ai Hui had yet to make any sounds so far. He was indeed a wild beast in human form, one who managed to survive the Wilderness!
The old man’s eyes flashed. As a teacher with countless ideas, what was more important than a strong, durable disciple as a test subject? He could practically imagine how having a disciple like Ai Hui would help him to advance his theories and research by leaps and lead to substantial breakthroughs.
A perfect partner to experiment with!
He licked his lips as if he had seen fine delicacies as he mumbled, “Increase the intensity, elemental energy becomes more fragmented, metal elemental energy is a little foreign, no problem, try a few more times…”
Thousands of heart-piercing arrows became thousands of ants devouring Ai Hui’s body and he began to tremble.
The old man was a good example of what would happen if decades of accumulated passion was released all at once. He had a frenzied gaze, was muttering to himself as he stared at the operating compass in his hand, and unceasingly adjusted the armor’s elemental energy while looking at the luster of the copper armor.
As he fiddled with the remote, the copper armor illuminated as well.
Ai Hui felt as if he had fallen into hell and into the eighteenth level no less.
The elemental energy stimulating his body was constantly changing. Numb, itchy, painful, hot, sore, and so on… all kinds of different sensations appeared in different parts of his body.
Before today, no, before putting on the armor, he had never imagined that metal elemental energy had so many permutations. Every variation happened without any warning.
That feeling was simply… such a painful revelation.
Beneath the teacher’s messy hair, his eyes were fervent and focused.
The light on the armor kept changing, and he stood by the side taking notes with each transition while saying words and terms that Ai Hui had no knowledge of.
Ai Hui had no other thoughts at this point. He just wanted this purgatory experiment to end as soon as possible.
This set of copper armor had no practical value. Ai Hui acknowledged that his endurance level was higher than average, but a few times he had almost passed out and a few times his mind went blank. He suspected that students with slightly weaker constitutions would be in danger. Even if it was not physically hazardous, it would be traumatizing and would become a mental block that hindered future training.
What an extreme product…
This thought floated across his mind, but what he focused more on was his admiration for his teacher.
Although the entire process was like a tortuous purge, to the point where dying was a better choice, Ai Hui felt the potential of the procedure.
Even the many minute differences within the metal elemental energy were individually amazing!
Ai Hui had a very strong feeling that even if this test produced negligible results, his interaction with so many different kinds of metal elemental energy would be considerably beneficial for future trainings.
If he had not experienced it once for himself, he would be absolutely ignorant of the slight differences within the energies. They were all metal elemental energies, but each had subtle distinctions which would reveal their entirely unique nature.
Metal elemental energy had an overall character, but contained respective variations as well.
The teacher’s knowledge ran deep.
Ai Hui knew that when it came to principles like these, he would not be able to achieve any result just by fumbling about on his own.
All of a sudden, an intense wave passed over his natal residences. At this point, the old man raised his head. “Let’s test your five residences and eight palaces to see which ones are stronger and which are weaker.”
Ai Hui was stunned. It was the first time he had heard that some of the five residences and eight palaces were stronger than others.
As if he had read Ai Hui’s mind, the old man started to explain, “Teachers do not usually lecture about this. It is more complicated since there are so many students and plenty of problems involved. You just have to think about it this way. Some people are right-handed while others are left-handed. Some were born with a stronger and more agile left leg. The human body is balanced yet unbalanced. The same goes for the five residences and eight palaces. Some would be stronger and others would be weaker. This used to be a heritage secret in some influential families, but now it’s widespread. Those families were amazing, and the research they have completed was so thorough. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your palaces would be very advantageous for your subsequent training sessions.”
Comprehension flashed across Ai Hui’s face. What the old man had said made a lot of sense and was very convincing.
“Your opened natal elemental residence is not bad since you only broke through after filling up your elemental energy. As I have said before, waiting is beneficial since it allows your natal elemental residence to stabilize. Most people, however, do not have the patience.”
The old man spoke while he tinkered with the operating compass.
Shortly, a ball of bright light lit up in Ai Hui’s left palm.
“Not bad, the palace in your left hand is not bad at all. It’s a strong palace.”
Soon, another ball of bright light appeared in his right palm.
“Palace in the right hand is a strong one as well. Not bad eh, there is balance in your hands and some moves can only be learned if there’s balance.”
“The palace in the left foot is a strong one!”
“Oh my, the palace in the right foot is also strong. Balanced legs and all limbs are balanced!” the old man commented in bewilderment, face full of excitement. “Son, you have a flair for combat! Balanced limbs… perfect reptile eh. I know a few extremely powerful moves which require coordination of the limbs. Two hundred years ago, the leader of the Infantry Division, Wu Yan, possessed precisely this balance of strong palaces in every limb. Know what his nickname was?Iron Octopus! Hahaha, you’re indeed my disciple.”
Reptile…
Ai Hui did not know what to say but… it sounded fearsome? Still, adding the word “iron” in front of “octopus” did not make it sound any fiercer at all.
“Strong earth palace!”
“Strong sea palace!”
“Gate palace is strong! Ah ah ah ah son, if your sky palace is strong, you’re invincible! A body full of strong palaces! Absolutely awesome! No points of weakness! A perfect five residences and eight palaces! Know what this is called? Hegemon of the palaces!”
The sky palace was located between the eyebrows. Looking at how agitated his teacher was becoming, Ai Hui was also excited. Hegemon of the palaces! It sounded domineering, but... why did he think about rape... (The chinese words for “Hegemon of the palaces” sounds like an abbreviation for a chinese idiom which means “to force oneself upon somebody; to rape”)
A body full of strong palaces was more pleasing to hear.
“Sky palace, sky palace, it must be a strong palace… eh?”
The old man stopped suddenly as he stared blankly at Ai Hui’s helmet.