Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4476

This seemingly ordinary rock was not a stone but a lifeform with stone-like marks all around it. Its outer layer blended seamlessly with the surrounding stones, causing Long Chen and Xia Chen to overlook it until that moment.

Long Chen’s excitement surged as the “rock” revealed itself to be a three-meter Stone Spirit. It seemed to have been sleeping here.

“Hey, hey!”

Long Chen waved at that lifeform, but it remained oblivious to his gestures, neither responding to his voice nor diverting its gaze in his direction. It simply stretched before once again assuming a kneeling position, becoming completely motionless.

Once it stopped moving, Long Chen and Xia Chen almost lost track of where it was. It seamlessly blended with the stone mountain, leaving the two observers utterly astonished. Initially thinking they hadn’t paid enough attention before, they now witnessed the lifeform seemingly vanish right before their eyes. Its camouflage proved to be truly remarkable.

“It seems that this mysterious world hides many dangers!” remarked Long Chen.

Xia Chen nodded in agreement. For this Stone Spirit to possess such adept camouflage abilities, some terrifying existence had to be threatening it, forcing it to evolve in this manner.

However, through the barrier, Long Chen and Xia Chen were unable to sense this Stone Spirit’s aura, so they weren’t sure how strong it was.

As more time elapsed, the Stone Spirit moved once more. It shifted a bit and then came to a stop, repeating the process multiple times as if testing something.

It was very careful. After moving and stopping several times, it finally lowered its guard and crawled to the very peak of the mountain, looking around.

As it shed its camouflage, Long Chen realized that it was a bit similar to a butterfly, but it had a long tail and was covered in stone-like scales. Its scales were constantly blending with the stones around it, rendering it exceedingly challenging for others to detect.

Once it crawled to the peak of the mountain, it surveyed its surroundings. Long Chen, once again, started waving his hand. Struck by inspiration, he waved a multicolored banner in an attempt to capture its attention.

“It sees us!” cried out Xia Chen excitedly.

Long Chen was also excited and continued waving the banner. His gaze locked onto the Stone Spirit’s eyes, which were a deep, ruby-like shade. Normally closed, its eyes became visible when it fixed its gaze on Long Chen.

“It’s a Stone Spirit! Haha, now there’s hope!” Seeing those eyes, Long Chen was delighted. It belonged to a species of the Spirit race, and it appeared to be a kind one.

After staring at Long Chen for a while, the Stone Spirit went still and closed its eyes again, ignoring the two of them.

Long Chen and Xia Chen were instantly disappointed. If it was merely ignoring them, there seemed to be little they could do. In response, Long Chen closed his eyes, silently extending his senses to encompass everything in the world beyond.

As expected, he managed to grasp some spiritual fluctuations. However, due to the barrier, that feeling was very vague.

At this moment, the Stone Spirit finally moved. It came up to the barrier and looked at Long Chen and Xia Chen.

Long Chen and Xia Chen were delighted. Before Long Chen could think of how to communicate with it, Xia Chen started gesturing, pointing at those chunks of immortal and divine metals, and then pointing at himself. He then clasped his hands and bowed repeatedly as if begging.

The Stone Spirit looked at them curiously. It didn’t seem to understand Xia Chen at all.

Observing the situation, Long Chen tried to use his Spiritual Strength to form a connection with this Stone Spirit. However, the barrier’s power was just too immense. He could barely sense the Stone Spirit with his soul and couldn’t transmit any information.

Despite Long Chen’s repeated attempts, they all ended in failure. Xia Chen also gestured, but the Stone Spirit showed no response. It didn’t seem to have ever communicated with humans, so it didn’t understand what Xia Chen was saying. However, it finally ran over to the piece of immortal metal that Xia Chen had pointed to and dug it out.

Xia Chen shouted excitedly. The Stone Spirit finally understood.

Waving and beckoning, Xia Chen tried to lure the Stone Spirit over. After staring at him for a while, it seemingly understood his intention. It came up to the barrier and slowly rolled the foot-sized sphere of immortal metal toward the barrier.

The barrier quivered, and the sphere of immortal metal slowly passed through the water-like barrier, reaching Long Chen and Xia Chen.

Long Chen and Xia Chen shouted excitedly. They had the urge to hug that Stone Spirit and kiss it.

Long Chen waved to express his thanks, and the Stone Spirit seemed to understand and grinned happily.

Long Chen harbored profound goodwill toward the Spirit race, and he also had the Spirit race’s blessing on him. Seeing a member of the Spirit race, he felt like it would definitely help them, much like how he would unfailingly aid the Spirit race whenever they sought his help.

The piece of immortal metal slowly floated over to Long Chen and Xia Chen, passing through the barrier easily. Xia Chen shouted and reached out to receive it, but he was pushed aside by Long Chen.

After that, Long Chen’s arms bulged as he caught the immortal metal. It was shockingly heavy. If Xia Chen were to receive it, his arms would instantly shatter.

Seeing this scene, Xia Chen felt a burst of fear. In his excitement, he had forgotten just how heavy Saint-level immortal metals were. It might seem to be floating, but it was as heavy as a star.

After carefully examining the marks on the immortal metal, both of them were overjoyed.

Feeling intense excitement, Xia Chen shouted, “The purity is so high that it’s hard to believe! This basically isn’t an ore but a perfectly refined immortal metal!”

After personally touching it and sensing the immortal metal’s terrifying aura, Xia Chen finally understood just how shocking this treasure was.

Observing the two of them dancing jubilantly, the Stone Spirit displayed remarkable intelligence. It immediately grabbed another piece of immortal metal and tossed it through the barrier.

“Be gentle!”

Xia Chen jumped in shock, but the Stone Spirit unreservedly tossed another piece of immortal metal their way. Successive pieces of immortal metal then followed suit. Xia Chen, instead of expressing delight this time, was gripped by horror.

The Stone Spirit was excitedly tossing more pieces into the barrier. Suddenly, it picked up a piece that was as big as itself, squatting down to forcibly rip out a chunk that was several meters thick. When this large piece struck the barrier, the barrier quivered, giving rise to a giant whirlpool.

BOOM!

The barrier suddenly turned dark, transforming into a black hole. In an instant, Long Chen and Xia Chen’s figures vanished.

The Stone Spirit stood by the barrier quietly for a while, gazing at the pitch-black barrier. It scratched its head, not knowing what had just happened.