Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

“Heavenly Flame seed?”

Mu Qingyun was shocked. Although she was a disciple of the God Institute and not an alchemist, she was well aware of how precious a Heavenly Flame seed was.

In the immortal world, there were immortal flames, divine flames, beast flames, devil flames, etc. But it was Heavenly Flames that were the most precious existence. These were flames of the Heavenly Daos, spirits born of the qi flow of the Heavenly Daos.

Heavenly Flames were priceless treasures that alchemists dreamed of obtaining. Even with the Pill Institute’s foundation, Heavenly Flame seeds were extremely precious. Amongst all the people that Long Chen had encountered so far, only the Seven Star Elder, He Ziyu, possessed a Heavenly Flame.

“Brother San, if that Heavenly Flame seed really appears, we aren’t able to subdue it. We’ll be incinerated before we even get close,” said Mu Qingyun.

“It’s unknown if the Heavenly Flame seed will even appear. But if it does, it will be in a newly born state with no consciousness. There won’t be any danger. Qingyun put away the flying boat. Everyone is to enter Crescent Moon Valley. There are countless beasts here. There are also plenty of poison bugs around. Everyone must be careful, or you might lose your life at any moment,” warned Long Chen.

Mu Qingyun put away the flying boat. Long Chen led everyone forward slowly. Li Cai brought up the rear with some other experts. After all, their sense of danger and reactions were much better than these disciples of the Unfettered Alliance. This was the only way to guarantee everyone’s protection.

Suddenly, Long Chen’s hand snaked out and grabbed Mu Qingyun’s sword. Light flashed. A ‘vine’ beside Mu Qingyun was severed.

That was a poisonous snake camouflaged as a vine. It was killed just as it prepared an attack against Mu Qingyun.

“A Black Fang Viper!”

Mu Qingyun was startled. She recognized this viper. Its poison was horrifying. It had a pair of black fangs. If bit, ordinary antitoxin pills were useless. You would die within a moment of being struck by its poison.

Long Chen resheathed Mu Qingyun’s sword as if nothing had happened and continued onwards.

Zhong Ling and Zhong Xiu looked from Mu Qingyun to Long Chen. That viper had concealed itself perfectly. None of its aura leaked out. But Long Chen had easily killed it before its attack landed. That confidence and ease dazzled them.

“Brother San, how are you so amazing? How did you do this?” Zhong Ling ran over to Long Chen’s side.

“When you understand just how precious your life is, you will be able to do the same,” said Long Chen lightly.

“I don’t understand,” said Zhong Ling.

“It just means that I value my life more than you. I won’t let anyone take it from me. For example, in a place where you can lose your life at any moment, I don’t have time to chat,” said Long Chen.

Zhong Ling finally understood that he was rebuking her for still wasting time asking questions instead of watching out for dangers on their path. She didn’t get angry by this rebuke. She ran back over to Mu Qingyun’s side, keeping her mouth closed.

“Ah!”

A disciple suddenly slipped. Half his body sank into the ground, startling everyone. Others quickly pulled on him.

BOOM!

Li Cai’s sword slashed onto the ground. Only then did they manage to pull that person out. There were still tree roots wrapped around his feet. Those roots had been severed by Li Cai’s attack. A blood-like liquid dripped out of the cut.

“It’s a tree demon. Everyone, be more careful. If you had been paying attention, you might not have fallen for its attack. There was someone to save you this time, but you might not be so fortunate next time,” warned Li Cai.

This was a sly kind of tree demon that hid underground. It specialized in laying traps for its prey, which included beasts and humans. It would absorb their flesh as nutrients.

“Yes, many thanks, big brother Li Cai.” That disciple was still pale. He had almost died.

There were countless dangers around them. Their nerves were tight. After half a day of travel, the sky started darkening. The forest was shrouded in darkness. The sound of a wild beast would occasionally ring out, raising their hair.

“Brother San, the sky has darkened. Shouldn’t we find a place to rest during the night?” asked Mu QIngyun. Just walking around here during the day was frightening enough. Now that it was dark, even she was a bit afraid.

This place was the wilderness. If something happened here, no one would come to save them.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from beneath Mu Qingyun’s feet. She lowered her head and jumped up, grabbing Long Chen.

It was a skeleton. The flesh had already been eaten by wild beasts. Moss had started to grow on top of the bones due to how long had passed. If Mu Qingyun hadn’t stepped on it, they wouldn’t have known that there was a corpse beneath them.

Mu Qingyun tightly grabbed Long Chen’s arm. Long Chen didn’t make a sound. He just stood there. It was only after a moment that Mu Qingyun realized that her actions were inappropriate, and she immediately let go, her face as red as an apple.

Zhong Ling and Zhong Xiu smiled mischievously when they saw that, causing her to be even more embarrassed.

Long Chen slowly knelt down, searching around the skeleton. He found some rotting clothes. There was no way to identify whether it was the robes of someone from the academy.

However, he quickly found the status plate near the corpse’s waist. He picked it up and looked at it.

“It’s a disciple from the Immortal Institute. Furthermore, it was someone from the outer academy just like us.” Mu Qingyun seemed to feel like she had been too embarrassing just now, and brazenly stepped forward to examine the plate.

“A disciple of the Immortal Institute actually dared to come here? They didn’t know their own power.” One disciple shook their head, feeling like this person had practically been courting death.

“Someone who didn’t have their own burden wouldn’t gamble their life. People who aren’t trying are not qualified to mock someone who is risking their life,” said Long Chen lightly.

“Yes. Boss San, I was wrong.” That disciple hastily apologized.

Long Chen tossed the status plate to that disciple. “If you have a chance, return this status plate to the Immortal Institute. Perhaps his father, his mother, his brothers, his sisters were all searching for information on where he was during these years. They prayed for him to return, but regretfully…”

Long Chen shook his head and continued onwards. After that skeleton appeared, a shadow was cast over everyone’s hearts. They became even more cautious.

The sky turned darker and darker. It reached the point that they couldn’t even see their own fingers when they waved their hands in front of them. Long Chen suddenly waved his hand. A spear was thrown into the forest, followed by the roar of a beast. Some rumbling rang out along with some trees shaking.

The sound gradually faded as the beast fled. Having been struck by Long Chen first, it didn’t dare to come over.

They progressed through the darkness for over two hours. Those two hours felt longer than a year to them. Suddenly, they felt that the ground beneath them was no longer soft. Instead, it was rock-like. The air was filled with a burning scent.

“We’ve reached the entrance of Crescent Moon Valley. Everyone can rest,” said Long Chen.