Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

“That’s the price of your arrogance, you lowly human! The majesty of my great nether dragon race isn’t to be trifled with!” scorned Netherdragon Tianye. Abruptly, he lifted his head and let out a roar, as if slaying Long Chen couldn't quench the fury burning within him.

This one attack completely deformed the land here. When Netherdragon Tianye roared at the bottomless hole, his voice echoed back.

Seeing this scene, the people fighting in the distance were stunned. Did the battle just end?

Just then, the sound of footsteps came out of the hole. Netherdragon Tianye’s pupils shrank as he saw a figure slowly walk out of it.

It was Long Chen, but his clothes were now in disarray, and there were bloody wounds all over him. He looked to be in a terrible state.

However, Long Chen’s gaze was as apathetic as before, as if he was fine.

“Now I know why I must kill you. Although you have the form of a dragon, you’ve completely deviated from the dragon race’s traditional cultivation path. No dragon would condense a core; that’s the most basic difference between the dragon race and the demonic beast race. The prideful dragon race wouldn’t stoop so low. You dare to call yourself the great nether dragon, yet you’ve condensed a Neidan. What a huge joke,” sneered Long Chen.

The wounds on Long Chen rapidly healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. By the time he was done talking, his wounds were gone.

Netherdragon Tianye was shocked by Long Chen’s recovery ability. However, as he listened to Long Chen's mockery, his gaze instantly turned icy.

“My great nether dragon race isn’t something an ant like you can judge!”

Netherdragon Tianye suddenly moved. The instant he did, the nether dragon in his manifestation also shifted, smashing a claw toward Long Chen.

BOOM!

In response, Long Chen unleashed a claw as well, but Netherdragon Tianye abruptly appeared beside Long Chen, his claw reaching for Long Chen’s ribs.

BOOM!

Long Chen’s dragon claw collided with the dragon claw of Netherdragon Tianye’s manifestation. Borrowing that force, Long Chen fell back, his expression not changing as he narrowly avoided Netherdragon Tianye’s claw.

“You’re nothing more than a dabbler. You even learned their distracting abilities. How foolish,” sneered Long Chen. He instantly saw through Netherdragon Tianye’s technique.

Netherdragon Tianye was truly powerful. He was even able to split his mind, directing his manifestation to attack while simultaneously employing his strange movement technique to strike from a different angle. Logically, when confronted with attacks from multiple directions, any expert would find themselves in a state of panic, unsure of how to respond.

However, Netherdragon Tianye had neglected one point. Long Chen’s combat experience was unmatched, and he had never feared group battles. By dividing his focus between two attacks, Netherdragon Tianye inadvertently slowed down both strikes. Moreover, the coordination between the attacks was visibly flawed.

Perhaps if he did this to someone else, the pressure would be enough to throw them into disarray. But not Long Chen.

Long Chen’s hand suddenly snaked out, striking Netherdragon Tianye’s face again and sending him flying.

In the distance, Ye Ling found this scene shocking and comical. She had been paying attention to the situation on Long Chen’s side. From the start, she already decided that if Long Chen was in danger, she would sacrifice herself just to make sure he could escape. Even if the entire Earth Spirit race had to be destroyed, they had to repay this favor.

From the start of the battle until now, Long Chen had been in danger several times, yet always managed to escape safely. Including the slap just now, he had slapped Netherdragon Tianye three times in the face.

The execution of such a peculiar technique in the midst of such an intense battle felt out of place and sudden, yet also amusing.

“I will kill you!" Netherdragon Tianye roared, his fury escalating after being slapped once more. In an instant, he vanished. The black nether dragon in his manifestation emitted a resounding roar, and to Long Chen's surprise, Netherdragon Tianye reappeared on its forehead, swiftly forming hand seals.

“Watch out! He’s using Doyen power!” shouted Ye Ling.

Just then, a ten-thousand-mile halo of light appeared on top of his head and rapidly shrank.

Just as it materialized, Long Chen felt a chill, and a sensation of death enveloped him.

“Heavenly Dao energy compressed to this extent is equivalent to half the power of a Saint! Run!” shouted Ye Ling frantically.

“The power of a Doyen? In other words, he’s no longer using the power of his dragon blood? Good.” Long Chen actually relaxed after hearing Ye Ling’s warning. Previously, Long Chen had been fighting with only the power of his dragon blood.

That was because this battle was rather special. Long Chen was doing it to clean up the dragon race, a duty he felt compelled to fulfill for the mysterious dragon expert. Although the two were not formally a master and a disciple, they did have such a relationship, and Long Chen considered this task a responsibility he could not evade.

As Long Chen worked to cleanse his master's faction within the dragon race, he could only use the power of his dragon blood and the dragon race’s divine abilities. However, the power of a Doyen was not one of the dragon race’s powers, so Long Chen could now harness other kinds of energy as well.

A battle saber materialized in Long Chen's hand, surrounded by countless flowing runes. Following that, a resounding saber cry echoed as Long Chen executed three powerful slashes. With every swing, a terrifying saber-image tore through heaven and earth, soaring into the heavens. When the fourth saber-image appeared, the previous three saber-images converged into it simultaneously.

“It’s too bad I hesitated just now. If it weren’t for that, I could have added another slash. But this should be enough.”

Long Chen’s gaze grew sharp as he raised his saber. It was like he was trying to cleave this entire world in two.

As his saber rumbled, countless runes surrounding it gradually grew translucent, revealing an endless expanse of stars. Within it, seven stars shone particularly bright. The intensifying glow of these stars mirrored the surge of the saber's aura, growing in intensity with each passing moment.

Suddenly, cracks started to appear on top of the saber. Seeing this, Long Chen let out a sigh.

“In the end, it’s still no good. This Eternal saber Guo Ran made for me still isn’t able to contain the power of the stars. When am I going to get a real divine weapon that can let me unleash my full power?”

This saber was something Guo Ran had specially made for Long Chen. The former had not sought to make it sharp or give it any attributes; his only goal was for it to be able to endure as much power as possible.

Regretfully, Long Chen’s astral energy was simply too powerful, and this saber quickly reached its limit.

“Doyen Nether Dragon Slash!” Netherdragon Tianye roared, his voice hoarse. His once-overflowing Blood Qi now grew sparse, as if all his power had just been sucked away.

The dark nether dragon opened its mouth, and from within, a pitch-black sword shot forth.

“One blow to decide victory or defeat! Split the Heavens 4!”

Long Chen swung his saber down, and the enormous saber-image in the sky finally fell. The stars overhead trembled as a saber and sword collided in front of numerous horrified onlookers.