Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Chapter 5900: Teaching

“I knew it,” Liu Ruyan said, shaking her head.

The moment Yuanshan started laughing, Liu Ruyan had shaken her head. She knew Long Chen’s face-slap was on the way.

Oftentimes, Long Chen wasn’t even intentionally slapping people—it was just a reflex he had cultivated. Once the conditions were met, it didn’t matter who the target was, what their status was, or what the consequences might be… his hand moved on its own.

And so, when Yuanshan started laughing like the victor, as if he were already toying with his prey, that arrogant cackle practically demanded a slap. It was inevitable.

But Yuanshan wasn’t just slapped—he was kicked right after. He slammed into the barrier with a resounding boom and bounced off like a ragdoll.

“What…?”

Everyone was shocked. Everyone’s attention had been fixed on the martial stage, so they had clearly seen Long Chen’s slap. While Yuanshan hadn’t even had time to react, his protective divine light had appeared automatically.

The runes on his body in particular gathered on his face, but Long Chen’s slap directly blew them apart.

The moment his protective divine light was dispersed, his natural defenses were dropped. Long Chen’s kick smashed into his abdomen solidly.

Yuanshan bounced off the barrier, tumbled a few times on the ground, and then spat out a mouthful of blood, startling everyone.

As for Long Chen, he didn’t follow up after this attack. He just stood there looking at him, disdainfully saying, “I told you that you had to take out your strongest form. Otherwise, you aren’t even qualified to compete with me. Now do you believe me?”

“Bullshit!” Yuanshan roared as he crawled to his feet.

A deep handprint was etched into his twisted face.

BOOM!

He stomped the ground furiously. The martial stage cracked beneath his foot, and he shot toward Long Chen like lightning. Black runes wove on top of his fist, forming a strange glove. The space in front of him warped under its power.

Long Chen remained composed, one hand behind his back. With his free hand, he slowly raised a finger… then shifted to a fist… then to an open palm. His movements were fast, but they remained clear and precise.

Yuanshan’s punch was caught by Long Chen’s palm. At the same time, Long Chen’s leg whipped out and struck.

Yuanshan was stunned—his fist was glued to Long Chen’s hand, and as Long Chen pulled away, Yuanshan was dragged forward.

“What?!”

The spectators were dumbfounded. Even Lian Sanqiang and Liu Xihua couldn’t hide their shock.

Long Chen’s movements were incredibly fast, yet everything had been transmitted clearly into their eyes. And it was precisely because they saw it so clearly that they were so shaken.

Yuanshan had launched a single punch.

But Long Chen had responded with three moves in that brief instant.

First, a finger flick that released a gust of wind. It was not aimed directly at Yuanshan’s fist and just knocked it aside every so slightly.

Yuanshan instinctively corrected the angle of his attack to avoid missing his target. That moment of adjustment left him wide open. Then, Long Chen’s second move arrived, disrupting Yuanshan’s balance further.

After that, with the final move, Long Chen grabbed Yuanshan’s fist and pulled, completely redirecting his momentum and flinging him through the air.

A finger. A fist. A palm.

Each movement flowed into the next, swift and fluid, yet brimming with profoundities. And all of it was executed with ease. The sheer control Long Chen displayed was beyond belief.

“This is what boss Long Chen was trying to teach us!” exclaimed one of the Undying race’s Sovereign sprouts.

Long Chen had once told them to use their opponent’s power to their advantage. By using just a dab of their own energy, they could throw the opponent’s power into disorder. But he hadn’t explained how to do it. He’d told them to think about it themselves.

The Undying Willow race had always been biased against human teachings. Even after pondering his words, they hadn’t been able to grasp the method.

But now, seeing it with their own eyes—seeing how Long Chen dismantled a powerful attack with the gentlest touch—they understood.

In truth, the principle was very simple. Long Chen could have easily explained it or demonstrated it to them.

But the Dao wasn’t something to be handed over lightly. True understanding came only after effort—only when one paid a price to earn it. That was when its value became clear.

They had puzzled over his words for so long without success. But this moment of insight? It was precious. And because it was earned, they would treasure it and strive to absorb its essence into their cultivation.

“Die!”

Although Yuanshan was sent flying, he wasn’t injured. But the feeling of being toyed with sent him into a rage.

He launched into a furious barrage of punches. His fists roared toward Long Chen like thunder, each strike infused with terrifying power.

Having been humiliated in his last exchange, Yuanshan was determined to win through brute force. If he changed tactics, it would mean admitting he couldn’t match Long Chen in close combat.

So he poured everything into this flood of punches. He didn’t believe Long Chen could keep deflecting them all with trickery.

Facing this barrage of punches, Long Chen still kept one hand behind his back.

With his free hand, he flicked and swept through the air—sometimes a finger, sometimes a palm, a nudge here, a gentle push there. His movements looked almost like a graceful dance. Every one of Yuanshan’s attacks missed its mark.

Yuanshan’s speed grew until the entire stage was a blur of afterimages. But no matter how intense his assault became, Long Chen remained calm, untouchable, and utterly at ease. He easily resolves Yuanshan’s attacks.

The Undying race’s experts no longer worried for him. Instead, their eyes burned with focus, absorbing every movement, every detail.

Long Chen was using this battle to teach them something they had never learned before.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the afterimages vanished and the martial stage fell silent.

Yuanshan and Long Chen stood three hundred meters apart, staring each other down.

Long Chen clasped his hands behind his back once more and said coolly, “Summon your ultimate form. Don’t waste my time.”