Chapter 175: Absolutely Not Allowed (Request Subscription)

Indeed, the dead have no value!

No matter how glorious or exalted you were in life, once you become a corpse, you lose over ninety percent of your worth.

Previously, the Purple Wing King, Zi Hao, was always surrounded by attendants and guards; even when resting, he had a fourth-rank Ningxing-tier warrior on night watch.

But now that he's a corpse, he's been carelessly tossed into a storage warehouse.

He was likely secretly dumped here—only one early-stage Lianning guard is on duty, and he's dozing off.

But then again, only this way would no one notice Zi Hao's corpse.

The dozing guard was practically handing Xu Jin a pillow—the Wenmeng Star Pattern activated, and he instantly fell into deep sleep.

Soon, Xu Jin obtained the intelligence he needed.

The Purple Wing Palace's Grand Commander, Zi Chi, came to retrieve something an hour ago.

Retrieving something was just an excuse; his real purpose was to deliver Zi Hao's corpse.

Xu Jin entered the warehouse effortlessly; inside were everyday items used for imperial rewards, none particularly valuable.

Zi Hao's corpse lay discarded on the floor.

The headless body looked grotesque.

Xu Jin smiled—he was glad. Aside from the missing head, the rest of the corpse was intact, meaning what he needed was still there.

He felt around Zi Hao's robes—everything had been stripped away.

Especially the disheveled clothing, indicating Zi Hao had already been looted.

A star-blade materialized; Xu Jin directly excavated the fourth-rank upper-tier Thunder Spirit Star Core glowing with lightning from Zi Hao's chest.

The Lower Star Palace remained empty.

This was the very thing Xu Jin had longed for since killing Zi Hao.

Zi Hao, King of the Third-Rank Purple Wind Star Region, a fourth-rank Ningxing Ninth Layer peak cultivator.

What kind of protective star pattern would his star core grant Xu Jin?

Upon acquiring it, as the Candou Altar shimmered with starlight, Xu Jin immediately replaced it with the fourth-rank upper-tier Thunder Spirit Star Core—instantly, information appeared on the Jade Tablet.

【Offered Spirit Object Three: Fourth-Rank Upper Thunder Spirit】

【Available Protection: Mid-Rank Thunder Source, Mid-Rank Thunder Wing, Purple Thunder Crash】

The moment Xu Jin saw "Mid-Rank Thunder Source," he knew it was worth it.

More than worth it.

He immediately selected the Mid-Rank Thunder Source protective star pattern.

But Xu Jin wasn't blinded by this gain—so far, all his thunder star arts came from external sources.

Thus, fundamentally, beyond the speed and high burst of thunder star arts, their true power still lagged significantly behind his main fire star arts.

After careful calculation, his thunder star arts currently lacked one Thunder Feather Heart and one burst star pattern similar to Flame Burst.

Moreover, Xu Jin had activated the Mingji Star Pattern several times.

The Mid-Rank Thunder Source granted by the fourth-rank upper Thunder Spirit still fell slightly short of the fourth-rank upper Mid-Rank Fire Source he had inscribed.

Of course, this was a subtle difference—without the Mingji Star Pattern, Xu Jin wouldn't have sensed it.

Yet this journey through the Third-Rank Purple Wind Star Region clarified much of Xu Jin's future cultivation path.

If no other surprises arise, his future star arts will likely focus on fire and thunder.

After reaching Ningxing, he must find a way to inscribe a thunder star core.

With fire and thunder combined, his combat power would surge dramatically.

The only problem: the Great Chen State Academy had extremely few thunder star patterns.

Xu Jin wasn't in a hurry—he'd wait until after reaching Ningxing, then figure it out slowly.

After thinking it over, Xu Jin adjusted his three offered star cores to two fourth-rank Thunder Spirits and one third-rank upper Fire Spirit.

Flame Burst remained his strongest technique.

A few breaths later, Xu Jin left the warehouse.

He began wandering and sensing throughout the palace.

He was certainly going to cause chaos—but before doing so, he needed to identify the palace's dangers and secure an escape route.

The Luanying's survival ability: he had already replenished the star power of the Golden Bell Shield, but the Luanying Technique itself truly required a full day to recover.

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Jin had fully mapped everything out.

The entire palace currently held only one Ningxing Third Layer Purple Wing noble guard—Zi Chi's personal confidant.

The entire Purple Wing Palace City held only two Ningxing Third Layer Purple Wing nobles stationed as defenders—both were Zi Chi's loyalists.

All other experts, including Zi Chi, had been sent out to pursue Xu Jin.

Becoming the Purple Wing Clan's king was difficult.

But if he could obtain and assimilate the Thunder Feather Heart Xu Jin had stolen earlier, he'd already secured seven-tenths of the throne.

"If that's the case, not causing a major disturbance would be an insult to your king."

Xu Jin murmured.

He returned to the warehouse, expelled star power—and the still-sleeping Lianning guard died silently.

The next instant, Xu Jin hoisted Zi Hao's corpse onto his shoulder.

Fortunately, Zi Hao's distinctive purple royal robe had not been removed.

Otherwise, this headless corpse would've been impossible to identify.

Within the entire Purple Wind Star Region, only the king could wear the most prestigious purple garments.

The next instant, his back erupted with thunder wings—he unleashed consecutive Thunder Burst Steps, instantly crossing half the palace to reach the palace gates, where the Purple Wing army was most concentrated.

Many Purple Wing nobles, drawn by the commotion, had also gathered there, trying to petition their king, but were blocked by soldiers!

Thunder light exploded—Xu Jin instantly drew all attention.

"Zi Hao is dead! Here is his corpse!"

Xu Jin's thunderous voice shattered the air, and he hurled Zi Hao's corpse directly into the crowd of Purple Wing nobles before the palace gates.

Simultaneously, the distant fourth-rank Ningxing Third Layer patrol guard roared, his thunder wings flared, and he charged toward Xu Jin.

As he rushed forward, he bellowed orders: "False incitement! Purple Wing Guards, retrieve the corpse! Anyone who obstructs—kill!"

The fourth-rank Ningxing Third Layer guard's voice cut off abruptly.

Xu Jin had advanced—Thunder Burst Step exploded into the guard's chest, shattering his soul with Break Evil Strike!

The fourth-rank Third Layer expert immediately clutched his head, screaming in agony, his starlight dissolving as he plummeted from the sky.

As he fell, Xu Jin chased him and unleashed Flame Burst.

Exploded head!

Slain!

The next instant, Xu Jin didn't pause—he charged toward the Purple Wing Guards ordered to retrieve the corpse.

Flame Burst, Starfire Ring, and consecutive Thunder Arrows erupted.

In an instant, over twenty Purple Wing Guards were wiped out.

As the Purple Wing nobles scattered in terror, believing Xu Jin would kill them too, a thunderous explosion sounded—and Xu Jin vanished.

The fleeing nobles instantly swarmed back, surrounding the corpse Xu Jin had dropped.

The next instant, one Purple Wing noble collapsed to his knees, wailing.

"My King! My King!"

A few breaths later, cries filled the palace gates.

More and more Purple Wing nobles arrived, gathered around their king's corpse, and wept.

Soon, figures surged out from within the Purple Wing Palace City, racing to deliver news.

Originally, each noble house had dispatched elite escorts to protect their messengers and help them break out of the palace city.

But when they reached the streets, they found no one blocking them.

The Purple Wing Guards stationed in the city were in utter chaos—some areas were already unguarded.

They slipped out of the city effortlessly.

Soon, dozens to hundreds of messengers, representing various noble houses, flew off in all directions.

On the city walls, Xu Jin watched the fleeing messengers, his expression cold. Done.

His plan had succeeded completely.

Why it succeeded? Naturally, Xu Jin had helped.

In just half a quarter-hour, Xu Jin had slaughtered freely throughout the Purple Wing Palace City.

First, he killed another fourth-rank Ningxing Third Layer officer, then continuously patrolled the entire city, assassinating Purple Wing Guard officers.

Openly, boldly patrolling.

At this moment, the entire Purple Wing Palace City had no Ningxing-tier experts left—the strongest were merely Lianning Ninth Layer.

With consecutive Thunder Burst Steps, Xu Jin could easily outrun them by hundreds of meters.

But whenever he spotted anyone directing other Purple Wing Guards, he'd rush in and obliterate them with a Flame Burst or Thunder Arrow.

At most, two Flame Bursts were enough to kill them.

In the shortest time possible, Xu Jin crippled the Purple Wing Guard's command system.

Of course, Xu Jin had also sustained injuries.

Dozens of mid- to late-stage Lianning experts attacking him wasn't empty threat.

Even with his extremely agile movement, he'd still been struck multiple times.

The Golden Bell Shield was even used once to block it.

But Xu Jin knew he should leave.

The messengers who slipped away during the chaos weren't just those sent by the Zi Yi nobles to inform city lords—they must also include Zi Chi's personal confidants.

Xu Jin couldn't verify this, so he let them go.

Xu Jin estimated Zi Chi would return within half an hour, at most one hour.

Ninety percent likely, he'd come back with a large force.

With Xu Jin's current combat power, he could still kill one Fourth-Rank Condensing Star mid-stage opponent, but two would be a fight for survival.

If he encountered a Fourth-Rank Condensing Star late-stage expert while the Star Artifact Luanshengzhui hadn't recovered, it would be extremely dangerous.

Safety first!

Under these circumstances, Xu Jin had little time left.

Xu Jin merely ransacked the royal palace for fifteen minutes, grabbing a dozen or so star cores, especially Fourth-Rank ones—he couldn't afford to waste them.

The palace was in chaos; Xu Jin had no time to find the secret vault, only seizing over a hundred Third-Rank Star Jade Tablets, adding a hundred streaks of starlight to the Candou Platform.

He quickly left the city.

Then, a hundred li beyond Zi Yi Royal City, he hid and began restoring his star power.

Two cun later, Xu Jin was jolted by the Mingji Star Pattern's warning—dozens of lightning flashes streaked across the distant sky toward Zi Yi Royal City, two of the auras especially powerful.

They were Condensing Star late-stage auras.

An hour later, another Fourth-Rank Condensing Star eighth-layer aura surged forward, accompanied by over a dozen Fourth-Rank Condensing Star Zi Yi warriors, heading straight for Zi Yi Royal City.

Soon after, lightning exploded within Zi Yi Royal City, and fierce battles raged continuously.

But this battle didn't last long.

Then another Fourth-Rank Condensing Star eighth-layer aura rushed toward Zi Yi Royal City—Xu Jin knew the grand drama of the Third-Rank Zi Feng Star Region had finally begun.

And he could now watch it in peace.

As for his fellow sect members, they were surely perfectly safe!

Almost all Fourth-Rank Condensing Star experts had gathered in Zi Yi Royal City to join the struggle for the throne.

Even elite Star Refining experts were still on their way.

Ji Hongli, Ying Ge, and others would face no danger as long as they didn't actively head toward the royal city.

And right now, less than a day and a half remained until the end of the Selection Battle.

Xu Jin, meanwhile, cultivated while planning his next move.

Inside the Cangming Star Palace's Dachen Main Hall, Zhaixing Tower branch.

Du Tingyun and Zhang Zhen's anxiety had lasted a full day and night.

They simply couldn't fathom how two Star Palace disciples and one Guodao Academy disciple could coexist peacefully for over a day despite overlapping positions?

What exactly had happened?

Multiple Six-Golden-Wheel position updates confirmed they were still alive.

So what exactly had happened?

The two Star Lords had exhausted themselves worrying over these two lone talents.

Suddenly, Du Tingyun glanced at the water clock—the next position update time had arrived.

Du Tingyun and Zhang Zhen both fixed their gazes on Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, staring intently, a clear reminder in their eyes.

Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao naturally sensed this gaze; he slowly set down his chess piece before turning to the Six-Golden-Wheel.

So far, more than half the Selection Battle time had passed, and all Guodao Academy disciples from Chen Guo remained alive.

This was an unprecedented achievement—and the very reason Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao had been so leisurely.

With this record, even if one or two disciples were lost in the next one or two days, Chen Guo's Guodao Academy would still win decisively.

Far better than the catastrophic loss of four prodigies under Plan A.

Most crucially, it inflicted massive losses on the two Star Palaces.

Five prodigy losses were substantial.

The two Star Palaces would be heartbroken!

The next instant, as Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao channeled starlight into the Six-Golden-Wheel, it blazed once more with blinding golden light.

A few golden dots appeared.

Seven!

All seven golden dots remained, indicating all seven Guodao Academy disciples from Chen Guo were still alive.

But the next instant, Cheng Yuexiao, Meng Yanhui, Du Tingyun, and Zhang Zhen all froze.

Not a single red dot remained!

Didn't this mean all Star Palace disciples had been wiped out?

How was this possible?

Not just the two Star Lords were stunned.

Even Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao was shocked.

As for Left Sacrificial Officer Meng Yanhui, he was utterly dumbfounded, even rubbing his eyes unconsciously.

Had he seen things incorrectly?

Du Tingyun and Zhang Zhen were rubbing their eyes too!

Total annihilation!

How could this be?

Never before had such a defeat occurred!

After a long silence, Du Tingyun and Zhang Zhen's faces turned ashen—they had given up.

Cheng Yuexiao activated the Six-Golden-Wheel several more times, confirming all Star Palace disciples had perished.

The entire meditation chamber fell utterly silent.

After a long while, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao spoke slowly, "Gentlemen, since all Star Palace disciples have fallen, shall we conclude the Selection Battle now?

Retrieve the Guodao Academy disciples—we can return and rest."

As the dazed Star Lord Du Tingyun was about to agree, Zhang Zhen's mustache bristled, "No!"

"Not before five days are up—absolutely not!

That's the rule!"

Zhang Zhen's eyes reddened as he forcefully rejected Grand Master's proposal.

The dazed Du Tingyun snapped back to awareness.

"No! Not before five days are up—absolutely not!"

There's still the Third-Rank star region's alien invasion to consider.

In the coming day or so, Chen Guo's Guodao Academy disciples will face full-scale assaults from the Third-Rank Zi Feng Star Region's Zi Yi aliens.

There's already celestial will's rejection.

Moreover, in the backroom maneuvers, Cangming Star Palace directly ordered Zhang Shuo to command Zi Yi's king, Zi Hao, to annihilate all Chen Guo Guodao Academy disciples.

So it cannot end.

Seeing their firm resolve, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao did not press further.

"If you insist, then continue!"

(End of Chapter)