Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

57: Chapter 53: Encirclement

57 -53: Encirclement

The entrance hall of the Heavenly River Gang.

Gang Leader Zhou Ji of the Heavenly River Gang was waiting there with a dozen of his subordinates.

Anxiously waiting.

Suddenly, a burst of blood-red light descended, and Zhou Ji and the others instantly stood up.

As they recognized the person arriving, cries of alarm erupted.

“Tian Zhang!”

“Blood Slaughter!”

The moment they saw who it was, Zhou Ji turned and fled without hesitation.

But Tian Zhang let out a long laugh, and with a slash of his blade, he cast out a starlight chain that twisted like a spirit snake.

Third Tier Star Skill—Spirit Snake Chain.

In the blink of an eye, it wrapped around Zhou Ji, who was trying to escape, binding him tight!

Zhou Ji’s body burst with starlight, but he couldn’t break free from the Spirit Snake Chain.

The Third Tier Star Skill, when used by Blood Slaughter Tian Zhang, was no small matter.

In the next moment, Tian Zhang’s long knife was already resting on Zhou Ji’s neck.

Zhou Ji, captured in a single move, immediately looked ashen-faced!

As for those underlings of the Heavenly River Gang, the moment they recognized it was Blood Slaughter Tian Zhang, they had already scattered and fled.

A man’s reputation, a tree’s shadow!

Besides, they were only mixing in the Heavenly River Gang for food and drink, at most scraping together a few taels of silver; risking their lives would be foolish!

They escaped quickly; right as Tian Zhang captured Zhou Ji within seconds, sealed Zhou Ji’s Star Core, and dislocated Zhou Ji’s joints, a streak of blue light flashed rapidly towards them, and upon touching the ground, it turned out to be Mountain Master Dong Zhao.

Mountain Master Dong Zhao had come to provide backup for Tian Zhang, just in case.

Seeing Zhou Ji captured alive, Mountain Master Dong Zhao immediately relaxed with a smile, “Having captured this rat alive, this matter is now seventy percent complete.”

“Only seventy percent?

Shouldn’t it be a sure thing?” Tian Zhang asked.

“According to Lu Chang’s message, Hall Master Hu of the Tianyang Sub-Hall hasn’t shown his face for a day.

I guess he might be nearby.

If he comes, it could ruin everything!

It’d be good if someone could restrain him,” Dong Zhao said, looking intently at Tian Zhang with a meaningful expression.

Understanding his hint, Tian Zhang lifted the captured Zhou Ji and said, “Mountain Master, rest assured, someone will restrain him.”

“Good!” Dong Zhao laughed heartily, leapt up, and said, “Let’s go, back to the Taoist Institute.”

As Tian Zhang followed with Zhou Ji in tow, he reached into his robe and crushed a special Emblem.

Just as Tian Zhang crushed this special Emblem, atop the peak of the great Green Mountain outside of Jinshan County city, suddenly an indistinct figure appeared, stood up, and stretched lazily, “Really damn slow, finally there’s a signal.”

In the next instant, Qi Shanye’s thoughts moved, and multiple layers of engraved shadow hiding Star Patterns within the Upper Star Palace suddenly contracted, their brilliance completely concealed as Qi Shanye’s figure emerged true and clear atop the peak.

At the same moment Qi Shanye concealed the shadow hiding Star Patterns, a bamboo-hatted old man fishing on a small boat on the Golden Sand River suddenly reeled in his line, then pulled out a Star Plate covered with mysterious Star Patterns and scales from his chest.

Star Artifact—Star Positioning Plate.

At that moment, the Star Positioning Plate was flickering with a faint light.

Sub-hall Master Hu Xuechuan of Tianyang furrowed his brow as he skimmed his hand over the Star Positioning Plate, and in an instant, a dark green glow shot towards the direction of the great Jinshan.

“Suddenly revealing his aura?

Is Qi Shanye becoming careless in a fight, or has he set a trap to lure me in?”

After pondering for a few moments, Hu Xuechuan suddenly sneered, “I want to see what tricks Qi Shanye can still play within Jinshan County, which has been sealed for nearly half a month.”

In the next instant, Hu Xuechuan soared into the sky, and with a step, starlight appeared beneath his feet, becoming like the Heavenly Road, allowing Hu Xuechuan to step into the void and disappear.

At that very moment, Hu Xuechuan crushed three special Emblems in succession.

This kind of special Emblem, called the Golden Orchid Emblem, draws on the oath made at the time of a sworn brotherhood, aspiring not to be born on the same year, same month, same day, but to die on the same year, same month, same day.

Crushing one, the others must break as well.

These are usually used for sending messages and warnings but must be agreed upon in advance.

A set of Golden Orchid Emblems has at least two pieces, and there are those with three, four, or even five pieces, but the more there are in a set, the higher the price and the rarer it is.

The moment the three Golden Orchid Emblems were crushed, in the mountains, Lord-lieutenant Lu Chang, who was leading a team to hunt the evil demon, had a Golden Orchid Emblem in his chest shatter instantly, and upon seeing which one it was, his complexion changed.

After making some arrangements for the search, Lu Chang immediately took two other Star Condensing Realm Experts and teleported towards the direction indicated by the Emblem.

Governor Huang Yunshu of the Tianyang Branch also received the signal at the same time, quickly settled his affairs, and, within a minute, hastened towards the direction indicated by the Emblem.

At the same time, within Jinshan County city, Mountain Master Zhou Qingzhu of the Tianyang Branch had a Golden Orchid Emblem in his chest instantly shatter as well.

Zhou Qingzhu was stunned.

He understood that this was Hall Master Hu summoning them to surround and annihilate the evil demon, but at the moment—

From the side of Heshui County.

Didn’t Ji Bochang say that he had handled it?

Why had the group dispatched to Heshui County by the Jinshan Taoist Institute rushed back?

Could it be that Ji Bochang was compromised?

Does he not worry about retaliation?

How did Zhong Da contact him?

What was Zhong Da thinking?

In a flash, many thoughts went through Zhou Qingzhu’s mind, wishing to drag Zhong Da or Ji Bochang in front of him and interrogate them.

But Zhou Qingzhu was also very clear that these matters could only be discussed afterward.

The most important thing now was another matter—Zhou Ji!

He had never expected that even after activating the sleeper agents he had embedded for over ten years, the team from Jinshan Taoist Institute could still arrive intact, bringing captives with them.

It was simply impossible.

At the very least, Ji Bochang or the ambushing forces should have killed the captives.

But now, there was no time to think too much; it was imperative to sever ties and eliminate Zhou Ji.

The next moment, Zhou Qingzhu threw down Dean Wang Qiang, who had just finished reporting, and burst forth with dazzling starlight, racing at top speed toward the Heavenly River Gang headquarters within Jinshan County City.

Three minutes later, when Zhou Qingzhu arrived at the Heavenly River Gang’s premises, the usual bustling entrance was deserted.

But there were no signs of combat.

A bad premonition rose in Zhou Qingzhu’s heart.

Where was Zhou Ji?

Had he run off by himself?

Or had he been captured?

The foiled Zhou Qingzhu, with a gloomy face, considered both possibilities.

Zhou Ji was a local tyrant with even more connected information; perhaps he’d received relevant intelligence before Zhou, and fearing being silenced, had fled earlier.

But why was there not a single underling at the entrance?

And yet, there were no signs of a struggle.

He hoped for the former, that Zhou Ji had run off and gone into hiding—because if he had been captured, then…

In an instant, Zhou Qingzhu’s sense of crisis intensified.

Just minutes before, Hall Master Hu Xuechuan of the Tianyang Star Hall, Yan State Branch Hall, whom he had counted on for support, suddenly sent him a message about besieging an evil demon.

Ordinarily, this would be normal.

After all, for the past month, Hu Xuechuan had been using the Star Artifact, Star Positioning Plate, to lock onto Qi Shanye’s location, which had only been approximate until now, but the urgency of the recent message suggested a specific location had been determined.

But why now?

Originally, even in the worst-case scenario, as long as Sub-hall Master Hu Xuechuan appeared in Jinshan County City, no one could touch him.

There were plenty of ways to escape.

But now…

Suddenly, Zhou Qingzhu sensed an extreme danger.

Hall Master Hu had gone after the evil demon Qi Shanye, Zhou Ji had vanished, and what was more critical, Zhou Qingzhu himself had left the Tianyang Branch.

And he had brought not a single subordinate.

Had Dong Zhao dared to attack forcefully if he had been inside the Tianyang Branch?

Even if Dong Zhao had dared, with the Star Array in the Tianyang Branch’s Martial Arts Hall and the advantageous terrain, along with assistance from other experts of the Tianyang Branch, what could Dong Zhao have done to him?

At most, his reputation would be tarnished.

But now!

Danger!

The situation was extremely perilous.

Return to the Tianyang Branch or leave the city?

This was the danger Zhou Qingzhu faced at the moment.

If he left the city and could meet up with Sub-hall Master Hu Xuechuan, that would mean complete safety.

Even if something happened, he could seek refuge in the Sub-hall or even elsewhere.

But leaving the city also ran the risk of being targeted and entangled by Dong Zhao and others.

Returning to the Tianyang Branch meant holding out.

Until Sub-hall Master Hu Xuechuan returned.

Each option had its pros and cons.

In just an instant, Zhou Qingzhu made his decision.

Leave Jinshan County City.

The City was already dominated by the Taoist Institute’s power.

If Zhou Ji had indeed been captured, Dong Zhao and Tian Zhang, the two audacious fellows, might even consider deploying siege crossbows.

Leaving Jinshan County City was the better option.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t brought Dean Wang Qiang along, nor had he called back experts like Vice Mountain Master Liu Yelan.

Gathering them together now would ensure greater safety when leaving the city.

To gather them now would take at least 15 minutes, too much time wasted.

The more time dragged on, the more dangerous it was for him.

But these people’s strength could still be utilized.

Vice Mountain Master Liu Yelan was still at the north gate of Jinshan County City at the moment.

In an instant, having made up his mind, Zhou Qingzhu soared, intending to leave Jinshan County City as quickly as possible.

But as he had just taken off, a blood-colored blade light struck down like lightning.

Caught off-guard, Zhou Qingzhu was cleaved back into the courtyard.

“Tian Zhang, you’ve got nerve!”

Zhou Qingzhu yelled angrily, but instead of engaging with the advancing Tian Zhang, he seized the momentum to choose another direction in an attempt to flee.

However, just as Zhou Qingzhu had propelled himself up, a starlight-transformed discipline ruler and a huge hammer both thundered down, smashing him back to the ground and bringing down a large number of houses with him.

Amid the dust, Dean Cao Chun and Ning Yuchan appeared, their aura locking onto Zhou Qingzhu.

“Mountain Master Zhou, no wonder we couldn’t find the evil demon for so long; the real evil demon behind everything turns out to be you, Mountain Master Zhou!” Mountain Master Dong Zhao, holding confession papers, appeared above the Heavenly River Gang entrance.

At the same time, Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu also appeared from another direction.

Five experts from Jinshan Taoist Institute united to besiege Zhou Qingzhu!