Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

59: Chapter 55 Four-star Tier Emblem (Request for Monthly Votes, Request for Follow-up Reads)

59: Chapter 55 Four-star Tier Emblem (Request for Monthly Votes, Request for Follow-up Reads)

Twenty-one people killed in battle!

After a night of arrests, the atmosphere inside Jinshan County was still solemn, but inside the Jinshan Taoist Institute, the air was unbearably heavy.

During breakfast, the usually joking chef didn’t utter a single word.

After the meal, Xu Jin found out that, of the six teams the Institute had dispatched to the six counties, aside from the teams of Xu Jin and Lu Xianbing, which had returned last evening, the other four teams had also returned one after another.

But the casualties were severe.

Yu Guan’s team suffered the heaviest losses.

The trusted aide sent by Tian Zhang was killed in battle, squad leader Yu Guan was severely injured, and another six disciples were killed on the spot, with only their bodies brought back.

The reason was simple, they encountered an ambush by Loose Cultivators with several Dining Dawn Sixth and Seventh Layer cultivators.

And this was under the protection of Star Emblems.

Not only did the accompanying trusted aides have the two-star Star Burst Emblems bestowed by Governor Tian Zhang, but Yu Guan also held a Life-saving Emblem given by the Instructor, reportedly both a three-star and a two-star Emblem, but the timing of their use was not ideal.

The second highest casualty numbers were from Ren Xiaoxiang’s team; five disciples were killed in battle, including Zhou Du, who ranked third in this session’s Star Pointing, killed instantly, along with a killed trusted aide.

In the team of First Yue Daqi, the top in this session’s Star Pointing, three disciples were killed in action and one trusted aide died, with another severely injured.

Luo Geng’s team had three people killed in total, with a trusted aide severely injured.

One person was killed in Lu Xianbing’s team.

A total of twenty-one people were killed, with only Xu Jin’s team returning intact.

As for the completion of the mission, Xu Jin’s and Lu Xianbing’s teams performed the best.

In other teams, except Luo Geng’s team, all living captives that were caught were killed.

Xu Jin was shocked for a long time by the news he received at breakfast.

But what was even more shocking was passing by the Martial Arts Hall, where the twenty-one bodies shrouded in white cloth were aligned, giving Xu Jin a chilling feeling.

This was the distinction between life and death.

Two days ago, seventy-two disciples from this session’s Star Pointing had set out full of vigor, but twenty-one of them returned as corpses.

Death was too common in this world.

And these were disciples with some abilities from joining the Star Patrol Guard.

For ordinary people, it was even harder.

In the past few days while executing the mission, only Xu Jin knew that in this so-called Evil Demon Chaos, more than a thousand civilians involved innocently had been killed, with even more losing legs or wealth.

Power!

It had to be about having power!

Shaken profoundly, Xu Jin, who originally planned to catch up on sleep, forced himself to cultivate for another half hour.

The Dining Dawn Form channeled the Starlight in four cycles, each cycle allowing for ten repetitions of the Five Battles Killing Fist.

After forty repetitions of the Five Battles Killing Fist, the progress of his Body Refining in his right leg visibly surged by one and a half inches.

After finishing the Cultivation, the fatigue of consecutive days hit him, leaving Xu Jin no choice but to fall asleep.

But he was jolted awake not by a natural waking, but by the earth-shattering cries.

The sound came from the Martial Arts Hall.

It was that the Taoist Institute had informed the families of the deceased disciples to claim their bodies and was also distributing pensions.

Each family received a hundred taels of Silver and a Pension Order from the Institute; within ten years, using the Pension Order, they could send eligible individuals for free Star Pointing twice at the Institute or request help from the Institute twice.

The pensions were fairly generous, but…

During casual chats with others, Xu Jin also vaguely learned some truths hidden behind the battle achievements.

All the trusted aides had the two-tier Star Burst Emblems for security given by Governor Tian Zhang.

All squad leaders had Life-saving Emblems given by the Institute’s Instructor and Instructor, but others had one three-star and one two-star Star Emblems each, only Xu Jin had two three-star Star Emblems.

And those were personally crafted Vortex Blade Emblems by Ning Yuchan.

According to Niu Gui, these Vortex Blade Emblems, which only Ning Yuchan could make, though three-star, their power actually exceeded that of regular three-star Star Emblems.

This was a grand favor.

To call it a life-saving grace was not an exaggeration.

Xu Jin had to remember this.

Other aspects like why did Lu Xianbing’s team suffer light casualties?

Because Lu Xianbing had more Life-saving Emblems, using three Star Emblems in total, including two three-tier Emblems during the battle.

Luo Geng’s team was similar, but they encountered Lin Lang, a Sixth Layer Refining Star, fortunately, his uncle Luo Kexing arrived in time following Lin Lang.

Yue Daqi likely had two three-tier Emblems personally bestowed by the Mountain Master, being the top of this session’s Star Pointing, naturally receiving different treatment.

Yu Guan’s team was not so lucky, encountering a Seventh Layer Dining Dawn and a Sixth Layer Dining Dawn long-range shooter, and with poor timing of using their Star Emblems, suffered heavy casualties.

And as for Ren Xiaoxiang’s team, it was said to be purely bad luck.

Besides encountering an ambush, they also ran into Jin Chi, a cultivator at the Sixth Layer of Star Refining Realm.

Although Instructor Cui Tianqi arrived in time, he was overpowered by Zhou Du.

At the very moment they were ambushed, one of their number was slain by the suddenly attacking Jin Chi.

However, soon after, Cui Tianqi appeared, and under normal circumstances, with the trusted aide and Ren Xiaoxiang’s Life-saving Emblems, they should have managed easily.

With four emblems, theoretically, they could wipe out four people of Dining Dawn Fifth Layer or above.

Besides, Ren Xiaoxiang and Zhou Du were both at Dining Dawn Fifth Layer, and there was also a trusted aide at Dining Dawn Sixth Layer.

But the moment Jin Chi of the Sixth Layer appeared, Zhou Du, having killed a disciple with a single move, turned tail and fled.

This not only led to his own death but also caused the collapse of the entire team.

Of course, since death is significant, the Taoist Institute likely won’t pursue Zhou Du’s actions anymore.

In light of this, for Xu Jin’s team to encounter two cultivators from the Star Refining Realm and still return safely was nothing short of miraculous.

However, Xu Jin didn’t need to explain these events, as Niu Gui had already reported them accurately.

That afternoon, those Star Patrol Guard disciples still able to act continued to search throughout Jinshan County City, catching any that had slipped through the net.

Within the Heavenly River Gang, there were many cunning elements who had realized that something was amiss and had hidden away early on.

Among the names Xu Jin received, there was one that looked very familiar—Deng Longshu!

Deng Longshu, Incense Master of the Heavenly River Gang.

The first major crime listed by the Spring Rain Department was the brutal slaying of river worker Wu Liu and his family, an act mercilessly executed without witnesses!

Initially, Xu Jin hadn’t paid much attention, but in the afternoon during the manhunt, he checked Deng Hu’s residence again because Deng Hu was Deng Longshu’s nephew, and he might have been hiding there.

During the search, Xu Jin suddenly noticed that right next to Deng Hu’s residence, separated only by a warehouse, was a house sealed off by the government office.

He specifically went over to check it out.

Because at the time he killed Deng Hu, Xu Jin had heard noises next door which must have been caused by Deng Hu’s screams.

At that time, Xu Jin had done nothing.

Because at that time, Xu Jin wasn’t prepared to silence them for this matter.

But now, this house was sealed off.

Only upon approaching did he learn that the sealed residence belonged to the river worker, Wu Liu.

This meant that Wu Liu, killed by Deng Longshu, lived here.

In a flash, Xu Jin connected many dots.

He couldn’t describe the feeling of learning the truth.

At this moment, Xu Jin had only one thought—if he had a chance, he would personally kill Deng Longshu, the fugitive incense master of the Heavenly River Gang.

So cruel, to have killed the neighbors who heard a little noise without even finding the actual killer.

Such malevolence!

As reported by the Spring Rain Department: Deng Longshu, male, forty-four years old, failed in Star Casting, his cultivation stuck perpetually at Dining Dawn Seventh Layer!

During the manhunt, Xu Jin also heard another name—Qi Shanye.

Apparently, he was the real target of this grand searching demons operation.

But what was terrifying was that this person had only appeared once in Jinshan County, yet hundreds of evil demons had emerged within it.

After a day and night of hunting, the Spring Rain Department’s list of major fugitives was eighty percent arrested, slowing down the manhunt.

The Star Patrol Guards also weren’t sweeping the city together with the county guards anymore.

However, Jinshan County City was still locked down, no entry or exit allowed.

Inside the Taoist Institute, a curfew was enacted; without orders, no one was allowed to leave and individuals without identification tablets could not enter.

It was said that this was also to protect the disciples of the Taoist Institute.

The Taoist Institute’s operation was too extensive this time; to prevent any escapees from making desperate moves, military governance was maintained.

Xu Jin was not in a hurry.

He now had only one goal, cultivation.

He needed to quickly enhance his cultivation level.

His current third tier of Dining Dawn made him feel very insecure.

If it weren’t for the two Dawn Emblems provided by the green-clothed man, giving him a sense of security, he would have had to shamelessly ask Ning Yuchan for one or two Vortex Blade Emblems to save his life.

During the day’s manhunt, Xu Jin also learned another piece of information while chatting.

Dawn—Four-star Star Skill.

Like the basic Star Skills he had learned before, they were all First-tier.

So, the Dawn Emblem is a four-star tier emblem, even stronger and more precious than the three-star tier Vortex Blade Emblems given by Ning Yuchan.

A four-star tier emblem sells for a thousand taels of gold on the open market, priceless.

Xu Jin couldn’t quite understand why the green-clothed man was so good to him?

With just a gesture, he gave him two four-star tier Dawn Emblems.

Just who is this green-clothed man?