Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

Long Chen was baffled by the situation in Tianyu City. This place was filled with experts, many of whom possessed powerful auras hidden beneath their defenses. Based on his senses, Long Chen estimated that there were at least four-vein Emperors here.

What stood out to him was that these four-vein Human Emperors were significantly stronger than the demonic beasts and devil creatures he had encountered at the same level. Perhaps it was due to the lack of medicinal pills that forced them to rely entirely on battle to progress in cultivation, but the cultivators here seemed to possess a raw strength that surpassed their counterparts in the outside world.

Based on Long Chen’s estimates, a four-vein Emperor here would be on par with the six-vein Emperor from the Gold Lion race.

In the outside world, it was quite rare for humans to fight demonic beasts on equal footing, even with the aid of powerful divine weapons.

Tianyu City was definitely filled with hidden experts, so why would they need the assistance of an outsider like him? Furthermore, from the way this elder said it, it sounded like Tianyu City was already on the verge of collapse, but Long Chen didn’t see anything like that.

The elder sighed, sensing Long Chen’s confusion. “Young friend, Tianyu City may appear calm on the surface, but there are deep, dangerous undercurrents. We have long since reached the point of hanging by a thread.”

“Are you talking about that city guard?” asked Long Chen.

The elder was surprised by the question. “You noticed?”

Long Chen shook his head and replied, “Not exactly. I didn’t see anything in particular. I just didn’t like him.”

The elder sighed once more, “Tianyu City is surrounded by devil creatures. In order to defend against the devil creatures, the city is constantly expending its own energy so that we have a place to live. It has reached the point of being a lamp without oil. Tianyu City might collapse at any moment, and without its protection, the surrounding devil creatures will immediately devour all life here. However, whether it is the Gold Lion race, the Stone Spirit race, or even certain people within the human race, they cannot see that danger and are only thinking about taking control of Tianyu City, unaware that such power would be useless if they cannot escape the encirclement of devil creatures. We’re all doomed if we don’t find a way out.”

“Senior, is this place still very far from the depths of the Endless Desolation? Isn’t that place supposed to have the human race and other races? Why not ask for their aid?” asked Long Chen.

The elder explained, “Based on the ancient maps left by our elders, what you mean by the depths of the Endless Desolation should be the Heaven Essence World. It is said to be the only world left intact after the primal chaos war, and it would take us two or three months to reach it at full speed, even without any obstructions. However, you cannot forget the horde of devil creatures along the way. Perhaps not all of them are that strong, but their numbers are crazy. Two and three-vein Emperors number in the millions.

“Most importantly, their leaders are as strong as seven or eight-vein Emperors. Under their directions, the brainless monsters leave us no openings to get through them. One person might be able to slip past them without drawing their attention. But if they were noticed, they’d definitely die. Even if we could summon an army to fight against them, sooner or later we would be exhausted by their numbers. Over the years, we’ve sent many outstanding disciples to reach the Heaven Essence World, but no one has ever returned! We don’t know if they died midway, or if they did manage to get there but simply forgot about us…”

In truth, the elder hoped that those disciples had gotten into the Heaven Essence World. But due to certain reasons, they couldn’t transmit news between them. Hence, they knew that they were just deceiving themselves. It was almost impossible for a person to get past the layers of devil creatures.

“In other words, you don’t even know if this Heaven Essence World really exists?” asked Long Chen.

Long Chen’s heart turned cold. If this world didn’t really exist, he would be in trouble.

“No, the Heaven Essence World definitely exists. Throughout our history, our city has encountered multiple heavenly geniuses from the Heaven Essence World,” replied the elder.

“Multiple heavenly geniuses?” Long Chen’s hope reignited.

“Throughout history, There were three separate incidents: one group had five people, another had four, and once, only a single genius arrived. They were all immensely powerful, with auras comparable to six-vein Emperor demonic beasts, even though they were only Heaven Saints at the time,” answered the elder.

Long Chen was stunned. Heaven Saints with auras on par with six-vein Emperor demonic beasts? If it was just their power that had reached that level, he wouldn’t be so surprised. But for their auras to also reach that level meant that those people were terrifyingly powerful.

“Then did you ask them for help in escaping this place? Even bringing a small group of you away would be better than nothing, right?” asked Long Chen.

Shaking his head, the elder continued, “The path to the Heaven Essence World is more dangerous than you can imagine. Every single time, they said that they came out in a group of over twenty people, with around the same power level.”

Hearing that, Long Chen sighed. A group of over twenty heavenly geniuses had been reduced to their paltry numbers, and once, there was only one survivor? It was clear that the journey through the Endless Desolation was filled with unspeakable dangers. Without being able to protect themselves, they naturally couldn’t bring others back to the Heaven Essence World.

Long Chen then asked what their goal had been in coming out here, and the elder told him that it had been to go beyond the Endless Desolation—Long Chen’s world.

They knew that there was a place outside the Desolation, and they wanted to reach there and see what the situation was like. They wondered whether there were more humans in the outside world.

Traveling through the Endless Desolation was extremely difficult. Those who attempted the journey had to use a secret art to seal their cultivation bases. Otherwise, the Heavenly Daos would suppress them, and it would be hard for them to survive. With their power restricted, they could still fight a couple of devil creatures. However, if they stumbled upon a stronghold of these monsters, they would eventually be overwhelmed and killed.

“Many of them had no choice but to turn back after reaching us,” the elder explained. “The suppression was too intense beyond this point. For them, meeting us was already a small victory, proof that their journey hadn’t been entirely in vain. They even promised that if the opportunity arose, they would send someone to bring us to the Heaven Essence World. But as you can see, years have passed, and there has been no word from them. We don't know whether they returned safely or perished on their way back.”

Seeing the elder sighing, Long Chen felt a pang of sadness. So many experts had set out, yet even they had faced such insurmountable odds. It seemed that Long Chen’s journey would be even more difficult. He wondered how the Dragonblood Legion was doing.

However, knowing that they had the primal chaos Dragon Sovereign guiding them gave Long Chen some comfort. Hopefully, they were safe and making progress on their own path. It seemed that their reunion would have to wait until they all made it to the Heaven Essence World.

“Young friend, let’s get back to the main issue. If you are willing to help us, I am willing to offer you Tianyu City’s supreme treasure,” said the elder solemnly.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!