Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

The Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea was actually not a sea but a calm lake. However, it was so huge that everyone called it the Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea.

This desolate wilderness held little of note, lacking any significant history or recorded events. Legend had it that this area was once inhabited by the Spirit race before the primal chaos battle ensued. However, after that battle, the nine heavens collapsed, turning this place into a wilderness inhospitable to cultivators. Not even devil beasts lingered in this place. As a result, it remained excluded from the realms of the hundred domains and thousand prefectures.

However, as countless adventurers ventured around, they completed the map of this world and crowned some areas with names, including this wilderness.

The Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea lay shrouded in mist. From afar, it gave the impression of a fantasy realm, were it not for the dark gray mist suffused with a corrosive aura that enveloped it.

This aura was like poison when it entered the body, inducing hallucinations. Even cultivators would easily get lost in this place.

The Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea also had another name: the Fantasy Sea Water Cemetery. Legend had it that those who ventured into its depths never emerged alive.

Numerous adventurers who had gone through the edges of this domain had encountered many decaying corpses. Strangely, their bodies bore no wounds, and their deaths were shrouded in mystery.

Some witnesses claimed to even see the corpses of Eternal experts. According to reason, their bodies should have been immune to the corrosion of time, but here, even the corpses of Eternal experts would quickly rot away. Thus, the Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea was renowned as a mysterious and perilous domain, shunned by all, with nothing to entice anyone within it.

Devoid of medicinal ingredients or precious ores and compounded by the dangerous environment, it was rare for anyone to venture close to the Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea. As a result, this place truly became a wilderness.

Within the mist, Long Chen, Guo Ran, and Xia Chen stood atop a small island, examining their surroundings. Guo Ran curled his lips.

“Who would have thought that this impoverished place would be an important stronghold of the Lifehunter race?”

Guo Ran was clearly looking down on these shameful assassins. They weren’t any different than rats hiding in ruins.

“They’re audacious enough to speak of seeking revenge on the violet blood race, yet they cower in places like this?” mocked Guo Ran.

“Shh! When did you start chattering so much?” scolded Xia Chen. He carefully placed formation discs until they finally formed one large, square formation.

Spots of light appeared on top of the formation discs. At first, it was blurry, but they gradually formed a map.

“A formation master really is a miraculous existence!” Long Chen sighed in amazement as he saw this map come to life.

Although he had known Xia Chen for so many years, he still felt that formation masters were incomprehensible.

The formation discs linked up, showing the full terrain of the Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea. Immediately, the map of thousands of islands showed up in front of them.

Some of those islands were large, and some were small, with waterways resembling wriggling snakes between them. This place was like a maze.

“These waterways are not natural. They’ve been modified by a formation master. Hmm, this kind of modification would take tens of thousands of years… truly impressive. Moreover, since this is a covert stronghold, the modifications likely took even longer. From a formation master's perspective, this island should be their headquarters. It's likely the Starry River Island,” said Xia Chen, pointing at an island.

“There? Shouldn’t their headquarters be located somewhere central? In terms of size and location, that island doesn’t look right,” questioned Guo Ran.

“Have you forgotten their profession? They’re assassins. Would they put their headquarters somewhere conspicuous?” countered Xia Chen.

“Well, I suppose that’s true. Perhaps they’re used to something so odd.” Guo Ran nodded.

“Let me confirm it.” Xia Chen took out several smaller formation discs and added them to his design. After a bit, tiny dots of light appeared. Some were still, while some moved around.

“Will it be alright for you to conduct this kind of surveillance?” asked Long Chen.

“Don’t worry, boss. This is a new formation disc that I just created. They do not directly sense others. Instead, they sense the fluctuations of the Heavenly Daos, so it won’t trigger their alarms,” replied Xia Chen confidently.

Long Chen nodded. Xia Chen was always meticulous. If they were to directly spy on someone, even an ordinary cultivator would easily be able to sense it, let alone an assassin.

However, sensing through Heavenly Dao fluctuations was different. It was like using a mirror to examine the target, which made it harder to detect.

Other than that, Xia Chen’s formations had gone through countless modifications to make them stronger than ordinary formations. Even if the other side had set up barriers here, they wouldn’t be able to stop Xia Chen’s spying formation.

At first, there were some isolated spots of light around the Cloud Rubbing Fantasy Sea’s outer edge. According to Xia Chen’s guess, they should be sentries.

Xia Chen took out another formation disc and embedded it into his grand formation, as the original formation disc had shattered.

“It gets destroyed so quickly?!” Guo Ran jumped in shock. Xia Chen had to spend a lot of time creating a single formation disc, but one was broken in just a few breaths.

“Against assassins, I naturally have to put in more capital. Otherwise, they’d sense us easily. Only by putting in some capital can you reap real rewards,” said Xia Chen through gritted teeth. These formations were the result of his blood, sweat, and tears. While this kind of consumption was aggravating, it was necessary. Facing the strongest assassins in the world, they couldn’t be the slightest bit careless.

“Don’t worry. They must have accumulated quite a few treasures over the years. I’m sure we won’t lose out in the end,” reassured Long Chen with a smile.

Their eyes lit up when they thought of that. Plundering others was always the fastest shortcut to wealth. Thinking of how much wealth the Lifehunter race had to have accumulated, they were burning with anticipation.

“I want the material they use to make their swords. It’s definitely a treasure,” said Guo Ran, clenching his fists.

He had long since wanted to get a hold of the Lifehunter race’s weapons. Those sharp swords were even able to cut through Long Chen’s scale armor and absorb his blood—practically heaven-defying.

“As long as we can crush them, all their treasures will be ours!” Long Chen patted Guo Ran’s shoulder, telling him to calm himself.

As Xia Chen continued scanning, more and more light spots appeared. When they concentrated on one island, Xia Chen was astonished.

“I was actually duped this time!”