Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

“The rank three flame of the Heavenly Flame Rankings is the Virtue Golden Flame,” Aunt Gong said, staring at Long Chen.

“No wonder it could suppress the Yan Xu Flame!” exclaimed Long Chen. “But...”

“But it doesn’t seem to have any destructive power?”

Aunt Gong smiled. Golden flames curled around her hand, bathing her in a holy radiance that made her seem almost divine.

“The Virtue Golden Flame is used to save people, not to kill,” Aunt Gong explained. “Its nature can suppress all evil in this world. But because heaven and earth have fallen into disorder, its power has weakened. It is no longer invulnerable to evil. Yun Chi’s withering Golden Virtue Lotus is the clearest proof.”

Long Chen nodded as he thought of the withered lotus seed. He felt like he had grasped the hidden meaning behind her words.

“Aunt Gong, what about the other two Heavenly Flames? Can you tell me?” asked Long Chen.

“There is no meaning in telling you,” she said gently. “At your pace of growth, you will encounter them soon enough.”

Then, her smile dimmed with pain, and she brushed Long Chen’s cheek with the tenderness of a mother. “Child, Aunt Gong knows that it’s been hard on you, but there will be even greater challenges up ahead. You must persevere.”

As this maternal warmth flowed into Long Chen, he nodded firmly. “Aunt Gong, don’t worry. I am fully confident now. I’ve never been in better condition. My path is clear. I know what I must do and what I will face.”

“Then child, take care of yourself!”

Aunt Gong kissed Long Chen’s forehead as if saying goodbye to her own child.

The little fox charged out and wrapped around Long Chen’s neck. Just then, Long Chen’s figure slowly faded away.

The little fox seemed unhappy with it and squeaked at Aunt Gong. After that, Aunt Gong rubbed the fox’s head and sighed.

“You’re all good children. I also want to help him, but I can’t. Long Chen can only depend on himself.”

...

As the golden lotus world disappeared, Long Chen came back to reality. Yun Chi stood where she had been, absentmindedly staring into the distance.

“Lord Long Chen... Can you give me some guidance? What should I do now?” Yun Chi asked, looking at Long Chen bleakly.

She had not comprehended what Aunt Gong was trying to tell her. After all, it was a complete toppling of her worldview.

Long Chen was speechless. Her foolishness knew no bounds. Under normal circumstances, he would avoid such people entirely. He didn’t have the patience to teach an idiot.

But when he glanced at the other Golden Virtue Lotus that was on the verge of death, he couldn’t harden his heart to ignore her.

“Miss Yun Chi, Aunt Gong already spelled it out,” Long Chen explained. “This heaven and earth is no longer the old one. Before, everything you did aligned with its virtue, so the Golden Virtue Lotus flourished. But once the world changed and order collapsed, the laws changed. In other words, your entire belief system, built on the idea that the world’s suffering was finite, collapsed with it.”

After a brief pause, Long Chen continued, “No matter how much suffering you endure, you will not be able to fill this deficiency in the world. I don’t know what the world before the primal chaos war was like, but if an inheritance like yours existed back then, it must have functioned in opposition to an equal and opposite force. One good, one evil. One kind, one malicious. And above them, something that maintained the balance. The world needed you to maintain that balance. Perhaps that was your virtue. However, the balance is gone, and the scales are broken. Your Preservation Heavenly Dao has lost its foundation, so your inheritance is declining.”

“Then... Lord Long Chen, what should I do now?” Yun Chi pleaded.

“If you’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask?” Long Chen snapped.

I’ve spelled everything out, yet she still doesn’t get it. Is her head made of tofu?

Seeing his cutting gaze, Yun Chi’s eyes reddened. She held back her tears and lowered her head, but she didn’t leave.

Long Chen sighed and looked around before continuing.

“Your Preservation Heavenly Dao does good deeds, right? That’s what you’d call them? They’re only good deeds in your eyes. To this world, they are not necessarily good. Did you ever step outside the rules of your inheritance to view things from the world’s perspective? Did you ever consider whether the people you saved deserved saving? Or what consequences did their survival bring to the world?”

After saying that, Long Chen turned around and left. If she still couldn’t understand it, then the Preservation Heavenly Dao was simply fated to be destroyed.

The moment Long Chen learned that this golden lotus seed was the Golden Virtue Lotus, he instantly understood Aunt Gong’s intention and the whole karmic implications.

Long Chen had slain countless creatures. His hands were drenched in blood. Yet, his conscience remained clear and steady. For a long time, he suspected this unnatural calm came from his heart-devil. Was it normal to kill so freely and feel nothing?

But now, he understood: he had falsely blamed his heart-devil. The Golden Virtue Lotus flourishing within him was the proof that everything he did was virtuous in the eyes of this world.

Long Chen had boldly declared that he would personally change this world. It seemed that those big words got him the approval of the Golden Virtue Lotus.

With Yun Chi serving as a living example of what not to do, sudden enlightenment washed over him. His confidence burned brighter than ever.

From now on, Long Chen vowed that he would never doubt himself. Since his target was clear, he just had to boldly step forward one step at a time.

If anyone got in his way, he would mercilessly cut them down, all the way until he reached the peak of the nine heavens. Once he controlled the nine heavens and ten lands, he would create a new world order.

“What happened? Why does your expression look so ugly? Were you rejected?”

The green parrot fluttered onto his shoulder, chattering nonstop.

Long Chen ignored it and led everyone out. As tens of millions of experts flew through the air, the disturbance drew the attention of everyone they passed.

“Where are they going?”

“This should be the optimal time for their tribulation!”

“Instead of undergoing tribulation, they look like they’re going to war. Are they seeking vengeance?”

“War? Against who? Their opponents in the heaven region’s battlefield are all dead! If anything, it should be others seeking vengeance against them!”

Upon obtaining this information, countless factions were baffled. They could not tell what Long Chen was thinking.

The massive army pressed forward. In the distance, lightning crackled—a sign that other heavenly geniuses were undergoing tribulation.

Entire races stood guard around their prodigies, but when Long Chen’s vast force passed by, they stiffened with fear. In particular, the demon race, devil race, and others all shrank back.

However, Long Chen’s army did not even look at them, simply flying in a straight line.

“Damn them! They’ve killed so many of my race’s heavenly geniuses. We will make you pay sooner or later!” Some of the people in those factions gnashed their teeth. However, they had to keep their curses to themselves.

“Being able to follow Boss Long Chen, I can experience how it feels to look down on the rest of the world. Hehe, it feels good!” said Cui Hao with a laugh.

Seeing those Sovereign Lords not even dare to breathe hard around them, all these disciples felt a rush. In fact, not even half-step Sovereign Lords dared to provoke them.

Feng You, Su Yu, Lei Yuner, and the others smiled. Feng You and Lei Yuner, in particular, had been scorned their entire lives. Now, the world shrank away from them.

“Lord Long Chen, isn’t this too showy? Some terrifying old monsters might appear,” said Qing Yi.

“The only thing I fear is that they don’t appear.”

Long Chen grinned. A vicious light flickered in his eyes. If they wanted to play, then they’d better be ready to stake their lives.

“Long Chen, face your death!”

Just then, the sky darkened, and an immense figure came flying at them with supreme Sovereign might.