Chapter 945

“Huh?”

In the Star Ruin’s starry void, when Xu Jin arrived at the location sensed by the Message Disc, he spread his spiritual sense—but found no trace of his Master, Fenghua Emperor, or his Mistress, Duyue Emperor.

In an instant, his face filled with surprise.

These two would never ditch him.

He activated the Mingji Star Pattern and pushed the Ming Qianchu Technique to its limit, yet still detected no sign of them.

After four or five breaths, his expression suddenly changed—the Mingji Star Pattern detected an anomaly in the void one hundred li ahead.

It felt as if a patch of space had been stuck with a medicinal plaster.

Without prolonged spiritual sensing, it would go unnoticed.

Just then, two familiar fluctuations appeared simultaneously.

“Fenghua, see? I told you—Jin’er wouldn’t take long to find us.” Duyue Emperor appeared, clinging affectionately to Fenghua Emperor’s arm.

Watching this, Xu Jin sighed inwardly: no matter how firmly your Dao-heart is cultivated, Master, even you cannot escape Duyue Emperor’s gentle entanglement.

“Master! Mistress!”

Xu Jin’s greeting made Duyue Emperor laugh until her eyes curled into crescents.

“This is your mistress’s technique for concealing her presence,” Fenghua Emperor said. “Otherwise, we two Emperors wouldn’t dare come out so openly—risk a misstep, and we might trigger a massive battle.”

Xu Jin’s eyes lit up. “Master, so this technique can hide one’s aura during battle?”

“Complete concealment is impossible,” Duyue Emperor replied, glancing around, “but suppressing battle fluctuations to a certain degree is doable. Though the coming fight may occur in the Star Surge Chaos Zone, where detection is unlikely, caution is still necessary.”

“This unwritten rule will eventually be broken—but not by us two.”

“Indeed,” Fenghua Emperor asked. “Jin’er, what’s the situation?”

Xu Jin spent over ten breaths explaining the circumstances to them, then added, “Master, I’m seventy percent certain Yu Kun Emperor is coming for me.”

“Forget it!”

Fenghua Emperor waved his hand. “Whether his chance of targeting you is seventy or eighty percent, we’re ending him this time.”

“There’s no such thing as guarding against a thief for a thousand days—only stealing for a thousand days.”

Duyue Emperor immediately agreed.

“Jin’er, lead us there. When the moment’s right, let us out to deal with him.”

As Xu Jin nodded, he activated the Yuan Yu Technique.

In the next instant, Fenghua Emperor and Duyue Emperor vanished into thin air.

The moment he carried his Master and Mistress, Xu Jin vanished from his spot and reversed his teleportation—upon reappearing, he immediately activated the Ming Qianchu Technique.

From now on, he would sense after every teleport.

Calculating against an Emperor-level force demands extreme caution.

But the instant Xu Jin activated Ming Qianchu, his expression turned stunned.

Within the Ming Qianchu’s sensing range, he detected the auras of Yu Kun Emperor and the Seventh-Catastrophe Space True Person, Shen Zhenxuan.

Twenty-four thousand li away.

Thanks to his spiritual soul’s exponential surge in cultivation, Xu Jin’s Ming Qianchu now reached a maximum sensing distance of twenty-five thousand li.

In the next instant, Yu Kun Emperor was twenty-two thousand li away.

Twenty thousand li in an instant!

Is this the speed of an Emperor?

Faster than most Star Juniors who specialize in space, and nearly as swift as Space True Persons, even accounting for seamless movement.

Xu Jin’s gaze darkened instantly.

Not from fear.

But from an unexpected twist.

Under normal circumstances, Yu Kun Emperor could never catch up.

His extreme space teleportation under time acceleration was utterly incapable of matching Xu Jin’s pace.

Xu Jin observed for three more breaths—within those three breaths, Yu Kun Emperor closed the gap by over seventy thousand li.

Distance wasn’t the issue—it was direction.

He had been advancing directly toward Xu Jin’s current position.

Without hesitation.

As if he’d long since locked onto Xu Jin’s location.

“How is this possible?”

Xu Jin recalled every encounter with Yu Kun Emperor, Jin Nanzhi, and Shen Zhenxuan—no aura fluctuations at all; his Dao Embryo had been fully alert.

Unless there was some silent, invisible locking technique, it was impossible.

“Could there really be some great technique...?”

Suddenly, Xu Jin remembered something—he sank his spiritual sense into his own Sumeru space.

One glance—and his face turned grim.

Of course.

Since returning to Changxing Star Island, he’d received only two external items: one was Guan Laohei’s jade slip; the other, a starlight message crafted personally by Lin Dapang, Lin Bowei.

Now, among the pile of starlight messages from Lin Dapang, several emitted faint, almost imperceptible star-force fluctuations—undetectable unless his spiritual sense sank deep.

“Lin Dapang… was it you?”

Coldness surfaced in Xu Jin’s eyes—he understood.

Yu Kun Emperor’s planning was brilliant, utterly cunning—he’d exploited a blind spot completely.

After returning to the star island, he’d explicitly mentioned minor adjustments, urging Xu Jin to be cautious.

Xu Jin and Guan Laohei had focused entirely on military law.

Because military law could silence people most effectively—without a single cry.

For this reason, Xu Jin had studied and memorized every regulation Guan Laohei sent, fearing Yu Kun Emperor’s trap.

He never expected the trap to be here.

And it was executed by Lin Dapang—the very member of the Vanguard Recon Team closest to him.

So underhanded.

Luckily, Xu Jin had planned ahead—he possessed the Ming Qianchu Technique. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even know how he’d been killed.

Realizing this, Xu Jin stopped rushing. He simply stayed put.

Returning to the Star Ruin Chaos Zone was now impossible.

Let the battlefield be here—after all, his Mistress could suppress battle fluctuations.

Five breaths later, Xu Jin’s gaze sharpened.

In the void, the elemental Dao of wind trembled slightly—Yu Kun Emperor’s figure appeared in Xu Jin’s sight.

Xu Jin’s spiritual sense shifted—the Chaos Cloud Tower shot out and hovered above his head.

The Chaos Cloud Tower had already withstood Emperor-level trials; deploying it now ensured Xu Jin’s safety.

In the next instant, Yu Kun Emperor materialized, gazing at Xu Jin, who stood motionless in the void, his eyes filled with admiration.

“Indeed clever,” Yu Kun Emperor said, appearing ten li ahead of Xu Jin. The moment he appeared, his aura locked onto Xu Jin. “You know escape is futile—so you’ve stopped running.”

“Yu Kun, why must you kill me? Is it for the Dongxuan Star Realm?” Xu Jin asked, voice low.

“Something like that.”