Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

The warrior’s fingers twitched a few times, emitting sharp metallic sounds as though his knuckles had rusted, causing all the people around to wince.

“It’s only been seven days, and he has recovered a bit? Is the lifeforce of a Warrior of the Starry Sky really so amazing?” asked Long Chen.

“I can only look at him through your eyes, so I cannot judge his true power. But if he can start freeing himself up from the Ghost Sovereign’s laws in just seven days, he probably is extraordinary even amongst Warriors of the Starry Sky,” said the dragon expert with a hint of interest in its tone.

“Why are they called Warriors of the Starry Sky?” asked Long Chen.

“Because they are from the Starry Sky race of the primal chaos era and have innate star diagrams on their bodies. Relying on astral energy to cultivate, they were said to be the strongest warriors beneath the starry sky back then. They were fearless, but they mysteriously vanished in the immemorial era. Due to how much time has passed, the legends of the Warriors of the Starry Sky are not known to many,” said the dragon expert.

“The strongest warriors beneath the starry sky?”

Long Chen’s heart shook. Didn’t that mean that they were unrivaled? Or did it mean that there were stronger existences above the starry sky?

“Boss, there’s land up ahead!”

Xia Chen’s excited cry rang out while everyone was paying attention to the Warrior of the Starry Sky. Thus, Long Chen and the others were pleasantly surprised. Had they crossed the heavenly river so quickly?

Feeling a bit reluctant, Long Chen and the others left the side of the warrior and went up the Ghost Ship. As expected, there was an endless landmass up ahead.

“No, master, that’s not land! That is the body of a lifeform!” It was Uncle Tree who cried out upon seeing that ‘land’.

“A body? What?!” Guo Ran and the others couldn’t believe their ears.

They were still very far from the landmass. However, from what they saw, it seemed to cover the entire horizon and spread as far as they could see. What lifeform’s body could be so large?

“Could it be…?” wondered Long Chen.

“Yes, it probably is. No other lifeform would be that big.” Uncle Tree nodded, thinking the exact same thing as Long Chen.

The Ghost Ship continued onward. Once they were closer to the ‘landmass’, a bloody scent struck them as they saw countless birds, fish-like monsters, and sea demons around.

They saw multiple sea demons that were so powerful that they should be considered Heaven Venerates. From the Ghost Ship, they could see their enormous bodies.

There were countless sea demons devouring this ‘landmass’. When the Ghost Ship got close, those terrifying sea demons retreated, with some even directly fleeing.

“Is this a sea whale? But…” Guo Ran still couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“The one we saw was probably a young sea whale, but this one should be a mature one whose longevity reached an end and died of old age here,” said Long Chen.

“Died of old age? No way! Shouldn’t an existence of this level be immortal? Even if they do die, their bodies should be immune to rot and decay! It wouldn’t be something that can be consumed like this!” said Guo Ran.

“All things in this world have their own fate. Also, the sea whale race is different from the Kunpeng race. They always follow the natural Dao and do not fight against the heavens, allowing the bindings of the Heavenly Daos. They are born in the sea, grow in the sea, and die in the sea. And before dying, they allow their cultivation base to dissipate so that other lifeforms can consume them. All their defenses are removed as they await for death to descend. Everything that the great sea gave them, they will give back to the sea. It is their way of repaying the place that raised them. This can be considered another kind of nirvanic rebirth. When their flesh is consumed, their bodies sink to the bottom of the sea. After that, more sea demons will continue consuming them until they fall all the way to the depths of the seafloor, and the weakest lifeforms at the bottom of the sea will consume the leftovers, gaining enough nutrients for them to grow and reproduce for millions of years. From the point that the sea whales die to the point that their corpses fall to the bottom of the sea, tens of thousands of years will have passed. This process is given a mournful yet beautiful name: the whale fall. The whale devours ten thousand lifeforms, and the whale fall feeds ten thousand lifeforms. Before this, we saw a sea whale devouring countless sea demons. Now, we see the whale fall feed countless sea demons. It is like fate,” sighed Long Chen emotionally.

The sea whale couldn’t be called a saint, but at least it knew when to repay kindness. It followed the natural Dao and didn’t just selfishly demand more and more. In the end, it returned everything back to the sea.

But humans? Only a few would do such a thing. After all, humans were the greediest bunch. No matter how much they obtained, they always demanded more.

Fiends killed each other. As for humans? They were sometimes even worse than fiends. Just what made humans so cruel? Pure greed? It probably wasn’t so simple.

Was there a sinister hand within heaven and earth constantly drawing out the darkness within people’s hearts, pushing humanity into the depths of evil?

When the Ghost Ship passed by the sea whale’s corpse, some sea demons roared at them, glaring at the Ghost Ship, fearful yet unwilling to leave their territories.

“It’s too bad that it’s too big. There’s no way to store it,” said Guo Ran.

“What, you want to eat it too? It returns its body to the sea, and you weren’t born from the sea,” said Xia Chen.

“You’re right,” Guo Ran sighed.

“Let’s go around.”

Long Chen looked at the immense flesh and blood. To tell the truth, he was a bit enticed. If this was tossed into the primal chaos space, who knew just how much life energy would be unleashed? Would the Fusang Trees and the Moon Trees instantly grow into towering trees?

However, Long Chen had his own bottom line. Xia Chen was correct. The sea whale had returned itself to the sea. If he were to take it, it would be like stealing from charity. Long Chen couldn’t do such a thing. Thus, he could only sigh and leave.

The sea whale’s size could not be calculated with simple numbers. It took Long Chen and the others three days to go from its body to its head.

During these three days, they only grew more shocked. Just how many beasts did the sea whale consume in its life in order to grow to this size? Fortunately, it returned itself to the sea. Otherwise, perhaps every lifeform in the sea would be devoured.

When they reached the head of the sea whale, they were surprised to find that this region had no sea demons.

“What’s going on? Is the whale’s head too tough for them to eat?” Guo Ran couldn’t help looking at Long Chen.

Long Chen was also puzzled. “Don’t look at me. Everything I know is just from the academy’s books. I don’t know what’s happening.”

Just then, they heard the sound of chains being dragged across the deck, causing them to turn back and see that the Warrior of the Starry Sky had walked onto the deck, having left the formation.

With deliberate slowness, the Warrior of the Starry Sky tilted his head upward, allowing his hair to fall back and reveal his bronze-colored face. He then looked at the sea whale and suddenly raised a hand.

BOOM!

To everyone’s surprise, the sea whale’s head exploded, and an enormous thing flew out of it, heading straight toward the Ghost Ship.

“It’s the sea whale’s crystal core!” exclaimed Long Chen.