Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

“Someone about to die? Big brother Long Chen, did you give him medicine?” exclaimed Ling-er.

Long Chen almost coughed up a mouthful of blood. Between laughter and tears, he said, “Ling-er, after living for so many years, can you be more accurate with your words? Are you asking if I poisoned him?”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Ling-er. “Big brother Long Chen, I’ve lived for countless years, but my soul has always been independent. I have never merged with those people’s souls, because if I did, I would no longer be myself. I only went through their spiritual memories when I needed to in order to search for something, or sometimes I used their souls to adjust my voice and intonation.”

Long Chen nodded. This was why Ling-er’s voice had sounded like that of an ancient existence when she had first spoken to him. The way she spoke was also a bit strange.

As Long Chen sped off in the flying boat, he didn’t sense any danger. Most likely, he had no pursuers.

At this moment, Ling-er materialized into a cute young lady sitting beside him. She looked at him in anticipation for an explanation.

Long Chen rubbed her head. “You were correct not to merge with those souls. You would have been lost within them and unable to find yourself. People will do anything in pursuit of their ultimate goals, but once they achieve them, they will naturally clean up any vestiges that look unfavorable to them. That old man was used by Di Long and will definitely be eliminated now that I’m gone.”

“Why?” Ling-er cocked her head.

“Because, once he’s dead, the proof will be gone. They can find any random excuse to cover it up. For example, perhaps that person hated the Mo family, and the attack was entirely due to his personal enmity. Thus, it has nothing to do with the ancient family alliance. The ancient family alliance will naturally execute him upon finding that out in order to maintain their own dignity. They will explain this all very clearly to Feng Fei. The truth is covered up just like that. So, do you think there’s any chance he’s going to survive?” Long Chen smiled.

“Big brother Long Chen, you saw through all this, so why did you jump into the trap anyway? With how smart you are, I’m sure you could have thought of a way to expose their plan without harming your relationship with Feng Fei, right?” asked Ling-er.

“That’s a good question.” Long Chen bitterly smiled.

“Why does your smile look so odd?”

Long Chen sighed. “I can see through others but not myself. Or, rather, even if I can see through myself, sometimes I can’t control myself.”

What was the point of just understanding? It was all too possible for him to secretly send a message to Feng Fei. He might even be able to show her a recording of the sneak attack.

However, with Feng Fei’s icy and arrogant manner, Long Chen had instantly lost interest in explaining. Perhaps if everyone was amicable, explaining would have been an option. But when trying to explain himself to someone looking down on him, it felt too much like begging. Long Chen was unable to do it.

Sometimes Long Chen also felt very conflicted. There were many times where his intelligence was useless. Instead, his temper controlled everything.

“Big brother Long Chen, your face is pale. I can fly for you while you rest,” said Ling-er worriedly.

“It’s fine. We’re almost there.” Long Chen shook his head. He knew his current state was bad. He had not only exhausted his Spiritual Strength. His five stars were also out of energy.

The most difficult thing was that he didn’t know how his five stars were injured, so he didn’t know how he could help them heal. He could only hope for them to recover on their own.

He wasn’t too worried about it though. The five stars had always managed to operate on their own. They should be able to fully recover in no time.

Although his battle with Feng Fei had ended in a draw this time, Long Chen knew that he was the loser. He had been hoping to use his powerful Spiritual Strength to exhaust Feng Fei, focusing only on defense and making her run out of Spiritual Strength.

However, in reality, Feng Fei was much more frightening than he had anticipated. Her Spiritual Strength was only the slightest bit weaker than his, but her control over spiritual attacks was many times greater.

Regretfully, the Pill Sovereign memories were limited to alchemy techniques when it came to controlling Spiritual Strength. This resulted in him having powerful Spiritual Strength but not being able to use it in battle. It was a pain.

He wished he could have Meng Qi teach him some soul arts, but he didn’t have the time to train in them. It was a distraction.

Let alone training in soul arts, he didn’t even have time to refine pills to increase his cultivation base or satisfy the Nethergate Star. He didn’t have time.

“Long Chen, you were injured?!” When Long Chen returned, Mo Yi was shocked upon seeing his current state. Just who had managed to harm Long Chen?

“It’s fine. Just a little surprise. I’m going to check on Mo Nian.” Long Chen brushed it off and returned to see Mo Nian. Mo Nian was starting to thrum with vitality once more. Most likely, his astral space was fine, and his soul was starting to return. His soul had been separated from his body for so long that he needed a bit more time. But he wasn’t in any danger.

“It seems he’ll wake up within a day. If you wish, you can stay here. I can help you heal. As I see it, your core has been damaged. My Samsara power should be able to help,” said the Mo family’s head. As a fourth step Netherpassage expert, his Samsara power could heal most injuries.

In truth, doing so came at a price to himself as well. Based on Long Chen’s heavy injury, it would harm his own core. But any price was alright considering Long Chen had risked his life by entering the Netherworld to save Mo Nian.

Long Chen shook his head. There was no way the five stars would be able to recover from him. “Thank you, but I can handle my injury myself. There are still three days until the Star Field Divine World opens. Mo Nian should be able to reach his peak state during that time. We can reconvene there,” said Long Chen. 

Despite the family head’s urging him to stay, Long Chen entered the Mo family’s transportation formation. After two transports, he arrived at the headquarters of the Martial Heaven Alliance.

“Little fellow, where did you run off to? Who injured you?” Upon seeing Long Chen, the old man almost blew up. Long Chen’s face was still pale. It looked like he was close to death.

Qu Jianying and the others also jumped. Long Chen’s aura was incredibly weak, and his eyes had lost any luster.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m slowly recovering,” said Long Chen.

He really was feeling better. In just this short time, his five stars had started to recover and nourish his body. He estimated that the five stars would be fully recovered in just another day.

“Speak, which shameless old fellow actually dared to attack you?” demanded the old man. In his view, this was definitely done by a fourth step Netherpassage expert, and one who had reached the pinnacle of that realm at that.

Long Chen bitterly smiled. “Don’t mention it again. I lost face this time. I was injured by someone of an equivalent cultivation base.”

“Impossible!”

The old man and the others refused to believe it. Within the same realm, who could injure Long Chen?

“Was it Di Feng or Tian Xiezi?”

In their eyes, those were the only two possibilities.

Last time, during Long Chen’s tribulation, he had made them flee for their lives and since then they hadn’t dared to come out again. Had they run into some miracle that allowed their combat power to soar?

“It wasn’t them. It was someone from the divine families. Her name is Feng Fei,” said Long Chen.

“Feng Fei? You… you actually fought with her?!”

“You know of her?” asked Long Chen, surprised.

“Of course! Three days ago, she came to the Martial Heaven Alliance and asked how many spots we wanted for the Star Field Divine World. Heavens, she is definitely the one closest to becoming a Sovereign right now. You actually fought with her?!” Qu Jianying and the others were shocked. Qu Jianying demanded, “You fool, how did you end up fighting her?! Are you happy now that you were defeated?”

“What are you saying? Who cares about some Feng Fei? Why can’t he fight her?” The old man’s expression immediately sank upon seeing Qu Jianying scold Long Chen. “Long Chen naturally had to have no other choice but to fight her. Even if he lost, who beats a dispirited child like this?”

Qu Jianying’s anger also surged, but the old man’s last words made her feel like she had gone a bit too far. Long Chen naturally must be feeling bad and blaming himself already for losing.

She was about to comfort him a bit when Long Chen said, “Actually, it wasn’t a defeat. Her injuries are no lighter than mine. It can be considered a draw.”

“What?!” Everyone’s jaw dropped.