Chapter 270: Rescue (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Within the Fourth-Rank Giant Elephant Star Domain.

Xu Jin flicked his ten fingers in rapid succession, instantly launching sixteen crimson spiral explosive arrows of dazzling brightness.

The arrowlight flashed like lightning.

The fire was Starfire of the Heavens.

Of the sixteen Fourth-Rank mid-to-late-stage Earth-Spirit barbarians who suddenly surged forward to ambush him, fifteen were obliterated outright by Xu Jin.

Only one Earth-Spirit barbarian, whose body was extraordinarily massive and encircled by stone armor, survived the first arrow.

But this heavy-bodied Earth-Spirit barbarian could not escape Xu Jin's second arrow.

This Earth-Spirit barbarian was rather interesting.

Though all belonged to the Earth-Spirit clan, within the clan, different body types cultivated different Star Arts—somewhat like classifications of tanks, warriors, and mages.

This remaining giant one resembled a tank.

But without his companions' cover, he couldn't even run away.

Though the killing had been easy, Xu Jin's expression was anything but relaxed.

Less than half an hour after entering the Fourth-Rank Giant Elephant Star Domain, Xu Jin had already endured three ambushes.

These were not the random encounters he had faced in other star domains before.

Random encounters might involve five or six foes, or possibly hundreds.

Their strength varied widely.

But since entering the Giant Elephant Star Domain, all three ambush parties Xu Jin had faced were highly organized.

Each consisted solely of Fourth-Rank barbarians.

And each wave was larger than the last.

The first ambush against Xu Jin involved only six Fourth-Rank barbarians.

The second ambush involved ten Fourth-Rank barbarians.

The third ambush involved a full sixteen.

This steadily increasing, highly regular pattern of attacks led Xu Jin to consider one possibility.

The Authority of Heaven and Earth!

The Earth-Spirit King of this Fourth-Rank Giant Elephant Star Domain likely had already obtained the Authority of Heaven and Earth.

He had acquired at least three-tenths of the Heavenly and Stellar Will.

Only then could he accomplish what he had done so far.

Precisely sensing Xu Jin's location and continuously directing his clansmen to surround and annihilate him.

It might even be four-tenths of the Heavenly and Stellar Will.

Now Xu Jin understood why Fang Ying's squad had been slaughtered so brutally.

Under such precise, relentless waves of attacks, any slight weakness—slower reaction, delayed repositioning, or failure to secure a terrain advantage—would have led to the complete annihilation of Fang Ying's squad long ago.

At present, it was not that Fang Ying was weak; it was that the enemy was too strong.

If Xu Jin's judgment was correct, then the Giant Elephant Star Domain might be the most difficult of all the star domains Xu Jin had entered so far.

Fang Ying and his team might even need rescue.

Though Xu Jin bore some resentment toward Fang Xuezheng, on this alien star domain battlefield, such grudges had to be set aside.

When rescue was needed, it had to be done.

But rescue was impossible right now.

Searching for five individuals across the vast expanse of a Fourth-Rank star domain was like finding a needle in a sea.

The simplest solution was for Xu Jin to storm the Earth-Spirit King's capital, ride alone into the enemy ranks, and slay the Earth-Spirit King—then Fang Ying's crisis would be resolved.

But after consideration, Xu Jin rejected this tactic.

If the Earth-Spirit King truly controlled three-tenths—or even four-tenths—of the Authority of Heaven and Earth, then within this realm, he was like a demigod.

Long before Xu Jin could infiltrate the Earth-Spirit King's capital, even while still far from the city, he would be surrounded by vast armies of Earth-Spirit barbarians.

Xu Jin would be trapped in a human wave tactic.

If the Earth-Spirit King himself, accompanied by Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirit elites, launched a surprise strike while manipulating celestial phenomena to disrupt Xu Jin, the chance of Xu Jin being killed outright was very high.

But regardless of whether the Earth-Spirit King possessed three-tenths or four-tenths of the Heavenly and Stellar Will, Xu Jin had to find a way to kill him.

Killing one Earth-Spirit King would yield an immense reward.

Very quickly, Xu Jin devised a new tactic.

To kill the Earth-Spirit King, he must employ a flanking strategy.

First, he had to render the Earth-Spirit King's Authority of Heaven and Earth ineffective against him—at least mostly so.

Otherwise, Xu Jin would be like an ant under the gaze of a giant, every movement laid bare before the Earth-Spirit King.

So how could he nullify the Earth-Spirit King's Authority of Heaven and Earth?

Having once possessed the Authority of Heaven and Earth himself, Xu Jin naturally had a method.

Only magic could counter magic.

The only force capable of opposing the Authority granted by the Heavenly and Stellar Will was the Heavenly and Stellar Will itself.

In the next instant, Xu Jin turned toward the territory of the Wood-Elephant clan.

The Chen Guo side possessed only rudimentary intelligence on the Giant Elephant Star Domain, but before entering, the Star Spirit had given Xu Jin a very simple map.

Just a directional sketch.

The Wood-Elephant clan lay in the southern region of the Giant Elephant Star Domain.

Xu Jin simply needed to head south.

As Xu Jin had predicted, the Earth-Spirit King had indeed seized the Authority of Heaven and Earth.

Just before Xu Jin flew into the Wood-Elephant clan's territory, he suffered his fourth ambush.

The force of this fourth ambush was stronger than all three previous ones.

It included two Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirits—one early-stage, one mid-stage—and twenty Fourth-Rank mid-to-late-stage Earth-Spirit warriors.

This force was at least double that of the third wave.

Normally, such a force could easily exterminate a Fourth-Rank Level One human elite.

But they had encountered Xu Jin.

Now that Xu Jin had broken through to Fourth-Rank, slaying Fifth-Rank early- and mid-stage Earth-Spirits was not easy.

Yet with Starfire of the Heavens alone, he slaughtered them all in succession.

Of course, for safety's sake, Xu Jin used two Shatter-Soul Strikes against the two Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirits—one early-stage, one mid-stage.

He used it on the mid-stage one to facilitate capture.

He used it on the early-stage one as backup—if he failed to capture the mid-stage one, he would capture this one instead.

One breath later, the entire ambush force was annihilated, save for the mid-stage Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirit warrior Xu Jin had taken alive.

Wen Meng!

Indeed, Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirits possessed far more information than Fourth-Rank ones.

Xu Jin gained many useful insights.

He could now confirm: the Earth-Spirit King possessed at least three-tenths of the Authority of Heaven and Earth.

Within the Earth-Spirit clan, the Earth-Spirit King was worshipped as a god.

For the Earth-Spirit King truly possessed divine abilities—commanding wind and rain.

Moreover, the Earth-Spirit King was extremely cautious.

After invaders arrived four days ago, he had concentrated most of his Fifth-Rank elites within the Earth-Spirit Capital, ready for immediate deployment.

He was fully aware of Fang Ying's invading squad.

He had pursued them for two days.

Two days later, the squad retreated into the Wood-Elephant clan's territory, making further pursuit inconvenient.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jin smiled.

He didn't know whether Fang Ying had been clever—or just lucky.

Fortunately, they had retreated into the Wood-Elephant clan's territory; otherwise, Xu Jin would now be collecting their corpses.

He might not even have been able to recover the bodies!

A few breaths later, Xu Jin crushed the mid-stage Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirit with a palm strike, obtained an Earth-Spirit Star Core, and altered his strategy.

The Earth-Spirit King had concentrated too many Fifth-Rank Earth-Spirit elites within the Earth-Spirit Capital.

Their number exceeded sixty.

Even if Xu Jin infiltrated, the difficulty would be hellish.

So he must first weaken the Earth-Spirit Capital's strength.

In the next instant, Xu Jin changed direction and charged toward the Earth-Spirit Capital.

Not directly.

Instead, he flew in star-stepping motion, circling the Earth-Spirit Capital from afar.

Luring the enemy with his own body!

Let's see how many Fifth-Rank elites the Earth-Spirit King dared to send out.

Two quarters of an hour later, Xu Jin encountered the first wave of attacks launched from the Earth-Spirit Capital.

Perhaps due to Xu Jin's previous performance, the Earth-Spirit King doubled the force sent to ambush him once again.

Five Fifth-Rank barbarians: three mid-stage, one at Fifth-Rank Level Six—the strongest—and two early-stage.

In terms of combat power, this force exceeded the fourth wave of attackers by more than double.

But for Xu Jin, since there were no fifth-rank experts among them, and no need to take prisoners, he didn't even activate the Divine Soul Star Art.

He wiped them all out.

Five fifth-rank experts from Tuling Wangcheng eliminated!

Xu Jin continued circling Tuling Wangcheng from afar.

He kept luring the enemy out with his own body.

Two quarters of an hour later, Xu Jin faced the sixth wave of attacks.

The sixth wave's assault force was unprecedentedly powerful.

It consisted of twenty-one fifth-rank experts.

Their leader was a fifth-rank eighth-layer expert of the Tuling clan, accompanied by two fifth-rank seventh-layer experts; the remaining eighteen included half who were mid-fifth-rank, and the rest were all fifth-rank third-layer—no Tuling expert below fifth-rank second-layer was present.

This force was at least triple the strength of the fifth wave.

But it was useless.

The Divine Tiger's Roar created an opening; Xu Jin immediately unleashed Xuanzi Heavenfire to instantly kill three fifth-rank late-stage experts—the rest were easy.

Of course, the key was the stacked power from the Red Dragon Ring, the mid-tier Fire Element provided by the Star Core on the Can Dou Platform, and the fire spirits below fifth-rank.

Otherwise, with Xu Jin's own fourth-rank first-layer cultivation base, even using Xuanzi Heavenfire, he might injure a fifth-rank late-stage expert—but instantly killing one? Absolutely impossible.

After wiping out this wave, Xu Jin decisively broke off and flew straight toward Muxiang Wangcheng.

This wave was already large enough. If he continued luring them out, the next wave would either be the Tuling King himself and all the Tuling clan's fifth-rank masters,

or the Tuling King would summon thousands of fourth-rank experts and hundreds of thousands of elite third-rank troops to surround and overwhelm Xu Jin with sheer numbers.

The Muxiang King did not hold the Mandate of Heaven.

This was evident from the fact that, as Xu Jin approached Muxiang Wangcheng, he had encountered only one patrol squad of Muxiang clan experts—purely bad luck.

Fire overcomes Metal, and also humiliates Wood.

Xu Jin's Fire Star Arts exerted extreme suppression over the Muxiang clan.

In less than two quarters of an hour, through a combination of luring, infiltration, and other tactics, Xu Jin shattered Muxiang Wangcheng.

Of course, the cost was Xu Jin drawing starlight four times from the Can Dou Platform to replenish his star energy.

Now, each time Xu Jin needed to restore his depleted starlight, he had to draw in over twenty strands.

Four uses consumed over a hundred strands of starlight.

The cost was considerable.

Only because Xu Jin had the Can Dou Platform to replenish star energy could he possibly launch a solo assault on Muxiang Wangcheng.

After slaying the Muxiang King, Xu Jin successfully obtained two low-grade Muxiang Hearts.

He also acquired two high-grade Muxiang Spirit Hearts.

The Muxiang King possessed only two low-grade Heavenly Star Will fragments.

The moment he obtained them, Xu Jin immediately retreated into the palace treasury to begin assimilating these two Heavenly Star Will fragments from the Fourth-Rank Giant Elephant Star Domain.

When he completed the first assimilation, the sense of repulsion vanished entirely.

When he completed the second assimilation, Xu Jin felt as if he had returned home.

The next instant, the Gui Cang Star Pattern activated fully.

Xu Jin vanished completely from the Tuling King's perception of the Heavenly Mandate.

The Tuling King, who had been remotely tracking Xu Jin's terrifying presence, suddenly trembled.

A strange sense of crisis surged into his heart.

Naturally, the Muxiang clan's treasury had to be looted.

He converted it into over seven thousand strands of fourth-rank starlight and over a hundred fifth-rank Star Jade Tablets, plus two sixth-rank Star Jade Tablets.

Simultaneously, Xu Jin filled more than half his Numinous Space with Starfall Iron from the treasury.

In a cave in the southwest of the Muxiang Star Domain.

Fang Ying suddenly roared, "Poison Vines incoming—fire!"

The next instant, flames surged violently.

The serpentine poison vines were incinerated to ash, but as more enemies gathered at the cave entrance, Fang Ying smiled bitterly: "Brothers, the enemy keeps multiplying, and our survival talismans are nearly spent.

Use all the pills you still have.

Once you've recovered, each of you breaks out separately and heads for the Star Gate.

Who survives? Let fate decide!

Write your last words—four copies each. Everyone carries one.

That way, no matter what, someone will carry our final messages back!" Fang Ying commanded.

Fang Ying's desperate orders made a fourth-rank ninth-layer sister, recovering in the cave's depths, burst into tears: "Brother Fang, is there truly no way out?"

"Sister Zhao, we've fought continuously for four days. Our talismans are gone. We still have pills, but we can't take them consecutively.

Yet the enemy keeps growing stronger.

If we break out now, some of us might still survive.

But if we wait any longer, and those two fifth-rank enemies charge again, we'll all be wiped out right here in this cave." Fang Ying smiled bitterly.

The sister recovering in the cave's depths said nothing—only quiet sobs.

No one spoke.

Someone wept.

Someone wrote their final words in despair.

Someone's face twisted with desperation, trying to find one last path to survival.

But—

"Hey, Brother Fang, the attacks outside have stopped!"

The warning made Fang Ying whirl around, his expression stunned.

It was true!

The attacks outside had ceased.

But the next instant, Fang Ying's expression grew even more despairing: if ordinary fourth-rank outsiders had stopped attacking, it meant fifth-rank outsiders were about to storm in.

Now that their talismans were exhausted and their conditions poor, facing a direct assault by fifth-rank outsiders, they couldn't even hope to resist—let alone kill.

If things went badly, they wouldn't even manage to break out today.

"Brother Fang, is that you?"

Suddenly, Xu Jin's booming voice echoed from outside the cave.

Fang Ying froze, turning to the others behind him: "Who called me?"

"We didn't call you—the voice came from outside."

Fang Ying was stunned, then laughed bitterly: "Have I been injured so badly that I'm hearing things now?"

"Brother Fang, come out. It's Xu Jin. The Grand State Tutor sent me to rescue you." Another voice came from outside the cave.

Fang Ying stared, dumbfounded: "Xu Jin? Here? Reinforcements? And they sent Xu Jin? Is that even possible?"

Everyone in the cave shook their heads, smiling bitterly.

"Forget it. Since the enemy hasn't broken in, focus on recovering your condition—any recovery helps." Fang Ying said.

Outside the cave, Xu Jin looked annoyed.

Fang Ying and the others inside stubbornly refused to respond.

But Xu Jin understood—it was somewhat like combat trauma syndrome.

The next instant, he gave up waiting. No time to waste—he charged straight into the cave.

BOOM!

SHHH!

Instantly, a barrage of attacks slammed into Xu Jin as he entered.

The cave entrance was narrow; anyone entering would be hit.

Xu Jin took them all.

But the combined fire from five attackers only caused the Fish Curtain Golden Bell to ripple slightly—then nothing more.

"Stop!"

Xu Jin barked, adding a touch of Divine Tiger's Roar, finally snapping them back to their senses.

"Brother Xu! You really came!" Fang Ying was both embarrassed and overjoyed.

It was genuine joy.

Nothing in this world was more joyful than encountering reinforcements in utter despair.

Even if they didn't get along.

At this moment, Fang Ying called him with all the warmth he could muster!

"Brothers, the Muxiang outsiders surrounding you—I've wiped them all out. Focus on recovering now." Xu Jin said.

"Wiped them all out?"

"You killed them all?"

"Alone?" Fang Ying instinctively questioned.

Xu Jin said nothing—only stepped aside, revealing the cave entrance.

Moments later, Fang Ying and the others emerged, staring at the ground littered with corpses, looking at Xu Jin as if he were a monster.

At this moment, someone suddenly remembered that the five of them had focused their attacks just now, yet Xu Jin hadn't suffered a single scratch.

Yaozhidao ， Tamenwurendejihuo ， Jiushiwujiezhongqideyizuquanzhule ， Yedeshoushang 。

Danxujin.

Yishidaozheyidiandezhongren ， Buyoudehairan ！

「 Zhuwei ， Xianjinshandongzhuajinhuifuyixiaba 。」

Wurenchongxinzourushandongdeshihou ， Gezikaishitunfudanyaohuifudeshihou ， Xujinjiuyirenshangleyigejiwenmenggeitamen 。

Rangtamenkuaisuhuifuyixia 。

Suihou ， Xujingeizijiyelaileyijiwenmeng 。

Jiexialai ， Tayaoqutulingwangchengle ， Ciqianzaimuxiangwangchengshi ， Xiaohaopoda ， Bixujiangzijideshenpozhilihuifudaodianfengzhuangtai 。

Sankezhongzhihou ， Huifudaodianfengzhuangtaidexujin ， Jiaoxinglefangyingdengren ， Ranhouyirendishangleyikuaiwujiewenzhang ， Rangtamenbaomingyong 。

Kandaowujieshangdewenzhang ， Fangyingzhidaozhewanyideguizhong ， Yegengjiadejidong 。

Youwukuaiwujieshangdewenzhang ， Tamendexiaoming ， Suanshiyoubaozhangle 。

「 Xushidifangxin ， Denghuiqu ， Womenyidinghaini 。」

「 N 。」

Xujinyemeijujue 。

Zheshidaguoshigeitade ， Meishuogeitamen 。

Ruolaihai ， Xujinzihuishouxia 。

Zhiyugongkesijiejuxiangxingyudeshiqing ， Xujinmeiti 。

Xujinganggangdewenmeng ， Zhishirangwurenshenpoliliangkuaisuhuifuleyixia ， Huanjielepilao 。

Danshenshangdeshangshihaizai 。

Wurendangzhong ， Yigezhongshang ， Youliangrenshangshiyebuqing ， Meigejitianhuifubuliaode 。

Kaotamen ， Pashigongkebuliaojuxiangxingyude 。

Zhinengzouyibukanyibu ， Kandaguoshideanpaile 。

Yigeshichenzhihou ， Xujinqiaowushengxideqiandaoletulingwangchengzhiwai 。

Tulingzhiwang ， Yijiumeiyoufaxianxujin 。

Yinweixianzaidexujin ， Shishizushidejuxiangxingyudetuzhu ， Benshenhaiyouliangchengtiandiquanbing 。

Zaijiayinshenchediyincangleqixi 。

Tulingzhiwangfaxianbuliaoxujindeqianru ， Zaizhengchangbuguo 。

Zhishitulingzhiwangkenengganyingdaoleshenme ， Zhenggetulingwangcheng ， Jianbanuzhang 。

Shibuyigang ， Meiqianmijiuyouyizhixunluoxiaodui 。

Kaojinwangchengneichengdeshihou ， Xunluoxiaoduiyijinghuanchenglewujieqiangzhe 。

Zhejianzhijinshendaojidian 。

Danhaishirangxujinzhaodaoleloudong ， Genzhuxunluodexiaodui ， Qiaowushengxideqianrulewangchengneicheng 。

Suizhuxujinqianru ， Tulingzhiwangyufadebuan 。

Youqishixintouyingraodenazhongyuelaiyueqiangdeweijigan ， Rangtulingzhiwangfeichangbuan ， Danyouzhaobudaobuandelaiyuan 。

Huranjian ， Zhenglaihuiduobudetulingzhiwangganjueshenceyouyi ， Zhuanshendeshana ， Jiukandaogongdiandelingyice ， Turanjianduoleyigerenleiyizu ！

Queshiqianruzhihouzhudongxianchushenxingdexujin 。

Tulingzhiwangyanjingmengdidengda ， Zhengyaohuhuanhuixiajingruilaiweishadeshana ， Jiujianxujinyanmouzhongqiguangyishan ， Tadeyanqianjiutiandibianhuan ， Xingguangliuzhuan ， Jinrulelingyifangtiandi ！

Shameng ！

( Benzhangwan )

【202】 After all, their combined assault could injure even a mid-stage fifth-rank alien.

【203】 But Xu Jin.

【204】 Those who realized this were stunned.

【205】 "Everyone, hurry into the cave and recover quickly."

【206】 As the five reentered the cave and began swallowing elixirs to recover, Xu Jin gave each of them a Warm Dream.

【207】 To help them recover swiftly.

【208】 Then, Xu Jin gave himself a Warm Dream as well.

【209】 Next, he was heading to Earth Spirit King City; his spiritual soul energy had been heavily depleted in Wood Elephant King City, and he needed to restore it to peak condition.

【210】 After three quarters of an hour, Xu Jin, restored to peak condition, woke Fang Ying and the others, then handed each of them a fifth-rank insignia for protection.

【211】 Seeing the fifth-rank insignia, Fang Ying understood its value and grew even more excited.

【212】 With five fifth-rank insignias, their lives were now secure.

【213】 "Xu brother, don't worry—we'll repay you when we return."

【214】 "Mm."

【215】 Xu Jin didn't refuse.

【216】 The Grand Master had given it to him, not to them.

【217】 If they came to repay him, he would accept it.

【218】 As for conquering the fourth-rank Giant Elephant Star Domain, Xu Jin said nothing.

【219】 Xu Jin's Warm Dream had merely allowed the five to quickly restore their spiritual soul energy and relieve their fatigue.

【220】 But their physical injuries remained.

【221】 Among the five, one was critically wounded, two others seriously injured—they wouldn't recover in a few days.

【222】 Relying on them, they couldn't possibly conquer the Giant Elephant Star Domain.

【223】 They could only take it one step at a time and wait for the Grand Master's orders.

【224】 An hour later, Xu Jin silently infiltrated beyond Earth Spirit King City.

【225】 The Earth Spirit King still hadn't detected Xu Jin.

【226】 Because Xu Jin was now a full-blooded native of the Giant Elephant Star Domain, possessing two-tenths of the celestial authority himself.

【227】 Added to that, his invisibility had completely concealed his aura.

【228】 It was only natural that the Earth Spirit King couldn't detect Xu Jin's infiltration.

【229】 Yet the Earth Spirit King might have sensed something—entire Earth Spirit King City was now on high alert.

【230】 Guards every ten paces, a patrol squad every kilometer.

【231】 As they neared the inner city, patrols were replaced by fifth-rank experts.

【232】 It was cautious to an extreme.

【233】 Yet Xu Jin still found a flaw—he followed the patrol squad and silently slipped into the inner city.

【234】 As Xu Jin infiltrated, the Earth Spirit King grew increasingly uneasy.

【235】 Especially the growing sense of danger clinging to his heart—he was deeply unsettled, yet couldn't find its source.

【236】 Suddenly, as the Earth Spirit King paced back and forth, he sensed something beside him; the instant he turned, he saw a human alien suddenly appear on the other side of the palace!

【237】 It was Xu Jin, deliberately revealing himself after infiltration.

【238】 The Earth Spirit King's eyes widened in shock; just as he was about to call his elite troops to surround and kill him, Xu Jin's eyes flashed with strange light—before his eyes, heaven and earth shifted, starlight swirled, and he entered another realm!

【239】 Killing Dream!

【240】 (End of Chapter)