Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

“Hold! We won’t let others look down on us!” Li Cai roared, standing at the very front and brandishing his broadsword. He was covered in blood and wounds, but still fighting to the death.

He had to hold this position. Without him here, the formation would instantly collapse.

Mu Qingyun, Luo Bing, and Luo Ning were all doing their best to keep the formation intact. As long as the formation remained intact, they only had to face enemies from one side. If it was broken, everyone would be killed. Then they would be surrounded and killed as well.

Long Chen’s mocking words stabbed their hearts. Although they knew he was very likely just provoking them on purpose, they were truly hurtful.

They were all geniuses who had grown up being praised by their elders. But Long Chen made them sound worthless. They couldn’t accept such a thing. They would prove that they weren’t trash.

A mountain of devil creature corpses had piled up already, but in the end, a person’s power was limited. They were running out of energy. Some people couldn’t even feel their arms. Every time they swung their weapons, it felt like they were moving a mountain.

Despite that, none of them gave up. They continued to hold on. This formation was their only hope of survival. No one could slip up at this time. It was not just for themselves, but for all their comrades fighting alongside them.

However, these people had long since passed their limits and were fighting entirely with just their willpower. Unable to see any hope, under this immense pressure, someone finally fainted.

With the loss of one person, most people were unable to endure. Mu Qingyun and the others instantly despaired. The formation was about to be broken.

Just as the formation was about to break, just as the devil creatures were about to charge through their ranks, they felt an intense heat. A wall of flames soared into the sky.

“Heavenly Flame Prison!”

A ring of flames appeared around them. The devil creatures caught within it were instantly incinerated.

The ring of flames then rapidly expanded, spreading throughout this entire region. Tens of thousands of devil creatures were instantly slaughtered. The battlefield grew empty.

The flames vanished, revealing a blackened land without a single devil creature in sight. The disciples stared up at the platform in disbelief. Long Chen slowly put his hands down. He smiled at them.

“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t save us? Who asked you to be some hypocritical savior?!” raged Luo Ning.

“I said that I wouldn’t help you before your energy ran out. Now, everyone’s physical energy is exhausted. Most of you actually overdrafted yourselves. I followed through on my promise.”

Just at that moment, when the sense of crisis faded, many disciples instantly fainted. They thumped to the ground.

“If you can, stay conscious. That will benefit you more,” called out Long Chen to the other disciples who were starting to lie down.

Those disciples struggled to sit back. But some still fainted, unable to hold on. Only a third of them were able to keep themselves awake.

The majority of those disciples came from the Unfettered Alliance. It could be seen just how much stronger the disciples that Long Chen had raised were compared to the Luo Gate’s disciples.

“Brother San, did you say those things to provoke us?” asked Mu Qingyun, her eyes slightly red with grief.

Long Chen smiled and rubbed her head. “What do you think?”

Being treated so intimately, Mu Qingyun’s grief vanished. She smiled. “I knew that brother San was just trying to make us unleash our full potential.”

“Hehe, you're wrong. Actually, your previous display made me quite angry. If people started cowering with fear before they ran out of power, I wouldn’t have saved them,” said Long Chen.

“I knew you weren’t a good person,” snorted Luo Ning, clearly remembering this grudge.

“Ning-er, he had his reasons,” said Luo Bing.

“You’re going to protect him after he went that far?” demanded Luo Ning.

Luo Bing shook her head. “No one can help you on your cultivation path. Just pointing out a path for you is already a huge kindness. Just like a caterpillar in a cocoon, if you cut open the cocoon for it before it struggles free itself, then it will never be able to spread its wings and fly. It must become a butterfly and break free of its own power in order to soar through the sky. People who stand at the peak can tell you where some pitfalls are, but they cannot carry you up the mountain. If they pull you up and you never explain those dangers, by the time you reach the peak, due to your lack of experience, you will fall down the cliff and die. That is why people must accumulate their own experiences. In the future, without Long Chen, we will still know how to make ourselves strong. Don’t you think Long Chen also feels bad about saying such things?”

Luo Bing nodded towards Long Chen gratefully. She had kept a much clearer head than others when it came to Long Cehn’s words.

“Tch, just like that evil smile on his face! How does he feel bad? He clearly isn’t a good person. In any case… In any case, he insulted me, and I won’t forget this.” Luo Ning snorted and turned around.

All of them could see that she wasn’t actually angry, but she refused to apologize or thank him.

However, Mu Qingyun was surprised by one part of Luo Bing’s words. “Brother San, are you planning on leaving us?”

“Not for now. In the future, who knows? Don’t think so far. Today’s battle has caused many people to overdraft their power. This is a good thing for them. It is their first step from going from cultivators to warriors. With one step in the right direction, the next steps will also be easier. Well, let’s not talk about those things. Take a look at your guild rankings. What rank have you reached?” asked Long Chen.

Hearing that, Mu Qingyun quickly took out her guild plate and exclaimed, “The Unfettered Alliance has already accumulated 56,300 points! We’re rank 607.”

“Heavens, am I misreading this?!” When Luo Bing checked her guild plate, she cried out in shock.