Chapter 228

In the General Affairs Hall of the Tianyang Star Temple's main hall, Hu Xuechuan idly watched the blood-red dot on the Star Locator disc.

That blood-red dot was the location of Qi Shanye, whom he had tracked for three years.

For the past month, the blood-red dot had been at an extremely distant position, so far that the Star Locator could not even lock onto a specific direction.

But over these past two days, the blood-red dot representing Qi Shanye had gradually become clearer.

At least, he could now lock onto its direction.

Southeast of the Tianyang Star Temple's main hall—but beyond that, nothing more precise.

Still, if he wanted to pinpoint Qi Shanye's exact location, it wouldn't be difficult.

Just teleport a few times to the Zhaixing Tower in the southeast direction, and he could narrow down Qi Shanye's approximate position, then track him—but whether he could catch him was another matter.

But the most critical question was: even if he caught him, could he actually hold onto Qi Shanye? That was a major problem.

In three years, he had caught up to Qi Shanye four times.

The first time, he successfully severely wounded Qi Shanye and obtained a single drop of his essence blood, which ever since had clung to him like a bone-deep parasite, locking Qi Shanye's location with unyielding precision.

The second time, he caught up to Qi Shanye and successfully sealed him inside Yanzhou—but the bastard used a special star artifact to mask his aura, leading to their standoff.

He tightly blockaded the entire Yanzhou and mobilized official forces to hunt down Qi Shanye.

In the end, Dong Zhao of the Jinshan Dao Academy interfered, ruined his plans, claimed a great achievement for himself, and even destroyed the future of his subordinate Zhou Qingzhu, who was exiled to the Star River Battlefield.

The third time, Qi Shanye inexplicably abandoned all aura concealment, allowing him to successfully catch up.

Unfortunately, he nearly died at Qi Shanye's hands!

The fourth time, it was even more infuriating: he spent half his life's savings to trap Qi Shanye inside the Hengsha County City of Da Chu, where capture seemed certain—only for Qi Shanye to deceive him with some secret technique, leaving him with nothing but losses.

Four failures in total.

He had squandered half his life's savings.

His personal future was ruined.

Fortunately, Hu Xuechuan had some roots within the Tianyang Star Temple; otherwise, he would have been exiled to the Star River Battlefield like Zhou Qingzhu long ago.

Now, he held a meaningless post at the main hall, just biding his time, hoping to break through to the sixth rank.

But Hu Xuechuan knew well: with his talent and spiritual soul cultivation base, breaking through to the sixth rank on his own was an impossible dream.

But if he could obtain the Chengpo Star Pattern from Qi Shanye, he would surely break through to the sixth rank within five to ten years, and have a chance at the seventh rank within two or three decades!

Yet now, the problem was that four consecutive failures had made Hu Xuechuan afraid.

Even if he caught Qi Shanye, what then?

Another failure.

One misstep, and he might lose half his life.

Last time, his loyal subordinate Zhu Ju died in battle.

"My lord."

Suddenly, his old subordinate Lin Lie appeared behind him.

When the Yanzhou branch of the Tianyang Star Temple was breached by the Demon Arrow Mo Ji, Lin Lie was implicated—but fortunately, Hu Xuechuan protected him.

"How did the coordination go?" Hu Xuechuan asked.

"My lord, I contacted five people. Even after offering heavy rewards, only two agreed to come help." Lin Lie replied gloomily.

Hu Xuechuan frowned. This was exactly what he expected—people abandoned you the moment you fell from favor.

His former subordinates, now utterly unmanageable.

"Two, plus you and me—that's only four fifth-rank cultivators. Not enough!"

Hu Xuechuan shook his head. "Qi the old devil has grown wiser. He dares to reappear after only a month and a half—he must have confidence. Perhaps he's allied with some Lingji remnant, which is why he dares to roam the Central Plains."

"Then does my lord intend to give up?"

"Give up?"

Those two words made Hu Xuechuan fall into deep thought.

He could never give up.

He had invested so much—his future destroyed. How could he possibly give up?

But risking it again, after four failures, he no longer dared.

If he failed again, next time he wouldn't even be able to summon two old subordinates—next time, he might not even get half one.

How could he break this deadlock?

"It seems I have no choice but to use that method," Hu Xuechuan murmured.

Hearing this, Lin Lie's expression shifted. "My lord's meaning is?"

"Since I can't monopolize it, I'll find a trustworthy person to share it with. I can't afford another failure—if I fail again, I'll become a laughingstock of the Hu family, doomed to rot in this idle post until I die."

"My lord is wise!"

Lin Lie offered his praise, but silently thought: if my lord had realized this sooner, he'd have succeeded long ago.

"Come, come with me to see someone."

October 16, dawn, Yin Hour, 25 minutes.

Qi Shanye, Mo Ji the Demon Arrow, and Xu Jin had each restored to their peak states and arrived at the chosen location.

"If Hu Xuechuan has arrived but I haven't finished, use your Star Seal immediately—your survival comes first," Qi Shanye instructed Mo Ji.

"I'm not an idiot," Mo Ji replied irritably.

He didn't mind not seeing Qi's disciple.

But seeing him? Only envy and resentment.

Why couldn't he get a disciple like that?

"Alright, I'm starting!"

In the next instant, Qi Shanye chanted, and a small, star-glittering pavilion flew out from his body, instantly growing with the wind—within two breaths, it expanded into a nine-story pavilion shimmering with starlight.

The moment it touched the ground, star energy surged from all directions like a tidal wave into the Zhaixing Pavilion's branch.

Qi Shanye watched silently, waiting quietly as the pavilion shifted from ethereal to solid, returning to the mortal realm.

"One rapid deployment and retrieval requires ten thousand strands of starlight. Fortunately, the branch pavilion still had some reserves—otherwise, I couldn't even have restored it to reality this quickly."

"To deploy and retract once requires ten thousand strands of starlight; fortunately, there were still some reserves left in the branch tower, otherwise I couldn't even bring this star tower back into the world quickly."

No wonder Master Mo Ji said he couldn't afford it.

Ten thousand strands of starlight for one rapid deployment? That was astronomical.

But his master had said it was rapid deployment.

There must be slower, cheaper methods.

Ten breaths later, the Zhaixing Pavilion's branch shifted from ethereal to solid. The moment it became real, Qi Shanye roared and seized Xu Jin, instantly stepping into the pavilion's interior.

Qi Shanye first brought Xu Jin to the seventh floor of the Zhaixing Pavilion's branch.

The seventh floor was filled with countless jade tablets—over a thousand of them.

Qi Shanye swept his sleeve, and in an instant, over nine hundred jade tablets were swept down and bundled into Xu Jin's hands.

"For safety's sake, don't destroy them yourself.

Everything I can easily retrieve now consists of research notes and some star patterns and star arts accessible under my authority.

But the star patterns and star arts I could retrieve, I've mostly already taught you—they're of little use to you now.

But the research notes you need? They're all here. You can study them carefully when you have time.

As for the remaining dozens, it's a matter of luck.

If they're still here when the time comes, you can learn them all.

If they vanish too, then it's fate." Qi Shanye said.

"If you also choose to destroy yourself, then that's fate," Qi Shanye said.

In the next instant, Qi Shanye pulled Xu Jin again, and they appeared on the ninth floor of the Zhaixing Pavilion's branch—Mo Ji was already waiting there.

The next instant, Qi Shanye pulled Xu Jin again, and they appeared on the ninth floor of the Star-Picking Tower's branch tower; Mo Ji, the demon arrow, was already waiting there.

In the next instant, Qi Shanye pulled out a Zhaixing Token, poured star energy into it, and the token instantly emitted three-colored light. He sank his mind into it and began executing the plan.

"I propose—you should approve all of it."

"I propose that if you approve, the rest will all pass."

Almost simultaneously, a stream of messages appeared before Qi Shanye.

【Confirm closure of communication with Lingji Main Pavilion?】

【Confirm closure of communication with Lingji Main Tower?】

【Confirm closure of teleportation with Lingji Main Pavilion?】

【Confirm closure of teleportation with Lingji Main Tower?】

【Warning: You are about to sever the final link to the Lingji Main Pavilion. Closing this link will permanently disconnect this branch pavilion from the main pavilion!】

【WARNING: You are about to sever the final link to the Lingji Main Tower. Closing this connection will cut off all ties between this branch tower and the Lingji Main Tower!】

【Warning: This branch pavilion is now completely disconnected from the Lingji Main Pavilion. Contact the main pavilion immediately, or all functions of this branch will cease.】

When he saw this message, Qi Shanye glanced at Mo Ji.

The two exchanged a look as if reading each other's minds—in the next instant, the Zhaixing Tokens in both their hands erupted in blinding light.

The two exchanged a glance as if reading each other's thoughts; in the next instant, brilliant light erupted simultaneously within their Star-Picking Tokens.

Both men shuddered violently and spat blood.

In the next instant, the colorful light within Qi Shanye's Zhaixing Token vanished completely.

In the next instant, the colorful radiance within Lao Qi's Star-Plucking Token vanished instantly.

At the center of the ninth floor, a brilliant swirl of colorful spiritual light appeared.

"This is the remaining spirit of the Star Tower! Tian Sheng, quickly refine it with your divine soul power!" Qi Shanye roared, blood still drying at the corner of his mouth.

"Understood."

In the next instant, Xu Jin's divine soul power surged forward like water, beginning to refine the Star Tower spirit according to Qi Shanye's instructions.

The moment it enveloped the light, Xu Jin suddenly saw radiant glyphs appear before his eyes.

【Esteemed Bronze-Level Administrator, do you wish to assume control of this branch tower?】

【Yes.】【Esteemed Bronze-Level Administrator, if you confirm your intent to assume control of this branch tower, it will halt its self-destruction. Continue refining the Star Tower spirit to complete the final takeover.】

When Xu Jin saw this message, he was stunned.

He hadn't expected that after the owner activated the self-destruction authority, the branch tower would trigger self-destruction immediately.

But coincidentally, the Bronze-Level Administrator permission he had won by challenging Canxing allowed him to take over the abandoned branch tower.

Was this luck?

Or mere coincidence?

"Jin'er, how long will it take to complete the refinement?" Qi Shanye transmitted a voice message.

"I feel it will take at least two kezhong."

Upon hearing this, Qi Shanye was overjoyed—this speed was far faster than he'd anticipated; his initial estimate had been nearly half an hour.

"Good. Focus on the refinement. Don't worry about anything else."

After speaking, Qi Shanye wiped the blood from his lips and turned to Mo Ji, "Old friend, let's go. Now we wait for our old acquaintance to arrive."

"Let's go. We've prepared quite the gift for him—hope he doesn't chicken out!"

Inside the General Affairs Hall of the Tianyang Star Hall, Hu Xuechuan suddenly awoke from sleep due to an inexplicable surge of star energy.

He saw his star instrument, the Dingxing Pan, glowing brilliantly— the faint crimson dot representing Qi Shanye's location had suddenly become sharp and enormous.

With just one glance, Hu Xuechuan deduced Qi Shanye's approximate location—Leizhou!

Within the vicinity of Chen Guo's Leizhou!

"Lin Lie, assemble the troops!"

After giving the order, Hu Xuechuan steadied himself, then pondered: why had Qi Shanye's location suddenly become so clear?

The moment he focused, his mind cleared completely.

The last time this happened, when he rushed over, Qi Shanye had just claimed the branch tower he had coveted.

Then today?

In the next instant, Hu Xuechuan was fully alert.

He immediately seized the Star Tower Token and sent a starlight message—urgent, urgent—to another: 【Changyan, that bastard has appeared.】

He waited a few breaths—no reply. He sent another urgent message. After a few more breaths, he received a response.

Then Hu Xuechuan, accompanied by two arriving subordinates and Lin Lie, anxiously waited before the Star Tower branch.

While waiting, he kept glancing at the massive crimson dot.

He feared it might vanish.

After waiting over twenty breaths, he saw starlight descend as an elder and a youth arrived instantly.

Seeing the elder, Hu Xuechuan's expression brightened.

This matter was settled.

But Hu Xuechuan stepped forward to greet the young man: "Seventeenth Brother, you've finally arrived. Shall I depart now?"

As he spoke, Hu Xuechuan nodded to the elder: "Fu Lao."

"Hmm. Is what you said true?"

"Absolutely true!"

Upon receiving confirmation, the elder nodded to the youth Hu Changyan, and the six of them stepped together into the main tower of the Tianyang Star Hall—teleportation!

Destination: Chen Guo's Leizhou!

Ten breaths later, the six appeared outside the Leizhou branch tower of the Star Tower. After showing their identity tokens to the sentries, they shot skyward instantly, following Hu Xuechuan as they raced across the stars.

This sight alarmed the Head of the Leizhou State Dao Academy, the Director of the Tianyang Star Hall's Leizhou Branch, and the Director of the Cangming Star Hall's Leizhou Branch.

After all, five fifth-rank experts arriving simultaneously, plus one sixth-rank expert—how could they not be noticed?

After some thought, the Head of the Leizhou State Dao Academy faithfully reported the situation to the Chen Guo State Dao Academy.

The Director of the Tianyang Star Hall's Leizhou Branch had already been warned: a senior official from the main hall was handling matters—just monitor the Cangming Star Hall's branch and the Leizhou State Dao Academy.

The Director of the Cangming Star Hall's Leizhou Branch was deeply curious, but could not leave his post for the moment.

Deep within the Thunderfall Mountains.

Qi Shanye and Mo Ji sat side by side before the Star Tower branch, where Xu Jin was still refining it. A jar of wine sat between them; they drank, sip by sip, occasionally glancing back at the tower behind them.

Because it had no master, the Star Tower could not vanish into the void after manifesting, and now glowed brilliantly.

"Bottoms up!"

As Mo Ji raised the cup to his lips, he suddenly froze, staring into the distance: "They're coming!"

In the night sky far away, several streaks of starlight raced toward them like meteors.

In the next instant, Mo Ji drained his cup and smashed it to shards with a loud crash.

"I'm taking position!"

Two breaths later, Mo Ji's aura vanished completely, swallowed by the mountains.

Qi Shanye also drained his cup, wiping his mouth with a cold, grim smile: "Still haunting me, aren't you?"

As he smiled, he glanced at his missing right arm—his expression grew even colder.

"Five!"

"Only five detected so far. Hu Xuechuan really thinks highly of me—he's sent five experts. Don't hold back—just blast them all!"

"Don't worry."

Mo Ji's divine soul voice echoed in his ears.

Time flew. After a hundred breaths, five streaks of starlight plummeted down—the leader was none other than Hu Xuechuan.

As the saying goes: enemies meet, eyes burn red.

But unexpectedly, Hu Xuechuan landed hundreds of meters away and did not attack immediately—instead, he stared with burning intensity at the Star Tower behind Qi Shanye.

The young man Hu Changyan, brought by Hu Xuechuan, was overjoyed at the sight: "Sixth Brother, you didn't lie to me after all—there really is a Star Tower branch!"

"Of course. I'd never lie to you, Seventeenth Brother."

"Then as you said—the Star Tower branch is mine, and this Lingji remnant is yours?" Hu Changyan grinned.

"Of course."

"Hah, Hu, it's been months since we last met, and your arrogance has grown even greater," Qi Shanye sneered.

Hu Xuechuan, however, coldly scanned all directions, clearly on guard for something.

At that very moment, both Hu Xuechuan and Hu Changyan heard the voice of the hidden sixth-rank expert Hu Fu: "There are two more. I've detected three residual auras here.

One more fifth-rank aura, but I can't locate where it's hidden.

The other is a third-rank aura—not worth worrying about."

"Fu Lao, so only two or three?"

"Yes. Proceed. I'll cover you."

"Young Master, hold back slightly. Don't rush in too fast," Hu Fu added, speaking to the young man he was assigned to protect.

"Fu Lao, Grandfather himself said that even without battlefield experience, in pure fifth-rank power, I'm nearly invincible. I've barely left the estate—I'm itching to fight!"

"Hmm. Still, be careful, Young Master."

"Qi! Next year today will be your anniversary of death!"

"Kill!"

In the next instant, Hu Xuechuan roared a command. Each of them cautiously advanced from different directions toward Qi Shanye—while Hu Changyan charged in as well.

Three hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

One hundred and fifty meters.

In the next instant, a terrifying aura erupted from afar. In a flash, five vortex-like arrow beams, like meteors, slammed toward the five of them.

"Mo Ji the Demon Arrow! Qi, is this your backup plan? You've just handed me another great achievement!" Hu Xuechuan laughed loudly.

But even as he laughed, Mo Ji's arrows flashed once—and split to strike each of the five.

The five had prepared.

Though terrifying, the attack was split among them—they could handle it!

But the instant the five were distracted by Mo Ji's arrows, Qi Shanye moved.

In an instant, he lunged forward, flinging three fifth-rank superior rune tablets between his fingers simultaneously!

The moment the runes exploded, the hidden sixth-rank expert Hu Fu screamed in horror.

"Sixth-rank runes! Three of them! How is this possible!"

In the next instant, Hu Xuechuan, Lin Lie, the two other subordinates, and Hu Changyan—all five fifth-rank experts—were utterly engulfed by the blinding starlight of the three runes.

The three fifth-rank superior rune tablets Qi Shanye used were all the same type: Liekong.

When three identical runes exploded simultaneously, their power instantly stacked.

The entire night sky blazed with blinding light, as if turned to daylight!

And Qi Shanye, in that same instant, retreated swiftly.

The sixth-rank expert Hu Fu, who had just appeared, instantly lunged toward the blazing light of White Day, resembling a sun!

But in the instant he neared, his protective starlight was shattered, forcing him to recoil immediately!

Within the White Day, one after another streak of starlight rose—but the moment it emerged, it was utterly annihilated!

That was Hu Xuechuan and Hu Changyan desperately activating their life-saving treasures!

Inside the White Day, as Hu Xuechuan hurled his last two fourth-rank defensive runes and one fifth-rank defensive rune, he desperately activated his defensive star technique while struggling to approach Hu Changyan.

He hoped Hu Changyan possessed a life-saving treasure that could save him!

As for where Qi Shanye had obtained the sixth-rank rune, he had no time to ponder it now!

His eyes were filled with despair!

In the next instant, the final few life-saving runes Hu Xuechuan threw out were instantly incinerated, like hot soup melting snow, by the White Day!

Hu Xuechuan took just one step—next instant, the White Day swallowed him whole!

First, his protective starlight was directly dissolved; then his armor and robes turned to ash in an instant.

Then, his flesh and blood vanished instantly; his blood qi rose, revealing his despairing eyes—but they too vanished in the same instant!

In the blink of an eye, Hu Xuechuan became a pile of white bones!

Even the bones were incinerated by the White Day's extreme heat, with some bones burning into colorful crystals!

As for the three subordinates Hu Xuechuan had brought, including Lin Lie, they had already turned to ash two seconds earlier!

In an instant, all four men perished within the White Day!

Only Hu Changyan's life-saving techniques persisted, as rune after rune flew out, making his final struggle!

(End of Chapter)