Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

Even Long Chen couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment as he stepped into the vast expanse of the Scripture Pavilion. Before him, endless bookshelves stretched into the distance, brimming with ancient tomes.

The first academy’s Scripture Pavilion was at least ten times larger than the head academy’s. The shelves held a staggering array of ancient books, jade tablets, beast hides, and bone carvings, all containing the wisdom of countless eras. There was no end in sight to this sea of knowledge.

This place didn’t just contain texts on alchemy—it spanned every topic imaginable. Moreover, they were meticulously organized,

“Metal.”

Bai Shishi saw a marker on the first set of bookshelves and immediately ran over. Seeing countless ancient tomes before her, she was incredibly excited. She randomly picked one out and started reading it, seemingly bewitched.

The others were the same. Yue Zifeng gravitated toward a bookshelf marked with the word "Sword" and didn’t budge from his spot. Gu Yang, Li Qi, Song Mingyuan, Bai Xiaole, and others also found bookshelves that matched their attributes and started to study. Even the little fox ran over to a pile of beast bones, but no one knew what he was doing with them.

Meanwhile, Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan followed Lu Chengkong deeper into the pavilion. As they approached the end of the bookshelves, they encountered stone platforms shrouded in screens of light, upon which ancient books rested. These books were clearly even more precious than the others.

Suddenly, Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan spotted one platform in particular at the same time, and their bodies quivered. On this platform lay two gray scrolls.

The scrolls looked ancient, their material unidentifiable—neither metal, paper, beast hide, nor bone. The edges of the scrolls had yellowed with age, hinting at their incredible antiquity.

The stone platform had a formation protecting it. Furthermore, it wasn’t just one barrier. There were eighteen barriers.

This platform was protected by eighteen barriers, while the other platforms had only one or two barriers. However, even under such heavy protection, Long Chen could sense powerful flame fluctuations emanating from within.

As they stepped closer, their eyes were drawn to one scroll in particular. The handle of this scroll bore the image of an azure lotus. The lotus quivered slightly under Long Chen’s gaze, as if energy was flowing within it, almost as though it were alive.

“This is…”

Long Chen leaned in for a closer look, and he was shocked to discover that the lotus was composed of millions of tiny runes, each moving like ants in a certain rhythm.

Within this rhythm, Long Chen sensed a terrifying destructive aura. The movement of these runes seemed to embody the process of the world being destroyed and reborn.

The runes moved at varying speeds—sometimes slow and deliberate, other times frantic and fast—but the lotus shape remained unchanged.

“These two scrolls are the final volumes of the Nirvana Scripture,” Lu Chengkong explained, pointing to the scroll with the lotus. “It is said that this one contains the eighth volume, and that one the ninth.”

Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan slowly looked over the ninth volume, but they were taken aback. The scroll was completely blank.

“Dean, are you sure this is the ninth volume?” asked Long Chen.

Lu Chengkong replied, “These scrolls have been here since the first academy’s beginning. Although they’ve been moved many times, the platform and the barriers have never been opened. If they were authentic from the beginning, then these must indeed be the final volumes of the Nirvana Scripture.”

Lu Chengkong wasn’t very sure, but these two scrolls were priceless treasures to the first academy. They wouldn’t have preserved these scrolls for so long if they weren’t authentic.

“Do you see anything?” Long Chen suddenly asked Yu Qingxuan.

Startled, Yu Qingxuan responded, “I see a thriving land full of life. There are countless lifeforms made of runes roaming around.”

Long Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked back at the lotus, but no matter how he adjusted his perspective, all he saw was an azure lotus surrounded by primal chaos qi, exuding an aura of annihilation. There was no trace of a thriving land.

Seeing Long Chen’s expression, Yu Qingxuan also realized something off. Before she could ask him what he saw, Long Chen turned to Lu Chengkong and asked, “Dean Chengkong, what kind of image do you see?”

Lu Chengkong looked puzzled. “Isn’t it a towering tree covered in golden flames?”

All three of them were baffled. They were looking at the same scroll, yet each saw something different.

“Dean Chengkong, do you cultivate the Nirvana Scripture?” asked Long Chen.

Lu Chengkong nodded. “I’ve cultivated it up to the seventh volume, but after eight thousand years, I haven’t made any progress with the eighth volume. My talent has reached its limit.”

Both Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan were surprised to learn that Lu Chengkong had cultivated the Nirvana Scripture to such an advanced stage.

“Dean Chengkong, could you chant the seventh volume for us? Just the words—no need to use any flame energy,” Long Chen requested.

“Then I’ll embarrass myself.” Lu Chengkong nodded. He took a breath and then solemnly began to chant. His scripture was the exact same as Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan’s.

However, the style was completely different from both of them. His voice was solemn, carrying a humble tone and an aura of detachment from worldly affairs. He sounded like a scholar imparting the Dao to the world.

After listening for a while, Long Chen nodded in understanding. “A thousand people might cultivate the same Nirvana Scripture, but each would express a different aspect of it. The eighth volume must be unique to each person, which is why we see different things. We’ll need to comprehend it on our own, without relying on anyone else’s interpretation. We can’t copy someone else’s scripture.”

When Long Chen described the azure lotus surrounded by primal chaos qi, both Yu Qingxuan and Lu Chengkong were stunned. What they saw was completely different, not sharing any similarities.

“What about the ninth volume?” asked Yu Qingxuan.

“It’s blank,” replied Long Chen and Lu Chengkong at the same time. This time, all three of them saw the same thing—nothing.

The three of them fell into deep thought. Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan continued to examine the eighth volume, while Lu Chengkong chose to give up.

In truth, Lu Chengkong was shockingly talented. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have advanced from a teaching Elder to a Human Emperor.

However, it was because of his amazing talent that he gave up. The eighth volume of the Nirvana Scripture had left him perplexed for many years, tormenting him all the time. He knew he had reached his limit with the seventh volume.

Suddenly, the Nirvana Scripture within the barriers quivered, and Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan were enveloped by a wave of divine light.

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