Nine Star Hegemon Body ArtNine Star Hegemon Body Art
The experts of Tianyu City split into two groups. The seniors, led by Chu He, headed straight for the Gold Lion race, while the junior generation, guided by Long Chen, advanced toward the Stone Spirit race. Long Chen's divine sense swept through their territory, revealing that the Stone Spirit race had deployed almost all their forces in the attack on Tianyu City. What remained were just the elderly and the weak.
Li Yunhua and her peers descended upon the enemies like ravenous wolves. It was an absolute slaughter. Since they had been suppressed by the Stone Spirit and Gold Lion races for so many years, every one of them had ancestors who had perished at the hands of these races. Now, the time for retribution had come, and within two short hours, the entire Stone Spirit race was massacred.
Upon arriving at the heart of the Stone Spirit race’s territory, Long Chen was surprised to find a one-way transportation formation. He instantly realized just how great Jiang Yiming’s ambitions were. The bloody traitor had used the Stone Spirit race’s power to create a grand transportation formation, wanting to pass through the blockade of devil creatures to enter the Heaven Essence World of legends.
Although Long Chen was not a formation master, he could tell that the formation was designed to traverse an enormous distance. But in the end, it was left unfinished.
Most likely, Jiang Yiming had conned the Stone Spirit race, telling them that he could transport the entire Stone Spirit race to the Heaven Essence World. With this false promise, he had won their complete support.
Li Yunhua and the others were equally baffled by the sight of the half-finished formation, unable to figure out why there would be a transportation formation here.
“Everyone, the battle’s over, and the crisis has been resolved. Now, Tianyu City will enjoy a period of peace. However, it’s time for me to say goodbye,” Long Chen announced, walking onto the transportation formation.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen...” Li Yunhua and the others were saddened. After all, Long Chen had helped them wipe out the Gold Lion race and the Stone Spirit race. In their eyes, he was a god-like existence.
Some of them even saw him as their heaven-sent protector. Hearing that he was going to leave, they were devastated.
Smiling slightly, Long Chen said, “Don’t feel bad. Work hard on cultivation and walk out of this desolate world. Once you can see a vaster sky, maybe we can meet again.”
With a wave, Long Chen activated the transportation formation. The platform began to tremble violently, and a gust of wind pushed Li Yunhua and the others back. In a flash of light, the formation collapsed, leaving behind nothing but empty space where Long Chen had stood.
Looking at the empty and crumbling transportation formation, Li Yunhua and the others couldn’t speak for a long time. Their hearts felt hollow. They had just witnessed the power of a peerless heavenly genius and glimpsed what it meant to be a true peak expert, but now it was all gone, as if it had been nothing more than a fleeting dream. They wished they could remain in that dream a little longer, unwilling to wake up to the reality of Long Chen’s departure.
Chu He arrived shortly after, leading the senior experts who had dealt with the Gold Lion race. Seeing the shattered transportation formation, he didn’t need an explanation; he understood what had happened.
“A great Peng spreads its wings beyond the heavens. Sparrows and small birds remain perched on rooftops, while a dragon will not stay in shallow waters,” Chu He sighed. “Children, work hard on your cultivation. Although the crisis is over, Tianyu City’s strength is waning. In a hundred years, its protective energy will completely vanish. If we cannot break through the devil creature blockade by then, we will be exterminated. Long Chen saved us once, but he cannot save us forever. We must rely on ourselves!”
Despite their reluctance, the group began cleaning up the battlefield and left the Stone Spirit race’s territory.
Meanwhile, Long Chen was holding onto the Earth Cauldron, flying through a spatial channel filled with dangerous spatial blades. They exploded on contact with the Earth Cauldron, but the impact left Long Chen grimacing. After all, these spatial blades were as powerful as a seven-vein Emperor’s attacks.
Though the cauldron protected Long Chen, the sheer force of the collisions nearly made him cough up blood.
“Jiang Yiming, you bastard! I can't believe I trusted you! What kind of half-assed transportation formation did you create?!” Long Chen cursed as he clung to the Earth Cauldron.
Normal spatial channels were constructed to be stable, but this one was filled with chaotic spatial flows, making it dangerously unstable. Without the protection of the Earth Cauldron, Long Chen would have been torn to shreds.
What Long Chen didn’t realize was that Jiang Yiming had designed this transportation formation with the intention of using it after becoming an eight-vein Emperor. Jiang Yiming also knew how unstable it was, but there was no way around it. He had given up stability in pursuit of even greater distance; he wanted to rely on the power of an eight-vein Emperor to get through this chaotic flow of space.
Unaware of this, Long Chen had already suffered dozens of cuts from the spatial blades at the beginning of the journey. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have stood a chance—they would have been killed a thousand times over. Summoning the Earth Cauldron to shield himself, Long Chen pressed forward through the chaotic flow.
In truth, Long Chen was capable of breaking through the spatial channel and leaving, but that meant he would have to deal with the devil creatures along the way, which would take up a lot of time.
Gritting his teeth, Long Chen forced his way through the channel with the Earth Cauldron. He lost track of how long he battled through the chaos, but finally, the void shattered, and the chaotic spatial flows dissipated—the transportation was complete.
“Haha! I made it!” Long Chen laughed in relief. But his joy quickly faded as he realized he was surrounded by devil creatures.
Hundreds of thousands of them, with even the weakest being an Emperor, stood in a vast circle around an altar. Atop the altar, an elder waved a bone staff, leading what appeared to be a ritual. As Long Chen had unceremoniously interrupted it, now all their eyes were locked onto him.
Long Chen’s head buzzed as he took in the scene. The elder wore a white bone crown, radiating terrifying devil qi. It was an Earth Devil, and not just any—this one was a nine-vein Emperor. Around him, over ten other Earth Devils knelt in prayer, and each was a powerful eight-vein Emperor.
“Could my luck be any worse? Time for the divine strategy... run for your life!” Long Chen cursed.
Seizing the moment of shock, Long Chen bolted. But before he could get far, the nine-vein Emperor roared, raising his bone staff. After that, a beam of divine light shot toward Long Chen.