Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 84 Mu Yue Makes Her Appearance and Breaks Through the Encirclement

The voice wasn't loud, but each word carried a chilling, crisp quality, like winter wind blowing across ice. Upon hearing this voice, the purple poisonous mist trembled violently, as if a living creature had encountered its natural enemy, and then began to retreat to both sides.

A white figure swept in from the valley entrance. She moved with incredible speed, her robes billowing in the wind. In each hand she held several small flags, silver-white in color and embroidered with dense runes, which resembled unfolded fans in her hands.

She rushed forward and raised both hands.

The twelve array flags flew out of his hand, tracing twelve silver arcs in the air before firmly embedding themselves in the ground, forming a huge circle that enveloped everyone—Lin Chen and his group, as well as the black-clad assassins. The instant the flags touched the earth, the runes on their surfaces lit up simultaneously, radiating a brilliant golden light, like twelve small suns igniting at once.

Where the golden light swept across, the purple poisonous fog resembled burning paper, its edges curling, blackening, and crumbling before dissipating into wisps of ash. From the moment the poisonous fog surged in to its complete disappearance, it took only three breaths. The cloyingly sweet smell in the air also vanished, replaced by a faint, refreshing herbal scent.

Lin Chen looked up and saw the white figure standing in the center of the formation, holding the largest formation flag in his hand. The flagpole was made of ebony, and the flag was embroidered with the ancient seal character "破" (break).

It's Su Muyue.

She wore a white dress, the hem stained with mud, and the left sleeve was torn, revealing a section of her pale forearm. Her hair was somewhat disheveled, with a few stray strands clinging to her forehead. Her complexion was still unhealthyly pale, and her lips were pale, clearly indicating she had traveled a long way and was not yet fully recovered. But her eyes were bright; her gaze swept across the battlefield, quickly assessing the situation.

She saw Lin Chen standing in front of her, his sword still dripping blood, and his clothes with several cuts, but he wasn't seriously injured. Her tense lips finally relaxed, curving into a slight smile.

"Lin Chen, I'm here."

Lin Chen forced the scarred man back with a single sword strike and quickly walked to her side. He wanted to reach out to help her, but pulled his hand back halfway—his hands were covered in blood, and he was afraid of soiling her white dress. But Su Muyue didn't care. She leaned closer to him, placed her hand on his arm, and her body was slightly cold, as if she had just come out of cold water.

"Why did you come early? Didn't Daoist Xuanchen say it would be another half month?" Lin Chen frowned, his tone tinged with reproach, but even more so with heartache.

"Senior Uncle Xuan Chen used his vital energy to suppress the blood poison for me; it should last for three months," Su Muyue shook her head, indicating that he didn't need to worry. Her gaze swept across the battlefield—more than a dozen black-clad corpses lay on the ground, the air still thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder. Leng Feng knelt on the ground, his arms covered in blood, his face pale. Chu Fan squatted to the side, drenched in sweat; array flags were planted all over the ground, but none of them had been used.

"I received your message and knew you were coming to Black Wind Ridge for a mission. I was worried about you, so I set off ahead of time." As she spoke, she took out a small porcelain bottle from her waist pouch and handed it to Lin Chen. "I didn't expect to run into these people. Never mind me, Leng Feng is injured. This is wound medicine; take it and apply it to him."

Lin Chen took the porcelain bottle and glanced at her. There were deep dark circles under her eyes, left from staying up all night traveling. He felt a lump in his throat, but said nothing and turned to apply medicine to Leng Feng.

Chu Fan stood up and carefully retrieved the unused array flags one by one. He adjusted his glasses, looking at Su Muyue with obvious surprise in his eyes. He had seen many array students set up arrays, but he had never seen it so fast—from the start to the completion of the array, it took less than two breaths. Moreover, the mist dispelled was not ordinary poisonous fog, but a special kind made by the Black Serpent Organization, the kind that could even corrupt spiritual energy.

"Miss Su, I've heard so much about you." Chu Fan cupped his hands in greeting, saying little but with a very serious tone.

Su Ling'er had already run over, grabbing Su Muyue's hand, her eyes shining like two stars. "Sister Muyue! You're amazing! We couldn't do anything about that poisonous fog just now, even the antidote pills didn't work, but you dissipated it all with a single move!" She chattered on, then, remembering something, quickly introduced herself, "My name is Su Ling'er, from the alchemy department. We both have the surname Su, maybe we were family five hundred years ago! From now on, we're friends!"

When Su Ling'er smiled, her eyes curved into two crescent moons, which was very infectious. Su Muyue did not pull her hand away from Su Ling'er's grasp, and smiled as well, but very softly, as if afraid that a loud smile would aggravate the blood poison in her body.

Leng Feng gritted his teeth, cleaned the wound himself, applied wound medicine, and wrapped it with bandages several times. His technique was skillful; he was clearly an experienced hand. After finishing, he stood up, walked to Su Muyue, stood at attention, and gave a perfect military salute. The movement aggravated the wound, and blood seeped through the bandages, but his back remained ramrod straight.

"Thank you, Miss Su." His voice was still deep, but more solemn than usual.

"Don't mention it, we're teammates." Su Muyue looked at him seriously and nodded.

Scarface stood not far away, watching as his carefully laid poison fog was casually destroyed by a sickly-looking little girl. His face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He glanced down at the corpses of his men on the ground—more than a dozen were dead, and the remaining few were wounded, their morale completely shattered.

"You brat, how dare you ruin my plans!" His voice was forced out through clenched teeth, each word dripping with murderous intent. He gripped the ghost-headed knife even tighter, the dark red blood-red light on the blade so intense it seemed about to drip.

"I only intended to kill Lin Chen, but since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, let's die together!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his true energy erupted. The pressure of the early stage of the Transformation Realm poured out like a flash flood, causing the rubble on the ground to jump. The two array flags closest to him snapped in two with a "crack". He pushed off with both feet, creating two shallow craters in the ground, and his whole body transformed into a black shadow, rushing straight towards Su Muyue.

"I'll kill you first, you brat who knows how to set up formations, then I'll deal with them slowly!"

"Too fast!" Su Ling'er screamed. Chu Fan's hand had just reached into his backpack, not yet pulling out the array plate. Leng Feng tried to rush forward to block, but his injured arm was too weak, and he stumbled after taking just one step.

Lin Chen stood in front of Su Muyue.

He didn't have time to draw his sword; he gripped the hilt with both hands and held it horizontally in front of his chest, using the blade to take the blow head-on.

"clang--!"

The ghost-head saber struck the Star Sword, sparks flying and a dazzling burst of fire erupting. Lin Chen felt as if he'd been hit by a speeding carriage; his arms went numb, his tiger's mouth was split open, and blood trickled down the hilt of the sword. He staggered back three steps, his heels hitting a rock before he barely managed to steady himself. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.

"Lin Chen!" Su Muyue's expression changed drastically. She waved the array flags, and all twelve array flags lit up at the same time.

"Dragon Trapping Formation, activate!"

Golden array patterns emanated from the base of each array flag, growing rapidly like plant roots, weaving across the ground into a massive circular cage. The edges of the array patterns were sharp as knives, gleaming coldly, trapping Scarface in the very center. With each step he took, the array patterns beneath his feet lit up, as if eyes were watching him.

"Useless! You think you can trap me with this lousy formation?" Scarface roared, gripping the sword with both hands and channeling all his inner energy into the blade. The black inner energy on the Ghost Head Blade surged, condensing into a giant snake twice as thick as before, which slammed fiercely into the array patterns in front of him.

"Snap—!"

A crack appeared in the array's patterns, like a fissure on ice, extending from Scarface's feet to the edge of the formation. The Dragon-Trapping Array shook violently, and two array flags began to tilt, their runes flickering on and off.

"Chu Fan, help me reinforce it!" Su Muyue gritted her teeth, her hands forming hand seals twice as fast. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, her face was as white as paper, and the color in her lips was fading. The blood poison in her body seemed to be drawn by the operation of the formation, and began to ache faintly, her lower abdomen feeling as if a dull knife was twisting inside.

But she didn't stop.

Chu Fan reacted quickly. He crouched down, took out four bronze array plates from his backpack, and threw them into the four corners of the Dragon-Trapping Array. The array plates emitted a low hum as they landed, resonating with the array patterns of the Dragon-Trapping Array.

"Four Symbols Formation, Combine!"

The four array plates lit up simultaneously, with blue, red, white, and black light flowing into the array patterns. The crack on the Dragon Trapping Array closed up at a visible speed, like a wound healing, and the array patterns became denser, thicker, and brighter than before.

Scarface was trapped inside, like a wild beast locked in an iron cage, struggling left and right, but each time he collided with the array patterns, he was bounced back. The array patterns left wounds on his body, some deep enough to reach the bone, others shallow enough to cut the skin. His black clothes were torn into strips, revealing his bloodied and mangled body underneath.