The spatial gate opened, and Long Chen and the other two, along with the first group of assassins passing the assessment, said nothing and walked toward the spatial passage.
"Buzz"
When Long Chen and the others stepped into the spatial passage, the portal closed and everyone disappeared.
"Huh?" Why does Lei Chi feel a bit off? The
elder in charge of activating the Stargazing Sky Mirror trial suddenly noticed that the aura of Lei Chi was somewhat different from before.
As he approached the Thunder Pool, his expression suddenly changed drastically. The pool was now dry, and the outward appearance was actually an illusion.
Those disciples fell into a coma, while those baptized by the Thunder Pool floated quietly in the void, completely confused about what had happened.
"Wake up!"
the old man shouted loudly.
With the old man's voice, the assassins were startled awake.
"Puff puff puff..."
As soon as they woke up, their bodies instantly shattered, and over eight thousand assassins mysteriously self-destructed.
"How could this be?"
The old man screamed in terror.
"Rumble..."
At that moment, countless cracks appeared on the pillar of thunder in the center of the thunder pool, and under the elder's terrified gaze, it collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"Quick, notify Island Master Chen Ming! Something terrible has happened... the old man shouted in terror.
...
Buzz!
Long Chen hadn't yet seen what was happening before a fierce wind howled, and a fist smashed toward him. The violent force was so overwhelming that Long Chen could barely breathe.
"Boom!"
Long Chen also threw a punch, and with a loud crash, a twelve feet tall man appeared before him.
The burly man was burly, his arms thicker than those of ordinary people, with long hair and a square face. His thick eyebrows were like swords, but unfortunately, his eyes had already dimmed and lost their light.
This man's aura was like a wild lion, his fighting spirit soaring to the sky. His blood and energy erupted like a volcano. With a furious roar, he threw another punch down at Long Chen.
"Boom!"
Long Chen sighed inwardly. This was also a Nine-Star successor, but unfortunately dead, his body turned into a puppet. Even though his body was dead, his fighting spirit remained, and he fought fiercely again.
This strike was clearly several times stronger than the previous one. After the strike, the Nine-Star successor roared in fury, and six stars appeared on his back, forming a hexagonal pattern. At that moment, his aura surged dozens of times in an instant.
Clearly, all of this was controlled by the Nine Nether Hall. The first two strikes limited the power of the Nine-Star Heir, giving the assassins a chance to catch their breath.
Otherwise, if the Nine-Star successor summoned a six-star battle body right away, most of these assassins would likely be wiped out in one blow.
Facing the Nine Star Heir's punch, Long Chen reached out to meet the attack, and the seven-colored divine ring behind him lit up.
"Buzz!"
This strike didn't produce a thunderous explosion. The power of the Nine-Star successor surged into Long Chen's body, forming a bridge between their forces—their powers were actually shared.
The Nine Star Heir's body trembled, and his eyes, now colorless, actually lit up slightly:
"Are you also a Nine Star Inheritor?"
His voice was dry and indistinct, making it impossible to understand what he was saying, but Long Chen, both of whom were Nine Star successors, could comprehend him.
Long Chen nodded, and the expression on the Nine Star heir's face shifted a few times. He seemed to want to laugh, but his face stiffened and he couldn't:
"Very good, very good, to avenge us."
Although they had been forged into puppets, their battle intent remained. The Nine Nether Hall deliberately had them retain this fighting intent so they could maintain flexible combat power.
As long as his fighting spirit remained, he retained a certain degree of consciousness. He knew he was already dead, but he couldn't control his body. All he could do now was kill as many Nine Nether Hall disciples as he could during the trial.
For the proud Nine Star successor, this was a tremendous humiliation, yet he was powerless to change it. This pain might only be understood by Long Chen, who was also a Nine Star successor.
"Brother, go ahead and relax. Leave the rest to me!" Long Chen nodded and said solemnly.
A trace of relief appeared in the eyes of the Nine-Star successor. Then his fighting spirit faded, and his body slowly collapsed. This man, who had been enslaved for countless years, could finally rest in peace.
"Whoosh"
His body collapsed, his flesh gradually turning to dust, and finally vanished completely.
...
Chen Ming arrived at the Thunder Pool and saw the dried-up pool and the collapsed thunder pillar. He was completely stunned. He had lived countless years and had never seen anything like this.
"Look at the Stargazing Sky Mirror!"
Chen Ming hurriedly took out the formation disk, and above it appeared images one after another—it was Long Chen and the others entering the Star-Gazing Sky Mirror.
Immediately after, a scene that Chen Ming couldn't believe unfolded: Long Chen and Guo Ran, whom Liao Bencang had ordered him to watch, suddenly disappeared from his formation disk. He could no longer see what was happening inside the Stargazing Sky Mirror.
This made Chen Ming suddenly feel uneasy. Immediately, he witnessed a scene that made his scalp tingle: those disciples entering the Star-Peering Sky Mirror trial had just encountered the Nine-Star Heir when they suddenly self-destructed, dying instantly.
"Quick, report the situation here to the Hall Master. Pass on my order to shut down the Star-Viewing Sky Mirror trial." Chen Ming shouted in terror. For a moment, the entire Jiuyou Island was thrown into chaos, and piercing alarms echoed to every corner of the island.
...
"Boom!"
A talisman in Long Chen's hand exploded. Just as the Star-Peering Sky Mirror was about to teleport him out, the talisman broke the teleportation, and then Long Chen appeared before a huge mirror.
It was a bronze mirror, standing in the endless void, and the stars of the sky seemed so insignificant before it.
Long Chen stood before it, seeing nine massive star clusters and the endless sea of stars beneath them.
The nine star clusters are called Jiutian. At the core of these clusters, there is a dark area where you can vaguely see something, but nothing is clearly visible.
Above the Nine Heavens, the star sea could be seen separated by a strange layer of mist. That layer of mist was the Wall of Sighs, the boundary wall between the Immortal and Mortal Realms.
Through the Star-Gazing Sky Mirror, Long Chen saw that among the stars of the mortal realm, chains resembling spiderwebs connected each star.
The chain covered the nine heavens and ten earths, and among all the star regions, only a few were untouched. The end of the chain pointed directly to the dark region at the center of the Nine Heavens.
Looking into the distance, the dragonSuddenly, Chen's heart raced wildly. At the edge of the universe, Long Chen saw four enormous figures, each like a beast hibernating like a beast.
Behind that figure was endless darkness, and within that endless darkness, something seemed to be hidden.
At that moment, Long Chen, who had never known what fear was, experienced it for the first time. His hair stood on end, and before he knew it, sweat soaked his clothes. It was as if he had witnessed the taboos of this world, as if he too was being watched by a terrifying presence lurking in the darkness.
Long Chen's heart pounded wildly, his soul aching sharply, his eyes pricking like needles, blood seeping out. He knew he had seen something he shouldn't have, but he still had to keep looking. He wanted to know what exactly the core region of Jiutian was.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, the Star-Peering Sky Mirror trembled, and a terrifying pulling force descended, trying to send Long Chen away. Long Chen's expression changed: Not good, it's too late, we've been discovered.
Long Chen gritted his teeth, forgot to keep watching, drew a black dagger, and stabbed fiercely at the Star-Viewing Sky Mirror.