Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

A small cloaked figure had appeared in midair like a spirit of the night. Dong Mingyu raised her head, revealing her faint smile.

“In this state of divine protection, others can’t kill you, but I can.”

Tian Xiezi stared at the dagger piercing through his chest resentfully. He had actually forgotten about Dong Mingyu, a divine daughter.

He had sacrificed all his divine energy for this temporary state that allowed him to escape the flame prison, only to land in Dong Mingyu’s embrace.

Although Dong Mingyu had betrayed the Bloodkill Hall, she possessed the power of the Killing God, so she was still considered a divine daughter. Of everyone here, she was the only one capable of killing him in this state.

Long Chen had a complicated expression as he looked at the motionless Tian Xiezi. “Now do you understand? Even if I hadn’t broken through to the fourth step, we could have still defeated you. When you were exhausted and my flame prison forced out your remaining power, you would have used this technique to flee. You wouldn’t be able to escape Mingyu’s killing blow, but perhaps you would have managed to turn it into an injury instead of death. Now though, you have no chance.”

Divine energy flowed out of Dong Mingyu’s dagger, fully erasing Tian Xiezi’s divine energy. His Yuan Spirit was now completely out of energy. His world energy had been exhausted, his divine energy had been incinerated, and he no longer possessed the slightest bit of energy to resist.

“I didn’t expect that I would be defeated here. But this time I am convinced by my defeat. In the same realm, I am not worth anything in front of you. Haha, perhaps this is fate. Even as a divine son, I’m just a supporting character to set off someone else’s brilliance.” Tian Xiezi’s rage faded away, and he became calm. A cluster of flames appeared on his forehead, indicating that his Yuan Spirit had been ignited. Knowing that he was definitely dead, he chose to incinerate his own Yuan Spirit to preserve the slightest bit of dignity for himself.

“Tell me where you were all going and I will permit you to have a fitting death,” said Long Chen.

Originally, Long Chen could have done a soulearch. With Meng Qi present, they might be able to gain quite a bit of valuable information. But he chose not to do this.

At this moment, Long Chen didn’t feel an overwhelming hatred for Tian Xiezi. Their enmity was the result of being on opposing sides. They were natural enemies, and there was no right or wrong. This was simply fate.

“Hahaha!” Tian Xiezi suddenly laughed.

“Don’t force me to do it. Xia Chen’s formation is already set up, and Meng Qi is prepared,” said Long Chen coldly.

As he said, Xia Chen had two formation discs in his hand, and Meng Qi had her manifestation out, ready to use her spiritual arts at any moment.

Tian Xiezi shook his head. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at myself. I cannot compare to you in talent, intelligence, and now I’m even inferior in terms of character. Fine, if there is a next life, I hope I won’t be your enemy. Perhaps I can even be like your Dragonblood warriors and follow by your side. Maybe I won’t be confused in the next life.”

Tian Xiezi raised his hand, and a spiritual arrow shot at Long Chen. Long Chen caught it, and it exploded. A torrent of information entered Long Chen’s mind.

Tian Xiezi’s body suddenly shuddered. He began to dissipate like sand blowing in the wind. He merged into heaven and earth, vanishing.

A generation’s genius, someone who had dominated their era, someone who had been sealed for tens of thousands of years before being awoken, had died. Even the Righteous path’s disciples couldn’t help sighing.

His final words were especially moving. Tian Xiezi actually had questions about his belief. He was not completely loyal to the Corrupt God, or he wouldn’t have said such a thing.

Everyone had different experiences. Perhaps Tian Xiezi had also gone through things that none of them knew of. However, everyone’s experiences were personal to themselves.

In the cultivation world, it was unknown just how many people were forced into paths that they didn’t choose for themselves. Some choices were made because they had no other options.

Even the divine son of the Corrupt path was unable to be free, so what of others? Heaven and earth were like a chessboard, while cultivators were nothing more than game pieces. They didn’t have a choice about whether they were black pieces or white pieces.

“He didn’t have to die. As long as he swore to remain loyal to the Righteous path, we could have accepted him,” said Tang Wan-er regretfully.

Others also felt a bit of regret. If Tian Xiezi had joined their side, even if he was only a Yuan Spirit, he would have been a terrifying force. That would also be a serious blow to the Corrupt path’s morale.

Long Chen shook his head. “He had his own pride. Even if he wasn’t controlled by a divine seed, he wouldn’t submit like that. Furthermore, would you really accept someone with so much blood of the Righteous path on his hands? What about other sects? Would Tian Xiezi wish to live a life cursed by others? Impossible. So death was his best ending.”

Everyone nodded. That truly was the case. The enmity between the Righteous and Corrupt paths was not something that could be erased.

“Long Chen, did Tian Xiezi give you any useful information?” asked Meng Qi.

“Yes. He told me everything he knew,” said Long Chen.

“He was won over by your character. You let him die an expert’s death instead of doing a direct soulsearch,” said Chu Yao.

That was truly a bit surprising. The reason Long Chen wanted to kill Tian Xiezi so badly was to learn his secrets. But even then, he wasn’t fully confident in being able to grasp his soul fragments. Perhaps Tian Xiezi had even possessed a way to erase his memories. 

Based on Tian Xiezi’s memories, the one behind the scenes of everything was the Ye family. They had proposed hunting down the Martial Heaven Alliance and the Xuan Beasts’ disciples, with the goal not to kill them, but to slow them down.

However, the Ye family was crafty, and while the disciples of the continent fought amongst themselves, it allowed the disciples of the divine families to progress faster. They smoothly progressed to areas with greater chances of obtaining treasures.

Tian Xiezi and Di Feng were not fools. They had left markers on the experts of the divine families, allowing them to realize that they were all gathering at the spring. With the goal of the divine families exposed to them, they made a new plan, leaving behind a portion of their forces to disturb the Dragonblood Legion so that they could also go search for treasures without their interference.

At that time, Tian Xiezi had proposed taking on the role of disturbing them. Ye Ming had warned him not to fight Long Chen directly and only disturb his advancement before leaving. Tian Xiezi had agreed but hadn’t acted according to his instructions.

“Have Zi Yan, lady Nangong, and lady Beitang already advanced?” asked Meng Qi.

Long Chen nodded. “They were all smart. Most likely, they had a way to track the divine families’ experts, so their groups didn’t need to waste time gathering before advancing to this location. Other than those fools from the sea demon race, the others have all reached this place before us. Even that fellow Mo Nian managed to muddle his way in here.”

When he mentioned Mo Nian, Long Chen couldn’t help finding it a bit funny. According to Tian Xiezi’s memories, Mo Nian had been targeted by the Corrupt path and the ancient family alliance upon arriving here.

At that time, he had stated that if anyone dared to interfere with the advancements of the Mo family’s disciples, no one else would be allowed to advance either. Ye Ming had even fought with him, and in their probing exchange, Ye Ming had been at a disadvantage.

The huge amount of divine energy within Mo Nian’s body had shocked everyone. They thought that he had gained some god’s inheritance and become a divine son.

That show of power resulted in no one daring to antagonize him further. Although he wouldn’t be able to kill them all, if he caused a ruckus, none of them would be able to peacefully cultivate.

As a result, they had all advanced and moved on. The only thing that made Long Chen feel slightly uneasy was that Feng Fei, the Pill Fairy, and even Dongfang Yuyang were not present amongst them.

“Boss, do you know where they went?” asked Guo Ran.

“I know the general direction and location. Ye Ming told those to Tian Xiezi. Now that he’s dead, Ye Ming has definitely been alerted. I have to go over there quickly.” Long Chen turned to everyone. “Finish cultivating here. After advancing, the Dragonblood warriors should not split up. The Martial Heaven Alliance and the Xuan Beasts’ disciples should form new groups and go explore the northwest region. That is unknown territory with more treasures that others haven’t found yet. As for myself, you don’t need to be in a rush to join with me. Go in search of your own opportunities. Only captain-class experts within the Dragonblood Legion are permitted to go out alone. Everyone else should remain together.”

“Yes.” The Dragonblood warriors assented. They knew that in those dangerous areas, only the captains could protect themselves. 

“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, should some of us stay behind to stop the sea demons?” asked one of the Martial Heaven Alliance’s disciples. They could do the same thing that the Corrupt path and the ancient family alliance had done to them.

This spring possessed a heaven-defying power. It could slow down the sea demon race from using its power.

“No need. If we leave too few people, it would be dangerous. Too many and it wouldn’t be worth it. The sea demon race has too many people, so we can’t exhaust ourselves against them. If you have that time, you should go search for your own opportunities instead. Those fools of the sea demon race aren’t worth wasting the time,” said Long Chen.

“Everyone, take care of yourselves.” Long Chen nodded toward Meng Qi and the others before a pair of lightning wings appeared on his back and he vanished. He had just left the region of the spring when he sensed something. He slowly flew toward a distant stone.