Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

The picture appeared to be intricately drawn with blood, yet despite the passage of countless years, it remained bright and vivid. Long Chen instantly recognized it as the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid.

This wasn’t the first time Long Chen had encountered an image of the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid. Back at the High Firmament Academy, within the Pill Institute’s divine palace, he had also come across it.

In the mortal world, following Yu Qingxuan’s sacrifice to shield Long Chen from an attack, the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid materialized and seemed to whisk her away.

Now, with the reappearance of the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid, Long Chen suspected that he had stumbled upon a profound secret.

When Long Chen flipped to the next page, he found that there were only two pages in this book. Moreover, the image of the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid didn’t fade away like the words on the first page.

Suddenly, Long Chen had a thought. Pressing on his forehead, he extracted a single drop of his essence blood and placed it on the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid’s picture

When his essence blood touched the picture, it seemed to come to life. All of a sudden, flower petals appeared in the air, and the world around Long Chen instantly became a majestic palace.

Before Long Chen could get a good look at his surroundings, a sharp blade cut through the palace, accompanied by a rain of blood. Long Chen also saw a white-robed man being stabbed through the chest.

He was right beside Long Chen, his gaze fixed ahead, brimming with hatred and resentment. He let out a hysterical howl. “Gan Luo, you dared to betray the Pill Sovereign?!”

Following the white-robed man’s line of sight, Long Chen saw a middle-aged man in golden robes staring back at the white-robed man.

To Long Chen’s surprise, this person’s aura was incomparably powerful, resembling that of a flame god. Merely gazing upon him caused Long Chen’s soul to ache as if it were scorched by flames.

This middle-aged man was incomparably terrifying. With a sneer, he retorted, “The Pill Sovereign does not have the ability to unite the people. If even Lord Brahma has revolted, as his disciple, how could I not follow him?”

“I don’t believe it! Why would Brahma betray the Pill Sovereign?!” roared the white-robed man.

“Pitiful child, I can’t be bothered to explain it to you. Go in peace!”

With a swift movement of his blade, the middle-aged man unleashed an explosive burst of power, reducing his opponent into fragments. As the dust settled, Long Chen saw a figure appear with a flash.

“Lifehunter race!” Long Chen exclaimed.

Although he barely saw an image, he was familiar with their aura, as it was identical to Ying Tian’s. The only difference was that this person’s aura was even more reserved and frightening than that of Ying Tian.

“Kill everyone who isn’t from Lord Brahma and Fallen Daynight’s side!” shouted the middle-aged man.

The entire palace quivered. Furious roars, curses, and cries mixed together but drowned out by the sound of sharp blades cutting through flesh.

It was a one-sided slaughter. Some people were talking with their friends when others suddenly stabbed them. A lot of them died without even knowing what was happening.

Long Chen gritted his teeth furiously, an inexplicable sensation coursing through him as he witnessed the carnage unfold. It was as though the blades slicing through the bodies of the fallen were also piercing his own flesh.

The fury and resentment of those people as they died crashed into him like a tsunami. Long Chen couldn’t help but let out a heaven-shaking roar.

“You traitors!”

Long Chen’s eyes blazed scarlet, perhaps due to the awakening of the Pill Sovereign’s memories. Consumed by madness, he stepped through the air and sent a fist at the middle-aged man.

Regretfully, Long Chen’s fist passed right through the man as the latter was just a projection. They were separated by the river of time and space.

However, the middle-aged man seemed to sense something after this attack. Frantically scanning his surroundings, he detected nothing amiss but swiftly ordered everyone to regroup.

As the chaos subsided, Long Chen observed that, aside from the spilled blood, the structures remained unscathed, unaffected by the fierce battle that had transpired.

Under the command of the middle-aged man called Gan Luo, the group gathered in a specific hall. It was the highest and loftiest part of this palace.

With a wave of his hand, Gan Luo activated four pillars of light at the corners of the hall, sending them soaring into the heavens. He then started to form some hand seals and chant.

“The sixth volume of the Nirvana Scripture!”

Long Chen hastily suppressed his fury and focused on memorizing every syllable and hand seal.

“So that’s the case. The sixth volume’s syllables must change with the hand seals. No wonder I could never get it to work.”

Seeing the hand seals, Long Chen instantly understood and memorized the part of the Nirvana Scripture that Gan Luo was using.

Long Chen had already spent a great deal of effort studying the Nirvana Scripture and trying to get the sixth volume to work for him, missing a single step. After comprehending this one step, everything became easy.

After Gan Luo was done chanting, his hand seals changed once more, and the four pillars of light weaved together, forming a giant net that bound this place.

Following Gan Luo’s actions, a giant immortal character emerged and descended from the heavens, landing upon the gate of the hall with resounding force. Glowing with radiant intensity, the character took the form of a giant Brahma symbol.

As the Brahma symbol illuminated the surroundings, an array of countless chains materialized, sealing this entire hall.

“It’s Lord Brahma’s seal!” Long Chen instantly saw through Gan Luo’s intentions. With the formation of this seal, it instantly sucked the world’s power dry.

BOOM!

The image then vanished, and Long Chen reappeared in front of the skeleton.

Suddenly, the ancient book quivered, and to Long Chen’s astonishment, the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid’s image rose out of the page and merged into Long Chen’s palm.

With the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid imprinted onto Long Chen’s palm, the ancient book disintegrated into dust, and the skeleton followed suit. Before Long Chen now lay a pile of dust.

“Could it be that what was calling to me was the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid?”

Long Chen looked at the image on his palm, unable to shake the feeling that every event leading up to this moment had been meticulously orchestrated, with the Jewel Blood Jade Orchid serving as the key to unraveling the truth behind the temple’s destruction.

Regretfully, no one answered Long Chen. The only one who could have provided answers was now naught but dust. Other than a short record and this brief memory, the owner of the book left nothing else behind. Perhaps what she had left behind was the hatred, resentment, and disbelief of the people who had perished.

With a heavy heart, Long Chen bowed to the remnants of the experts and then walked out of this secret room, his determination unwavering as he set his sights on the core region of the temple.

He quickly saw a sacred and majestic hall. However, when he saw a group of people in front of it, his killing intent instantly exploded.