Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

Within the darkness of night, that light was a bright lantern. At the beginning, Long Chen had thought that it was just starlight and hadn’t cared too much about it.

It was only now that he realized it was light from a fire. For a blazing fire to appear within the middle of an endless desert was definitely out of the ordinary. But Long Chen’s gut told him that that spot should offer some protection.

If he was facing off against the dozen second rank Giant Desert Scorpions alone, he wouldn’t be that afraid. As long as he used his Pill Flame to protect his body, even if he couldn’t win, he definitely would be able to escape alive.

But that wasn’t the same for Little Snow. Although Little Snow was a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf, an extremely rare third rank Magical Beast with an innate ability for both wind and fire, he was currently still only a second rank Magical Beast since he hadn’t yet fully matured. Although he had an inherited Battle Skill that was his wind blades, his control over those wind blades was still too rough and so they weren’t powerful enough yet.

Only once a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf reached the third rank would it be able to explode with its most powerful battle strength. That was when they would awaken their flame strength, and once flame and wind were combined, that would allow a third rank Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf to stand at the peak of all third rank Magical Beasts.

Before Little Snow reached the third rank, he would only be able to barely resist higher temperatures. But he would definitely not be able to resist something like Long Chen’s Pill Flame. And so Little Snow had become Long Chen’s fatal weakness at this moment.

“Little Snow, run towards that light.” Long Chen turned to look back and saw that the Giant Desert Scorpions were already within three hundred meters of them.

On the soft sand, Little Snow’s speed was much lower, while this was the home territory of the Giant Desert Scorpions. This was simply an unfair playing field.

Long Chen extended his hand. The Pill Flame in his body circulated, and a ball of fire slowly appeared in his hand.

This wasn’t a Battle Skill, but a simple way of using fire. If other Pill Cultivators were to learn that he could condense his flame to the point where it was similar to a Battle skill, that would definitely awe them.

Ordinary pill cultivators would be asking for death if they tried doing this. Even if they were using their core flame, they still wouldn’t use it like this.

Pill Flame was merciless. That was a warning every pill cultivator told their disciples.

An ordinary third rank pill cultivator, in other words, a Pill Master, would normally need to refine some kind of flame into their life flame before advancing ranks.

That kind of flame was also called a core flame. The flame would need to be refined into the physical body and even into the soul. Once it was perfectly merged, it would be time to advance to the Pill King rank.

Grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had all been Pill Masters. But only grandmaster Yun Qi had had a core flame. 

It wasn’t necessarily because grandmaster Yun Qi’s talent was that much greater than theirs, but because grandmaster Yun Qi had managed to accept his future. He had known he wouldn’t be able to encounter any better Pill Flames and had just straightforwardly refined his ordinary beast flame which wasn’t that strong into his core flame.

As for Wei Cang, Wang Luyang, and many other Pill Masters, they were unwilling to do so. That was because a core flame was extremely important to their future. Without finding a suitable Pill Flame, it was something they would never form.

That was because once they refined a core flame, it would never be able to change. In other words, their futures would be set.

The majority of pill cultivators chose to refine beast flames as their Pill Flames. The stronger a fire attribute Magical Beast was, the stronger their beast flame would be.

Some peak tier beast flames were able to grow stronger along with their master. Such peak grade beast flames formed a list called the beast flame rankings. But whether it was Yun Qi or Wei Cang, any beast flames they could obtain were far from being able to enter the beast flame rankings.

Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had been unwilling to use a beast flame that wasn’t on the rankings to refine into their core flame. If they did find such a powerful beast flame, their futures would be unlimited.

Unfortunately, their grand dreams had been extinguished by grandmaster Yun Qi. Perhaps when the two had died they had been extremely sullen. If they had also refined a core flame, the one who would have died should have been Yun Qi.

But even grandmaster Yun Qi, who had refined a core flame, would definitely not dare compress his PIll Flame to such a level without the usage of a Battle Skill. That required the utmost peak control of the Pill Flame.

Flames were naturally berserk. Such a compression was no different than compressing explosives. The slightest error would cause it to explode the user into nothingness.

But Long Chen had his Pill God memories, and his Spiritual Strength was beyond others. Adding on the fact that the Spirit World expert had expanded his meridians, this extremely dangerous action, which was like dancing on the tip of a blade for others, was simple and nothing to him.

Long Chen flung out a fist-sized ball of flames back in the midst of the Giant Desert Scorpions. With a huge explosion like a firework, the flames swallowed the Giant Desert Scorpions.

Grotesque cries rang out from the Giant Desert Scorpions as they were burnt and fled from the flames’ range.

“This Pill Flame’s strength is really too weak.” Long Chen sighed. The beast flame he possessed was still somewhat acceptable for refining pills, but when it came to offense, it was obviously far from strong enough, especially against such armored Magical Beasts.

If he wanted to give those Giant Desert Scorpions a true injury, he would need to collect all his Pill Flame’s power.

But his Pill Flame was limited. At most, he would be able to release his strongest attack one time. Furthermore, it was not a certainty that it would be enough to inflict serious damage to them.

But his goal wasn’t to defeat them at this moment. Due to his attack just now, the Giant Desert Scorpions were in a complete panic and so their speed had sharply dropped.

When they began to once more encroach too close to him, Long Chen once more threw out a ball of flames, temporarily forcing them back again. By repeatedly doing this, Long Chen and Little Snow managed to stay out of their reach.

But Long Chen was surprised that the light which he had seen was much further than what he had thought. Even after traveling for an hour, it had only become a bit larger.

As for the Giant Desert Scorpions, they were completely infuriated with Long Chen and were set on chasing after him. But just those flashy ball of flames didn’t exhaust much of his Pill Flame, and he could continue this kind of pace for a long time.

That was a strange scene. Under the darkness of the night, Long Chen and Little Snow fled towards a distant light. Chasing them was a group of Giant Desert Scorpions. Occasionally, brilliant fireworks would light up the pitch-black desert.

After running for a whole night, the sky was starting to brighten. Long Chen finally reached his target. That was a hill.

The hill wasn’t large, only three hundred meters tall. It was completely bare, looking like a huge burial mound. There was a cave at the top from which the light was shining out of.

Rushing forward, terrifying heat surged out. It felt as if even the air was about to ignite. Long Chen arrived at the cave entrance and saw a flame inside.

Despite having rushed this far, those Giant Desert Scorpions suddenly seemed to be extremely intimidated by this region. Seeing Long Chen approach the hill, they suddenly stopped advancing and began to pace around.

Since they were no longer chasing him, Long Chen also paused. That was because he saw that Little Snow was also starting to be affected by the high heat from this region.

But Little Snow was a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf. Although he had yet to give birth to his flame strength, he was definitely superior to other Magical Beasts when it came to resisting high temperatures.

Those Giant Desert Scorpions, which had paused for a moment, suddenly scattered and fled back to their original territory. That had actually given up.

Long Chen finally relaxed slightly. At least they had managed to escape from that group of vicious poison scorpions. But he was also a bit depressed at having to flee for his life like this.

But when he thought about it, cultivation was simply like this. Enemies wouldn’t always be fighting against him on terrain he was suitable to. If he really wanted to be strong, he would have to reduce any of his weak points.

Suddenly, Long Chen realized something was wrong. Those Giant Desert Scorpions had fled just now at a speed even greater than when they had been chasing them.

That didn’t seem like they were unwilling to leave, but more like… Long Chen suddenly felt his heart sink and he turned his head.

He didn’t know when, but at some point, the light from the cave had disappeared. That was because an enormous figure had completely blocked up the three-meter-thick cave opening. On that figure’s huge head were two lantern-like eyes that were fixed onto Long Chen and Little Snow.

“Flame Salamander!” Long Chen cried out in shock.

The Flame Salamander was an extremely rare fire attribute Magical Beast. Its body looked like a lizard, and it absorbed fire energy in order to live. Once matured, it was a terrifyingly powerful third rank Magical Beast.

Long Chen finally understood why those Giant Desert Scorpions would flee for their lives like that. This Flame Salamander was a perfect counter to them.

BOOM! That Flame Salamander had clearly been enraged by the intruders on its territory. Its huge foot slammed on the ground and it charged at Long Chen.

Only once it left its cave did Long Chen manage to see its entire body. It was thirty meters long, making him feel like he was as small as an ant.

“Ao!” Little Snow roared and was just about to attack when Long Chen pulled him aside.

“This guy’s mine. Little Snow, you get back a bit.”

Having recognized this Flame Salamander, not only was he shocked, but he was also excited. That was because such a rare fire attribute Magical Beast like this must possess its own beast flame core.

Seeing the Flame Salamander, all of Long Chen’s irritation at having to flee for his life disappeared.

After entering the alchemist guild, Long Chen had gone through their countless records and once seen something called the beast flame rankings.

If Long Chen recalled correctly, the Flame Salamander’s beast flame was ranked number ninety-seven. That was definitely a true treasure.

Others like grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had spent their whole lives without even being able to see such a thing. Pill cultivators all longed for more powerful flames. This was something that would definitely make every single pill cultivator go crazy, and Long Chen was no exception.

He had to send away Little Snow from this battle because the Flame Salamander was incomparably terrifying. If Little Snow was present, he wouldn’t be able to explode out with his full strength.

Little Snow obediently listened to Long Chen’s order and ran over a mile away. At that point, the Flame Salamander had already charged right at Long Chen, its mouth wide open and biting down on him.

“Your breath stinks.” That terrible smell was noxious. Long Chen stamped on the ground, jumping into midair the moment its jaw was about to snap down on him.

 The Flame Salamander’s attack fell short, and it only got a mouthful of sand. Long Chen made a fist with his right hand. Just as he was about to attack, he felt a wind blow across his back and instinctively punched out behind him.

BOOM! Long Chen felt as if a meteorite had struck him. He was immediately sent flying into that bare hill.

Long Chen was surprised to realize that the bare hill was actually entirely made of rock. His head buzzed from the collision. Only now did he realize that he had been struck by the Flame Salamander’s tail.

Shaking out his body, he felt an ache all over. That strike had truly been fierce enough. Anyone else would probably have had their body turned to pulp.

The Flame Salamander once more roared and charged over. Long Chen coldly snorted and stamped on the ground, a coldly shining sword appearing in his hand. He jumped out, slashing down on the Flame Salamander.

“Parting Wind Slash!”