Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

The golden warhammer directly exploded alongside the lizard leader’s arm.

Although Long Chen had known that his Eight Star Battle Armor’s power would rise to a terrifying level thanks to his new astral vein, he hadn’t expected a casual attack would be enough to blow apart the golden warhammer.

The leader of the Blood Crystal Demon Lizards hastily fell back. However, Long Chen gave him no chance to take a break and swung Evilmoon at his head.

BOOM!

The lizard leader detonated into a bloody mist, his body and soul annihilated in an instant.

“Waning Moon Heaven Shaking Slash!” Long Chen roared.

Evilmoon swung horizontally, releasing a black saber-image that cleaved through space. The remaining Blood Crystal Demon Lizards barely had time to gasp before being blown apart.

Three slashes. The first destroyed the warhammer. The second obliterated their leader. The third annihilated the rest.

The ground caved in, and the sky itself fractured, as though it might shatter entirely under the weight of his power.

As Long Chen retracted Evilmoon, his starry sea flickered, dimmed, and vanished entirely.

“As expected, I can’t maintain full power for long,” Long Chen sighed.

The overwhelming power of the Eight Star Battle Armor, bolstered by his astral dragon qi, came with a cost—his astral energy was drained in mere moments.

Amid the ruins, Long Chen’s gaze fell on the clay jar. Its master was gone, yet it continued to absorb Heavenly Doyen energy. When the last trace of energy was consumed, its lid sealed shut.

“Oh?” Long Chen’s eyes narrowed as he approached the jar. It offered no resistance as he picked it up, almost as if it were a masterless object.

Curiosity piqued, Long Chen sent his divine sense inside. His eyes widened as he felt the dense, pure Heavenly Doyen energy contained within.

“What the fuck? I’ve struck gold!”

Long Chen hadn’t expected this jar to contain such an enormous amount of pure Heavenly Doyen energy.

“You really did,” the Earth Cauldron chimed in agreement, its tone almost amused.

Long Chen quickly calmed himself down as his suspicions rose. “This makes no sense. That lizard was already half a step into the nine-vein realm. This is precisely when he’d need Heavenly Doyen energy to ascend further. Why store so much instead of using it? Unless... this energy wasn’t meant for him.”

The thought unsettled him. If true, then whoever this energy was intended for must possess unfathomable strength—strong enough to compel such a powerful expert to act as their servant.

“Ah, that’s right…” Long Chen muttered.

Suddenly, Long Chen’s mind descended into the primal chaos space. Rows of new Heavenly Dao Fruits greeted him, their surfaces rippling with violet, scale-like patterns. Each fruit pulsed with immense earth energy.

Long Chen plucked the strongest fruit and examined it, his brow furrowing. “It’s not him.”

On his way to the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm, he had sensed a terrifying aura left behind by an expert of the Blood Crystal Demon Lizard race.

When Long Chen examined that battlefield, he was extremely shocked. He had never sensed such a strange earth energy—a variant he’d later learned was called crystal energy. At the time, he predicted that the attacker must have been an extraordinary expert.

However, the Heavenly Dao Fruit in his hand—from the lizard leader—didn’t give off the same fluctuations as what he sensed on the battlefield. So there was a stronger lizard out there. Long Chen’s instincts told him the recipient of this stored Heavenly Doyen energy might be that lizard.

“Someone as powerful as this lizard was willing to work for someone else. Then, this person has to be terrifyingly powerful. He can’t be weaker than Fan Tiande or Li Changgeng,” Long Chen muttered.

The stronger the opponent, the more excited he became. He then eyed the Heavenly Dao Fruit in his hand.

Long Chen said, “Li Qi, Mingyuan, I’m not going to give you this fruit. I’ll get you something even better.”

Li Qi and Song Mingyuan’s earth energy possessed unparalleled strength, embodying the full spectrum of the earth’s elemental might. As the foundation of all life, the earth exuded a nurturing and selfless power. Its immense defensive capabilities and sustainability stood in stark contrast to its offensive might, as destruction was contrary to its essence.

As a result, while Li Qi and Song Mingyuan were formidable in their own right, their specialization in defense often left them struggling to keep up with the Dragonblood Legion’s aggressive, offense-oriented style.

However, the crystal-element Heavenly Dao Fruit offered a solution. If the duo could harness its power, they would gain a sharp and deadly offensive edge, complementing their already impenetrable defense. Long Chen couldn’t even estimate how great their combined power would be at that time.

Thinking of that, Long Chen grabbed the mysterious jar and flew for a bit until he found a secluded location. There, he opened the jar, releasing an overwhelming torrent of Heavenly Doyen energy. The next moment, his divine ring flared to life, and two astral veins spiraled within it, eagerly devouring the potent energy.

The first astral vein had already fully matured, so the energy it was devouring was transported to the starry sea as the reserve to condense the third astral vein. As for the smaller astral vein, it was rapidly growing thanks to this energy. In the blink of an eye, it grew from only three feet to miles long.

According to the Earth Cauldron, as long as Long Chen had enough energy, his rate of growth would be astounding. And as expected, in just two hours, his second astral vein reached its full capacity.

Yet, the jar’s Heavenly Doyen energy showed no signs of depletion, and the two astral veins continued their ravenous consumption, leaving not a single wisp wasted.

After that, the third astral vein quickly condensed. With no one disturbing Long Chen, it went smoothly. But as the third astral vein emerged, the rate of growth noticeably slowed. The Heavenly Doyen energy supply was insufficient to sustain it. By the time the jar was emptied, the third astral vein only grew to half the size of the other two.

Unwilling to leave things there, Long Chen expanded his manifestation to devour the energy of heaven and earth. The surrounding energy was sucked dry, but the third astral vein didn’t grow at all. Seeing this, Long Chen had no choice but to give up.

Indeed, it was impossible for him to condense astral veins through ordinary means. He had to look for areas with more energy.

Even so, the accomplishment of condensing three astral veins filled Long Chen with newfound vigor. His astral energy now surged with abundance, granting him extraordinary power.

With lightning wings on his back, Long Chen flew off into the depths of the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm.