Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4061

"Wait, the Heaven Earth Cauldron is actually used for alchemy?" Long Chen asked, a mixture of surprise and delight in his tone.

“Not quite. Only the Earth Cauldron can be used for alchemy, as it focuses on life and defense. On the other hand, the Heaven Cauldron is a killing weapon, focusing on offense and slaughter. One Heaven and one Earth, their characteristics are different. The Earth Cauldron can’t become a powerful weapon used to kill your enemies, but you can gain other benefits from it. Furthermore, if you use it to refine pills, the pills will become spiritual entities and draw down heavenly tribulation. The Earth Cauldron can then absorb the power of heavenly tribulation to strengthen itself,” said the dragon expert.

“So that’s the case!” Long Chen was overjoyed as he really had profited this time.

“Senior, can I increase my cultivation base now?” asked Long Chen.

“Now still isn’t the time. In truth, the disparities between human realms aren't all that substantial. It's all about preparing to become a Heaven Venerate. Before a Heaven Venerate, whether you're an Immortal King, a World King, a Mortal Venerate, or an Earth Venerate, the difference fades away—you'd all be crushed by the might of a Heaven Venerate.

“You are now in the golden period for cultivating the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art, and you will have around one month until this golden period is over. Thus, you should focus on it for now. Once the foundation of your body is solid, raising your realm will take no more than a thought. Raising one Heavenstage a day will be nothing difficult. Once your Blood Qi circulates at will, once you can unleash and pull back your power with ease, once the ways to use the power of your blood, qi, bones, spirit, soul, will, and mind are engraved into the depths of your soul and woven into your combat instincts, you can raise your realm. Upon reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal King realm, when you've harnessed King Qi and your will covers the heavens, you can then strive to further evolve your Seven Star Battle Armor. If you trust me, just do as I say,” said the dragon expert.

“What are you saying, senior? You saved this life of mine. Of course I trust you.”

“Hmph. I’m just worried about you getting into one of your tempers again and causing trouble. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time,” snorted the dragon expert.

Long Chen had not listened to the dragon expert multiple times now. That was why it warned Long Chen, to avoid him messing around.

It had to be known that when it came to certain things, you had to follow the prescribed order. Otherwise, it could easily cause major trouble—one mistake and Long Chen’s life would be lost. Thus, the dragon expert had no choice but to give a stern warning, or Long Chen would never listen.

Long Chen naturally acted very obedient now, as he knew that the dragon expert would not harm him. However, when they had different philosophies, Long Chen would still listen to himself.

Of course, Long Chen only thought this and didn’t say anything to avoid enraging the dragon expert. If the dragon expert were to stop speaking to him in the future, he would be doomed. After all, he still had many things that he had to learn from it.

The Earth Cauldron had absorbed the life crystal, but fortunately, the fiend eye didn’t show any reaction. Seeing this, Uncle Tree sighed with relief.

Long Chen then had Guo Ran gather the rust that had fallen off. Since this rust came from the Earth Cauldron, Long Chen still had a purpose for it.

“Boss, it doesn’t seem like this rust has any power at all.”

Guo Ran examined the rust and found that other than having the power of time on it, it didn’t seem to be able to cause any injury to anyone. It was a far cry from the rust scrapped from the chains of the Ghost Ship.

“I know. Keep the rust. When there’s time, help me create a few fakes of the Earth Cauldron. Then add this rust to it, and we’ll see if we can find a few fools who want to trade them with good stuff,” said Long Chen.

“Goddamn!” Guo Ran stared at his boss admiringly. This was his boss, a wellspring for all kinds of cons.

After all, the Heaven Earth Cauldron was an existence of legends. Who had personally seen it before? Thus, inspecting the rust would be the best way to verify its authenticity.

Suddenly, Long Chen pointed a finger, and black flames flew out, landing on the sea of skeletons. This was the Yan Xu Flame, something capable of incinerating all things.

Those corpses quickly ignited. They had eroded after all this time, so as soon as the fire touched them, they turned to ash.

“Dust to dust, earth to earth. Since you’re already dead, your husks don’t need to remain. I just wonder whether or not you will enter the cycle of reincarnation,” Long Chen sighed.

“How pitiful. The nameless fallen of the heavenly river. It’s like being trapped in a nightmare. I wonder if their beloved are all awaiting word of them.” Yu Qingxuan held Long Chen’s hand as she watched all those corpses turn to dust.

Every single one of them had been a living person. They had fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, and children. Perhaps the thoughts of those who missed them could call back their souls?

Long Chen held Yu Qingxuan’s hand tightly, feeling the same sadness as well. Thinking about it, fate had always been a merciless whip that drove all the lifeforms of the world.

Everyone was racing as fast as they could, but as soon as they slowed down, they were struck by that merciless whip and turned to dust.

Just how much had Long Chen thirsted for power when he was bullied by others? Just how badly had he envied cultivators, envied their powerful abilities that allowed them to control their own fates?

However, once he set foot onto the path of cultivation, he found that he had leapt from a pool to a raging river. The path of cultivation was one of no return.

The higher his cultivation base grew, the more he felt like his fate was not under his control. Looking at these corpses, Long Chen had a feeling that if he didn’t work hard enough, he would also become one of them.

Even if he worked as hard as he could, who could guarantee that they wouldn’t be the next one lying in this hole? Heaven and earth were like a gameboard, while everyone was a game piece. If they wanted to escape the board, they had to constantly cultivate and get stronger so that they would become the ones playing the game.

After watching the corpses burning, Long Chen and the others left this dark hole.

This place had special spatial laws, but they were no problem for Uncle Tree. He simply stood behind Long Chen, and Xia Chen was instantly capable of sending the battleship into the sky.

The altar grew smaller and smaller below them until it vanished. However, it took quite a long time for the battleship to rise above the whirlpool.

When Uncle Tree saw the whirlpool fall further and further into the distance, he smiled.

“Uncle tree, you’ll be able to return home soon.” Long Chen saw how emotional he was. He knew that after being enslaved for so many years, this release had to feel indescribable.

“It’s all thanks to you, master,” said Uncle Tree.

Just then, the entire sea began to roil, and the sound of the void breaking rang out. They then saw an enormous entity appear.

Xia Chen and the others jumped in fright when they saw it.

“A Ghost Ship!”