Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 85 Mu Yue Makes Her Appearance and Breaks Through the Encirclement

Seeing that Scarface was exposed due to being trapped, Lin Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and quickly gave the order, "Ling'er, shoot his eyes! Leng Feng, restrain him!" At the same time, he activated the Star Martial Core, and silver star power surged from his dantian, flowing along his arm and into the Star Sword. The silver light on the sword became brighter and brighter, almost blinding.

Su Ling'er took out three Blazing Flame Pills from the medicine box, pulled out the safety plug, and threw them at Scarface's face.

"Try this!"

Three Exploding Flame Pills exploded simultaneously in front of Scarface. Flames shot into the sky, and waves of heat rushed towards him, blinding him completely. He instinctively closed his eyes and wildly waved his Ghost Head Blade in front of him to shield himself.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Leng Feng rushed forward. Unable to use his right hand, he gripped the knife with his left and slashed at Scarface from the side. The sword swept horizontally, aiming for Scarface's legs. Although Scarface couldn't see, his instincts as a Transformation Realm martial artist remained. Hearing the whoosh of the wind, he jumped back a step, dodging the blow. But he didn't notice that he had retreated to the edge of the array pattern—the moment his back collided with the pattern, the sharp lines sliced ​​open a gash on his back from his shoulder to his waist, the flesh torn open, and blood gushed out.

"Now!"

Lin Chen leaped into the air. He jumped incredibly high, higher than the tree branches overhead, higher than the cliffs on both sides of the mountain. Sunlight shone down from behind him, gilding his entire body with a golden edge. The Star Sword was raised above his head, its silver light coalescing into a thick pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.

"Star Sword Technique, Third Form—Star Wrath!"

The beam of light struck down.

Like a silver lightning bolt, it struck straight down from the sky. The air was torn apart, creating a deafening roar. Trees on both sides were forced to the side by the blast wave, and pebbles were scattered everywhere. Scarface looked up and saw the silver beam of light heading straight for him, his eyes reflecting a final glimmer of light.

"No--!"

His voice was drowned out by the roar.

The beam of light slammed into him and exploded. The silver light devoured everything; nothing could be seen anymore. When the light faded, all that remained where Scarface had stood was a charred, deep pit. There was nothing at the bottom—no corpse, no pieces of flesh, not even the ghost-headed sword had been vaporized. Only the soil on the pit walls was smoking, emitting a burnt, foul smell.

No one spoke.

Su Ling'er's mouth was open, and she forgot to close it. Chu Fan's hand, which was pushing up his glasses, froze in mid-air. Leng Feng, leaning on his battle sword, was panting heavily.

After a few seconds, Su Ling'er finally let out a breath: "That was too intense..."

Lin Chen landed back on the ground, his legs weak, and he almost couldn't stand. He leaned on his sword, bent over, and panted for a while. The Star Martial Core was still spinning, but very slowly, like a tired engine, its star power almost completely drained.

Su Muyue retracted the array flags, her body swaying as she nearly stumbled and fell. Lin Chen reacted quickly, catching her. Her hands were icy cold, and her pulse was rapid and erratic. He let her lean on his shoulder, feeling her trembling slightly.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Su Muyue leaned against him and closed her eyes briefly. Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of using any more strength.

Lin Chen remained silent. He activated his Star Martial Core, drawing upon the remaining Star Power in his dantian and slowly channeling it into Su Muyue's body. The silver Star Power circulated along her meridians, like gentle spring water washing over a dried-up riverbed. The restless blood poison within Su Muyue's body, upon encountering the Star Power, retreated like a mouse before a cat, obediently remaining motionless in a corner.

A sliver of color returned to Su Muyue's pale face. She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at Lin Chen.

"Your star power seems to suppress my blood poison," she said. "How come I never noticed before?"

Lin Chen glanced down at his chest. Inside his clothes, the Starry Heart Mirror pressed against his skin, slightly warm. The heart mirror was silver-white, smooth as a mirror, and was one of the keepsakes Chen Feng had left him. He placed his hand on the heart mirror, feeling a gentle, exorcising power slowly flowing within it.

"It might be the effect of the heart-protecting mirror," Lin Chen said. "I'll stay by your side more often from now on to help you suppress the blood poison."

A faint blush rose to Su Muyue's cheeks, not the red of a blood poison attack, but a different kind of red. She lowered her head and softly hummed in agreement, offering no objection.

Su Ling'er stood to the side, tilting her head to look at the two of them, the corners of her mouth slowly curving upwards, higher and higher. She nudged Chu Fan with her elbow, then gestured towards Lin Chen and Su Muyue with her lips.

Chu Fan glanced at it, then wrote a line on his notebook without expression: "Lin Chen and Su Muyue's relationship confirmed. Star power can suppress blood poison; long-term cooperation can be considered."

Leng Feng, with his back to them, half-squatted on the ground, pretending to check his wound. His knife wound was still bleeding, but he seemed oblivious to the pain, stopping after wrapping the bandage twice. Su Ling'er couldn't bear to watch, so she ran over, snatched the bandage, and rewrapped it for him.

Lin Chen crouched down and searched around the large pit left by the scar. Scattered around the pit were some fragments—charred cloth, a broken token, and half a melted knife hilt. He picked up a black object with the tip of his sword; it was a token, deformed by the high temperature, but the pattern on it was still recognizable: a curved black snake, its head facing upwards, its tongue flicking.

He turned the token over. On the back was engraved a single character—"Qin." The strokes were firm and sharp, completely different from Qin Hao's frivolous handwriting. The character was deeply engraved, as if carved with a knife, each stroke exuding a sense of oppression.

"As expected, it was Qin Hao who sent them." Lin Chen put the token into his pocket, his brows furrowed. But he felt something was wrong—the Black Serpent Organization was an assassination organization in the black market, dealing with people who bought their lives for money, with at most some assassins at the Meridian Opening Realm. But Scarface was at the early stage of the Transformation Realm, a level of strength that would place him at least at the level of the second-in-command in the Black Serpent Organization, something a student couldn't possibly hire for a million.

"This character 'Qin' doesn't seem like Qin Hao's style." Su Muyue walked over and glanced at the token. "It looks more like Vice Principal Qin Cang's handwriting. Senior Uncle Xuan Chen said that Qin Cang is unfathomable and has an unclear relationship with the evil race. Qin Hao is just a pawn he puts out in the open."

Lin Chen remained silent for a moment, then stuffed the token into the innermost part of his backpack. No matter who was behind it, he would remember this debt. He wasn't strong enough yet, but one day, he would make these people pay the price.

"Never mind that for now." Lin Chen stood up and stretched his numb arms. "The Shadow Leopard's lair is in that cave up ahead. Let's rest for half an hour, then set off."

Half an hour later, everyone had treated their wounds, replenished their strength, and checked their equipment. Su Ling'er reorganized the medicine box; she didn't have many Blazing Flame Pills left, and most of the Antidote Pills had been used. She counted on her fingers for a while, then stuffed a few more Qi-replenishing Pills into the medicine box. Chu Fan drew a rough map of the cave's interior in his notebook, marking several possible ambush points. Leng Feng tightened his bandages, tested the strength of his right arm, frowned, and then switched to gripping the knife with his left hand.

Lin Chen stood up and glanced at the four people—Leng Feng's injured arm hadn't fully healed, Chu Fan had used up quite a few of his array flags, and Su Ling'er had used up most of her pills. Su Muyue's complexion was somewhat better than before, but the bluish-black tinge under her eyes was still there, and her lips were still pale.

Of the five people, none were unharmed.

But no one said they wanted to retreat.

Lin Chen took the lead and walked into the depths of the forest. The others followed, their footsteps rustling softly on the fallen leaves, very light and steady.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the ground. Five long, crooked shadows lay on the ground, stretching in the same direction.

Deeper into the forest, a pair of scarlet eyes gleamed from behind a dense thicket. The eyes were large, with vertical pupils and bloodshot golden irises. It stared at the five receding shadows, exhaling hot breath and letting out a low, guttural roar. The sound was faint, muffled, like distant thunder, carried by the mountain wind into the depths of the forest, quickly dissipating.