Chapter 632: Eliminate Evil Thoroughly (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Xu Jin and several ninth-rank cultivators split up, spending over an hour to fully summon back the elite human forces that had penetrated the Eight Wilderness Continent.

The worst losses were among the Sun-Carrier Army of the Lord Tianyang Star Palace, with nearly half killed in action.

Only because this was an elite force composed entirely of cultivators did the army hold together; any ordinary army would have collapsed long ago.

Beyond this, losses on all other fronts were also heavy.

Whether Chen Guo, the Cangming Star Palace, or the Zhen'e Star Palace, all suffered heavy casualties.

Of course, the human side had also achieved victories.

Before the ninth-rank cultivators intervened, the elite human forces had held the upper hand and inflicted significant losses.

But once the ninth-rank cultivators fell into disadvantage, and after some eighth- and seventh-rank warriors fell, casualties became catastrophic.

With no one to restrain the high-end forces of the Eight Wilderness barbarians, the elite human forces suffered massive losses.

Simultaneously, the deaths of high-end cultivators constituted the greatest loss of this battle.

On Chen Guo's side, thanks to Xu Jin's timely rescue, one eighth-rank warrior died, two were severely wounded, and three seventh-rank warriors died.

On the Lord Tianyang Star Palace's side, three eighth-rank and eight seventh-rank warriors died—the heaviest losses of all.

The Cangming Star Palace lost two eighth-rank and seven seventh-rank warriors; the Zhen'e Star Palace lost one eighth-rank, had two severely wounded, and lost eight seventh-rank warriors.

But the worst losses were suffered by the Xumí Palace.

The Xumí Palace's master, Luo Xian, died on the spot, his soul scattered, his body unrecovered.

Meanwhile, two eighth-rank and five seventh-rank cultivators of the Xumí Palace also died while rushing to aid their master, losing over half their elite.

Combined with the more than twenty thousand elite human warriors killed across all factions, the losses were truly devastating.

Without Marshal Xu Jin's achievements, this battle would not only have been a catastrophic loss—it would have been a total defeat.

It could even have become the turning point of catastrophic defeat for the entire human world.

But Marshal Xu Jin appeared at the critical moment, slaying four ninth-rank enemies in succession.

Setting aside emotion and casualties, merely killing these four ninth-ranks offset the entire loss of the human elite forces.

Theoretically, the final outcome of this battle was a pyrrhic victory despite heavy losses.

Precisely because it was only a pyrrhic victory, all factions withdrew their forces to the Star River battlefield for rest and regrouping.

Defensive arrays had already been raised at every passage fortress, enforcing strict defense.

Half a month.

For at least half a month, the Star River battlefield would shift entirely to a defensive posture.

The reason was simple: the severely wounded eighth-, seventh-, and sixth-rank elites needed time to recover.

Especially the top-tier eighth-ranks, such as Chen Guo's commander Mao Han Yue and Da Hong's commander Xia Hou Shen, both severely wounded.

These severely wounded eighth-ranks all required recovery.

On the way back to rejoin their units, the ninth-rank cultivators of the human world—except the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun—had regrouped and reached this consensus.

"State Master, I want to go kill that bastard Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun," Xu Jin suddenly sent a soul-message to State Master Cheng Cheng Yuexiao during the troop withdrawal, "That bastard fled at the critical moment. Only because I master spatial star arts could I rescue him—if anyone else had come, he'd have gotten them killed."

Nearby, State Master Cheng Cheng Yuexiao, having received Xu Jin's soul-message, wore a pained expression.

"Xu Jin, emotionally, I support you. To be honest, I want to kill that bastard Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun even more than you! He's despicable—always grabbing benefits but constantly slacking off and holding back his strength.

At any other time, I'd support you—even join you to surround and kill him.

But now, if we kill the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun,

the entire human world will suffer.

You know the real reason Da Hong's Emperor died. Da Hong's internal stability was already fragile; if the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun is killed now, Da Hong will collapse immediately.

In any other era, the other states would have carved up Da Hong, and Chen Guo would have gained greatly.

But now is not the time to kill the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun." Cheng Cheng Yuexiao did his best to persuade Xu Jin from a strategic standpoint.

"State Master, I understand. Don't worry—I won't act rashly."

Xu Jin understood perfectly well the State Master's dilemma and the current situation.

But it was just... infuriating!

Xu Jin had already resolved: when the chance came, he would kill the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun, eliminating this plague on the human world—he was far too selfish.

As he pondered, State Master Cheng Cheng Yuexiao suddenly wore a bitter smile. "Well, that bastard is too cunning—he's probably afraid of you, or maybe he's truly severely wounded.

He just sent word that he's returned to the Star Palace to meditate and recover, claiming he needs three months!

He's handed over Lord Tianyang Star Palace's battlefield command temporarily to Xia Hou Shen and Grand Elder Wang Kan."

Xu Jin instantly understood what Cheng Cheng Yuexiao meant.

In the human world, the six ancient lineages—the Lord Tianyang Star Palace, the Cangming Star Palace, the Zhen'e Star Palace, the Lord Lingji Star Palace, the Xumí Palace, and the Muling Palace—have endured precisely because of their Star Palaces' locations.

Their Star Palaces or sect seats are, in theory, miniature ninth-rank star realms.

They wield complete authority over the heavens and earth within them.

Just as Xu Jin is the god of the Qisha Star Realm,

they are gods of the star realms where their Star Palaces reside.

Why, in the end, could we only seal and lock the Lord Lingji Star Palace?

The fundamental reason was that we could only go so far.

When Sima Qu of the Lord Lingji Star Palace retreated into the Lord Lingji Star Realm, even the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun and Cangming Tianyang Xingjun, backed by eight or more eighth-ranks from both palaces, dared not follow.

The Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun and Cangming Tianyang Xingjun themselves were masters of their own star realms—they knew how terrifying such places were.

The final outcome could only be sealing the palace.

Now, the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun has retreated directly into the Lord Tianyang Star Realm. Whether to truly recover or to avoid Xu Jin's retribution, he cannot be dealt with for now.

With the authority of heaven and earth, anyone who enters becomes his prey—even Xu Jin.

This is also the fundamental reason Chen Guo is targeted by all sides.

With such a Star Realm, as long as they endure, they have every chance to rise again.

Chen Guo lacks one, so it is constantly targeted by the Cangming and Lord Tianyang Star Palaces.

"Don't worry. Don't rush. While we have this time, if we can conclude the Star River battlefield campaign, we can return later and deal with the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun at our leisure.

He will never hide in his Star Realm forever.

I guarantee you—when the war nears its end and the spoils are to be divided, the Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun will be the first to rush out.

At that moment, we'll have our chance to deal with him." State Master Cheng Cheng Yuexiao said.

The Lord Tianyang Tianyang Xingjun was truly an old fox—he'd retreated straight into his Star Realm. Under these conditions, even if Xu Jin ignored the bigger picture, he couldn't touch him.

All one could say was that this Sun Yang True Person was an old fox, retreating straight back to the star realm where the Star Palace resided; under these circumstances, even if Xu Jin disregarded the bigger picture, he could not deal with him.

As the State Master said, there would come a day to settle the score.

The elite forces of the Star River battlefield had all entered a state of strict defense, but this state did not include Xu Jin.

Not long after returning to Outpost Thirteen, Xu Jin took out the soul essence of the ninth-rank barbarian he had captured, Jin Bo.

Without wasting words, under Jin Bo's terrified gaze, Xu Jin gently touched the soul essence with his fingers and activated Wen Meng.

Without much preamble, under Jin Bo's terrified gaze, Xu Jin gently brushed his fingers against Yuan Ling and directly activated Wen Meng.

Normally, ninth-rank cultivators' soul essences carried fewer and fewer seals—not only due to their strength, but also because of their dignity.

So it was safe to interrogate them.

Most often, aside from cultivation methods and a few secrets that touched on taboos, other inquiries would proceed without issue.

For example, intelligence about the Eight Wilderness Continent.

The Eight Wilderness King, Envoy Ju Zhang, couldn't possibly waste time placing seals on every ninth-rank cultivator periodically.

Ninth-rank cultivators weren't dogs.

Besides, the chance of a ninth-rank cultivator being captured alive was extremely small.

Jin Bo was the right man to catch.

After a series of questions, many things became clear.

For instance, the most pressing question among the human ninth-ranks: where had the Eight Wilderness Continent gotten its nine ninth-ranks?

One or two extra ninth-ranks were understandable, but four or five more—where did they come from?

This question answered everything.

First, the Eight Wilderness King, Envoy Ju Zhang, had launched the Ancestral God Sacrifice, paying an unknown price to summon one late ninth-rank and one mid-ninth-rank from the Ancestral Realm.

Simultaneously, the divine principles brought by these summoned cultivators enabled two eighth-rank peak cultivators in the Eight Wilderness Court to break through to ninth-rank.

Meanwhile, the divine truth brought by the newly summoned powerhouse caused two eighth-rank peak cultivators within the Eight Wilderness Court to break through to the ninth rank.

It also gave the Eight Wilderness Court absolute superiority over the Blood God Sect and the Worship of the Dipper Sect.

They did this to counter the threat from the Blood God Sect and the Worship of the Dipper Sect.

Over two months ago, the Blood God Sect revealed one ninth-rank—the same one Xu Jin had discovered in the Great Wilderness Region.

The Worship of the Dipper Sect also fielded one ninth-rank.

Thus, the nine-ninth-rank balance was formed, leading to this battle.

And this battle was a grand plan devised by the Eight Wilderness Wang Envoy Ju Zhang after fully heeding the advice of the two human leaders—the Blood God Lord and the Worship of the Dipper Lord.

This filled Xu Jin and Cheng Cheng Yuexiao with fury.

This trap was too cunning.

Even they had been slowly drawn in, ultimately falling into it.

With these two ancient foxes, who understood the human world intimately, involved in the planning, such an outcome was only natural.

Additionally, they now understood the origin of the Supreme Nine-Star Spiritual Treasure wielded by Envoy Ju Zhang, radiating terrifying energy.

In addition, the supreme nine-star spiritual treasure in Envoy Ju Zhang's hand, radiating a terrifying aura, was also understood.

The Supreme Nine-Star Spiritual Treasure, Golden Serpent Thunder, whose power nearly approached a Tier-10 Sealing Artifact, was said to have been used by True Person Jin Shuo in his prime.

Xu Jin extracted many such pieces of intelligence.

Essentially, within the Eight Wilderness Court, there were almost no secrets left from the Tier-9 powerhouse Jin Bo.

He even inadvertently revealed another long-term plan targeting Xu Jin, the Seventh Killing Heir.

The group of Eight Wilderness barbarians under Xu Jin's control—Ju Qi, Ju Man, and Qing Zi Jian—had already been discovered by Envoy Ju Zhang.

Now, these individuals were gathered in one place, quietly laying a long line to catch a big fish, waiting for the Seventh Killing Heir to take the bait.

This intelligence sent a cold sweat down Xu Jin's spine.

To be honest, had he re-entered the Eight Wilderness Continent, he had indeed planned to deploy these pawns.

But now that he knew this, things were different.

Perhaps he could turn their plan against them.

After finishing his questioning, Xu Jin did not immediately kill Jin Bo; instead, he handed him over to State Tutor Cheng Cheng Yuexiao for independent interrogation to extract the needed intelligence.

It lasted until an hour later.

With a single thunderous strike, Xu Jin casually pulled out the Nirmāṇakāya space.

The spoils were modest: two Tier-8 Pure Pearls, over ten Tier-7 Pure Pearls, two Tier-7 spiritual herbs, and about two hundred Tier-7 Star Jade Tablets.

Nothing surprising.

Originally, the corpse could have yielded a Seven-Star Spiritual Treasure.

Unfortunately, Xu Jin's Five Elements Thunder Slash was too brutal—it shattered his Seven-Star Spiritual Armor outright.

But overall, the gains from this battle were still considerable.

He acquired over sixty Tier-9 Star Cores alone.

He took two Tier-9 Golden Horns from the Jin Zhu Clan, along with some other rare treasures.

In the past, this would have been a major haul.

But for Xu Jin now, it meant little.

"State Tutor, I'm preparing to go there," Xu Jin suddenly said.

"What for?"

"Eliminate evil thoroughly!" Xu Jin said.

"The Blood God Sect Master?"

"I also want to test others."

"Your strength is great, but be cautious—do not overreach!"

"State Tutor, rest assured!"

In the next instant, Xu Jin opened a temporary Star Gate within the Star-Picking Tower's branch and stepped out in an instant.

This strike was not merely about eliminating evil—Xu Jin also intended to arrange his most crucial step toward breaking through to Tier-7!

(End of Chapter)