Chapter 192: Grandmaster-Level Celestial Protection

Li Nianlong suddenly felt a massive headache. "Mom, my feelings for them... To say it plainly, my feelings for Ruyue are the deepest since we've been together the longest. But the feelings I have for her are more like those between siblings, more like family affection. Turning that into romantic love would be difficult and requires a special catalyst.

As for Changchang and Xixi... They are both nice, but they're too young, eight years younger than me. It's not something I can consider in the short term, and my feelings for them are similar to those for Ruyue. So..."

"So, Youyou is the most suitable choice." Li Ying smiled with satisfaction. "Youyou is indeed excellent. She's the eldest daughter of the Xiang family, beautiful, with a good personality, and you have a good relationship with her. It's a perfect match."

Li Nianlong was at a loss, half laughing, half crying. "Mom, you're jumping to conclusions too quickly! What I meant to say was, so... I haven't thought about marrying any of them yet."

"What!?" Li Ying's beautiful eyes narrowed as she stared intently at him.

Cold sweat broke out on Li Nianlong's forehead. "Mom, can you give me some more time? Bringing this up suddenly, I'm really not prepared for it, and I can't give you a definite answer right now."

Li Ying looked at him, trying to see if he was just placating her. She knew her son well and could tell his true thoughts at a glance. After observing him, she confirmed that Li Nianlong wasn't just trying to brush her off. With a touch of helplessness, she nodded. "Alright! I'll give you three more days to think it over."

"Three days!?" Li Nianlong was exasperated. "Mom, you're really putting me in a tough spot!"

"Three days it is. Within those three days, you must give me an answer. If not, I'll leave and never come back!"

Mom, can't you use different words to threaten me?

Li Nianlong was extremely frustrated. Annoyed, he didn't enter the system that night and spent the entire evening contemplating whom he should choose.

If he had to choose someone, the first person he would consider was definitely Nalan Ruyue. Nalan Ruyue had a gentle personality, was understanding, and was skilled in household chores. She could cook excellent meals. Most importantly, although she had social skills, she preferred staying at home quietly, doing household chores, cooking, and watching cartoons. She was practically the dream full-time wife for any man.

If there were any flaws... it was that her identity was still a mystery and she was naturally mute. Of course, this could be changed with medicinal pills as Li Nianlong's level increased. However, Nalan Ruyue was only eighteen now... oh, she would be nineteen next month. She was still one year away from the legal marriage age, and her mysterious identity was the biggest obstacle. Even if Li Ying didn't care, Grandfather Liu and Shao Meiyun would certainly try to obstruct it. Li Nianlong had already anticipated this.

As for the Yue sisters, as he told Li Ying, they were too young, two years younger than Nalan Ruyue. Marrying a high school girl seemed a bit perverse. Of course, if Li Ying was willing to wait four or five years, Li Nianlong had no objections. But would Li Ying be willing to wait?

Probably not.

Sun Siyu, the lady from that wealthy family, was not favored by Li Ying. Thus, the only option left seemed to be Xiang Youyou.

Xiang Youyou was indeed excellent. She was the eldest daughter of the Xiang family, had a good personality that matched well with Li Nianlong's temperament, and had a great figure. Though Li Nianlong hadn't seen her real appearance, Li Ying had and said she was not inferior to Nalan Ruyue. This indicated that Xiang Youyou was also extraordinarily beautiful. Thus, Xiang Youyou seemed to be a great choice.

But there was one problem... Xiang Youyou's younger brother seemed to have a sister complex.

A brother with a sister complex was really annoying, just like an older brother with a sister complex or a father with a daughter complex. These people caused countless troubles for those in love with their relatives. Moreover, knowing that his girlfriend was 'controlled' by such perverse men wouldn't feel good.

Li Nianlong knew a bit about Xiang Yu, who had an extreme sister complex. Even when he saw a girl like Nalan Ruyue, whom every man wanted to marry, Xiang Yu merely glanced at her with disdain. He was deeply poisoned by his sister complex, and it was incurable. Thinking about facing such a brother-in-law, Li Nianlong felt very uncomfortable.

Of course, Li Nianlong didn't yet know that Xiang Youyou not only had a brother with a sister complex but also a father with a daughter complex. If he knew, he would be utterly frustrated. Even if Xiang Youyou was extremely beautiful, her father and brother having such inappropriate feelings for her made them abominable, perverse, and scum! They should be eradicated by everyone...

"Sigh!" Li Nianlong was troubled! Moreover, he and Xiang Youyou currently only had sibling-like feelings for each other. As for whether Xiang Youyou had any feelings for him, he was uncertain. If he excluded Xiang Youyou, he would have no one else to choose.

After a sleepless night of fruitless contemplation, Li Nianlong walked out of his room at dawn, agitated. He took out a wolf-tooth club and began using the Celestial Protection technique to fiercely strike his own body, using the pain to numb his annoyance. However, the servants were terrified when they saw this.

"Oh my goodness! The master is self-harming! What should we do? Should we inform the old master?"

"Are you kidding! The master is practicing the Iron Shirt technique! Didn't you see that there's not a single wound on his body!"

"Really! His clothes are torn, what a pity. These clothes cost thousands of dollars!"

"Thousands of dollars are nothing to the master, not even enough for a bottle of his wine!"

"Being rich is really great!"

Li Nianlong was unaware that he had become a topic of conversation among the servants. He continued to furiously strike himself until...

"Celestial Protection level up, now Grandmaster level."

Celestial Protection (Grandmaster Level 0%): A layer of celestial energy protects the entire body, increasing defense by 400%. Effective time: 4 minutes, no cooldown time, consuming 400 true energy points per use.

Seeing the effects of the Grandmaster-level Celestial Protection, Li Nianlong was not too surprised, as it was about what he had expected. With a 400% increase in defense, given the current situation, even if a ballistic missile exploded nearby, it wouldn't kill him instantly. As long as he wasn't dead, he could use Concentrate and Rejuvenate to immediately restore his life. If that didn't work, he could take a pill to recover.

Based on the previous effects of Celestial Protection upgrades, the perfect-level Celestial Protection should increase defense by 500%. This was enough for Li Nianlong. However, the true energy consumption was high. At the Grandmaster level, it required 400 true energy points, which was quite a lot. With his current true energy recovery speed, it would take a full eight seconds to recover.

Eight seconds was enough time to do many things.

Grandmaster-level Celestial Protection required 400 true energy points. If it reached the perfect level, the true energy consumption would surely be even more unbearable. Fortunately, he had followed the advice of Dragonfly from the beginning and focused on increasing his true energy. This was truly a scarce resource and the basic guarantee for maximizing his strength.

"Brother, up so early to practice!" Just as Li Nianlong stopped, Xiang Youyou's voice came from a distance. Turning his head, he saw Xiang Youyou running over in sportswear, her face covered in sweat, indicating she had been running for a while.

Li Nianlong stuck the wolf-tooth club into the ground. "You got up even earlier than I did."

Xiang Youyou laughed. "I'm used to getting up early to exercise. But this is the first time I've seen you up early to practice. Brother, what were you practicing just now? Iron Shirt or Golden Bell Cover?"

"Neither." Li Nianlong shook his head. "It's a horizontal training technique I created myself. I call it Celestial Protection."

"Celestial Protection?" Xiang Youyou laughed. "The name sounds impressive. But how powerful is it?"

"So-so, it increases my defense by four times." Li Nianlong swung the wolf-tooth club and struck his own chest hard. With a thud, it sounded like hitting a car tire, making a muffled noise that left Xiang Youyou dumbfounded.

"Brother, can I take a look at the wolf-tooth club?" Xiang Youyou asked.

"Here." Li Nianlong handed the wolf-tooth club to her. The club was a weapon from the Liu residence, made of fine steel, a meter long, weighing over thirty pounds. The spikes on it were sharpened and very sharp.

Xiang Youyou felt the weight as she swung it a few times, producing a strong whistling sound. She was even more amazed. "Brother, you're not wearing any body armor, are you?"

Li Nianlong shook his head and took off his shirt, revealing his bare

 upper body. His well-proportioned muscles made Xiang Youyou blush.

He patted his chest. "Come on, hit me with all your strength."

"Are you sure?" Xiang Youyou saw that Li Nianlong's chest was slightly red from the previous strikes and knew he had used the club on himself with considerable force. But she couldn't gauge how much. Now, Li Nianlong was asking her to hit him with all her strength, making her a bit apprehensive.

"Yes!" Li Nianlong nodded. "Go ahead. Your strength won't hurt me."

Xiang Youyou, trained in the Overlord Technique, which focused on power, felt a bit annoyed when Li Nianlong said her strength couldn't hurt him. She gripped the club tightly. "Brother, be careful. Here I come."

Li Nianlong nodded. "Go ahead, hit me with all your strength!"

Seeing that Li Nianlong was ready, Xiang Youyou shouted and swung the club with all her might, aiming at Li Nianlong's chest.

With a thud, the spikes on the club couldn't pierce Li Nianlong's skin. The tremendous recoil made Xiang Youyou's hands go numb, leaving her astonished. But she felt one hit wasn't enough proof, so she swung the club ten more times in heavy strikes. She aimed at his chest, abdomen, back, and even his neck. The repeated thuds made her heart pound, and she was utterly shocked.

After stopping, she saw that aside from some redness on his skin, there were no other issues. Not even a scratch.