Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-3971

Long Chen waited a long time, but everything was still deathly still. Thankfully, Long Chen was in no rush, so he patiently waited.

Long Chen sat on the ground lotus style as if entering meditation. This endless darkness made him feel particularly peaceful for some reason.

Time passed bit by bit. One day, two days, three days. Long Chen was still sitting there motionlessly, as if he really had entered a meditative state.

Within the palace, Yu Xiaoyun, Jiang Huixin, and Xu Lanxin were staring at a mirror, bewildered. Was the little black room broken?

This little black room was a place that ignored a person’s cultivation base and realm. No matter how strong someone was, as long as they had the slightest weakness, it would be magnified endlessly. Negative emotions would attack them, and they could only bitterly endure that torment until the time was up.

This was a place where every day felt as long as a hundred years, every breath was torture, while loneliness, fear, solitude, worry, despair, and other negative emotions were like devils within their bodies, running rampant. No one was able to fight back.

Even the three of them would be in a difficult situation if they entered the little black room. Every time they came out, they would be weary to the bone and would need to recuperate for a few days.

However, this was not a punishment as they entered voluntarily, using it to temper their wills.

For them, one day might be nothing. But by the second day, things would get hard, and the third day was pushing them to their limit.

Once they were at that point, they could only endure another two days. Five days was their longest record. Furthermore, the longest stay in the little black room without dying throughout all of history was only six days.

However, Long Chen was currently sitting relaxingly inside. It had already been three days, but he seemed completely fine, causing the three of them to be dumbfounded.

“There are only ten days, and three days have passed. Are you really refusing to see me?” said Long Chen.

Even so, no one replied to him. As his voice was submerged in the darkness, he didn’t even hear it himself.

However, Long Chen still remained patient. He continued to just sit there, patiently waiting.

The fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day passed. Yu Xiaoyun and the other two grew increasingly shocked. Just what was going on? Such a thing had never occurred before.

It was on the seventh day that a black figure finally appeared in front of Long Chen. At that moment, Yu Xiaoyun and the others instantly shot up.

Suddenly, a hand shot out of this clump of black qi, causing the mirror to instantly turn dark. They couldn’t see anything.

“That is Long Chen’s heart-devil.”

“It noticed us.”

The three of them were shocked. They finally understood what Long Chen was waiting for. He wanted to face his heart-devil.

“What do we do? Should we open the room?” wondered Xu Lanxin.

Jiang Huixin thought about it and said, “No, Long Chen is borrowing the power of the room to draw out his heart-devil. He must have his own plan. A smart child like him won’t play around with his own life.”

Yu Xiaoyun then made some hand seals. The mirror was flickering, but they only saw darkness.

“It’s useless. Long Chen’s heart-devil seems to have been waiting for this. It doesn’t want us to see it. Furthermore, it is borrowing the power of the little black room to block our vision,” advised Jiang Huixin.

Only when Yu Xiaoyun heard that did he give up. However, he still felt uneasy when he looked at that pitch-black mirror.

…

Within the darkness, an icy voice rang out. “Human nature is goodness? What nonsense. Humans are naturally evil. Before you even know anything, when you see a beautiful flower, your first instinct is to grab it, plucking it with your hand. When you see a clean wall, your first thought is to draw on top of it and make it dirty. Your true character is darkness. That is why you feel like a fish in water in this dark world full of negative emotions. However, you keep choosing to walk toward the light. You are not just limiting yourself; you are suppressing yourself. Otherwise, if you were just following your innate nature, would living be so tiring?”

That voice belonged to the other Long Chen, Long Chen’s heart-devil. Long Chen knew that it would become active here. As expected, he had appeared.

Long Chen clapped. “You really have grown. You actually came out to see me instead of directly suppressing me like before and trying to violently take control. When besieging a city, it’s a siege on the people’s hearts. For you to use this method is quite unexpected for me.”

At this moment, space quivered and a person who looked identical to Long Chen appeared in front of him. As soon as he appeared, surprisingly, a trace of light appeared in this dark world. Long Chen and his heart-devil looked at each other.

The only difference in appearance between Long Chen and his heart-devil was their eyes. Long Chen’s eyes were black and white, while the heart-devil’s eyes were pitch-black, akin to black holes that would devour the entire universe.

“Siege the heart? I understand you, but you don’t understand me. You drew me out to have a fight with me, wanting to use a victory to dissolve your fear of me. You thought you have learned a few powerful techniques from that dragon expert, and now is your best chance to beat me, right? But I suppose you never realized that this room is the core of a dark world’s star-field. I possess endless power here. If we were to fight, you stood no chance. Furthermore, with your pride, you won’t use the Vermilion Bird Empire’s emperor to help suppress me. You have your own pride, but I also have my own. I disdain using this core’s power to deal with you. When it comes to power, you aren’t a match for me. And when it comes to growth rate, you are a far cry from me. I am in no rush. The more you suppress me, the faster I grow. If you were to release my true self, I would control this body. I can already see the future. In the future, the entire world will be mine.”

“Are you sure that you’re the true me?”

“Of course. I am your innate self, your instinctual self. I am the true you. As for you, you are the result of constantly suppressing your desires, your instincts, and your character. Others might be able to do that, but you cannot. Others can wantonly slaughter, but you can’t. You suppress me to give yourself a halo of light and kindness for others to see. But it’s all fake. On the other hand, I am real. All things have their own character. Since I can exist in this world, I am qualified to rule the world. White and black, right and wrong, what do they have to do with me? What I want is to become the king of this world. Follow me and prosper, defy me and die. I will be the right and wrong of this world!”

“You mean that people should do whatever they want at any moment? That any despicable or shameless thing can be done because you are the one who decides right or wrong? Since that’s the case, you are the true me?” asked Long Chen.

“Correct.”

“Is it because you are capable of using any kind of treacherous move, without caring the slightest bit about your face?”

“Of course.”

“Then there’s nothing for me to feel embarrassed about!”

Long Chen suddenly formed hand seals. The next moment, the void split open, and a bronze cauldron swallowed the other Long Chen.