Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

With a gloomy expression, Long Chen looked at the remaining four zither strings. The Heavenly Devil Zither had expended a great deal of its energy to save this strand of soul. That meant that she understood the ugly woman’s power.

If this soul fragment were to fall into the ugly woman’s hands, it would surely bring disaster upon Long Chen.

Long Chen had used the same method before to infiltrate Xiao Yin’s Star Palace and the Dark Master’s domain. However, he had underestimated the Zither Sect. If not for the intervention of the Heavenly Devil Zither’s new item-spirit, he would have faced serious trouble.

Just thinking about Zi Yan’s frail appearance distressed Long Chen. He wanted to charge into the Zither Sect right now.

However, his current power was far from enough. If he went now, he would just be sending himself to his death.

At least, he was aware of Zi Yan’s current state; she was safe for the moment. He still had time to figure out a way to rescue her.

Taking a deep breath, Long Chen calmed himself down. He had to go to the Heavenly Magnificence Divine Prefecture to grasp the current state of the world, especially concerning the divine clans.

If they truly trusted Ye Boran’s word, he would give up on them. But if they possessed even a bit of intellect, they wouldn’t immediately trust Ye Boran. In the end, Long Chen wanted to learn their stance toward him.

Long Chen still held hope for the divine clans, but not because of his bloodline. He merely sought the assistance of the most ancient race in the nine heavens and ten lands for the upcoming decisive battle against the outsider devils.

With his decision made, Long Chen prepared to leave. At this time, Jing Jing seemed to realize it and stared at him with a pitiful gaze.

Ever since the Butterfly Spirit race was annihilated, she had stayed at the bottom of the pool, always alone. Long Chen’s arrival was the only source of happiness she had experienced in a long time.

She had finally found someone she could trust, but this person was destined to leave so soon.

When Long Chen saw her sad expression, his heart softened. He found himself unable to say goodbye.

“Big Brother Long Chen, are you... leaving?” Jing Jing asked, holding Long Chen’s hand. “Can you bring me with you? I feel... very lonely here.”

Long Chen grimaced. As a Sapphire Water Ice Crystal Beast, Jing Jing could not leave this special environment. Once she did, it would be difficult for her to grow any further.

If he brought her with him, it meant that her power would no longer progress and was very likely to regress.

Seeing Long Chen’s expression, Jing Jing quickly suppressed her tears and forced a smile.

“Big Brother Long Chen, I’m just joking. I know I can’t leave this place. You go ahead, and remember to visit me when you have time.”

Since the Zither Sect had failed to capture her, they would send real experts next time, making it useless even if Jing Jing hid deep in the pool.

Seeing her adorable appearance, Long Chen couldn’t help but make a bold decision.

He gently rubbed her cheek and said, “Your big brother is at war with almost the entire world. It’s very dangerous to stay with me. Are you sure?”

Jing Jing was overjoyed.

“I’m not afraid! As long as I can be with big brother, I’m not afraid of anything!” she exclaimed.

Long Chen nodded. He knew that although Jing Jing had lived for countless years and possessed great power, she was still childlike in many ways. Her early spiritual awakening, which was triggered by the Butterfly Spirit race, likely contributed to this.

As a result, she wasn’t afraid of danger, but she hated being alone.

“Alright, you can come with me. In the future, you’ll meet a kind big sister who’ll become your friend, maybe even a trusted ally for life,” said Long Chen.

Naturally, he was referring to Ye Zhiqiu.

Ye Zhiqiu was also an ice attribute cultivator, but her cold nature might prevent her from forming contracts with spirit beasts. Would she be willing to establish a contract with Jing Jing?

As a woman of few words, Ye Zhiqiu only expressed what she was thinking. In fact, she had never openly expressed her feelings for Long Chen.

She had died in the Jiuli secret realm to save Long Chen, and only after that did her emotions become clear. Prior to that, Long Chen was unaware of her feelings for him.

Given Ye Zhiqiu’s nature—her desire to appear strong and her dislike of others seeing through her emotions—she could very well refuse the idea of having a contractual spirit beast.

But even if Ye Zhiqiu didn’t accept Jing Jing, Long Chen could always bring Jing Jing to the Butterfly Spirit race.

As long as Jing Jing was happy, even if she didn’t grow or her cultivation base regressed, so what?

Having reached this point in his thoughts, Long Chen relaxed. He accompanied Jing Jing back to the bottom of the pool and instructed her to prepare everything she could for a move. In the primal chaos space, Long Chen dug a large hole for Jing Jing.

She eagerly started relocating her home, quickly extracting ice crystal ores, which Long Chen then deposited into the primal chaos space.

Long Chen even moved the water inside the pool into the primal chaos space. Not wanting Jing Jing to feel unwelcome in this new environment, he even turned the hole into a funnel shape.

Jing Jing was very efficient. She not only collected the ores in the pool but also dug out the hidden crystals deep underground.

Long Chen was surprised to discover that the real vein of crystals was underground. These crystals held pure primal chaos qi and were top-grade, immensely valuable.

Jing Jing unearthed a mountain of them.

Long Chen had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to cultivate after leaving this place, but it turned out he had been overthinking. This quantity of ice crystals would suffice for her to cultivate for thousands of years.

Before long, the pool was relocated. As a smart and charming child, Jing Jing had taken anything of value.

The empty basin started to collapse. Seeing her home disappear, Jing Jing didn’t feel any sorrow—only excitement.

“Let’s go. Big brother will show you the outside world!” Long Chen exclaimed.

“Yes!”

At this moment, Jing Jing resembled an excited child.

As a spiritual body, once Jing Jing merged with Long Chen’s soul, she could freely move in and out of the primal chaos space, just like Huo Linger and Lei Linger.

When Jing Jing saw Huo Linger and Lei Linger, she got even more excited. Huo Linger welcomed her very warmly, while Lei Linger looked a bit awkward. After a simple greeting, she went back to cultivating.

Long Chen said, “Jing Jing, you should learn how to control flames from Huo Linger. She will give you a bit of the Ice Soul Divine Flame’s source. If you cultivate it well, you’ll become a dual ice-flame cultivator and can transform the Ice Fire Silk Net into your main weapon. With that, even Divine Sovereigns will be like ants to you.”

“Thank you, Big Brother Long Chen! Thank you, Big Sister Huo Linger!” Jing Jing was very sweet, immediately addressing Huo Linger as her big sister.

In response, Huo Linger almost handed her all her core techniques.

After arranging things for Jing Jing, Long Chen set off for the Heavenly Magnificence Divine Prefecture.