Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

The elder of the Long clan personally led its higher-ups forward, with Long Zaiye, Long Tianrui, and the other disciples trailing behind. Not far away, the Jiang, Zhao, and Ye clans also arrived but chose to keep their distance.

“Damn, we were late!” exclaimed Jiang Yue’e.

The Jiang clan’s ranks were somewhat disorderly as Feng Fei and Jiang Yue’e rushed over, leading hundreds of thousands of their disciples at full speed. Seeing the aftermath, Jiang Yue’e clenched her fists resentfully.

When they were ejected from the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm, they had ended up scattered. Jiang Yue’e had even been separated from Feng Fei, and upon reappearing, found herself amidst chaotic battles. Seeing their clan’s disciples being drawn into the conflict, she had immediately rushed over to rescue them.

After some effort, she had managed to reunite with Feng Fei. Fortunately, they hadn’t been too far apart. Rather than heading directly to the main battlefield, they had prioritized gathering their scattered disciples.

Only once they confirmed that all of their people were accounted for did they follow the signals from their seniors to regroup.

“It seems we missed a spectacular battle,” Feng Fei remarked with a sigh before turning to ask her fellow disciples about what had transpired.

Meanwhile, the Long clan elder approached Long Zhantian with a warm smile. “Long Zhantian, I never expected that in just a few months, your power would reach such astonishing heights! Congratulations!”

Long Chen nearly burst into laughter. These same old schemers had issued a kill order on his father, and Long Chen himself had been caught in their web. Yet now, this elder acted as if they were old friends, practically fawning over Long Zhantian. The irony was unbearable.

“Senior praises me too much. It’s all thanks to the blessing of the Jewel Blood Devil. Well, to put it even more frankly, it is the blessing of the Long clan,” replied Long Zhantian.

Just then, the Jewel Blood Devil came up to Long Zhantian and let out a low growl. When its eyes swept over the Long clan’s experts, its icy killing intent was overwhelming.

Long Zhantian patted its massive claw reassuringly. He understood its hatred—after all, the Long clan had imprisoned it for countless years.

Over the years, the Long clan had used formations to extract its devil blood, inhibiting its growth, treating it as little more than a living resource. That deep-seated grudge was imprinted into its very soul.

And yet, despite its hatred, the Jewel Blood Devil had submitted to Long Zhantian. The reason was simple: he had a similar experience. He, too, had been imprisoned, his essence blood extracted against his will by the Long clan. Their shared suffering had forged an unbreakable bond.

Back then, when Long Zhantian entered its devil prison, he didn’t say much and directly offered a spiritual contract, binding them as true comrades.

However, Long Zhantian hadn’t just freed it—he had returned all the devil blood the Long clan had extracted over the years. That blood contained primal chaos energy and terrifying devil qi. The Long clan had sought the primal chaos energy but found separating it from the devil qi too costly in resources. Thus, the stockpile had remained unused—until Long Zhantian took it all.

This was another reason why the Long clan was so enraged and directly gave the order to hunt Long Zhantian down.

Together, he and the weakened Jewel Blood Devil had escaped, vanishing without a trace. Now, they stood before the Long clan as beings far beyond their reach, leaving the elders in an awkward and difficult spot.

Just the Jewel Blood Devil’s gaze sent shivers down their spines, as though a single look from it could make their souls dissipate. They were finally bearing witness to the terror of a primal chaos species.

While patting the Jewel Blood Devil, Long Zhantian said, “I hear the Long clan issued a warrant for my arrest. And even my son was implicated. I wonder—was that true?”

“There must be some misunderstanding. Why was I not aware of such a thing?” The elder feigned surprise before turning back with a sharp expression. “What is he talking about?”

“Uh...”

The Long clan’s experts exchanged uneasy glances, momentarily too flabbergasted to respond.

The elder frowned and turned back to Long Zhantian. “Perhaps this was all a mistake. The fact that you have subdued the Jewel Blood Devil is a great boon to our clan. I do not know who issued such a foolish order, but rest assured, I will report it to the clan leader personally.”

Long Chen had to turn his face away, struggling to suppress his laughter. Did they really think they could erase their past actions with a few empty words? It was shameless beyond belief.

These people had been hunting his father with ruthless determination, and now, seeing his overwhelming strength, they wanted to conveniently rewrite history and extend an olive branch? Did they take them for fools?

The sheer brazenness of it left Long Chen filled with nothing but scorn. This elder’s face was truly thick, and the Long clan’s shamelessness was truly eye-opening.

“Ah, so it was all a misunderstanding! That’s good to hear,” Long Zhantian said with a faint smile, playing along.

The elder continued smoothly, “You and your son are both children of the Long clan, bearing the blood of the Jiuli race. Sooner or later, you will return to the divine clans. The Sovereign Emperor Heaven is undergoing a great transformation. Primal chaos energy is returning, and the hidden monsters of the nine heavens and ten lands are stirring once more. A new era is upon us. The battle of the ten thousand races will reach unprecedented heights. The divine clans need your power.”

Long Chen almost cursed the shameless elder. The latter really wanted to pull the two of them into the Long clan’s camp. Did he really think that it was possible for them to return after what the Long clan had done?

“We’ll discuss this another time,” Long Zhantian said noncommittally, his thoughts unreadable.

“Good, good. You two haven’t seen each other in a long time, so I won’t disturb your reunion any longer. With the coming of a new age, the Long clan’s ancestral lands will soon be reconnected to this world. We will be relocating, but as a part of the divine clans, our location will never be a secret. The gates of the Long clan will always remain open to you,” declared the elder.

The elder smiled at them before bringing the Long clan’s people away.

Among their disciples, Long Tianrui smiled and waved goodbye to Long Chen. Long Zaiye, on the other hand, was filled with resentment, his face dark with unwillingness. This time, he had truly and completely lost.

The other divine clans also departed. Long Chen exchanged farewells with Feng Fei and Jiang Yue’e before they, too, left.

Once the dust settled, only one final group remained—warriors bearing the banners of the Four Cardinal Alliances. They were waiting for Su Yu and the others to return.

Su Yu stepped forward, her eyes filled with admiration. “Long Chen, being born in the same era as you is truly an honor. Though we will never reach your level, we won’t stop growing. We will use our own blood and will to leave our mark on history.”

As they took their leave, the Dragonblood warriors bade them farewell. Though these warriors weren’t the strongest, they were true fighters—worthy of respect.

Finally, Long Chen turned to Mo Nian. “Bring Zifeng out. We’ll help him recover.”