Chapter 929: Unsealing (Requesting Monthly Votes)

In a tavern on one of the star islands in the Tongxuan War Zone, Xu Jin was drinking and chatting with Deng Kui, the True Person of Nine Trials, whom Lao He had previously introduced to him.

The twenty jars of fine wine from the Dongxuan Star Realm he casually gifted were of negligible value, but the sentiment had been conveyed.

With sentiment exchanged, each found value in the other, and the relationship naturally grew close.

This was the helplessness of cultivators once their cultivation base and status reached a certain level.

Aside from bonds forged through shared combat, like those with Lao He Guan, all others were based on mutual value.

It was hard to find a true confidant!

Deng Kui currently valued Xu Jin’s potential and future worth, while Xu Jin valued the wealth of intelligence and information this man could provide, and with Lao He Guan as the link, their bond grew nearer.

Deng Kui, long stationed at the Tongxuan War Zone’s central hub, possessed information no other star island commander could match.

For instance, Hua Tu, the Imperial Inspector of the Daluo Ancestral Hall, was permanently stationed in the Tongxuan War Zone; though he showed no intention of interfering in military affairs, he had already gained considerable influence.

Rumors also circulated that the Dongxuan Emperor Sovereign was planning to inspect the Star Wastelands’ Tongxuan War Zone.

Three Emperor Lords who had come from the Star River to reinforce the front had all assumed command positions.

Three other Emperor Lords who had long resided in the Star Wastelands had also taken up posts as star island commanders.

Currently, at least one Emperor Lord was stationed between every two or three star islands.

The Kongyuan Emperor Lord had recently intensified patrols across the star islands, personally punishing four True Persons who had violated military law.

The Tongxuan War Zone of late was a whirlpool of turmoil.

Originating from the Star Calamity, yet extending far beyond it!

Deng Kui, ever cautious, offered only information and refrained from any speculative commentary.

Yet even with his caution, Xu Jin had subtly drawn him into a trap—or rather, into Xu Jin’s intended agenda.

They chatted casually about the Kongyuan Emperor Lord’s past and his disciples.

Xu Jin was no longer the naive rookie he had been back then.

Was the Kongyuan Emperor Lord a bad master?

On the contrary, he treated Xu Jin very well!

He was practically obliging in every request, yet two things gnawed at Xu Jin, leaving him deeply uneasy.

First, the master-disciple relationship could not be revealed in the slightest—even today, upon arriving at the war zone’s star island, Xu Jin could only send a starlight message to greet him; though the excuse was plausible, the discomfort remained.

Sometimes, following one’s heart mattered greatly.

Second, the Kongyuan Emperor Lord cared only for Xu Jin’s mastery of the Yuan Domain technique, ignoring all else—even never asking about Xu Jin’s plans to attain True Person status.

This made Xu Jin feel uneasy, though perhaps the Kongyuan Emperor Lord was simply overburdened.

After all, with the Star Calamity and hidden currents surging, his duties must be immense.

Xu Jin had once fought the Emperor and seized imperial power; merely hearing others speak, he discerned the truth: the Kongyuan Emperor Lord now stood second only to the Dongxuan Emperor Sovereign, above countless others.

Though nominally beneath the Dongxuan Emperor Sovereign, in the Star Wastelands, he was no different from a king.

If the Dongxuan Emperor Sovereign were a monarch with such a supreme general commanding an entire realm, what would he think?

And his strength was formidable, his battlefield record terrifying!

A century ago, he had slain three Emperor Lords alone!

What of now?

If Xu Jin were the Dongxuan Emperor Sovereign, he too might find the situation difficult to handle.

Yet such grand affairs were beyond Xu Jin’s power to alter; he cared only for himself and his own small patch of ground.

“The Great General’s disciple? My first encounter was with none—I’ve never met him, but I heard he fought Emperor Lords. The second, True Person Fuying—I’ve not only met him, I’ve fought beside him.” Deng Kui’s expression turned reflective.

“Oh, was he that strong?”

“I was at the Eighth Trial back then; True Person Fuying was at the Sixth. Fighting alongside him, I was only fit to serve as his aide—he cut down Eighth Trial cultivators as easily as chopping vegetables. But later… alas.”

“Alas? What do you mean?”

“Literally! According to investigations, he was ambushed and killed by alien experts.” Deng Kui said.

“Such a powerful figure—could only an alien Emperor Lord have killed him?” Xu Jin asked, puzzled.

“At least two Ninth Trial cultivators, both beyond their limits, possibly even an Emperor Lord—otherwise, True Person Fuying wouldn’t have fallen in mere breaths, unable to even send a distress signal.”

In Xu Jin’s puzzled gaze, Deng Kui added, “True Person Fuying was the Great General’s disciple. Had he sent a distress call, the Great General’s cultivation would have brought him here in mere breaths!”

With that, Deng Kui sighed, “Honestly, fighting alongside True Person Fuying felt just like fighting beside Lao He and you—unbeatable in every battle!”

“Had True Person Fuying not perished, I might well have already walked the path to Emperor Lord!”

Hearing this, Xu Jin immediately understood a great deal.

Deng Kui had clearly gained immensely from fighting alongside True Person Fuying.

“Old Kui, if True Person Fuying had such illustrious achievements, surely he left behind a family?” Xu Jin asked.

“Of course! Back then, True Person Fuying used military merit to petition for a True Person title—the title itself was Fuying, also known as Fuying Wang!”

He also petitioned for a mid-world from the manifest realm as a fiefdom for his family’s legacy.

But just as the Emperor Sovereign approved the title, he was gone.

Later, the Great General, grieving his disciple and pitying the lack of anyone in his clan to hold the mid-world, petitioned the Emperor Sovereign to relocate the fief to the Tongxuan War Zone.”

As he spoke, Deng Kui pointed in a direction, “Behind our Tongxuan War Zone lies a star island, roughly the size of a mid-world—once True Person Fuying’s fief, now the ancestral land of the Fuying Lu clan, occupying one-third of its area.”

“Oh, his son broke through to Star Lord a few years ago—said to have exceptional spatial talent, still primarily cultivating spatial laws; the Great General even visited him twice!”

Hearing this, Xu Jin silently noted it down.

The Fuying Star Island—he would have to pay it a visit, given time.

For some reason, Xu Jin’s interest in the death of the Kongyuan Emperor Lord’s second disciple, True Person Fuying, was growing ever stronger.

Of course, another direct reason had sparked this interest.

Whenever Xu Jin began pondering this matter and activated the Mingqian Touch technique, his Hu Ying Divine Whip would faintly shimmer with starlight—its meaning unclear.

At noon on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month, Xu Jin arrived early at the entrance of the Wordless Heavenly Stele Hall, waiting; one hour remained before his turn.

The True Person on duty at the Wordless Heavenly Stele Hall, upon seeing Xu Jin again, greeted him with great enthusiasm and invited him to sit and wait in the side hall.

A Tenth Trial Star Lord who had earned two extraordinary merits in just two months—real, hard-won military achievements—would be a fool not to curry favor.

Such a person was either a prodigy or someone with boundless connections; his rise to prominence was imminent.

He didn’t seek promotion, only to catch a bit of good fortune, or be swept up by the rising tide of fortune—perhaps even a sliver of destiny could be his great opportunity.

After politely thanking him, Xu Jin sat cross-legged, lost in thought.