Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

The world around him vanished, and Long Chen found himself once more atop Devil Cloud Mountain. Countless runic fragments circled the members of the original devil race, waiting to be absorbed.

Within these runic fragments, Long Chen sensed Niya’s aura, along with traces of her fear and helplessness.

As the daughter of the original devil Great Sovereign, she had been forced to be strong. Yet, beneath that strength lay a fragile heart. Only after completing her mission and departing this world did she allow her fear to show. She didn’t know if she would ever see her mother again.

Though she had been powerful, she was still a child. The merciless war had dragged her into its cruel grasp, robbing her of youth and peace. Even after her death, she had to endure endless loneliness to fulfill her duty.

A rune danced before Long Chen like a tiny butterfly, as if reluctant to leave.

Long Chen slowly extended his hand. “Leave a mark. If I ever stand at the peak and control the Grand Dao, and you still haven’t found your mother, I’ll find you in the reincarnation cycle and look after you for a lifetime.”

After Long Chen was done, that tiny rune slowly fell onto his palm and actually left a tiny mark.

Long Chen clenched his hand. It was a promise—a vow he might never have the chance to fulfill, yet one he would never break if fate allowed him the strength to keep it.

Thinking of Niya’s fear and loneliness as she departed, Long Chen felt his heart breaking.

Wars always destroy the most beautiful things in the world. Just when will this endless bloodshed end?

He turned to Yue Xiaoqian, whose face was still pale. She had no time to rest, her body weary from exhaustion.

“I’m not strong enough. Evilmoon, guard me,” Long Chen muttered.

Blood-colored petals bloomed once more, forming a barrier around Devil Cloud Mountain.

Long Chen sat cross-legged in the air, forming hand seals. Violet Sovereign flames rose around him, converging with his seven-colored flames upon his Supreme Bone.

Using his violet blood Sovereign flames, he started purifying the seven-colored flames. Though the seven-colored flames were wild, they did not reject the violet blood. It was just that this process would take some time.

Compared to his even fiercer dragon blood, refining the seven-colored flames would be easier. Once purified, he could use both bloodlines to temper his dragon blood. That would quicken the process.

When all three bloodlines were purified, his power would ascend to another level entirely. Only then would he have the confidence to open the eighth gate.

The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art’s eighth gate... Long Chen’s instincts warned him it was something terrifying, something lethal. Even though his strength had soared, he had yet to touch it.

As his physical body strengthened, his astral power flowed more smoothly, and his control over the Starry Sky Battle Robe deepened.

Two hours later, a faint rainbow glow appeared within his violet blood Sovereign flames. Their power was merging; his Supreme Blood’s wild qi was slowly being expelled.

Over time, Long Chen had absorbed all kinds of foreign energies into his Sovereign flames. His violet blood could purify them naturally, but his dragon and Supreme Blood could not. They were wild by nature, and those strange energies only made them harder to control.

Threads of black qi slowly seeped out from within the rainbow light. Seeing it, Long Chen’s eyes narrowed.

“So this black qi is what makes my Supreme Blood and dragon blood so violent.”

Once expelled, this black qi soon merged into heaven and earth, as though the world itself reclaimed it.

That sight reminded Long Chen of his past tribulations—how his blood soul energy had been drawn away. Then he recalled what the Earth Cauldron and Niya had said about the Heavenly Dao. He was getting closer to the truth.

At the same time, Long Chen sensed the danger approaching. He had to get stronger quickly.

Three days later, the seven-colored flames burned around him like unsheathed swords, slicing rifts into the void. When his flames trembled, spatial tears spread through the air. With a wave of his hand, he drew the flames back.

“My seven-colored Sovereign flames have been purified of that strange energy. Though I still can’t control them as smoothly as before, they’re stable enough for battle.”

Long Chen clenched his fist. With this, his killing power would be several times greater than before. The thought alone stirred his blood.

“I should strike while the iron’s hot and purify my dragon blood as well!”

He glanced at Yue Xiaoqian and the others. They were still absorbing runes, surrounded by the dim figures of the heroic spirits, who had yet to fade.

Just then, divine light streaked across the horizon, and the sound of rushing wind filled the sky.

“So they’ve finally come.”

Long Chen frowned. In a flash, he appeared outside the barrier.

That divine light had already reached him. Long Chen waved his hand, and the light transformed into a feathered arrow in his hand.

BANG!

The moment Long Chen grasped it, the arrow exploded. His expression hardened—the power behind it was immense.

Long Chen had failed to dispel the power of this arrow, which resulted in it detonating. Clearly, the shooter was incredibly powerful and specialized in archery.

Before Long Chen could locate the archer, a torrent of arrows rained down from the sky. Each one carried strong force and moved in strange, unpredictable arcs, aimed precisely at his vital points.

Yet, not a single shooter revealed themselves. The eerie silence made the ambush even more chilling.

In response, Long Chen snorted and stamped on the void. A violet qi wave spread out, blowing the arrows apart.

“A group of shameless things!”

Long Chen snorted and vanished, reappearing thousands of miles away.

BOOM!

With a single punch, Long Chen crushed the void, forcing a group of lifeforms with black wings on their back out of hiding. They spat out blood.

“Hahaha! You’ve fallen for it!” shouted someone.

As Long Chen attacked, a massive figure appeared where he had stood. A three-hundred-meter-tall giant swung an enormous warhammer down upon Evilmoon’s barrier.