Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

When Long Chen raised this question, the old tribe leader sighed. “The cause of conflict is always due to profit. In pursuit of the greatest profit, people are capable of committing all kinds of crimes.”

When the Immemorial Path was shattered, the aboriginals of the path had essentially been abandoned.

They had been sent to guard this place since the beginning of the Immemorial Path. They had taken root, giving birth to generation after generation, and kept the order of this place. But their inheritance could only count as average.

Once the Immemorial Path crumbled, they immediately lost what they depended on the most. With no one to look after them, these aboriginals panicked.

After centuries of chaos, they finally came to accept that they were trapped, sealed within the Immemorial Path. They had lost all contact with the outside world.

But just as they had begun to gradually accustom themselves to this new life, trial takers from the outside suddenly appeared again. That delighted them originally. They had thought they would finally be able to communicate with the outside world again.

But they had never imagined that those trial takers would brandish their butcher knives against them. They slaughtered them to take the yuan spirit stones they possessed.

Because of the change in the world, they received a powerful restriction in the Immemorial Path. As a result, the invaders’ slaughter was disastrous. Some tribes were completely destroyed.

Back then, they had been furious. They hadn’t understood why those disciples would want to kill them.

They had tried to communicate with the trial takers. But the only response had been their icy and bloody blades. In that first encounter, the aboriginals suffered immense losses.

But that had just been the start. That battle had lasted for a year. Several years later, another batch of trial takers had entered. They came from a different continent, but they also brought slaughter. If they saw aboriginals, they killed them and crazily snatched their resources.

The aboriginals were finally completely infuriated. An immense war was fought, and both sides took heavy losses. This kind of situation repeated over and over.

Sometimes it would be a few years before a new group of people came, sometimes it would be decades. By this time, they no longer viewed them as trial takers, but as invaders.

At some unknown point, the aboriginals had noticed a kind of ore that could block the power of the restriction the world placed on them. They excavated that ore and built altars out of it. When the Immemorial Path opened, they would activate those altars and have their tribesmen hide within their range.

When the Immemorial Path closed, they would deactivate the altars and be free to roam around. This was why Xiao Gu and the others’ power was so heavily restricted outside but was restored to normal here.

“In all these years, you’ve never managed to properly communicate with anyone?” Long Chen frowned. This matter was extremely strange. Why would they want to kill these aboriginals? Was it really just for the yuan spirit stones? Or was there some other goal?

“We’ve tried, but regretfully, each time ends in disappointment. Furthermore, one time was extremely dangerous; an invader won our trust. As a result, he colluded with others to destroy the altars of several tribes. That caused… well, I don’t need to say it,” sighed the old tribe leader. He clearly felt gloomy about this topic. Even with his death imminent, he wasn’t able to accept this.

“No wonders the aboriginals would hate the invaders. Both sides are like fire and water with such a complicated relationship. But I’m curious. From the first time I heard of the Immemorial Path to when I entered, my seniors didn’t mention any enmities with you. They just told me I had to be careful of you, that you were the most terrifying enemies in the Immemorial Path,” said Long Chen.

“That’s because the invaders never care about the history of the victims. Furthermore, after so much time had passed, not even your seniors would necessarily know about this kind of matter. But there is one thing that’s for sure: each time the Immemorial Path is opened, a pack of red-robed people will deliberately come to slaughter us aboriginals. They are both merciless and vicious. Furthermore, they have special tools to break our altars. They’re the existence we abhor the most,” said the old tribe leader.

“Red robes? Didn’t that refer to the Corrupt path? Could it be that the Corrupt path knew something others didn’t?” Long Chen wondered to himself.

He faintly smelled the scent of a scheme. Everything had happened so abruptly and it simply didn’t make sense. There was no logic to it.

But those matters had happened so long ago that there was no proof to be found to reveal the truth. To solve this riddle was far too difficult.

The old tribe leader continued telling him about the past. After inventing the altars, the aboriginals had also constructed various transportation formations between them as well as secret lairs.

The women and children who had appeared had come from one of those hideouts. If the Xiao tribe was destroyed, those women and children would survive to continue their bloodline.

Once these hideouts and transportation formations were constructed, the tribes would be able to help each other as soon as they were attacked by invaders.

As for Xiao Fei’s father, he was the previous tribe leader, and he had fallen in battle against invaders.

Back then, Xiao Fei’s father had already reached Foundation Forging. But the altar had been destroyed during the battle, and so his power had been greatly restricted. After bringing down several powerful invaders, he ended up dying on the battlefield.

Long Chen nodded inside. Perhaps the only ones who could kill a rank three Celestial who had reached Foundation Forging, even with his power greatly restricted, would be experts on the level of Xue You, Yu Changhao, and Huang Junmo. Furthermore, they would have to first advance to Sea Expansion.

The fact that Xiao Fei’s father had been able to fight such experts with his power restricted showed how powerful he had been. He was worthy of being acclaimed as the Xiao tribe’s number one expert.

Furthermore, from the old tribe leader, he had heard that the Heavenly Daos here were extremely strong. The stronger the person, the more restricted their power would be without the protection of the altar.

It was no wonder the aboriginals would need to hide from the invaders despite having so many experts. The Heavenly Daos restricted them to the point that their lives were in constant danger.

“Following the battles, more and more people died, and so the hatred on both sides grew deeper. As a result, the invaders treat us as prey, while we also treat them as prey to be killed,” said the old tribe leader.

In order to get stronger, the aboriginals began to explore the various trial regions. Those places had immense rewards inside, and they understood the Immemorial Path better than anyone else.

It was just regretful that their disciples weren’t strong enough. Their disciples might be Celestials, but they were just rank one Celestials. Many of the better trials were too difficult, and attempting them would just be suicide. Furthermore, anyone whose cultivation base was greater than the Xiantian realm would be sensed by the laws and killed.

Rank two Celestials were rare amongst them. As for someone like Xiao Fei who had the talent to become a rank three Celestial, they were as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns. That was why they had so eagerly hoped for Xiao Fei to awaken his power.

When the Immemorial Path was closed, they would send some disciples in search of trials and resources, and other disciples in search of yuan spirit stone deposits for excavation.

“Long Chen, this map contains detailed markings about all the trials we know of. Both the difficulty and what you’ll find inside are indicated. But no one knows what rewards you’ll get for passing. It’ll be up to your own luck.” The old tribe leader handed Long Chen a map.

Long Chen couldn’t help being delighted. This map was incredibly detailed, and the greatest thing was that it was a map of the complete Immemorial Path.

“Oh, the Immemorial Path isn’t just a single line?” Long Chen was startled. The Immemorial Path wasn’t a straight path. It had the shape of a cross.

“Yes. The Immemorial Path has the shape of a cross. The greatest trials are at the center, and it is where the secrets to reaching immortality or godhood lie. However, the place has been destroyed. The center is the true core of the Immemorial Path, but there is divine energy that prevents anyone from entering,” said the old tribe leader.

“No one can enter? No one at all?” asked Long Chen.

“That place took the most damage, and there are strange laws that destroy anyone that gets close.”

Long Chen immediately thought to himself that it would be too stifling to not go there. When he had the time, he would definitely go and take a look.

“Long Chen, this is just a token of our Xiao tribe’s appreciation.” The old tribe leader handed him a spatial ring.

Long Chen looked inside and jumped. “Are these yuan spirit stones?”

Inside the spatial ring, there were countless fist-sized spirit stones. They were shining brightly, but they weren’t see-through. There was some yellow energy circulating within them. That was the world’s purest energy.

“This is one hundred thousand yuan spirit stones. It’s ninety percent of what our Xiao tribe has accumulated over the years. Long Chen, you can’t decline,” said the old tribe leader.

“This is definitely too much. I can’t accept it.” Long Chen hadn’t expected to be gifted this much. No matter how thick his face was, he couldn’t accept basically all their money.

“Long Chen, you must take this. First of all, for us, only Foundation Forging experts can use these yuan spirit stones, while we only have three Foundation Forging experts. The remaining yuan spirit stones we have are enough for us to get by for many years, and once the Immemorial Path closes, we’ll once more go in search of mines. There’s no need for you to worry about it.” The old tribe leader patted Long Chen on the shoulder.

Long Chen was moved. Although he had helped Xiao Fei awaken, and so he had assumed the Xiao tribe would give him some kind of reward, he hadn’t expected it to be so great. In fact, it was too much for him to accept.

“With Xiao Fei awakening as a rank three Celestial and awakening his bloodline, as well as the ancestral diagram, we don’t know how else to thank you,” said the old tribe leader.

“Then I’ll shamelessly accept. But you must accept a small gift from me as well.”

Long Chen also fetched out a spatial ring and gave it to the old tribe leader. When he looked inside, it was his turn to be startled.