Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
Page 653
If it was a normal time, Long Chen’s saber could blow Que Xinyan to pieces. But now, his attack had no power behind it, only leaving behind a deep cut.
Long Chen’s body wobbled slightly as he felt a wave of exhaustion washing over him. He took a deep breath and adjusted himself. Once more resting Blooddrinker on his shoulder, he pressed onward toward Que Xinyan.
But the people watching could all see that Long Chen had already reached his limit a while ago. At this time, his saber was constantly quivering in his grasp.
However, Long Chen’s expression was still calm. No one further questioned Long Chen’s resolve to kill Que Xinyan.
“Long Chen, you won’t have a good ending if you kill me! You’ll be expelled!” Que Xinyan was finally afraid.
Now he understood that Long Chen’s words at the beginning had been an oath to himself. Long Chen’s goal wasn’t to humiliate him or force him to surrender. It was purely to kill him.
“I know.”
Long Chen’s indifferent voice was so calm that it was frightening.
“Then why do you still want to kill me?!” roared Que Xinyan.
“To give an explanation to those who died,” said Long Chen.
“They weren’t your relatives or your friends! Why do you have to do this?!” roared Que Xinyan.
“Because they once trusted me with their lives,” said Long Chen.
The disciples beside the Dragonblood warriors were unable to make a sound anymore. They had never imagined that they would meet someone who would give up his core disciple spot and even give up his life to get revenge for some fallen brothers just because of this one moment of trust. They felt like even if they had to die immediately, their lives had been worthwhile now.
At this moment, they understood the true reason why the Dragonblood warriors called him boss. It was because Long Chen truly viewed every one of the people who followed him as a brother.[1]
For hot-blooded men, crying was a weak display, and yet these displays couldn’t help themselves. And no one laughed at them for it.
“Bastard, you’re going to throw away your future just because of this?! If you wanted to humiliate me, if you wanted to establish your name, you’ve already done it! Just what do you want?!” shouted Que Xinyan.
“To kill you,” said Long Chen. As he got closer, he slowly raised Blooddrinker.
“No… you can’t kill me!” Que Xinyan roared unwillingly.
“This is the price of trampling over other people’s dreams and lives. Actions have consequences!”
Long Chen shook his head, and Blooddrinker flashed with a cold light. It thrust straight toward Que Xinyan’s head.
[1] The word for boss means “biggest brother”.
Chapter 1040 Son of Fate
Seeing Long Chen’s saber stab toward Que Xinyan’s forehead, the disciples outside all let out startled cries.
Que Xinyan’s Spirit Blood was exhausted. He had no way to circulate Heavenly Dao energy, and he had no spiritual yuan. Once pierced, with no energy to protect his soul, he really would die.
A rank five Celestial was about to die just like this? No one had expected things to develop to this point.
The Hall Master was already gripping the chessboard. He was just about to take action when the Xuan Master’s voice rang out in his head.
“No need.”
Just at this moment, Long Chen’s saber reached Que Xinyan’s head. The sharp tip easily pierced Que Xinyan’s skin and continued forward.
But just as his saber was about to pierce Que Xinyan’s brain, a light suddenly erupted from Que Xinyan’s head. He vanished.
“A life-protecting talisman!” cried a few Elders in shock.
“So it was still a failure. This… goddamn… luck…”
Long Chen was no longer able to keep hold of Blooddrinker. It fell to the ground. At the same time, he felt the world spinning around him. His vision darkened and he fainted.
He had never felt so tired. Fainting felt like a blessing.
Within the endless darkness, Long Chen felt a kind of peace. Within this darkness, there was nothing for him to worry or to think about. He felt completely relaxed.
“Long Chen, can you hear my call?” Suddenly, a voice rang out within Long Chen’s soul. That was a very familiar voice.
“Who are you?” asked Long Chen.
“There’s no need to ask that question. All you need to know is that you are the son of fate. Millions of lives rest in your hands. Hurry and grow stronger, or it will be too late,” pressed that voice.
“What will be too late? Can you not explain it clearly?!” raged Long Chen. Even now, he didn’t know what this voice was or what it was talking about.
“You’re too weak right now. If you were noticed, you’d be immediately killed. Take advantage of while they still haven’t noticed you to grow, or everything will be destroyed.” That voice did not answer his question.
“Do you have something wrong with your brain? Don’t just tell half the story!” roared Long Chen. Only getting little bits and pieces like this was driving him mad.
“Long Chen, what you need to do is-”
That voice suddenly vanished.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” roared Long Chen.
“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m healing you.” A female voice rang out, one that contained some anger.
The darkness had vanished. Long Chen was lying on a bed, with a green-robed woman glaring at him.
“Ah, sorry. Where am I?” apologized Long Chen. He looked around and saw that he was in a simple room with all kinds of instruments that he didn’t know the purpose of.
“Long Chen, you’re awake!”
Suddenly, a burst of fragrance attacked him. Tang Wan-er rushed over to his side.
“I just checked him. He’s basically fine. You can leave whenever,” said that green-robed woman before taking her leave.
“Speak, pervert, did you exploit her?” Tang Wan-er suspiciously stared at Long Chen.
“What are you talking about? She’s not even one-thousandth as pretty as you.” Long Chen smiled.
“Dislikeable.” Tang Wan-er hit Long Chen, but she blushed with some rarely seen charm.
Long Chen laughed mischievously inside, “Hehe, I can handle her with just a sentence now.”
It could be said that he was completely clear on Tang Wan-er’s temperament now. Although she was fiery, she still had the thoughts of a woman. If he didn’t get on her nerves so often, her temper wouldn’t be so explosive.
“Wan-er, did that fellow die?” asked Long Chen.
“You’re a fool. You almost provoked a calamity because you wanted to kill him. Can you not be more calm-headed?” Tang Wan-er’s eyes reddened slightly, as she was deeply worried about him.
“Cough, you can’t blame that on me. Looking at how much of a show-off he was, if I didn’t cut him down, it would have been unworthy of his display. So, what happened in the end?” asked Long Chen.
Tang Wan-er rebuked, “You scoundrel, you really infuriate me. Just as you were about to kill Que Xinyan, he activated a life-protecting talisman within his body. He was teleported away, and the Elder Hall Master had to use the Xuantian Jade Board to find him again. When he found him, he was unconscious, and just like you, he was sent to the Healing Hall. Senior apprentice-sister Mu Qingxuan personally came to heal you, so you have to properly thank her. She spent a great deal of time and energy to heal you.”
Long Chen nodded. His powerful physical body required an immense amount of life energy to heal once it was injured. Mu Qingxuan had probably ended up using her core energy to allow him to heal so quickly.
Long Chen’s eyes suddenly brightened. “Then is Que Xinyan right next door?”
“What are you thinking? You better be more well-behaved for me!” warned Tang Wan-er.
“Am I that kind of person? I just want to see if he’s well,” said Long Chen.
“Who would believe you? Let me
tell you, this matter was personally suppressed by the Xuan Master, so don’t you dare cause it to erupt again.”
“Even the Xuan Master was disturbed?”
“Of course! You ignored the sect’s rules and tried to kill a fellow disciple! The Law Enforcement Hall Master declared that he had to heavily punish you using torture tools as an example for the other disciples. But a portion of the Elders said that while you might have gone against the rules, you didn’t succeed in the end and it wasn’t a grave offense, so it should be forgivable. Well, the main thing was that those Elders wanted to be lenient to a genius like you.
“The Law Enforcement Hall immediately turned hostile and said that you had to be handed to them, as this matter was their responsibility, and others couldn’t interfere. The Xuan Master had to personally send out orders to revoke your core disciple position and downgrade you to an inner sect disciple in order to get them to shut their mouths,” said Tang Wan-er.
“That Law Enforcement Hall Master is just an idiot,” cursed Long Chen viciously. No matter how he looked at that old bastard, he saw nothing good about him.
“Long Chen, you have to calm down. We still haven’t established ourselves in the Dao Sect. Thus, it’s extremely unfavorable to make strong enemies now. Just leave the matter with Que Xinyan alone,” persuaded Tang Wan-er.
Long Chen shook his head. “Wan-er, you know who I am. I always act according to my heart, and I definitely can’t let Que Xinyan off after he killed so many innocent disciples. But don’t worry, I wasn’t able to fight him to the death this time, so next time, I’ll play him to death within the rules. I guarantee I won’t cause you any more worry.”
Seeing how solemnly Long Chen promised, Tang Wan-er could only helplessly nod along. Long Chen was conceding as much as he was willing to her.
Following this, Long Chen asked about the Dragonblood Legion. Tang Wan-er told him that although he had been stripped of his core disciple position, he had still retained the right to establish his own faction due to the special circumstances.
Those other disciples who he had led in the inner sect trial had all joined him, and so their faction had instantly exploded in size. Tang Wan-er still wasn’t used to seeing so many faces.
But the comforting thing was that those new disciples were all extremely obedient due to their gratitude toward Long Chen. So despite the leap in numbers, it was still easy to handle things.
Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh. In the beginning, he had felt a burst of compassion and been unwilling to see that group of abandoned disciples be killed in the trial.
He hadn’t originally been thinking about expanding the Dragonblood Legion. But now, that probably wasn’t something that he could decide. He couldn’t refuse so many sincere faces. Although these disciples had lower talent and power, their loyalty was no problem at all.
It was just that there were too many of them, and Long Chen felt the pressure increase.
From Tang Wan-er, Long Chen learned he had been unconscious for seven days. During this week, quite a few things had happened. Tang Wan-er had been in charge of the Dragonblood Legion. She had first gone to register their faction, and then there had been procedures to follow.
Fortunately, this kind of structure was something Tang Wan-er had already experienced in the 108th monastery, and so she was able to handle things smoothly.
During the procedures, she had met with some conflicts with the Divine Beast Mansion, Hegemon Hall, and Flame Gate’s disciples, but in the end, she decided to endure and so no huge battles erupted.
“Fuck, I bet their faces are getting itchy again. They’re just waiting for me to slap them,” cursed Long Chen.
His battle with Que Xinyan had given him a warning. His own foundation was much weaker than theirs.
When it came to true combat power, he probably wouldn’t have been Que Xinyan’s match if he hadn’t already handled one of his Earth Flame Beasts before the fight.
If Que Xinyan had merged with the power of two Earth Flames, then to defeat him would have required Long Chen to actually risk his life. He wouldn’t have been able to win so reliably through pure power.
However, the stronger the opponent, the more excited he felt. Only by fighting against experts could he find where he was still lacking and how he could improve. Only when there was pressure was there motivation.
Tang Wan-er continued to tell him about what had happened, and what made Long Chen particularly moved was that the new thirteen thousand disciples didn’t go exchange their points to get pills, weapons, or techniques. Instead, they gave them all to Tang Wan-er.
At that time, Tang Wan-er had been stunned. The faction’s job was to distribute benefits to its disciples to make the faction more cohesive. There had never been a faction that took in the disciples’ points.
Tang Wan-er hadn’t accepted, and so those disciples had said that their lives were the Dragonblood Legion’s. Their everything was the Dragonblood Legion’s.
They were simple words, but Long Chen could feel their sincerity and trust. He was extremely moved. Trust had to be mutual.
“These are good problems. Tomorrow, I’ll go out and think of a way to get points,” said Long Chen. His family had grown bigger, and he had more mouths to feed. Since they had chosen to follow him, he wouldn’t let them suffer through hard times.
“You probably won’t have time. You’ve missed several days of basic courses, so you’ll have to go to class tomorrow,” said Tang Wan-er.
“What?”
Long Chen couldn’t believe his ears.
Chapter 1041 A Python to a Dragon
Within a classroom in the Xuantian Dao Sect, there was a strict-looking elder loudly reading off a scroll he was holding.
There were tens of thousands of disciples sitting in front of the elder, all of them with solemn expressions as they seriously listened to his reading.
In the past few days, whether it was the inner sect disciples or outer sect disciples, they had all been going to class.
According to the Xuantian Dao Sect’s traditions, the disciples all had alternate lectures with over a hundred teachers.
Those lectures were extremely diverse, and they contained information about martial tactics, formations, forging arts, runes, alchemy, divining the future, healing, etc. There were over a hundred all-encompassing topics.
The most shocking thing was that there were even zither, chess, scholar, and painting cultivation methods, and there were even some cultivation professions they had never heard of. For example, singing, dancing, etc. They had never heard of cultivators doing such things for a living.
During these days, they had been listening to the teachers presenting the arts that they were most proficient in. This was to allow the disciples to consider their own skills, interests, and aptitude so that they could decide which direction their future cultivation would take.
It went without saying that the Xuantian Dao Sect’s foundation was absolutely shocking. As long as you thought of something, you could find a teacher specialized in it. And even if you couldn’t think of it, you would have a teacher for it.
As for the current elder, he was a veteran Beast Tamer. First he discussed some foundational knowledge, as well as introducing the pros and cons of Beast Tamers, and then he introduced some overlord-level existences that were recorded in ancient history. Those were housepets that Beast Tamers would long to obtain even in their dreams.
The tens of thousands of disciples were all listening with rapt attention. Only one person was absent-minded as his mind rapidly worked.
Long Chen had long since grown tired of listening to this elder drone on and on. This rule of the Dao Sect was extremely irritating. Even if you weren’t a Beast Tamer and had no intention of choosing that profession, you had to listen to this class.
The elder’s voice went in through Long Chen’s left ear and out through his right. The only thing he was thinking about was how to make money.
Yesterday, Tang Wan-er ha
d told him that in the Xuantian Dao Sect, points were even harder to obtain than in the Eastern Wasteland’s 108th monastery.
Inner sect disciples only got a hundred points a month. Outer sect disciples only got ten. Furthermore, five of those points could only be obtained through working and completing missions. If they failed their missions, the points would even be deducted.
As for core disciples, they obtained the most points. Each month, they got ten thousand. Regretfully, that had nothing to do with Long Chen now, as he could only get the pay of an inner sect disciple. Nine thousand nine hundred points had flown away with the hack of his saber.
Just as Long Chen was thinking about how to make money to support his family, the elder on the stage had finished discussing the overlord Magical Beasts that transcendent Beast Tamers had once managed to subdue. He began to tell an extremely badass story, and also began discussing a badass existence.
“In the north underworld, there was a fish known as the Kun. When the Kun grew…”
The elder began describing a terrifying existence, one that only existed in legends. The disciples were all listening with interest when the elder suddenly shouted, “You, what are you thinking about?!”
The disciples were startled and followed the elder’s gaze to see Long Chen staring at the window with a lifeless expression. It was unknown what he was thinking, but it seemed he wasn’t listening at all.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen…” A maiden beside Long Chen blushed slightly and pushed Long Chen lightly.
“Ah? Is class over?” Long Chen was delighted. But he quickly realized that the teacher was glaring blades at him, and he quickly shut his mouth.
“You, stand up! Repeat what I just said!” ordered the teacher.
Long Chen helplessly stood up, grumbling inside. Thickening his face, he said, “In the north underworld, there was a fish known as the Kun. When the Kun grew… when the Kun grew…” Long Chen hadn’t even been listening so he had no idea what he had said after this. Seeing everyone looking at him, he clenched his teeth and said, “When the Kun grew… well, it didn’t matter, because if it grew too big for the pot, it can still be grilled on a spit. A handful of pepper, a handful of sesame, cook it until the skin bursts, you get a bite, I get a bite, we can raise our cups and eat until the sun rises.”