Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

Long Chen and the others felt a buzzing sensation in their heads. Following that, they passed out. Unaware of how much time had elapsed, the haze in their consciousness abruptly lifted, and Long Chen was the first to regain consciousness. Gradually, the others also started to wake up one after another. They then looked around blankly. That feeling was truly bizarre.

After everyone woke up, they found that their wounds had recovered by quite a bit. Long Chen couldn’t help asking, “Palace master, how long were we asleep?”

“Three days. Due to the urgency, I shortened what should have been half a month’s travel time to three days. That’s why you passed out. However, if you weren’t injured, we could have completed the journey in half a day. Alright, we’ve arrived at the Darklight Heaven’s main academy. Exercise your muscles a bit and throw off your sluggishness,” said the palace master.

Everyone hastily stood up. When they tried to move around, they felt like they were submerged in water, their bodies numb. It seemed like the formation’s spatial energy had yet to fully dissipate.

After exercising a bit, they recovered, and the palace master led them off.

Before them, an enormous gate slowly opened, and three middle-aged men whom Long Chen had never seen before appeared in front of them.

“Greetings, palace master!” said the three of them as they bowed to the palace master in unison.

To everyone’s surprise, these three people wore robes of the Battle God Palace and were all Eternal experts.

Oddly enough, the palace master had just stepped into the Eternal realm because of the opening of the world gates. However, these three men had somehow reached the Eternal realm as well.

The palace master nodded. “Where is the dean?”

“The dean has long since been waiting for you and Dean Long Chen. Please come!” said one of them.

The three of them led the way, and everyone followed them. Guo Ran then stared at the three of them, his eyes widening. After he looked at Long Chen several times, Long Chen finally shot him a glare.

Long Chen had already noticed that these three were also members of the dragon race. However, they belonged to a different branch, not the dark one. Guo Ran, unable to contain his excitement, wanted to communicate with Long Chen through spiritual means. However, with four Eternal experts nearby, Guo Ran's Spiritual Strength would undoubtedly be detected and overheard. Talking about others behind their backs was very rude.

They continued down a passageway and went through three thick stone gates before the surroundings brightened. When Long Chen and the others saw the world before them, they were stunned.

The world before them was desolate, marked by ruins and dilapidated walls scattered all over. A pervasive air of decay lingered here, like poison invading their bodies, making them feel extremely uncomfortable.

The Dragonblood warriors couldn’t help but shiver. The environment here felt extremely eerie.

“You’re injured, so this rot poison will make your injuries worse. But don’t worry, it’s not fatal. Before the gates opened, this was another path to reach Eternity. While challenging, it's not worse than the conventional path,” explained the palace master.

“Using decay to stimulate Eternity?” inquired Long Chen, clearly astonished.

This single statement immediately impressed the three middle-aged men. Expressing astonishment in their eyes, one of them praised Long Chen. “No wonder you could become a branch dean of the High Firmament Academy at such a young age. Your comprehension is truly admirable. I apologize for our previous rudeness, Dean Long Chen.”

The three of them cupped their fists toward Long Chen. The supreme existence at the top of the Battle God Palace was obviously the palace master, and the three of them were his disciples. However, every single one of them had their own temperaments and pride.

As Eternal experts, they naturally didn't regard a mere World King like Long Chen highly. Although they had heard of his name, they still felt like he had achieved his current position thanks to luck.

That was why when the three of them greeted them all, they only bowed to the palace master without looking at Long Chen.

That wasn’t to say that they were looking down on Long Chen. It was simply the principle of the Battle God Palace—that power commanded respect. To earn their respect, one had to have something worthy of respect, and the status of dean alone was far from enough.

They had endured hundreds of years of suffering to understand this principle—using the power of decay to catalyze the physical body's generation of Eternal power.

However, Long Chen had not even reached that height and was unable to touch such a thing. Yet, in such a short time here, he already grasped the essence of this place, shocking the three of them. They instantly understood that they had underestimated him and apologized for their previous rudeness.

Long Chen hastily cupped his fists back at them. He could also see that the three of them were extremely prideful, but they were qualified to be proud. Anyway, Long Chen never felt anger over other people’s disdain.

After all, those with strong hearts were indifferent to others' opinions, and only those with fragile hearts constantly sought praise and admiration. If they were looked down upon, they wouldn’t be able to find a sense of existence, leading to feelings of anger.

“You’ve been in the academy for too long. Your bodies are rusty, and even your senses have grown dull. Dean Long Chen’s power is not below yours. If you have the chance, you should exchange some pointers with him,” said the palace master.

The three of them were completely shocked by this, staring at Long Chen in disbelief. They knew the palace master wouldn’t joke with them, but they were truly unable to believe that Long Chen had the power to fight them.

The palace master then turned to Long Chen. “The three of them are experts of our dragon race. Just like you, they’ve had rough lives. They survived by slaughtering their way out of a mountain of corpses and seas of blood. They are true experts, but life in the High Firmament Academy is too peaceful. As a result, their spiritual perception has regressed, so they were deceived by your appearance and can’t see through your depth. However, their instincts aren’t completely gone. They’re simply in slumber. After a few battles, once they see blood, their instincts will awaken. When that time comes, hehe…”

The palace master chuckled and didn’t say more. It seemed that he was truly a battle-crazed person, always feeling an intense thirst for battle.

The three of them were taken aback to witness the palace master's rare enthusiasm toward someone. He was clearly viewing Long Chen favorably. In all their years following the palace master, they had never seen him talk so much to others.

“Dean Long Chen, we really misjudged. If we have the chance, we will be happy to experience your pointers. Please don’t mind our previous rudeness.” One of them looked at Long Chen with newfound respect, but along with that respect was a burning fighting spirit. Clearly, everyone in the Battle God Palace was battle-crazed, just like the palace master.

However, Long Chen didn’t want to exchange pointers with anyone. To tell the truth, he disliked doing such a thing, fighting like it was touch sparring. That was against his instincts. If one were to just constantly exchange blows like this, their battle instincts would regress.

Long Chen was not one to make a move lightly, but once he did, it was a battle to the death. The goal of fighting was not to defeat the other side, but to kill them in the simplest and most efficient manner.

Long Chen was about to politely decline when he saw a broken-down palace up ahead. When they passed through the gates, he saw hundreds of people waiting for them.

Seeing those people, even Long Chen couldn’t help gasping.

“Unbelievable!”