Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

The barrier shuddered, and Long Chen emerged on the other side. Turning back, he saw only primal chaos behind him; the path he had taken was now shrouded in an impenetrable haze.

Once Long Chen entered this barrier, he felt an incredibly ancient and desolate aura. He then followed that aura forward.

Long Chen soon realized that the ground beneath his feet wasn’t solid earth but a mirror. The instant he noticed this, the space around him shifted dramatically. He then found himself standing in an endless blue sky.

Above and below him stretched nothing but an infinite expanse of azure and white clouds. It was a pure world that looked cleansed of all worries. Seeing it, Long Chen felt like his own soul was being cleansed.

Awestruck, Long Chen noted the absence of spatial energy, the flow of time, or even the presence of the ten thousand Daos. It was as though he had entered a realm entirely separate from reality.

In this timeless expanse, there was no life, no death, only the sensation of eternity.

Long Chen suddenly looked up, and there it was—a floating ancient stone stele. Runes danced around it, shimmering like stars in the night sky. It was none other than the Jiuli Divine Stele.

However, it looked drastically different. The once-massive stele now stood at a mere three meters tall. Its enormous runes also became tiny.

Long Chen was excited. As he approached, the Jiuli Divine Stele started to hum. The runes orbiting it flickered rapidly, as though responding to his presence.

According to Long Tianrui, reaching the Jiuli Divine Stele signified entry into its inner world. This space was unique to him—a sanctuary where he could peacefully comprehend the Jiuli Immortal Characters.

Long Tianrui had mentioned that mastering even ten of the three thousand divine characters could grant someone the qualification to step into the half-step Sovereign realm. But what if someone comprehended all of them? Wouldn’t they ascend to become the master of the nine heavens?

A mischievous grin spread across Long Chen’s face. “Only comprehend ten? What kind of joke is that? Why should I leave the rest for others? Boss Long San doesn’t share. I’ll take them all.”

When Long Chen arrived in front of it, the Jiuli Divine Stele’s runes became exceptionally active. Drawing upon his previous experience, Long Chen knew he needed to use his Spiritual Strength to resonate with a rune and draw it out.

Long Tianrui told Long Chen that he had to carefully select what rune to comprehend. If he couldn’t form any resonance with a rune, he should give up and look for a different one.

If he were to remain in a stubborn battle with one rune, he would miss his chance to comprehend any of them. Then that really would be a joke.

But as he stared at the swirling runes, he felt utterly bewildered. “How am I supposed to know which one has a connection with me? They all look the same!”

Long Tianrui had suggested igniting his blood to form a resonance, but Long Chen’s mixed bloodline made that method ineffective.

Frustrated yet determined, Long Chen racked his brain for a solution. After what felt like an eternity, he clenched his fists.

“To hell with caution! Divine ring, battle armor!”

Countless stars filled the sky.

“Ignite!” Long Chen shouted.

Flames erupted from the stars as Long Chen pushed his astral energy to its peak. His eyes burned with determination.

“If I try to comprehend them one by one, who knows how long it’ll take? Whether I rise as a dragon or fall as a serpent—it all gets decided here!”

Grinding his teeth, Long Chen summoned a seven-colored divine rune. This was no ordinary rune—it was the very essence of his seven-color Supreme Blood. Slowly, he pressed it against the Jiuli Divine Stele.

BOOM!

The tablet quivered, and suddenly a wild burst of energy struck Long Chen.

Long Chen’s robes were shredded instantly, and his skin was torn open as a mist of blood burst into the air. Razor-sharp energy sliced him, exposing his bones in numerous places.

“That was... close,” he gasped through the searing pain.

Pain rippled through his body, and his organs were reduced to a mangled mess. Yet, this outcome was within his calculations. Surviving the initial impact was the first step toward success.

The rune in his hand wavered on the brink of collapse, but at that moment, a whirlpool of stars materialized. One of the Jiuli divine runes started flowing into it.

“AH!”

Long Chen let out a guttural scream. The divine rune etched itself into his mind-sea, igniting it into a chaotic inferno.

His soul burned—not in a way that consumed his core, but with an intensity so brutal it felt like it would tear him apart. It was a pain far beyond physical torture, the kind that could break even the strongest wills.

Long Chen’s face, now stripped of skin, twisted into a mask of torment. His bloodshot eyes bulged as if they might burst from their sockets.

“AHH!”

Long Chen continued to roar, using this method to take his mind off of the pain. Channeling his Spiritual Strength, he desperately guided the blazing divine rune toward the Divine Gate within his mind-sea

The instant the rune passed through the Divine Gate, it vanished—only to reappear within the starry sea of his Dantian.

“Success or failure... it all comes down to this.”

Long Chen dragged the divine rune toward one of the stars in his Dantian’s starry expanse.

The moment the rune made contact, the star quivered violently—and then detonated in a dazzling explosion of light.

“Damn, failure.”

The star had been incapable of withstanding the divine rune’s immense power. This approach was a dead end.

Perhaps it might work if he used the FengFu Star or Alioth Star, but the risk was astronomical. If either of those stars were to shatter, it would mean irreversible ruin—even for him. Long Chen didn’t dare to take that risk.

“Wait!”

As despair loomed, something caught his attention. Where the shattered star had been moments ago, a faint golden glimmer appeared, pulsing softly amidst the void.

“That’s… the star core! The star core didn’t explode!” Long Chen was overjoyed.

Not only had the star core survived, but the divine rune had seamlessly embedded within it.

“Success!”

Long Chen shouted excitedly. His audacious gamble had borne fruit, opening a path he had only dared to imagine.

Wasting no time, Long Chen directly drew a second divine rune into his spiritual space. Then came a third and a fourth…

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