Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4609

This was an incredibly vast temple. However, the majority of it was in ruins. The roof had collapsed, and there were broken walls all around.

However, even those fallen bricks, broken walls, and shattered tiles were unable to cover up this temple’s sacred air.

Though now in a state of collapse, the structure retained an aura of divinity and sanctity that instinctively inspired reverence in anyone who saw it. Long Chen couldn't explain it, but a sense of melancholy washed over him as he looked at the fallen temple.

Within Long Chen’s mind, a vivid image appeared: towering palaces standing majestically amidst a bustling scene of activity. Countless figures streamed in and out of the temple, their voices raised in chanting. Long Chen could almost discern the harsh chiding of teachers and the private gossip of the disciples…

It was as if he had been transported through time, witnessing the vibrant past of the temple. Yet, as swiftly as it had appeared, the image started to fade, replaced by the stark reality of its current state: one of desolation and decay.

“Have I been here before?” murmured Long Chen as he looked at these ruins.

Long Chen experienced a sensation akin to that of a traveler returning to their hometown after many years, only to find the familiar blue sea transformed into mulberry fields. Everything seemed unchanged yet distinctly different. It was such an indescribable feeling.

He carefully crept through the forest. When he neared the temple, the temperature of the air abruptly spiked, enveloping Long Chen in an oppressive heat reminiscent of a blazing pill furnace.

Startled, Long Chen instinctively took a step back, and as he did so, the intense heat dissipated instantaneously, leaving him in a state of bewilderment.

An invisible barrier seemed to divide the space here. It was such a stark contrast: one step forward led him into a searing furnace, while one step back brought him to a peaceful world.

Long Chen once more stepped into the domain of the temple. Despite the waves of heat assaulting him, Long Chen found the sensation oddly comforting.

Pressing onward, Long Chen marveled at the temple’s vastness, which dwarfed even an entire prefecture in size. As he traversed the maze of broken rocks, he felt incredibly miniscule.

Carefully navigating his way, Long Chen spent the majority of the day before finally reaching the temple's entrance. Standing before a collapsed wall, he observed the remnants of what used to be an imposing gate, now mostly in ruins. Without hesitation, he made his way through a crack in the wall to enter the temple grounds.

Once he stepped through the wall, he instantly sensed the heat soar once more. The flame energy within the temple grounds seemed more vibrant and lively than ever before, enveloping him in its intense heat.

“Refining pills here would be very convenient,” murmured Long Chen as he sensed the thrumming flame fluctuations. The flame energy here was so lively, yet it wasn’t violent, leading Long Chen to think that refining pills would be easier in this location.

Regretfully, he didn’t have time to do so right now. Setting aside this thought, he carefully resumed his exploration until he saw a collapsed palace ahead.

The once-majestic structure now lay in ruins, its roof resting on the ground like a fallen giant calmly sinking into the swamp of time.

Long Chen surveyed the surroundings for a while and only saw the broken brick pillars of the temple around the area. Not sensing any danger, he proceeded cautiously.

“What’s going on? Even if the treasures are already taken, there should be marks left behind, no?” Long Chen immediately sensed something off.

There was nothing here, as if someone had emptied it before it collapsed.

Long Chen examined one of the pillars. With the slightest bit of force, he directly crushed it.

“Its divine energy has long since vanished along with the protection runes, but it’s still able to resist the erosion of time. Just what kind of energy protects them?”

Looking at the powder in his hand, Long Chen found this hard to believe. Although he didn’t know the origin of this temple, its aura conveyed an unimaginable history.

Long Chen didn’t dare to walk around rashly, so he just circled around the outer region, hoping to find any minuscule clues that might shed light on the temple’s past.

Regretfully, the majority of these buildings had already collapsed, and based on their appearance, their collapse seemed like a natural process rather than the result of violence.

Despite his thorough search within and around the structures, Long Chen found no valuable discoveries to speak of.

However, Long Chen found quite a few signs of people who had gone through this place. Clearly, he was not the first to arrive here, but it didn’t seem like they had found anything of value.

Long Chen was in no rush to go to the core region as he felt a mysterious call from the surroundings.

As Long Chen flipped through hundreds of collapsed buildings, his heart suddenly jolted with anticipation. Arriving at the front of a building, he started to dig out the broken tiles with his hands.

Like a mole digging a hole, Long Chen dug deep underground. After dozens of miles, he suddenly ran into a thick underground wall that prevented him from going any deeper. This wall had divine runes flowing across its surface, indicating its formidable nature.

Determined to breach it, Long Chen retrieved an Eternal divine weapon and thrust it into the wall with all his might. However, to his dismay, the weapon snapped upon impact, failing to make a dent in the impenetrable structure.

“Senior, help me out!”

Long Chen took out the Earth Cauldron. This time, the Earth Cauldron agreed to aid him and lightly struck the wall.

With a light sound, the runes on the wall dimmed, and spider web-like cracks emerged, covering the once formidable barrier. A gentle push from Long Chen reduced the wall to powder, revealing a secret chamber beyond.

The wall, as it turned out, wasn’t thick—only a foot wide. Once he was through the wall, he arrived in an underground room, very likely a secret chamber.

It wasn’t too large, only a few meters in width. Nestled in one corner was a skeleton, likely that of a woman, cradling a book in her bony hands. Despite the woman having long since turned into a skeleton, the book remained perfectly intact.

“Was she the one calling me?”

Long Chen went to the skeleton, filled with suspicions. Once he arrived here, that feeling of being summoned faded.

Long Chen slowly reached out for the book in her hand, but the Earth Cauldron stopped him and said, “This book can only stay in her hand. The moment it leaves her hand, it will instantly turn to dust.

Hearing this, Long Chen hastily stopped. Instead, he slowly turned the book to the first page.

A powerful surge of Blood Qi instantly struck Long Chen, shaking him. This aura unmistakably emanated from the essence blood of a Sage King. To his surprise, the skeleton before him had once been a Sage King herself.

Furthermore, when Long Chen saw the characters on the page, his heart tightened. They were blood-colored immortal characters.

“I never thought that my most respected, most revered Lord Brahma would one day betray the Pill Sovereign. My world has collapsed…”

“This is about Lord Brahma? Does this place have the Pill Sovereign’s legacy?” wondered Long Chen in shock.

The moment he read those characters, they started to fade, as if some energy was erasing them.

Long Chen hastily flipped to the second page, expecting to find more characters, but instead, he was greeted by a blood-colored portrait.

It was a portrait of a flower. When Long Chen saw that flower, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Jewel Blood Jade Orchid!”