Chapter 76: Senior Brothers' Well-Intentioned Advice

Seeing that the Blood God Sect's altar master had fled into the distance, Xu Jin did not pursue.

Xu Jin understood the principle of not chasing a desperate foe.

Moreover, the speed that person had erupted with while fleeing was not something Xu Jin could catch up to.

Xu Jin casually fired a Star Arrow, striking the star pattern on Zhou Baihan's chest. The blast caused the star light around the heavily injured Zhou Baihan to dissipate, and he vomited blood once more. Only then did Xu Jin step forward to help up his fallen Second Senior Brother, Zhang Han.

After a good while, the blood-spitting Zhang Han finally recovered.

Once helped up, Zhang Han looked grateful. "Fortunately, if not for Junior Brother coming to the rescue, my life would have been forfeit here today."

"Second Senior Brother was injured; otherwise, these thieves would never have had a chance," Xu Jin said.

"Exactly!"

Hearing this, Zhang Han's expression turned even more hateful. "These Blood God Sect demons have keen noses. I had just finished slaying several Meal of Mist Realm fierce beasts in succession and was careless enough to get injured, and they showed up."

"Otherwise, even if that altar master is in the Forge Star Realm, he wouldn't be able to do anything to me."

This reminded Xu Jin of the Blood-Guiding Beast-Taming Art he had seen earlier.

Zhang Han encountering fierce beasts in succession was likely not a coincidence, but the handiwork of the Blood God Sect demons.

As for Zhang Han's words, Xu Jin did not doubt them at all.

As the universally acknowledged Second Senior Brother among the Dao Academy disciples, he certainly possessed the strength to challenge those of higher realms.

Not to mention anything else, Xu Jin had already seen three pieces of star equipment on Zhang Han.

"By the way, may I ask for Junior Brother's name? I find Junior Brother somewhat familiar, but I cannot recall your name," Zhang Han asked hurriedly.

"Second Senior Brother, I am Xu Jin, a disciple from this year's Star-Pointing Season."

"Zhang Han, a disciple from last August's Star-Pointing Season."

The two had now formally met. "Junior Brother, I can only repay this life-saving grace slowly. Once we return to the Dao Academy and enter the Star-Plucking Tower, we shall link our Star-Plucking Tokens. In the future, whenever Junior Brother has any trouble, just call, and I, your Senior Brother, will surely arrive."

"Senior Brother speaks too solemnly; it was but a small effort."

*Whoosh! *

Just as they were speaking, a cyan stream of light flashed from the mountains and arrived. Xu Jin's gaze shifted; the instructor who had come to reinforce them was actually Ning Yuchan.

Before she even arrived, Xu Jin had already caught the faint fragrance on Ning Yuchan.

It hadn't been very obvious before, but after obtaining the Spirit-Sniffing star pattern, he had become increasingly sensitive to scents.

Xu Jin couldn't help but inhale deeply a few times.

"Hmm?"

Ning Yuchan landed. The moment she saw Xu Jin, her expression changed, but upon seeing that it was Zhang Han who was heavily injured, her expression softened slightly. She placed her iron crutch directly onto Zhang Han's shoulder, and star power permeated through.

"Hmm, right arm broken, left leg slightly injured, internal organs heavily damaged, but there is no danger to his life."

"And this is?" Ning Yuchan looked at the heavily injured but still living Zhou Baihan.

Zhang Han hurriedly spoke, recounting the situation from just moments ago, which caused Ning Yuchan to look at Xu Jin with surprise.

Without using an emblem, relying solely on his own combat strength to heavily injure a Meal of Mist Seventh Layer Blood God Sect demon—even if it was a sneak attack—this combat strength was truly remarkable.

This kid was not only improving his cultivation quickly, but his combat strength was also rising rapidly.

Her judgment had truly not been wrong.

"The spoils belong to Xu Jin?" Ning Yuchan looked at Zhang Han.

"Absolutely."

Ning Yuchan looked at Xu Jin. "Hurry up; dangers are appearing frequently today, and I cannot stay here for long."

"Then him, do you want him?" Xu Jin asked, looking at the still-living Zhou Baihan.

"A live captive is very important. I need to take him back and hand him over to the Star-Patrol Guard to pry his mouth open and see if we can follow the vine to find the melon and wipe out the Blood God Sect's nest in Jinshan County," Ning Yuchan said.

As she spoke, her iron crutch tapped repeatedly, and star power surged out, helping Zhou Baihan stop his bleeding; he shouldn't die for the time being.

Zhou Baihan, who had previously resigned himself to death, suddenly felt a glimmer of hope for survival rise in his heart.

As long as he confessed everything, there should be a way to live, right?

Even the altar master could abandon me to flee, so why can't I confess everything?

Thinking this, Zhou Baihan's mind became completely clear, and his desire to survive became extremely strong again.

Xu Jin took Zhou Baihan's backpack and searched his chest for some silver. From Zhou Baihan's body, Xu Jin smelled the scent of over a dozen living people, but only five overlapped with the scent he had previously smelled on Jiang Long.

Xu Jin secretly took note before handing Zhou Baihan over to Ning Yuchan.

"What about you? Shall I take you back, or will you return on your own?" Ning Yuchan looked at Zhang Han.

Zhang Han thought for a moment and said, "I'll trouble the Chief Ning Jiaotou."

He was heavily injured, so returning on his own was too dangerous, and staying behind would mean troubling Xu Jin for help, wasting Xu Jin's time. It was better to let Ning Yuchan take him back.

The problem was that as soon as Ning Yuchan agreed, Xu Jin, who was standing to the side, felt inexplicably anxious.

Let Ning Yuchan carry Zhang Han back?

She hadn't even carried him yet.

And this was his teacher.

"Teacher, why don't I send Zhang Han back? You can't carry two people by yourself; it's too much trouble."

Unexpectedly, Ning Yuchan glanced at Xu Jin, a hint of a mischievous smile flashing in her pretty eyes. "Carry?"

The next instant, Ning Yuchan's iron crutch suddenly flicked, picking up the heavily injured Zhou Baihan as if he were a dead fish, and then she pointed at Zhang Han.

"Climb up!"

"Ah?"

Zhang Han was stunned. Was he supposed to climb onto the iron crutch, or climb onto Zhou Baihan's body?

The former was barely acceptable, but the latter...

"What, do you intend to make me carry you? Or return on your own? Or perhaps waste Xu Jin's time?" Ning Yuchan raised an eyebrow.

"I... I'll climb!"

Fortunately, the iron crutch was long enough; picking up one more Zhang Han was sufficient.

"Remember to leave the mountains before noon tomorrow."

Leaving behind this sentence, Ning Yuchan held the iron crutch horizontally, carrying the two like noodles, and star light erupted beneath her feet as she vanished in an instant. During the process, Xu Jin saw someone fall off the iron crutch, only to be caught by Ning Yuchan's instantaneous burst of speed.

Cold sweat appeared on Xu Jin's forehead.

This...

If he were truly heavily injured, he'd better have other instructors come instead.

Teacher is a good person, but the iron crutch is ice-cold!

A few minutes later, Xu Jin finished counting the loot from Zhou Baihan's body.

The various precious herbs and rare treasures in the backpack were worth over 1,600 taels, plus a bottle of Star-Supplementing Pills, two Spirit-Refreshing Pills, and a star-equipment long saber.

With a harvest of nearly 3,000 taels, Xu Jin couldn't help but sigh that it really felt like "killing and arson lead to golden belts."

But those who kill will also be killed.

Making a fortune on the tip of a blade meant that one careless move could turn one into a ghost on the tip of a blade.

After organizing the backpack and swallowing a Star-Supplementing Pill to recover his star power, Xu Jin continued his exploration.

In the distance, a hundred miles away.

After hiding in a stream for a good while, letting the water wash away any scent that might exist on his body, Long Yu, the altar master of the Blood God Sect in Jinshan County, finally poked his head out of the stream cautiously.

"Why do I feel so unlucky? I ran into that Dao Academy genius again..."

"Old Zhou doesn't seem dead..."

"Old Zhou definitely won't... keep his mouth shut. He will definitely confess everything he knows..."

"So, I must retreat."

"And it must be done very thoroughly."

"Not only must I retreat, I must also leave Jinshan County for a period of time..."

"However, this harvest is enough for me to quickly break through to the Refine Star Realm."

Thinking for a moment, Long Yu took out a blood talisman and crushed it in an instant.

The moment it was crushed, the blood-guiding jade hanging on Long Yu's chest flickered slightly.

"This is the last thing I, this altar master, can do for you all. Whether you can escape alive during the upcoming encirclement depends on your own fortunes..."

The next instant, after confirming there was no one around, Long Yu shouldered his backpack and picked a direction, not even returning to the stronghold he had previously managed, and instead dived directly toward the direction of Danxia County.

On the afternoon of July 12th, Xu Jin's harvest was about 600 taels, followed by bitter cultivation in the evening, and continued bitter cultivation on the morning of the 13th.

On the morning of July 13th, he wandered around casually, picking up over 100 taels along the way, and also slew a Meal of Mist Fifth Layer variegated tiger.

He even skinned the tiger, took the tiger whip, and dismantled the tiger teeth and tiger bones.

Things from a fierce tiger were still quite precious; even if taken to the secular world, this set could sell for two or three hundred taels of silver.

It was a pity it wasn't a star beast.

If it were a star beast, the value would at least increase tenfold.

At a quarter past noon, Xu Jin arrived at the nearest supply point, only to be told by the instructor that all disciples were to carry their own harvests and gather at the Jinshan Outer Academy at Daqing Mountain.

This forced Xu Jin to rush, and even with the Flying Star Steps erupting repeatedly, it took him over an hour to arrive.

When he arrived, most of the Dao Academy disciples were already there, gathering together and discussing this harvest.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Wang, for taking first place again."

"Senior Brother Wang, can you sell the star equipment you chose this time to me, your junior brother?"

"As expected of Senior Brother Wang, the harvest volume exceeds 10,000 taels again. You alone equal a hundred of us."

"Junior brothers, in the future, you must learn more from Senior Brother Wang and us. Don't look at how we only entered half a year earlier than you; there is much you have to learn."

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Yu, for finally taking the throne of second place this time."

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Zhang..."

Most people revolved around the Dao Academy's First Senior Brother, Wang Weisheng, and congratulations rang out in succession.

Conversely, the disciples from this spring's Star-Pointing Season all had poor expressions.

Regardless of the ranking, the harvest was not high.

And they still had to be taught how to behave in public by senior brothers from previous years, so their expressions were all poor.

Especially the few geniuses, such as Yue Daqi, Lu Xianbing, Ren Xiaoxiang, Yu Guan, and others, all looked unhappy.

Especially Lu Xianbing, who had previously rejected over a dozen people seeking cooperation, only to be slapped in the face in public by one of those he had rejected.

"Junior Brother Lu, see, I told you to team up with me."

"With my experience, I definitely wouldn't let you suffer a loss."

"If you had teamed up with me, you wouldn't have a harvest of only 4,000-plus taels; at the very least, it would have been 6,000 or 7,000 taels, and ranking in the top twenty would have been possible."

Lu Xianbing, who was being lectured in front of others, looked unhappy. As a genius, he hated this kind of hindsight lecturing the most. Seeing Xu Jin approach at this moment, he hurriedly pushed through the crowd to meet him.

"Brother Xu, how was your harvest?"

Lu Xianbing's question attracted the attention of others. Because of this, not only Lu Xianbing, but also Yue Daqi, Ren Xiaoxiang, Yu Guan, Luo Geng, and others who had been lectured by the senior students, all surrounded Xu Jin.

"Xu Jin, your harvest must be quite good, right?"

"Xu Jin, your harvest must be quite substantial, right?"

The crowd had different thoughts; some hoped Xu Jin would win some face, some wanted to use the opportunity to shift the senior brothers' attention, and others had other motives.

If there was to be lecturing, let everyone be lectured together.

But with this, Xu Jin attracted the attention of all the disciples.

Seeing that it was Xu Jin, who had previously made a big splash and was directly promoted to team leader, the senior brothers gathered around one after another, wanting to see Xu Jin's harvest volume.

If the harvest volume wasn't very high, the senior brothers would inevitably have to impart some advanced experience to Xu Jin and give some well-intentioned advice.

Xu Jin was also a bit stunned.

It was as if, suddenly, everyone was following him toward the harvest collection point.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 77 =====