Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

Last time, Mo Nian had been gravely injured upon reaching this point. 

“The dark Nether Qi most likely isn’t a mechanism. It’s something that accumulated due to how long this place has been sealed. I’m sure there’s some treasure inside. But the dark Nether Qi will burst out as soon as the door is opened. There’s no way to dodge it. After some thinking, I’ve found a way to block a bit of it, but not all of it. I would say that we wouldn’t even be able to last a few minutes within it,” said Mo Nian. That was too little time, and it was a conservative estimate.

“I’ll handle it.” Long Chen began to communicate with the Demon Moon Furnace. A pile of mud appeared in his hand.

Long Chen suddenly smeared the mud over Mo Nian’s face, enraging him. “What time is it for something so senseless?!”

“Don’t move. This mud is a treasure. The dark Nether Qi will be unable to go through it,” said Long Chen, adding more to Mo Nian’s body.

“Are you telling the truth? Don’t con me!” Mo Nian looked at Long Chen doubtingly.

Long Chen ignored him. After applying it all over Mo Nian’s body, Mo Nian turned into a mud person. Long Chen then started applying it on himself. He was unable to reach his back, so he needed Mo Nian to help. The two of them quickly became mud people.

This mud was the black soil of the primal chaos space that possessed its own particular death energy. Even the death spirit water had been unable to get through it, so Long Chen was confident.

“Don’t let the mud fall off. Open the door,” said Long Chen.

Mo Nian nodded. Since Long Chen was so confident, there shouldn’t be a problem. With their bodies covered in soil, they looked very comical. They could only use their divine sense to see.

Mo Nian touched several spots on a pillar beside the door. A different colored rune lit up every time he touched it.

Rumbling rang out and the door slowly opened. A flood of darkness swept over them. If they hadn’t been prepared, they would have been blown away.

“It really is immune to the dark Nether Qi!” exclaimed Mo Nian in delight. The black soil completely isolated them from it.

Eventually, the force behind the deluge of Nether Qi weakened enough for the two of them to walk in.

“Damn.”

Both of them sucked in a cold gasp of air. They were in a giant room, so big that they couldn’t see the other side.

This room was filled with skeletons. They were lying on the ground, limp, but the auras they gave off made their hair stand on end.

Those were the skeletons of giant beasts. Looking closely, there were thirty-six skeletons, but they filled this giant room.

It was impossible to tell what their original forms were like or their level. Their bones were pitch black like cast iron. Even the runes on them contained the aura of darkness. Most likely, they were species specific to the Netherworld. 

“Based on their auras, they are probably above the Netherpassage realm,” said Mo Nian, smacking his lips.

Even though they were just skeletons, they still gave off a feeling of mortal danger to them.

“Most likely. But their crystal cores are intact, and their skeletons aren’t damaged. How did they die?” wondered Long Chen.

“Look, up ahead. What kind of diagram is that?” Mo Nian pointed suddenly.

Long Chen looked over, only to see another door with a bizarre diagram on it. At the center of it was a winged person holding a sword. It seemed that the thirty-six beasts were prostrating toward it.

Long Chen came to a sudden realization. “This was a sacrificial ceremony. These beasts were sacrificed.”

Having learned some fundamentals about formations from Xia Chen, Long Chen managed to vaguely recognize a sacrificial formation. 

It was no wonder these beasts had their skeletons in perfect shape. Their flesh had been sacrificed, but their energy remained locked in their bones and crystal cores.

“I want these corpses,” said Long Chen a bit excitedly.

“For what? Stew? Can’t you just take their crystal cores?” asked Mo Nian.

“No. Perhaps Meng Qi will be able to control these skeletons.”

“What? How can dead beasts still be controlled?”

“I’m not sure either. But what if it does work? Better to try it.” A light of anticipation appeared in Long Chen’s eyes.

“If it actually does work, wouldn’t you be able to sweep through the world?!” exclaimed Mo Nian. If Meng Qi could have these skeletons fight as if they were alive, that would be far too terrifying. These were beasts above the Netherpassage realm. Thirty-six beasts above the Netherpassage realm? That power was unimaginable.

“It was worth it to come here. Mo Nian, you study how to open the door. There’s definitely something amazing behind it. I’ll take these skeletons.” Long Chen reached out to grab one of the skeletons. He found that even though they were just bones, they were as heavy as a star.

He had to use his full power to lift and toss them into Mo Nian’s astral space. Then through the Demon Moon Furnace sending them and Evilmoon receiving them, Mo Nian’s astral space became a conduit, allowing these skeletons to be sent back one after another.

It was hard work moving them all. By the time he was done, Long Chen felt exhausted. As he recovered his breath, he saw Mo Nian had also accomplished his task.

He had been pressing around on the door for this entire time and had finally managed to activate the runes on it, making it slowly open.

When it was just the slightest crack open, a wave of divine pressure burst out of it, sending them both flying. They coughed up blood, their Yuan Spirits barely having survived the impact.

When the door was fully open, the divine pressure raged in the room. It was like thunder crashing, accompanied by harsh, blinding lightning.

The roaring made them feel like they might collapse. In front of that divine pressure, they felt incredibly miniscule.

“This is definitely a treasure. Perhaps this is the greatest discovery of my lifetime.” Mo Nian was ecstatic. There was definitely something unimaginable behind this door.

The divine pressure gradually stabilized, and only once it stopped blasting out of the door did they manage to walk forward and take a look inside. As soon as they did, their hair stood on end.

“Hong Yaoyang!”

Long Chen instantly recognized the person seated within the hall behind the door. He was icily staring at the two of them.

Mo Nian had not seen Hong Yaoyang. He had only heard his voice. As a Nethergod, Hong Yaoyang had only sent his troops out to kill him. But Mo Nian had requested Long Chen to display how he had slapped Hong Yaoyang, so he knew what he looked like.

The first thought of Mo Nian’s was that they were doomed. They had actually walked right into Hong Yaoyang. There was no way they could fend off the god of this world.

“No, it’s not Hong Yaoyang! It’s his mortal husk!” exclaimed Long Chen suddenly.

Hong Yaoyang was just staring at them, not doing anything. Furthermore, his aura was different from what Long Chen recalled. Although there was divine energy surging within him, his eyes lacked any life.

Through that, Mo Nian also realized something was off. Hong Yaoyang’s expression didn’t change at all.

The two of them slowly crept in. Hong Yaoyang was seated on a throne within this room.

Suddenly, Hong Yaoyang’s eyes brightened. The throne shook slightly, making Mo Nian cry out. Without hesitation, he shot an arrow at him.

His arrow exploded into smithereens upon reaching a distance of three inches from Hong Yaoyang. 

“Don’t move. It’s definitely his mortal husk. Our auras stirred the runes just now,” said Long Chen, stopping Mo Nian from shooting his second arrow.

He pointed at the bricks beneath them. Long Chen had just stepped on one, and one of the runes on it was just barely flashing. When he took his foot off, the rune stopped flashing and faded away.

“Fuck, that was terrifying.” Mo Nian was sweating. This shedding of Hong Yaoyang’s looked just like a real person.

Long Chen indicated to Mo Nian not to move. He squatted down and carefully looked at the bricks. He was just barely able to see some runes on some of the bricks.

As he wasn’t a formation master, he didn’t know what this formation was. But clearly, those bricks could not be touched.

Long Chen began to mark those bricks, indicating not to step on those. His estimate was that these runes were not used to target invaders. Otherwise, the mechanisms here should be even stronger. Hong Yaoyang had to be confident in his territory, and so he wasn’t worried about the defense of this place.

“There’s something behind him. Let’s go around.” Long Chen pointed at the throne. The two of them carefully looped around, and they saw a large platform with a sword stabbing into it.

Upon seeing that sword, Mo Nian’s eyes blazed with light. “We’ve really struck gold this time!”