Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Atop a craggy mountain, Long Chen and Mo Nian sat dejectedly.

Mo Nian grumbled, “Brother, what is going on? This time, we really messed up. Not only did things go sideways, but we also ended up being looked down upon. We’ve lost all our faces.”

They had just endured a grueling battle, fighting off a bunch of five-vein Heaven Saints. The sheer number of enemies had pushed them to their limits. To make matters worse, Jiang Yue’e’s aloof attitude after saving them had been infuriating.

Long Chen shrugged helplessly. “What can we do about it? I still haven’t met the conditions to condense heaven vein dragon qi. I assume it’s the same for you?”

“Exactly!” Mo Nian exclaimed bitterly. “I haven’t found the Limitless Source yet! That’s the treasure of the Limitless Palace. Without it, I can’t condense the heaven vein dragon qi unique to my lineage. I’ve been searching underground for days, and I only came up for a bit of air when this group of lunatics saw me and started chasing me! I don’t even know them!”

Long Chen raised an eyebrow, his skepticism apparent. That excuse might have worked coming from someone else, but not Mo Nian. The Heaven Vein Mystic Realm was filled with opportunities, so who would give up their chances to obtain treasures and hunt down someone they didn’t even know?

Knowing Mo Nian’s tendency to stir up trouble, Long Chen found it hard to believe his innocence. After all, during the opening of the Heaven Vein Mystic Realm, Mo Nian’s voice already caused a lot of people to shout furiously at him. It was no stretch to imagine he’d done more to incite such fervent pursuit.

“And you?” Mo Nian asked, deflecting. “What did you do to provoke so many people?”

“The same as you. Just bad luck running into a bunch of maniacs,” Long Chen replied dryly.

Mo Nian instantly turned red, knowing that Long Chen didn’t believe his story. Still, he suspected Long Chen had also caused his fair share of trouble. Neither of them had the moral high ground to laugh at the other.

“Fine, I’ll head out. I need to keep searching for the Limitless Source underground. If I find anything good, I’ll save it for you,” Mo Nian said as he stood, still visibly fatigued from their battle.

Mo Nian actually needed to rest, but to find this Limitless Source as soon as possible, he had to set off soon.

“Wait, your Limitless Palace’s inheritance is underground?” Long Chen asked curiously.

“Exactly!” Mo Nian sighed. “That wretched old master of mine said my fortunes lie beneath the earth. He even joked that I’m destined to live in darkness forever. I’ve been searching blindly, with no leads other than the fact that the Limitless Source is surrounded by countless treasures. How am I supposed to find it based on that? There are already countless treasures popping up all over the place. Finding it is like searching for a needle in the ocean. Am I supposed to scour the entire Heaven Vein Mystic Realm?”

“Underground, you say? Wait a moment.” Long Chen retrieved a compass from his belongings and handed it to Mo Nian.

Mo Nian’s eyes lit up the moment he saw it. Years of treasure-hunting experience allowed him to instantly grasp its value.

“You’re a lifesaver, brother! This is exactly what I need!” Mo Nian said, his hands trembling as he accepted the compass.

With his unique abilities, Mo Nian could traverse underground with ease and detect traces of treasures from subtle clues. However, pinpointing their exact locations still required time and effort. Hence, this compass was a game-changer for him. Ｒ�

In his hand, the compass not only identified nearby treasures but also revealed their attributes and shapes through its rune fluctuations. This was something impossible for Long Chen to achieve.

Mo Nian was so ecstatic he nearly hugged Long Chen. This was just what he needed.

“Don’t rush off just yet,” Long Chen advised. “Take a moment to recover first. If you run into enemies like this, you’ll be in trouble.”

“Hehe, I was just caught off guard. It won’t happen again,” Mo Nian replied with a grin. “But you’re right—time is of the essence. Jiang Yue’e is already a seven-vein Heaven Saint. If we don’t condense our heaven veins soon, there won’t be a place for us here. By the time others reach nine veins, we’ll be left picking scraps.”

Long Chen nodded solemnly. Jiang Yue’e was indeed terrifying. Even though they hadn’t exchanged blows, he felt immense pressure coming from her. It was practically suffocating.

The stronger the heavenly genius, the stronger the heaven veins they condensed. Hence, the more Mo Nian and Long Chen delayed their cultivation, the more dangerous it would be for them.

After exchanging a few more words of encouragement, Mo Nian sped off, vanishing into the distance. Long Chen, on the other hand, wasn’t in such a hurry. He found a secluded spot, set up an illusion formation, and began to recuperate.

The recent battle had drained him completely. His dragon blood, violet blood, seven-color Supreme Blood, and astral energy were all depleted. The endless waves of enemies had taken their toll, especially since Mo Nian’s specialty wasn’t close combat. Because of it, Long Chen had borne the brunt of the attacks.

Fortunately, their enemies’ disorganized assaults had worked in their favor. Long Chen and Mo Nian only had to block a few attacks at once while dodging the others.

If those experts hadn’t been so hasty and had coordinated well, Long Chen and Mo Nian would have been done for.

In truth, Long Chen didn’t know that those experts wanted to capture the two of them alive, especially Long Chen’s enemies. Capturing him alive was equivalent to capturing a mountain of treasures.

Their greed ended up saving Long Chen, but that battle was still incredibly dangerous.

After calming himself down, Long Chen focused his mind and closed his eyes. Starlight started to gather around him. He prioritized recovering his astral energy first—it was both his most powerful resource and the quickest to replenish.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

To his astonishment, as his starry sea manifested, it started to fluctuate intensely. Pure astral energy poured toward him, far purer than anything he’d encountered before.

But what truly shocked him was its source. This energy wasn’t descending from the heavens—it was coming from his front right.

Long Chen’s heart raced.

“It seems my chance to condense heaven vein dragon qi has finally arrived.”