Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
Page 574
“There’s no need to do anything. Just calmly watch what happens. With Ji Changkong present, we don’t even need to do anything. He’ll force Long Chen to come out. When it comes to scheming, we are lacking compared to the Righteous path. We should just wait until both sides are exhausted to kill them all. This time, we’ll win a perfect victory, not letting a single one of those Righteous experts to leave alive” said Xue You. Ever since the Righteous path had gained Long Chen, the Corrupt path had run into setback after setback, irritating the higher-ups.
Long Chen had been number one on their must-kill list for a long time now, but he was still alive and healthy. That was a humiliation to the entire Corrupt path.
During this time, whoever could kill Long Chen would become the Corrupt path’s hero. They would gain unprecedented glory.
“Reporting to lord Xue You, a disciple from the Righteous path wants to see you.” Suddenly, a Corrupt disciple walked in with a strange expression.
Chapter 903 Trouble
The person who had come was wearing black robes. He was wearing a helmet to cover his face, and the only thing revealed was his eyes. He clearly didn’t want to reveal his identity.
“Ji Changkong sent you?” asked Xue You.
“Here is the letter…”
That person had only just opened his mouth when a Corrupt expert smashed his fist into his chest. The sound of bones breaking rang out, and that person let out a pained grunt.
“I’ll give you another chance. If you don’t answer to the point, you’ll immediately become a corpse. Lord Xue You is busy and doesn’t have time to waste on you Righteous idiots,” raged the Corrupt expert.
Xue You didn’t even look at the letter. He icily asked, “Ji Changkong sent you?”
That person nodded.
But he had only just nodded when he was kicked in the leg. He fell to the ground.
“Are you mute?!” A Corrupt expert now had a saber in his hand. As long as Xue You nodded, he would kill this person.
“Yes!” the Righteous expert hastily opened his mouth.
A Corrupt expert received the letter and handed it to Xue You. Xue You opened it and an icy smile appeared on his face. “Go back and report to Ji Changkong that I can cooperate with him. But he has to give me a third of the Righteous path’s heads. If he doesn’t agree, then we can see just how much power he has. You can fuck off now!”
That person was delighted, and hastily hobbled away. Having escaped with his life, he didn’t have any more extravagant desires.
“Lord Corrupt King, what did Ji Changkong say?” asked a rank three Celestial. He was one of Xue You’s trusted aides, so he dared to directly ask him this question.
“Ji Changkong wants to cooperate with us. It goes without saying that the Righteous path really is devious. Originally, I wasn’t planning on cooperating with them. But this plan of theirs has moved me. I can’t decline.” Xue You couldn’t help but sigh.
“Are we really going to cooperate with them?” asked one of them with astonishment. That was something absolutely not permitted.
“The cooperation is just temporary. I need to cooperate with them to get the greatest profit. As for my request for a third of their heads, that was just to make them overlook my real goal. Not one of them will be able to leave the Immemorial Path alive. Did you all activate the photographic jades?”
“Yes, we recorded it all. They will definitely be able to prove that Ji Changkong took the initiative to find you.”
“Good. It won’t be long before they reply. In fact, Ji Changkong might personally come to discuss the details. Remember to secretly record it all. For us, this cooperation is just a plan of convenience. Even if the higher-ups learn of it, it will just be some light punishment. But it’s different for the Righteous path. By working with us to handle Long Chen and the others, they have betrayed the Righteous path. That’s a grave criminal act for them.
“With the constant struggle between Righteous sects, these photographic jades can be used to threaten Ji Changkong and make him bend to our will. If we can kill them all when our cooperation comes to an end, then it can be a gift we send to humiliate the Righteous path. But if something unexpected happens and Ji Changkong manages to get away, then we can release them publicly. At that time, hehe, Ji Changkong will be attacked by the entire Righteous path. I hear Ji Changkong’s Ji family is quite strong. They’ll definitely attempt to protect him. At that time, a huge war might erupt in the Righteous path. We can take advantage of that opportunity to kill them all.”
“Lord Xue You is brilliant. This way, no matter what happens, it’ll be to our benefit!” the Corrupt experts exclaimed in admiration for his intelligence.
“Hehe, this skill is something I learned from Ji Changkong. Right now he’s smearing Long Chen’s name, and he inspired me,” laughed Xue You. “Gather all our experts! Send out my words: those who want to go against me, Xue You, had better consider the consequences. Don’t blame me for being merciless when the time comes!”
“Yes!”
The Corrupt experts immediately left.
Xue You looked into the distance, a faint smile on his face. “You came up with a nice plan Ji Changkong, But you’ve underestimated my appetite.”
…
While Xue You was busy gathering his army, the entire Immemorial Path became extremely lively. Perhaps it was agitation from feeling one’s power explosively grow, or perhaps it was that a human’s desire could not be satisfied. But people were fighting everywhere.
Rumbling filled the air and qi waves surged. Battlefields appeared all over the Immemorial Path. Whether it was the Righteous path, the Corrupt path, or the ancient races, countless disputes arose.
That was especially true of the Righteous path. Some sects already had conflicts, so now that their disciples had advanced to Sea Expansion and felt their power grow immensely, they all thought of getting revenge for those past grievances.
However, this chaotic scene only continued for a while before becoming calm. The various experts had all received invitations.
These so-called invitations were a mix of the carrot and the stick. The ancient races had fewer numbers, but their quality was high. As a result, they split into several factions, each extremely powerful and prepared. Even if they didn’t want to snatch the number one position from Yu Changhao, they wanted to prove they had the qualifications to stand on the same level as him.
The Corrupt path was split into two factions, one led by Xue You, the well-known veteran, and another led by an upcoming newcomer, Ka Wutu. The two of them seemed to be at great odds, and Ka Wutu didn’t seem to fear the famous Xue You.
The Righteous path had essentially been unified. The Righteous experts pretty much all accepted Ji Changkong as their leader.
Other than Ji Changkong, there were two other rank four Celestials. One was Zheng Mingkong from the Seven Star Gate, while the other was the Wind Chant Pavilion’s genius, Feng Geyin.
But the Remote Heaven Gang’s power was enormous, giving Ji Changkong great influence. Even two of the Four Heavenly Geniuses of the Xuantian Dao Sect had surprisingly allied themselves with Ji Changkong.
To put it nicely, they were allied. But to put it frankly, they were just licking his feet. Having entered the Immemorial Path, their luck hadn’t been very good. They hadn’t obtained any heaven-defying treasures and were still simply rank two Celestials.
As for the rank one Celestials that had survived, many of them had obtained opportunities, allowing them to advance to rank two Celestials. So the positions of Yue Qianshan and Zhao Wuji immediately fell. It was unknown what benefits Ji Changkong had given them for them to side with him.
However, it wasn’t that strange. The Corrupt path was so strong, the ancient races were watching like tigers, and there was also the threat of the aboriginals. Thus, working together was a good decision.
As for the Seven Star Gate’s Zheng Mingkong, as soon as Ji Changkong’s subordinates had found him, he had
immediately agreed to join him.
But what Ji Changkong hadn’t expected was that Wind Chant Pavilion’s Feng Geyin had immediately refused. He had even openly expressed that in this world, the only person worthy of him following was Long Chen.
That infuriated Ji Changkong. But the situation was too unstable right now, so he didn’t dare to make any big moves. He could only endure for now, but he had already placed Feng Geyin on his must-kill list.
The thing that the Righteous disciples were somewhat unable to accept was that soaring Long Chen had actually become a traitor of the Righteous path.
Disciples from the same sect as him were personally accusing him of colluding with the aboriginals to harm his fellow Righteous disciples. Unable to bear staying on the same side as such a person, they had formed an alliance with Ji Changkong to find and punish Long Chen, to get justice for all the Righteous disciples who had fallen because of him.
Many people had refused to believe it at the beginning, but when many resolute people shouted something loud enough, it was enough to obscure the truth. Many people started to form doubts.
Then, Long Chen refused to reveal himself, and no explanation came from him. That made Ji Changkong’s influence even greater, allowing him to unite essentially all the Righteous disciples, making him the number one expert of the Righteous path.
People were like ducks. True or false weren’t so important. In the end, those who joined Ji Changkong’s side gave up their doubts and began to echo their peers, starting a snowball effect. From their point of view, standing by Ji Changkong’s side could protect them. As long as he provided safety, he could say whatever he wanted.
The truth wasn’t important. The important thing was that as long as they were obedient, they could join this enormous army. As for whether or not Long Chen had been falsely accused, they couldn’t be bothered to care.
There were so many Righteous experts that it even exceeded Ji Changkong’s expectations. There were actually thirty thousand of them that joined his side, and more were coming.
However, then Ji Changkong recalled that of the two large entrances to the Immemorial Path from the Eastern Wasteland, their entrance had only been for sects that were comparatively higher in status. But the other entrance had no such restrictions. He hadn’t expected so many new Celestials to have appeared in the Eastern Wasteland. It seemed that they came from smaller sects that had entered from the other entrance.
The fact that he had tens of thousands of experts made Ji Changkong incomparably excited. His vanity was completely satisfied. He had actually become the leader of such a powerful army.
Although the majority of them were just rank one Celestials, with only a tenth being rank two Celestials and less than a hundredth being rank three Celestials, these numbers made him completely confident.
Time passed day by day. The Immemorial Path had gone from peaceful to chaotic, and then back to peaceful. But the undercurrents of this peace were extremely grave. It was the calm before the storm.
Long Chen was still in seclusion. Meng Qi had already come out, as she had long since reached the first Heavenstage. Her qi sea had been expanded by a full ten percent.
During this time, she had been nourishing the soul items that Long Chen had given her. The item-nourishing technique he gave her came from the Eastern Wasteland Bell, and it was incomparably refined. It allowed a person to form a practically perfect connection with an item-spirit, allowing them to release the greatest power from a Treasure item.
“Sister Meng Qi!”
Suddenly, a golden-armored monstrosity appeared in the sky and landed in the ruins.
“Has everyone been well? Is there any news?” asked Meng Qi. Guo Ran was their messenger and information gatherer. His armor had already been completely remade, allowing his speed to reach a new level.
“Everyone’s fine. They don’t have anything important to do now, just focusing on nourishing their Treasure items. As for the outside world, the ancient races and Corrupt path are rather calm. Only the Righteous path is like a pack of idiots, continuously smearing boss. That Ji Changkong really is an idiot. He’s like a shrew screaming on the streets. Then there are those shameless fellows who clearly know boss was falsely accused but still can blindly spout those lies without blinking. It’s infuriating!” raged Guo Ran.
“Let them do as they please. They’re only doing that for their own protection. Is there any other news?” asked Meng Qi, indifferent to their actions.
“Ah, there was one laughable thing. I heard that Ji Changkong captured Long Chen and is going to execute him at Drake Mountain. What a joke. Tell me, don’t you think they’re idiots… Sister Meng Qi, what is it?” Guo Ran had been laughing when he suddenly realized something was off. Meng Qi’s expression was grave now.
“Perhaps there’s trouble now…” said Meng Qi solemnly. She formed some hand seals.
Chapter 904 Sinister Scheme
Meng Qi formed hand seals, and a spiritual rune lit up on her hand before fading.
Guo Ran could count as a dabbler Beast Tamer now, so he knew Meng Qi was sending a message to her housepets. They two of them were currently hunting for food.
“Sister Meng Qi, what’s wrong?” Guo Ran was still startled. What he had thought was a funny joke had caused such a reaction in Meng Qi.
“The only thing you learn from Long Chen is his useless skills. When will you get past his ability to joke and curse, and actually learn any of his smarts?” rebuked Meng Qi.
“I…” Guo Ran immediately felt awkward. It seemed the only things he wanted to learn from his boss were pick-up and show-off arts.
“This is no joke, but a trap set up by Ji Changkong. He at least has goals in announcing that he has captured Long Chen. One is to force us to show ourselves,” said Meng Qi.
“But we’re not so stupid. That’s just an insult to our intelligence.” Guo Ran still didn’t understand.
“You’re underestimating Ji Changkong. His other goal in sending out this announcement is to draw out the aboriginals. Once they appear, his second goal will be achieved,” said Meng Qi.
“But the aboriginals wouldn’t get duped so easily, right?” Guo Ran frowned.
“That’s why I said you underestimated Ji Changkong. Since he dared to make such a naive move, he must have another move we don’t know about yet. He definitely has a trick to dupe the aboriginals. My guess is once they fall for it, they’ll kill a portion of them and then release news that they’ll kill the rest. With Long Chen’s character, how could he just allow them to slaughter the aboriginals? After all, the aboriginals once saved his life.
“In this manner, Long Chen will fall into Ji Changkong’s trap, and it’ll also confirm his relationship with the aboriginals. Then the evidence from those two Four Heavenly Geniuses will become ironclad. No matter what Long Chen says, he’ll be viewed as a traitor of the Righteous path and attacked from every direction. If he’s killed, the Xuantian Dao Sect won’t be able to do anything. And if he survives, then to protect themselves, the best case is they will help Long Chen slip away. At that time, Long Chen will be viewed as an enemy of all sides. This is a malicious scheme with no solution,” said Meng Qi.
“Fuck, this damn Ji Changkong!” cursed Guo Ran.
Although all of this was just a guess from Meng Qi, her guess was reasonable. Even if it was off, it wouldn’t be off by too much!
Guo Ran had an urge to slap himself. All day, he only thought about showing off. This matter had been seen through even by Meng Qi. If it had been Long Chen, he would have seen through it easily. His intelligence was still too lacking compared to his boss.
“Furthermore, Long Chen has said that lord Heaveneye has left to somewhere unknown, and thus the aboriginals don’t have a leader right now. For something like this to happen now, it’s worrying.” Meng Qi frowned.
“Then what should we do? Should we disturb boss?” asked Guo Ran.
“We can’t. Each time Long Chen goes into seclusion n
ow, he stays in it for around half a month. There’s still one or two days until he will come out naturally. This time is too important to him, so we can’t disturb him. My housepets will quickly return. I’ll leave the Blood Phoenix to protect Long Chen and give him the message. Once he awakens, he’ll immediately rush over there. You have to alert all our people as fast as possible. Have them all hurry toward Drake Mountain. There will probably be a huge battle there,” said Meng Qi solemnly.
Originally, Song Mingyuan and Li Qi had been with them, but then Long Chen had told them to find a place with denser earth energy to continue expanding their seas. So Guo Ran needed to alert everyone on his own.
“What about you?”
“I’ll rush over there first. Hopefully, I can get there in time before the aboriginals suffer too many casualties,” said Meng Qi.
Suddenly, two huge figures landed from the sky. They were the Blood Phoenix and the Earth Dragon.
The Blood Phoenix was at the peak of the seventh rank. Its aura was unsteady, showing vague signs of being close to advancing ranks.
When Guo Ran saw the Earth Dragon, he let out a startled cry. “It has advanced to the eighth rank?!”
“Didn’t your Earth Dragon also reach the seventh rank? Your soul energy is limited, so you need to nourish it longer. Only once a Magical Beast’s intelligence rises will it be easier for it to advance ranks. However, this Earth Dragon has only just advanced, and its combat power isn’t completely steady yet. It’s only a bit stronger than the Blood Phoenix right now. I’ll take the Earth Dragon with me, and you alert everyone as fast as possible. I’ll do my best to stall.” Meng Qi put the Earth Dragon into her spiritual space and told the Blood Phoenix to guard Long Chen.
She also left a sheet of paper for Long Chen, explaining what had happened. Then she and Guo Ran split up.
…
Drake Mountain was an unusual mountain. It was shaped like a circle, like a drake coiled on the ground. It formed a huge basin, with the only opening between the drake’s head and tail.