Nine Star Hegemon Body ArtNine Star Hegemon Body Art
“He ran over to the Stone Spirit race and somehow became their vice race leader? He really must be a genius!” Long Chen was genuinely stunned. This fellow certainly knew how to survive and thrive in life!
“It’s not as simple as it seems,” Chu He responded gravely. “Based on my estimation, he’s taken control of the entire Stone Spirit race. The race leader is nothing more than a puppet he controls. Jiang Yiming’s mastery over people’s wills is frightening. It wasn’t until I imprisoned him that I realized he had secretly learned a forbidden art—a technique capable of controlling souls and influencing people without them even realizing it. It’s an incredibly powerful art, but it becomes a calamity in the wrong hands. That’s why it was classified as forbidden and sealed beneath the tower.
“While I was in seclusion, he pretended to be acting on my orders, sneaking into the tower and stealing this forbidden art. One reason I imprisoned him was because of his wicked nature and the theft, but another reason was to prevent him from revealing the secret of the Tianyu Sword. After he fled and joined the Stone Spirit race, I’m certain he already shared that secret with them. He’s been selling out our information to win their trust, and he’s even schemed to kill many of our experts to prove his loyalty. Now, the Stone Spirit race has no doubts about him.
“Taking advantage of that, he started using the forbidden art to gradually influence the Stone Spirit race. The last time a battle broke out between us, under his leadership, the Stone Spirit warriors were unusually fearless and bloodthirsty. That’s how I knew he had already taken control of them. Afterward, he was named vice race leader. I suspect he controls the race leader and stays in the second position to avoid arousing suspicion. After all, he hasn’t been with the Stone Spirit race for long, and there are still those who are wary of him.”
Long Chen nodded thoughtfully. This fellow had some skills.
Long Chen suddenly asked, “Senior, I don’t understand. If he can control the Stone Spirit race, why hasn’t he allied with you to destroy the Gold Lion race first? He could use that to redeem himself. Wouldn’t that give him everything he wants here?”
Chu He shook his head. “What Jiang Yiming desires isn’t respect or reverence. He craves absolute control—the kind where people either follow him or die. He wants complete obedience through fear. Unless I die, there’s no way I’d hand control of Tianyu City over to him. He most likely doesn’t know about my condition, or he would have long since attacked. But as the Stone Spirit race’s vice leader, his influence has already infiltrated Tianyu City. Quite a few of our experts are secretly working with him. Chi Feng is one of them.”
Long Chen wasn’t surprised. It was no wonder Jiang Yiming, a traitor to the human race, was thriving among the Stone Spirit race. His success would naturally tempt those in Tianyu City who were dissatisfied with their own circumstances.
They were simply unable to see their own flaws. They either blamed their environment, or that there were too many people, or that the higher-ups were blind and unable to see how outstanding they were.
In any case, their situation wasn’t as good as they believed they deserved, and it was always other people’s fault. With an example like Jiang Yiming, it was all too easy for them to be tempted. For traitors to appear then wasn’t surprising.
“Do you know how many traitors we have amongst us?” asked Long Chen.
“About one in five,” Chu He replied, his voice heavy. “Most are among the higher-ups, and a portion are young disciples with potential.”
Jiang Yiming likely hadn’t bothered much with those young disciples, as they were insignificant in the grand scheme of things. However, for one in five higher-ups to be traitors, the situation was truly dire. Tianyu City was on the verge of collapsing from within. It was no wonder Chu He would beg Long Chen for help.
“These old bones of mine still have some strength left,” Chu He said with a sigh. “But after one more battle, they would be completely destroyed. I don’t dare make any rash moves. However, when I was in seclusion, I sensed a powerful surge, and it led me to you. When I saw you, I had an intuition that you might be the one to save us from this crisis. Now, with the Tianyu Sword reborn in your hands, I believe my intuition was correct. Whatever you plan to do about Tianyu City, I will follow.”
Long Chen smiled. “To be honest, I’m not much of a strategist. I’m also in a rush to leave, so I don’t have the time or interest to scheme against them. But I’ve been killing devil creatures for a while now, and I could use a change of pace. Senior, tell me, how many peak experts do we have here?”
Chu He thought for a moment. “At the very top, we have seven four-vein Human Emperors. Unfortunately, two have turned against us, and one is wavering. We also have 46 two-vein Human Emperors like Chi Feng, with nine of them already turned traitors. Amongst the ordinary Human Emperors, 49 out of 257 have defected, with seven others wavering..”
“And how many nine-vein Heaven Saints are there?” asked Long Chen.
Chu He was startled. According to reason, nine-vein Heaven Saints and half-step Human Emperors weren’t very useful in battles. Unless both sides were evenly matched, they wouldn’t affect the ultimate victory.
However, since Long Chen had asked, Chu He answered, “There are over eighteen thousand nine-vein Heaven Saints and half-step Human Emperors.”
“That many?” Long Chen was surprised.
“Yes. Many people end up stuck at that level, unable to take the final step even if they sense it,” Chu He explained.
“How many of those people are traitors?” asked Long Chen.
“Those people don’t have any special positions and their power can’t affect the overall result. Jiang Yiming doesn’t care about them. After all, what would be the point of wasting energy on a group of people with no power or influence? He’d rather focus on the junior generation as they have limitless potential,” replied Chu He.
“In other words, there should be very few traitors amongst them, right?” asked Long Chen.
“You could say that, though I can’t guarantee there aren’t any,” Chu He said, still confused. “Why are you asking?”
“Well,” Long Chen grinned, “what do you think would happen if Tianyu City suddenly had over eighteen thousand Human Emperors?”
“What?”
Chu He was too shocked to speak.
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