Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
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“Senior is too courteous. We came here to seek refuge. For you to treat us so grandly will embarrass us.” Long Chen smiled.
In truth, even if Long Chen didn’t return to the Xuantian Dao Sect, he still had several other places he could go. One was the Wine God Palace. If he sought protection with the Wine God Palace, no one would dare to touch him.
However, that wasn’t too suitable. The Wine God Palace was supposed to be separated from the rest of the world’s struggles. Long Chen didn’t want to draw the Wine God Palace into the whirlpool around him.
He could also bring the Dragonblood Legion to the Spirit World. However, the barrier between the Spirit World and the Martial Heaven Continent was very powerful. Each time they moved between them, it would take a huge amount of energy from the Life God Tree.
So the Skyscraping World was the best place for Long Chen to go right now, so he had brought the Dragonblood Legion here. However, he was a bit overwhelmed that Yue Xihan would personally welcome them.
“There is no need for such courtesy between us. However, if I didn’t show my friendship to the number one legion of the Martial Heaven Continent’s first visit, I would appear too rude. Next time you come, I won’t personally welcome you.” Yue Xihan also smiled, appearing poised and graceful. Yue Xiaoqian stood behind her. The two of them were like sisters.
“Aunt, why didn’t I see the great prophet?” Long Chen looked around. Everyone he had seen on his last trip here was present, except the old prophet who had touched his face.
Yue Xiaoqian’s eyes reddened slightly. Last time, her grandmother had tried to see the future of the original devil race from Long Chen’s body. She had used a divine ability, but the backlash had exhausted all her life energy. She had already passed.
“Oh, she is still in seclusion and cannot come out to see you,” said Yue Xihan apologetically.
“I was just curious. After all, as the junior, I have to greet her. But since she’s still in seclusion, I’ll have to wait for another time to pay my respects,” said Long Chen. However, he definitely sensed something off with Yue Xiaoqian’s expression. But this wasn’t a matter for him to pursue.
“Everyone, please come in!” Yue Xihan waved a hand, indicating that everyone could enter.
“Senior, we know you’re very busy. There’s no need for you to waste time on keeping us company. Yue Xiaoqian can show us around,” said Long Chen.
“That’s good too. You youngsters probably have more words to say. I wouldn’t want you to feel constrained by my presence. Xiaoqian, you’re the host. Make sure to carry out your duties properly.” Yue Xihan seemed to see through Long Chen’s intentions. Due to her presence, Long Chen and the others were more reserved. Leaving things to Yue Xiaoqian, she left with the original devil race’s Elders.
“Isn’t it said that all the original devil race’s men look like bloodthirsty fiends and monsters? Why don’t they seem like that at all?” Only once Yue Xihan and the others were gone did Guo Ran curiously look at the other original devil race experts.
Xia Chen immediately pushed him, meaning that he should shut up. That was too rude.
Long Chen smiled slightly and said, “We’re all one family, so you don’t need to have such misgivings. The original devil race that you know is a fabricated story. There are many things in this world where the truth has become false, and what is false has become truth. It’s difficult to determine the difference. History is always written by the winners. They glorify themselves and make their enemies ugly. So true and false must be determined by ourselves, not just by listening to others. Even what you see might not be true, so use your heart to judge, and your head to analyze.”
“That’s too complicated. We’ll just follow boss. Once boss becomes a god, we’ll follow and become gods as well, becoming a divine army. If boss becomes a devil, we’ll become devils too. As long as our lives are still as brilliant as now, who cares? Boss, what do you think of this boot-licking of mine?” chortled Guo Ran.
“Alright, stop messing around. We’ll rest here for three days. Once those three days are up and everyone’s back in peak condition, we’ll be going to a trial by fire,” said Long Chen.
“What trial by fire?”
Long Chen looked at everyone. “Before advancing to the Life Star realm, I want to excavate everyone’s potential once more. Our Skyscraping World has a Devil Blood Pool that can replicate a clone of you. It will possess the same power, the same techniques, and the same spiritual yuan as you. Hence, you’ll be fighting against yourselves. Before this, you were facing enemies, and you had the confidence to win for sure. But this time, you’ll be facing yourselves. The stronger you are, the stronger your clone will be. I’m giving you a mission. Each person must be able to defeat themselves three times before breaking through to Life Star realm.”
“Three times? That’s impossible.” Yue Xiaoqian was startled. Beating oneself required great bravery.
After all, you were fighting yourself. You might even lose yourself and be unable to tell who was who. It could easily form a heart-devil, and you might even feel an urge to kill yourself.
The trial of the Devil Blood Pool wasn’t to beat yourself, but to make you face your heart-devil. Those who could defeat themselves were too rare. Even Yue Xiaoqian had challenged it several times at the beginning and only managed to have a draw.
As for other experts, they were judged by how long they could last. That would determine how strong their mental realm was.
Lasting an incense stick’s worth of time was the passing grade, two incense sticks’ worth of time was excellent, three incense sticks’ worth of time made you a genius that would be heavily favored. Those who could last over two hours were the pillars of the original devil race.
Yue Xiaoqian had lasted four hours each time, making her the greatest genius of the original devil race in many years. However, even she was unable to defeat herself. For Long Chen to want the Dragonblood warriors to defeat themselves, and three times at that, was essentially heaven-defying.
“It’s fine, I believe that they can do it,” said Long Chen.
Guo Ran’s expression suddenly changed. He seemed to foresee a miserable plight for himself.
Three days later, after resting, everyone other than Long Chen had finally recovered to their peak state. After consecutive life and death battles, their mental realms had once more advanced. Their cultivation bases were at the peak of Soul Transformation, and many people already felt the barrier to the next realm weakening. They already possessed the ability to attack the Life Star realm.
During this time, Long Chen told Yue Xiaoqian to have the Huayun Sect send a message to the old man, telling him that he was safe and to be at ease.
As for Qu Jianying’s side, she had Li Tianxuan, and Li Tianxuan understood Long Chen. He wouldn’t worry about him.
However, the old man might very likely be searching for him. With his temper, he might just charge straight over to Pill Valley and cause a fuss.
Although the old man had a fiery temper, he was very protective and willing to sacrifice his own life for his children. Long Chen was worried about something happening to him.
He told the old man that they had found a good place to go into seclusion and that they were preparing to attack the Life Star realm.
Long Chen had no choice but to lie. If the old man knew that he had run to the original devil race and couldn’t return home, he might explode in fury.
After three days of rest, the Dragonblood warriors were completely refreshed. They were now standing in front of a giant blood pool.
Yue Xiaoqian introduced it, explaining that it was a relic from ancient times. Back then, the original devil race had slaughtered their enemies of the devil races, refining their devil cores and devil blood to create this miraculous Devil Blood Pool.
“Who wants to go first?” asked Long Chen.
“Boss Gu Yang definitely is unwilling to miss this chance. I won’t fight against him over it, or t
hat would be a provocation toward the Dragonblood Legion’s number one captain,” said Guo Ran immediately.
Guo Ran’s arm had shot up, and at first, people thought that he was actually volunteering, making them wonder if the sun had risen from the west today. However, he ended up volunteering Gu Yang.
Gu Yang’s expression was dark. By calling him the number one captain of the Dragonblood Legion, he had no choice but to go.
Gu Yang rubbed his bald head and took a deep breath. Clenching his teeth, he stepped forward, feeling great pressure.
During these three days, he had learned more about the Devil Blood Pool and its abilities. He knew that for other people, this trial wasn’t to be beaten. Normally, people’s talent was judged by how long they lasted, as defeat was set in stone.
Being the first one to challenge this trial, his results would affect the rest of the Dragonblood Legion’s morale. Not only that, but hundreds of experts from the original devil race were also watching.
They were looking at them with worshipful expressions, wanting to see the power of the Martial Heaven Continent’s number one legion. This was a rare opportunity for them.
In this kind of scenario, being defeated would be embarrassing. So he couldn’t be defeated.
“Have you prepared yourself? If you’re ready, then let’s start!” On the other hand, Long Chen was very relaxed.
Gu Yang took out a spear. This was a battle spoil. It was a very good half-step divine item, and the weapon he was most used to.
“Start!” Gu Yang took a deep breath.
Yue Xiaoqian pointed a finger. A blood-colored light came from the Devil Blood Pool, enveloping Gu Yang. He vanished, and a giant bubble appeared in the pool. An ancient martial stage was present within it.
Gu Yang’s figure appeared on the martial stage. Not far from him, blood bubbled and a figure gradually condensed. It was another person who looked identical to Gu Yang.
“They really are the same. Even the brightness of their heads is identical,” exclaimed Guo Ran. Like this, when the battle started, they wouldn’t be able to tell who was who.
Tang Wan-er chuckled. Even at such a tense time, Guo Ran was able to crack a joke. But it was true. The first things their eyes were attracted to were the two bright ‘suns’ inside the bubble. Gu Yang’s radiance was difficult to cover up.
Just as they stared in amazement at how alike this duplicate was. The fake Gu Yang’s spear suddenly pierced forward, unleashing a shocking power. A pillar of Blood Qi soared into the sky.
“What?!”
Upon seeing that Blood Qi, all the Dragonblood warriors let out a startled cry.
Chapter 1932 I’ll Give You a Chance
“It even duplicated the Dragon Blood Battle Armor?”
The fake Gu Yang had summoned the Dragon Blood Battle Armor and was now covered in red dragon scales. With a roar, its spear pierced toward Gu Yang.
BOOM!
Gu Yang’s body shuddered, and he was sent flying by the fake Gu Yang’s spear. Blood dripped out of his mouth. He was filled with shock.
“What’s going on? Why is it that the fake is even stronger than the true body?” exclaimed Guo Ran. Gu Yang was actually at a disadvantage.
“No, the fake Gu Yang has an identical combat power to the real one. However, the duplicated one has one advantage, and that is that it doesn’t need a warm-up. It is in its peak state from the start. As for the true body, it needs to slowly accumulate power and raise it. That’s one of the monstrous aspects of the Devil Blood Pool. It’s a bit unfair, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” explained Yue Xiaoqian.
Upon hearing this explanation, their confidence received a blow. This was practically cheating.
For most people to unleash one hundred percent of their power, they would need to unleash three attacks. The first attack would have fifty percent of their power, the second would have eighty percent, and only the third would have one hundred percent.
That was the safest and most perfect way of warming up. Of course, it was possible to use eighty percent on your first attack and then one hundred perfect on your second, but without a warm-up, you might injure your meridians.
As for using one hundred percent from the start? First, ignoring how difficult it would be to do such a thing, even if you did pull it off, you might tear apart your meridians. Before injuring your enemies, you would have injured yourself, causing your power to drop. Then due to being injured, your attack would have less effect.
However, this duplicate was able to ignore this rule and was instantly at full power. They were helpless over this cheating.
“No rules are perfect. The true body is at quite a disadvantage in this fight, so…” Yue Xiaoqian looked at Long Chen and didn’t finish her sentence.
Long Chen smiled. “You don’t need to give me face. You want to say that even one victory each would be a crazy dream?”
Yue Xiaoqian covered up a smile. “I wouldn’t say it so directly, but yes.”
She had been very careful with her words to avoid giving a blow to Long Chen. She was trying to protect him. But Long Chen had long since been bruised by the blows of cruel reality. He was used to it.
“Actually, I encountered a similar trial in the Immemorial Path, but it was even crueler. This Devil Blood Pool replicates one hundred percent of the true body’s power, while in that trial, it created an enemy with one hundred and twenty percent of your power. Furthermore, you couldn’t retreat or lose, or you would die,” said Long Chen.
“One hundred and twenty percent of the true body’s power?”
Now everyone was shocked. They hadn’t known that Long Chen had experienced something like that in the Immemorial Path.
“Then you won? Damn, that was a dumb question. If boss had lost, you wouldn’t be standing here.” Li Qi had just spoken when he realized he had misspoken.
“But boss, that’s impossible. How is someone supposed to beat another version of yourself that is simply stronger?” asked Guo Ran. That made no sense.
“Then tell me, if there were two identical people, wouldn’t their odds of victory be fifty-fifty? Based on that logic, why is it that the original devil race’s disciples practically never manage to defeat themselves in this trial? That’s why you shouldn’t try to use this logic, nor should you let this logic restrict your mind. I’ve previously told you that you have to keep your imagination in front of reality. Otherwise, you would have reached the end of your path and be unable to walk any further,” said Long Chen.
Yue Xiaoqian’s eyes lit up. She seemed to have understood something.
Long Chen saw that and smiled. “As expected of the sacred daughter. You understood with just a hint.”
Yue Xiaoqian’s comprehension skills were truly great. Long Chen had never seen anyone who surpassed her when it came to learning. Sacred daughter was the title bestowed by the original devil race to their future leader. Both disciples and Elders called her this.
Rumbling rang out as Gu Yang’s fight continued. It was growing increasingly intense.
“Has Gu Yang taken the advantage?” said Tang Wan-er with surprise.
“You’re wrong, the one being beaten miserably is the real Gu Yang,” said Long Chen.
Tang Wan-er blushed. “The two look the same. I thought the one shouting was Gu Yang.”
Yue Xiaoqian said, “It’s normal to not be able to see the difference. The Blood Devil Pool replicates the true body’s habits as well. Gu Yang has a habit of shouting when he has taken the advantage, wanting to snowball this advantage into a victory and increase his opponent’s mental pressure.”
The silent one was actually the real one. But it was the fake that had taken the advantage and was shouting in an identical way to how Gu Yang shouted in combat.
Everyone stopped their cheering awkwardly. They didn’t know what kind of emotion the current Gu Yang was feeling, but they guessed that it wasn’t a good one.
The distant experts of the original devil race didn
’t find this odd. What they were shocked by was Gu Yang’s power.
The two Gu Yang’s were fighting with immense power that made it hard for them to breathe. Their fight eventually passed the two-hour mark.
“Too powerful and too fierce.”
The original devil race’s disciples were gobsmacked. Gu Yang’s fight was so intense that it was making their own blood heat up.
“Two hours is already the level of the strongest heavenly geniuses, and it seems he can still continue. As expected, the name of the Martial Heaven Continent’s number one legion isn’t for nothing,” praised one of them.
He was one of the original devil race’s core disciples, and he had managed to last a full two hours last time. However, past that mark, he had been instantly defeated.
Back then, he had been on his last legs and had barely managed to bitterly hold on for this long. The original devil race only had thirty-some people on his level.
As for Gu Yang, his fight was still incredibly intense. Despite being suppressed, there were no signs he was about to give up.
“Gu Yang’s been injured!”
Song Mingyuan suddenly let out a cry. Gu Yang’s shoulder had been pierced by his opponent’s spear. Blood soaked his upper robes.
The fake Gu Yang was growing fiercer with its attacks, and it seemed to possess limitless power, making them suspect that it truly had greater stores of energy. Its aura wasn’t weakening at all.
“Xiaoqian, is there any mortal danger to the Blood Devil Pool?” asked Chu Yao.
“Don’t worry, the Devil Blood Pool is a treasure passed down from the ancient era. If someone is going to be killed, they’ll be instantly transported out. There’s no chance of dying, but being injured like this isn’t part of the auto-protection system,” said Yue Xiaoqian. She was also amazed by how Gu Yang had lasted for so long.
The more time passed, the further victory seemed to be, and the harder it would be to continue fighting. Only those who had experienced the Devil Blood Pool understood just how difficult it was.
Gu Yang was going all-out, but no matter what, he was unable to reverse the tides. The fake Gu Yang had completely suppressed him. He slowly began accumulating injuries and looked to be in great danger.