Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-1259

The stone pillars were still present, and the Sovereign Blood Seal still hung in the air. But what they were seeing around them was different. There were black strands of qi coiling up ahead.

Those black strands of qi were like countless sinister pythons that were constantly attacking the Sovereign Blood Seal. Rumbling sounds rang out so loudly that it shook their ears and caused pain in their souls.

Seeing this black mist in front of them made their scalps turn numb. That sinister energy felt like countless blades pointed at them. As long as they moved, they would be pierced through the heart.

“This should be the buffer zone of the Sovereign Blood Seal that the old man mentioned. Constantly sealing the entrance of Devil Spirit Mountain, the Sovereign Blood Seal receives this constant encroachment.” Long Chen couldn’t help being shocked as he saw the black mist constantly attacking the Sovereign Blood Seal.

This zone was close to the Sovereign Blood Seal, which made it safe. It was said that this safe zone was a semicircle covering hundreds of miles.

“Long Chen, in which direction should we go?” asked Bao Buping. Their divine sense was unable to pierce the black mist in front of them. They were all blind.

“Most people would choose to go along the edges here. So let’s just go straight in. Perhaps this will lower the danger slightly,” said Long Chen. Although the odds of this were very low, it was probably best to walk a different path from others.

Looking at the Sovereign Blood Seal behind them to determine their orientation, they continued onward carefully.

All of them were suppressing their heartbeats, their breathing, and even the opening of their pores as much as possible. Even though the three of them had big guts, they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless here.

This was Devil Spirit Mountain. It was unknown how many peerless martyrs had died here in the battle back then. And it was also unknown just how many geniuses had died here in the past tens of thousands of years.

This black mist could block their divine sense, but it wasn’t able to block the danger sense the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art possessed. Long Chen was using those senses to advance. He had the utmost confidence in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, and it was the greatest factor that allowed him to dare to come to Devil Spirit Mountain.

Even with this sharp danger sense, Long Chen was still advancing slowly and carefully. It took four hours for them to reach the point that the black mist began to fade and their sight restored.

Long Chen waved his hand. Bao Buping and Chang Hao immediately stopped. The three of them hid behind a black rock, peering out of a crack to see the scene outside.

Now that they were within Devil Spirit Mountain, they didn’t dare to use their divine sense to avoid anyone sensing it. Using just their eyes was safer.

They saw an unending mountain range. The mountains were barren, and it was impossible to see their end. Due to the rising and falling mountains, it was impossible to see what could be inside the gulches.

Now that they were here, Bao Buping and Chang Hao couldn’t help being a bit surprised. This didn’t seem as terrifying as the land of death they had imagined. They didn’t see a single powerful lifeform.

Long Chen also didn’t sense any danger. He was curious, and having a thought, he turned toward the black mist and crushed a medicinal pill.

The medicinal pill transformed into powder that slowly floated toward the black mist. But once it did, the powder was suddenly blocked by some invisible energy.

Seeing this, Bao Buping and Chang Hao’s expressions changed. Long Chen nodded. “As expected, it’s a trap.”

“What do you mean?” asked the two of them.

“This region outside the black mist has its own formation around it. It only allows people to enter, but not leave. My guess is that as soon as we try to leave, the formation will stop us and also alert the lifeforms of this world,” said Long Chen gravely.

He looked at the ground and saw a batch of dirt that was scarlet a few hundred meters away. That further confirmed his guess.

“Then we can’t go back?” asked Bao Buping. He then shook his head and said, “No, that’s impossible. If it was impossible to go back, how did one of our disciples manage to return with word that this was a hoax? Furthermore, what about those people who managed to escape with treasures? There must be an exit somewhere.”

Long Chen shook his head. “There’s no chance of that. There’s no way they would leave an opening in this formation. That’s completely illogical. This is the territory of this world’s creatures, and this formation was clearly established by them. If you put yourself in their shoes, would you leave an opening? This is not a trial. They’re our mortal enemies.”

Hearing this, Bao Buping’s burst of confidence vanished. It truly didn’t make sense for there to be a backdoor.

“Then what do you think is going on? If there really is such a formation, how did two disciples of our Heaven Splitting Battle Sect escape, as well as those lucky adventurers?” Bao Buping and Chang Hao didn’t bother wasting time thinking about it themselves. They directly asked Long Chen.

Long Chen looked at the medicinal powders that were blocked from the black mist. “This formation isn’t something we should touch right now. I don’t know how powerful it is, but this world’s creatures aren’t idiots. The power of this formation must surpass the power a Jade Core expert can possess to make it so even they are unable to get through it. As for why those two geniuses of our Heaven Splitting Battle Sect could escape Devil Spirit Mountain, I feel like it’s very likely to do with Split the Heavens. Split the Heavens has a barrier-breaking effect. Whether it’s a formation, a magical art, or a shield, they become flimsy in front of Split the Heavens. Furthermore, the old man said that those two disciples were extremely powerful, not at all weaker than us.”

Bao Buping and Chang Hao nodded. This comforted them a bit. If this was the case, there was a high chance for them to get out. If a single disciple had been able to break out, then it should be no problem for the three of them.

“That’s not right. What about those lucky adventurers? How do you explain that?” asked Chang Hao.

Those adventurers weren’t disciples of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect, nor did they know Split the Heavens. How had they managed to escape?

“This probably has to do with how one of our deceased seniors said it was a hoax,” said Long Chen, sinking into thought.

“What about it is a hoax?”

“I’m just guessing, so I can’t be sure. But when the old man first told us about those people that returned from Devil Spirit Mountain with their cultivation bases advancing, their brilliant treasures, and their names resounding throughout the world, I immediately felt it was odd. Were those people idiots? Why would they start widely announcing that they had obtained treasures as if they were worried other people wouldn’t know of it? In reality, none of those people had good endings. The majority of them were secretly killed by other experts, and those treasures transferred owners. There are even some who simply vanished. Basically, none of them managed to escape calamity. That also doesn’t make sense.”

“That sounds right. Those people really were stupid. Weren’t they deliberately making other people greedy for their treasures and drawing killers?” Chang Hao and Bao Buping both came to a sudden understanding.

“So that didn’t make sense, and looking at this formation, as well as how that disciple said it was all a hoax, I feel like those lucky people are most likely just a con made by the lifeforms of this world. They should have used some kind of method to control those people’s souls, allowing them to bring out a few useless treasures. They had those people spread the word as much as possible to draw more people here, when in reality, they’re just drawn to a deathtrap.” Long Chen’s gaze grew sharper and colder as he looked around.

He smelled something was off. He felt like he was currently in the middle of some mysterious riddle.

Just why had the dark era occurred at all back then? No one knew. There were a few legends that had trickled down from that time, but they were confusing and contradictory, making their credibility very low.

Now that they had entered Devil Spirit Mountain, Long Chen’s sense of crisis grew. It felt like a heavy rock was crushing his heart.

“Long Chen, the two of us are too dumb for this. Can you explain it more clearly?” Bao Buping scratched his head. They didn’t quite understand.

It was no wonder the old man hadn’t allowed them to enter Devil Spirit Mountain before. Their heads truly didn’t work too well.

“What I mean is that those people that escaped only managed to do so because this world’s creatures let them. They intentionally let them out to draw more people here. As for why they would do such a thing, we don’t know yet. There’s no need for you to think about this. All you need to do is follow me. If a single person was able to break out of this formation with Split the Heavens, there should be no problem for the three of us. But since we’ve come, we definitely can’t leave empty-handed. Otherwise, the bosses would look down on us. We have to bring back some good stuff for them.” Long Chen couldn’t be bothered to explain too much to them. In any case, they wouldn’t understand, so there was no point.

As expected, their eyes began to shine as they thought of the Heaven Splitting Divine Tablet. They were almost able to see the few bosses kneeling on the ground before them as they brought it back, their eyes popping out of their heads, and their mouths opening so widely that they were bigger than the rest of their heads.

Their blood began to boil. Seeing them enter such a state, Long Chen hastily patted them on the shoulder and said, “Don’t get too excited. This will probably be much more difficult than we thought. To be safe, each one of us should eat an aura concealing pill and apply medicinal powders to conceal our presence. Let’s also change into clothes that match the color of the terrain here.”

Long Chen took out three medicinal pills. After making these preparations, they stealthily continued onward.

The mountain range was completely empty here. They didn’t see a single person. But every now and then, they would see bloodstains that had almost lost all their color after the encroachment of time. They were sometimes able to sense the leftover aura of the deceased experts.

Those stains told them that they could lose their lives at any moment. They definitely couldn’t be careless. So they didn’t go very quickly. Even after over four hours, they had only crossed a dozen mountains.

But on the way, they had seen quite a few rotted corpses and broken weapons. Long Chen even saw the remnants of an Ancestral item.

Picking up one of them, he still sensed its terrifying pressure. From its shape, it should have been the fragment of a set of armor.

Although it was only the size of a chicken’s egg, it was as heavy as a mountain and incredibly hard. Such a terrifying Ancestral item had been destroyed, leaving behind just this small piece. The battle back then must have been horrific.

“Quick, get down!” Long Chen’s expression suddenly changed and he pulled the two of them into a crack in the rocks. They had only just hidden themselves when a terrifying pressure appeared.