Chapter 59: The Star-Picking Order

Hu Xuechuan, blasted beyond the boundaries of Jinshan Daoist Academy, was surrounded by rising starlight, staring fixedly at Dong Zhao and Tian Zhang who had launched a forceful attack against him, his expression deeply complex.

“Dong Zhao, by doing this, aren’t you sealing your own future?”

Dong Zhao still wore a smile on his face. “Master Hu, it is you who has breached our Jinshan Daoist Academy—that is sealing your own future!”

Intruders are not guests.

If you have business, submit your petition at the mountain gate.”

Tian Zhang could not linger in the air indefinitely; once he landed, his Blood Butcher’s Blade continued to spew starlight, his face brimming with battle lust.

Hu Xuechuan glanced at Tian Zhang, then turned to look at the silent Tianyang Branch, his gaze sweeping past the Cangming Branch, and finally spat in frustration, “Dong Shan Zhang, you’ve done a fine job in silence.”

“Aren’t you afraid the ministers of your Chen Chaotang will sell you out?”

“Heaven’s justice is clear; human hearts burn bright!”

“I, Dong Zhao, act only to answer to my own conscience!” Dong Zhao declared loudly.

“Fine. Very fine!”

Hu Xuechuan agreed repeatedly, but his voice clearly brimmed with fury. “Answering your conscience? I hope you never regret this!”

With that, Hu Xuechuan stepped instantly upon starlight and descended beyond the mountain gate of Jinshan Daoist Academy.

He had simply surrendered.

The Jinshan Daoist Academy disciples, having witnessed a clash of masters and a grand drama, were still eagerly anticipating more—when the voice of the Supervising Officer Cao Chun suddenly rang out: “Have you forgotten Rule Seven of our Academy?”

“No loud gatherings allowed!”

“Where are the Surveillance Orders?”

In the next instant, before the black-clad Surveillance Orders could appear, the disciples scattered and vanished in an instant, utterly gone.

Outside the mountain gate of Jinshan Daoist Academy, Tianyang Branch Master Hu Xuechuan finally, with utmost reluctance, presented his name tablet.

He had come to resolve the issue, not to escalate it.

His earlier aggressive breach of the mountain gate had merely been a probe.

He sought to test Jinshan Daoist Academy’s stance.

He had not expected their stance to be even firmer than he imagined.

It seemed Dong Zhao truly held ironclad evidence; this matter was now difficult to resolve—and likely could not be settled peacefully.

But even if it was difficult, it still had to be handled.

What else could he do? Tianyang Branch was under his jurisdiction.

Who else but him had conspired with Zhou Qingzhu? Who could have foreseen that, at the very moment of reaping the fruits, it would all collapse?

Half a quarter-hour later, Jinshan Daoist Academy’s Shan Zhang Dong Zhao, accompanied by Supervisor Tian Zhang, Deputy Shan Zhang Feng Shu, and Supervising Officer Cao Chun, personally went to the mountain gate to welcome Tianyang Branch Master Hu Xuechuan—abandoning their previous hostility, now smiling warmly and cordially.

Even Blood Butcher Tian Zhang had completely suppressed his killing aura.

In the Daoist Academy’s Lecture Hall, after a series of formalities and Shitan , the senior figures of Jinshan Daoist Academy and Hu Xuechuan finally turned to the core matter.

“Master Dong, I accept all the conditions you’ve proposed. But I have one demand: you may kill any other person from Tianyang Branch, but Zhou Qingzhu must not die.”

“Zhou Qingzhu is the Shan Zhang of my Tianyang Branch—he is the face of my Tianyang Star Hall,” Hu Xuechuan stated bluntly.

Cultivators were not court ministers; they did not indulge in roundabout games. They came straight to the terms—though Hu Xuechuan used official phrasing, he could not reveal the true reason Zhou Qingzhu must live.

He had to protect Zhou Qingzhu at all costs; otherwise, if Zhou Qingzhu knew he was doomed, he would expose him.

At that point, his troubles would be immense.

Hu Xuechuan’s troubles were not about Zhou Qingzhu impersonating a demonic cultivator; they were about the Great Manhunt for Demons.

For the Great Manhunt for Demons, Hu Xuechuan had used the name of the Tianyang Star Hall, leveraging its influence to mobilize part of its power in Chen Guo—and even the state’s official forces—to corner Qi Shanye.

But his true goal was the Divine Soul Legacy of the Lingji Star Hall, held by Qi Shanye.

Public in name, private in intent.

That was the real matter.

Even the combined might of the Tianyang Star Hall and the Cangming Star Hall had driven the Lingji Star Hall to abandon all its branches and seal itself away—yet still failed to obtain its Divine Soul Legacy.

The reason was simple: the Lingji Star Hall’s Divine Soul Legacy, unlike most other star arts, could not be imprinted onto Star Jade Tablets—it could only be passed through direct human imprinting.

Thus, a living captive was of utmost importance.

But capturing a living captive was merely the first step toward obtaining the legacy.

Yet Hu Xuechuan possessed certain special means and was confident he could extract the legacy from Qi Shanye alive.

But this was a private scheme; if the Tianyang Star Hall discovered the truth, his fate would be no better.

Therefore, Hu Xuechuan must protect Zhou Qingzhu.

“No. Zhou Qingzhu’s crimes outrage heaven and earth—he must die!” Dong Zhao’s tone was absolute.

Hearing this, Hu Xuechuan sighed and softened again. “Master Dong, I suggest we end this between us. Bringing it to your Chen Chaotang or your Guo Dao Yuan benefits neither of us.”

“Would your Guo Dao Yuan dare kill Zhou Qingzhu?”

“A mere Peak of Gathering Battle? What would your Guo Dao Yuan dare not do?” Dong Zhao still smiled, but that smile made Hu Xuechuan want to kill him.

Utterly intransigent!

“Master Dong, even your Guo Dao Yuan’s Grand Master Cheng Da may not be this confident.”

“You know the Star Picking Assembly draws near,” Hu Xuechuan pressed further.

“Without trying, how can you know?”

“You—!” Hu Xuechuan, enraged, finally swept his sleeve and turned to leave.

“Master Dong, I hope you seriously consider my proposal. A mutually beneficial solution—I will return in three days!”

After Hu Xuechuan left, Supervising Officer Cao Chun remained silent. Blood Butcher Tian Zhang also stayed silent. Only Deputy Shan Zhang Feng Shu grew anxious. “Shan Zhang, are we truly going to execute Zhou Qingzhu?”

“The evidence is overwhelming—why not execute him?”

Shan Zhang Dong Zhao spoke, then added, “I can execute him—but I fear the court ministers dare not, and the Sovereign dares not!”

“Then what of you, Shan Zhang?” Feng Shu asked, puzzled.

“We must try. What if we succeed?”

“Besides, the initiative is ours. Let us wait and see.”

With that, Shan Zhang Dong Zhao’s expression turned solemn. “From this moment, you, I, and the four of us shall form two shifts, along with the Daoist Academy’s instructors, trainers, and flag masters—all divided into two shifts, taking turns guarding the academy’s prison to prevent Hu Xuechuan from going mad.”

“Yes!”

The benefits of being promoted to Captain of the Star Patrol Unit were greater than Xu Jin had imagined.

Besides his monthly salary soaring to fifty taels of silver, the Academy directly assigned him a private courtyard—his standard of living skyrocketed.

The courtyard was small, even smaller than Ning Yuchan’s, consisting of only a modest main hall and one small side room for rest.

But the yard itself was spacious.

A yard four meters wide and six meters long—that was what Xu Jin truly needed.

With this space, he could complete his daily cultivation entirely outdoors.

He could even place a reclining chair there, relax under the starlight, and practice within the Star Lamp—quite pleasant indeed.

The upgraded armor with stronger defense, the separate-issue silk underarmor, and the seasonal robes were all trivial.

Only if they awarded him a full set of Star Weapons would it truly be a grand prize.

With help from Qian Xiaohu and others, Xu Jin, having just moved in, was now studying the Star Picking Order.

According to all disciples’ reactions, the starlight reward from the Star Picking Tower was the real prize.

Previously, when receiving rewards, he had discussed this with several senior brothers.

The starlight of the Star Picking Tower was the universal hard currency of the age—in hardness, it surpassed gold and silver.

Within the Star Picking Tower, starlight could be exchanged for various Star Arts, Star Patterns, elixirs, Star Weapons, even Star Artifacts, and other utilities.

More practically, starlight from the Star Picking Tower could also be exchanged for gold and silver.

If exchanged at the External Affairs Office, one strand of starlight fetched one hundred taels of silver.

This was why so many Daoist Academy disciples were delighted.

Even the ten strands of starlight awarded for the Great Manhunt for Demons meant a thousand taels of silver.

And it wasn’t just that.

This was the Academy’s official exchange rate.

You could exchange one strand of starlight for one hundred taels of silver at the Academy—but if you had one hundred taels of silver, you absolutely could not buy back one strand of starlight.

It was said that on the black market, the price of starlight was doubled.

But black-market starlight transactions were complex and not accessible to everyone.

Thus, Xu Jin’s reward of one hundred strands of starlight was extremely valuable.

At market price, that meant ten thousand taels of silver.

Truly a vast fortune.

If Xu Jin were foolish enough to immediately exchange all one hundred strands at the External Affairs Hall for silver, he could become a wealthy man in Jinshan City—enough to buy his father two or three more wives, and take ten or eight concubines for himself without issue.

Of course, it was only a fantasy.

In any world, possessing immense wealth without the strength to protect it made one merely a fattened lamb awaiting slaughter.

Yet, according to the head of the External Affairs Hall, these one hundred strands of starlight were, for Xu Jin at present, merely paper wealth.

Because the reward starlight from the Star Picking Tower had been transferred into the Star Picking Order.

The Star Picking Order had already been issued to Xu Jin and now rested in his hand.

It was small—a palm-sized token, its front engraved with intricate patterns, its back bearing a raised, protruding star—this was a One-Star Star Picking Order.

But this Star Picking Order was a Star Artifact; only when one reached the Sixth Layer of Meal-Cloud, after fully refining the Six Yang Head, could one imprint one’s own aura upon it and fully activate it.

Below the Sixth Layer of Meal-Cloud, the Star Picking Order could not be activated.

"Do I have to wait until Cultivation Stage Six of Meal the Mists?"

Looking at the Star-Taking Token, Xu Jin felt a flicker of anticipation but didn’t dwell on it—he simply tried to channel stellar energy into the Star-Taking Token.

Just a test.

The moment he tried, Xu Jin felt resistance—the stellar energy could not enter.

But at the very instant he sensed the resistance of the Star-Taking Token, the Chengpo Star Pattern on his Upper Star Palace flickered faintly, and in an instant, the resistance vanished; Xu Jin’s stellar energy flowed into the Star-Taking Token without the slightest hindrance.

In an instant, the Star-Taking Token in Xu Jin’s palm began to glow!

(End of Chapter)