Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048

by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k

  “So if any one of you ends up dying, she will be extremely sad and will even cry. If you don’t want our goddess to be hurt and cry, can you promise her that you will return alive from the trial?”

  Long Chen’s final words were intentionally said extremely solemnly. His voice was like thunder; not only did it ring out in their ears, but it even sank into their hearts and shook their spirits.

  “We promise we will return alive!”

  Everyone shouted out their response. They had already forgotten about their own lives. But now in order to make sure their goddess would live happily, they cherished their own lives even more.

  Tu Fang and the other Elders all looked at each other and smiled. This Long Chen truly was praiseworthy. Even these old fellows were a bit moved. This little fellow’s mouth could practically raise the dead!

  He was actually able to arouse these spoiled and undisciplined princes and princesses. That was practically a heaven-defying ability!

  “Hmph, what is a promise supposed to do? Is a promise more important than strength?” That voice was filled with ridicule.

  Everyone turned to angrily glare. That voice had come from Lei Qianshang who was disdainfully looking at them.

  “Hey, don’t listen to him! If you end up distracted just because a dog yelps, how will you become powerful in the future?” said Long Chen lightly, pulling back everyone’s attention.

  “Long Chen, don’t make me kill you!” Lei Qianshang angrily pointed at Long Chen.

  Long Chen didn’t even look at him or respond, treating him as nothing more than air. He definitely didn’t want the atmosphere, which he had worked so hard to build, to be destroyed by him.

  He said to everyone, “There’s one thing I want to tell you guys: walk your own paths. Just let dogs bark all they want. Look, right now there is a dog staring at us.

  “Now the pressure is even greater. If you die, not only will that sadden our goddess, you’ll also end up being ridiculed by a dog. As for what you guys need to do, I don’t need to explain that any further. Go!”

  Everyone clenched their teeth and viciously cut at Lei Qianshang with their eyes, turning their fury into a raging fighting spirit.

  “Sister Wan-er, don’t worry, we’ll definitely return.”

  “Sister Wan-er, we won’t let you feel any grief!”

  “Sister Wan-er, don’t be hurt, we’ll let that gorilla shut his fat mouth!”

  “...”

  Almost every person would say a few words of comfort as they passed by Tang Wan-er. Without turning back, they all walked up to the mountain cliff. It was possible to feel their powerful determination.

  Tang Wan-er covered her mouth, not knowing what to do. This was the first time she had realized how deeply these people cared about her. Her heart was filled with warmth, and tears slowly flowed down her face.

  Having this many people immediately come up, the Elders all became busy, sending people one by one to their caves. Explosions rang out continuously for a while.

  “Long Chen, was that the truth… am I really like you said I am?” Tang Wan-er quietly asked when she saw that there was no one else around them.

  Long Chen laughed, “I never say anything truthful, so you don’t need to take it so seriously.”

  “You… you scoundrel! You really don’t know how to have a conversation.” Tang Wan-er gave Long Chen a kick in her anger. But this time Long Chen dodged, and having nowhere to let out her emotions, she turned and lightly began to sob.

  “Hey, what are you doing? The play’s over. There’s no one watching, so what are you crying for?” said Long Chen.

  “Aren’t you someone?” Tang Wan-er raged, both ashamed and angry.

  Long Chen stared at Tang Wan-er, not saying anything. In the end, he just sighed.

  “What are you sighing about?!” Tang Wan-er had never experienced anything like what had happened.

  “You are not suited to cultivation,” said Long Chen lightly.

  “Why not?” Tang Wan-er stiffened in surprise.

  “You have too much emotion. Have you ever thought about how you would feel if these people all died in there?” asked Long Chen.

  “Tch, don’t jinx people!”

  Long Chen was still completely serious. “Answer me.”

  Tang Wan-er paused. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

  “Let me tell you then. You would be heartbroken and inconsolable. If you take the core disciple trial in that kind of state, the odds of you dying inside will surpass ninety percent,” said Long Chen solemnly.

  Tang Wan-er lowered her head pitifully. This was simply the cruelty of reality. It was simply a fact.

  “Cultivation is a path of no retreat. Don’t think that you can bring a group of people running down that path. If you try, you’ll slowly realize that everyone who follows you will one by one disappear, leaving behind only you. Then you will have lost your way.”

  Tang Wan-er bit her lip, asking, “Then what should I do?”

  “Let everything come naturally. You can’t care so much, or you will only end up bringing more pain for yourself,” said Long Chen.

  “You want me to dissolve my faction?”

  “Fool, why would you dissolve your faction? You built this faction so that everyone could fight for more resources, letting them have even greater space to grow and develop. You can also increase your own strength that way. That’s a case of everyone winning.

  “I’m just telling you a cruel fact about what will happen in the future. Once you’ve been injured, it won’t hurt so much,” smiled Long Chen.

  “Long Chen, for you to understand this much, does that mean you’ve already experienced that kind of pain?” Tang Wan-er looked deeply into Long Chen’s eyes.

  Sorrow flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up. “Ah, what pain have I ever suffered? Right now, I’m just a happy scoundrel. In the future, I’ll be a new and improved scoundrel, one without equal under the heavens, one with unlimited potential. I don’t even have enough time to show how happy I am.”

  Tang Wan-er’s heart trembled. Just now she had seen a trace of what was within Long Chen’s heart. Although it had only been for just a second, she could tell the true feelings he had felt in that moment.

  This man laughed all day, but just what was concealed within his heart? Just how had he ended up with intelligence that far surpassed any of his peers?

  Tang Wan-er was about to keep asking this riddle-like man when a particularly loud explosion rang out.

  Chapter 165 Shocking Pass Rate

  An explosion rang out from one of the caves of the stone wall, drawing everyone’s attention. A figure slowly walked out.

  “It was actually an inner disciple trial!”

  People let out a startled cry. That cave had been in the middle layer of the cliff, and the cave opening was slightly larger.

  “It’s Ling Hao!”

  Tang Wan-er excitedly pulled on Long Chen’s hand. She smiled brightly with an unconcealable delight.

  “Hehe, yes, congratulations, congratulations.”

  Long Chen gently rubbed her soft, jade hand. Wasting such an opportunity definitely wasn’t his style, especially not when it had just been given to him straight-up.

  “Scoundrel, you…!” Only after a moment did Tang Wan-er realize what he was doing to her hand. She had actually been taken advantage of like this. As if she was given an electric shock, she quickly took back her hand, ashamed and angry.

  Aiya, just how did she manage to grow such a hand? It’s somehow slender, soft, and warm, Long Chen praised inside.

  Just as Long Chen was reveling in that feeling and Tang Wan-er was about to beat him, Ling Hao shouted out, “Sister Wan-er, I, Ling Hao, have fulfilled my promise. I have returned alive.”

  “Good, quickly come rest.” Tang Wan-er nodded.

  Ling Hao was covered in blood, and his shoulder had been pierced by something, revealing the bone beneath.

  “Thank you. Take care
sister.” Ling Hao nodded and brought the head to exchange for an inner disciple’s badge, then went over to Guo Ran to recuperate.

  “Excellent, Ling Hao is a good one.” Long Chen nodded and exclaimed in admiration.

  Tang Wan-er sighed, “Ling Hao’s talent actually isn’t that great. For him to obtain an inner disciple badge really is shocking.”

  “Talent isn’t everything. Temperament, determination, luck, and intelligence are all extremely important, important enough to change a person’s life,” said Long Chen.

  Inside he thought to himself, I don’t have any talent. I don’t even have a Spirit Root. But don’t I also stand here just as well?

  As the two of them talked, another blood-soaked fellow also walked out, excitedly running over in spite of his current condition and raising his head. “Sister Wan-er, I’ve succeeded!”

  Following this, more and more people began to run out, all with heads in their hands. The passion burning within their eyes moved Tang Wan-er deeply.

  Their success was actually in order to accomplish their promise to her. She stealthily glanced at Long Chen and saw his expression was still indifferent as if he had long since expected this outcome. His eyes were constantly roving around the highest level of caves.

  In less than two hours, Tang Wan-er’s entire faction finished their trials. There were a total of three inner disciples and seventy-six outer disciples.

  Of her one hundred people, there had been a portion that had died in the trial region, while eight people had failed to keep their promise and died in the caves.

  But even so, this result was absolutely shocking. It far surpassed the ordinary success rate. Even the Elders were startled. This success rate had already surpassed any other faction.

  It was close to a ninety percent success rate. Even the Elders were moved by that. Tu Fang descended into thought.

  “Sister Wan-er, don’t feel sad. Those brothers who didn’t return have already used their effort to show you their youthful passion. Although they died, they were like exploding fireworks. Their duration was short, but it was much better than living their lives as a mediocre person.” Qing Yu lightly pulled on Tang Wan-er’s hand.

  Of the three inner disciples, Qing Yu was the only female. It went without saying that her combat strength was extremely great. When she fought she was extremely stable, almost never making any mistakes.

  The other factions also just stopped testing when they saw Tang Wan-er’s faction’s high success rate. They also began to take the trials in large numbers.

  As for Ye Zhiqiu’s side, there was also someone who learned from Long Chen and did his best to increase her faction’s morale, telling them not to let their goddess be broken-hearted.

  But obviously, the ice beauty was not suited to such a thing. That expressionless face caused that person trying to boost their morale to become extremely awkward. As for Long Chen, he was speechless as he watched that.

  Ye Zhiqiu, can’t you at least give people a little bit of expression? And even if you can’t, at least cover your face with your hand or something, sighed Long Chen.

  But in any case, a beautiful goddess was definitely extremely useful. After that person’s speech, each person’s aura had increased by quite a bit. At least they weren’t as afraid as they had been.

  “Long Chen, you should also take the inner disciple trial.” Tang Wan-er had already returned to normal now.

  Long Chen paused. He understood she was just looking out for him. Just from the outer and inner disciple trials, she could see how cruel this final test was. She didn’t want Long Chen to be in danger.

  Before she had come here, her family had repeatedly warned her that the core disciple trial was the highest level trial and was extremely difficult, far surpassing anyone’s imaginations. So they wanted her to fight with her full strength without leaving anything in reserve at that time.

  Even a true core disciple would die in that trial if they were the slightest bit inattentive. Although she knew Long Chen was powerful, the chances of him dying in the core disciple trial were too high.

  “I’m someone a bit too afraid of death. I think I’ll take the outer disciple trial.” Long Chen worriedly shook his head.

  “Scoundrel, I’m talking about serious matters!” Tang Wan-er indignantly cried out.

  “Well, we’ll see.” Long Chen looked at the mountain cliff.

  He knew the core disciple trial was definitely extremely difficult. But he was not afraid. That wasn’t arrogance, but confidence.

  That was the confidence that had been formed by steeling himself against life and death battles. It was a kind of unstoppable determination. If others could pass it, then he definitely could too.

  His original reason for coming to the Xuantian Monastery had only been to collect the ingredients for the Alioth Pill.

  But after arriving here, his thinking had changed. The monastery’s resources definitely surpassed his imagination. Within the trial region, he had already found so many good things. He was no longer as indifferent and calm as before. He had an urge to collect all the countless treasures within the monastery for his own.

  With a core disciple status, he would be able to obtain more resources and it would be much easier for him.

  But on the other hand, if he were to show off too much and become the center of attention, there was a greater chance that he might end up exposing the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. That kind of secret would definitely lead to disaster if it was leaked.

  Although he was confident, he definitely wouldn’t arrogantly think he was undefeatable. These old Elders could kill him as easily as killing an ant.

  Although they were all Elders of the monastery and seemed virtuous, treasures could entice anyone. If they ended up targeting him, that would be extremely troublesome.

  Without bringing out his full strength, it would be impossible to pass the core disciple trial. So this was an extremely difficult decision for him. That was why Long Chen still wanted to see others undergo the core disciple trial before he made his own decision.

  Another two hours had passed, and more and more disciples passed the trials. But there were also more and more disciples who were killed. Blood stained the cliffside red.

  Long Chen knew that that was intentional by the monastery. It was part of the goal of this trial.

  At the beginning of this whole disciple test they had killed a couple impersonators in order to awe everyone. That was to let these geniuses realize the monastery was not their home; no one would spoil them like their families had.

  In the trial region, they had set up a couple of second rank Magical Beasts so that people would realize this was not a game. Mistakes could lead to deaths.

  As they entered deeper into the trial region, the chances of death only grew, telling people danger and opportunity were existences that came together. If you want to obtain more, you would have to face greater danger.

  As they walked deeper and deeper, once they reached the final trial, they saw these gruesome and cruel deaths. That was so people would challenge the terror within their hearts.

  Following these layers of filters, the final people that had managed to survive through it all had matured greatly whether it was in terms of power, temperament, or intelligence. Only such people were worthy of being groomed with the monastery’s resources.

  But it seemed the disciples this time were a mix of people. At the beginning of the final trial, there had even been an idiot who had volunteered to go first, resulting in him being the first death of the trial and teaching everyone a lesson. That idiocy had caused Tu Fang to curse that person.

  After all these twists and turns, the disciples that had managed to survive to the end and obtain their badge had already experienced being on the cusp of life and death. Whether it was their temperament or determination, they all had sharply risen. They were no longer greenhouse flowers, but saplings that had begun to face the real world’s wind and frost.

  Long Chen had
no choice but to admit that the Xuantian Monastery’s disciple selection truly was extremely perfect. But such harsh methods definitely didn’t suit every sect.

  Everyone clearly knew how harsh the Xuantian Monastery’s disciple selection was. And yet so many powers and families sent their geniuses to face that danger. It was obvious how powerful the Xuantian Monastery was.

  As more and more people charged into the trial, the trial gradually began to near its end. That was because there were only so many complete tile sets. There was a limit on how many people could take the trial.

  Other than the five large factions, there were also quite a few others who had passed the trial. Of those people, there were several who only managed to obtain the full set by buying it just now.

  No one would laugh at such a person. In fact, they were filled with respect.

  If they hadn’t had the strength to gather the tiles, then that meant they weren’t very strong. But to dare take this trial without sufficient strength, to disregard the danger of death, that definitely required heroic courage.

  After seeing so many cruel endings, there was already no one who would recklessly charge in. These people all made this decision calmly. That meant they truly had the hearts of experts and were not just blind fools.

  That was also why the monastery would not do anything to those selling and buying the tiles.

  This world didn’t have anything that was fair. If you wanted fairness, then go fight for that fairness. If you risked your life to struggle, the monastery would naturally leave a slim chance for you.

  The trial progressed quickly. That was because this was no performance or act, but a true battle to the death. Life and death were decided in just a moment.

  In just a short six hours, other than the monster-class experts, almost everyone else had finished. It had been extremely tragic.

  Over half of Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin’s people had died. But what was surprising was that there were seventeen of their people who had obtained an inner disciple medal.

  Long Chen sucked in a cold gasp. Those two truly were ruthless. They had used their own people’s lives as gambling chips. Their high death rate had definitely had to do with the level of difficulty they had chosen.