Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

Everything went as Long Chen expected. The eight empires had launched a ferocious assault upon learning of the sneak attacks. The tall city walls of their empire now lay in ruins, and the battlefield was strewn with lifeless bodies, emanating a grim and pungent scent of blood in the air.

“This was where our imperial father was defending! We have to reinforce him!” shouted Zhu Yunwen.

“You go. Qingxuan and I will reinforce the empresses. We’ll split up here,” said Long Chen.

In truth, Long Chen had no intention of reinforcing Yu Xiaoyun. He was well aware that the emperor’s strength far surpassed their expectations.

Before coming to the Vermilion Bird Empire, Xia Guhong had told him that while in terms of intelligence, Yu Xiaoyun was a straw bag, in terms of power, he was a monster.

However, Long Chen knew that from the viewpoint of members of the imperial family, being faithful patriots was necessary. As the emperor had supreme might, they held him as a god in their hearts.

So, if the emperor was leading the troops in battle, they had to accompany him. Even if their own mothers were in danger, they had to view the emperor as the most important thing, unless he gave them the order to reinforce the other sides.

Long Chen’s original plan was to lead them to reinforce the others, but he still respected their choice. After all, the competition for the position of emperor was not always aboveboard.

If these princes and princesses wanted the position of emperor, they had to obtain the approval of the current emperor, so displaying their full power in front of him was their best chance. If the emperor didn’t see all their efforts, it would be like dressing up for a walk at midnight.

As for why Long Chen brought away Yu Qingxuan, it was to express their position in terms of the competition for the spot of emperor.

“Brother Long…”

Seeing Long Chen wanted to leave them, they lost their mental pillar. Zhu Yunwen instantly grew anxious.

“Big brother…!” Zhu Yifeng also hesitated.

“You are all princes and princesses with your own burdens to carry. The storm tests the grass, the fire tests the gold; it is time to bare your fangs at your enemies and defend the Vermilion Bird Empire’s dignity. Remember, every single one of you is a main character, a hero. Go and show off your power. Display your own light. Make history remember your name,” encouraged Long Chen.

This encouragement set their blood on fire, stimulating their pride.

“Everyone, take care. Crush your enemies. The dawn of victory will cast its light across every corner of the Vermilion Bird Empire. After the war, we can drink and eat until we’re satisfied,” said Long Chen. He then left with Yu Qianxue.

Even once Long Chen was gone, his heroic words still continued to echo throughout heaven and earth, not dissipating for a long time. It aroused the battle intent within their souls.

“Crush our enemies! We are the descendants of the Jiuli bloodline, the heirs to the Vermilion Bird’s will. We can’t lose face for our ancestors!” Zhu Yunwen roared and led all the princes and princesses away.

“Kill!”

The eight hundred thousand imperial disciples roared as well, their killing intent shaking the heavens. It was like their anger could only be quenched through killing their enemies.

…

A pair of golden wings suddenly appeared on Long Chen’s back. As the giant wings covered the sky, his speed instantly shot up.

While flying, Yu Qingxuan held on tightly to Long Chen’s chest, and his arm was around her waist. Watching as the space around her twisted, it was like they were in a spacetime channel. She couldn’t see their surroundings at all.

“Long Chen, these wings…!” Yu Qingxuan’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Yes, they’re Kun Tu’s wings. I refined them and extracted the runes. Now they’re mine, hehe. The Kunpeng race’s speed really is nice,” chortled Long Chen.

The fastest person that Long Chen had ever seen so far was Cloud. It was said that the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow’s speed was slightly better than the Kunpeng race, but the attack and defense of their wings was a far cry from the Kunpeng race.

Previously, Long Chen had obtained the secret arts of the Lightning Falcon race, making his speed astonishing. But compared to the Kunpeng race, they still paled in comparison.

Long Chen’s Kunpeng wings caused space to distort because he was incredibly fast. Due to this, he could only vaguely grasp the terrain around him through his divine sense.

The major cities inside the Vermilion Bird Empire were in chaos, and there were battlefields all over the place. He could even see people from the Vermilion Bird Empire fighting and killing each other.

“Long Chen, why does this happen? Are people’s hearts really so dark?” Seeing the experts that had betrayed the Vermilion Bird Empire and become their enemies’ dogs, slaughtering their old comrades, Yu Qingxuan thought that they were even crueler than the real enemies.

She was unable to understand these people. Why had they become like this? It was incomprehensible to her.

“Many people look like sheep. Facing the strong, they are gentle, humble, and pitiable. But against the weak, they become ruthless fiends, venting their own repressed feelings a hundred times over onto people who are weaker than them. The weak make things hard on the weak, the poor make things hard on the poor. You can’t even imagine just how merciless that world is. So the people that look the most pitiable might not be pitiable. Or perhaps I should say amongst pitiable people, there are also hateful people. Now, you see their hateful side. When the empire wins and they are caught, they will cry and weep for mercy. Then you’ll see their pitiable side. When a person commits wrongs, you can forgive the harm that they’ve done to you. But you cannot forgive them for the harms that they’ve caused to other people. After all, you cannot give forgiveness on behalf of others. In the end, the bitter fruit that you brewed must be consumed by yourself,” said Long Chen.

Long Chen had seen far too many people like this, so he was already numb to it. He also knew that the executions would descend in the end.

“Long Chen, I find that you are powerless in life a lot. I always feel pain in my heart when I see those ugly things. I feel like I’ve experienced this pain before, as though there are some scenes that I’ve seen before. Sometimes, I just cry for no reason. I feel like I don’t even know who I am.”

Long Chen looked at Yu Qingxuan. He saw her distress and pain, knowing that there was no way to fully erase all the memories of her past reincarnations. But she couldn’t actually remember those memories. As they layered on top of each other, they would definitely be chaotic.

Tightly holding her, he said, “Don’t feel lost. Don’t feel afraid. Starting now, I will protect you. I will not permit anyone to hurt you.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qingxuan’s lost expression vanished, and a beautiful smile gradually appeared in her lips. Learning her head against Long Chen’s chest, she felt his powerful heartbeats. For her, Long Chen’s embrace was the warmest abode.

But suddenly, the void exploded, causing the sun and moon to lose their light. Some kind of violent power had destroyed the laws of the ten thousand Daos in the surroundings. Within endless fragments of spacetime, a figure came flying out of a collapsing space.

“Mom!”

When Yu Qingxuan saw that figure, she cried out. It was none other than Jiang Huixin, but a worrisome sight greeted her—blood trickled from the corner of Jiang Huixin's mouth, a clear sign of her injuries

After Jiang Huixin emerged from the collapsing space, three three-flower Earth Venerates followed her, showcasing their formidable presence.

At this sight, Long Chen released Yu Qingxuan and flapped his wings, flying like a bolt of lightning. At that moment, a fist covered in golden dragon scales, which emitted blinding divine radiance, struck one of the three.