Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

There was a staircase in the center of the palace. When Long Chen set foot onto it, the scenery around him instantly changed.

Everything inside the palace was gone, replaced by a desolate battlefield. The staircase was still present, but Bai Shishi and her mother who had stepped onto it with him were gone.

“Kill!”

A furious roar rang out in Long Chen’s ear. After that, he saw a human expert wearing battle armor fly past him.

A devil expert was cleaved in two by a stroke of that person’s blade. However, as soon as the devil expert was slain, that human expert let out a painful shout.

A fist-sized spider clamped its fangs into his neck. The spider bore five-colored spots, and within moments, the unfortunate victim withered into a desiccated corpse.

After eating that human expert, the spider suddenly shot toward a battlefield in the distance. Looking in that direction, Long Chen saw countless lifeforms fighting crazily.

The devil race, Blood race, demon race, beast race, giant race, and many other races that Long Chen had yet to come into contact with were all fighting. And the target of all their attacks was the human race.

Long Chen knew that this was just an illusion. However, his spot on the staircase was too low for him to see everything clearly, so he hastily climbed up.

As he climbed up, his line of sight was constantly changing. He saw battlefields further away and saw the human race fighting all the different races.

No one was helping the human race. They were always alone against an endless sea of enemies. Panic, despair, thunderous roars, and tears consumed them, yet it all amounted to naught. After all, the battlefield knew no mercy, showed no pity, followed no logic, and adhered to no system.

On the battlefield, there was only the most primal, bloody face of cruelty, violence, and malevolence. The ugly desires of the heart were fully unleashed, and the ugliest side of the world was on full display.

The sky was no longer blue. The sun and moon were covered. Perhaps even they were unable to watch this ugly scene, and had shut their eyes.

The human race bitterly endured. Although the slaughter from the ten thousand races made them weep, they persevered. Countless times they teetered on the brink of collapse, yet they still managed to endure.

The human race’s tenacity was shocking. Despite knowing that they had no chance, they still didn’t give up and just fought to the death. When they fell, others would pick up their weapons and continue fighting in their place. This unbroken chain of determination persisted as one generation after another took up arms, each refusing to relent.

In an endless cycle, the battlefield was still the same battlefield, but the humans were constantly changing.

“They aren’t just picking up their seniors’ weapons but also their will and responsibility. The moment they pick up the weapons, they also understand why their seniors continue to fight to the death despite knowing that there is no hope. That is because they have no way to retreat. If they didn’t fight, their fathers, mothers, partners, and children would all die at their enemies’ hands. Despite knowing that there was no hope, they continued to fight to buy time for their descendants. Fighting with no hope is sometimes the only thing to do when there is nothing you can do.”

As Long Chen climbed higher, he saw more and more of the battlefield. He wanted to dive in and help these humans, but he knew that this was an illusion. Perhaps it really did exist, but it wasn’t necessarily happening now. Perhaps it was the past, perhaps it was the future.

Long Chen didn’t know why he would see such a thing now. This scene saddened him, but he was powerless to do anything about it. He didn’t like that feeling.

In order to escape this illusion faster, he quickened the pace. But as he did this, he saw the battlefield developing faster as well.

The humans dwindled in numbers. Furthermore, at this time, the human race suddenly fractured into countless factions that were gradually picked off one by one by the ten thousand races.

“What?!”

Long Chen was enraged because he saw some factions of the human race actually betray their own people, joining forces with their enemies. Blood was spilled by countless humans.

“Bastards!” Long Chen gnashed his teeth furiously. He saw the traitors, but he was now too high to see who they were.

Enraged, Long Chen tried to climb down, but he was shocked to find that this staircase could only be climbed, not descended.

In his fury, he jumped down, but just as he was about to touch the ground, space twisted and he appeared in his original location.

“Damn it! Who are they?! Who sold out the human race?!” roared Long Chen.

He knew it was an illusion, but it was definitely a projection. Perhaps it had already happened, or perhaps it was about to happen. Long Chen wanted to see it clearly, but the laws here would not permit it.

“Traitors!” Long Chen clenched his teeth. What he hated most was traitors. Since he couldn’t see it more clearly, he could only clench his teeth and continue climbing.

Suddenly, the battlefield below vanished and was replaced by a lake. The lake’s surface was flat and smooth like a mirror, reflecting an enormous figure.

Long Chen paused, his gaze fixed upon the colossal figure's back. Even though it was just its rear view, an eerie sensation still washed over him. That figure exuded an aura of unfathomable destruction, one that sent shivers down the very core of people's beings, invoking terror at the deepest level of their souls.

Long Chen felt a fierce pain in his eyes, his soul shaken. He also felt a profound sense of unease.

“Who is it? Why would it appear here?” Long Chen stared in shock at that huge figure.

Buzz.

Abruptly, the figure vanished, along with the entire lake. The surroundings shifted once more, and before Long Chen stood Bai Shishi and her mother. He had returned to the palace once more.

Bai Shishi excitedly asked, “Long Chen, what did you see? I actually saw-”

“Silence!”

The expression of Bai Shishi’s mother suddenly changed, and she barked at her daughter.

“Mom…!”

Bai Shishi was startled. She didn’t recall her mother ever talking so severely to her.

“Whatever you saw, only you can know. You cannot tell anyone, or you and whoever you tell will face terrible karma,” warned Bai Shishi’s mother.

“I understand, Mom!” Bai Shishi responded, her heart quivering at her mother's words. Witnessing her daughter's reaction, Bai Shishi's mother felt that she had been a tad too stern as well, causing her to soften her tone.

“Shishi, it’s my fault. I didn’t expect you to see anything on the stairs. That’s why I didn’t warn you beforehand.”

“Mom, you didn’t see anything?” asked Bai Shishi.

Bai Shishi’s mother shook her head. “It is said only destined people with the ability to change the future will see anything. I didn’t see anything, so this matter ends here, understood? No matter what you saw, don’t mention it ever again.”

Bai Shishi and Long Chen nodded. After that, they followed Bai Shishi’s mother further ahead. When they passed by a gate, they saw that they were in another large palace hall.

This room was also full of bone steles. However, there were only nine of them. Even before getting close to them, a powerful resonance drew Long Chen and Bai Shishi.