Chapter 299: One Piece of Star Crystal

Jiang Changkong had been prepared to try again if he couldn’t succeed in one go.

He planned to wait until both were severely wounded and weakened, then have Jiang Jiuqiao restrain him and forcibly devour his soul.

But he never expected this guy would throw his life away.

Jin Guangxuan’s soul ability really wasn’t that strong—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been played like a fiddle by Hua Tianrui.

Jiang Changkong carried his corpse as he descended through the clouds.

Jiang Jiuqiao was waiting anxiously below. Seeing this scene, flames flickered in his eyes: “You really killed him?”

“Could it be fake?” Jiang Changkong tossed the corpse to the ground. “Things here are finished. Time to divide the spoils.”

Jiang Jiuqiao nodded: “We gained a lot of Star Crystals this time, and those emerald beads—there are over a thousand of them.”

Over a thousand!

How many people had these two old monsters killed? This represented over ten million units of Essence.

“Give me the beads. You can take more of the Star Crystals,” Jiang Changkong said after some thought.

The emerald beads were useless to Jiang Jiuqiao anyway. With some processing, he could use them himself.

Jiang Jiuqiao nodded and handed over the emerald beads: “There are at least over a hundred thousand eighth-tier Star Crystals, over ten thousand ninth-tier ones, and three low-grade tenth-tier Star Crystals.”

“Same as before—I’ll take the beads, you take more of the Star Crystals, including those from these two.”

Jiang Changkong pointed at Jin Guangxuan’s body; the other person referred to Liu Bing.

Jiang Jiuqiao shook his head: “No need. This time, I only served as a guide. You killed both of them. I’m already grateful you’re willing to share a portion with me.”

“Well… I won’t stand on ceremony then. If you need anything in the future, just call me.” Jiang Changkong stopped being polite. Since Jiang Jiuqiao was willing to give him more, he might as well take it.

“I’ll take a thousand ninth-tier Star Crystals and one tenth-tier Star Crystal. The rest are all yours.”

Jiang Jiuqiao’s old face flushed red: “With these ninth-tier Star Crystals, I should be able to advance further, and my boss can step into the star realm too.”

“Pick the suitable ones for yourself. Give me the rest,” Jiang Changkong said, unconcerned about the Star Crystals’ attributes.

He had previously obtained one low-grade tenth-tier Star Crystal. With Jiang Jiuqiao taking one, he still had three left—two wood-attribute and one metal-attribute.

Among the ninth-tier Star Crystals, over a hundred were fire-attribute. Jiang Jiuqiao took all of those, plus five hundred low-grade ninth-tier, three hundred mid-grade ninth-tier, and several dozen high-grade ninth-tier ones.

There weren’t many high-grade or top-grade ninth-tier crystals left—just over a hundred high-grade and only a few dozen top-grade ones.

After dividing the Star Stones, Jiang Jiuqiao took out a stone bead: “This fell out of the statue. I can’t figure out its mystery. Take a look.”

Jiang Changkong took the stone bead and sensed faint Soul Energy fluctuations: “It should be related to the soul. How did this place end up like this?”

Holding the bead, Jiang Changkong looked toward the sea of flowers. There were no flowers left, and the eerie little tree was gone too.

It was completely bare, desolate and bleak.

“It was already like this when I came out. There might never have been a sea of flowers here.

We were in their illusion from the very beginning.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiuqiao tossed over a vial of medicine: “Found this in Liu Bing’s Spatial Equipment. It’s for healing and recovery. Take it.”

Jiang Changkong nodded, took the medicine, and felt his injuries rapidly healing while his depleted Star Power recovered.

“Even Near-Gods can fall one day,” Jiang Jiuqiao sighed. “How powerful was the Sea of Flowers Kingdom back in its day?”

“Whenever you say things like that, it makes me think, ‘My Great Qin has fallen?'”

Jiang Changkong sat cross-legged in recovery, scoffing, “How many years has it been? Those two old ghosts still delude themselves with thoughts of seizing bodies to be reborn and reviving the Sea of Flowers Kingdom. Isn’t it laughable?”

“But honestly, that Flower Sea Queen was so beautiful. Didn’t you feel even a little tempted?” Jiang Jiuqiao winked.

“A thing that isn’t even a skeleton,” Jiang Changkong said flatly. “I’ve recovered. Do as you please.”

Jiang Jiuqiao thought for a moment and entered the underground palace alone.

Several hours later, Jiang Changkong slowly opened his eyes. Jiang Jiuqiao was not by his side.

With a sweep of the Divine Control Art, he located him in the underground palace.

Jiang Changkong stepped into the underground palace and approached him. “You really are getting old, sighing over such things here.”

“It’s not sighing; it’s searching. There really is no Near-God Inheritance here.”

Jiang Jiuqiao said disappointedly, “I’ve searched everywhere and found nothing.”

“Near-God Inheritance… If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll give you a Near-God Martial Art. If not, forget it.”

Jiang Changkong hovered in the air. “We should go.”

Jiang Jiuqiao nodded and followed him out. As for Jiang Changkong’s promise of a Near-God Martial Art, he didn’t take it seriously at all.

You don’t even have one yourself—how could you give me one?

“I didn’t realize half a month had already passed,” Jiang Jiuqiao sighed, holding his phone.

“That long? We only spent one night, didn’t we?” Jiang Changkong was taken aback. He picked up his phone to check—it really had been half a month.

Jiang Jiuqiao thought for a moment and speculated, “It must be the illusion’s influence, making us unaware of the passage of time.”

The two left the Ancient Ruins. Once again, Jiang Changkong used the Divine Control Art to carry him and carefully depart from the area.

He didn’t want to fight the Star Demons here again—at least not for now.

Mid-stage Star beings were too difficult to kill.

They retraced their original path at great speed.

Returning to the base, everything seemed normal as usual.

Members of the Jiang family were still helping, excavating a considerable amount of Star Crystals, all of which had been sent to the laboratory.

The two entered the base and headed straight for the lab.

“Lord, you’re back.”

Xu Hengzhi and the others hurried to greet them.

“Yes. Has anything happened in the territory?” Jiang Changkong asked.

“Well…”

Xu Hengzhi looked troubled, stammering and hesitating to speak.

“Did someone come to steal the Star Crystals?” Jiang Changkong’s expression darkened.

“Yes,” Xu Hengzhi replied, his old face flushed with shame. “This subordinate is ashamed.”

“How much was stolen?” Jiang Changkong frowned.

“O-one piece…”

“Losing just one piece isn’t a big deal.”

“No, they only left us one piece.”

After saying this, Xu Hengzhi lowered his head completely, not daring to look up at him.

Jiang Changkong was stunned, finding it hard to believe. “How much did you say? They only left us one piece?”

“…Yes.”

Xu Hengzhi’s voice was now barely audible.

“Which faction did it?” Jiang Changkong’s expression calmed. “Give me the information on those who stole the Star Stones.”

Xu Hengzhi’s face twitched. “Maybe… we should just let it go?”

“Quickly compile it for me. I don’t want to repeat myself,” Jiang Changkong said coldly.

Xu Hengzhi hurriedly retrieved a stack of papers and handed them to Jiang Changkong—a thick pile.

Jiang Changkong’s mouth twitched. Damn, how many factions came?

“Fifteen in total. This is all the information,” Xu Hengzhi explained. “The forces the Lord left behind were strong, but among them was a mid-stage Star being.”

“Good, mid-stage Star, good.” Jiang Changkong nodded, accepting the documents. “Go attend to your duties for now. I need to find Professor Yun.”

“Changkong, this matter is tricky. With over a dozen factions involved, if they were just ordinary first-rate forces like my Jiang family, it would be manageable.

You may not fear mid-stage Star Martial Artists, but what worries me is the possibility of them uniting, and worse, the concern that there might be a Star Late Stage expert behind them.”

Jiang Jiuqiao pondered and said, “Why not seek out Huo Qinglan and ask her to back you up?”

“Huo Qinglan’s strength is decent, but can she handle a Star Late Stage expert?” Jiang Changkong replied calmly.

“She alone may not be enough, but she has the Federation behind her. Even a Top-Rank Martial Artist would have to show respect to the Federation.”