Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Chapter 4940: Mercenary City

two heads flew into the air, and their bodies slowly collapsed.

“what kind of bullshit is this? how are you so unskilled at robbing people? how unprofessional,” grumbled long chen. he just shook his head and tossed the sword fragments to the ground.

“you guys are the worst robbers i’ve ever seen.”

power? they lacked it... skill? nonexistent... cooperation? forget it... they had lived like a joke. long chen couldn’t understand what they were thinking.

after long chen left, a group of black-robed experts appeared by the bodies. laughably, some of them had dressed so hastily that they hadn’t even covered the markings on their sleeves and collars, exposing the dragon mark.

“what happened? how did they die so quickly?”

“it seems that they targeted someone tough this time. take the bodies away,” said their leader, and his followers quickly cleaned up any traces of trouble before vanishing.

if long chen had simply used his divine sense, he would have seen everything happening behind him clearly. however, he couldn’t even be bothered to do so.

these people were the absolute bottom rank of the heavenly desolation domain, weak and untalented. they could only live day by day like bandits and pick their targets randomly. as they weren’t intentionally targeting long chen, he felt no need to bother with it.

however, this assassination attempt did make long chen sigh. no matter how strong one was, no matter what level they reached, the essence of cultivation remained the same.

that essence was to fight. it was the same whether in the immortal world or the mortal world. commoners had to fight for food, the rich fought for profits, the bureaucrats fought for authority, and rulers fought for territory. the higher your position, the more things you fought for.

the people envied gods and immortals, all without realizing that the so-called gods and immortals were even greedier, even more barbaric, and even more brutal than them. in fact, their lofty lives might be even more painful.

long chen stared at the busy people in the city. their robes were in tatters, their eyes full of wariness toward this world. when he saw a young man and woman holding hands walk past him, he was lost in his memories.

he suddenly recalled the scenes of the phoenix cry empire. back then, he was at the lowest point of his life back then. he was a nobody with no backing.

however, back then, a young maiden had brazenly expressed her love for him, willing to share life and death with him.

“the dragon swims across the four oceans; the phoenix flies throughout the nine lands. seas of blood may block us, but we will never give up our path; dragon and phoenix will both live to old age,” long chen murmured their promise to each other. the woman had been a budding beauty, while he had been a wild youth. at the time, they didn’t know about this world’s cruelty, but they still made such an oath to each other. perhaps it was a bit childish, perhaps it was a bit foolish.. but they dared to express the sincere thoughts in their hearts.

“the dragon doesn’t just swim through the four seas, but it also roams the nine heavens. the phoenix breaks free of its shackles and continues to drift. it’s my fault. chu yao... are you still doing well?”

long chen was suddenly overwhelmed by an immense sense of longing. his heart ached as he yearned for chu yao and all those he cared about.

he hated himself for being unable to be with the women he loved. despite being hailed as unrivaled within the same realm and being the youngest dean in the high firmament academy’s history, he still couldn’t accomplish a simple thing.

“little brother, why are you crying?” just then, a shy voice rang out, and long chen looked up to see a woman. it was the young woman who had just walked past him.

she carefully handed long chen a handkerchief. it was already thin and worn out, but still clean. “if you don’t mind...”

only then did long chen realize that tears were streaming down his face. he felt instantly embarrassed. politely, he declined her offer, instead wiping his face with his hands and forcing a smile. “thank you. my eyes suddenly got a bit uncomfortable, but i’m fine.”

the man was a four-star heavenly doyen whose cultivation base had reached the sixth heavenstage of the divine venerate. here, his power was actually quite formidable. he appeared to be a simple person, and with concern in his voice, he asked, “little brother, are you in trouble? just tell us. if we can help, we will.”

long chen shook his head. he was about to bid them farewell when a group of people came running over.