Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

As Long Chen spoke, the space around him trembled, and flame runes flickered into existence. Both Yu Qingxuan and Lu Chengkong jumped in alarm, while Long Chen quickly covered his mouth.

Long Chen hadn’t anticipated that merely speaking could cause such a disturbance in the space around him, summoning flame energy that could overwhelm powerful formations meant to suppress all elemental essences.

If not for the formations’ suppression, Long Chen’s casual words might have set the entire pavilion ablaze. Even he didn’t fully understand what was happening.

“Long Chen, you’re in a wild state right now. You have to calm down first,” urged Yu Qingxuan quickly, her voice edged with concern. She knew he shouldn’t speak again until he regained control.

Long Chen nodded, but the moment his thoughts drifted to the Pill Sovereign’s death at the hands of Lord Brahma, his killing intent flared, and his mind refused to calm down.

Long Chen had only known a little about Lord Brahma and Fallen Daynight’s betrayal, but he hadn’t imagined that Lord Brahma had actually assassinated the Pill Sovereign. Though he didn’t fully understand his connection to the Pill Sovereign, seeing her murdered ignited an uncontrollable rage within him.

Several minutes passed, yet Long Chen remained unable to calm down. The more he tried, the more vivid and haunting the memory of the assassination became, replaying in his mind as if it had just happened.

Feeling helpless, Long Chen could only grab Yu Qingxuan’s hand and write on it, asking her what she had experienced just now.

Yu Qingxuan explained that she had entered the world inside the eighth volume and merged with its essence. She had already grasped an initial understanding of its power, though her comprehension was still at a basic level. The deeper meanings would require time to unravel, but she had memorized everything, so full mastery was only a matter of time.

When Yu Qingxuan asked whether Long Chen had learned it, he was momentarily stunned. After that, he hastily checked his memories and saw the azure lotus vividly imprinted in his mind.

Long Chen saw the countless runes forming the lotus, each rune its own specific syllable, but he couldn’t find the method to chant them. In other words, while the eighth volume of the Nirvana Scripture was etched into his memory, the method to unlock its power was something he would have to decipher on his own.

With tens of millions of runes, finding the correct way to transform them into a coherent scripture felt like an impossible task. The mere thought of it gave Long Chen a headache.

To everyone’s surprise, Lu Chengkong was affected by the two of them and managed to comprehend a portion of the eighth volume. He was overjoyed by this. For him, the doors to the eighth volume had just been opened.

Thanks to this discussion, Long Chen finally managed to calm down a bit. When he spoke again, the flame energy still surged around him, but it was no longer as intense as before.

“Dean Chengkong, I need to take a trip to the Pill Institute. I want to see if there’s a suitable pill furnace I can borrow,” Yu Qingxuan said.

Yu Qingxuan was deeply immersed in alchemy, her skills rivaling Long Chen’s. Most importantly, her calm and patient demeanor allowed her to excel in areas where Long Chen struggled. In fact, there were special pills that she could refine much better than Long Chen.

Thanks to her efforts, the entire Dragonblood Legion’s supply of medicinal pills was perfectly handled. Even during Long Chen’s absence, the Dragonblood Legion was never short on pills.

In fact, Yu Qingxuan had produced such an abundance of top-grade and peerless pills that she generously donated the surplus to the academy. Her contributions were so significant that even Bai Letian and other high-ranking figures treated her with great respect because they needed her medicinal pills.

Unfortunately, her pill furnace couldn’t keep up with her growth. If the Earth Cauldron had not already recognized Long Chen as its master, Long Chen would have considered giving it to her to use. Although he had also obtained the Demon Moon Cauldron, its demonic nature made it unsuitable for Yu Qingxuan, who lacked the necessary nefarious qi to refine demonic pills.

As for Long Chen, he was no good person and often carried out massacres. For him, refining demonic pills was easy. Thus, despite possessing two powerful cauldrons, neither was appropriate for Yu Qingxuan, leaving Long Chen feeling guilty.

“No problem. The Pill Institute has four pill furnaces on the level of an Emperor divine item. Only one is in use, while the others remain dormant. Even the active furnace has yet to accept a master. If you can subdue them, you’re welcome to take all four,” said Lu Chengkong candidly.

When Yu Qingxuan had comprehended the eighth volume of the Nirvana Scripture, Lu Chengkong had noticed a divine pill light manifestation appear around her head, a phenomenon so rare that it stunned him. According to his knowledge, only a Pill Emperor alchemist could produce such a manifestation, and even then, it was incredibly uncommon. Thus, he didn’t hesitate to grant her access to the Pill Institute.

However, Long Chen said that there was no rush. He examined the scrolls, noting that the eighth volume was charred black, its contents unreadable.

The ninth volume’s scroll, however, was perfectly intact. Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan stared at it for a long time, but it remained blank. No matter what methods Long Chen tried, he couldn’t bring forth any reaction from it.

“Perhaps you need to fully master the eighth volume before you can even attempt to comprehend the ninth,” Yu Qingxuan speculated.

Long Chen nodded. With Yu Qingxuan having an initial grasp of the eighth volume and himself not even at that level, trying to understand the ninth volume seemed futile.

Resigned, Long Chen set the scroll aside. He followed Lu Chengkong out, passing by Yue Zifeng, Gu Yang, and the others, who were deeply engrossed in ancient texts, their minds absorbed in meditation. Each of them had found a treasure suited to their needs.

Long Chen didn’t disturb them. With Lu Chengkong, they left the High Firmament Treasure Pavilion. The elder at the gates was still sleeping. It seemed like a very sweet dream as his drool trickled to the ground.

“Truly a mouth like a torrent,” Long Chen commented with a huge grin.

Yu Qingxuan laughed and playfully tapped his shoulder. “How can you say that about the elder?”

After that, they returned to the academy, where the craftsmen had already restored everything to its original state. The academy looked as pristine as before now. Without stopping anywhere else, the three of them went to the Pill Institute. Its courtyard seemed perfectly fine because it had just been moved from its minor world.

“Greetings, Deans,” a young disciple greeted them upon arrival.

Long Chen was puzzled. Normally, the institute head or at least a vice leader should have welcomed them.

“Are you the institute head?” asked Long Chen.

“Uh… Um…” The disciple hesitated.

Long Chen instantly understood. “What about the vice leaders?”

“Cough…”

“Elders?”

“Cough…”

“...”