Chapter 87: Delivering a Gift

Inside Zhao Qianjun’s tent, the two men sat opposite each other, drinking wine.

Setting down his wine cup, Chu Tianxing frowned slightly. “For some reason, I feel uneasy.”

“Why should you be uneasy, young master? Jiang Changkong is surely dead by now, the Special Star Demon won’t be seen by anyone, and no one knows about the relationship between you and me,” Zhao Qianjun said with a smile.

The Special Star Demon was equipped with a tracker and markings. If anyone found out it was intended as an offering to the Chu family, his identity would be exposed. Combined with the recent arms dealings, if someone investigated with intent, they could easily uncover him. By then, not only him but the Chu family would also face serious trouble.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Tianxing felt his arrangements were foolproof and relaxed. “Sir, and Venerable Chu, Venerable Jiang requests an audience with both of you,” a personal guard entered and reported respectfully.

“Venerable Jiang?”

Both men stiffened. Zhao Qianjun’s lips twitched. “Jiang Changkong?”

Shouldn’t he be dead? How could he be here?

The guard kept his head lowered, saying nothing, merely standing respectfully.

“Let’s go see,” Chu Tianxing stood up and walked out first.

Zhao Qianjun hurriedly followed. Since Jiang Changkong wasn’t dead, why had he come here? Last night’s invitation had been refused.

As soon as they stepped out of the tent, two heads rolled over, stopping right at their feet.

Seeing the heads, both men’s expressions changed drastically—these were the two men they had sent out.

Jiang Changkong stood upright, smiling as he spoke: “Sir, Venerable Chu, a small token of my regard, nothing to show my respect.”

“You—”

Chu Tianxing’s anger surged instantly, but as soon as he started to speak, Zhao Qianjun stopped him. “May I ask, Venerable Jiang, what is the meaning of this?”

“Tonight, while I was resting, these two arrived and, without a word, attempted to assassinate me in the dead of night,” Jiang Changkong said with a cold expression. “Coincidentally, they were quite unlucky—a Star Sea Peak Star Demon appeared right there. A Star Sea Peak Star Demon! Such a strange occurrence, and they happened to run into it. Truly a stroke of terrible luck.”

Both men: “…”

A Star Sea Peak Star Demon? And these two managed to encounter it? Hadn’t it left the vicinity? Could it be that the Star Sea Peak Star Demon wasn’t with the Special Star Demon? But it was possible—Jiang Changkong had been using his blood aura to attract Star Demons. Luring that Star Sea Peak Star Demon was normal. It could only be said that these two were truly unlucky.

“Assassinating a military Venerable is a grave crime,” Jiang Changkong sneered. “So I cut off their heads and brought them to Sir Zhao, so you could earn some merit.”

Zhao Qianjun: “…”

Chu Tianxing: “…”

What merit? These were our own people.

Rage burned in their hearts. Chu Tianxing’s killing intent overflowed, but he dared not act. If he killed Jiang Changkong, he would have to silence everyone here to cover up the news. Yet, if he couldn’t kill Jiang Changkong in one move and Jiang Changkong sent out a message, the secret would still be exposed. He had sent people to kill Jiang Changkong precisely to distance himself, but now, the ones he sent had been killed instead.

“What? Sir doesn’t want this merit?” Jiang Changkong asked, feigning surprise.

Zhao Qianjun’s anger gathered in his chest, but he could only suppress it. “How could that be? No one would refuse merit.”

“Then give me Star Stones,” Jiang Changkong extended his hand.

Zhao Qianjun was stunned. Give Star Stones? What Star Stones?

Jiang Changkong’s expression remained calm. “I’m giving you credit, so you should at least show some appreciation. Third-tier Star Stones, just a token gesture.”

Zhao Qianjun really wanted to kill him.

You killed our people, and I’m supposed to reward you with Star Stones?

What kind of logic is that?

“It seems Commander Zhao lacks sincerity. Then I’ll go find Commander Cheng instead. He’ll surely be willing to make a trade.”

Jiang Changkong said indifferently, as Star Power surged, sweeping toward the two heads.

“Commander Cheng is busy with affairs. No need to trouble him. Here are ten low-grade third-tier Star Stones.”

Before Zhao Qianjun could respond, Chu Tianxing waved his hand, and ten Star Stones appeared, flying toward Jiang Changkong.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Changkong didn’t mind the small amount, accepted the ten Star Stones, and turned to leave. “If there’s business in the future, I’ll come find you again.”

Annoying them once was enough. Ten low-grade third-tier Star Stones, a thousand points of Essence, was still quite decent.

As soon as he left, the two could no longer contain their anger.

“Damn it, damn him!” Zhao Qianjun gritted his teeth.

“I’ll find an opportunity to kill him myself,” Chu Tianxing said furiously.

Zhao Qianjun frowned. “We leave tomorrow. The Special Star Demon has already left.”

“You all go ahead tomorrow. I’ll stay behind and kill him. Whether he knows about the Special Star Demon or not, he must die.”

Chu Tianxing said coldly.

The nearby soldiers trembled in fear, their bodies stiff, not daring to move, afraid the anger would turn on them.

Jiang Changkong casually extracted the Essence and discarded the Star Stones.

“Time to lure the Star Demons.”

Jiang Changkong flashed away. Liu Feng had already informed him of the direction they were heading.

The Special Star Demon was also in that direction. Once everything was handled tomorrow, he’d kill those two and then capture the Special Star Demon.

As for Chu Tianxing, he likely also had equipment like a Hidden Star Ring. Those ten Star Stones seemed to appear out of nowhere.

But he wasn’t wearing a ring. Could it be something else?

Lost in thought, Jiang Changkong continued on his way.

Along the journey, whenever he encountered Star Demons, he killed them directly, but sealed their wounds with Star Power.

The Star Power wouldn’t last long, but it could hold for a few hours. By dawn, the blood would flow out naturally.

As long as Zhao Qianjun didn’t specifically inspect them, he wouldn’t notice anything wrong.

By the time they smelled the blood, it would be too late.

Although this method was troublesome, it only consumed some Star Power.

And he was never short of Star Power!

As the Star Demon fell, Jiang Changkong pondered for a moment, then arranged the Star Demon’s body in position.

He sealed the wounds of each Star Demon with Star Power. In less than two hours, Jiang Changkong had used up most of his Star Power.

After some thought, he felt it was about enough and began slaughtering Star Demons on a larger scale.

The Star Demons here required more Star Power to seal their wounds and prevent the blood aura from dispersing.

He piled up the Star Demons one by one, forming a mound of corpses.

After finishing all this, Jiang Changkong sat cross-legged, recovering his Star Power, waiting for Zhao Qianjun to fall into the trap.

As time passed, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the darkness.

Zhao Qianjun led his team away, heading in Jiang Changkong’s direction.

They traveled swiftly, not paying too much attention to their surroundings. In this area, only that Star Sea Peak-level creature could threaten them.

But they had a higher-grade Primal Martial Compass. If they detected it, they could retreat in advance.

After half an hour of travel, Zhao Qianjun suddenly stopped and raised his hand. “Halt.”

“Commander, have we reached the destination?” a soldier whispered.

“Something’s off. Blood aura. Why is there blood aura here?” Zhao Qianjun frowned.

“Blood Qi?” The personal guard was taken aback for a moment, then said, “Thousand-Man Commander, this is the Star Desolate Grasslands. Death can happen at any moment. Isn’t it normal to have some blood qi?”

Zhao Qianjun pondered for a while and felt that the guard made sense. It would be abnormal if there were no blood qi.

The group continued on their way, but before long, everyone’s expressions turned uneasy.

The blood qi was growing thicker and thicker, and a faint crimson hue began to appear in the sky all around.

“Something’s wrong. This is the result of someone slaughtering on a massive scale—Jiang Changkong!”

Zhao Qianjun immediately thought of Jiang Changkong. Only he was capable of such a thing.

“Have we stumbled into Jiang Changkong’s vicinity?” The soldiers were stunned.

They were well aware of Jiang Changkong’s notorious deeds—he loved using blood qi to attract Star Demons and slaughter them to his heart’s content.

But wasn’t he supposed to be in his original location? When did he move here?

Moreover, the blood qi was coming from all directions. Had he been killing everywhere around here?

Rumble—

As they pondered, the earth trembled. From all directions, Star Demons roared, weeds flattened, and the wind and clouds shifted ominously.

“Holy shit…”

Everyone was in an uproar. Was this guy out of his mind? Killing Star Demons everywhere?