Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Li Luyao knelt on one knee, her hair disheveled. Blood soaked the stone tiles beneath her feet, and the arm she had held her sword with was gone.

Shock froze her expression as she ground her teeth, fury blazing in her eyes. She could not accept that she had lost so completely.

At this moment, Long Chen clasped his hands behind his back once more.

He said, “Your power was scattered and poorly controlled. You are full of openings. A second-rate character like you would die the moment you stepped onto a real battlefield. I’ve killed countless people like you. I truly don’t know where you found the confidence to act arrogant in front of me.”

“You—” Li Luyao choked.

She was already heavily injured and needed to quickly adjust and suppress her wounds. But the moment Long Chen provoked her, her barely suppressed injuries flared, and blood sprayed from her mouth.

Her body instantly vanished.

Injuries alone did not mean defeat on the martial stage. Sometimes, fighters intentionally withstood injuries to seize victory.

However, the instant Li Luyao coughed up blood and her injuries flared, she lost all capacity to continue fighting, while Long Chen remained at his peak. This was what made the laws of the martial stage determine that she had lost.

After being sent out, Li Luyao finally fainted.

She was immediately taken to one of the healing chambers reserved for martial-stage combatants. As long as a disciple did not die instantly on the stage, these chambers could pull them back from the brink of death.

Without such safeguards, they would never allow disciples to compete so ferociously. Losing disciples to internal competition would be an intolerable cost.

“Heavens, Long Chen just beat one of the top thousand Heaven Rankers!”

“And still in one move!”

On the desolate mountain, countless disciples from the nine heavens shouted excitedly. This scene set their blood ablaze.

As for those still kneeling in punishment, there was no sadness left in them. Being punished by someone like Long Chen now felt closer to honor than humiliation.

Throughout the Starry River Palace, nine-heavens disciples watched the astral projection in silence. Excitement surged within them, but none dared to voice it. After all, they were surrounded by native disciples of the palace.

High above, the expressions of the Starry River Palace’s upper echelon were grim.

By now, they could tell that Long Chen had come to slap them in the face.

Worse still, he had openly invoked Li Yaochen’s name and accused them of betraying the founder’s very purpose in establishing the Starry River Palace.

And what infuriated them most was that Li Yaochen’s original intent was exactly as Long Chen had said.

Before the four Starlight Heavenly Sovereigns rebelled against the Star Divine Palace and established their own factions, they had done so knowing they would die without its healing. Their only goal was to leave behind seeds for the nine star lineage.

The four Starlight Heavenly Sovereigns had gone their own way instead of banding together because they feared annihilation. If their enemies crushed them as one, the nine star line’s immortal Dao legacy would be severed in one go.

This truth was known only to the highest levels of the Starry River Palace.

And just now, Long Chen had thrown it back in their faces, with some resounding slaps.

“This damn brat, how long are we going to let him keep acting so arrogant?! Call out those monsters in seclusion to kill him!” roared one of the higher-ups.

“They were informed long ago,” another replied with a sigh. “But the vice palace master has issued orders not to interfere with the rules of the Heaven Rankings.”

“Not interfere?!” another raged. “Then how was Long Chen allowed to jump directly into the Heaven Rankings in the first place?!”

No one answered.

They all knew the truth, but there was nothing they could do about it.

After all, many groups within the Starry River Palace had used this kind of method to save time for their own heavenly geniuses. Since it did not affect the overall workings of the Heaven Rankings, they turned a blind eye to it.

If they really were to latch onto this matter, Qu Yingying would simply throw countless comparable cases in their faces. After an investigation, none of them would get off free.

Thinking of this, all of them had ugly expressions.

“Damn, how long is this going to go on for?! Where are the geniuses of the Heaven Rankings?!”

The higher-ups were all antsy. Every second Long Chen remained on the martial stage felt like another slap across their faces.

On the stage, Long Chen stood exactly where he had been from the beginning. From start to finish, no one had been able to force him to move even half a step.

“Hehe, yes, this is my little brother! Big sis is cheering for you!” Qu Yingying shouted.

“Big Sister Yingying, can you not shout so loudly? Everyone is watching. You’re a representative of the native disciples. And... we aren’t exactly innocent either. Long Chen cursed all of us just now. You can’t be on his side just because he’s handsome,” a female disciple close to her whispered anxiously.

“He only cursed those bullies. I never bullied others, so how did he curse me? Eh? Why are you so sensitive? Could it be that... you all are bullies?” Qu Yingying asked, suddenly turning toward them.

“No, no, definitely not!”

They all hastily proclaimed their innocence.

While they truly hadn’t bullied anyone directly, most of them did look down on the nine heavens’ disciples. Thus, Long Chen’s words still stung them.

Just then, the martial stage started to flash, but no one stepped forward.

“The martial stage is counting down! If no one challenges him, Long Chen will have successfully completed the consecutive-battles-to-the-peak challenge!”

According to the rules, if no one challenged the Long Chen within an incense stick’s worth of time, it would signify that he had completed the challenge. He would retain his position and all his points.

Seeing the huge number of points listed next to Long Chen’s name, countless nine star heirs were tempted. Not many of the top hundred Heaven Rankers had that many points.

Suddenly, the martial stage quivered, and a large man with bulging muscles appeared on it.

“Heavens, finally! One of the top experts has shown up!” Countless disciples cheered.

“Lei Xiao, rank ninety-eight!”

“Heavens, we will actually see the fight of a top-hundred expert!”

“I have to thank Long Chen. Normally, we will never get to see experts at this level!”

“Now, Long Chen’s in trouble! Lei Xiao is famous for his brutality. He might just end up beating Long Chen to death!”

After Li Luyao’s defeat, most challengers had lost the courage to step forward. Even those ranked slightly above didn’t dare to challenge Long Chen.

After all, none of them could crush Li Luyao with a single finger. Thus, while they hated Long Chen and were jealous of his points, they didn’t challenge him. They were aware of their own limits.

“Now, this will be worth watching,” Qu Yingying said, rising eagerly as Lei Xiao took the stage.