Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

It was unknown if it was because the Xiao tribe had been isolated from the outside world for so long, but they didn’t really understand Long Chen’s words.

Long Chen continued, “Xiao Fei is one of you indigenous people, and you’re all mortal enemies with us outsiders. But his courage to fight and not abandon his companion while being chased down won him my admiration. So I helped him, and he became my brother. When my little brother has difficulties, as the big brother, I naturally can’t just watch. So, I will take Xiao Fei’s place in this battle. I’m sure you have no problem with that, right brother?”

“Big brother Long Chen…” Xiao Fei hadn’t expected Long Chen to look after him so much. His eyes reddened. In the entire Xiao clan, there were few people who would treat him so well.

“Don’t do anything embarrassing. Men should be men. I helped you because you reminded me of my younger self. However, my situation was ten times worse than yours. I can help you once, but next time, you’ll have to help yourself. Men can only rely on themselves after all.” Long Chen patted Xiao Fei’s shoulder. 

Looking at Xiao Fei, Long Chen felt like he was looking back at his younger self. Although their ages were a bit different, the extent of his plaintive misery was similar to his. One was pushed by his family, and one was pushed by his environment. That feeling was like they were a dog being trapped in an alley. That kind of feeling of having no way out was something that could only be understood through experience.

“Hahaha, fine. I’ve long since found you unlikable. Since you want to take Xiao Fei’s place, get over here!” laughed Xiao Gu. A sinister light shone in his eyes.

Previously, Long Chen’s slap had almost broken his whole head. The pain was one thing, but that humiliation could make a person crazy.

When Long Chen first developed his divine face-slapping art, he hadn’t made it with any intention of killing people. It was a move specialized toward dealing with those arrogant people who liked to cultivate by looking down on others. After so long, it had reached the divine level.

Its killing power didn’t lay in physical pain, but in ruining that arrogant heart. Long Chen wouldn’t easily bring out this face-slapping art to use against just anyone, but some people were just too hateful. Long Chen couldn’t even help himself.

“Don’t, Long Chen! Xiao Gu is a late Sea Expansion expert, and he can release his full power here. He’s completely different from when you first encountered him,” warned Xiao Ling.

Long Chen smiled slightly toward her to express his thanks and then turned toward the old tribe leader. “Will you allow me to take Xiao Fei’s place to fight?”

The old tribe leader hesitated. For an outsider to participate in this kind of battle was extremely inappropriate. He had saved Xiao Fei and Xiao Yu, and if he was injured from this, their Xiao tribe would become people who repaid gratitude with enmity.

He was just about to open his mouth when the white-eyed elder said, “Young people can play around with themselves.”

The old tribe leader no longer hesitated upon hearing that. “Then let’s switch locations. This isn’t the right place for a fight.”

Very quickly, Long Chen found himself being brought to a wide space. It was an extremely simple and ordinary land, but it was definitely far enough. He could fight to his heart’s content here.

Looking at Long Chen, the old tribe leader bitterly smiled to the elder beside him. “Old brother, don’t let them play around to the point that my Xiao tribe ends up infamous for being ungracious. I don’t have that many years left, and I want to be able to face the ancestors in the future.”

“Don’t worry, my Heaven Eyes are not for nothing. These past few days, I’ve been feeling uneasy, feeling like something was about to happen. But despite careful calculations, I didn’t learn anything. I then suddenly had an impulse to come and see you to reminisce about the old days. But now that this person has appeared, I finally understand that the reason I came was because fate brought me here,” said the white-eyed elder.

The old tribe leader was startled. “Fate brought you here? You mean you’ve been drawn into this? Doesn’t the Heaveneye tribe cultivate the secret arts to peer into the heavens? How could you be drawn within the scope of the Heavenly Daos?”

The Heaveneye tribe possessed an ancient inheritance. Those who cultivated the Heaven Eye Art all needed to blind their own eyes.

That was because the Heaveneye tribe’s people believed that the eyes were the things that tricked people the most. The things they saw were just an appearance, and it was easy to be misled. They took on the position of spectators in the world. 

The Heaveneye tribe’s experts could divine fate, so their position was extremely high. But they rarely divined anything for other people. That was because they considered themselves people outside the Heavenly Daos. They couldn’t interfere in the matters of the Heavenly Daos, or they would invoke karma. That karma would definitely come at a price.

“The Heavenly Daos? Hehe, everyone says that they cultivate the Dao, but by the end, they don’t even know what Dao they’re cultivating. How could we vainly discuss the Heavenly Daos? My Heaveneye tribe is just a branch from the ancestors. The cultivation technique we have is incomplete, so our skills are limited. You’ve overestimating me. 

“According to my understanding, escaping from the Heavenly Daos is like a chess piece that jumps off the chessboard, only to find that they are a chess piece on an even larger chessboard. This chess piece might have clearly seen its original chessboard, but it’s unable to see the bigger chessboard. So no matter how we cultivate, we’re all on that chessboard.

“When I saw this youth called Long Chen, I suddenly thought of a certain thing. Do you still remember that legend?” asked the elder.

“Are you talking about the words your Heaveneye tribe’s ancestor left behind before ascending?” asked the old tribe leader.

The white-eyed elder nodded. “Yes, right before the old tribe leader ascended, he left behind four lines: the dragon swims through the mortal world, the immemorial revives; lightning breaks the sky, the end of the ten worlds!

“Although the ancestor ascended countless years ago, no one managed to comprehend the true meaning behind his last words. That ancestor was someone who personally witnessed the destruction of the Immemorial Path. His last words have to have some meaning.

“Furthermore, the legends say that the ancestor was in the midst of divining something when he hurriedly recited those lines and completely ascended away.”

The old tribe leader quietly recited, “The dragon swims through the mortal world, the immemorial revives; lightning breaks the sky, the end of the ten worlds! The dragon swims through the mortal world… the dragon swims through the mortal world… Long Chen!”[1]

The old tribe leader was startled. Did that line really refer to Long Chen?

“It’s too early to say anything now. It could just be a coincidence. But when the ancestor ascended, he was extremely hurried. He didn’t leave behind any clues. Even after all this time, no one understands the meaning. As for this Long Chen, it’s true that he came a bit out of nowhere, but there’s nothing strange to it.

“To put it according to my Heaveneye tribe’s viewpoint: understanding the past from the consequences is easy. It’s predicting the consequences of the past that is difficult. There are thousands of possibilities. A single change can bring forth countless possibilities,” said the white-eyed elder.

“Then are you saying that Long Chen’s arrival here is due to the unseen hand of fate?”

“I wouldn’t dare to say something like that so early on. So we should just continue watching. If Long Chen really is the one the ancestor’s words foretold, then he is also the key to solving the riddle of his final words.” The white-eyed elder looked at Long Chen. Countless red strands condensed within his eyes, slowly forming red pupils.

Long Chen and Xiao Gu were looking at each other. In the distance, Xiao Fei and Xiao Yu were tightly clenching their fists. They were nervous for Long Chen. Here in their homeland, Xiao Gu would be able to release one hundred percent of his strength.

Xiao Ling was also worried. She had never expected things to reach this point. This was completely out of her prediction.

She had thought that since Long Chen had saved Xiao Fei and Xiao Yu, and especially since Xiao Fei was the future tribe leader, he would be rewarded by the tribe with some compensation and perhaps some help regarding the Immemorial Path. In the end, everyone would be happy, and the Xiao tribe wouldn’t owe him anything.

But now, for Xiao Fei, Long Chen was actually fighting their Xiao tribe’s strongest junior generation member. Things had progressed completely out of her control.

“Long Chen, now I’ll return the humiliation you’ve given me ten times. But don’t worry, I won’t kill you. That is our Xiao tribe’s pride, hahaha!” sneered Xiao Gu.

Within his generation, other than Xiao Ling, there was no one else that could fight him. So he always considered himself as the future leader of the Xiao tribe.

That was also why he continuously suppressed Xiao Fei. As for the higher-ups, they silently accepted his actions in order to motivate Xiao Fei and see if he could awaken his latent power. Unfortunately, Xiao Fei’s potential continued to remain dormant after all this time. Their hopes for him were growing remote.

During this time, Xiao Gu had raised his reputation in the tribe and was already the junior generation’s leader.

So of course his pride was provoked back when Long Chen had almost killed him. The suppression of the Heavenly Daos had weakened him, and if it hadn’t been for Xiao Fei’s shout, he would already be dead.

That was his greatest setback. Then, upon returning to the tribe, Long Chen had slapped him in the face. That had destroyed any bit of his remaining pride.

Although he couldn’t kill Long Chen with the old tribe leader present, he had already thought things through. He would completely humiliate Long Chen. He would make him kneel on the ground and beg for mercy. A sinister light shone in his eyes. He could already see the scene of Long Chen kneeling and begging him.

Just looking at Xiao Gu’s sinister smile, Long Chen knew exactly what he was thinking. He sneered, “You can also be at ease, because I also won’t kill you. After all, I disdain killing petty people like you!”

His words immediately caused quite a few people’s expressions to change. He was intentionally provoking Xiao Gu. If Xiao Gu accidentally killed him, then the Xiao tribe’s name would be tarnished.

“Courting death!”

As expected, Xiao Gu immediately became enraged. His aura erupted and the space behind him trembled. An illusory scene of a thirty-mile sea appeared. 

A projection of the qi sea. Only a Celestial could summon such a clear projection. That sea was a reflection of his true qi sea.

It was the specific manifestation of a Sea Expansion expert. When their full strength erupted, their qi sea would also surge, forming a link with heaven and earth, giving them the greatest possible strength.

An ordinary Xiantian expert’s qi sea would only be a few dozen meters wide. But once they reached Sea Expansion, through constant expansion, they could increase that by tens or even hundreds of times.

Naturally, an increase in the size of the qi sea represented an increase in spiritual yuan. In the Xiantian realm, due to a lack of spiritual yuan, it would be difficult to release powerful moves. But Sea Expansion experts could release those moves easily.

Now, Xiao Gu had released his aura, and runes began to surge around him, scouring heaven and earth. His spear pierced toward Long Chen.

[1] Recall that Long=dragon and Chen=dust as in the dust of the mortal world.