Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Above the Mortal Transcendence realm was the Divine Flame realm. Only once you ignited the divine flame could you use magical arts and divine abilities.

However, not everyone was instantly capable of using magical arts upon entering the Divine Flame realm. Most ordinary disciples could only start using their magical arts in the mid stage when they had accumulated enough divine energy.

The disciples that Chu Kuang had brought with him this time might have been in the Divine Flame realm, but they were in the early stage, so they were unable to use divine abilities. They could only be considered one level stronger than disciples at the peak of Mortal Transcendence.

Experts like Luo Bing and Luo Ning were able to fight many of their numbers. That was why they had been killed so easily.

However, this did not signify that Divine Flame disciples were weak. Once their divine energy was strong enough to use magical arts, disciples in the Mortal Transcendence realm would have great difficulty fighting across realms.

Above the Divine Flame realm was the even more frightening Four Peak realm. As for why it was called the Four Peak realm, Long Chen had not managed to read any texts pertaining to that.

All he knew was that the easiest way to recognize Four Peak experts was that they were able to fly through the air.

The group that Chu Kuang was bringing over this time had an elder flying through the air. His face was strange. It was like he was wearing a human mask and didn't want to reveal his true face.

"Chu Kuang really is vicious. He even managed to utilize an Elder-level expert. If we were still inside the caves, we would have been doomed," said Luo Ning. "Long Chen, if you knew that he would return, why didn't you hurry up? Any slower and we would have been caught."

Long Chen had actually been in the mood to chat with them after taking the Heavenly Flame seed. He had been completely unhurried, but he seemed to have expected Chu Kuang to return. Although his prediction was accurate, this was too dangerous. What if Chu Kuang had returned just a moment earlier? Wouldn't they have died miserable deaths inside?

Long Chen shook his head and smiled. "Since I dared to bring the Unfettered Alliance out, then considering that all their lives have been entrusted to me, how could I not arrange for their protection? Unlike the rest of you, I killed my way out of countless dangers in the lower world. One mistake might have cost me everything. That's why I rarely put myself in actual danger. I set up multiple barriers on the path here. If anyone or any powerful beasts pass through, it will immediately alert me."

Long Chen revealed a palm-sized formation disc. "This alarm system cost me over twenty thousand immortal crystals. I kept track of Chu Kuang leaving and his return. There are over ten barriers to sense people passing through, so I was very clear on how far he was. I don't rely on luck to live. The reason I could live until now is because I'm afraid of dying enough to be careful."

In truth, coming out this time had been dangerous due to how big their movement was. Long Chen's main concern had been Chu Kuang learning of it and arranging to attack them in secret.

After all, there were too many members of the Unfettered Alliance. For Chu Kuang to have eyes inside of it was very normal. But unexpectedly, Chu Kuang's focus had been on Luo Bing and Luo Ning, so he hadn't had time to think of them. However, these arrangements that Long Chen had set up ended up being useful anyway.

Crescent Moon Valley faced the academy, so Chu Kuang wouldn't possibly go all the way around considering that he was in a rush. Furthermore, he definitely didn't expect Long Chen to have set up sentries in hidden places.

Hearing this, Luo Bing, Luo Ning, Mu Qingyun, Li Cai, and the others were all amazed. It seemed that Long Chen had everything under control.

Through the formation, they watched as Chu Kuang led hundreds of people to seal the exit. These experts were all in the mid Divine Flame realm, with some being in the late stage. All of them were in a combat-ready state.

Chu Kuang was shouting something, but they could only see what he was doing through the formation. They couldn't hear him, but they could guess that he was telling his men not to let a single fly pass them.

The current Chu Kuang was hairless, and his face was covered in bloody burns. This was the wound left behind by the Heavenly Flame, so it couldn't be healed immediately. Furthermore, even if he could heal it, his hair wouldn't grow out that fast.

After shouting at them, he and the elder entered the cave system with just over ten people, most likely to search for Long Chen and the others.

"Let's go. If they find that we're gone, they might search the surroundings and find us," said Luo Bing once the Four Peak expert was gone.

"Leave? No, it's not over yet. Let me invite you to watch a good play," said Long Chen.

Everyone was startled. But seeing that Long Chen didn't seem to want to explain, they simply quietly watched.

Time passed slowly. Luo Bing and Luo Ning looked at each other, feeling a chill run through them. Long Chen seemed to be brewing some kind of trap. After that, a full incense stick's worth of time passed without anything happening. The silence was a bit scary.

Even the disciples guarding the exit were starting to grow impatient. Why was it that nothing had happened after all this time?

"Hehe…"

Long Chen suddenly laughed, his laughter sounding a bit sinister. Mu Qingyun and the others looked at him in confusion, but before they could ask what was happening, an explosion shook the land beneath their feet.

At the center of Crescent Moon Valley, where the cave was located, red flames exploded out of the land and into the heavens.

It was a giant pillar of lava. The force of the explosion sent those disciples flying, but the lava then flowed toward them like a tide.

Scared out of their wits, they fled. They didn't know what just happened. Had a volcano exploded?

One disciple was flattened by a flying boulder that struck him like a meteorite. Any fragment of him was instantly incinerated without a trace.

"How can this be?" Luo Bing covered her mouth, staring in horror. She looked at Long Chen, only to see him smiling like a wily fox that had stolen a chicken as he watched these disciples fleeing for their lives.

The raging lava quickly covered the land, and those disciples couldn't possibly outrun it. No matter how they struggled, they were devoured by the flames.

The middle and late-stage Divine Flame disciples didn't immediately die when they were devoured by the lava. But the power of their divine flames couldn't possibly block the lava for more than a brief moment. Furthermore, they were unable to fly away.

Some disciples were covered in fire as they fled as fast as they could, but they were still caught up by the lava. After their divine flames were exhausted, they were turned into nothingness.

Li Cai and the others were horrified as they watched, and cold sweat dripped down their backs. Mu Qingyun almost turned away, unable to watch.

Long Chen looked at her. "Do you pity them?"