Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Inside the Divine Ice Palace, Daoist Heavenly Feather was smiling like a kind elder. She no longer had her previous overbearing iciness.

"Junior thanks senior for your aid." Long Chen immediately bowed upon seeing her.

"There's no need to thank me. The Martial Heaven Continent is a family, so saving you is saving ourselves," said Daoist Heavenly Feather.

"You knew I was coming?" asked Long Chen. The disciple had said that Daoist Heavenly Feather was waiting for him, making him curious.

"Yes. If you hadn't come, I would have gone to find you." Daoist Heavenly Feather nodded.

"My apologies for making you wait. I had some things that slowed me down. Do you need me for something?"

"I do." Daoist Heavenly Feather looked at Long Chen. "What do you think about the Music Master?"

Long Chen was startled. With Daoist Heavenly Feather's status, she wouldn't ask any random questions. Long Chen hesitatingly said, "To tell the truth, she doesn't give me a very good feeling."

"Oh? Why not?" Daoist Heavenly Feather was interested.

Long Chen shook his head. "I can't say for sure. The first time I saw her, my first impression was that she wasn't the person she appears to be. It's a strange feeling. Perhaps it's simply due to her not helping this time."

Daoist Heavenly Feather smiled. "That sharp intuition of yours is definitely a large part of why you could live until today. Heaven Merging experts are one with heaven and earth, so even another Heaven Merging expert can't sense their thoughts, let alone a Netherpassage disciple. Your cultivation technique must be powerful to be able to ignore this restriction. Your perception is startling."

"Is there really a problem with the Music Master?" asked Long Chen, his heart pounding.

"I don't know. I just particularly don't like her. I feel like she's too sly to trust. That day, I intentionally targeted her to tell her not to forget her status and mission, but she didn't give a direct reply or promise anything. The chances that the Illusive Music Immortal Palace will slip their way through is very high," said Daoist Heavenly Feather.

Long Chen nodded, gaining a deeper understanding as to the relationship between the Divine Ice Palace and the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. The two of them were both protectors of the Martial Heaven Continent. When Zi Yan had roamed the world, she had been welcomed by all. No one had dared to be enemies with her due to the status of the Illusive Music Immortal Palace.

On the other hand, the Divine Ice Palace was comparatively low-key. They almost never interacted with the outside world. But at this crucial juncture, they stepped forward to support the Martial Heaven Continent, even going against the divine families due to their duty.

However, the Illusive Music Immortal Palace, with their greater reputation, had actually turned coward at this moment. It was no wonder Daoist Heavenly Feather was angered.

"Senior, disciple has a question that I've always wondered. I just wonder if it is taboo?" asked Long Chen cautiously.

"Taboo? Haha, you are the one who spat out the name of the Heaven Merging realm. Taboos don't seem to matter to you. Just ask. If it is taboo, I simply won't respond," said Daoist Heavenly Feather.

Daoist Heavenly Feather hadn't expected this generation's unlucky bastard to be Long Chen. Theoretically, the person to speak the name of this realm should be extremely unlucky, someone the heavens were trying to get rid of. Normally, the one to say those three words would be destroyed by heavenly tribulation after accomplishing their mission of transmitting the name of the realm.

Those unlucky fellows had been unremarkable little people because the Heavenly Daos would pick out someone useless to transmit the information. Hence, the fact that Long Chen was the one to say it in this generation was truly incomprehensible. It was almost laughable.

Long Chen understood what she was thinking, and he didn't mind. In any case, he had long since gotten used to his luck.

"The Divine Ice Palace's Ice Divine Sword is the legendary supreme divine item, the Northern Source Sword. Then is Zi Yan's Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither…" probed Long Chen.

"Yes. The Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither is the Southern Sea Zither. The Eastern Wasteland Bell, the Western Desert Ax, the Southern Sea Zither, the Northern Source Sword, and the Central Plains Cauldron are the five divine items relating to the five blocks of the Martial Heaven Continent. However, in the battle back then…" Daoist Heavenly Feather suddenly shut her mouth.

"Then disciple wishes to know, if the Southern Sea Zither and the Northern Source Sword have appeared, then why is there no news of the Western Desert Ax and the Central Plains Cauldron?" asked Long Chen.

"Because in the battle back then, those two divine items were severely damaged. They vanished without a trace just like the Eastern Wasteland Bell and never appeared again. The Western Desert Battle God Palace had fought to the death in that battle, not leaving any of their inheritance behind. They were true heroes who vanished along with the Western Desert Ax. Central Plains Peak Dao Gate was also severely damaged in that battle, eventually declining and fading within the river of time. After the battle, every generation of their disciples took on the mission of finding the Central Plains Cauldron, but they all failed. Eventually, their line completely died out." Daoist Heavenly Feather shook her head sadly. Thinking of how glorious the Martial Heaven Continent had been back at its peak, she was full of emotion and sorrow.

She continued, "As for the Northern Source Sword and the Southern Sea Zither, although they were preserved, they fell into slumber after that battle. Even now, they have yet to awaken. Neither I nor the Music Master can awaken them. The reason I can use a bit of its power is due to powering it with karmic luck. They possess their own consciousness and subconsciousness which permits us to do that."

"Then how can they be awakened?" asked Long Chen.

"They are waiting for their masters to awaken them. Zhiqiu is the master that the Northern Source Sword is looking for. But even now, it seems that it has not formed a connection with her. On the other hand, the girl from the Illusive Music Immortal Palace has managed to obtain the Southern Sea Zither's approval. Her soul already has the fluctuations of a supreme divine item. Hence, I do not know why the Southern Sea Zither has yet to awaken." Daoist Heavenly Feather shook her head.

"Senior, that old ghost from the Ye family had a counterfeit Eastern Wasteland Bell, saying that it had its source energy. Does that mean the Eastern Wasteland Bell is in their hands?" asked Long Chen.

"That's unclear. Legend has it that the five supreme divine items fought against the Heaven Devastating Bracelet back then. The leader of the five supreme items, the Eastern Wasteland Bell, endured the greatest impact, resulting in it fracturing. After that, its source energy was scattered throughout heaven and earth. Others then frantically gathered that energy in hopes of using it to find the Eastern Wasteland Bell and revive it. However, the Eastern Wasteland Bell shattered and vanished. Its Source Qi also gradually faded away. The divine families most likely didn't want the Source Qi to go to waste, so they created an imitation to lock a portion of it inside. As a result, the imitation was still an imitation. It looked like the real thing but lacked the power. It was unable to use the Source Qi. Other than being able to block the supreme aura of the Northern Source Sword and Southern Sea Zither, such a bell has nothing amazing about it. That's why you could break it," explained Daoist Heavenly Feather.

Long Chen was startled. So the Source Qi inside that bell was nothing more than an extremely small part of the Eastern Wasteland Bell's original Source Qi. Also, he realized that Daoist Heavenly Feather didn't know that he had a fragment of the Eastern Wasteland Bell. She thought that he had used some other special means to break the counterfeit.

No one had seen through the clues, and no one had noticed the fragment absorbing the Source Qi. This made Long Chen relax slightly.

"Wait a moment, you said the Heaven Devastation Bracelet? What is that?" asked Long Chen suddenly.

"Do you know the story behind the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring?"

"I remember… It was something about being made from a bracelet smashing into the continent…"

Long Chen suddenly recalled his first time crossing the sea from the Eastern Wasteland. Someone had said that the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring was created when a bracelet smashed into the ground. At that time, Long Chen had snorted, thinking that it was a story to trick brainless people.

However, now that Daoist Heavenly Feather was putting it this way, it seemed that this story was not a fabrication.

"Yes. It was the result of the Heaven Devastating Bracelet smashing into the ground. During that battle, the Eastern Wasteland Bell was shattered, the Western Desert Ax and the Central Plains Cauldron vanished, and the Southern Sea Zither and the Northern Source Sword fell into slumber. On the other hand, the Heaven Devastating Bracelet fell onto the continent, creating the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring. The Heaven Devastating Bracelet still resides at the bottom of the sea. As for its current state, no one can say for sure. The sea demon race does not allow anyone to check on it. When the continent's experts enter deep into the sea, they will face various restrictions. Their cultivation bases and divine abilities are suppressed as the depths of the sea belong to the sea demon race. They are unrivaled there. Most importantly, no one knows what is at the bottom of the sea. It's unknown if the Heaven Devastating Bracelet has recovered. Perhaps the sea demon race is actually in control of it and is using it. That is why we don't dare to be too oppressive toward the sea demon race. Especially at this kind of time when invaders may attack at any moment, we must constantly be on guard." Daoist Heavenly Feather frowned. Even she didn't have a way to deal with the sea demon race.

"Is the sea demon race really so powerful?" asked Long Chen.

"Very much so. They are probably no weaker than the collective power of the cultivators on the continent. However, they are also impacted when they leave the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring. That is why I dared to kill their leader on land without worrying about any retaliation. But we must be on guard toward the sea demon race. They are a pack of fools who are capable of anything. Furthermore, it seems that they have extremely secretive dealings with the divine families," warned Daoist Heavenly Feather.

"Then is there a way to eliminate them? I really detest them," said Long Chen. He didn't want to always have to keep an eye on his back for their sudden attack.

"Unless you can wipe them all out… it would be best not to make a reckless move," said Daoist Heavenly Feather.

Long Chen nodded. He had to think of a way to deal with the Corrupt path and the sea demon race. It would be far too uncomfortable with them at his back.

"Hm?"

Daoist Heavenly Feather's expression suddenly changed. "The Devil Spirit Mountain's Sovereign seal has started to crack."