Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

"What is going on? Am I going crazy? Senior, please help explain things to us," begged an elder to Daoist Heavenly Feather.

Such a thing should theoretically not be spoken of. After all, this was most likely some kind of secret of Huo Linger, something taboo for others to know. But seeing Huo Linger rapidly forming hand seals with no pause, these experts were starting to question their own existences. She had formed over a thousand seals in just a few breaths.

"This hand seal rate is inhuman. Is there some kind of trick behind it?" Others also wished to know what was going on. Amongst all of them, Daoist Heavenly Feather had the highest seniority, the greatest experience, and was the most erudite. Perhaps she was the only one who could know.

Daoist Heavenly Feather smiled. "You are correct. She truly isn't human. A human cannot do this, not even a Sovereign."

"Then…"

"She is a spirit of fire that has taken human form. Being made of flames, all flame arts are under her control. Her hand seals use her flame energy to draw out the world's flame energy. Countless variations are undergone with the casual turns of her hand. There are flame spirit bodies, ice spirit bodies, but whether they are natural or artificial, they are not true spiritual bodies. Since this girl is a condensation of flames, she has a true spiritual body. There's nothing curious about her being able to use flame arts," said Daoist Heavenly Feather.

"But she possesses her own soul! She even has bloodline energy! Are we sensing it wrong?"

"Your senses are not wrong. But don't look at me. I've lived for many years, but I have not seen everything. In theory, a fire spirit is the same as ordinary Earth Flame Spirit Beasts. They possess a trace of spirituality, but lack Spiritual Strength. They can condense a form, but lack a bloodline foundation. As for Long Chen's flame spirit, I don't know why she is the same as a person," said Daoist Heavenly Feather. Even she was unable to answer everyone's questions.

All things had spirits, but there were laws differentiating them. A flame spirit was always low level, and no matter how great its spirituality grew, there was a limit. That was an iron law.

However, Huo Linger had broken this iron law. Not only did she look like a person, but she also seemed to possess her own flesh and blood. Her soul was the same case. Her intelligence was an equal match with a human's, and she had even learned hand seals. There was no way to explain this.

Explosions constantly rang out from within the flames. Flame runes whirled around, but it was impossible to see Ye Liangchen. Through these explosions, it was clear that he was trying to escape Huo Linger's prison.

However, Huo Linger's hand seals changed quickly, and an unending stream of flame arts submerged Ye Liangchen. No matter how he attacked, he was unable to escape her flame domain.

"Let's see how long you can last!" Ye Liangchen's voice rang out from within the flames.

It seemed that being trapped by a flame spirit was extremely infuriating for him. But it also seemed that he was helpless to do anything to Huo Linger temporarily. He could only slowly exhaust her.

After all, she was currently controlling a giant flame domain. That had to use up an enormous amount of energy. She couldn't last forever.

"Big brother Long Chen told me that all I had to do was to trap you. I've accomplished my mission." Huo Linger giggled, her face completely pure and innocent.

"How powerful. She actually managed to trap Ye Liangchen. So Long Chen is in possession of a flame spirit capable of imprisoning a Sovereign sprout."

"Ye Liangchen was most likely too careless. Perhaps he wanted to give a display of power to intimidate others as a stalling tactic. If he could activate another tenth of his stars, perhaps this flame spirit would be unable to trap him. To put it frankly…" A square-faced man suddenly shook his head.

"He tried acting like a badass, only to end up being a dumbass?" finished off someone else.

"I'm not the one to say it." The square-faced man pretended not to know anything, but everyone understood. There was actually someone with such a loose mouth as to say such a thing.

The person with the loose mouth also had an urge to slap himself. He had essentially just cursed Ye Liangchen. If Ye Liangchen learned of it, he would lose his life. Hence, he glared at the square-faced man, cursing him for leaving this hole for him to jump into. But he could only blame himself for directly jumping in.

"Careful!"

Suddenly, a startled cry interrupted them. A saber-image descended from the heavens, and everyone hastily dodged to the side.

BOOM!

The saber-image slashed a narrow and deep ditch in the ground. Unfortunately, one expert was rather slow and was cut by the wind. Cracks covered his entire body, and he instantly grew still, afraid of moving an inch.

After that, a wood element expert extended a hand, sending life energy into his body. This third step Netherpassage expert slowly began to recover.

The people beside him involuntarily gulped. They felt their throats turn dry and their bodies turn cold.

Just the wind from the saber-image was enough to almost kill them. Just how powerful was the real attack?

They looked over, but there were too many flames to see. They were unable to see anything. This saber that had descended from the heavens had truly been frightening.

"I feel like we should find a different place to watch from. This place doesn't have good feng shui," proposed one person before fleeing.

The flames here blocked their sight, so they couldn't see what was happening with Long Chen and Jiang Wuchen. Hence, they were unable to dodge their attacks in time. If it hadn't been for that timely warning, who knew how many of them would have died just now?

With Huo Linger blocking Ye Liangchen, Long Chen was going all-out. His Six Star Battle Armor was at full power.

"Is Long Chen injured?"

The people who retreated and managed to get a view from around the sea of flames saw Long Chen covered in blood. They were startled to see this, but they were even more shocked to see Jiang Wuchen. He had grown even larger than before.

He looked like a giant devil ape. Every swing of his hatchet possessed enough power to shatter stars.

Jiang Wuchen had used some unknown technique, and his eyes had turned scarlet. Those were no longer the eyes of a human. He was like a wild beast.

At this moment, Jiang Wuchen's body was covered in a dozen wounds. Every one of those wounds was deep enough that they could see bone. Blood was splashing out of both of them as they fought.

The most shocking thing was that as their focus had been on Huo Linger, something had happened to cause Jiang Wuchen's aura to slowly fall. Meanwhile, Long Chen's aura was as fierce as ever.

BOOM!

Long Chen's saber slammed into Jiang Wuchen's hatchet, knocking it aside and giving him the space to land a kick on Jiang Wuchen's jaw. A cracking sound rang out.

"What happened during this time?!"

"Jiang Wuchen activated his manifestation and transformed into a monster, but… he still can't beat Long Chen. Furthermore, it seems that his mind is affected, allowing Long Chen to injure him multiple times. If it was anyone else, they would probably have been hacked to death already."

The spectators were now spread all around the battlefield. Some people were entirely focused on Long Chen and ignored the fight between Huo Linger and Ye Liangchen.

After breaking Jiang Wuchen's jaw, Long Chen slashed Evilmoon at Jiang Wuchen's head without hesitation.

However, a golden sword appeared in his way, blocking him.

"Feng Fei?!"

Feng Fei was actually joining in the fight as she was from the same family as Jiang Wuchen. However, by interfering now, did that not signify that Jiang Wuchen had lost?

Sparks flew. Feng Fei was actually blown back, and her manifestation shuddered, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

Feng Fei was startled by this. Only upon blocking Long Chen's attack did she truly grasp just how powerful he was. The power contained within his saber only erupted the instant it made contact with its target.

This saber contained a domineering will that had almost shattered her manifestation. If her manifestation shattered, she would lose her Heavenly Dao energy, and that would leave her open to be killed by Long Chen.

Feng Fei had no choice but to interfere. In her eyes, Jiang Wuchen had already lost. Long Chen's attacks were bizarre, and the injuries he caused could not be healed by Heavenly Dao energy.

Although Long Chen was also covered in blood, that was caused entirely by himself. He was unable to perfectly handle the power of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, resulting in his body slowly tearing itself apart. As those injuries were not given to him by Jiang Wuchen, Feng Fei couldn't allow Jiang Wuchen's defeat to look too terrible.

"Two against one, three against one, it doesn't matter. Come."

Long Chen snorted and raised Evilmoon once more. His killing intent did not flag at all. Jiang Wuchen had used his family to threaten him, and he could not endure this.

"Phoenix Roams the Heavens!"

Feng Fei was rapidly forming hand seals and condensed her manifestation.

After that, a brilliant phoenix cry rang out. A phoenix then came flying out of her manifestation, unleashing rainbow light that dyed the world in its color.

As soon as it appeared, any who looked at it felt a sharp pain in their souls. The phoenix cry shook their minds.

"What a powerful soul art." Meng Qi's expression changed. She could sense just how terrifying this attack was. This phoenix was not as simple as just being part of her manifestation. It possessed its own will.

The phoenix spread its wings and charged at Long Chen. Runes lit up on its body, and a strange sound filled the air.

"AHH"!

Countless disciples screamed, clutching their heads. That sound was like iron nails scraping each other. It wasn't a loud sound, but it pierced their ears and into the depths of their souls.

"Don't try the same trick against me twice!" The star in Long Chen's divine ring that represented the Divine Gate Star suddenly blazed with light. Light also exploded out of Evilmoon as Long Chen's Spiritual Strength erupted.

BOOM!

Evilmoon slashed down. The Divine Gate Star shuddered, supporting Evilmoon with its power.

In front of everyone's shocked gazes, Feng Fei's giant phoenix was cleanly cut in two. A miserable shriek rang out through the air.