Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

“Ziwen!”

When Ye Ziwen charged out of the barrier, a middle-aged woman’s cry echoed from within the academy. It was his mother, one of the branch academy’s higher-ups. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her son rush forward. She knew that if Ye Ziwen charged out, he would never come back.

Ye Ziwen halted briefly, turning back to face his mother. With a resolute expression, he knelt down, kowtowing three times.

“Mom, I’m sorry. Forgive your child for being unfilial!”

With those final words, he stood up and stepped beyond the barrier. His Heavenly Fate Disk appeared as he charged forward.

Seeing Ye Ziwen’s bold move, countless disciples from the academy felt their blood boil and followed his lead, charging out after him.

“Fools, don’t go!” The head academy’s disciples shouted frantically, trying to stop them. But there was no turning back for these hot-blooded youths. Watching their peers rush out to face certain death, others clenched their teeth and joined in.

“There’s no way around it. Charge!” The Starry River Sect’s disciples also leaped into the fray.

As soon as they stepped out of the barrier, the first academy’s disciples were nearly crushed by the overwhelming pressure from the Human Emperors. Only the Heavenly Chosens could withstand it.

“Get back here! You won’t be able to help, and you’ll only hinder the Dragonblood Legion!” shouted an expert of the Starry River Sect.

“No, if we’re going to die, we’ll die spilling our blood on the battlefield, not cowering like cowards! We will protect the academy ourselves! We will protect our families!” a half-step Chosen from the academy yelled back, his voice filled with determination. Though the pressure from the Emperors nearly suffocated him, his eyes burned with resolve. He was ready for death.

“What a bunch of hot-headed fools!” The Starry River Sect expert cursed under his breath and then bellowed, “Brothers of the Starry River Sect, move out! Assist the Dragonblood Legion!”

The Starry River Sect experts joined the battlefield. Having fought alongside the Dragonblood Legion multiple times before, they knew what they should do. They knew they couldn’t be the main force, or they would affect the Dragonblood warriors’ formation.

However, they couldn’t let these passionate idiots without combat experience die and disturb the Dragonblood Legion’s rhythm. They weren’t hoping for these idiots to make any impact. As long as they didn’t make things worse, that would be great.

Despite being less powerful than the Dragonblood warriors, the Starry River Sect’s disciples were skilled in combat. They filled in the gaps, dealing with any enemies that slipped through the Legion’s defenses. Many of these disciples had received Long Chen’s pointers and were familiar with the Dragonblood Legion’s fighting style. Using the same style, they fought fiercely and went all-out.

As the Dragonblood Legion had switched from defense to offense, more enemies were slipping through their blockade. Though their numbers were small, these stragglers could still disrupt the Dragonblood warriors’ rhythm, forcing them to split their focus. But with the Starry River Sect’s support, these threats were swiftly eliminated.

Long Chen and Yue Zifeng swept through the battlefield, specifically picking out the strongest half-step Human Emperors as they could pose a fatal threat to the Dragonblood Legion.

“Careful!” A disciple from the Starry River Sect cried out as he intercepted a spear aimed at Ye Ziwen, his sword barely managing to block the blow.

BOOM!

The impact sent the disciple flying, blood spraying from his mouth. Ye Ziwen took advantage of this opening to kill the six-vein Heaven Saint devil expert.

“Brother, are you alright?!” Ye Ziwen asked, feeling shocked and ashamed as he hastily supported the injured disciple. Only now did he realize how outmatched he was on this battlefield, where even his spiritual perception was unreliable. If it weren’t for this disciple’s help, he would have been killed.

“I’m fine. Hurry and assist the others,” the disciple replied, wiping the blood from his mouth before continuing to fight.

With a frustrated roar, Ye Ziwen charged over to assist the academy’s number two junior disciple, who was fighting a ferocious beast. The latter was being pressed back badly at the moment, and if he did not receive aid, he could die at any moment.

Together, they managed to kill that beast. After that, the two of them exchanged a look. The pride they once held had been replaced by frustration and regret.

As top experts of the Heaven Rankings, they were used to being revered by their peers. But here, on this battlefield, they were nothing. The strongest experts were handled by the Dragonblood Legion, while the weaker ones that slipped through were dealt with by the Starry River Sect and the head academy’s experts. By their turn, only the weakest fish remained.

Perhaps those weaklings weren’t even fish—merely some shrimp, but Ye Ziwen and his fellow disciples had difficulties to defeat the shrimp one on one. This impact made them feel so ashamed that they had the urge to kill themselves.

Ye Ziwen patted his comrade’s shoulder. “It’s not so bad. At least we’re not the worst! Let’s keep going!”

Ye Ziwen charged out again, leaving his comrade looking at his back with a bitter feeling. Many fellow disciples of theirs were kneeling next to the barrier, crushed by the pressure of the battlefield. They couldn’t even stand.

“Am I not even qualified to fight to the death!? Is there anything more embarrassing than this?!” one disciple muttered, pressing his hands against the barrier and clenching his teeth in frustration. However, he still couldn’t stand in front of this pressure.

Suddenly, the barrier quivered. Flame runes rapidly spread on top of it, spreading throughout every corner of the barrier. Everyone looked over to see Yu Qingxuan with her hands clasped. Her black hair slowly waved as she chanted, and the world’s flame energy poured toward her.

The flame runes converged on the weakest part of the barrier, where the Purgatory qi was still causing damage. As the Purgatory qi burned away, the tear in the barrier started to heal rapidly.

Seeing this, Long Chen was delighted. Yu Qingxuan was really smart. She had found a way to repair the barrier. At this rate, it would fully heal in just a few breaths.

Buzz.

Suddenly, the space around Long Chen quivered. Eight whirlpools appeared in every direction, and eight long, slender swords emerged, radiating a chilling aura.

“The Lifehunter race?” Long Chen’s heart skipped a beat as he shouted, “Qingxuan, watch out!”

As he was ambushed, two translucent figures appeared beside Yu Qingxuan, their swords stabbing toward her from the front and back.