Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4010

When they reached the next step, more invisible arrows appeared. But although they were sharp, they still weren’t fatal as they didn’t strike people in their vital parts.

However, with the arrows being more concentrated, everyone was under more pressure. The arrows also came silently, making it difficult to sense them.

After all, spiritual perception was not something easy to develop. It could only be accumulated by bloody effort, from brushing against death countless times.

Although this trial was specially made for the Vermilion Bird Empire’s imperial disciples, making it extremely effective, it was still very difficult to dodge all the arrows. In other words, they needed time to get used to it.

“Long Chen, you can train your will here,” said the dragon expert.

“How do I train it?” asked Long Chen.

“The Dragon Soul Body Forging Art is my self-created technique, so there are many principles within it that are different from your human race. The method is also different. I said that you needed to cultivate seven kinds of power: the blood, qi, bones, spirit, soul, will, and mind. You didn’t understand what these energies were, and there’s no way for me to properly explain them. For example, the blood, qi, and bones are part of the body, but in the dragon race, there are two additional attributes: the dragon tendons and dragon horns. Your human race has no such thing. Your own tendons are a different concept from dragon tendons, let alone the dragon horns,” said the dragon expert.

“Then what about my meridians and teeth? Can they be replacements?” asked Long Chen.

“It is impossible. Also, take note that the true dragon race’s teeth are used for eating, not attacking. It is one difference between us and other dragon races. As for your human race’s meridians, their strength cannot compare to the dragon race’s meridians. Even if a true dragon fights to the death, their dragon bones might shatter, but their dragon tendons will be intact. Don’t have crazy thoughts, alright? I adapted the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art to you through countless calculations, and only then did I make the determination to give it to you. So, don’t think yourself smart and start adding random things. Otherwise, you’ll end up killing yourself with nowhere to cry,” warned the dragon expert sternly.

Long Chen obediently nodded. This wasn’t something that he dared to play around with.

“This so-called will is a power that transcends the physical body according to our dragon race’s explanations. However, we are also unable to say what exactly it is. It is something between your human race’s divine sense and mental energy. It is incorporeal but can also be tangible. When your divine sense spreads, it is incorporeal but is capable of sensing the flame fluctuations. As a result, you can sense the direction of the attack the moment the arrow condenses, and thus dodge or block it. But it is also tangible by layering it on top of your senses. Without using any other power, you can use it to block the arrows, change their orientation, or force them to follow your will,” said the dragon expert.

“Use just my will to block attacks? That… that’s impossible, no?” Long Chen was shocked. He had never come into contact with that kind of power before. It had exceeded the scope of his understanding.

“How is it impossible? Sword cultivators attacking with their swords, alchemists controlling the fire, talisman cultivators using runic arts, spirit cultivators controlling spirits—they all use this kind of power.”

“But they all add something additional like their spiritual seals on top of it. Also, ignoring whether or not I can place a spiritual seal on these flame arrows, they form so quickly that I have no time to even put one on them,” said Long Chen, feeling that this was impossible.

“Don’t waste time. You thought that you couldn’t split your mind, but you still did it, right? Some things can’t be explained with just words, so just listen to me. Act. If I say that you can do it, then you can do it. If I have such confidence, why don’t you?”

“I…”

Long Chen was speechless. He didn’t even understand what it was saying, but it wanted him to try. Wasn’t this playing with his life?

However, he had no other choice, so he summoned his courage and tried it. Long Chen’s divine sense was like air yet also like water. Through it, he sensed the surrounding fluctuations. It was very simple for him to sense any attacks, their direction, and their strength.

Even so, this water and air could only be passively controlled, and there was no way to condense them into a barrier. Furthermore, Long Chen had never even come into contact with such a force before. He was groping around like a blind man.

Most importantly, the dragon expert’s explanation was also very vague, not giving Long Chen any direction at all. He didn’t even know if he even had such a power.

However, even if he didn’t understand, he had to try. There was no way back for him now.

But then, he felt so lost that he had no idea what he was doing. It was a difficult feeling.

At this moment, Yu Qingxuan and the others were diligently training on the first step, making rapid progress. Zhu Yifeng, Zhu Yunwen, Yu Qianxue, and the others had honed their abilities to sense a remarkable eighty percent of the attacks, gracefully dodging between twenty to thirty percent of them.

Considering that they hadn’t even been able to sense anything before, they were actually improving at an astonishing rate.

Thus, Long Chen bid them farewell and continued onward. Arriving at the fifth step, he was about to stop there when the dragon expert urged him on.

“Keep going.”

So, Long Chen helplessly continued on. The further he went, the more arrows appeared. With every step, two or three arrows would shoot at him.

Long Chen could sense them and also dodge and block them. But he also knew that this meant nothing. After all, his cultivation method was different from Yu Qingxuan and the others.

When he reached the tenth step, he was attacked by a dozen arrows every time he walked forward. To make things worse, they all shot at him from different angles.

“Keep going. Go to the ninth level,” said the dragon expert before Long Chen could even take a breather.

Thus, Long Chen passed through the gate, arriving at the eighth level. To his surprise, the number of arrows dropped here, and he only encountered one every several steps.

However, their power had intensified to the extent that even Long Chen’s physical body was pierced by them. So, as he continued onward, wounds gradually appeared on his body. Those arrows were originally only able to pierce his skin, but by the seventh step of the eighth level, they were able to penetrate half an inch into his flesh.

As expected, when he reached the tenth step, the arrows were even more terrifying. Now, these invisible arrows possessed the power to shoot straight through his body.

Long Chen was about to train here, but the dragon expert directly urged him to enter the next level, causing Long Chen to feel an icy chill run through his body. He was then about to summon the Dragon Blood Battle Armor, but the dragon expert sternly stopped him.

As Long Chen advanced to the ninth level, a fierce Sword Qi suddenly lunged toward his head, instilling a chilling sensation of imminent death that sent his nerves into a state of high alert.

Reacting swiftly, Long Chen instinctively thrust his palm toward the incoming Sword Qi, meeting the attack head-on. A spray of blood then followed as the Sword Qi pierced through his palm, prompting a visible change in his expression