Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Atop the main peak, on a veranda overlooking the world, the mountain lord stood beside three ancient elders.

These three had indistinct auras, their gazes as deep as the cosmos itself. One of them finally broke the silence as they all stared at the spatial screen.

“Qingyu, aren’t you being too rash? The closer we get to the critical moment, the more cautious we should be. We can’t take such risks.”

Qingyu was actually the name of the mountain lord. And in truth, these three elders were mountain lords as well. Sovereign Mountain, unbeknownst to most, had four mountain lords in total.

Yet, these three rarely appeared. Not even someone like Elder Huang Xuan was aware of their existence.

Hearing this statement, one of them smiled lightly. “I disagree. Thirteen is the number favored by the heavens. For a fourteenth to appear… it must signify a great destiny. Long Chen doesn’t have a pure violet bloodline, yet he still managed to achieve Divine Staircase Spirit Awakening. This is no ordinary case. Qingyu’s move is a kind of test. Perhaps it will trigger a great development.”

The previous elder said, “I can agree with that, but… there were definitely safer ways. Why take such a drastic path?”

All three of them looked at Qingyu, and she simply smiled.

“Because I like extreme options.”

“…”

Qingyu laughed. “The three of you are so old-fashioned. It was just a joke. Long Chen is a unique case—he possesses multiple bloodlines, each with shocking origins. Theoretically, the heavens should have long since envied him and prevented him from growing to this level. And yet, he’s still alive. Doesn’t that make you curious?

“What does that have to do with you opening the Life End Stage?” asked one elder.

Qingyu calmly replied, “The Life End Stage has been dormant for countless years. It’s reached its limit. If it slumbers any longer, the devils and demonic beasts sealed within it will perish. When they’re gone, the laws of the Life End Stage will collapse, and with that, its secrets will vanish forever. So many Life End Stages were left behind from the primal chaos era—using one for a little test isn’t unreasonable, is it?”

“But if two tigers fight, one must die. No matter who wins, the other side won’t let things end peacefully. You’re deepening the conflict between the two families,” said another elder.

After a brief pause, Qingyu coldly replied, “The rise of the violet blood race will never be a smooth journey. The future king of the violet bloods must walk a path stained in blood—not just the blood of enemies, but also that of their own kin. What do you think of that?”

The three elders fell silent, lost in thought. In the end, all they could do was sigh.

…

A dual-winged devil covered in scale-like armor burst out of the swampy earth. Its speed was astonishing—it was in front of Long Chen in an instant, its bloody jaws gaping wide.

This devil stood ten meters tall, with a crocodile-like snout and a massive tail. As it snapped down at Long Chen, the surrounding space collapsed, pulling him toward it with terrifying suction.

Although this creature was only in the Human Emperor realm, its devil qi was incredibly powerful. Moreover, its bloodline power was vast as a sea, and primal chaos qi swirled around it. Its pressure eclipsed even that of an ordinary Divine Emperor.

This was the power of the primal chaos era’s lifeforms. They were unrivaled within the same realm when compared to this era’s experts.

Despite its Human Emperor cultivation, it clearly wasn’t limited to human form. This devil either hailed from ancient times or possessed an extraordinarily rare bloodline.

What shocked Long Chen was that the spatial compression caused by its Emperor aura faintly resembled a Sovereign Lord’s spatial lock. While not as potent, it was still astounding.

BOOM!

Long Chen kicked the creature directly in the jaw. A deafening explosion of qi rippled out as the monster was sent flying.

After undergoing the dragon pearl blessing, Long Chen’s physical body had grown stronger once again. Even he wasn’t entirely sure of his limit.

Even without the Dragon Blood Battle Armor, this kick was powerful enough to crush Divine Emperors. Yet, the devil crocodile was only sent flying, and even its scales were damaged.

Its tough physical body surprised Long Chen, but along with that surprise was a wild joy.

As Long Chen kicked away the devil crocodile, countless other figures pounced on him. All kinds of strange devils attacked. Their appearances were bizarre. Some had three heads and six arms, others had singular eyes and twisted horns. Some had bat-like wings and even opened their mouth to spit a stream of pitch-black venom that corroded the very sky.

Long Chen’s hands and feet danced. Devil after devil was sent flying, but they kept coming. As time passed, he started to be overwhelmed by the onslaught.

From the screen, the Luo family experts watched with growing tension. Being surrounded by so many primal chaos devils didn’t bode well for Long Chen.

If a cultivator allowed themselves to be encircled, they’d be forced into a passive position—and from there, it was easy to fall into peril. Breaking through would become nearly impossible.

“Don’t worry, Long Chen isn’t even using his full power,” said Luo Ying when she saw everyone’s worried expressions.

They hadn’t known Long Chen for long, but they understood enough of his style. He was still probing the devils’ power.

Luo Ying had just spoken when countless violet swords shot through the air, accurately striking the vital spots of these devils and slaying them.

Luo Fengying and the Sovereign Lords’ pupils shrank. What shocked them was how accurate and precise Long Chen’s attacks were. He didn’t waste the slightest bit of energy.

If it had been just one or two pinpoint attacks, it would already be impressive. But Long Chen had unleashed hundreds, all with the same terrifying precision. At this sight, even someone like Luo Fengying felt a chill.

Long Chen had never received any pointers from Sovereign Mountain’s experts and didn’t have access to the violet blood race’s highest-level secret arts. So how did he achieve such monstrous control over his violet blood energy?

With a wave of his hand, Long Chen swept away the corpses. Even the blood lingering in the air vanished without a trace.

Actually, Long Chen was not showing off how skillful he was. He was preserving the devils’ core energy.

If those corpses were destroyed or exposed for too long, their essence blood would be absorbed by the world’s laws. That would result in a massive loss of energy.

Right now, the primal chaos space was low on fertilizer. This was the perfect chance to replenish it.

What thrilled Long Chen was that these primal chaos devils didn’t just possess raw life force. Their bones, flesh, blood, and even their skin contained primal runes.

Those runes were incredibly nourishing, especially for Evilmoon, the Earth Cauldron, the Demon Moon Cauldron, the Heaven Flipping Seal, and even Huo Linger, Lei Linger, the mysterious vine, the Fusang Trees, the Moon Trees, and every medicinal ingredient he had planted.

The mysterious vine was visibly growing at this point, so it was clear how beneficial these primal chaos corpses were to it.

Who cares about some Life End Stage? I’m going to empty this swamp first!

Under the stunned gazes of the onlookers, Long Chen didn’t head toward the Life End Stage at all. Instead, he launched into a full sweep of the swamp.

Everywhere he went, the swamp boiled. Countless devil creatures erupted from the depths, lunging at him like starving wolves.

But Long Chen… was ready for all of them.