Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

When Long Chen’s hand slapped against Shui Guanzhi’s face, it was like it also slapped against everyone’s hearts. Time seemed to come to a stop.

The Dragonblood warriors, the thirty-sixth supermonastery’s disciples, the Xuantian Dao Sect’s people, Zhao Wuji, Zhong Wuyan, Yue Qianshan, and the four families were all stunned.

POW!

Shui Guanzhi was like a shooting star. When Long Chen’s strength was added to the power of the current, he immediately pierced through the Xuantian Sea and slammed into the basin.

People didn’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but Shui Guanzhi slammed into the exact same place as Long Chen. However, Shui Guanzhi appeared even more miserable, and he slammed a huge hole into the rock that had been compressed by countless years of these waves.

Shui Guanzhi coughed up a mouthful of blood and crawled up from the ground. People saw an extremely clear handprint on his face. Although Shui Guanzhi quickly circulated his spiritual yuan and that mark faded, that image was forever imprinted in their hearts. A grand rank two Celestial had actually been slapped in the face.

They then turned to look back into the storm zone. Long Chen’s saber was resting on his shoulder. He appeared like a domineering god. The shockwaves from Long Chen’s slap shook their hearts.

Zhong Wuyan had never imagined that Long Chen, who usually didn’t reveal any power, was actually this terrifying.

The Four Heavenly Geniuses had exchanged blows before. But it hadn’t been a life and death battle, and so they hadn’t determined a winner.

But whether it was Zhong Wuyan, Zhao Wuji, or Yue Qianshan, none of them liked to battle Shui Guanzhi.

That was because Shui Guanzhi’s water magical arts were too irritating. They came one after another, endless and boundless. Their techniques were unable to display their true power in front of him.

Furthermore, Shui Guanzhi had abnormally deep reserves of spiritual yuan. If they tried to fight a battle of attrition, none of them would be able to exhaust him. Furthermore, his defense was perfect, practically impenetrable.

But Long Chen had broken that perfect defense with a single slash of his saber. That was the most shocking part of it. Having exchanged blows with Shui Guanzhi, they were aware of how strong that shield was. It would constantly dissipate other people’s power, making them helpless.

They were unable to understand how Long Chen had done this. Just now, they hadn’t seen him release any great power. It had happened too suddenly.

“This Long Chen has gone too far! This is just humiliating others!” Shui Yuncong’s expression was incomparably ugly now.

“Too far? Humiliating? How come you didn’t think that Shui Guanzhi’s sneak attack against Long Chen was going too far or humiliating?” sneered Shui Wuhen.

“After a win, you laugh so happily, but after a loss, you have to curse others? Brother Yuncong, don’t lose face. After all, whether it’s Shui Guanzhi or Long Chen, they’re both on the side of your Shui family. They’re both equally valuable. Even if you’re biased, you shouldn’t make it so obvious,” advised Zhou Tianyi with a smile.

Although he knew Zhou Tianyi’s words were trying to infuriate him, Shui Yuncong’s fury still almost burst out of control.

Long Chen’s slap hadn’t just been a slap in the face of Shui Guanzhi, but it had also been a slap in the face of the entire Shui family.

“This Long Chen really is strange. How did he do this? How did he break Shui Guanzhi’s defense?”

At this time, the Wang family head finally couldn’t help opening his mouth. He wasn’t interested in their verbal warfare. But Long Chen’s attack did make him very curious. When he said this, he looked toward the vice sect master, hoping he could answer him.

The vice sect master didn’t disappoint him. “I’m also not sure if he took advantage of the opening in Guanzhi’s defense or not. But if Long Chen really did do it on purpose, then his ability to see through his enemies is truly terrifying!”

“Opening in his defense?! How could there be a gap in Shui Guanzhi’s water magical arts?!” Shui Yuncong didn’t believe it.

The vice sect master couldn’t be bothered to even look at him. He coldly said, “There is nothing in this world that is perfect. If something was truly perfect, all that represents is extinction. Magical arts are the same, and no matter how strong the magical art, it must have a weak point. Just because you don’t know about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

“Please give me pointers, vice sect master,” asked Shui Wuhen respectfully. To tell the truth, she also wanted to know very much.

The vice sect master looked at the distant Long Chen. “There is a saying that wind cannot exist without motion, and water is constantly flowing. The essence of water magical arts is that constant change. The wheel turns in an unending cycle. No matter what form the outer shape of the magical art takes, it must be in motion on the inside. As those runes flow, they cancel out the opponent’s attack power. It’s most definitely a very powerful ability.

“When fighting with water cultivators, if you try to fight a battle of attrition, you’ll essentially be asking to be defeated. Water attribute experts have profound reserves of spiritual yuan. Even if the two sides have the same amount of spiritual yuan, the water cultivator will be able to use this method to exhaust their opponent’s energy. So when their opponent is out of spiritual yuan, the water cultivator will still have at least twenty percent of theirs left.

“To sum up, a water cultivator’s strongest point is their defense, not offense. But again, whether it is offense or defense, Shui Guanzhi’s water magical arts are in constant motion. That is his strongest point, and also where his weakness lies.”

“What…?”

The vice sect master continued, “Since it’s in motion, there are waves. And where there are waves, there must be times of high and low, a time where strong and weak superimpose.”

“Then you mean…” These experts now understood.

“Yes, Long Chen used his power to figure out the fluctuations of Shui Guanzhi’s power, and when his power was at its weakest, he struck. That was what brought on this result.

“But as a rank two Celestial, Shui Guanzhi’s water energy is incomparably pure. Hundreds of fluctuations occur within his defense with every blink of the eye.

“But even then, Long Chen was still able to figure out which wave was the weakest out of those hundreds of fluctuations. That is why I called him terrifying.”

Everyone was shaken. The opening the vice sect master had described wasn’t even an opening! Even if someone knew about it, no one could take advantage of it.

Furthermore, Long Chen and Shui Guanzhi had only fought for a few breaths’ time. To be able to find the opening during this short time and then take advantage of it, was that something a human could do?

“Perhaps you don’t believe it. In truth, even I don’t believe it. Even for me, if I was fighting someone on the same level, I would never be able to so cleanly grasp that kind of opportunity.

“This would require maintaining an absolutely pure and bright Dao-heart in the midst of battle. Perhaps out of everyone here, only Long Chen is capable of doing this!” sighed the vice sect master.

“Is Long Chen really this strong?” asked Shui Yuncong.

“The strong you’re talking about is referring to combat strength. But what I’m referring to is the strength of his heart and will. Those things aren’t something that can be raised just by spending resources. It is something forged through walking on the line between life and death over and over again.

“Perhaps in terms of combat strength, Long Chen might be weaker than some people here. But when it comes to the determination of his heart and the strength of his will, everyone here, including me, is unable to get even close to his level!”

Everyone was shocked. It was completely unexpected for the vice sect master to have such a high opinion of Long Chen. He actually said that even he was not his equal. That was raising his status a bit too much, wasn’t it?

The vice sect master continued, “Maybe not all of you know this, but yesterday, I went through all the information available about Long Chen. Only then did I come to understand his past. He was just an ordinary child. His talent, his background, the amount of resources he could get, they were all terrible. But all he focused on was getting stronger.

“He had nothing to gamble with. So in order to get stronger, the only thing he could do was gamble with his life. He created countless miracles on his path by risking his life. Perhaps even the heavens have been convinced by him, and as he got stronger, he managed to grab hold of more opportunities.

“But remember, opportunities are only obtained by those who have the power to grasp them. The weak are unable to even grab hold of the opportunities they are given. If the weak try to forcibly grasp those opportunities, they’ll just end up tossing their lives away.

“Compared to Long Chen, we lack that bravery to risk our lives. Of course, there’s a reason for that: we don’t need to risk our lives. We have so much, and we can obtain anything that we want.

“But if Long Chen wants to obtain something, he’ll have to put in ten times, or perhaps even a hundred times the effort compared to others. Furthermore, he’ll be in danger of losing his life. Such a person doesn’t need talent. As long as he wants to live, he’ll constantly get stronger."

Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help being deeply moved and impressed. They had heard of Long Chen, but they had always thought that the only reason he had his current accomplishments was luck.

But now their opinions of him completely changed. Many people were lost in thought.

Most of the experts here were all stuck in a bottleneck. They had tried attacking a higher realm multiple times, only to fail every time. They had already lost their confidence and drive. Continuously attacking a bottleneck was something that became more dangerous with each attempt. A person could easily be afflicted by a heart-devil and die.

In their hearts, they were already afraid. They were afraid of death. They were experts, and they were reluctant to lose everything they had. But the vice sect master’s words were like an alarm bell. Were they really planning on waiting until they reached the end of their lifespans?

There were still many people here who were comparatively young. They still had a chance of advancing to a higher realm. However, they had lost the Dao-heart that a martial artist required.

“Shui Guanzhi’s moving!”

Suddenly, a cry rang out. Shui Guanzhi let out a furious roar, killing intent exploding off of him. He shot forward.

He was enraged. This was a kind of humiliation, a kind of completely intolerable humiliation. He wanted to tear Long Chen to pieces. His killing intent was suffocating.

Everyone hastily got out of Shui Guanzhi’s way, afraid he would slaughter them.

“Long Chen!”

Shui Guanzhi’s Heavenly Dao runes suddenly condensed into a pair of huge wings on his back. He charged directly into the storm zone.

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