Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN) - Chapter 391: Chance Encounter With an Old Friend

It had been almost four months since the Jiuli secret realm had opened. During those four months, countless disciples from both the Righteous and Corrupt paths had rushed throughout the various marked regions on the map.

Four months was both a long and a short time. Many experts had already decided on a strategy before coming to the Jiuli secret realm, and they had long since set their goals.

There were few people like Long Chen who just aimlessly wandered around. That was because Ling Yun-zi had told them that everything would be up to their fates. They couldn’t force it.

In truth, Ling Yun-zi also felt extremely bitter inside. Compared to the other monasteries, Long Chen and his other disciples had weak foundations in the sense that they didn’t have many life-saving measures.

The majority of the dangerous regions all had countless opportunities within them, but there were also too many people fighting over them. Ling Yun-zi didn’t have any extravagant hopes of them obtaining some heaven-defying opportunities. All he hoped for was for them to be able to come out alive.

And Ling Yun-zi’s worries had not been unfounded. Only after entering the Jiuli secret realm did Long Chen realize he had looked down on the other geniuses.

In this world, Han Tianyu and Yin Luo weren’t the only peak experts. Huo Wufang’s appearance allowed Long Chen to realize that in the vast cultivation world, there were countless experts hidden everywhere. He was not the only dark horse.

Who knew just how many experts like Huo Wufang were still unknown? Even peak experts could run into failure, perhaps even lose their lives, in this place where danger and rivals were everywhere.

However, Long Chen’s mood was still extremely relaxed. Although the Jiuli secret realm was in a constant state of dusk, he felt a delight as if basking in a clear and boundless sky.

He had finally condensed the Alioth Star. Although it was just an embryonic form and he hadn’t finished the nine star transformations, Long Chen already felt as if his body had undergone a complete transformation.

That filled Long Chen with confidence. Right now, he didn’t fear any opponent. So it could be said that Long Chen had the ability to go on a rampage at this time.

But the only thing that he regretted slightly was that for some unknown reason, there seemed to always be something calling to him within the Jiuli secret realm. That feeling had only grown stronger after condensing the Alioth Star. However, from the start, Long Chen was unable to determine what direction that calling was coming from, and so he was unable to seek it out.

Before coming to the Jiuli secret realm, he had already felt an indistinct summoning. That feeling had only grown clearer after entering the secret realm.

At the beginning, Long Chen had thought that whatever was summoning had to do with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, and so he had thought it was the Qilin Fruit.

That was because without the Qilin Fruit, there was no way to condense the Alioth Star. But now even after he had obtained the Qilin Fruit, that feeling of being summoned hadn’t changed.

If he hadn’t gone to find Yin Luo, then he wouldn’t have even been able to obtain the Qilin Fruit Tree, so the summoning had nothing to do with it.

There was nothing he could do about that. Long Chen could only continue moving forward. Whatever that thing was, if it was meant to be his, it would reveal itself to him eventually. But if it wasn’t meant to be, then he shouldn’t be feeling that beckoning.

As for why it refused to reveal what it was, Long Chen could only conclude that their karmic destiny hadn’t arrived yet. He could only walk forward step by step. Now that there were only eight more months to the closing of the Jiuli secret realm, time wasn’t so plentiful anymore.

Since he couldn’t find where that opportunity was, Long Chen could only move on. His new target was the only place marked with a blood-colored human skull.

This place was the Abyss of Fiends. No one knew just how deep this abyss was, but it emitted a fiendish air that caused people’s hair to stand on end.

It was known as a land of definite death. That was because that fiendish air was something ordinary people were unable to block. Sometimes just by getting close to the abyss, people would be corroded by the fiendish air, causing their mental state to collapse.

Countless shockingly powerful experts had tried to explore the Abyss of Fiends’ secrets. As a result, countless experts had thrown their lives away there.

One peak expert had said that after advancing to Bone Forging, he had barely gotten three hundred meters into the abyss before a terrifying pressure tore through his body, almost making his body explode.

Three hundred meters was nothing, not even enough for him to reach the bottom of the abyss. From then on, no one else tried entering.

That was how that place had ended up being called a land of absolute death. Over countless years, there had never been anyone to obtain the slightest benefit from that place, but instead, countless people’s lives had been thrown in.

And those people whose lives had been lost were all experts amongst experts, as those were the ones who dared try to probe its secrets.

Those who dared to come to the Abyss of Fiends were all extremely conceited people. They all had powerful cultivation bases or live-saving measures.

But it was because of that conceit that they had lost their lives. They had used their fearlessness to tell other people a certain principle: being a show-off had its price.

Long Chen had chosen to go to the Abyss of Fiends for two reasons. The first reason was curiosity. He was like those previous experts, extremely confident in his own strength.

The other reason was that now that it had been four months since the Jiuli secret realm had opened, people had long since gone through all the marked places on the map.

Many opportunities had already been taken away by other people. If he wanted to find more opportunities, he would have to search in areas not marked by the map.

But the Jiuli secret realm was practically boundless. No one knew how large it was. Without the markings on the map, it was all too easy to get lost.

Furthermore, even if you didn’t get lost, if you weren’t able to get back in time for the closing of the secret realm, you wouldn’t even be able to leave alive.

It was only after considering it for a long time that Long Chen had decided to set his sights on the Abyss of Fiends. Furthermore, he wasn’t one hundred percent set on entering. He simply wanted to experience what the infamous Abyss of Fiends was like.

If it really was too dangerous, he wouldn’t force it. So at most he would just leave after arriving, and all that would happen was that he would waste some time. Long Chen was quite confident in his fleeing skills.

Long Chen was just advancing forward when he heard a bang in the distance. He felt a strong gale surge over him. There were people fighting ahead.

He was a bit surprised to encounter a fight, but within the Jiuli secret realm, fights erupted everywhere and all the time. No one knew just how many died each day in here.

The Jiuli secret realm was dangerous, but the greatest danger still came from your fellow humans. Ninety-nine percent of the people that died within the secret realm died to fighting other disciples. It was quite the irony.

However, Long Chen was still very curious about this and so he quickened his footsteps. It was in a human’s nature to like to watch the action. Even if he didn’t interfere, it was good just to see what was going on.

Dozens of miles were crossed in a flash by Long Chen. He saw four people fighting in the distance. He was slightly surprised to see one of them was a woman, and that she was fighting one against three. Those four were all Favored, and she was repeatedly forced to retreat, fighting as she fled.

But with their advantage in numbers, those three refused to give up. As for the woman, all alone, she was outmatched. She was already covered in quite a few injuries, blood flowing down her robes. However, she still clenched her teeth and fought a bloody battle.

“Three against one? Boring.”

Long Chen shook his head. This kind of slaughter was practically a constant show within the Jiuli secret realm. Long Chen had never considered himself to be some warrior of justice, some chivalrous hero. He just watched.

Within the Jiuli secret realm, you couldn’t trust any other person. You could only trust yourself. That was something Long Chen had already instilled in the other monastery disciples before entering. He naturally wouldn’t make such a low level mistake himself.

Long Chen only had one rule: if people didn’t offend him, he wouldn’t offend them. He had no desire to fight the strong to help the weak. All he wanted was to protect the people close to him.

However, he hadn’t expected that the woman would actually change directions and flee towards him.

“I’ll just act like I didn’t see it.” Long Chen warned himself inside. Women were always the most troublesome, and if he could avoid trouble, he should.

That woman’s aura was declining rapidly. She was sent flying by one of their attacks.

“Die!”

This created an opening for one of the other three. His sword ruthlessly stabbed towards her chest. He perfectly aimed his sword for where she would land, so there was no way she could dodge.

That woman could tell there was no way she could block this, and her eyes were filled with despair. But suddenly a light sound rang out as a large hand caught that man’s sword. A blue-robed man had appeared in front of her.

“Brat, don’t meddle in other people’s business, or you won’t have a good death!”

Long Chen’s appearance shocked the three of them. It was especially shocking that he was able to use his bare hand to catch that person’s sword.

However, seeing that Long Chen was merely at the early Tendon Transformation realm, their guard dropped back down.

Damnit, I said I wouldn’t do anything. How come I wasn’t able to stop myself? Long Chen grumbled inside, feeling a bit angry with himself.

He hadn’t wanted to interfere. But when he saw that woman was just about to die, he still hadn’t been able to endure it.

“You three brothers’ appearances are grand, and you look like you put on airs. What is the point in killing a woman? Give junior brother some face and leave this matter like this.” Long Chen put on the posture of a mediator.

Grand appearance? Putting on airs? Was he praising them or cursing them? The three of them were infuriated, and the one whose sword was being grabbed by Long Chen’s hand cursed, “You little wretch, just die!”

He pulled his sword back with his full force, but his sword seemed to have grown a root that was stuck in Long Chen’s hand. No matter how he pulled, it refused to move. He turned purple from the exertion.

“Hey, why are you cursing people?” A displeased expression appeared on Long Chen’s face. “And you even put on such an ugly look. Just who is that for?”

Long Chen suddenly let go of the sword while that person was still pulling with his full force. He had let go so suddenly that the puller ended up smashing the hilt into his own stomach.

That person vomited a mouthful of blood and flew back. The other two people were startled, and stabbed their swords directly at Long Chen.

“Scram.”

Long Chen waved his hand, and a fierce astral wind struck them. Before they could even reach Long Chen, their bodies felt as if they were being crushed, and they also vomited a mouthful of blood.

“You…!” The three of them were all shocked. They had never imagined that this brat, whose cultivation base was only at the early Tendon Transformation realm, would be so terrifying.

As for that woman, she now finally had a chance to take a breath. She was just about to say her thanks when her expression turned to astonishment.

“Long Chen?!”

Long Chen was slightly surprised and turned to look closer at that woman. She seemed slightly similar. Suddenly, he remembered.

“Bai Ling?”

That woman was precisely the Bai Ling who had been in charge of the Huayun Pavilion back in Phoenix Cry. She had once tried to rope in Long Chen to her sect.

As for those three, when they heard that he was Long Chen, their expressions completely changed, and they fled without even thinking about it.

“Long Chen, hurry and kill them! You absolutely can’t let them run away!” Bai Ling’s expression suddenly turned to one of panic.