Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

BANG!

As a winged giant’s body landed on the black soil, Long Chen’s expression turned rather ugly.

Out of eight corpses, this was the seventh failure. The Heavenly Soul Blood Curse had failed once again.

Taking a deep breath, Long Chen tried to steady himself. Seven consecutive failures had thoroughly ruined his mood.

When he tested the curse on the two corpses from the Huayun Trading Company, he had a fifty percent success rate. That initial success inflated his confidence. But now, after so many failures, doubt crept into his mind.

His gaze fell on the last corpse—a massive golden centipede. Given its nature, he wasn’t hopeful.

This type of lifeform was typically low in intelligence, and by common reasoning, incapable of producing Sovereign qi. However, during the primal chaos era, spiritual qi was so abundant that mutations could just occur. Even weak, unintelligent species could evolve and form Sovereign qi through bizarre mutations.

Still, Long Chen wasn’t optimistic. Creatures like this were especially resistant to soul arts like the Heavenly Soul Blood Curse.

Long Chen activated the Heavenly Soul Blood Curse to get it over with. But to his shock, the golden centipede’s body trembled, and an ominous, violent aura slowly radiated from it. The curse rune glowed on its carapace, intact and stable.

“What…?”

Long Chen’s jaw dropped. Of all things, the lowest-probability target had actually succeeded.

“Last time, I was very curious how you managed to place a curse mark on a corpse of this level. With your current power, it should’ve been impossible. For you to fail so many times, yet succeed on this centipede, there’s only one explanation,” said the Earth Cauldron suddenly.

“Mutations?” asked Long Chen.

“Most likely. These mutated Sovereign Lord lifeforms seem more vulnerable to your curse art. But of course, this is just a guess. You’ll need to continue experimenting,” replied the Earth Cauldron.

“Boss, it’s done!”

Just then, Qian Duoduo came over with seven more corpses on the Sovereign Lord level. One in particular possessed an overwhelming Blood Qi—it was likely a being that had only recently been killed.

It went without saying that Qian Duoduo was efficient. He had gathered all the best corpses in the Ten Thousand Devil Domain in record time.

Long Chen said nothing and scanned the corpses. One in particular—a bull-like beast—stood out. It had three golden horns and four eyes, and though a large hole marred its skull, the rest of the body was well-preserved.

Another mutated devil.

Long Chen activated the Heavenly Soul Blood Curse. As he and the Earth Cauldron suspected, it worked perfectly.

The others all failed. This result confirmed their guess, but they still didn’t know the reason behind it.

Now, Long Chen had three Sovereign Lord puppets under his command. He had also gained countless treasures. Meanwhile, the black soil was continuously devouring the corpses, slowly rejuvenating the primal chaos space. The flames of the Fusang Tree and Moon Trees once again flickered into existence.

It was just the beginning.

The black soil still had a long way to go before it finished consuming all those corpses. But once it did, the primal chaos space wouldn’t just be restored—it would reach a new peak of power.

The laws of the primal chaos space started reasserting themselves. The Yan Xu Flames, which had been growing increasingly unruly, quivered in fear. Even with the suppression of the golden lotus seed, they had almost broken free. But now, even without the golden lotus seed’s pressure, they dared not rebel.

However, Huo Linger was still in a weakened state and didn’t have the energy to devour them just yet. So, the flames were left alone.

Long Chen then turned his attention to the mysterious vine. It had also returned. A slender root stretched from its rhizome, gently swaying when Long Chen’s divine sense swept over it—a silent gesture that it was safe.

Seeing that, Long Chen sighed in relief. This mysterious vine might be of unknown origins and filled with a sinister air, but it was loyal to Long Chen. Despite knowing that it could have died in that attack, it had still offered up all its power.

Long Chen still felt guilty about it. The vine was still in its infancy, like a baby. Had he not been desperate, he would never have risked its life.

Its selfless act had earned his complete trust. As long as it was alright, Long Chen could finally rest easy.

“Boss, my reinforcements have arrived. Here’s what we’ll do…” Qian Duoduo suddenly smiled and beckoned him over.

…

As the treasury gates slowly creaked open, Long Chen and Qian Duoduo stepped outside.

The moment Long Chen emerged, his expression changed.

Dozens of black crossbow bolts were aimed at him. Even with his power, he felt a chill run down his spine. Those bolts were no ordinary weapons.

Realizing that he had been duped, Long Chen lashed out with a palm.

“Qian Duoduo, you are courting death!”

Qian Duoduo, as expected, was prepared. His robes exploded apart, revealing a suit of silver scale armor. Divine runes ignited across its surface just as Long Chen’s palm struck.

BOOM!

The barrier exploded. Qian Duoduo was blasted back, blood spraying from his mouth. He was injured—but not dead.

As countless experts surrounded Long Chen, Qian Duoduo burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Lu Yichen, not bad! You disguised yourself as Long Chen to kill me and push the blame onto him! That way, you could kill me without leaving any evidence leading back to you! Unfortunately, your greed exposed you. When I offered all the treasures in the den, you slipped up. It’s just like what people say—greed kills.

“My reinforcements are here now. Lu Yichen, hand over the treasures and surrender peacefully. I might let you live. But your Lu family will pay dearly.”

The surrounding experts erupted in outrage upon hearing “Lu family.”

One of them shouted, “Your Lu family is completely out of control! Do you think the Soaring Dragon Company belongs to you?! I want to see how you manage to turn things around now! Obediently give up! You should know better than anyone what we’re holding in our hands. Even if you are the Lu family’s number one heavenly genius, you’ll still die if you resist. Don’t force us!”

Long Chen’s face contorted. Panic flashed in his eyes.

However, he stubbornly said, “What nonsense are you talking about? Who is Lu Yichen? I am Long Chen, the youngest dean in the High Firmament Academy’s history!”

“Hmph. Lu Yichen, Long Chen would never talk about himself like that. And you just forgot to change your voice,” Qian Duoduo sneered.

The guards’ expressions shifted. They realized the voice just now didn’t match the one they’d heard earlier.

Of course, it was different.

This entire scene had been orchestrated by Long Chen and Qian Duoduo. Long Chen wasn’t just powerful—he was a first-rate actor. Everyone here was sure that the person in front of them was Lu Yichen.

Seeing that he was exposed, Long Chen gritted his teeth and charged right at them.