Chapter 50: Returning to the City

Four protective shields, everyone exchanged glances.

Watching a group of Star Demons bite and claw, not only failing to inflict any damage but even breaking their fangs and claws.

Everyone felt complex emotions, especially those from Kexiang.

This defensive capability had already surpassed the armor they wore.

The students from both schools were now completely at ease, with many beginning to recover peacefully.

Tang Ruoxi’s eyes gleamed with curiosity, wanting to ask but not daring to disturb.

Seeing that he was fine, Ji Ziling and Ying Yanxue sighed in relief and focused on their recovery.

Jiang Changkong restored his Star Power and stamina, not forgetting to check his current status.

Jiang Changkong: Star Cloud Peak

Low-Grade Mid-Tier Martial Arts:

Bronze Skin Iron Bone Technique: Perfected 1/64000

Tai Chi Fist Scripture: Mastered 2/16000

Three Blades Without Trace: Perfected 23583/64000

Essence, Energy, Spirit: 11

Just now, fighting his way in with Taiji Fist had actually increased it by one point.

Three Blades Without Trace—it hadn’t been in vain, his continuous efforts these past few days had brought him nearly halfway to the next level.

His internal Star Power was abundant, and his understanding of Three Blades Without Trace had deepened further.

He was confident that if he faced Chen Sanyan again, even at his peak, he could finish him off with a single strike.

Next, he planned to allocate some of his Essence, Energy, and Spirit to improve the two martial arts, Bronze Skin Iron Bone Technique and Tai Chi Fist Scripture.

It was unrealistic to fully perfect Three Blades Without Trace now.

By allocating some Essence, Energy, and Spirit to enhance these two martial arts, he could make use of them when needed.

After resting for half an hour, Jiang Changkong stood up and resumed the slaughter.

His consumption hadn’t been too great, and he had fully recovered during that half hour.

Confirming that they were safe, he unleashed a wave of carnage.

However, he still followed the pattern of fighting for one or two hours, cutting through the horde back and forth, then resting.

He wouldn’t let himself exhaust his energy again—who knew where the Star Demons might drag him next.

If they dragged him before a Star Sea-level Star Demon, he’d have nowhere to cry.

Ji Ziling and the others occasionally opened their eyes to glance at the screen before closing them again to rest.

Those with lighter injuries, after recovering, watched the screen with complex expressions.

Envy, jealousy, resentment—was this guy made of alloy?

But even if he were alloy, with so many Star Demons, he should have been torn apart.

The Star Demons outside were rapidly decreasing, with only a few occasionally drawn over, but their numbers were small and caused no real trouble.

Time passed bit by bit, from late night until dawn.

After cutting through the Star Demon horde seven times over, the swarm was no longer what it had been before.

When the first ray of light tore through the darkness, the Star Demons outside the protective shields were sparse, with only a dozen or so remaining.

The shields opened, and the group stared at the ground, speechless with shock—scattered flesh everywhere, not a single intact corpse.

A cold wind blew, making everyone shiver, their hairs standing on end, chilled to the bone.

What a brutal guy!

And there was a pile of Star Stones stacked there, almost like a small hill.

With a single glance, everyone knew there were no fewer than three hundred Star Stones.

Bang!

Another Star Demon exploded—this one at the peak of stellar qi. The Star Stone had just flown out when it shattered.

Even the Star Stones were being destroyed!

Swoosh!

A flash of sword light, and Ji Ziling beheaded a Star Demon, digging out its Star Stone. “Lend us your backpack.”

“Take it,” a student said, tossing over a backpack.

The others quickly joined in, finishing off the remaining Star Demons.

Ying Yanxue carried several backpacks, filling them with the hill-like pile of Star Stones.

“Senior,” Jiang Changkong stopped, his clothes tattered and stained with blood.

Although protected by the Taiji Diagram, there was no such protection during last night’s recovery, so it was inevitable that bloodstains had gotten on him.

“Good brother.”

Ji Ziling patted his shoulder firmly and said, “You’re loyal enough. Just now, the students from Kexiang said that whatever request you have, feel free to make it!”

Jiang Changkong blinked. Feel free to make it?

Tang Ruoxi smiled slightly. “That’s right. As long as it doesn’t exceed the third-tier range, whether it’s weapons or battle armor, we’ll agree to it.”

Jiang Changkong pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s discuss this after we return. It’s still dangerous here, so let’s leave first.”

He didn’t know what he should ask for or what the wealthy Kexiang could offer.

Better to wait until they returned and figured things out clearly.

Such a major incident, involving so many people—Kexiang couldn’t possibly renege.

“That’s fine too.”

Tang Ruoxi nodded gently and waved her hand. “Let’s go.”

Everyone had already packed their things when they opened the energy shield.

They shouldered their backpacks and left directly.

Ying Yanxue packed the Star Stones into three backpacks and tossed them all to Jiang Changkong. “Yours.”

“Thank you, senior. Some of these are from the late Star Cloud stage—you can have them.”

Jiang Changkong took the backpacks and spoke as he walked.

“You keep them. This time, don’t recklessly absorb them. Save them for school or sell them for money.”

Ji Ziling said, “When you enter school, take these Star Stones back with you, and you can directly complete the college entrance exams. It’ll take about two or three years.”

Jiang Changkong: “…”

Completing several years’ worth of college entrance exams right after enrollment—isn’t that a bit too fast?

Ying Yanxue’s expression remained cool. “We don’t need the Star Stones. We already had some before, and we’re not lacking now.”

Jiang Changkong understood what she meant—the Star Stones they had taken from Zhang Hua and the others. “I’ll go get my backpack. Wait for me a moment.”

“We’ll go together.”

Ji Ziling and Ying Yanxue followed him.

Zhang Hua stayed close to Cao Ye, his expression dark as water. “How could his strength improve so quickly?”

If they hadn’t witnessed Jiang Changkong’s strength firsthand, they would have suspected he was a Star Sea Martial Artist.

Even at the Star Cloud Peak, he shouldn’t have been able to charge in and out of the Star Demon horde seven times last night—unless he was a Star Sea Martial Artist.

Cao Ye said expressionlessly, “Don’t overthink it. First, think about how you’ll face punishment when we return.”

After picking up his backpack, Jiang Changkong returned to school with the others.

“Are you interested in coming to Kexiang School?” Tang Ruoxi approached and asked quietly.

“Tang Ruoxi, what are you doing?” Ji Ziling and Ying Yanxue glared at her simultaneously.

“Miss Tang Ruoxi, Changkong, the top student, is from our Martial Arts School—Senior Ziling’s brother.”

The Martial Arts School students weren’t pleased either.

How could such an outstanding top student be poached?

If they came to the Star Desolate Grasslands together in the future, being from the same school would surely mean looking out for one another.

Under normal circumstances, the Martial Dao and Kexiang were barely on speaking terms—not stepping on each other’s toes was already good enough.

“I…”

Just as Jiang Changkong was about to speak, Ji Ziling tugged at him and whispered in his ear, “Say you haven’t decided on a school yet.”

Jiang Changkong was momentarily stunned, then said, “I haven’t decided which school to join yet. I only know some basic martial arts—it’s nothing much.”

He knew perfectly well that Ji Ziling was doing this for his own good.

Not having decided which school to join meant: make your offers, and I’ll go to whichever is better.

Tang Ruoxi’s eyes lit up—there was an opportunity here.

“Let’s hurry up and return to the city as soon as possible,” Ying Yanxue said coolly.

The journey back to the city was relatively uneventful, as they didn’t actively hunt or lure Star Demons.

They encountered no more Star Demon hordes, and any scattered Star Demons they came across were killed before Jiang Changkong could even make a move.

No one said a word about the Star Stones from the previous Star Demon horde—they all went to Jiang Changkong.

He didn’t intervene with the scattered Star Demons along the way either.

He also returned Zhang Xiaoyu’s phone to him, though he kept the Primal Martial Compass for now, planning to return it later since it would still be useful on the journey.

Walking alongside Ji Ziling and Ying Yanxue, he chatted idly with them.

Tang Ruoxi occasionally came over to talk about Kexiang and also brought up the matter of the earlier reward.

Following Ji Ziling’s advice, Jiang Changkong didn’t rush to discuss it, instead engaging Tang Ruoxi in conversation about Kexiang.