Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

BOOM!

After Long Chen and the others walked out of the passageway, the entrance suddenly slammed shut behind them. The spatial gate, through which they had arrived, vanished, leaving them stranded in a world enveloped by raging flames.

Upon arriving, Long Chen's body tightened under the immense pressure, as if a colossal mountain was crushing him. The overwhelming force caused countless people to collapse, their bodies quivering in agony as the terrifying pressure threatened to break their bones and shatter them to pieces.

On the other hand, Yu Qingxuan was just a bit red, but she was able to endure. Seeing this, Long Chen pulled her behind him, and she instantly felt better.

Long Chen then looked at the sky. There were thin cracks in the void, stretching behind the horizon. It was as if the world was assembled after those cracks appeared.

“One dragon power? How can that be?! When my imperial father entered, it was only half a dragon power!” exclaimed Zhu Yunwen.

“What is going on?” asked Long Chen.

“The Vermilion Bird space has a gravity domain that exudes immense pressure. The passageway was just a buffer to get us here, so the gravity wasn’t as bad there. But now, right at the start, the pressure is equivalent to one dragon power, about twice as strong as my imperial father’s trial. Also, the strength of the pressure is based on the potential of the person undergoing the trial. Can it be that our batch of people is even stronger than when my imperial father entered?” Zhu Yunwen was bewildered.

“Is it because we have too many people? There are at least eight hundred thousand people here!” guessed Zhu Yifeng.

Zhu Yunwen shook his head. “No, it is based on the person with the greatest potential in the group…”

Just then, quite a few of the imperial disciples couldn’t endure it anymore and hacked up blood. The immense pressure threatened to crush them into pulp.

“Join forces to summon a flame domain!” shouted Zhu Yunwen.

In an instant, all the princes and princesses formed hand seals, summoning a giant flame barrier. However, when this barrier appeared, the space around them rumbled and their expressions changed.

The moment this barrier formed, the pressure on them increased. It was like they had suddenly opened an umbrella under a waterfall, and the barrier collapsed. Due to the backlash, all the princes and princesses coughed up blood.

“How can this be? If this continues, they’ll all die!” said Yu Qingxuan frantically.

These imperial disciples were incapable of enduring this terrifying pressure, so they collapsed one after another. Some people even began to lose consciousness. If this continued, they would really be crushed to death.

Suddenly, a figure walked into the sky, lessening the pressure on everyone.

“Long Chen!”

Yu Qingxuan was delighted. As Long Chen was standing in the sky above them, a transparent dome appeared above his head, containing countless transparent runes. That was the power of the laws of this Vermilion Bird space. When Long Chen stood above everyone, those runes focused on him, and due to the high concentration, the runes ended up forming a dome around him.

Only then did people realize that this terrifying gravity was caused by these invisible runes. Thankfully, the dome that Long Chen made was big enough, around three hundred meters wide. Within this area, the pressure weakened significantly. Seeing that, Zhu Yunwen and the others hastily dragged the unconscious disciples in, allowing them the chance to recuperate.

However, too many people had collapsed, so there was not enough space. Just as everyone started to panic. Long Chen walked three more steps into the sky.

With every step, the void would unleash explosive rumbling, and by the third step, cracks appeared all over the sky as if he had stepped onto thin ice and would fall through at any moment.

“This is my limit!” called out Long Chen. After all, he was not just enduring unimaginable gravitational pressure but also had to worry about the space beneath his feet. Any further and the space beneath his feet would collapse. If that happened, he didn’t know just how many people would die.

However, with those three steps, he rose hundreds of meters up, and the dome around him had gone from a few feet thick to hundreds of meters. The immense pressure made even Long Chen have trouble breathing. It was like there was a giant umbrella above his head now, as he had created a safe domain over three thousand meters wide.

“It’s enough, it’s enough! Brother Long, you must endure!”

Zhu Yunwen shouted as he brought the unconscious disciples over. However, as other disciples tried to enter, Zhu Yunwen scolded them.

“What are you doing? This is a trial by fire, not somewhere to run off! If you can endure, then endure it! Try to acclimate yourselves to this space as quickly as possible! What do you think this pressure is? It is the divine radiance of the immemorial Vermilion Bird! It can rapidly increase the power of your physical body. As long as you constantly resist its pressure, it will stimulate the potential of your body, allowing you to benefit endlessly! Take advantage of while brother Long can still endure to get a breather. You have to cherish this opportunity!”

Zhu Yunwen was truly worthy of being the crown prince. He was more mature than the others, acting more steadily and unflustered. Also, he thought things through more than the others.

After all, the princes and princesses were stronger than the other imperial disciples, so the pressure was unable to pose much of a threat to them. Being in a position of power over the others, they had a duty to protect the others.

The unconscious disciples quickly woke up. Without needing any direction, they left Long Chen’s protection to continue receiving the baptism of the immense pressure. At the same time, they helped each other, dragging people back under cover when they fell unconscious.

“Long Chen, how are you doing?” asked Yu Qingxuan, worried that Long Chen wouldn’t be able to last much longer under this pressure.

“I don’t think I can last much longer… At most… at most…” Long Chen’s voice quivered as if he was about to fall.

Hearing that, everyone was horrified. But he then continued, “At most… I can last until the sixth month of next year…”

Long Chen then laughed. As a result, Yu Qingxuan was enraged but also wanted to laugh. In this tense scenario, he was still in the mood to joke around. They really had been scared just now.

What they didn’t know was that as Long Chen held off this immense pressure, there was also an endless flow of energy entering his body. His blood, qi, and bones were like dry riverbeds soaking in rain, so his strength was constantly climbing.

This place was practically a treasure land. He had never imagined that the pressure here would be able to bring him so many benefits.

Several hours passed.

The imperial disciples, after constantly taking breaks and switching out, were finally accustomed to this space. Although it wasn’t to the point where they could last forever, they would no longer be crushed in just a short moment.

Seeing that everyone was starting to acclimate themselves, Long Chen didn’t need to wait any longer. Forming hand seals, a miniature figure of himself came out of his head. That was his Yuan Spirit.

“Today, I’ll borrow the power here to undergo the fourth step of the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art, refining the spirit!”