Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

“It’s Zhong Yun!”

The crowd immediately recognized the voice. Gazes swept across the spectator platforms, searching for its source.

They soon found him—a tall, tan man standing as straight as a spear upon the stands.

“Zhong Yun? The rank-nine Heaven Ranker actually came out of seclusion?!”

“All of the top ten are supposed to be in seclusion. Someone must have forcibly woken him up.”

“Now, Long Chen has done it. Zhong Yun is furious. Is he planning to kill Long Chen?”

Everyone could sense the killing intent in Zhong Yun’s words. He was glaring at Long Chen.

However, Long Chen didn’t even glance in his direction. He was still standing where he had been this whole time.

“Up to you.”

The reply landed like a weight on the chest.

It was blatant arrogance, indifference in the face of a life-and-death challenge.

Zhong Yun’s expression was dark, and killing intent surged in his eyes.

“Long Chen is wild and conceited! He has humiliated my Starry River Palace! I, Zhong Yun, request a life-and-death challenge! I ask the palace master to permit it!”

Zhong Yun’s roar echoed through the martial stage.

“Rejected!”

Qu Liushang’s voice descended like cold water poured over a blaze. Zhong Yun’s face twisted instantly.

The next moment, Zhong Yun vanished and reappeared on the martial stage.

He stared at Long Chen and said coldly, “You should thank your lucky stars. If not for that, you would not be alive to see tomorrow’s sun.”

Long Chen couldn’t help but chuckle. The chuckle carried thirty percent amusement, thirty percent contempt, thirty percent disdain, and a faint trace of helplessness.

Everyone from the Starry River Palace was watching the martial stage, focusing on the two of them. As a result, they all witnessed Long Chen’s disdainful expression.

As the martial stage’s countdown started, everyone tensed.

Long Chen’s power frightened the Starry River Palace’s experts. If he even defeated Zhong Yun, the Starry River Palace really would have no face left.

A vagrant from the nine heavens had broken his way into the top ten of the Heaven Rankings, consecutively defeating the disciples with the formal nine star inheritance. In that case, wouldn’t the Heaven Rankings become a joke?

The disciples from the nine heavens were equally tense.

Long Chen had already carried them this far. He had vented years of suppressed resentment on their behalf. From this day onward, few would dare openly look down on them again.

But if Long Chen lost here...

From Zhong Yun’s murderous expression, even if he did not kill Long Chen outright, he would certainly cripple him.

Qu Yingying clasped her hands in front of her chest and prayed quietly.

“Little Brother, you have to hold on! As long as you can draw with him, that counts as your victory!”

If they exchanged heavy injuries, the laws of the martial stage would determine that they could no longer fight, and this consecutive challenge mode would end. After all, the law that protected disciples from death was supreme.

In truth, Qu Yingying had never intended to push Long Chen into danger. The moment he ran out of strength or suffered an injury, everything would stop.

What she had not expected was that Long Chen would be far stronger than she had anticipated. From the beginning until now, no one had even managed to wound him.

The issue was that Long Chen’s opponent was Zhong Yun.

There was a qualitative gap between the top ten Heaven Rankers and those below them.

Each of the top ten possessed private divine abilities inherited solely by themselves. Any one of those techniques could unleash devastating power.

“Big Sister Yingying, do you think Long Chen can win? He won’t be crushed, right?” asked a female disciple from the Qu family with a nervous tone.

Their initial prejudice had vanished long ago. After all, the power Long Chen had displayed had shaken them to the core.

Between Qu Yingying’s constant shouting of “little brother” and Long Chen’s actions, they unconsciously started to regard him as one of their own.

“I don’t know,” Qu Yingying replied, shaking her head.

“What? But didn’t you defeat Zhong Yun before and take rank eight from him?” the female disciple asked in disbelief. “How can you not tell?”

Qu Yingying explained, “You said it yourself: that was before. That doesn’t mean I can beat him now. My seclusion this time wasn’t very effective. My heart was unable to enter a peaceful state, so I didn’t gain much. Look at Zhong Yun’s aura. It is much heavier than before. He definitely gained some insight or made a breakthrough.

“Beating him last time already pushed me to my limits. Now, I might not be his match. As for my little brother, hehe, I actually misjudged. This fellow hid his true power deeper than I imagined. However, even if Long Chen isn’t a match for him, he should be able to protect himself. Don’t worry.”

After a small pause, she chuckled, “Hehe, of course, if he could beat Zhong Yun, that would be even better. I’m rank eight, and he can be rank nine. We, brother and sister, will dominate the top ten!”

Qu Yingying grew excited just at the thought of it. Her eyes curved into small crescent moons.

The surrounding Qu family disciples were all speechless.

Qu Yingying seemed to have forgotten just how worried she had been just now. She changed her mind faster than they could keep up.

Just then, the barrier between the fighters fell.

Everyone fell silent, watching with bated breath. They were all completely focused, afraid to miss the slightest detail.

However, neither Zhong Yun nor Long Chen moved. They just stared at the other coldly. Dense killing intent filled the space between them, pressing down so heavily that even the spectators felt suffocated.

“Why are you humiliating my Starry River Palace?” Zhong Yun demanded suddenly.

“Why are you humiliating the disciples from the nine heavens?” Long Chen replied calmly.

“You guys were abandoned by this era long ago!” Zhong Yun roared. “My Starry River Palace takes you in out of generosity! Are you saying that after being fed, you also want to sit in the grand hall?!”

“Abandoned by the era?” Long Chen asked. “According to whom?”

“I say so!”

“What gives you the qualification to look down on all disciples from the nine heavens?” Long Chen asked.

“My qualification? Hmph, my qualification is my power! Compared to me, all of you are ants I can crush beneath my hand!”

“Then, bring it out,” said Long Chen.

Even in front of someone from the top ten, Long Chen was still as calm as ever. His tone was flat, devoid of emotion. It was no different from how he had faced every opponent before.

Zhong Yun shouted, “Do you feel like you’re very powerful? Then I’ll show you just how worthless the power you’re so proud of is before a true expert!”

The martial stage beneath Zhong Yun’s feet quivered. Multiple figures burst outward from his body, surging toward Long Chen.

“He’s gotten faster!” Qu Yingying cried out in shock. “He really did break through!”

Just as Zhong Yun rushed close enough that everyone expected a devastating strike, he vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already behind Long Chen.

Startled cries rang out from the crowd. Zhong Yun was simply too fast.

He continued to flicker, appearing and disappearing, leaving afterimages everywhere. In the blink of an eye, Long Chen was completely surrounded.

“Heavens, I can’t tell which one is real at all!”

“How can he use such a terrifying movement art without astral energy?!”

While the crowd was stunned by Zhong Yun’s speed, Long Chen simply stood there with hands clasped behind his back. He did not even turn his head as hundreds of Zhong Yuns encircled him.

“My foolish little brother, don’t fall for it! Those are not afterimages!” Qu Yingying shouted, feeling frantic when she saw this.

At that moment, all the figures spoke in unison.

“Divine Blood Thousand Figure Palm!”

Hundreds of Zhong Yuns struck simultaneously, and hundreds of palm shadows crashed down like falling meteors, each one branded with a blazing blood-colored rune and infused with merciless law power.