Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4465

“Palace master, you’re here too?”

Long Chen was surprised to see the palace master present as well.

“Cough, I was just passing by, so I wanted to greet the sweeping elder,” said the palace master. He naturally couldn’t say that he had come to complain like a child.

“Greetings, sweeping elder.” Long Chen hastily bowed to this old man.

The palace master smiled and said, “I saw your battle with Netherdragon Tianzhao. It was truly marvelous.”

“You overpraise me,” replied Long Chen humbly.

With Long Chen’s arrival, the sweeping elder put his broom on the stairs and sat down beside it.

“It’s a good thing that you came. I have something to tell you.”

“This little one is listening.” Long Chen hastily sat down on the ground, and the palace master followed. Even someone like the palace master had to act like a disciple in front of the sweeping elder.

“This matter relates to the Nether Emperor. You must be careful,” warned the sweeping elder.

“Isn’t the Nether Emperor still in the process of nirvanic rebirth? Long Chen still hasn’t reached the point of drawing his attention, right?” asked the palace master. He knew more about the Nether Emperor than Long Chen.

“With Long Chen’s cultivation base and power, it still isn’t enough to draw the Nether Emperor’s attention. However, Long Chen has become entangled with the Nether Emperor’s karma. Firstly, one of his women is the Nether Emperor’s daughter, and Long Chen forcibly removed the Nether Emperor’s seal on her. Secondly, Netherdragon Tianzhao, a son of the Nether Emperor, was almost slain by Long Chen. He had no choice but to sacrifice himself,” explained the sweeping elder slowly.

“But it doesn’t seem like these two bits of karma are enough to draw the Nether Emperor’s attention in the midst of nirvanic rebirth,” said the palace master.

“His karma is not limited to just these two. Long Chen, in the Netherworld, did you form a relationship with a certain person?” asked the sweeping elder.

Long Chen was startled. His first thoughts went to Leng Yueyan and Ming Cangyue. However, another figure entered his mind.

“You mean Big Brother Wu Tian?” Long Chen’s heart trembled at the possibility.

“Has he told you about his past?” asked the sweeping elder.

“All I know is that he is a Three-Headed Heaven Devouring Beast, the emperor race of the Nether… Wait, the Nether race’s emperor, the Nether Emperor…” Long Chen’s expression suddenly changed. If his Big Brother Wu Tian was the Nether Emperor’s descendant, wouldn’t the two of them be destined to fight?

Thinking of how Wu Tian sincerely viewed and treated him as a brother, Long Chen panicked.

Seeing the change in his expression, the sweeping elder shook his head. “You don’t need to worry. While the Three-Headed Heaven Devouring Beast is indeed an emperor race of the Netherworld, it’s not the sole one. The Netherworld has multiple emperor races. The Nether Emperor, currently undergoing nirvanic rebirth, is the mortal enemy of the Three-Headed Heaven Devouring Beast. Moreover, the Three-Headed Heaven Devouring Beast’s loss of its emperor status is a result of the Nether Emperor colluding with the Underworld race and orchestrating their fall. To put it plainly, their position was usurped through deceit. If you and Wu Tian share a close connection, it naturally triggers karmic ties, making it more likely to attract the Nether Emperor’s attention.”

Hearing that Wu Tian was the sworn foe of the Nether Emperor, Long Chen sighed with relief. Wu Tian was truly like a big brother to Long Chen. Despite their relatively short acquaintance, their bond was exceptionally strong, so if Long Chen had to cross blades with Wu Tian, his heart would break.

“Luckily, the Nether Emperor is still in the midst of nirvanic rebirth,” remarked the palace master. “It would require an exorbitant price for him to issue an edict. Do you think he’d find it worthwhile?”

“You should recall who the Nether Emperor faced back then that he had to enter nirvana,” replied the sweeping elder.

The palace master’s jaw dropped, and he stared in shock at Long Chen, suddenly thinking of something.

The sweeping elder continued, “Long Chen, you don’t need to worry about the Nether Emperor personally attacking you. But you do need to worry about Netherdragon Tianzhao.”

“Him?”

“Yes. He will very likely be possessed by the will of the Nether Emperor and return as a true son of the Nether Emperor. You must be mentally prepared. You cannot look down on him when the time comes,” warned the sweeping elder.

Long Chen smiled. “As long as the Nether Emperor doesn’t personally descend, I’m not afraid of his underlings. Next time I run into that idiot, I’ll wring off his neck and show him the price of betraying the dragon race.”

Long Chen felt newfound confidence after he knew that Wu Tian was not on the same side as the Nether Emperor. As for the potential challenges ahead, he harbored no fear of them.

Who cared about the Nether Emperor’s power? Long Chen had the golden lotus seed that Aunt Gong had given him, and it was capable of resisting that power. When the time came, they would fight fairly. In that scenario, Long Chen didn’t fear anyone.

“Hahaha, good, I like that attitude!” Seeing that Long Chen was still so confident as to say that he would kill Netherdragon Tianzhao and clean up the trash of the dragon race, the palace master was particularly pleased. He patted Long Chen’s shoulder hard as a sign of encouragement.

The sweeping elder continued, “Other than that, I must tell you something. Netherdragon Tianzhao is not the first awakened Heavenly Doyen.”

“I understand.” Long Chen nodded.

The sweeping elder was slightly surprised. “You knew?”

Long Chen smiled. “It’s a guess. But I feel like it’s very likely.”

“That is a bit unexpected,” said the sweeping elder with a faint smile.

“It’s simple. My wives still haven’t come out of seclusion, and one of them in particular likes to cause trouble. If even she hasn’t appeared after all of this, there’s no way Netherdragon Tianzhao is the first awakened Doyen. The nether dragon race only announced such a thing because they lacked confidence in their own power, wanting to rope in more budding Doyens to strengthen the nether dragon race. However, the truly prideful races would disdain roping in outsiders. By making such a huge fuss, the nether dragon race was attempting to cover up their weakness—that they were lacking budding Doyens. If the nether dragon race had a lot of budding Doyens, they definitely wouldn’t have announced that Netherdragon Tianzhao was the first awakened Doyen. Instead, they would have used his power to create more awakened Doyens inside their race.”

The sweeping elder nodded and praised Long Chen. “Not bad. It’s quite rare to see such a sharp vision from a youngster.”

Long Chen said, “In truth, Netherdragon Tianzhao isn’t anything special. Right now, the truly powerful existences have yet to reveal themselves. It’s the half-empty bottles that make the most noise. In my battle with Netherdragon Tianzhao, none of my other friends showed up. Clearly, they are in important junctures in their own cultivation. If only one or two didn’t show up, that would be one thing. But the absence of all of them indicates that numerous genuine heavenly geniuses are currently in seclusion.”

“The human race’s calculations really are frightening. I didn’t give much thought to the issue,” remarked the palace master, shrugging. “That’s right, Long Chen, what did you come to see the sweeping elder for?”

While the palace master’s cultivation base was impressive, his intellectual prowess wasn’t quite there. What if Long Chen had some secrets to tell the sweeping elder? Wouldn’t his question make things awkward then?

Nevertheless, Long Chen replied, “Since the dean isn’t present, I decided that I should tell the sweeping elder that I want to seize the Esoteric Spirit World.”