Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

Half a day after Long Chen and the others left, a lot of experts began to arrive in this place. Those people wore various robes, showing that they were not from a single force.

Several of them were Heaven Venerates, and after investigating the battlefield, they couldn’t help gasping.

“Two Heaven Venerates were slain at the same time, merging back into heaven and earth the same way. Moreover, the killer possessed a powerful Undying qi. It was definitely an expert from the Undying race,” said one elder, touching the ground solemnly.

“The important point is that they left behind no unyielding will. In other words, when those two were slain, they didn’t even possess the ability to resist. Their fear was greater than their anger,” said another elder.

“I heard that the Ye clan sent out three Heaven Venerates to hunt down a group of mysterious people. But it seems that two of them were killed and the third one somehow escaped.”

“But looking at the clues of the battlefield, there were actually two battles, with one of them being very chaotic. In it, there’s a powerful Blood Qi that doesn’t seem to be from the human race.”

“It really is a bit strange. But the death of a Heaven Venerate throws the laws of heaven and earth into chaos, so there’s no way to do a temporal inversion to see what happened.”

As countless experts went through the battlefield, they managed to grasp many clues about what had occurred. Regretfully, it was so chaotic that they were unable to get a clear picture.

The news about a team of foreign experts intervening in the battle between the Ye clan's disciples and the sea demons had circulated widely. After all, the Ye clan didn’t defend that region alone. With so many experts around, it was not surprising that the Ye clan couldn’t keep it a secret.

With that information spreading, countless people secretly kept an eye on the Ye clan’s movements, knowing that with their unreasonable natures, they would send people to hunt the mysterious group down.

Hence, they all came here to watch a show. Regretfully, they were too slow, and everything was over by the time they arrived.

However, from the battlefield, they could tell that this time, the Ye clan had kicked an iron plate. Despite dispatching three Heaven Venerates, two had fallen in combat. This was no trivial matter.

“The killer is an expert of the Undying race, possessing an endless lifespan. Thus, even as fellow Heaven Venerates, the two sides have an immense difference.” This was the conclusion that people made after a long time of deliberation and examination.

“There’s no way around it. By the time humans get to the Heaven Venerate realm, they’ve usually exhausted their Blood Qi. So, in order to maintain their realm, they’re forced to ignite their longevity. On the other hand, the Undying race remains in their top condition, with their Undying Qi undergoing an endless cycle. We’re already old by the time we reach the Heaven Venerate, while they’re still at their prime,” sighed another Heaven Venerate.

“Unless a human can reach the Divine Venerate realm within a hundred years, they can only rely on burning their lifespan to maintain their realm. Sigh, you can only choose one, realm or lifespan. In this aspect, the human race is truly at a disadvantage compared to other races.”

“Someone capable of becoming a Heaven Venerate within a hundred years is incredibly rare, at least since the immemorial era, and achieving such a feat within a thousand years is as rare as a phoenix feather or qilin horn. Even for the likes of us who made our breakthroughs after a thousand years are considered ‘geniuses’. Unfortunately, compared to other races, our human Heaven Venerates are just weaker.”

The Heaven Venerates here sighed. There was no way to deny this fact. The path of cultivation was like rowing a boat upstream. If you weren’t advancing, you were regressing. For many geniuses, reaching the Heaven Venerate realm was their cultivation ceiling, and they were unable to advance a single inch afterward.

The main thing was that it was very difficult to maintain this realm. They had to burn their longevity just to prevent it from regressing. To put it frankly, they were sacrificing their life for their realm.

In comparison, the devil race, demon race, Spirit race, Blood race, and other races had an immense advantage in terms of lifespan, having far more longevity to keep their realms stable.

For humans, burning their lifespan was only able to keep their realm just above the point of falling. That was not stable, and keeping it stable would require even more longevity.

The human race’s longevity was already short compared to other races. Thus, if they burned their longevities like the other races, it wouldn’t be long before they died.

That was why, within the same realm, the human race’s Heaven Venerates normally couldn’t match the Undying race’s Heaven Venerates.

As for the Ye clan’s experts, they were unlucky, thinking that just by relying on the name of the Ye clan, they could scare off everyone. Thus, they weren’t even afraid of the Undying race. Regretfully, as soon as they started fighting, they met a miserable end.

Perhaps it was due to the Ye clan being too mighty of a tree. As a result, the monkeys that lived in the tree thought themselves to be gods.

“But despite knowing that the Ye clan is an Eternal clan and part of the Heavenly Divinity race, they still dared to kill their Heaven Venerates! These people have to possess extraordinary backgrounds.”

Right at that moment, the void resonated with a menacing rumble, and an ominous aura materialized. After that, the once bright sky dimmed, overshadowed by the arrival of a ferocious beast soaring overhead.

This creature possessed the head of a dragon, adorned with deer-like antlers, and a donkey's body. Yet, its form was entirely enveloped in black scales, while its eyes gleamed like polished copper. With the black qi swirling around it, it looked like an ominous beast from hell.

“It’s the Shadow Qilin! The Ye clan’s people have come!”

Startled cries rang out. The Shadow Qilin was an immemorial beast famed for its vicious, bloodthirsty nature. It was an extremely rare ferocious race amongst the qilin race.

The qilin race was an extremely large race, with the majority being auspicious or spirit beasts. So, they were mostly all friendly and kind.

However, there were also darker branches within their race, and the Shadow Qilin was well-known amongst them, possessing immemorial runes on their bodies that gave them immense power.

Upon its arrival, this Shadow Qilin instantly cast a dark cloud over the heavens. The pressure was so immense that even Heaven Venerates were afraid of it.

Having reached the Heaven Venerate realm, the Shadow Qilin was also a symbol of the Ye clan. The rumors were that the Ye clan had a contractual agreement with the Shadow Qilin race that gave them the power to control Shadow Qilins.

“For the Shadow Qilin to appear, whoever its master was, they must have a high status. They should be a member of the main bloodline, not a branch elder,” whispered someone.

The Ye clan was an immense power with many branches. Nevertheless, the Shadow Qilin represented a mark of prestige within the clan, and as such, the branch Elders lacked the qualification to possess them.

“Shh! Everyone, you should leave. This person’s expression isn’t very good. Don’t end up running into calamity.” A Heaven Venerate immediately left upon seeing the person on the Shadow Qilin. Following him, the others also began to leave.

Suddenly, the Shadow Qilin raised its head and roared. It seemed to be a declaration of war.

However, that challenge was met with no answer. In the end, a young man jumped down from the Shadow Qillin, looking to be only twenty years old. Although his cultivation base was only at the peak of the Immortal King realm, his aura was as vast as a sea. In fact, it didn’t seem much weaker than the Shadow Qilin that he was on.

“Three flowers converged… He is a Triple Supreme!”

When the Heaven Venerates in the surroundings saw that man, they cried out in shock.