Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

“Lord Brahma has always been targeting me. If he were not worried about my academy’s sweeping elder, he would have killed me long ago,” Long Chen replied as he nodded.

Lord Brahma was the biggest threat to Long Chen. He knew a lot about Long Chen, but Long Chen barely knew anything about him. That made him especially dangerous.

“The sweeping elder... he is still alive?!” the High Priest exclaimed, shocked.

“Yes, he’s doing very well. Do you know him?” asked Long Chen.

The High Priest remained silent for a moment and then nodded after some thought.

The High Priest said, “No wonder you were able to grow well. It looks like he’s your Dao-protector. Because of him, Lord Brahma can’t use his full power against you. But as time goes on, the sweeping elder’s pressure will fade. Also, the great era is coming, and Lord Brahma has been planning for years. I’m worried he’ll make a big move before the great era arrives.”

“What kind of move?”

The High Priest answered, “I’m not sure. But I know Lord Brahma well. That schemer never wastes time and always plans countless years ahead. He probably knows more secrets than we do. We still don’t know why he and Fallen Daynight betrayed the Pill Sovereign. I suspect Lord Brahma will act before the great era comes, so we need to be careful.

“Still, you don’t have to worry too much. We’re watching the nine heavens closely, and we’ll notice as soon as he makes a move. Other major factions are watching too. The younger disciples have all reached the Sovereign Lord realm. When the great era arrives, they’ll adjust to the new laws, and their essence runes will carry the mark of the era.”

After thinking for a bit, Long Chen remarked, “Speaking of the mark of the new era, when fighting Lord Brahma’s subordinates, I discovered that their double manifestations were much stronger than those of normal Divine Sovereigns. They were on a completely different level.”

The High Priest nodded and said, “Honestly, forming a double manifestation now is a gamble. We don’t know whether these double manifestations will align with the new era’s laws and qi flow. For example, the Deep Earth Sect’s Yan family clearly failed. Their gamble hadn’t even started, but they had already lost. Their double manifestations couldn’t keep up with the changes of this era. Moreover, since their manifestations were created with external help, they couldn’t control their own lives. They were bound to fail. The Zither Sect was supposed to support them but mainly used them as a test subject. They are simply a failed experiment.”

Long Chen was taken aback by that idea. If the Deep Earth Sect was merely an experiment by the Zither Sect, it suggested the Zither Sect had been plotting sinister schemes. It genuinely appeared that they were not just waiting for the great era but actively preparing for something.

The Zither Sect couldn’t have been solely experimenting with the Deep Earth Sect. If there were failures, there had to be successes too.

Long Chen suddenly felt uneasy. After all, the Zither Sect could use zither music to create artificial double manifestation Divine Sovereigns. Even failed experiments could be terrifying if there were enough of them.

If their experiments finally led them to the right way to create these double manifestation Divine Sovereigns, it would be truly frightening.

“High Priest, does our Wine God Palace also possess a method to quickly condense a double manifestation?” asked Long Chen.

“Of coure, we have some ways. However, they are all risky, and a loss could cost the gambler’s life. That’s why the Wine God Palace will not do such a thing unless absolutely necessary.”

Long Chen’s heart sank. The Wine God Palace had misgivings, but the Zither Sect did not. They were willing to use others as experiments. How many of those experiments had they carried out in secret?

In that case, the Zither Sect’s power was definitely not as simple as it seemed.

In an all-out war against the Zither Sect, who knew how many hidden experts they had? How many existences like the Deep Earth Sect would flock to their side?

Long Chen hesitated and then made up his mind.

He asked, “High Priest, one of my friends is in the Zither Sect’s hands. I need to save her. I have a plan, but I’m not confident in it. If the plan fails, I will have to use force. I want to ask, how does the Wine God Palace’s power compare to the Zither Sect’s?”

With a serious look on his face, the High Priest replied, “The Wine God Palace should be slightly weaker in terms of foundations when compared with the Zither Sect.

“One reason is that the Zither Sect is the leader of the four immemorial sects, and it possesses the primal chaos divine item, the Heavenly Devil Zither, which maintains its karmic luck. The other reason is that the Zither Sect did not go all-out during the primal chaos war, resulting in fewer losses.

“On the other hand, our Wine God Palace lost the Wine God and all of our top experts. Although I have done my best to support the Wine God Palace during this time, the Zither Sect’s recovery rate is definitely not slower than ours.

“Moreover, the Zither Sect has been doing many cruel and shameful things in secret to refine their zither strings. I’m sure the Heavenly Devil Zither has recovered some of its power.

“If we are willing to pay any price to attack the Zither Sect, our chances of victory are no more than thirty percent. If you truly want to attack the Zither Sect, I ask that you give me some time to awaken our slumbering warriors.”

“No, no!” Long Chen said, hastily waving his hand. “I was just asking. Things haven’t reached that point yet.”

Long Chen was deeply touched that the High Priest didn’t hesitate to support him even knowing the odds of victory were slim.

“So we won’t win if we attack the Zither Sect. But what if the Zither Sect attacks us?” asked Long Chen.

“Since this location is where the Wine God attained his Dao, we benefit from the surroundings’ natural karmic luck and the Wine God’s Dao Weapon, which will give us a significant advantage. If they were to attack us, I believe both sides would suffer equal damage.”

“In other words, the Zither Sect won’t attack us either?” asked Long Chen.

“I believe so!” The High Priest nodded confidently.

“Even if I slap Cao Yiyang’s face, he won’t attack us?”

Hearing this, the High Priest laughed. “Cao Yiyang is a schemer. He is always overly careful in everything he does. Even if you slap him in the face, he won’t act out of anger.”

“Hehehe, in that case, I can definitely plan the next step,” Long Chen said, smiling sinisterly.

“Mister Long Chen, how did that friend of yours offend the Zither Sect? Do you want me to threaten Cao Yiyang and force him to hand her over?” asked the High Priest.

Long Chen didn’t conceal the truth and told the High Priest about Zi Yan’s situation, stunning him.

“The Heavenly Devil Zither’s body and item-spirit were separated? But I’ve never heard of them participating in the primal chaos war. Does its body produce its own spirit?” the High Priest pondered aloud. “If so, this is indeed troublesome. The Heavenly Devil Zither is crucial to the Zither Sect. They wouldn’t hand her over easily.”

The High Priest also considered this a difficult issue now. No amount of persuasion or threats would compel them to give up Zi Yan.

Just as they were considering how to handle this issue, a report arrived.

“High Priest, the Zither Sect’s people have come to pay respects!”