Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048

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

  You could also choose to leave. The Pill Tower would grant you a Pill King’s status tablet, and each year the Pill Tower would distribute a certain amount of resources to you. However, that small amount of resources could not be compared to what true members of the Pill Tower obtained.

  In fact, those pitiful resources were essentially bait that the Pill Tower threw at alchemists to lure them into being one of their members. Those resources were mostly for pill cultivators to confirm just how vast and powerful the Pill Tower was.

  Pill arts, spirit medicines, beast flames, peak grade pill furnaces, all kinds of treasures were present. Those possessed a fatal attraction to pill cultivators, and there were few people who could resist their temptation.

  The Alioth Pill he had refined just now could be considered a third tier medicinal pill by its pill formula. But the difficulty in refining it, especially the control required for the heat changes during the process, had definitely already reached the level of a fourth tier medicinal pill.

  In other words, after obtaining the Phoenix Sparrow violet flame, Long Chen could be considered a Pill King. That meant he had reached the requirements of the tablet grandmaster Yun Qi had given him.

  The current Long Chen now had the qualifications to use that tablet to join Pill Valley and study pill refining.

  However, he had his Pill Sovereign memories, and those pill refining techniques were complete. He didn’t care about other people’s pill refining arts. He cared more about the resources given by Pill Valley.

  In order to enter Pill Valley, he would need to first go through the Pill Tower. But for this beast flame, Long Chen had completely offended Huo Wufang. It would not be so easy for him to enter Pill Valley.

  However, Long Chen didn’t think too much about that. He just carefully took out a jade bottle and placed those Alioth Pills inside.

  Looking at those sparkling Alioth Pills that almost seemed alive, Long Chen was incredibly excited. He even felt as if consuming them would be such a shame.

  But in the end, he swallowed one of the Alioth Pills. It dissolved the instant it reached his stomach.

  That was one of the effects of ‘ringed’ pills. As long as you consumed it, it would instantly release its medicinal energy. They weren’t like other medicinal pills that needed time before showing their effects.

  When the medicinal pill dissolved, an enormous energy surged out, seeming like a surging ocean within Long Chen’s body.

  That kind of energy was incredibly vast, but it wasn’t berserk. Instead, it was extremely gentle, and Long Chen slowly circulated the energy in accordance with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, sending it to the center of his right hand.

  When the medicinal energy reached Long Chen’s right hand, it didn’t need Long Chen to do anything. The hollow of his palm trembled in the same way his foot had been when he had condensed the FengFu Star.

  The medicinal energy condensed quickly, forming a vortex, while at the center of that vortex, a little kernel was gradually growing.

  Long Chen didn’t need to do anything. This entire process happened automatically in accordance with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Long Chen suddenly noticed his FengFu Star that had been remaining silent up to this moment had now suddenly begun to rapidly circulate. An extremely pure energy slowly flowed into the vortex.

  That energy wasn’t exactly spiritual qi. Even Long Chen didn’t know what that energy was. But as soon as that energy flowed in, the tiny kernel grew much larger.

  At the same time, a terrifying force soared out of his hand, causing the entire cave to shake.

  BOOM!

  The cave collapsed, burying Long Chen within. But Long Chen wasn’t even paying attention to that, as all his focus was on the changes occurring within his hand.

  Back when he had condensed the FengFu Star, everything had occurred too quickly, and he hadn’t even understood what was going on before his FengFu Star had condensed.

  But this time, he wanted the Alioth Star to form slower so that he had enough time to examine what was going on.

  “Yes, as I thought. To condense the first star required my body’s core energy, while to condense the second star requires the first star’s assistance.”

  Long Chen was closely examining the entire process. That small kernel was like a seed that was receiving nourishment as it absorbed the energy coming from the FengFu Star.

  The Alioth Pill’s medicinal energy was slowly being absorbed by that seed as well. When that seed reached the size of a sesame seed, Long Chen felt a mental connection from it.

  With a thought, he tried to control that little thing. He smiled when he found it really was completely under his control.

  That let Long Chen finally relax. He had experienced far too many bumps on the road. No matter what he did, he always ran into multiple difficulties.

  The fact that he had finally condensed the Alioth Star without any surprises or danger made him feel relieved from a great burden. Originally, he had been ready to face all kinds of various difficulties he had assumed would pop up.

  Although the Alioth Star was only the size of a sesame seed, Long Chen was able to control it and even increase the rate at which it grew.

  However, what was a bit out of his expectations was that the growth of the Alioth Star didn’t just depend on the nourishment of the Alioth Pills, but it also required the energy coming from the FengFu Star.

  That energy was passively flowing from the FengFu Star, and Long Chen didn’t need to actively draw it out. The only thing he needed to do was increase the Alioth Star’s absorption rate.

  But Long Chen felt a slight chill when he saw that even after absorbing all the Alioth Pill’s medicinal energy, his Alioth Star had only grown ever so slightly.

  He had no choice but to consume the rest of the Alioth Pills. When he consumed the ninth one and finished absorbing all its energy, he found that the Alioth Star had still only grown slightly, just barely reaching the size of a small pea.

  Long Chen began to sweat. Although he had felt that the few Qilin Fruits he had found would not be enough for him to fully condense the Alioth Star, he had still felt some hope when he had seen that he was able to refine three-ring high grade pills.

  But now all nine of them were gone, and Long Chen felt an icy chill. According to this speed, the Alioth Pill’s condensement would be even more difficult than the FengFu Star’s.

  To condense the FengFu Star, Long Chen had used up probably almost a thousand FengFu Pills.

  He only had twenty-four Qilin Fruits on hand, and of those, only nine of them were fully matured. The rest were temporarily not mature enough to be used in pill refining.

  Furthermore, Qilin Fruits matured extremely slowly. Not to mention that new ones would only grow once the old ones matured. From the flowering process to the time where the fruit was matured, a single Qilin Fruit would require a hundred years of sunlight and constant absorption of heaven and earth’s spiritual qi.

  That fiery excitement in Long Chen’s heart immediately extinguished.

  Long Chen suddenly stood up, and his aura exploded out in order to release his frustration. A terrifying wave of qi shot out.

  The mountain exploded, the ground sank, and a powerful qi wave crushed the surrounding rocks and trees to smithereens. That terrifying power even stunned Long Chen.

  “What the… my strength?”

  Long Chen was filled with disbelief. Everything within several miles had been turned to dust. The ground had also sunk several hundred meters.

  His jaw dropped. He was both delighted and shocked. Looking at the center of his right hand, that frustration was swept away.

  “HAHAHA!”

  Long Chen raised his head up the sky and roared, his aura exploding out without the slightest reservation. It was as if an angry sea was trying to wash away heaven and earth, causing the sky’s clouds to shake.

  Long Chen hadn’t realized before, but now he found that it wasn’t just his FengFu Star rapidly
circulating when he released his aura. That small pea-sized Alioth Star was also quickly circulating, and a powerful energy was constantly pouring into his body. That energy was not at all inferior to the complete FengFu Star.

  “Amazing, absolutely amazing!” Long Chen crazily laughed. He felt as if he might start crying from joy. He had barely condensed an embryonic form of the Alioth Star, but it was already on the same level as the FengFu Star. Just what level of awesomeness was that?!

  His frustration was swept away, and he was so excited he wanted to dance. He could no longer stay in this place since just his aura had destroyed it. He found another hidden place where he refined the rest of the matured Qilin Fruits into Alioth Pills.

  He nourished the Alioth Star with those Alioth Pills, and ten days later, all his Alioth Pills were gone. As for the Alioth Star, it had grown to the size of a longan, and there was even some mist revolving around it, looking like a true star.

  Furthermore, Long Chen noticed that as his Alioth Star condensed, his physical body once more advanced to a new level, his strength explosively growing. That filled him with confidence. Even if he ran into a Yin Luo who had already advanced to Bone Forging, he would have no fear of him.

  After thinking about it, Long Chen spent the next five days refining almost a thousand Three Connecting Flower Tendon Pills for himself. With his new gains, his pill refining speed had reached a practically abnormal level.

  These medicinal pills should be enough for him for the next while. He couldn’t waste the rest of his time. Long Chen opened his map and quickly found his next target: the Abyss of Fiends.

  Chapter 391 Chance Encounter With an Old Friend

  It had been almost four months since the Jiuli secret realm had opened. During those four months, countless disciples from both the Righteous and Corrupt paths had rushed throughout the various marked regions on the map.

  Four months was both a long and a short time. Many experts had already decided on a strategy before coming to the Jiuli secret realm, and they had long since set their goals.

  There were few people like Long Chen who just aimlessly wandered around. That was because Ling Yunzi had told them that everything would be up to their fates. They couldn’t force it.

  In truth, Ling Yunzi also felt extremely bitter inside. Compared to the other monasteries, Long Chen and his other disciples had weak foundations in the sense that they didn’t have many life-saving measures.

  The majority of the dangerous regions all had countless opportunities within them, but there were also too many people fighting over them. Ling Yunzi didn’t have any extravagant hopes of them obtaining some heaven-defying opportunities. All he hoped for was for them to be able to come out alive.

  And Ling Yunzi’s worries had not been unfounded. Only after entering the Jiuli secret realm did Long Chen realize he had looked down on the other geniuses.

  In this world, Han Tianyu and Yin Luo weren’t the only peak experts. Huo Wufang’s appearance allowed Long Chen to realize that in the vast cultivation world, there were countless experts hidden everywhere. He was not the only dark horse.

  Who knew just how many experts like Huo Wufang were still unknown? Even peak experts could run into failure, perhaps even lose their lives, in this place where danger and rivals were everywhere.

  However, Long Chen’s mood was still extremely relaxed. Although the Jiuli secret realm was in a constant state of dusk, he felt a delight as if basking in a clear and boundless sky.

  He had finally condensed the Alioth Star. Although it was just an embryonic form and he hadn’t finished the nine star transformations, Long Chen already felt as if his body had undergone a complete transformation.

  That filled Long Chen with confidence. Right now, he didn’t fear any opponent. So, it could be said that Long Chen had the ability to go on a rampage at this time.

  But the only thing that he regretted slightly was that for some unknown reason, there seemed to always be something calling to him within the Jiuli secret realm. That feeling had only grown stronger after condensing the Alioth Star. However, from the start, Long Chen was unable to determine what direction that calling was coming from, and so he was unable to seek it out.

  Before coming to the Jiuli secret realm, he had already felt an indistinct summoning. That feeling had only grown clearer after entering the secret realm.

  In the beginning, Long Chen had thought that whatever was summoning had to do with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, and so he had thought it was the Qilin Fruit.

  That was because without the Qilin Fruit, there was no way to condense the Alioth Star. But now even after he had obtained the Qilin Fruit, that feeling of being summoned hadn’t changed.

  If he hadn’t gone to find Yin Luo, then he wouldn’t have even been able to obtain the Qilin Fruit Tree, so the summoning had nothing to do with it.

  There was nothing he could do about that. Long Chen could only continue moving forward. Whatever that thing was, if it was meant to be his, it would reveal itself to him eventually. But if it wasn’t meant to be, then he shouldn’t be feeling that beckoning.

  As for why it refused to reveal what it was, Long Chen could only conclude that their karmic destiny hadn’t arrived yet. He could only walk forward step by step. Now that there were only eight more months to the closing of the Jiuli secret realm, time wasn’t so plentiful anymore.

  Since he couldn’t find where that opportunity was, Long Chen could only move on. His new target was the only place marked with a blood-colored human skull.

  This place was the Abyss of Fiends. No one knew just how deep this abyss was, but it emitted a fiendish air that caused people’s hair to stand on end.

  It was known as a land of absolute death. That was because that fiendish air was something ordinary people were unable to block. Sometimes just by getting close to the abyss, people would be corroded by the fiendish air, causing their mental states to collapse.

  Countless shockingly powerful experts had tried to explore the Abyss of Fiends’ secrets. As a result, countless experts had thrown their lives away there.

  One peak expert had said that after advancing to Bone Forging, he had barely gotten three hundred meters into the abyss before a terrifying pressure tore through his body, almost making his body explode.

  Three hundred meters was nothing, not even enough for him to reach the bottom of the abyss. From then on, no one else tried entering.

  That was how that place had ended up being called a land of absolute death. Over countless years, there had never been anyone who had obtained the slightest benefit from that place, but instead, countless people’s lives had been thrown in.

  Those people whose lives had been lost were all experts amongst experts, as those were the ones who dared try to probe its secrets.

  Those who dared to come to the Abyss of Fiends were all extremely conceited people. They all had powerful cultivation bases or live-saving measures.

  But it was because of that conceit that they had lost their lives. They had used their fearlessness to tell other people a certain principle: being a show-off had its price.

  Long Chen had chosen to go to the Abyss of Fiends for two reasons. The first reason was curiosity. He was like those previous experts, extremely confident in his own strength.

  The other reason was that now that it had been four months since the Jiuli secret realm had opened, people had long since gone through all the marked places on the map.

  Many opportunities had already been taken away by other people. If he wanted to find more opportunities, he would have to search in areas not marked by the map.

  But the Jiuli secret realm was practically boundless. No one knew how large it was. Without the markings on the map, it was all too easy to get lost.

  Furthermore, even if you didn’t get lost, if you weren’t able to get back in time for the closing of the secret realm, you wouldn’t even be able to leave alive.

  It was only after considering it for a long time that Long Che
n had decided to set his sights on the Abyss of Fiends. Furthermore, he wasn’t one hundred percent set on entering. He simply wanted to experience what the infamous Abyss of Fiends was like.

  If it really was too dangerous, he wouldn’t force it. So, at worst he would just leave after arriving, and all that would happen was that he would waste some time. Long Chen was quite confident in his fleeing skills.

  Long Chen was just advancing forward when he heard a bang in the distance. He felt a strong gale surge over him. There were people fighting ahead.

  He was a bit surprised to encounter a fight, but within the Jiuli secret realm, fights erupted everywhere and all the time. No one knew just how many died each day in here.

  The Jiuli secret realm was dangerous, but the greatest danger still came from your fellow humans. Ninety-nine percent of the people that died within the secret realm died fighting other disciples. It was quite ironic.

  However, Long Chen was still very curious about this and so he quickened his footsteps. It was in a human’s nature to like to watch the action. Even if he didn’t interfere, it was good just to see what was going on.

  Dozens of miles were crossed in a flash by Long Chen. He saw four people fighting in the distance. He was slightly surprised to see one of them was a woman, and that she was fighting one against three. Those four were all Favored, and she was repeatedly forced to retreat, fighting as she fled.

  But with their advantage in numbers, those three refused to give up. As for the woman, all alone, she was outmatched. She was already covered in quite a few injuries, blood flowing down her robes. However, she still clenched her teeth and fought a bloody battle.

  “Three against one? Boring.”

  Long Chen shook his head. This kind of slaughter was practically a constant show within the Jiuli secret realm. Long Chen had never considered himself to be some warrior of justice, some chivalrous hero. He just watched.