Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

When Long Chen left the city controlled by the demonic beast race, he no longer encountered any further monitoring. He had moved beyond the Brahma Pill Valley’s sphere of influence.

Following another two days of travel via transportation formations, Long Chen finally arrived at the nearest city to the High Firmament Academy: Falling Light City in the Falling Light Prefecture.

Falling Light City was an ancient city situated near a wasteland. Despite its size, it was not populous, mostly inhabited by adventurers or mercenaries scraping out a living. However, upon Long Chen’s arrival, he was astonished to find the city transformed. It was now bustling with prosperity, filled with new buildings and throngs of people. The streets were crowded, and the city was alive with activity.

“Hey, don’t block the way!” a voice shouted from behind Long Chen as he stood motionless at the exit of the transportation formation.

“Oh, sorry!” Long Chen hastily apologized and went to the side. After confirming that he wasn’t in the wrong place, he was baffled. When did this city become so bustling?

Long Chen noticed that the city now had eight one-way transportation formations, a significant upgrade from the single two-directional one he remembered.

“A good dog doesn’t block the way! Scram!” An impatient shout rang out from behind, enraging Long Chen. He had gotten to the side and left enough room for an elephant to get by. Clearly, this person was looking for trouble.

When Long Chen looked back, he was even more baffled. The speaker was clad in white robes—the attire of a disciple from the High Firmament Academy. He was in a group of fifteen Eternal experts, all of whom seemed to have recently made their breakthroughs. They had yet to reach the first Heavenstage and looked incredibly arrogant.

Their leader was a short fatty who was looking at Long Chen ferociously. Seeing Long Chen looking back at him, he demanded, “Brat, what kind of look is that? Do you want to die?!”

Long Chen’s anger flared as he looked at the short fatty’s circular face, feeling a strong urge to slap him

Just as Long Chen was about to teach this fellow a lesson, an elder walked off the transportation formation and whispered a few words into the fatty’s ear.

The fatty then snorted, “Little fellow, count yourself lucky that my mood is good. Otherwise, I’d cripple your eyes.”

With that, the High Firmament Academy disciples walked past Long Chen with haughty disdain, ignoring him completely. Their arrogance grated on him, and Long Chen ground his teeth in frustration. No matter what, he was still a dean of the High Firmament Academy. These little brats wanted to dig out his eyes? They really were blind.

Once those disciples were out of earshot, the elder kindly said, “Young fellow, you seem like a good person, so I didn’t want you to die early. But you must not be from these parts. You don’t even recognize disciples of the High Firmament Academy. In the future, you should stay away from them. Next time, there might not be someone to save you.”

“Senior, are those fellows really from the High Firmament Academy?” asked Long Chen.

It was hard to believe that someone from the High Firmament Academy wouldn’t recognize him, especially not disciples from the junior generation. Even if they didn’t know Bai Letian, they should have recognized him, Long Chen.

“Hehe, it’s even more obvious that you’re not from around here. They’re indeed from the High Firmament Academy. Let me tell you, the High Firmament Academy has tens of millions of disciples and countless experts. You should avoid them as best as you can, or you might end up in serious trouble,” the elder advised.

“Hold on, what did you just say? Tens of millions of disciples?” Long Chen was stunned to hear that.

When they left the head academy, the disciples from the Battle God Palace, the Starry River Sect, and the temporary students from the head academy only numbered a few million. Where did these tens of millions come from?

“Don’t doubt it. The High Firmament Academy is no longer the institution it once was. Their numbers and power are indeed formidable. I still have something to do, so I’ll take my leave. But remember, do not provoke them!” implored the elder before taking his leave.

The elder was quite kind. Seeing that Long Chen was alone and had just advanced to the Eternal realm, the elder was worried about him. As the elder was a one-vein Heaven Saint, his words made those disciples leave Long Chen be.

“What’s going on? Am I dreaming?” Long Chen wondered, feeling overwhelmed by the revelations.

Just then, a shout came from a nearby transportation formation. “If you’re heading to the High Firmament Academy, hurry up! The next transportation is about to start. If you want to apprentice yourself to a master and test your luck, now’s the time!”

“The transportation formation goes directly to the High Firmament Academy?” Long Chen was even more baffled.

In the past, traveling from this area to the High Firmament Academy would have been a lengthy journey. Now, however, a direct transportation formation was available, leaving Long Chen astounded by the changes during his absence.

Long Chen hurried over, paid the fee, and stepped onto the transportation formation. However, the formation didn’t activate immediately. It appeared that it would only commence once it was fully occupied. With many empty spots still available and the person in charge continuing to call out, Long Chen realized that it might take a while before the formation was activated.

Long Chen looked around. The transportation formation was filled with hundreds of people, predominantly young men and women with cultivation bases at the Divine Venerate realm or below. Long Chen saw excitement and nervousness in their eyes. They were most likely preparing to undergo the trials to join the High Firmament Academy.

A girl, seemingly about fifteen or sixteen years old, looked up at Long Chen with wide eyes and said shyly, “Big brother, you’re so strong! You’re already an Eternal expert!”

Another man beside the girl gently pulled her back, worried about her accidentally angering Long Chen. After all, many cultivators had bad tempers, and a single word could lead to a deadly confrontation.

Long Chen smiled warmly. “I was lucky. I’ve just recently advanced to the Eternal realm.”

Seeing him smile, the girl was no longer so nervous and asked, “Big brother, may I ask if you’re here to attend the trials?”

Long Chen chuckled, “I suppose I am!”

Trials? He thought to himself with amusement. Does the dean of the academy really need to go through trials?

At that moment, the transportation formation was finally filled with people and activated. In an instant, Long Chen and the others found themselves on a massive platform.

Long Chen looked into the distance, where a giant gate towered into the clouds. The name “High Firmament Academy” was emblazoned across it in a grand script. The sheer scale and majesty of the gate took him by surprise—it was even more imposing than the head academy’s gate.

“Don’t just stare blankly! Hand over your money for the trials! Fast!"

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