Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Chapter 5112 Hands Tied

“Don’t mess around! This isn’t a joke. If it wakes up, I won’t be able to protect you. After all, I haven’t recovered even a tenth of my power,” scolded the Earth Cauldron.

It understood Long Chen’s character. If this fellow saw a treasure, his chronic disease would flare up, and he would do anything to get it.

However, it was different this time. The devil fetus was on the verge of full maturity. Even if they could interrupt its growth, it would still be on the level of a pre-Emperor—an existence that could crush Long Chen with a single finger.

“There’s always a way!” declared Long Chen obstinately. He continued examining the devil fetus with the violet crystal heavenly eye.

“Listen to my advice. This world has many traps, and if you can’t control yourself, you will fall into one. For example, cats like to eat fish but can’t swim, while fish like to eat earthworms but can’t leave the water. There are countless alluring baits, but you can’t catch them all. If you try, you might only end up losing your life,” the Earth Cauldron warned earnestly.

“Whether or not I succeed, I have to try it. I can’t rest easy without giving it a shot,” Long Chen replied, his expression serious. “With my bad luck, if I want to get stronger, I have to rely on myself. Rather than counting on luck, I must depend on my own power. To seize any opportunity, I need to put in thousands of times the effort. If I let any chance slip by, I may not be able to turn the tide when tribulations come.”

Hearing this, the Earth Cauldron could only helplessly sigh. It could have forcibly bound Long Chen and dragged him away in the past. However, ever since he had recognized Long Chen as its master, it had no choice but to follow his will. Even if what Long Chen was doing was wrong, it could only watch.

Long Chen continued to examine the world inside the devil fetus. He focused on the aura of the so-called Devil Spirit inside the fetus and quickly started to sweat.

What Long Chen discovered was that the devil fetus and the altar were essentially one entity, with the Devil Spirit at the core of this monstrous formation. When he first jumped onto the altar, it was the Devil Spirit’s instinctual sense of danger that had activated the altar’s defenses.

Just as the Earth Cauldron had mentioned, the Devil Spirit was controlling the altar directly, and there appeared to be no opening or vulnerability to be exploited.

“That’s not right. If the Devil Spirit was placed inside, there has to be some kind of opening,” Long Chen muttered, a flash of inspiration striking him.

He carefully re-examined the shell of the devil fetus. This time, he noticed a circular mark at the very top of it.

“It’s definitely there!” Long Chen’s eyes gleamed with determination.

To avoid drawing the Devil Spirit’s attention, Long Chen broke off a piece of the devil creature’s leg and bound it to the bottom of his feet. He then moved cautiously toward the devil fetus.

As expected, if a devil creature touched the altar, it wouldn’t trigger its attack. Long Chen slowly crept up to the devil fetus and then started to climb it.

Upon reaching the top of the devil fetus, Long Chen noticed that the Devil Spirit remained unresponsive. This made him feel much more confident, and he turned his attention to the circular mark.

The mark was clearly the result of someone cutting open the egg to insert the Devil Spirit. Long Chen was certain that the devil fetus and the Devil Spirit had not originally been one entity, as their fluctuations were distinctly different.

Long Chen took out a jade ruler and gently tapped that mark, but there was no reaction. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the opening was sealed with what appeared to be a glue-like substance.

Long Chen tried to use the jade ruler to pry it open, but it was exceptionally tough. The ruler couldn’t break it, and he dared not use a weapon, fearing that the weapon’s innate killing intent might awaken the Devil Spirit.

“This is the saliva of a fiend devil. It’s an exceptional glue that remains potent even after millions of years. Even a sword would struggle to break it. If you wish to open it without causing a disturbance, it would likely take months. There’s no way for you to open it in a short time,” the Earth Cauldron commented, hoping to dissuade Long Chen.

“Saliva?” Long Chen mused, an idea forming. He extended a finger, and a white flame danced at its tip. Carefully, he traced the glue on the incision with the flame.

The glue quickly incinerated under the flame’s touch, revealing the crack.

“This is...” The Earth Cauldron was startled. Long Chen’s ingenuity impressed it. It hadn’t considered that the Ice Soul Flame could counter the fiend devil saliva so effectively.

The Ice Soul Flame incinerated the glue and then froze it. When Long Chen’s finger completed a full loop, a layer of frost formed over the incision. He took out the jade ruler again, lightly tapping the layer of frost to remove the fiend devil saliva.

Long Chen cautiously pulled the shell open. The cover was several feet long, and as it opened, Grandmist qi poured out, accompanied by a powerful Emperor pressure that made Long Chen almost instinctively flee.

Fortunately, Long Chen was prepared. When the lid opened, he clearly sensed the Devil Spirit’s body quiver ever so slightly, causing his heart to clench. The Earth Cauldron’s runes suddenly activated. It was just as nervous as Long Chen. If anything happened, it would instantly whisk Long Chen away.

Luckily, after quivering ever so slightly, the Devil Spirit fell silent again. Long Chen sighed in relief. At this moment, a whirlpool appeared above Long Chen’s head; it was condensed by the Earth Cauldron. The aura emanating from the devil fetus was being sucked into the primal chaos space. This energy was too precious to waste.

Long Chen didn’t immediately move. He waited a full incense stick of time, observing the Devil Spirit’s aura. Once he saw that it was steady, as if in a deep slumber again, he finally looked down.

Long Chen’s heart continued to sink. This Devil Spirit had locked in the entire altar’s energy, essentially functioning as the brain and the heart. No matter what he did, he would risk awakening it.

In other words, he couldn’t get anything unless he took the entire altar. However, as this altar was alive, he couldn’t draw it into the primal chaos space.

“It’s useless. You’re trying to steal from the lion’s mouth. No matter how deep its slumber is, you won’t have a chance,” said the Earth Cauldron, still doubting Long Chen’s plan.

Suddenly, Long Chen’s Yuan Spirit appeared in the primal chaos space. He waved his hand, and countless medicinal ingredients flew toward him. The Earth Cauldron asked, “What are you doing?”

“Whatever, I’ll be shameless this time. I’ll poison it to death!”