Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 117 The Evil Path Appears in the Canyon

"Starve them to death, torture them slowly."

Chu Fan's eyes narrowed, and he simultaneously summoned the three array plates in his palm. The Myriad Manifestations Dismantling Array activated, and countless intricate array patterns surged forth from the array plates, forming a giant net that covered the sweeping vines. Ancient arrays are specifically designed to dissolve strange spells and restrictions. The moment those wildly writhing vines touched the array patterns, they seemed to have their bones and muscles removed, limply stopping, and then withering, breaking, and turning into black powder, which fell from the sky in a flurry.

"He's got some skill. Too bad, it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

The three evil figures exchanged a glance and moved simultaneously. They formed a triangle, surrounding Lin Chen and his group of five. Their hands formed hand seals, their movements perfectly synchronized, as if they had rehearsed countless times. Black mist surged from their bodies, gathering into a massive vortex in the center of the canyon. At the center of the vortex, the phantom of a black serpent gradually materialized—its body as thick as a water vat, its head as large as a millstone, its mouth wide open, revealing two rows of serrated teeth. A foul-smelling gale spewed from the serpent's mouth, sweeping across the entire area. The dense evil energy pressed down, making it hard to breathe, as if a huge boulder was pressing on one's chest.

The Black Serpent Devouring Heaven Formation. A combined attack technique of the evil race, combining the full cultivation of three early-stage Transformation Realm cultivators, its power rivals that of the mid-stage Transformation Realm. Ordinary Meridian Opening Realm martial artists would be crushed and collapse to the ground simply by standing before this evil force.

"Everyone, gather together!" Lin Chen shouted in a deep voice.

He leaped to the forefront of the formation, his Star Sword fully drawn. The instant the sword was drawn, a silver-white beam of light shot into the sky, piercing the gray mist above the canyon. Countless starlight emerged from the void, one by one, densely packed, like the most concentrated star field in the night sky, converging on his sword.

The fourth move of the Starry Sky Sword Technique: Star River Suppresses Evil.

A torrent of stars poured forth, not a trickle, but an inverted Milky Way. The silvery-white starlight collided head-on with the black serpent shadow. There was no deafening roar, only a deep, chilling hum. The Star Martial Origin naturally restrains evil; wherever the starlight passed, the black mist melted and dissipated like snow meeting the blazing sun. The black serpent shadow let out a painful hiss, a sound not emanating from its throat, but resounding directly in everyone's minds, sharp and piercing, like fingernails scraping against an iron plate. The serpent shadow's body shrank visibly, from the thickness of a water vat to the thickness of a bucket, from the thickness of a bucket to the thickness of an arm.

"Impossible!" the leader of the evil thugs exclaimed, a clear look of horror appearing in his cloudy eyes for the first time. "How could a mere late-stage Meridian Opening Realm cultivator break our combined attack formation?"

"Because you chose the wrong opponent from the very beginning."

Lin Chen used the Star-Stepping Technique, his figure darting erratically within the canyon. He wasn't running around randomly; every step landed on the weakest points of the evil formation—those points exposed by Chu Fan's Myriad Manifestations Dismantling Formation, locked down by Su Muyue's Trapping and Killing Formation, and created by Leng Feng's direct restraint. His sword light split into three starlight beams, each piercing the vital points of the three evil disciples. This wasn't a head-on clash of cultivation levels; it was about finding the weaknesses in their true energy circulation. Each sword strike precisely landed on the weakest point of their evil power, like a scalpel cutting through rotting flesh.

Seizing the opportunity when her opponent was thrown into disarray, Su Ling'er hurled three Purifying Pills in quick succession. The snow-white pills exploded in the air, their pure Yang flames spreading in all directions. These were not ordinary flames, but Yang fire specifically designed to suppress evil energy. When they landed on the black robe, the edges of the burned holes turned black, emitting wisps of smoke. When they landed on the protective evil energy, it was like sparks splashed into oil; the evil energy was ignited, crackling and popping as it burned.

With a wave of the array flag in her hand, Su Muyue instantly transformed the Thousandfold Evil-Exorcising Array into a trapping and killing array. The golden array patterns switched from defense to offense, like invisible chains, binding the three evil disciples, restricting their movement, compressing their space, and imprisoning their evil power.

Under the combined attack from both inside and outside, the three evil disciples at the Transformation Realm were forced into retreat. The one on the left was struck in the shoulder by a sword, and the star power invaded his meridians, causing his evil energy circulation to stagnate; the one on the right had his robes burned by the pill fire, and he frantically tried to put out the fire, revealing a huge opening; the leader was still putting up a brave fight, but the black snake phantom had shrunk to just a thin line and could no longer pose a threat.

If they continue fighting, they will surely die.

A ruthless glint flashed in the leader's eyes, and he shouted sharply, "Retreat! Notify the rest of the clansmen to gather their forces and lay a trap outside the core area! This kid's star power is too much of a counter to ours; we can't fight him head-on. We must overwhelm him with numbers!"

The three simultaneously detonated portions of their evil energy. It wasn't a self-destruction, but a desperate escape tactic that would cause them significant damage—compressing their evil energy to its limit and releasing it instantly to create a large-scale explosion. With a deafening boom, black shockwaves spread in all directions, tearing a hole in Su Muyue's trapping array, causing Chu Fan's array plate to bounce, and throwing Su Ling'er several steps away. Using the explosion as cover, the three fled towards the secret passage behind the canyon at incredible speed, their figures disappearing in a few flashes through the mist. They knew the terrain of this area like the back of their hand, every crack and cave intimately familiar, clearly not a first-timer.

Leng Feng drew his sword and gave chase.

"No need to chase them." Lin Chen raised his hand to stop him, his gaze fixed on the direction the evil men had fled, where the fog obscured everything. "They're just the vanguard; chasing them is pointless. Even if we catch them and kill these three, more will just appear from elsewhere. They've already deployed their forces."

He turned towards the depths of the canyon. The previously relatively clear road ahead was now shrouded in thicker, darker fog. Within the fog, he could faintly sense dozens of auras gathering—not just one or two, but dozens; some were moving, some were waiting, and some were converging in this direction. Each aura carried fluctuations of malevolent power, varying in strength, but none were benevolent.

"They've already sent a message to their companions." Lin Chen withdrew his gaze. "Outside the core area, a large number of evil cultivators and Qin family forces will be waiting for us."

Su Muyue put away the array flags and gently rubbed her temples. Her complexion was paler than before she entered the canyon. Continuously activating high-level arrays had consumed a lot of her true energy and mental strength. Although the blood poison in her body was suppressed by Lin Chen's star power, the faint feeling of fatigue could not be suppressed.

"These evil people have colluded with Qin Cang for many years and know the layout of the Martial Emperor's Mausoleum secret realm like the back of their hand," she said softly. "We must be more careful with every step we take from now on."

Chu Fan recalibrated the topographic map, marking the outer perimeter of the core area with a pen. He measured the distance with a ruler, wrote a set of numbers on the edge of the map, crossed them out, recalculated, and then looked up.

"Once you exit this canyon and travel another ten miles, you'll officially reach the boundary of the core area of ​​the secret realm." He pointed to a location marked with a red circle on the map. "The Star Essence Liquid is on the Martial Emperor's Altar in the center of the core area. That is also the final convergence point of all conspiracies."

Lin Chen gripped the Star Sword tightly, star power flowing through its blade, its silvery-white light flickering like breathing. Having survived the ambush in the canyon, he had a clearer understanding of his own strength and his opponents' trump cards. Early-stage Transformation Realm cultivators weren't invincible. Three of them weren't invincible either. But if the Evil Clan had gathered more Transformation Realm cultivators outside the core area, and if Qin Cang had other backup plans, then the situation would be different.

He needs to become stronger. Stronger than he is now before he enters the core.

"Rest for a moment, then continue onward. At the altar, settle all accounts, one by one."

The five leaned against a relatively safe rock wall, beginning to check their equipment, treat their wounds, and replenish their medicine. Leng Feng's hand was simply bandaged; his injury wasn't serious, just a superficial wound, but he wrapped it tightly with cloth several times, as if preparing for an even bigger battle to come. Su Muyue closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, the array flag planted in the ground in front of her, the runes on the flag slowly regaining their brightness. Chu Fan put the map into his robes, then took out the book "Twelve Array Explanations," quickly flipping through a few pages, stopping at one page to look at it a few more times, then closing it and putting it back. Su Ling'er didn't organize her medicine box; she sat on a rock, the book "Introduction to Alchemy" spread out on her lap, flipping to the page on suppressing evil poison, reading it word by word, over and over again.

Lin Chen didn't sit down. He stood on the edge of the cliff, facing the direction of the canyon exit. The mist there churned and surged, like a boiling black ocean.

His gaze pierced through the mist, landing in the distance. He knew what awaited him there. But the Star Essence Liquid was there too, Su Muyue's life was there, and the evidence of the Qin family's thousand-year-old treason was there as well.

There's nothing to hesitate about.

Leng Feng stood up, sheathed his battle sword, then pulled it out to inspect the blade, confirming there were no cracks before putting it back in. Su Muyue opened her eyes, retrieved the array flags, rolled them up one by one, and tied them tightly with a cloth strip. Chu Fan took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with the corner of his clothes, and put them back on. Su Ling'er closed the alchemy manual, stuffed it into the side pocket of her medicine box, stood up, and dusted off her trousers.

Five people stood in a row in the dim light of the canyon, facing the same direction.

"Walk."

Lin Chen took the first step and entered the mist.