Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

“Alive. Everyone is still alive.”

Mo Nian wept. When the Immortal Sealing Palace exploded, he held onto Liu Zongying tightly, thinking that they would both die.

Unexpectedly, they were saved and he had even ascended to the immortal world. It was his first time feeling how great it was to be alive.

After being saved by a mysterious expert of the dragon race, he learned that the others were also alive. At that moment, he was so overwhelmed that he wept.

However, just as he was crying, he heard some strange sounds ring out beside him. Only then did he notice that he was in a cemetery.

Not far from him was an extremely ancient gravestone, and there was a dust-covered elder getting to work on it with a chisel and hammer in hand.

The sky was dark. Realizing that he was in a cemetery, Mo Nian suddenly wondered if he really hadn’t been saved. Was he actually dead?

“Old man, it’s dark out here. You should go home and sleep. What are you doing here?” Mo Nian summoned his courage and spoke.

The elder didn’t even raise his head. He continued striking the gravestone. “Child, you should sleep first. Some people wrote my name wrong here, so I’m fixing it.”

Mo Nian’s head buzzed and his feelings of gratitude vanished. Now he really was unsure if he was dead or alive.

“Hehe, little fellow, you have the air of tombstones on you. You wouldn’t be so cowardly, right?” The elder put down his tools and looked back at Mo Nian. After that, Mo Nian was startled. The elder’s back had looked so sloppy, but from the front, he was actually quite handsome. He looked graceful and noble.

“Junior was unable to see senior clearly. Please forgive this junior.” Mo Nian was quite smart. Despite not knowing who this elder was, his years of experience and intuition were telling him that this person was definitely not ordinary.

The elder waved his hand. “Don’t talk such nonsense. I was messing around- cough, I was wandering the land when I suddenly felt moved into stopping here for a moment. I’m quite busy you know, so I’ll only give you an incense stick’s worth of time. Show me your worth. If you satisfy me, I can accept you under my wing.”

Mo Nian was startled and didn’t quite understand. Hence, the elder impatiently said, “Let us get right to the point. What do you think about this cemetery?”

Thinking of what the elder had been doing, Mo Nian suddenly realized something. He then examined his surroundings and cautiously said, “This cemetery faces the northeast, with its back pointing toward the southwest. Moreover, both sides are narrow with a wide center. This is typical of a northeast-southwest cemetery. The wind blows from the northeast, while water flows from the southwest. The large tomb at the center must be the node of this fengshui. As a result, this cemetery is most likely fooling people’s eyes and ears. It is most likely hiding some hidden mechanisms. The main tomb is likely nine hundred meters to the north…” Mo Nian immediately began to talk non-stop.

Perhaps Mo Nian might not be skilled in other things, but when it came to graverobbing, he was truly the number one person in the Martial Heaven Continent. He had even gone to the Corrupt God Cemetery multiple times and was skilled in all matters of tombs, including the important fengshui matters.

Seeing Mo Nian’s eyes shining, the elder gradually smiled.

Having started, Mo Nian couldn’t stop. “The northeast and southwest are covered in soil. The descendants of this tomb’s master did not burn enough incense and wanted to use this method to change it. Furthermore, the majority of the gravestone is facing the southwest. This indicates that the master of this tomb did not have enough women in their family. Oh? They didn’t want men, but more women?”

Mo Nian found himself bewildered, feeling like he had made some misjudgment somewhere.

“Hahaha, little fellow, you have some skill. This is a branch of a clan whose leaders are women. You were mostly correct in everything that you said, but there are some things very different in the immortal world compared to the mortal world. Since you are able to remember this much, it proves that your talent isn’t ordinary. For you to have this great profession in your heart is excellent.” The elder laughed, very satisfied with Mo Nian’s display. In fact, it seemed to have far exceeded his expectations.

He stood up. “Little fellow, you’re excellent. Your luck is also good to meet me. It can be said that our line of work is known to all within heaven and earth. Since we don’t have much time, you can just accept me as master. Starting today, you are my apprentice. I will pass down all my life’s learning to you.”

“Disciple Mo Nian greets master!”

Mo Nian was delighted and hastily went through a formal nine kowtows. He hadn’t expected his luck to be so good. As soon as he entered the immortal world, such a master already accepted him as an apprentice. He would definitely soar.

“Hahaha, good. Little apprentice, remember, your master’s mighty name, Que De!”

“What?” Mo Nian couldn’t believe his ears. Would someone really give themselves the name of Que De?[1]

“It’s Que as in the Que in palace. But they all call me Daoist Immoral when it’s actually Daoist Que De. Sometimes, I’m influenced by them so the accent sounds a bit off,” said the elder. He laughed, and the air of a graceful immortal completely vanished, replaced with certain wickedness that made Mo Nian feel like he had fallen for a con.

“Good apprentice, come. This is your master’s first gift for you.” The elder handed a black hat to Mo Nian.

Mo Nian was dumbfounded. This black hat didn’t have a single divine rune on it, and it didn’t look like anything special.

“Master, I…” Mo Nian wanted to gracefully decline.

Daoist Que De seemed to read Mo Nian’s thoughts and took out another gift. It was a pair of worn-down leather boots. Seeing this, Mo Nian almost fainted. This master of his was too stingy, wasn’t he?

Mo Nian truly felt like he had been tricked. He cautiously probed, “Master, apprentice’s weapons were destroyed in the mortal world. Do you think…?”

“Child, do you think that I’m stingy? You think that I can’t even provide you with a good weapon?” Daoist Que De smiled.

After saying that, he took out a shovel. Now, Mo Nian really felt like he would faint.

“Senior, I’m a bow user,” said Mo Nian angrily. He no longer even called him master. He truly felt conned.

“I know, you’ll definitely work hard[2]. Don’t worry, with your talent and dedication, plus my guidance, you will definitely become a figure that shakes the nine heavens and ten lands.” It was unknown if Daoist Que De didn’t hear him properly or simply acted like he didn’t.

“Child, do you know the true meaning in me giving you this shovel?” asked Daoist Que De solemnly.

“What?” Mo Nian was startled.

“It’s the start. The start of work. The treasures won’t dig themselves out,” said Daoist Que De.

“Damn, you really are immoral! You give me these broken things?! And you want me to follow you?!” Mo Nian finally erupted in fury.

“Hehe, why else would others call me Daoist Immoral?” laughed Daoist Que De, seemingly quite pleased with himself. “Furthermore, you are about to understand why I gave you those things and how to use them.”

Just at that moment, the void shuddered and countless terrifying auras erupted. Immortal light blazed, forming a giant formation that trapped everything here.

A furious voice rang out. “Gravedigging rat, come out and face your death!”

[1] 缺德 Que De means lacking morals. It sounds the same as his real name, 阙德. The Que in his real name means palace when written as 宫阙.

[2] This is a pun on bow user. It sounds the same as a hard worker. So Mo Nian says that he’s a bow user/hard worker, and Daoist Immoral says that he knows that he’s a hard worker.