Chapter 426: The Valuable Commodity and Entry into the Palace

Where is my Seven Kill Token?

Qiao Shen's cry of shock as a Gao Jie of Xumi Palace drew no answer, but the gazes of all the Gao Jie toward the Seven Kill Palace gate gave him the answer.

Behind them, Xu Jin felt speechless.

In this battle, the nine human Gao Jie, though united, had not fought to the death—but each had given their all.

Yet their command was still inadequate.

They all followed the previously agreed tactics; even the nominal leader, Marquis Song Shoujie of Luoshui, could not issue real-time orders.

If Song Shoujie had been able to command them in real time, he could have sent one Gao Jie to hold the Seven Kill Palace gate the moment Ju Xuan counterattacked Qiao Shen—killing Ju Xuan a third, even fourth time.

The cost would have been at most one more Gao Jie using their substitute-death opportunity.

Unfortunately, these nine living human Gao Jie were each the pinnacle of their respective factions.

Xu Jin estimated that even an ordinary Ba Jie could not command their full obedience; only the top Ba Jie of the major factions could make them willingly submit to orders.

But then again—

Ju Xuan had already been killed twice; he still had one substitute-death opportunity left.

And Ju Xuan was certainly badly wounded.

To kill Qiao Shen outright, he had destroyed an entire Star Tower, lowering his cultivation base, sustaining heavy injuries, exhausting his energy, and damaging his Yuan Ling.

Xu Jin had long confirmed one thing: the substitute-death opportunity in the Seven Kill Secret Realm only replaces death—it does not grant perfect rebirth.

It activates only at the instant the target is slain.

But all injuries, exhaustion, and losses sustained before the substitute-death remain, unchanged.

From the others' gazes, Qiao Shen received his answer.

Ju Xuan had stolen his Seven Kill Token and successfully breached the Seven Kill Palace gate.

Qiao Shen's fury was beyond description.

He had already died once—and these people had failed to stop Ju Xuan.

But more important than anger: Xumi Palace no longer had a Seven Kill Token!

Previously, Song Shoujie had distributed only one Seven Kill Token—and now it was lost.

Losing the chance to receive the Seven Kill True Lord's inheritance was minor; failing to obtain the Divine Dao's true essence was the true disaster.

The heavens could collapse!

Qiao Shen and Liu Ju, the other Gao Jie of Xumi Palace, instantly realized this.

Their gazes swept instantly toward the other two holders of the Seven Kill Tokens.

Dong Zhao and Xu Jin!

In that same instant, everyone present understood.

Whether Xu Jin, Dong Zhao, Marquis Song Shoujie of Luoshui, or any other Gao Jie—

"Since Ju Xuan has already entered the Seven Kill Palace, our mission is complete. We have not broken our Great Dao oath—we must enter the Seven Kill Palace immediately, lest Ju Xuan gain the upper hand."

Hou Ziang, the Gao Jie of Mu Ling Palace, bowed to the group, then in the next instant, merged with his junior disciple Du Wei into streaks of light, Seven Kill Token in hand, and shot straight toward the Seven Kill Palace gate.

In a flash, they vanished inside the gate.

At the same moment, Zhang Lin of Tianyang Star Temple, Ye Feng of Cangming Star Temple, and the four Ba Jie Abatai and Yuxi of Zhen'e Star Temple all rushed forward, Seven Kill Tokens in hand, toward the gate.

In that same instant, Xu Jin's mind rang with a voice from Marquis Song Shoujie of Luoshui.

"Quick—enter the Seven Kill Palace! I'll cover you!"

Almost simultaneously, Xu Jin and Dong Zhao received Song Shoujie's voice. Sensing danger, they instantly transformed into streaks of light and surged toward the Seven Kill Palace gate.

Song Shoujie lagged slightly behind, to shield Dong Zhao and Xu Jin.

At that exact moment, Qiao Shen and Liu Ju of Xumi Palace exchanged a single glance—and made their decision.

Seize it!

They must seize one of the Seven Kill Tokens!

Among everyone present, the only ones they could easily snatch a token from were Xu Jin and Dong Zhao of Chen Guo—one Wu Jie, one Liu Jie.

Instantly, Qiao Shen and Liu Ju's star forces surged, and silent, invisible spatial barriers appeared across the path ahead of Xu Jin and Dong Zhao.

Xumi Palace's spatial star arts were executed with astonishing speed and appeared without warning.

This was precisely why they had been assigned to defense earlier.

Yet Ju Xuan had broken through them!

Xu Jin, who had been continuously activating the Mingji Star Pattern, sensed it instantly. He activated the Willow Fluff Star Pattern, his body bending like a willow branch, sharply veering aside to evade the barrier.

Dong Zhao, however, failed to detect the barrier ahead until it was too late—he nearly slammed into it.

Fortunately, Marquis Song Shoujie of Luoshui had been watching them closely; at the critical moment, he punched out, shattering the barrier blocking Dong Zhao, then shoved him forward.

Dong Zhao, clutching the Seven Kill Token, accelerated instantly and vanished through the Seven Kill Palace gate.

In that same instant, Qiao Shen and Liu Ju of Xumi Palace changed tactics.

Seeing Dong Zhao enter the palace and Song Shoujie about to follow, they immediately focused all their efforts on blocking Xu Jin.

In an instant, they struck repeatedly—layer upon layer of spatial barriers rose, halting Xu Jin a hundred meters from the gate.

Marquis Song Shoujie glanced back at the Seven Kill Palace gate, then at the two Xumi Palace Gao Jie. After a brief calculation, he turned and stepped through the gate.

One-on-one, he feared no Gao Jie of Xumi Palace—even though their star arts were notoriously elusive.

But against two, he had no confidence; one misstep, and he'd be trapped.

"Don't be reckless—if you can't get in, abandon it. Your life comes first," Song Shoujie's voice echoed in Xu Jin's mind just before he entered the gate.

Xu Jin heard it and laughed bitterly.

In the end, he was the one being abandoned!

The next instant, Xu Jin stopped dodging, landed firmly, and counterattacked.

He stomped—Earth Magnetic Field.

Falling Star and Furious Spear activated simultaneously.

Caught off guard, Qiao Shen and Liu Ju both plummeted; at the same time, Qiao Shen was locked by Xu Jin's Falling Star and Furious Spear techniques.

He was about to be struck.

If hit by this force, even if he didn't die, he'd be gravely wounded.

Instantly, massive spatial fluctuations erupted.

Spatial Cutting.

The mountain-sized Falling Star, hurtling down at high speed, was instantly sliced into dozens of fragments—its power utterly nullified.

At the same moment, Ning Yuchan roared and spun like a whirlwind toward Liu Ju.

Her heavy hammer struck, forcing Liu Ju into constant retreat.

Meanwhile, the remaining Chen Guo elites and Xumi Palace elites, without orders, clashed instantly into a furious melee.

The advantage Xu Jin had repeatedly created now showed its effect.

Chen Guo had one more Liu Jie survivor than Xumi Palace.

In the Wu Jie and Liu Jie battles, with Chen Guo holding a slight edge, Xumi Palace's disciples had no chance to intervene.

Here, Ning Yuchan and Liu Ju were locked in a white-hot duel.

As for Xu Jin, under full assault from two elite Gao Jie, he was struggling.

But against one, he wasn't so overwhelmed.

In just ten breaths, they had exchanged hundreds of strikes—and Xu Jin had grasped the general pattern of Xumi Palace's strange star arts.

The next instant, Xu Jin activated Earth Magnetic Field again, launching Falling Star and Furious Spear together at Qiao Shen.

At the same moment, streaks of lightning began to form in Xu Jin's palm.

The instant Qiao Shen shattered Xu Jin's earth-based star technique with Spatial Cutting, thunder roared violently!

The Five Elements Divine Thunder, fused into a single radiant orb of multicolored light, slammed down upon Qiao Shen's head.

Fast. Fierce.

BOOM!

Qiao Shen's spatial barrier shattered instantly under the terrifying Five Elements Divine Thunder; at the same time, the upper-grade Seven-Star Spirit Armor on his body flared to its brightest glow.

It was a life-saving treasure bestowed by his master, the master of Xumi Palace.

But under the assault of the Five Elements Divine Thunder, the armor's glow rapidly dimmed.

With the armor's buffer, Qiao Shen finally had the chance to activate Xumi Palace's life-saving technique—Minor Teleportation!

The next instant, the Seven-Star Spirit Armor, on the verge of shattering under the thunder, vanished along with Qiao Shen—reappearing hundreds of meters away.

But that position was right before the Seven Kill Palace gate. Clearly, Qiao Shen had learned from his earlier battle with Ju Xuan.

He feared that if he left even a moment's gap, Xu Jin would slip into the palace—and all their efforts would be wasted.

This entire Seven Kill Secret Realm expedition would end in total failure!

They would lose all chance to claim the Divine Dao's true essence.

Then their master's wrath would be unbearable.

But the instant Qiao Shen activated Minor Teleportation, a cold smile appeared on Xu Jin's face.

Before Qiao Shen even reappeared, Xu Jin's Mingji Star Pattern had sensed the abnormal spatial fluctuation at that location.

Xu Jin was certain: the point of abnormal spatial fluctuation was where the Gao Jie Qiao Shen would emerge.

The moment a piercing whistle split the air, the Yellow Dragon Sword was already in Xu Jin's hand.

Fivefold Flow Flash.

SHHHH!

In the instant the sonic wave exploded, Qiao Shen suddenly found his precious top-grade Seven-Star Spirit Armor shattering into pieces.

He himself dissolved into starlight and vanished.

Starlight appeared before him.

The familiar starlight signal.

Should he continue fighting or retreat?

Only then did Qiao Shen realize he had been slain.

Instinctively, Qiao Shen wanted to choose to continue fighting, but suddenly hesitated.

Twice already!

He had only comprehended the Seven Kill Escape Dragon Stake to the second level; the third level was still incomplete, so he had gained only two resurrection chances.

He had just used one, and this was the second.

If he used this second chance and died again, he would truly die.

If he returned, would he die again?

Yes.

Qiao Shen immediately reached his judgment.

Previously, even with his Seven-Star top-grade Spirit Armor, he had been slain by Qi Tiansheng of Great Chen.

Now that his Seven-Star top-grade Spirit Armor was shattered, the likelihood of death was even greater.

Thinking of his shattered Seven-Star Spirit Armor, Qiao Shen's heart felt as if pierced by knives.

In an instant, a thousand thoughts churned in Qiao Shen's mind.

Yet, in the end, Qiao Shen chose to return and continue fighting!

Although Qiao Shen knew returning to battle carried extreme danger.

But if he did not return, and his Master later learned he had fled out of fear, forfeiting the chance to obtain the Divine Dao's true meaning, his Master would be utterly disappointed in him.

At that point, he would wish for death over life.

Better to risk returning now!

In the next instant, a pinpoint of starlight barely appeared; Qiao Shen chose resurrection through substitution.

On the other side, Xu Jin had just slain Qiao Shen; before he could turn back to fight, he saw Liu Ju, a high-rank beginner, crush Ning Yuchan, a fifth-rank eighth-layer cultivator, into starlight.

Ning Yuchan had been slain.

But Xu Jin knew Ning Yuchan still had two resurrection chances unused; no need to worry.

In the next instant, light surged again—fivefold luminous flash.

Shhh!

Holding the Yellow Dragon Sword, Xu Jin instantly became a phantom, piercing through Liu Ju at close range.

Liu Ju and Xu Jin were barely over a hundred meters apart.

Liu Ju didn't even react—his Seven-Star Spirit Armor shattered, and his entire body exploded into starlight and dispersed.

Second kill.

At the same moment, Xu Jin's Mingji Star Pattern, which he had been continuously activating, suddenly sensed starlight appearing not far behind him—the very spot where he had slain Qiao Shen.

It was Qiao Shen returning.

Xu Jin sneered coldly—how bold!

Originally, if Qiao Shen had returned now, everything would have been settled, and Xu Jin could have rushed into the Seven Kill Palace.

But Qiao Shen's return location happened to block the entrance of the Seven Kill Palace; Xu Jin, turning sharply toward the palace gate, was directly blocked by Qiao Shen.

In the starlight, Qiao Shen's fully manifested form immediately activated the strongest star technique of the Vast Palace: Spatial Chaos!

Terrifying spatial fluctuations instantly enveloped Xu Jin as he charged forward.

Even Xu Jin's Fish Curtain Golden Bell began to ripple and unravel under Qiao Shen's Spatial Chaos technique.

The peculiar strength of the Vast Palace's star techniques lies in that you cannot measure their power like other star techniques.

Their power far surpasses that of other star techniques.

Of course, they are truly difficult to master!

In the next instant, sensing his Fish Curtain Golden Bell on the verge of shattering, Xu Jin unhesitatingly activated the Seven Kill Escape Dragon Stake.

Xu Jin vanished into thin air, causing Qiao Shen's second spatial technique to miss.

In the next instant, a torrent of star force surged upward from the ground.

Somehow, Xu Jin had already appeared beneath Qiao Shen.

Earthly Magnetic Force activated instantly—the very moment Qiao Shen began to plummet.

Holding the Yellow Dragon Sword, Xu Jin became a blur in an instant; a piercing shriek tore through the air.

At this moment, Qiao Shen still instinctively looked upward.

Previously, whenever Xu Jin used this technique and his body lost control and fell, terrifying star-mountain-like objects would crash from the sky.

But this time, none came!

The moment the piercing shriek sounded, Qiao Shen realized something was wrong.

In the same instant, searing pain erupted, exploding into a rain of blood.

"Senior Brother Qiao!"

Liu Ju, who had just returned via substitution, happened to witness this—he screamed in horror and rushed forward.

Pale-white starlight flared; Ning Yuchan's Whirlwind Heavy Hammer had already spun into a vortex, hurtling toward Liu Ju at high speed.

In the instant Xu Jin used fivefold luminous flash to slay Qiao Shen from below, he immediately stowed the Yellow Dragon Sword into his Vast Space.

The Yellow Dragon Sword was unrecognizable to ordinary people; when he used it, the speed was so great others couldn't discern it.

But after use, he had to stow it away, to prevent anyone from recognizing its origin.

Amid the rain of blood, Qiao Shen's spiritual core emerged.

Without hesitation, a streak of Lei Guang flickered from his fingertip, shattering half of Qiao Shen's spiritual core; Xu Jin's divine soul power shot out like a luminous cord, tightly sealing Qiao Shen's spiritual core before hurling it into his own Vast Space.

Completely annihilating Qiao Shen's spiritual core was effortless for Xu Jin.

But capturing Qiao Shen's spiritual core alive was a rare treasure.

If he couldn't extract anything later, he could always destroy it then.

In the next instant, Xu Jin's gaze turned to Liu Ju, who was battling Ning Yuchan.

With Qiao Shen dead, Liu Ju raged like a mad tiger, but his madness was nothing compared to Ning Yuchan's.

Both fought with pure brute force.

Moreover, after their previous battle, Ning Yuchan now understood the power of high-rank cultivators and was familiar with spatial star techniques.

At this point, killing Ning Yuchan quickly was impossible.

Seeing this, Xu Jin felt Liu Ju's heart lurch—he thought he was finished.

But at the same moment, Xu Jin's mind received Ning Yuchan's telepathic message: "Hurry into the Seven Kill Palace—don't be late."

"What about you?" Xu Jin asked.

"I'm using this high-rank opponent to test and hone my combat skills! I still have resurrection chances—don't worry," Ning Yuchan replied telepathically.

In the next instant, Xu Jin turned and, holding the Seven Kill Token, charged through the Seven Kill Palace gate.

(End of Chapter)