Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

Long Chen couldn’t help but celebrate. “What kind of treasure? Is it a cultivation technique or a Battle Skill?”

Even his voice quivered slightly. If this was a cultivation technique or Battle Skill that had come from the immortal era, then wouldn’t it be heaven-defying?

“This page’s name is the Ethereal Crafting Secret Record. It’s a marvelous remnant of the immortal era." Yue Xiaoqian’s eyes were filled with amazement as she looked at the golden page.

“Hey, don’t keep me in suspense. Is this Ethereal Crafting Secret Record a cultivation technique or Battle Skill?” Long Chen’s eyes were practically glowing.

Yue Xiaoqian glanced at Long Chen. He could see that her gaze was filled with contempt for him. He was startled; what had he said wrong?

“This Ethereal Crafting Secret Record isn’t a cultivation technique or Battle Skill. It is a sacred canon on forging items.” Yue Xiaoqian was filled with admiration for this page.

“Forging? Are you messing with me?” Long Chen’s expression became unsightly. Even this thing was considered a treasure? He really did feel messed with.

“You…! You really are unreasonable!” raged Yue Xiaoqian. “This Ethereal Crafting Secret Record contains all the countless techniques and arts of a Forging Master from the immortal era! Those kinds of skills have long since disappeared. Its value is inestimable! If the Ethereal Crafting Secret Record spread, then the entire world would go crazy. There would not be able a single power that would remain indifferent to it.”

“It’s this valuable?” Suddenly, Long Chen slapped his own leg. Isn’t this precisely what that little brat Guo Ran needs right now? I actually forgot about him.

Previously, Long Chen had used the golden page to fight. Due to its incomparable sharpness, he had subconsciously assumed that whatever was recorded on it had to be related to battle. It seemed he had misunderstood.

“I really can’t bother to talk to you.” Yue Xiaoqian felt like Long Chen’s intelligence really was no longer on the same level as her. Could such a priceless treasure be described as just valuable? That was practically blasphemy.

“Come over here.” Yue Xiaoqian beckoned coldly.

“For what?” Long Chen’s guard rose. “Are you planning on hitting me?”

That was because Yue Xiaoqian was now clearly a bit different than before. Long Chen felt more and more that this woman was dangerous.

Yue Xiaoqian, who had been angrily glaring, couldn’t help laughing when she saw Long Chen’s doubtful and careful gaze.

“Why would I hit you? Come over so I can transmit the immortal characters to you.”

Although only a part of her face was revealed, seeing that mirth in Yue Xiaoqian’s eyes, Long Chen hastily steadied his mental state and approached.

“Immortal characters are different from the characters of the current era. Each word contains its own artistic concept. When immortal characters are combined together, they form a continuous image. Such immortal characters cannot be transmitted through simple paper. It can only be carved onto spiritual material like soul gold essence. So the only way I can transmit the translated images to you is mentally. Don’t move.” Yue Xiaoqian extended her hand and placed it on Long Chen’s forehead.

At this time, Long Chen was extremely close to her. He could smell her fragrance. He could feel her breath.

The most relaxing thing to him was when her hand touched his forehead. That kind of satiny feeling made him feel as if all his pores had opened.

“You trust me this much?” Yue Xiaoqian saw that Long Chen didn’t have any defense towards her, even when her finger touched the space between his eyebrows.

At this distance, if Yue Xiaoqian wanted to, Long Chen definitely wouldn’t be able to stop her from killing him. 

Long Chen smiled slightly and didn’t reply. Ever since he had started cultivating in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, he no longer trusted his eyes. Instead, he trusted his intuition.

Up to this point, his intuition had never failed him once. He trusted that his intuition was able to differentiate good and evil far better than his eyesight.

“Thank you.” After softly saying that, Yue Xiaoqian closed her eyes. Spiritual Strength slowly poured from her finger into the space between Long Chen’s eyebrows.

As Yue Xiaoqian’s Spiritual Strength poured into his mind-sea, Long Chen began to see an image.

That image contained an elder who was constantly hammering something. That hammering posture and strength, as well as just the arc and course, all contained various variations. Long Chen truly was unable to see through the profundities behind this scene.

This scene began to move. A portion of the scene was forging, a portion of the scene was some marvelous blueprints, and there was also a portion containing the runes carved onto the items forged by this elder.

Buzzz…

Suddenly, that elder thrust a sword he had just finished carving runes onto into the sky. It cut apart heaven and earth, revealing a sky full of stars.

“Immortal characters?”

Long Chen was shocked by this scene. He finally understood why Yue Xiaoqian had looked at him with such a gaze.

Previously, he had always been looking down on the Forging Dao. The understanding and learning required for forging items was far, far more profound than he had imagined.

After that sword from the image had been inscribed with runes, it seemed to come to life, possessing its own life aura. That attack had even contained its own specific will.

The images in his head faded. He heard Yue Xiaoqian’s voice, “Use Spiritual Strength to seal these images in your head so that you won’t forget them. If you don’t, then when you try to examine them later, they will become chaotic and muddied.”

Long Chen hastily used his Spiritual Strength to seal these images in his head. This was extremely simple for him, as some pill formulas also had to be remembered in this manner.

“Thank you! This thing really is… very… cough, it’s great!” Long Chen almost once more said it was just valuable.

Yue Xiaoqian shook her head, obviously having seen through what Long Chen had been thinking. After hesitating for a moment, she asked with great embarrassment, “Long Chen, can I discuss something with you?”

“What?” Long Chen said extremely straightforward.

“This… this Ethereal Crafting Secret Record, can I bring it back to give to my clan?” Yue Xiaoqian asked with great apprehensiveness

“Of course.” Long Chen didn’t understand.

“Really?” She was surprised and delighted.

“Of course. Furthermore, you’ve already memorized the Ethereal Crafting Secret Record, so it’s not like I would know if you transmitted it to anyone,” laughed Long Chen.

Yue Xiaoqian’s delight faded, replaced with solemness. “Long Chen, although I might know what’s contained in the Ethereal Crafting Secret Record, I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone without your permission.”

“You don’t have to be so serious.”

“That’s just my clan’s beliefs.”

“Ah, just stop. I’m not suited to such solemn conversation. If it hadn’t been for your help translating it, it’s not like I would have learned this secret either. So we’ll split this secret up evenly. Based on our mutual contribution, we’ll get mutual benefits, so let’s stop that discussion here.” Long Chen really didn’t like this kind of solemn dialog, especially not with a beautiful woman.

“Thank you Long Chen. To tell the truth, this Ethereal Crafting Secret Record might be able to rejuvenate my clan, so it’s extremely important. Really, thank you,” said Yue Xiaoqian sincerely.

“Don’t be so courteous. Speaking of which, didn’t you say that this golden page was made of soul gold essence?”

“Yes. There are few metals that can be controlled by the soul like this. As for this particular page, it was made of soul gold whose quality is extremely high.

“Unfortunately, it hasn’t been forged into anything, and there are no runes carved onto it, so it can’t count as a soul item. Otherwise, a soul cultivator wielding such a high-grade soul item could easily kill cultivators of the same realm.

“Even just as it is, it will still be able to release a certain amount of power if you used Spiritual Strength to control it. However, that power is limited.

“Furthermore, if soul gold enters flesh, that will block its ability to sense soul energy. So its power against Magical Beasts is especially limited.

“Not only that, but when you fight with other humans, because it is not a soul item and is essentially an ownerless item, it can easily be disturbed by other people’s Spiritual Strength,” explained Yue Xiaoqian.

Long Chen was shocked by how learned Yue Xiaoqian was. She was practically a know-it-all. She was definitely one of those bookworm cultivators.

“However, when fighting with people, if they are unprepared and you use it as a surprise attack, no one will be able to block it. Only something that has reached the level of a Xiantian weapon would be able to block being cut by soul gold.” Yue Xiaoqian handed the golden page back to Long Chen.

Receiving the page, Long Chen was filled with admiration for her. Just this kind of learning was something that would make Long Chen prostrate himself towards her.

As for that Xiantian weapon she spoke of, those were the specialized weapons for Xiantian experts. They were able to bear Xiantian power and capable of releasing a mountain-crushing power. However, only Xiantian experts had the qualifications to use them.

Up to this point, there had been nothing that had been able to stand up to the sharpness of this golden page. Of course, the flesh of Magical Beasts was an exception.

“Let’s continue onwards. It seems like there should still be other Two-Winged Devilman skeletons inside, which means more devil cores,” suggested Long Chen.

Yue Xiaoqian gratefully said, “These devil cores are very important to me, so thank you.”

If it hadn’t been for Long Chen’s golden page, she really wouldn’t have been able to find any way to handle the Two-Winged Devilman’s skeleton. Even if she managed to cut it down to just a head, there would have been no way for her to subdue it.

Now with Long Chen’s assistance, she didn’t have to feel so vexed at being powerless.

After advancing thirty miles, they once more encountered a Two-Winged Devilman’s skeleton.

This time the skeleton was complete, so it would definitely be more difficult to deal with than the previous one. Yue Xiaoqian couldn’t help being a bit nervous.

“Should we do it the same way as last time?” she asked. But after she finished saying that, she saw that Long Chen’s expression was extremely odd as he looked at her. She asked, “What is it?”

“Your battle experience and your knowledge are completely mismatched, so I really don’t understand you.” Long Chen shook his head.

“You…!” 

“Don’t misunderstand, I have no intention of looking down on you. I just feel like it’s a bit bizarre.”

“If you have a good method, then just say it. Don’t curse people in a roundabout method.” Yue Xiaoqian really was angry. Long Chen’s gaze was insulting.

“Is this your first time going out for a tempering experience?” asked Long Chen suddenly.

“How did you know?”

“Oh.”

Long Chen was a bit speechless. For her first adventure, she had ended up coming to a dangerous place like the Jiuli secret realm. He really had no idea what to say. It was no wonder her battle experience was practically zero.

Three thousand meters away from the skeleton, Long Chen used his Spiritual Strength to send the golden page flying towards the corpse.

“It’s useless. If we don’t go over, it wouldn’t disturb the Devilman’s corpse, so the devil core won’t pop out of its forehead. Your golden page isn’t a true soul item, so there’s no way it can cut through its skull like that. Its skull is even comparable to Xiantian weapons,” whispered Yue Xiaoqian.

Long Chen ignored her. Once the golden page arrived in front of the Devilman’s forehead, it began to rapidly spin like a pinwheel.

Long Chen then slowly approached. As he knew would happen, the skeleton suddenly moved when he reached a distance of fifteen hundred meters. The space between its eyebrows suddenly split open, revealing a crystalline core. At the same time, the skeleton began to stand up.

“Slash!”

With the power of his Spiritual Strength, the rapidly revolving golden page slashed onto the protruding devil core.