Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Three thousand wooden boxes contained three thousand severed heads. The bodies were nowhere to be seen.

The eight Flag Bearers were all ashen. Killing intent filled the air. It felt as if the room could not contain their fury.

The High Firmament Academy was a banner of righteousness in this world. They often sent disciples to help smaller forces that asked for aid. In particular, the recent activity of the outsider devils had resulted in constant battles. The academy sent disciples as reinforcements, and when they returned, they would be given rewards based on their contributions.

This was not just true for the High Firmament Academy. Most powerful factions that had some prestige in this world would send their disciples on these missions. There were always people asking for aid, and they were willing to pay the price for it. These requests always came with plenty of information and were not the extremely dangerous kind; even if there was some danger, it was within a tolerable range.

This time, the High Firmament Academy had received a request for reinforcements from a sect in a place called Wind Bell Valley. Wind Bell Valley was not close to any outsider devils’ territory, but they had discovered a spatial anomaly on their territory. It seemed that the outsider devils were trying to secretly create a spatial passageway into the heart of the human homeland. When they realized this, Wind Bell Valley immediately sent a request for reinforcements from the major human forces.

This spatial channel had formed its own world, but it had yet to develop the complete laws of a proper world and was thus unstable. Only Sovereign Lords were capable of entering it without causing it to collapse.

Wind Bell Valley was well aware that they wouldn’t be able to hold back an army of outsider devils on their own. Their request for reinforcements was treated seriously by the major forces, and they even sent people to probe the fluctuations of the spatial channel. They confirmed that it was impossible for someone above the Sovereign Lord realm to enter, and thus it was safe to send reinforcements.

As one of the leaders of the human race, the High Firmament Academy naturally couldn’t fall behind others. Three thousand elite disciples were sent over.

These three thousand were not among the ranks of the eight Flag Bearers’ subordinates, but they were still elites of the academy. Their power could not be underestimated. Moreover, there were experienced disciples leading them. In theory, even if something unexpected happened, they shouldn’t have been wiped out.

However, three thousand heads were right in front of the academy’s higher-ups. They had no choice but to believe this reality.

“Dean Long Chen, the Wind Bell Valley has implicated these brave warriors...” There was one woman from the Wind Bell Valley present. She was currently terrified, but had no choice but to summon her courage and speak.

Long Chen took a deep breath. Seeing how terrified she was, he did his best to suppress the rage burning within him and slowly said, “Tell me what happened.”

Long Chen knew that this was an absolute calamity for Wind Bell Valley. How could they possibly endure the wrath of the High Firmament Academy? They had clearly sent over this one woman in hopes that the academy would take pity on her and not make things too hard on her. Although he was angry, he also found it amusing, in a very unamusing way, that lowly people believed everyone conformed to their own lowly standards. The Wind Bell Valley higher-ups were really a bunch of dogs. As long as they weren’t the ones who had killed the disciples, why would the High Firmament Academy take their anger out on them?

“This is what happened...”

That woman hastily explained. Just the day before, the passageway had suddenly opened. Wind Bell Valley had long since been prepared, and their three million elites immediately entered. The major forces had sent over eight hundred thousand disciples in total as reinforcements as well.

Based on past experience, the more people in this spatial passageway, the more of their world’s law power would enter. That would let them seize an advantage inside. However, once they were inside, they discovered that the passageway was already filled with thick fog and devil qi. Their senses were severely suppressed, and while they were still trying to figure out what was going on, the outsider devils suddenly attacked. Everyone was caught off-guard, especially since these outsider devils were truly powerful. Although they were also Sovereign Lords, their power was absolutely terrifying.

In the initial clash, both sides took heavy losses. The situation was very chaotic, but the High Firmament Academy’s three thousand disciples didn’t panic even in these dire straits. They slowly took control of the situation, and the nine heavens’ forces managed to recover from the initial chaos.

These elite disciples had gone through Long Chen’s training. After experiencing the fighting in the Seven Treasure Space, they were able to maintain an organized formation even under this pressure. Under their lead, everyone got into formation, and they then launched a counterattack that pushed the outsider devils back.

Just as everyone was celebrating, they heard a strange sound. It was like singing, but also like the wail of a ghost.

When she reached the point about the singing, the Wind Bell Valley woman suddenly turned pale and began to shiver. It appeared that memory truly haunted her.

The outsider devils immediately launched a ferocious counterattack. Many people were killed at that time. The song made them feel as if their souls were being stripped away. It was the scent of their comrades’ blood that made them recover. But by then, they were vastly outnumbered and overpowered by the outsider devils, and they were forced to flee. Once they escaped from the spatial channel, they discovered that less than a tenth of them remained. This battle had been a devastating loss for them.

The higher-ups of Wind Bell Valley were horrified by this result. They immediately activated a grand formation to seal the passageway. However, just as it was sealed, three thousand heads came flying out—the heads of the High Firmament Academy’s disciples! When they saw those heads, Wind Bell Valley knew that they were about to be struck by calamity. Many powerful forces had taken a loss this time, and Wind Bell Valley could not avoid all the blame. After all, they had clearly been gravely mistaken about the situation inside the passageway.

This woman had been the leader in that battle. Now, she had been sent out as a punching bag to quell other people’s wrath.

Long Chen opened one of the boxes. Although he was mentally prepared, seeing a young man’s pale face twisted with fury made Long Chen’s heart ache.

Zi Yan, Miao Yin, and the eight Flag Bearers also approached.

Long Ziwei clenched his fists. “These damn outsider devils! We must make them pay!”

“It’s not that simple!” Miao Yin shook her head.

“What do you mean?”

“These were your fellow disciples, and they were true warriors who went through the same training as you. They were fully ready to die in battle. If they simply lost, their expressions wouldn’t be like this!”

Long Ziwei’s eyes widened when he understood the implications. “You mean...”

Miao Yin nodded. “They look unresigned because they died to a scheme. Furthermore, the ones who schemed against them were very likely people on their side!”

This hypothesis enraged everyone. They all believed her; other than Long Chen, she was the best leader that they had known. For these three thousand disciples to die to someone’s scheme outraged them. Perishing at the hands of enemies was one thing; after all, death was the final fate of every warrior. But to die at the hands of traitors was unacceptable!

“I’m going to take a look at the battlefield!”

Long Chen’s expression was gloomy. He had to get justice for these brothers and sisters of his. No matter who had done this, Long Chen would make them pay the price.

“I’ll go with you!”

Miao Yin quickly chased after him. She and the woman from Wind Bell Valley immediately vanished alongside Long Chen.