Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048

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

“We might have what?” asked Long Chen. He had a bad premonition.

  “We might have arrived in… Purgatory. This might be the Skinner Purgatory.” Xie Qianqian’s face was as pale as paper.

  Long Chen was stunned. How could that be possible? How could a good person like him end up in Purgatory?

  “In our myths, there are certain sayings about Purgatory. I was curious, so I read up on those stories. There was a picture in one of those stories that looks just like these dwarves. They’re called Skinners. They are jailors of the first level of Purgatory. Their chains and skinning blades are all terrifying magical weapons. Once they stab the body, they cause indescribable pain. Their skinning doesn’t just skin the body, it skins the soul as well. Have you noticed? That Magical Beast doesn’t seem to be composed of the same substance as us.”

  Long Chen nodded. This Magical Beast truly didn’t seem to be in the same form as them. As its body was skinned, its blood poured out, and they could see its innards.

  “Rumor is that once the Skinners capture the spiritual body in the Netherworld, they even pull in the physical body from the other world,” said Xie Qianqian. Her entire body was quivering in terror.

  Death sometimes wasn’t so terrifying. However, rumor was that once a person entered Purgatory, they wouldn’t die again. Instead, they would suffer endless pain. That was the real terror.

  “Fuck, this is definitely my bad luck acting up again. Hmph, it really was vicious this time. It even brought me for a stroll through Purgatory,” cursed Long Chen.

  Chapter 1607 Gates of Purgatory

  Those dwarves were skillfully cutting off the Magical Beast’s skin. Each time they made a cut, the Magical Beast would let out a hair-raising cry.

  It was clearly in immense pain. The dwarves’ blades worked rapidly as they laughed sinisterly.

  Their movements weren’t sloppy in the least. It wasn’t long before all the Magical Beast’s skin was stripped off.

  The dwarves pulled the pelt and examined it for something. They were speaking amongst themselves, seeming to be discussing something.

  They quickly left along with the pelt, leaving only a bloody Magical Beast behind that was still crying miserably.

  Once the dwarves were gone, Xie Qianqian quietly said, “The reason they aren’t killing it is because they’re waiting for it to grow back its skin so they can skin it again.”

  Long Chen’s heart shook. This was too vicious. Just skinning it once wasn’t enough? They would skin it for eternity? If the lifeforms in Purgatory were unable to die, then that Magical Beast’s fate was truly miserable.

  “According to the myths, the place we’re in should be the first of the eighteen levels of Purgatory, the Skinner Purgatory,” said Xie Qianqian. Her voice quivered. That Magical Beast’s current state was about to be their future.

  “The Skinner Purgatory? I’ve never heard of such a thing in my world?” said Long Chen. He had heard that there were eighteen levels to hell, but that was all.

  “Who knows why? However, based on what we’ve seen, I’m almost one hundred percent sure that we’re in the first level of Purgatory,” said Xie Qianqian.

  “Then good thing it’s not the eighteenth level. We still have a chance to get out.”

  “That’s impossible. Once past the gates to Purgatory, it’s impossible to leave.” Xie Qianqian couldn’t help but cry. She was afraid. It was impossible to not be afraid in Purgatory. Thinking of the pain they would suffer if the Skinners found them, she felt faint.

  “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. Everything in this world has a weakness or flaw. Even the best cage has to have a hole. There is nothing perfect in this world, so as long as we don’t give up, there should be a chance to escape,” comforted Long Chen.

  “I’m sorry, Long Chen. If I didn’t suggest looking for treasures, you wouldn’t have been implicated. You even had a chance to escape, but you…”

  The two of them were just cooperating. There really had been no need for him to take the risk, but he had been willing to throw himself in here for her. Other than feeling emotionally moved, she felt terrible for bringing this upon him.

  “You didn’t implicate me. Those blood essence stones and blood soul stones are very useful to me. That’s why there’s the expression that man will die for riches. My Dao is called See A Treasure And Can’t Walk Away. I’m used to it,” laughed Long Chen.

  He had long since grown used to his bad luck. If he wanted to gain something, he had to risk his life.

  “Even at this time, you can still laugh?” Xie Qianqian wiped away her tears. Even at this time, Long Chen was still relaxed. That did comfort her a bit. His smile gave her the slightest shred of hope.

  “Let’s just slowly recover. Once we’ve pretty much recovered, we’ll look around to see just how deep Purgatory is.”

  Long Chen and Xie Qianqian slowly recovered on the statue’s hands. Eventually, they felt they had recovered as much as they were going to.

  They felt like their recovery speed had increased here, but it was also difficult to sense the flow of time. The two of them had barely recovered when they heard a miserable cry.

  Long Chen looked out to see that those dwarves had appeared once more. The Magical Beast had also recovered and grown its skin out again.

  Its miserable cries were because the Skinners had begun their work again, skinning it.

  Long Chen felt a chill. No wonder it was said that people shouldn’t do bad things while alive. This skinning torture was absolutely terrifying. Once they fell into Purgatory, they would have to suffer endless pain for eternity.

  With his energy mostly recovered, Long Chen sensed that Magical Beast’s aura clearer. It was at the level of an expert attacking the Netherpassage realm.

  However, such a powerful existence couldn’t resist at all in the hands of these dwarves.

  In the end, its newly grown skin was stripped away, and the dwarves left once more.

  Once they left, Xie Qianqian and Long Chen jumped off the statue’s hands and approached the chained Magical Beast.

  Long Chen reached out and grabbed one of the chains. He instantly felt like his body had been thrown into ice. It felt like even his soul was about to freeze.

  “Damn, it’s just as strong as the blue lake’s Ice Qi. But why does this Magical Beast not seem to react to it?” wondered Long Chen.

  “Let’s go,” urged Xie Qianqian.

  “I don’t want to let something good get away.”

  One of the chains was forcibly torn off by Long Chen. Despite how strong they were, they couldn’t stand up to Evilmoon.

  “You’re mad. They’re going to notice!” exclaimed Xie Qianqian.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll just sneak away two. These chains are very strange, and I want them.”

  After tearing off two chains, the blood-covered Magical Beast that had been on its last breaths suddenly let out a furious roar.

  “What a strong baleful aura. Just how many lives did it slaughter?” Long Chen could now sense the endless baleful aura coming from it. That wasn’t its own energy, but the result of all the resentment of the lifeforms that had been unwillingly slain by it.

  “Brother, go ahead and cry. We’re leaving.”

  Long Chen ignored the Magical Beast. Neither the Magical Beast nor the Skinners were good existences. He had no urge to save it.

  He pulled Xie Qianqian out of the palace. Once they were out of the gates, they saw a long promenade. The ground and walls were pitch-black and filled with an aura of death.

  Long Chen spread his divine sense and found that there were countless hallways that intersected. It was like a labyrinth.

  Even when he spread his divine sense dozens of miles out, he couldn’t cover the entire labyrinth.

  “You lead the way,” said Long Chen helplessly.

  “Me?”

  “Yes. My luck’s very bad. If you had me lead the way, the exit would probably be on the last possible route.”

  The only
possibility in this maze was to walk around blindly. They would have to draw a map as they went.

  Once the map was finished, they would be able to find the exit. Long Chen was so confident in his bad luck that he knew that if he didn’t finish drawing the entire map, it would be impossible to chance upon the exit.

  “Alright.” Xie Qianqian nodded and started to lead the way. The two of them were both going carefully. They saw this maze had countless palaces. Some of them were empty, and some larger ones had various lifeforms bound within it. They were strange lifeforms that Long Chen had never seen before.

  “Wait!” Long Chen suddenly grabbed Xie Qianqian. He scratched Evilmoon on the wall and rubbed the resulting dust onto his face and body, covering himself with the aura of death.

  “Smart!” Xie Qianqian followed along, covering herself in the dust.

  They might not have been sensed in the palace by those Skinners, but they had been rather far away. There was no way to tell at what distance they would be able to sense their aura or spiritual fluctuations.

  The two of them continued, with Xie Qianqian leading the way and Long Chen recording the path they had taken.

  He told Xie Qianqian to follow the right wall and not to skip any corners. That way, they would be able to finish the map faster.

  As they were walking, one of the nearby palace gates opened, and Long Chen immediately pulled Xie Qianqian into a dark corner. Another group of Skinners walked past them.

  At this close a distance, they realized that the Skinners were even smaller than they had thought. They only reached Long Chen’s waist in height. However, they each held a frightening chain and a sharp blade.

  Xie Qianqian felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest being this close to them. Long Chen was also on high alert as they passed by, ready to attack if they sensed anything.

  Fortunately, they were excitedly talking to each other and didn’t notice that there were two people hidden in the dark.

  Xie Qianqian sighed with relief. Once those Skinners passed, they continued. They encountered several more groups, but due to Long Chen’s strong spiritual perception, they managed to avoid them at every turn.

  Eventually, they saw a giant pillar ahead of them. Countless runes were flickering like stars within it. It emitted a great pressure that caused the world to quiver.

  “That’s probably the exit!” said Long Chen. He could see a winding staircase going up the pillar.

  Chapter 1608 Hating Heaven and Earth For Not Having a Handle

  The pillar was fifty thousand meters wide and had a winding staircase around it. However, it was so tall that it was impossible to see its end. One could see a path going down it as well.

  “This is probably the path up and down!” exclaimed Long Chen.

  There were several thirty-meter statues around the pillar. They had short legs and thick arms. They were incredibly lifelike, with each vein on their bulging muscles visible.

  “It’s very likely. But when we get there, we’ll be instantly noticed. That place is too empty,” said Xie Qianqian worriedly.

  Several Skinners were roving around this region. They would definitely notice them.

  Long Chen sank into thought and then shook his head. “We’ll have to gamble. When intelligence cannot solve a problem, you can only rely on power.”

  Long Chen slowly took out Evilmoon, a sharp light appearing in his eyes. He was like a stalking cheetah in the dark.

  “Shouldn’t we prepare more?” asked Xie Qianqian. This was too dangerous. If they didn’t succeed, they wouldn’t get another chance.

  “No need. I’ve checked the map, and this place should be the core region. Even if we waited longer, we wouldn’t be able to increase our odds. I also can’t stay too long in this place. But don’t worry, I promise that as long as I manage to survive, you will too.”

  Xie Qianqian couldn’t help feeling comfort at the sight of Long Chen’s firm expression. She actually believed he was speaking the truth. His confident appearance inspired confidence in others.

  Xie Qianqian nodded and took a deep breath. Just like that, the two of them began rushing toward the giant pillar.

  The surrounding Skinners were all startled. They let out strange cries and attacked.

  “Don’t worry! Just stay beside me!”

  Long Chen’s steps didn’t pause as he pulled Xie Qianqian’s hand. Quick as lightning, he went past the first Skinner, slashing it.

  The Skinner instantly exploded. However, the blood mist it had exploded into slowly recondensed into its original form.

  “Rumor is that Skinners are the jailors of this level of Purgatory. As long as the Skinner Purgatory isn’t destroyed, they will forever revive,” called out Xie Qianqian.

  Two more Skinners came from the sides, as well as the original Skinner that had just reformed. Holding a chain in one hand and a triangular blade in the other, they attacked.

  “Hmph, revive forever? What’s so amazing about that?”

  Long Chen unleashed a huge saber-image that crushed the three Skinners.

  They weren’t particularly powerful, and their bodies were very weak. Their only strong points were their chains and blades.

  This time, as soon as he killed them, he waved his hand and sucked their chains and blades into the primal chaos space.

  “I’m confiscating your cheat tools!”

  After killing them and taking their weapons, Long Chen rushed off with Xie Qianqian.

  As for the three Skinners he had slain, once they reformed, they didn’t attack again. Instead, they began to grope around as if they were looking for their lost tools.

  “Excellent! Without their chains or blades, they’re crippled!” cried out Xie Qianqian excitedly.

  Long Chen smiled faintly and didn’t reply. Based on his experience, things definitely wouldn’t go this simply.

  Long Chen killed all the Skinners that blocked his path and quickly took their weapons. However, his fighting caused a disturbance that caused countless Skinners to come from every direction.

  They appeared to number in the tens of thousands. Xie Qianqian’s face instantly turned pale as there were so many. If any of their blades or chains stabbed through Long Chen, the two of them would be doomed.

  Those weapons carried the laws of this place. Once stabbed, they would become prey that the Skinners would torture for eternity.

  “Whirlwind Slash!”

  Long Chen suddenly grabbed Xie Qianqian by the waist and leaped into the air.

  A black saber-image devoured the surrounding Skinners. The sound of their bodies exploding rang out one by one.

  Long Chen was too fast and only had time to take some of their weapons as he rushed off. With just his own saber raining down attacks, he barged his way through them.

  Xie Qianqian was feeling more and more hopeful as they got closer to the pillar. Long Chen was much stronger than she had expected.

  Just as they were getting close to it, the land shook. The statues around it began to move.

  Those statues had manacles on their wrists. As soon as Long Chen approached them, one of them smashed both its fists at him.

  The immense power gave Long Chen a suffocating feeling. This was his first time encountering such power. He instinctively dodged.

  The statue’s fists smashed into the ground. The entire palace swayed with a rumbling sound. Although the attack missed, the shockwaves sent Long Chen flying.

  Fortunately, the Skinners were blown to bits by the shockwaves.

  “That’s… a Loather!” cried out Xie Qianqian.

  “What are Loathers?” asked Long Chen.

  “I don’t know either. The stories just say that Loathers are the warriors of a Giant race. They are incredibly powerful. It’s said that they hate that heaven and earth have no handle. That’s because they’re so powerful that they have no suitable weapons, so they wish they could use heaven and earth as their weapons- ah!”

  Xie Qianqian cried out as she f
lew through the air. That wasn’t from being blown away, but because Long Chen had tossed her.

  Xie Qianqian landed on the staircase of the pillar. She was many meters high now, while the Loathers and Skinners were all focused on Long Chen. They completely ignored her.

  “Hating heaven and earth for not having a handle? What arrogant words. I’m impressed by that bragging! Let’s see just how strong you really are!”

  BOOM!

  Long Chen’s saber slashed onto a Loather’s wrist. The Loathers all had chained manacles on their wrists.

  Long Chen’s attack didn’t injure it at all. Instead, he himself was blown back. Now his battle intent was truly ignited.

  “Divine ring!”

  A five-colored divine ring appeared, a five-point star within it. A hallowed aura surged out, even forcing back the air of Purgatory.

  “FengFu Star!”

  “Alioth Star!”

  “Life Fate Star!”

  Evilmoon slashed out mercilessly at one of the Loathers. Their attacks clashed, and they were even.

  “Enlightenment Palace Star!”

  BOOM!

  Their stalemate was instantly broken, and the Loather was forced back. However, Long Chen was shocked. These Loathers were truly powerful. They were relying purely on the power of their physical bodies.

  Right after he forced back one, another four Loathers immediately charged at him.

  “Divine Gate Star!”

  A pillar of light soared into the sky, lighting up this world.

  “Split the Heavens 6!”

  A huge saber-image swept through all the Loathers, slaying them. After killing them, Long Chen ran for the pillar. That attack had contained his full power and had slain all the surrounding Loathers and Skinners.

  However, that was useless. This was Purgatory, while they were the overseers. They would revive over and over again.

  Taking advantage of while they had yet to reform, Long Chen sped up the staircase. He quickly caught up to Xie Qianqian and began to pull her along. They two of them rushed up like a wild gale.

  “Their power really wasn’t fake.” Long Chen had only managed to settle them by using the Five Star Battle Armor and the sixth form of Split the Heavens. However, while he still had enough energy to unleash this attack one more time, they would just keep reviving.