Chapter 80: The Green Robe Reappears

【Rank 98 in First-Level Combat Realm: Lady Sipping Moon, Score 156】

The Combat Realm rankings are divided into three lists: the first lists ranks one through ten in oversized characters; the second lists ranks eleven through one hundred in standard size, still quite prominent; the third lists ranks one hundred one through one thousand in tiny characters, invisible unless you look closely.

Xu Jin merely glanced at the Combat Realm rankings and spotted Lady Sipping Moon on the second list—his mind froze.

Could this girl really break into the top hundred of the First-Level Combat Realm?

Xu Jin was puzzled—or rather, he suspected the Combat Realm rankings might be rigged.

On her first day, she fought him five straight matches and lost all five.

On the second day, she fought him six straight matches and won one, lost five.

In the following days, during their daily duels, she won fewer than she lost.

Occasionally winning one or two matches was considered good.

Lady Sipping Moon’s main strength was her exceptional mobility and her whip’s unpredictable strikes, making her a decent sparring partner.

But in terms of actual strength, Xu Jin thought she was still weak.

The reason was simple: she was a Meal-of-Mist Seventh Layer, yet she lost more than she won against him, a Meal-of-Mist Fifth Layer—how strong could she be?

But Xu Jin never expected that after just four days away, Lady Sipping Moon had broken into the top hundred of the First-Level Combat Realm.

Remember, the First-Level Combat Realm of Star-Picking Tower included the elite of every major power in the world.

Xu Jin knew over three million Meal-of-Mist cultivators had entered Star-Picking Tower.

In his estimation, breaking into the top thousand was already extremely difficult—let alone the top hundred.

Yet now, this Lady Sipping Moon had broken into the top hundred—did that mean he, Xu Jin, could too?

Perhaps even rank higher than her?

Suddenly, Xu Jin realized a question: Had he been too modest?

In true combat power, Xu Jin had slain multiple Meal-of-Mist Seventh Layer cultivators and had opportunistically killed a Third-Level Green Snake in Star-Refining early stage.

And when he slew Meal-of-Mist Seventh Layer cultivators, it wasn’t even difficult.

It was outright domination.

Did that mean his current strength was also dominant within the Meal-of-Mist realm?

Xu Jin recalled tonight’s sparring session with Lu Xianbing.

Lu Xianbing had previously said he loved sparring—he’d fought multiple times with this year’s Star-Picking champion, Yue Daqi, and Ren Xiaoxiang, winning more than he lost.

The reason was simple: Yue Daqi had slightly higher cultivation, but far inferior combat ability.

In other words, excluding Xu Jin, Lu Xianbing’s combat power was actually this year’s top Star-Picking contender.

Yet tonight, Xu Jin had dominated Lu Xianbing with mobility alone, without even using instant star arts.

Though the Wind-Chasing Star Boots helped, Xu Jin’s strength was already formidable.

He simply hadn’t realized it before.

Only now, seeing Lady Sipping Moon’s rank, did he suddenly understand.

Then what are you waiting for?

Of course—challenge and climb the rankings!

Entering the top one thousand in the Combat Realm and maintaining it for seven days rewards one strand of starlight.

Entering the top hundred and maintaining it for seven days rewards two strands of starlight.

Even if Xu Jin’s rank only matched Lady Sipping Moon’s—top hundred—two strands of starlight meant two hundred taels of silver.

Roughly thirty taels per day.

This reward must be secured.

This wool must be plucked!

Thirty taels a day—rent a house in Juncheng for his father and sister, hire a cook, and he’d still have money left over each month.

Challenge!

As Xu Jin expected, if Lady Sipping Moon—whom he’d been crushing—could break into the top hundred, then he, Xu Jin, should have no trouble doing the same.

Remember, that was four or five days ago.

Four or five days ago, Xu Jin hadn’t yet successfully inscribed the Great Gathering Star Pattern, hadn’t fully solidified the Clarity Soul Star Pattern, and had only just achieved minor mastery in Flying Star Step.

But now, with the Great Gathering Star Pattern inscribed, the Clarity Soul Star Pattern fully solidified, his soul force surging, star art power exploding, and Flying Star Step nearing perfection, his strength had skyrocketed.

Notably, in the Combat Realm, any change in one’s own strength is instantly reflected, but changes in star weapons are not.

Only the star weapons provided by the Combat Realm may be used.

But for Xu Jin, whose Flying Star Step was nearly perfected, the Wind-Chasing Star Boots were merely an added bonus.

Xu Jin estimated that if Lady Sipping Moon returned now, she’d lose every match.

She’d no longer serve as a useful sparring partner.

First challenge: victory in two seconds.

Before the opponent could react, Xu Jin had closed the distance, struck with a star ring collision, and shattered their head with starlight.

The next three matches were all won in under three seconds; his Combat Realm rank rapidly climbed within the top eight thousand.

In the fifth match, there was a slight hiccup—he faced a cautious opponent whose mobility and defense were flawless; it took Xu Jin six seconds to defeat him.

Victory came through close-range star arrow fire coverage.

【Combat Realm Rank: 6455】

After the sixth match, Xu Jin felt uneasy—his test result was about to appear.

No fatigue. No headache. Still able to fight!

This meant his challenge limit in the Combat Realm had surpassed the previous cap of six.

Soon, Xu Jin completed his seventh and eighth matches.

The eighth was slightly tougher, taking over thirty seconds, but still won easily.

After the eighth match, the familiar fatigue from deep within his mind, along with the slight headache, struck all at once.

His soul force was overdrawn—daily challenge limit reached.

“Eight times!”

Yet Xu Jin’s face lit up with joy.

The test result had come—and matched his prediction.

When soul force capacity increases, so does the number of allowed Combat Realm challenges.

With the Clarity Soul Star Pattern fully solidified, his soul force had increased by over twenty percent—possibly even thirty percent. Total increase: over fifty percent.

Lu Xianbing could only challenge the Combat Realm five times consecutively before needing to rest and recover soul force.

Previously, Xu Jin could do one more—his advantage was minor.

Now, he could do three more—this advantage was significant.

If accumulated day by day, this edge would steadily widen.

【Combat Rank: 2908】

Maintaining this winning streak, Xu Jin could break into the top hundred within two or three days at most.

Then he could start collecting silver.

Afterward, Xu Jin left the Combat Realm and immediately swallowed a nourished Spirit-Reviving Pill to restore his soul force.

At the western dock outside Jinshan County, where former River Heaven Gang’s Incense Master Deng Longshu had hidden, Jiang Sheng, sun-darkened, arrived quietly.

“Incense Master, word’s come—Xu Jin returned from the Jinshan Dao Academy’s harvest. He’s off tomorrow; nine out of ten he’ll go home. Should we tail him?”

Deng Longshu, hidden in shadow, his face unseen, tossed a five-tael silver ingot to Jiang Sheng. “Don’t work tomorrow. Go wait by the East Gate. You won’t go unrewarded.”

“Rest assured, Incense Master.”

After Jiang Sheng left, Deng Longshu turned back, staring at the pile of intelligence on Xu Jin gathered over recent days, his brow furrowed.

Eighty-three days of Star-Picking.

Yet his cultivation broke through to Meal-of-Mist Fourth Layer in under a month.

During the River Heaven Gang’s ambush on Dao Academy disciples, he had a kill record against a Meal-of-Mist Seventh Layer—but reportedly used a Star Pattern talisman.

He possesses at least one First-Level star weapon.

The Star-Patrol Captain likely has a standard inner armor.

He may even have a life-saving talisman.

All this intel was dug up by Deng Longshu through immense effort and multiple sources.

But Deng Longshu didn’t think it was outdated—after all, only a few days had passed; how much could his strength have improved?

The key is the life-saving talisman.

Dao Academy disciples are hard to pin down.

Who knows if a master has favored him with a life-saving talisman?

Unlike us wandering cultivators, who’d be lucky to own one star weapon—would anyone waste a single-use consumable?

If he were only Meal-of-Mist Fourth Layer, Deng Longshu could handle him alone.

But now…

Previously, Deng Longshu had traced Xu Jin’s origins through various channels.

He couldn’t penetrate the Dao Academy—too many feared to investigate.

Every man in the martial world knew what to do and what not to do; no one dared probe too deeply into a Star-Patrol Captain.

Any slight stir would draw immediate attention—and disaster!

Even Xu Jin’s hometown, Deng Longshu had visited once.

At the time, Deng Longshu had intended to kill Xu Jin’s father, Xu Dajiang, in one slash, as revenge for Deng Hu.

But Deng Longshu dared not!

Because if he struck, it would be satisfying—but he would leave behind an enemy who would haunt his sleep for the rest of his life.

A disciple of the Dao Academy, now the commander of the Star Patrol, and in the future, at minimum a flag master of the Star Patrol, perhaps even higher.

Kill his father, and in five or ten years, no matter how far he fled, Xu Jin would surely hunt him down.

But if he eliminated Xu Jin as well.

Then the threat would be utterly extinguished.

The Dao Academy would certainly send out searchers.

But they wouldn’t persist for long.

They’d search for three or five days, fail to find him, and then give up.

Just like when Jinshan County City cleared out the remnants of the Tianhe Gang—after five days of sweeping, they fell completely silent.

Without a grieving party, who would still care?

But the problem was, Xu Jin’s strength was hard for him to gauge—he couldn’t be sure.

“Just returned from mountain foraging? He’s got at least a few hundred taels of silver on him; if he’s lucky, maybe a thousand or two?”

“Find someone to team up with!”

“Strike and run!”

“And the Jinshan Dao Academy is off tomorrow—by the time they notice, I’ll be far beyond the county.”

“Find Old Gong’er—he’s got the ability to kill enemies of higher rank; it should be safe.”

After a few breaths of thought, Deng Longshu gathered himself, stepped out quickly, and turned into a dark alley.

Inside Xu Jin’s courtyard at the Jinshan Dao Academy.

After practicing the Manjin Chapter for an hour and a half, the starlight was nearly on his nose—Xu Jin opened his eyes, stared at the unopened door, and felt disappointed.

The green-robed man still hadn’t appeared.

He’d vanished for twenty days now.

Had he really been suppressed?

He pulled out a Xingshen Pill, swallowed it, and as the medicine took effect, his spirit lifted—he prepared to enter the Star Lamp Training Grounds and train hard tonight; Flying Star Step should reach perfect mastery.

But in that very instant, Xu Jin’s tightly shut door suddenly opened on its own, without wind.

Xu Jin’s heart leapt with joy!

Yet instinctively, in that same instant, he raised the Starlight Shield and shouted, “Who!”

“Hah, boy, your vigilance has improved.” The familiar voice of the green-robed man suddenly rang out.

(End of Chapter)