Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

“Heart-devil?”

Long Chen almost jumped when he heard this. This was beyond anything he had imagined.

The Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign’s explanation completely upended his understanding of the world. He had always believed heart-devils were unique to the human race, yet even the mighty dragon race could produce them?

Moreover, the stronger their sacred energy, the more formidable their heart-devil would be. Each dragon lineage had its own methods to counter these inner demons, the most common being a combination of the sacred dragon pool and a totemic blessing to seal the infant heart-devil.

However, this method had a major drawback—sealing the heart-devil often affected the true self, potentially stunting one's talent and limiting future growth.

Later on, the dragon race developed various divine abilities to restrict heart-devils, preventing them from getting stronger and influencing their true selves. Ultimately, they discovered that using the power of heavenly tribulation was the best method—suppressing and weakening the heart-devil without harming the body.

Hence, the dragons abandoned the practice of sealing heart-devils, instead using heavenly tribulation to keep them in check.

The Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign, however, was an extremely prideful existence. It didn’t use the power of heavenly tribulation to suppress its heart-devil. Instead, it allowed its heart-devil to grow, keeping it in check through sheer force of will. It even used its heart-devil as a sparring partner, honing its strength against an opponent that grew alongside it.

However, after reaching the Eternal realm, it found that its heart-devil had given up on growing stronger. Knowing that it couldn’t win anyway, it schemed in the shadows—plotting to kill them both.

Sensing imminent danger, the Dragon Sovereign took action during its Emperor tribulation, forcing its heart-devil into its reverse scale and sealing it away.

But something unexpected happened.

The reverse scale that carried the sealed heart-devil slipped from its control and vanished into the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm.

Within the mystic realm, the heart-devil spent eons devising a way to break free. It found that by channeling the natural energy of heaven and earth, it could gradually weaken the seal. However, it was a slow process.

According to the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign, each time the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm appeared, it released a fraction of the seal’s power. Even if the Dragonblood warriors hadn't lured it out, it would have surfaced eventually—it was just a matter of time.

The reason the Dragon Sovereign had arranged for it to come out early was for Long Chen’s sake. Historically, the Emperor Reverse Scale was the final treasure to appear in the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm, drawing all the realm’s top experts into a final battle. By then, nearly all of them would have unlocked nine veins, leaving Long Chen at an immense disadvantage. Against such overwhelming foes, he would have no chance to claim the Emperor Reverse Scale's power for himself.

By accelerating the process, the Dragon Sovereign ensured that while the scale would still attract countless experts, only a fraction of the most powerful would arrive in time. This was Long Chen’s best opportunity.

Only now did Long Chen realize how much effort the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign had put into paving the way for him. Though it never voiced its intentions, he could see the depth of its support.

The Dragon Sovereign said, “The Emperor reverse scale is a priceless treasure. The dragon blood it contains can temper their bones, and the dragon soul energy can stimulate their spiritual strength, triggering a second awakening. The scale is also ideal for refining one’s Dao-heart. And the sacred aura surging from it… it contains Emperor laws that drive countless experts to madness. Comprehending even a fraction of it can grant them easy entry into the Human Emperor realm.”

“Drawing over all these people isn’t just to weaken the seal, is it?” asked Long Chen.

“Correct. When they fight over the Emperor reverse scale, it will be a bloodbath. As these experts are killed, their powerful resentment will become a great source of nourishment for the heart-devil. It is using the Emperor reverse scale as bait to absorb their negative emotions. It is both weakening the seal’s power and strengthening itself. This time, it will finally have enough power to break free.”

A chill ran down Long Chen’s spine. The heart-devil had orchestrated a grand scheme, using the greed of others as fuel for its own resurgence.

The Dragon Sovereign continued, “As for you, you need to obtain my true dragon blood power. But that means you must defeat my heart-devil. This reverse scale is unlike any before it. When I sealed it, it took almost a third of my bloodline power.”

“A third?!” Long Chen was shocked.

From what he knew, when a dragon shed its reverse scale, it was a symbolic farewell to its past. Usually, it would only carry an eighth of its core blood.

But the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign had sacrificed a third of its bloodline to seal this heart-devil. That spoke volumes about the threat it posed.

“My bloodline power was concentrated into the seal,” the Dragon Sovereign explained. “But over the years, the heart-devil has absorbed most of it.”

Long Chen’s expression darkened. “If it absorbed that much, shouldn’t it be able to break the seal easily?”

“No, that’s the trap I set. The more of my bloodline power it absorbs, the more tightly it is bound by the seal. It only realized the danger too late. By then, it had already taken in too much, so it changed tactics—releasing the seal’s power instead.”

Long Chen shuddered. The Dragon Sovereign had gone to such extreme lengths to suppress its heart-devil, yet it still managed to grow into an unfathomable threat.

As if seeing through Long Chen’s thoughts, the Dragon Sovereign said, “You claim to be unrivaled in your realm. Then prove it. This is my heart-devil from before I advanced to the Emperor realm. Its cultivation is at the peak of the Heaven Saint realm. If you can defeat it, only then can you truly call yourself unrivaled. Do you understand?”

Long Chen took a deep breath. He had declared himself unrivaled before, but he knew that claim only applied to this era. Against the true monsters of the primal chaos era, he wasn’t so sure.

Although he had defeated Hou Tianwu, Xiang Tu, Xue Yingfeng, Long Zaiye—terrifying geniuses of ancient times, the battles had been quite close. He had already encountered so many fearsome beings in the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm. Who could say there weren’t even greater monsters lurking in the shadows?

And now, he had to face the heart-devil of the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign.

The Dragon Sovereign smirked. “What? Are you afraid?”

Long Chen’s lips curled into a grin. “Afraid? Heh… I’m more worried that you’ll be embarrassed when I beat it.”

At first, Long Chen had been a bit nervous, but thinking about how he could exchange blows with the Dragon Sovereign’s heart-devil, he started to get a bit excited.

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