[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-star-martial-era":3,"chapter-the-star-martial-era-the-star-martial-era-chapter-55":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Star Martial Era",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2274913,4448,"Chapter 55: Four-Star Tier Insignia (Requesting Monthly Tickets and Follows)","the-star-martial-era-chapter-55",55,"\u003Cp>Twenty-one died in battle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a night of arrests, the streets of Jinshan County City remained grim, but inside the Jinshan Dao Academy, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At breakfast, the cook who usually cracked jokes said not a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After eating, Xu Jin learned that the six teams dispatched by the academy to the Six Counties had all returned, besides his own team and Lu Xianbing’s team, which came back yesterday evening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the casualties were severe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Guan’s team suffered the heaviest losses: Tian Zhang’s personal guard was killed, squad leader Yu Guan was critically wounded, six disciples died on the spot, and only their corpses were brought back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason was simple: they were ambushed by rogue cultivators, including several at Mealtime Sixth and Seventh Reaches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was even with star insignias to save their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did the personal guards carry two-star Starburst Insignias granted by Director Tian Zhang, but Yu Guan himself possessed a survival insignia given by the instructor—reportedly one three-star and one two-star insignia—but the timing of their use was far from ideal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second-highest casualties were in Ren Xiaoxiang’s team: five disciples died, including Zhou Du, the third-ranked disciple of this year’s Star Pointing, who died on the spot, along with the accompanying personal guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yue Daqi’s team, the top-ranked disciple of this year’s Star Pointing, lost three disciples and one personal guard, with one guard critically wounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Geng’s team lost three men total, with the accompanying personal guard critically wounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xianbing’s team lost one man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A total of twenty-one died; only Xu Jin’s team returned unscathed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for mission completion rates, Xu Jin’s and Lu Xianbing’s teams performed best; among the others, except Luo Geng’s team, all captured prisoners were eliminated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The news received at breakfast left Xu Jin stunned for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what stunned him even more was the line of twenty-one bodies, draped in white cloth, laid out in the training hall—his heart went numb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the difference between life and death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two days ago, the seventy-two disciples of this year’s Star Pointing set out with high spirits; twenty-one of them returned only as corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, death was far too common.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were disciples who had joined the Star Patrol with some strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For ordinary people, it was even harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During these days of missions, Xu Jin alone knew that over a thousand innocent civilians had been killed by collateral damage in this so-called Demon Uprising, and many more had lost limbs or property.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strength!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had to be real strength!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This shock drove Xu Jin, who had planned to return and sleep, to train for another half-hour straight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mealtime Pattern drew in starlight in four rounds, each round allowing ten repetitions of the Five Dou Killing Fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completing forty repetitions of the Five Dou Killing Fist, Xu Jin’s body tempering progress on his right leg visibly increased by an inch and a half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After training, days of exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he collapsed into sleep without resistance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he did not wake naturally—he was roused by deafening sobs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound came from the training hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The academy had notified the families of the fallen disciples to come claim the bodies and receive compensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each family received one hundred taels of silver and one academy compensation token; within ten years, they could use the token to send an eligible family member to the academy for two free Star Pointing trials, or to request the academy’s aid twice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The compensation was generous, but\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>in casual conversations with others, Xu Jin learned some hidden truths behind the battle reports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All personal guards carried two-star Starburst Insignias granted by Director Tian Zhang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All squad leaders carried survival insignias given by the academy instructors and trainers, but others received one three-star and one two-star insignia each—only Xu Jin had two three-star insignias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And they were the spinning-blade insignias personally crafted by Ning Yuchan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Niu Gui, only Ning Yuchan could make these spinning-blade insignias; though classified as third-tier, their power actually surpassed ordinary third-tier star insignias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an enormous favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calling it a life-saving debt was not an exaggeration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin must remember this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why, for example, did Lu Xianbing’s team suffer so few losses?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Lu Xianbing had more survival insignias—he used three star insignias total, two of them third-tier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Geng’s team was similar, but they encountered Lin Lang at Mealtime Sixth Reach; fortunately, his uncle Luo Kexing arrived in pursuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yue Daqi likely had two third-tier insignias granted by the academy head—he was, after all, the top-ranked disciple of this year’s Star Pointing, and his treatment was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Guan’s team had bad luck: they encountered a Mealtime Seventh Reach and a Mealtime Sixth Reach long-range archer, and the timing of their star insignia use was poor, leading to heavy losses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ren Xiaoxiang’s team, it was said, was simply unlucky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides being ambushed, they also encountered Jin Chi at Mealtime Sixth Reach; although Instructor Cui Tianqi arrived, he was overwhelmed by Zhou Du’s collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the moment of the ambush, Jin Chi killed one disciple with a single strike; then Cui Tianqi appeared. Normally, with the personal guards’ and Ren Xiaoxiang’s survival insignias, they should have handled the situation easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Four insignias could theoretically eliminate four cultivators above Mealtime Fifth Reach; then Ren Xiaoxiang and Zhou Du were both Mealtime Fifth Reach, with one personal guard at Mealtime Sixth Reach. But that bastard Zhou Du, the instant Jin Chi appeared and killed a disciple with one strike, turned and fled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, he was killed—and he shattered the entire team’s morale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, since the dead were beyond blame, the academy would not pursue Zhou Du’s actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In contrast, Xu Jin’s team, having faced two Mealtime Realm cultivators in succession, returned completely unscathed—this was a miraculous feat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xu Jin didn’t need to explain—Niu Gui had already reported everything truthfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon, the Star Patrol disciples who could still move continued searching the entire Jinshan County City for fugitives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the Tianhe Gang, there were many cunning individuals who had sensed trouble early and gone into hiding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Xu Jin’s list was a name he recognized well—Deng Longshu!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deng Longshu, incense master of the Tianhe Gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first major crime listed by the Chunyu Office was the brutal murder of Wu Liu and his family of five—kill on sight!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin had initially paid no attention, but during the afternoon pursuit, he searched Deng Hu’s residence again, because Deng Hu was Deng Longshu’s nephew and might be hiding there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But during the search, Xu Jin suddenly noticed that the courtyard next to Deng Hu’s residence, separated only by a storage shed, bore an official government seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He went over to investigate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because when he killed Deng Hu, Xu Jin had heard movement from the neighboring courtyard—it must have been startled by Deng Hu’s screams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin had done nothing at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t bring himself to kill someone just for overhearing something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, this courtyard had been sealed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon closer inspection, he realized the sealed courtyard was none other than Wu Liu’s home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant the family of Wu Liu, murdered by Deng Longshu, had lived right here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Xu Jin connected many dots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could not describe how he felt upon learning the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Xu Jin had only one thought: if he ever got the chance, he would personally kill the fugitive incense master Deng Longshu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too cruel—without even finding the killer, he slaughtered neighbors who had merely heard a sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such malice!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chunyu Office intelligence: Deng Longshu, male, forty-four, his cultivation had stagnated at Mealtime Seventh Reach after failing to forge a Star Core!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the search, Xu Jin also heard another name—Qi Shanye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was said he was the true target of this grand purge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But terrifyingly, this man had appeared only once in Jinshan County, yet hundreds of demons had sprung up across the county.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After one day and night of searching, eighty percent of the main fugitives on Chunyu Office’s list had been captured; the manhunt had slowed, and the Star Patrol no longer joined the county guards in sweeping the entire city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the entire Jinshan County City remained sealed—no one allowed in or out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The academy had imposed a curfew: no one could leave without permission, and no one without a waist token could enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was said this was to protect the academy disciples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The academy’s operation had been too large; to prevent fugitives from panicking and lashing out, martial law remained in effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin was not in a hurry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin now had only one goal: cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed to rapidly raise his cultivation base.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His current Mealtime Third Reach offered too little security.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for the two Dawn Insignias given by the man in green, which gave him a sense of safety, Xu Jin would have begged Ning Yuchan for one or two spinning-blade insignias right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this day’s search, Xu Jin also learned another piece of information in casual conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dawn—a fourth-tier star technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the basic star techniques he had learned before were first-tier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the Dawn Insignias were fourth-star-tier insignias—stronger and more valuable than Ning Yuchan’s third-star spinning-blade insignias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fourth-star-tier insignia sold for a thousand taels of gold on the market—and even then, they were unavailable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Jin couldn’t understand why the man in green treated him so well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave away two fourth-star-tier Dawn Insignias at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who exactly was this man in green?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1606,"2026-06-19T23:56:29.689Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9689a18e8783c69d9853bed2dfa64fde28f9eedbc5c21ee9d41c50fb1b5ad99d","the-star-martial-era-chapter-56","the-star-martial-era-chapter-54",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-star-martial-era-cover.jpg"]