Nine Star Hegemon Body ArtNine Star Hegemon Body Art
Long Chen hastily looked to the left and saw an enormous white rhinoceros with a golden horn. It was running through the air as it pulled a flying boat.
The rhinoceros’s skin was snow-white, and upon closer inspection, Long Chen could see porcelain-like scales covering its body. But then, the cracks between the scales were so small and smooth, so they looked more like a solid hide than scales. A pair of golden horns adorned its head, covered in runes that gave off a beautiful light.
A Fullmoon Gold Horn Rhinoceros!
When Long Chen saw the rhinoceros, his heart trembled. This beast also bore a primal chaos bloodline, with an aura that rivaled the Qilin Horn Heaven Swallowing Sparrow.
A massive golden flying boat rested on the rhinoceros’s back, with a dragon-emblazoned flag flapping above it. When Long Chen saw the two characters on the flag, “Soaring Dragon,” his expression turned odd.
“Enemies really do cross paths often,” Long Chen mused.
He hadn’t expected to encounter people from the Soaring Dragon Company here—the flag was unmistakably their symbol.
“I was wondering who it was. So, it’s the illustrious and famous Wind God Sea Pavilion. Are you also planning on entering the Wind Domain Battlefield?” A sharp, shrill voice came from the flying boat, dripped with mockery.
Figures appeared atop the flying boat—men and women, young and old. Their leader was a middle-aged woman with hair tied up high in a regal fashion.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t blessed with a pleasant face. Her expression was icy, and her eyebrows were so high they looked like they were about to jump off her head. Moreover, her sharp chin seemed as if it could cut anyone who dared look directly at it.
The disdain in her tone, especially with that last question, was clear.
In any case, the Wind Domain Battlefield belonged to the Wind God Sea Pavilion, so why wouldn’t they be here?
“Liao Qingyu, it seems that time hasn’t done anything for that vile mouth of yours,” Ye Lingkong said, frowning slightly as he looked at her. With his back still reclining on the Qilin Horn Heaven Swallowing Sparrow’s back, he continued, “Tell me, how much trouble has that mouth brought you? Are you a pig incapable of learning a lesson?”
This woman was a notable figure from the Soaring Dragon Company. Using their immense wealth, this group of vile merchants had inserted their spies into the various large factions, including the fake Wind God Sea Pavilion. They had bribed the assistant pavilion masters and wanted to cause chaos to win over popular opinion and seize control eventually.
Indeed, money was power. The Soaring Dragon Company had already taken control of several ancient sects in the Heaven Essence World, making them puppets. Liao Qingyu’s group belonged to one such faction—the Divine March Gate, a sect with a legacy dating back to the immemorial era. However, the Soaring Dragon Company had seized it thousands of years ago.
However, instead of running the Divine March Gate into decline, the company poured immense resources into it, spurring a new golden age. The sect kept its original name, but when they went out on missions, they had to carry the symbol of the Soaring Dragon Company. All this was to set up a model for other sects to see.
In other words, they were flaunting the promise that under the Soaring Dragon Company’s banner, rather than declining, they would thrive.
The Divine March Gate was the prime example. With the huge sums being spent on it, the sect was now filled with powerful experts and heavenly geniuses. It had gone from a second-tier sect to a first-tier one, and now brazenly claimed it would soon rival supreme sects like the Wind God Sea Pavilion.
When a person’s light spread limitlessly, they would get blindly arrogant. She had originally been a guild leader within the Soaring Dragon Company but was transferred to become a vice sect master of the Divine March Gate.
From her words and demeanor alone, it was obvious that Liao Qingyu lacked any aptitude to become a businesswoman. In any case, within the Divine March Gate, she no longer needed to negotiate or compromise; her word was now law.
As the sect’s power grew, so did Liao Qingyu's ego. Each time she spoke, what came out was unrestrained contempt and disdain.
Of course, with her character, she had run into many tough nails. She had also been put in her place several times by people who didn’t fear the Soaring Dragon Company. Ye Lingkong, in particular, had crossed paths with her on three separate occasions, yet her character never changed. Today, as expected, she was quick to mock them, rousing his irritation.
Though Ye Lingkong was the Left Emissary of the Wind God, he wasn’t one to flaunt his status needlessly. Still, he had his pride and didn’t care to argue with someone who bickered like a common shrew, nor did he find it worth his effort to strike her down as a lesson.
Though she held the same cultivation realm as he did, the Soaring Dragon Company’s expertise lay in scheming and manipulation. But which true experts actually grew through scheming?
Seeing her now, Ye Lingkong felt a headache brewing. Hence, he simply gave a brief, icy reply before urging the Qilin Horn Heaven Swallowing Sparrow forward, choosing to ignore this shrew entirely.
Liao Qingyu didn’t take note of Ye Lingkong’s mocking and instead turned her gaze mockingly toward Tang Wan-er and the others. She mocked, “Oh, what’s this? Isn’t the Wind God Sea Pavilion supposed to have eight divine sons and eight divine daughters who are said to be one-in-a-thousand-year geniuses? Why would you send a group of girls instead? Are you afraid to send your divine sons and daughters after what happened to the last generation?”
The Wind God Sea Pavilion’s previous generation of divine sons and daughters had been completely wiped out, becoming the subject of ridicule. However, the insiders were well aware of the truth. The last generation’s divine sons and divine daughters were just like this generation’s—all specially raised and picked out by the corrupt assistant pavilion masters and Wind Divine Elders.
However, the last generation’s divine sons and daughters were so lacking. As a result, they were sacrificed in the Wind Domain Battlefield to make way for a new batch.
In truth, this generation’s divine sons and daughters didn’t satisfy the real higher-ups either, deemed unable to become pillars of the Wind God Sea Pavilion. Like before, the higher-ups wanted to send them to the Wind Domain Battlefield to die.
In truth, the outrage and fury that the higher-ups had shown toward the deaths of the divine sons and divine daughters had been an act for everyone.
Tang Wan-er couldn’t hold back. “Shut your mouth! Just looking at you disgusts me!”
She turned to find Long Chen, intending to have him deal with Liao Qingyu.
“Where is Long Chen?” Tang Wan-er asked in shock, realizing Long Chen was gone.
“Big brother Long Chen, he...!” Xiao Yue suddenly cried out, pointing at the rhinoceros, her eyes wide.
Everyone followed the direction of her finger to see Long Chen at the rear of the rhinoceros, his black saber slicing toward its leg.