Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4014

This head was an embodiment of endless flames, its fiery essence coalescing into a majestic form. Within this magnificent display of flames, two eyes blazed like glorious suns, illuminating the entire sky with their brilliance.

At the same time, a sacred might shook the world, and an unbending will rose. It was the immemorial Vermilion Bird, the true Vermilion Bird.

Everyone knelt on the ground, leaving only Long Chen standing there. Right now, the immemorial Vermilion Bird looked at Long Chen, and Long Chen looked straight back at it.

He now understood why he had been forced back last time. Only those with faith in the Vermilion Bird could activate the tenth step and summon the immemorial Vermilion Bird.

Actually, it was just a heroic spirit, the spirit of the Vermilion Bird which the Vermilion Bird Empire worshiped. As long as their faith energy was not extinguished, the heroic spirit would live for eternity.

Suddenly, Long Chen saw a lithe woman figure on top of the fiery head. Her hair was tied up in a high bun, but he couldn’t see her face clearly. However, he could feel her sacred and noble aura.

Flame energy swirled around her like mist, making her appear very mysterious.

“Senior, what do you need from me?” spoke that woman suddenly.

“Senior?”

Long Chen jumped in fright. This immemorial Vermilion Bird actually called him senior? Long Chen had no idea how to respond to this.

“I hope that you can use the will of the Vermilion Bird to help him corroborate his heart.” The dragon expert’s voice rang out. So the Vermilion Bird wasn’t talking to Long Chen but to the dragon expert.

That shocked Long Chen even more. This woman could see the dragon expert? Furthermore, the dragon expert seemed to recognize this woman.

“I will follow senior’s wish then.”

The woman bowed slightly. Suddenly, this world quivered and the Vermilion Bird vanished. After that, the gate slowly opened.

“We’ve passed!”

The imperial disciples cheered. After so many trials, they had finally succeeded.

“Long Chen, we succeeded!” Yu Qingxuan held Long Chen’s hand excitedly.

However, Long Chen’s expression was odd. He felt like things couldn’t be so simple. But everyone else was excited, so he didn’t feel right extinguishing their hope. He simply followed everyone through the gate.

As soon as they passed through the gate though, everything turned black. This was not the imperial palace but a world where they couldn’t even see their own fingers when they waved their hands in front of them. As they couldn’t see anything, the fear of the unknown welled up within them.

“This is the little black room!” cried out Yu Qianxue in fright. This familiar feeling was instantly recognized by her. This meant that they hadn’t passed the trial by fire; instead, they had entered an even more frightening trial.

Fear instantly enveloped everyone, triggering something primal from the depths of their soul.

Some people said that darkness was nothing frightening; it was death that was frightening. However, some also said that darkness was the most frightening thing, and that death was eternal darkness.

Darkness was an invisible oppressive hand that slowly stripped them of everything they had. Your family, your love, and even your life. In front of it, you had no ability to resist. You could only watch as everything you had was stripped away from you.

Perhaps it wasn’t darkness that was frightening, but rather the feeling of utter powerlessness to fight against it. This overwhelming sensation was what could easily cause a person to crumble. To a cultivator who cultivated to protect themselves, this darkness rendered all that effort seemingly worthless.

“Take it slowly. I’ll wait for you up ahead.”

Just as everyone was overwhelmed by fear, Long Chen’s calm voice rang out, still brimming with confidence. Just like that, it was like a lantern had been illuminated within this darkness, expelling the fear in their hearts.

They then heard Long Chen’s footsteps continuing deeper, so they advanced steadily, without any panic. Their hearts stabilized.

“If big brother can do it, I can do it too! I will take the vanguard! Everyone, follow me!” Zhu Yifeng clenched his teeth. Summoning his courage, he stepped deeper into the darkness.

The path was still the same old path like the previous nine levels. The bricks on the ground guided them in the right direction, so there was no way they would get lost.

However, within this endless darkness and terror, within this place where countless negative emotions bloomed, every single step was difficult to take.

Only Long Chen felt no fear of this endless darkness. Instead, he felt a sense of peace akin to taking a stroll. He quickly reached the tenth step of the tenth level.

After passing through the gate, he found that the darkness here was even heavier, and he also heard various voices. It felt like he could hear people laughing and roaring angrily around him. All kinds of sounds came out to disturb him.

However, these sounds were unable to rattle Long Chen’s heart. He was like a passerby, and whether those voices rang out right beside his ear or far off in the distance, he ignored them.

Long Chen knew that the eleventh level was a trial to people’s wills. That was precisely what Zhu Yifeng and the other imperial disciples needed the most. But to Long Chen, it posed no difficulty at all.

His heart-devil was still sealed, so his heart was bright and clear without a hint of fear. Perhaps this environment was a terrifying trial for the others, but it didn’t affect Long Chen at all.

He then passed the eleventh level and went straight to the twelfth level. From this point on, strange sights also materialized to test him.

Long Chen could vaguely hear his father and mother calling to him. At the same time, he saw various scenes in the Phoenix Cry Empire.

After that, the people that he had slain came back to demand his life in revenge. Some of them even cried and begged him to forgive them.

Long Chen suddenly paused and looked at these images. The formation here could actually peer into his heart and drag out memories hidden within him.

Long Chen smiled slightly, but his eyes welled up. He saw the old man, Qu Jianying, Ling Yunzi, Hu Feng, and the five Sovereigns.

Previously, Long Chen had sealed these memories deep within him, not daring to look through them. But now that they were dragged out by the formation, Long Chen felt a well of emotions surge within him.

If his heart-devil was still present, this would be the most dangerous state for him to be in. But now Long Chen viewed these memories like a diary.

Eventually, Long Chen sighed and continued onward. When he reached the tenth step, another gate appeared.

On the other side of this gate was the thirteenth level. Long Chen had a premonition that this would be the final level.

When Long Chen reached the gate, it slowly lit up and that woman once more appeared. She was wrapped in flames and exuded a sacred aura, illuminating this dark world.

When she materialized, the figures and voices within the darkness all vanished. This world once more became bright.

“Senior has asked me to help you corroborate your heart. That is overestimating me. Your heart is already clear and bright, so there’s no need for me to be so meddlesome. However, since senior has entrusted this task to me, I will ask you a few questions. You cannot take time to consider them and must answer immediately. Can you do that?” asked the woman.

“Senior, please go ahead.”

Long Chen then took a deep breath and became serious. He knew that the dragon expert never did anything superfluous, so there had to be a deeper meaning to this.