Chapter 52: Returning to the City and the Blood Slaughterer Sets Out

Jinshan Juncheng, Tianyang Branch Academy, Lecture Hall.

Seeing Flag Master Zhong Da rushing over, Academy Chief Zhou Qingzhu no longer had his usual composure.

In the past, he would always wait calmly for Zhong Da's report.

But at this very moment, Zhou Qingzhu could no longer wait and directly asked, "How is it? Did Ji Bochang agree to take action?"

"Reporting to the Academy Chief, the latest news is that with the deliberate connivance and cooperation of Commandant Huang Yunshu, early this morning, Flag Master Ji Bochang of Jinshan Dao Academy and Cui Tianqi were able to leave the team searching for the demons, and then acted separately.

Ji Bochang received a Star Pigeon from Yue Chong's team, stating that Yue Chong's team's operation failed, and he is about to annihilate the team in Heshui County, then turn to annihilate the team in Jinsha County. He further stated that he will track and observe the teams in Heshui, Jinsha, and Nanhe counties. If the team we arranged fails, he will take action to annihilate them in the capacity of reinforcements. Please rest assured, Academy Chief, he will find a way to maintain contact," Zhong Da reported.

Hearing this, Zhou Qingzhu let out a long sigh of relief.

"Yue Chong, at the second layer of Refine Star, actually failed too."

"Sure enough, Dong Zhao had arrangements in place long ago, but Dong Zhao would never dream that I would spend over ten years of effort to plant a mole who holds a high position and has gained their trust.

It was worth it," Zhou Qingzhu said.

"The Academy Chief is brilliant." Zhong Da timely offered a compliment.

"I didn't misjudge the person. At that time, I saw that Ji Bochang was very filial, so I concluded that this person was loyal and righteous. I didn't expect that he would really be useful at a critical moment.

Just this one person taking action is worth ten people!" Zhou Qingzhu was quite self-satisfied.

"The Academy Chief has a discerning eye."

Zhong Da offered a perfectly timed compliment, which Zhou Qingzhu found very satisfying. "Send someone who can leave the city to take the Star Pigeon out of the city, and find a way to find Ji Bochang on the only path. At the same time, tell Ji Bochang that if the teams in the three northwestern counties are dealt with, he can rush to the east of the prefecture city as soon as possible. If there are any fish that slipped through the net, he will be the most convenient person to take action.

Afterwards, I will send him into the Tianyang Branch Hall."

"Understood."

"By the way, have those two Fire-Cloud Emblems been sent to the east?" The power of the Dao Academy in the east was not weak; there was Luo Kexing before and Cui Tianqi after, so Zhou Qingzhu simply sent out two Fire-Cloud Emblems he had spent great effort to craft himself. If used well, they would be enough to kill these two people in one strike.

"Reporting to the Academy Chief, they have already been sent out."

"Good, report back as soon as there is news."

Zhong Da received the order and left, also feeling slightly relieved.

His own Academy Chief was most reassuring in this one aspect: he basically would not mistreat those who risked their lives for him.

Jinshan Dao Academy, Academy Chief Dong Zhao looked at the latest news from the Star Pigeon and also breathed a sigh of relief.

Flag Masters Ji Bochang, Cui Tianqi, and Luo Kexing went to meet the various teams, plus the life-saving emblems previously given to each small team; most of the small teams should be able to return safely, right?

Below Pear Blossom Ridge, even though Ji Bochang looked like he had already breathed his last and died, Xu Jin and Lei Guang were in no hurry to approach.

What if the other party was still holding onto their last breath?

If they approached and he exploded with one last strike, he could definitely take one or two of them with him.

No hurry.

"First, divide the spoils; Ji Bochang's is a separate matter," Lei Guang said.

The crowd of disciples also finally came to their senses; everything that had just happened was like a dream or illusion.

It felt like a legendary experience, yet it had actually happened to them.

4,560 taels of silver; Xu Jin and Lei Guang each took 910 taels, and the other eleven each took about 250 taels.

Xu Jin and Lei Guang took more silver notes. Xu Jin took three Spirit-Refreshing Pills; Xu Jin didn't want the Star-Supplementing Pills, and the others divided them.

It wasn't that they weren't needed, but if one talked about cost-effectiveness after nourishment, Star-Supplementing Pills were far worse than Spirit-Refreshing Pills.

Thus, the number of Spirit-Refreshing Pills in Xu Jin's hands reached twelve.

And the silver in his hands: he had seized 780 taels in Heshui County last night, and today, after deducting the Spirit-Refreshing Pills, the cash was 820 taels. Adding the two hundred plus taels remaining from before, the silver in Xu Jin's hands now exceeded 1,800 taels.

It could be considered having a small amount of surplus wealth.

Xu Jin planned to make a good plan after returning: terminate his sister's employment contract, let his sister light the stars, and also let his old father move to the prefecture city.

He hadn't looked into the housing prices in the prefecture city, but with so much silver, renting a house would definitely be very easy.

In this life, he couldn't be a housing slave.

As for the rest, it would be used to plan for increasing his cultivation speed.

He still needed to improve his own strength.

Although the emblems were powerful, there were too many uncertainties when using them.

Using the Spinning-Blade Emblem twice today, honestly speaking, if not for Lei Guang's cooperation, the hit rate might have been lower.

That would have been a waste.

But thinking was thinking; Xu Jin still placed one of the two Dawn Emblems in his hand under the Star Lamp to nourish.

Who would be the second victim of the power difference after the Star Lamp nourished the emblem?

After a full quarter of an hour, confirming that Ji Bochang was truly dead, Xu Jin and Lei Guang dared to approach Ji Bochang.

During this time, the group hadn't been idle; they had already worked together to move the giant rock blocking the road. Looking at Ji Bochang's corpse, Lei Guang stopped Qian Xiaohu, who had developed a habit of looting corpses. "Everyone, just sell me a favor. This Ji Bochang is, after all, a Flag Master of my Jinshan Dao Academy, and his identity is special. I want to take his corpse back and hand it over to the Commandant to deal with."

This was naturally no problem.

It was precisely because Lei Guang was there; otherwise, directly killing a Flag Master and then saying he was a traitor would really require some effort to explain.

While speaking, Lei Guang picked up Ji Bochang's Star-Weapon long sword. After thinking for a moment, he handed it to Xu Jin. "The higher the tier of the emblem, the more precious it is. That Spinning-Blade Emblem of yours has incredible power. Killing Ji Bochang, we can all be considered to have accepted your favor.

You can dispose of this Star-Weapon long sword; it can be considered as filling your deficit."

Xu Jin originally wanted to refuse, wanting to say that the Spinning-Blade Emblem was also a gift from Ning Jiaotou Ning.

But why did Ning Jiaotou Ning give it to him and not others?

This cause and effect, this human favor, were all things Xu Jin would need to repay in the future.

So Xu Jin accepted it generously.

Afterwards, Lei Guang draped Ji Bochang's half-corpse over a horse, and the other shredded pieces were wrapped in cloth. The group set off again.

Along the way, everyone was tense, fearing that another ambush would pop out.

It wasn't until the towering Jinshan Juncheng appeared vaguely in everyone's field of vision that they felt slightly at ease.

And the fighting on the official roads in other counties was still continuing.

There were those chasing and those fleeing, and there were also reinforcements.

For example, the team led by Luo Geng had originally relied on the emblem given by his uncle to defeat the ambush team, but not long after, they encountered Flag Master Lin Lang of the Tianyang Branch Academy.

Fortunately, Luo Kexing appeared in time.

In terms of strength, Luo Kexing and Lin Lang were evenly matched, but Luo Kexing was fighting while injured, and not long after, he fell into a disadvantage.

Luo Kexing could only take out the emblems used for life-saving; some were given by the Academy Chief, and some were given by the Commandant.

But just as Luo Kexing blasted out the life-saving emblem, a flash of fire also blasted out from Lin Lang's side. In an instant, fire clouds wrapped around Luo Kexing, rising on the spot.

Lin Lang was seriously injured, while Luo Kexing was like he had been roasted, fainting on the spot.

Fortunately, Luo Geng was also a ruthless person. He blasted all the life-saving emblems his uncle Luo Kexing had given him toward the seriously injured Lin Lang, and then rummaged through Luo Kexing's bosom to find emblems, forcibly scaring away the seriously injured Lin Lang.

In another direction, Cui Tianqi and Jin Chi also encountered each other, and the two fought fiercely.

At the last moment, Jin Chi also used the Fire-Cloud Emblem bestowed by the Academy Chief.

Unfortunately, Cui Tianqi had been prepared long ago and dodged in advance, so his injuries were not serious.

Don't look at Cui Tianqi's full beard and his robust and heroic appearance; in reality, he was as meticulous as a hair. The Academy Chief had given him a life-saving emblem, so did Jin Chi have one?

Nine times out of ten, he did!

This battle ended with Cui Tianqi and Jin Chi both being seriously injured, but in the chaotic battle, many disciples were also affected.

In the end, only eight people followed Cui Tianqi back from this team.

As the Golden Crow sank in the west, Xu Jin led the first team back to Jinshan Juncheng.

Not only did everyone return alive, but they also brought the prisoner back alive.

In an instant, Wang Qiang, the Supervisor of the Tianyang Branch Academy who was confronting Ning Yuchan and restraining her, realized that something was very wrong.

Bringing the prisoner back alive and only bringing back a written confession were completely different things.

Almost the first moment he saw Xu Jin's team return to the city, Supervisor Wang Qiang led his subordinates and rushed back to the Tianyang Branch Academy.

This matter had to be reported to the Academy Chief immediately.

Also, the very instant he saw Xu Jin return to the city, seeing Xu Jin's intact team and the living prisoner draped over the horse's back, Ning Yuchan's Star Power surged, and the iron crutch in her palm immediately turned into a starlight iron hammer.

*Boom boom boom! *

Star Power exploded. Ning Yuchan, as if welcoming them and also as if venting, used the starlight iron hammer to blast the ground three times in succession.

At this very moment, it was also the time when Supervisor Wang Qiang of the Tianyang Branch Academy turned and left.

At the same instant, inside the Jinshan Dao Academy, Academy Chief Dong Zhao, who was continuously mobilizing the Star-Locking Ring, suddenly sensed a huge fluctuation of Star Power.

A long thread of starlight fell, landing on Ning Yuchan, and he sensed the change in Ning Yuchan's aura.

"So the people have arrived; Yuchan is sending me a message.

Three times, it seems the mission of the first team to return was completed perfectly!"

The next instant, Jinshan Dao Academy Academy Chief Dong Zhao once again mobilized the Star-Locking Ring. A thread of starlight from the Star-Locking Ring, falling from the void, suddenly trembled three times in succession.

This thread of starlight falling from the void from the Star-Locking Ring was linked to Commandant Tian Zhang of the Jinshan Dao Academy.

The dignified Blood Slaughterer Tian Zhang was currently sitting cross-legged in a small, narrow civilian house.

Suddenly, starlight fell and trembled three times.

"Is it finally time to wrap things up?"

The next instant, Tian Zhang, having received the signal, stood up, went out the door, transformed into blood light, leaped up, and directly lunged into a courtyard not far away.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 53 =====