Chapter 67: Tool Person

Jinshan County City, West Wharf Fish Market.

This is the smelliest place in all of Jinshan County City, second only to the meat market.

The stench of dead fish and rotting shrimp, of salted fish—none of it fades, even with the river wind.

It is also the most chaotic, easiest place to hide in Jinshan County City.

If officials come to search, the lighter cases can simply jump into the water and hide beneath a floating dock—hard to find.

For serious cases, one can hold a hollow reed or a specially made air tube in their mouth, duck into a patch of aquatic weeds, and stay hidden for half a day—no one can find them.

As for hunting dogs, even one-star hunting dogs trained by beast-taming masters, they’re useless here.

The stench here can drive ordinary hunting dogs mad.

Many remnants of the Tianhe Gang hide here, including the Fragrance Master Deng Longshu.

You ask why they don’t flee to other county cities?

Exiles are worthless!

Those who walk the Jianghu know this better than anyone.

Without silver to back them, moving elsewhere means starting from the bottom—careless, and you might vanish without a trace.

So after the great search in Jinshan County City died down, they hid around the wharves, scraping by, managing to get a full meal.

Once the heat dies down, perhaps they’ll rise again with the wind.

Especially with a former Fragrance Master as their anchor.

But Deng Longshu didn’t think this way.

As the Fragrance Master of the now-destroyed Tianhe Gang, his name was on record at the Jinshan County Government Office.

The once-mighty Tianhe Gang had fallen overnight—he had no intention of reviving here.

This Jinshan County City was too dangerous.

He stayed only for his nephew’s blood revenge.

Yet he set himself a deadline: three months.

If he didn’t find the killer in three months, he’d leave.

But he couldn’t do it alone, so he secretly contacted his former subordinates.

Unexpectedly, within just a few days, news came.

“Jiang Sheng, are you certain?”

“Fragrance Master, absolutely certain! I confirmed it twice—on that evening, the man I saw in the alley was him, no mistake.”

Jiang Sheng once lived in luxury, but in these mere seven or eight days, he’d been sunburned to the bone, his face covered in stubble—none of his former gang members could recognize him.

But Jiang Sheng truly didn’t want to live like this anymore; yet he had no silver. So when he finally had this discovery, it was perfect.

“Fragrance Master, I’ve also confirmed—he’s called Xu Jin, newly appointed Squad Leader of the Star-Patrol Unit at Jinshan Dao Academy. Supposedly, he’s a disciple who passed the Star-Pointing this year, probably under twenty.” Jiang Sheng added.

“Hmm, good.”

Deng Longshu tossed five taels of silver onto the table. “Keep digging. I want every detail on this Xu Jin—his cultivation base, his family, his hometown. Find out everything, but absolutely no trace of you.”

“Thank you, Fragrance Master. I’ll get on it right away.”

Jiang Sheng left, overjoyed.

With five taels as his foundation, he now had the confidence to leave Jinshan County and seek his fortune elsewhere—but that didn’t stop him from earning more.

After Jiang Sheng left, Deng Longshu’s brow tightened.

He’d found his enemy.

But this enemy was no ordinary man.

A Squad Leader of the Star-Patrol Unit—this revenge wouldn’t be easy.

Deng Longshu himself was currently at Meal-Cloud Seventh Layer; he’d once failed at Star-Casting, dropping to Meal-Cloud Sixth Layer, then painstakingly climbed back to Meal-Cloud Seventh Layer—his combat strength was formidable.

Deng Longshu believed that with his seasoned tactics and over a decade of foundational Star Arts, even a newly Star-Cast opponent wouldn’t be his match.

But a Squad Leader of the Star-Patrol Unit?

Every Squad Leader of the Star-Patrol Unit was a seasoned combatant.

He had a chance to kill the man and avenge his nephew—but also a chance to die in failure.

“No, I need to think of a plan.”

“This is revenge, not suicide!”

After a long while, Deng Longshu left his hiding place—he needed detailed intelligence before deciding his next move.

But now, Deng Longshu wasn’t afraid of being recognized.

Half a month ago, he wore a white brocade robe, cloud-patterned socks, and swift boots, full of pride.

Now, his hair and beard were matted, his body reeked of fish, his face was sun-darkened to a deep red-brown, barefoot and dressed in a short tunic—only someone extremely familiar could recognize him.

At Jinshan Dao Academy, inside Xu Jin’s private courtyard, he had taken a Mind-Clarifying Elixir, then cultivated the Golden Radiance Scripture for one and a half hours—his evening practice was done.

The starlight covering Xu Jin’s neck had advanced another half-centimeter—progress remained slow.

Afterwards, Xu Jin lounged on his reclining chair, practicing with the Star Lamp.

Mainly, he engraved the Great Star Gathering Pattern and trained the Flying Star Step.

When engraving the Great Star Gathering Pattern inside the Star Lamp, he succeeded once every four or five attempts—he was growing increasingly skilled.

Xu Jin estimated he’d master it in the next two or three days.

Most of his time, however, went into training the Flying Star Step.

The stationary mage tactic was too dangerous.

In the Practice Realm, dying only cost three points.

But in reality, one misstep meant permanent death.

In comparison, the kite tactic, the guerrilla tactic—similar to an archer’s approach—safety soared. Xu Jin had considered this tactic before, but without learning any step-based Star Arts, it was useless.

With only physical strength, his turning range was five or six meters at most.

Opponents could sweep with starlight blades two feet long.

But after mastering the Flying Star Step, he could appear ten or twenty meters away in an instant—after full mastery, even thirty meters.

Then this tactic’s power would be extraordinary.

After over an hour of intense practice with the Flying Star Step inside the Star Lamp, feeling a significant improvement, Xu Jin re-entered the Star-Picking Tower’s Practice Realm.

Challenge!

The system matched him with a Star Master named Zuiyue Xianzi, ranked just above ten thousand—likely a formidable expert.

After many days of Practice Realm battles, Xu Jin had learned many patterns.

For instance, those within the top 100,000 were mostly Meal-Cloud Seventh Layer, even Meal-Cloud Seventh Layer Full.

This was clear from how his Star Shield and Star Veil couldn’t withstand a single strike.

She was a woman wielding a whip.

Her speed was extremely fast.

A starlight-laced whip, several meters long, lashed out like a venomous serpent—only Xu Jin’s Flying Star Step saved him; otherwise, he’d have been entangled and exploded.

The battle then became a chase between the two.

Zuiyue Xianzi’s Flying Star Step was also highly refined—though not fully perfected, it was at Great Attainment.

Xu Jin’s Flying Star Step hovered between Minor Attainment and Great Attainment—he could barely keep up.

Combined with his instant-cast Star Arts, they were evenly matched.

Xu Jin began testing his new tactics on Zuiyue Xianzi.

But firing Star Arrows while moving at high speed was a matter of accuracy—this required experience.

Timing a sudden close-range assault also needed real combat training.

Three minutes later, just before his star energy ran out, Xu Jin abandoned his evasion and lunged forward—first, a Star Ring Zhendang , then a series of slashing cuts with his long blade, finally crashing into Zuiyue Xianzi’s chest and unleashing three consecutive bursts of starlight, shattering her protective starlight and reducing her to a burst of starlight.

【Great Sage Equal to Heaven: Victory】

After winning the challenge, Xu Jin didn’t care about his ranking—he immediately prepared for his second challenge.

In recent days, his Practice Realm challenges focused on tactic training, not ranking.

Budebushuo , Ganggangzhegezuiyuexianzi ， Shigefeichangheshideduishou 。

If matched against an opponent with poor Flying Star Step, the tactical training effect was weak.

Just as Xu Jin was about to continue challenging, a cluster of starlight flew from afar, arriving before him and forming a message.

【Star Master Zuiyue Xianzi has sent you a friend request. Accept?】

Friend?

There’s a feature like this?

Accept!

After accepting, another cluster of starlight arrived.

【Your friend, Star Master Zuiyue Xianzi, has challenged you. Accept?】

【Note: This challenge is not a Practice Realm match—it’s a free sparring. Neither win nor loss counts toward points.】

Xu Jin looked at the message and suddenly smiled. This immortal lady had gotten truly angry?

She’d come to settle the score privately?

Suddenly, Xu Jin recalled the moment he had just slain her.

Crashing into her embrace, then unleashing consecutive bursts of starlight.

He hadn’t noticed it then, hadn’t felt anything—but now, recalling it, the location of the starlight bursts seemed... sensitive.

Breasts exploded?

But isn’t this the Training Realm?

Besides, even in reality, in a life-or-death duel, the victor rules.

In a split second of life and death, who cares if the explosion happened in a proper place?

{Agree}

In an instant, light flashed again, stars shimmered, and a brand-new world appeared.

{Free Sparring}

{Mountain Forest Terrain, Battle to Begin in Five Seconds}

Five seconds later, the Crimson Moon Immortaless charged at Xu Jin again, this time with a more aggressive tactic.

She abandoned the advantage of her long whip and closed in for hand-to-hand combat.

But Xu Jin refused to play along, deliberately keeping distance and constantly kite-flying.

And every time the Crimson Moon Immortaless closed in, he became extremely cautious, stacking both Star Shield and Starlight Veil simultaneously for defense.

Two minutes later, Xu Jin rolled over like a lazy donkey, and as the Crimson Moon Immortaless shot skyward, he exploded into Flying Star Step and surged upward, launching a barrage of Star Arrows.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Star Arrows exploded upward, and the Crimson Moon Immortaless dissolved into starlight.

From within the starlight came a sharp, clear roar.

“Damn it, again!”

Xu Jin, the victor, froze.

That tactic just now seemed a bit Weisuo .

But he hadn’t deliberately been Weisuo —just adapting on the fly in real combat.

What a hassle.

If you want another round, then fine!

A training dummy so perfectly suited for tactical drills is hard to come by.

(End of Chapter)