Star Trace Gate

Chapter 962 A swift and decisive move; Jiuzhi is doomed.

Several dozen breaths later, under a dark and windy sky, the long street of North Wind Town, which was already under curfew, was deserted.

"Tap tap...!"

Tian Han walked ahead, observing and sensing the movements in the southeast direction. Then he whispered, "Brother Yu must have already taken his position. We need to hurry...!"

Behind them, Beishan, who was helping Jiuzhi, said urgently, "Why don't we just use the Shrinking Earth Talisman? That way, we can reach the teleportation array in three to five breaths."

"What are you saying?! Didn't Brother Yu tell us before that North Wind Town has a Void-Locking Array, and the void barrier is exceptionally solid? It's impossible to teleport here without an extremely high-level void-type treasure." Tian Han frowned and scolded, "Besides, you know Brother Yu's temperament. Don't change his plans. We just need to hurry up and leave...!"

"Cough cough!"

Jiuzhi coughed twice, his heart pounding with anxiety, and asked, "Isn't Wang Anquan coming with us? He's staying behind to cover our retreat... then what's the difference between that and courting death?"

"How could we possibly understand the greater principles in Lord Wang's heart? He's staying so that he can successfully send you away." Beishan blurted out, making no mention of their repeated threats against Old Wang, only vaguely saying, "Quickly, only if you leave now will our efforts not have been in vain...!"

Jiuzhi just frowned and didn't say anything.

Under the full moon, Yang Sanhai lay on a rooftop and slowly drew his gleaming tiger-head sword.

Tian Han was a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Fourth Rank; otherwise, he wouldn't have been qualified to be selected for Yu Tiange's team. Before arriving at the migration site, he had also traveled through dozens of extremely dangerous ancient secret realms, so he was very vigilant and his intuition was practically superhuman.

Walking down the long street, he suddenly stopped and subconsciously looked at the roof of a house on his left: "What...?!"

"boom!!!"

Tianhan stopped in his tracks, and before he could even utter a word of warning, he suddenly felt a powerful aura rising from the rooftop.

"Roar……!"

Immediately following, a tiger's roar shook the heavens and earth, instantly waking the silent, curfewed city.

"Whoosh!"

In mid-air, an extremely dazzling blade of light, carrying the force to split mountains and cleave the sky, slashed horizontally towards Tian Han in an instant.

"Someone's lying in ambush...!"

"boom!"

Although Tianhan didn't want to reveal himself, faced with such a sudden attack, he could only abruptly raise his aura, summon his natal sword, and raise its blade to meet the enemy, shouting, "Beishan, you take Jiuzhi and go first! Don't go due east, there are night patrolling monk soldiers there...!"

"Whoosh!"

Beishan, who had been on edge the whole time, stopped pretending and immediately activated his spiritual power, rising up and dragging Jiuzhi away to the left.

"Oh!"

The blade's edge clashed with the sword's edge, creating a violent surge of energy that almost instantly flattened the houses on the left.

"Boom!"

Bricks and wood chips flew everywhere, and thick dust rose from the ground.

Yang Sanhai, a general, floated in mid-air, radiating brilliant divine light. Behind him was the phantom of a giant white tiger, and three more blade beams condensed, attacking Tian Han with continuous horizontal and vertical slashes.

"A fourth-rank martial artist?! And you alone?" Tian Han looked at Yang Sanhai in mid-air with some surprise, then said with disdain, "Borrowing the power of a spirit beast's bloodline to forcibly enhance your qi and divine power... and it's just an ordinary sick tiger... With your meager abilities, you dare to stop the two of us?!"

When Tian Han was ambushed, he was extremely uneasy and instinctively thought that his whereabouts had been exposed, which had attracted the attention of other powerful forces in Beifeng Town. But he never expected that there was only one person on the other side, and that there was no fluctuation of energy within several miles after the two sides started fighting.

In that instant, he felt reassured. As the saying goes, you can tell a master's skill with a single move. From the blade of light he had just received, he had already sensed that Yang Sanhai was no match for him, at most a cultivator with above-average talent.

Tian Han stared at the three blade beams sweeping down from the sky, his eyes filled with coldness. He raised his hand and activated the Earthly Element Armor!

"boom!"

A burst of divine rainbow light, a peerless treasure, shot out indiscriminately from Tianhan's body, just like a rainbow after the rain.

He originally cultivated the art of the divine soul, so his physical body wasn't particularly strong. However, he was from the ancient Yu clan, and his personal resources were quite substantial. This Earthly Element Armor was a protective item he used to compensate for his physical weaknesses, and it was a gift from his clan elders.

As the armor opened, the chilling aura surged forth, directly meeting the three sword beams in the sky.

"brush!"

With a single sword strike, countless sword beams surged forth.

"Boom boom boom...!"

The Earthly Element Armor surged with boundless spiritual power, allowing Tian Han to withstand two full blade strikes with his physical strength alone.

"Puff puff……!"

Immediately afterwards, thousands of sword lights converged in the sky and poured down together, shattering Yang Sanhai's attack method like a torrential rain.

"Where did this piece of trash come from? Can't even last a single round?!" Tian Han mocked coldly, wielding his sword as he weaved through the myriad divine rainbows, his sword flashing horizontally at incredible speed.

"Whoosh!"

Without any hesitation, Yang Sanhai turned and left as soon as his attack method was broken.

In terms of agility and speed, he was no match for Tian Han. However, he had previously consumed a Spirit Explosion Pill, which could stimulate the spiritual power within his star core, granting him a stronger burst of star energy for a short period, thus allowing him to escape quickly.

Tian Han gave chase briefly, but seeing Yang Sanhai's resolute escape, he immediately abandoned the fight and quickly returned before flying southwest.

A few breaths ago, in an empty house to the east, twenty night-patrol monks who were playing cards and drinking stopped almost simultaneously and looked up, exclaiming, "Are they having a magical duel?!"

"It's heading towards the naval base, what's going on?"

"Does someone fucking have a death wish?!"

"Let's go take a look...!"

Almost simultaneously, the twenty night-patrol monks left their posts and immediately notified the Night Patrol Hall of the Warrior Monks' Mansion, requesting reinforcements to investigate.

When the patrolling monks set out, there was naturally no need to conceal their tracks. As they flew together, their auras rose, and Tian Han immediately sensed them. He was also glad that he hadn't let Bei Shan take Jiu Zhi and run due east.

At the same time, March transmitted her voice again using her soul technique: "The night patrol monks moved out extremely decisively, faster than expected... The two people who took away Jiuzhi are flying away, and their auras will definitely be sensed. The deployment in the southwest direction needs to be done very quickly. If I don't move, you will only have twenty or thirty breaths at most."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tudou decisively said, "Then go ahead and do it. First, stop the patrolling monks, show them your Divine Monk's Mansion token, and make them stop in their tracks. If they don't agree, then take action, just to stall for time, don't risk your life."

"Okay." March nodded decisively.

……

Yang Sanhai fled southeast and his whereabouts are unknown, so Tian Han dared not pursue him, fearing that the other party might set a trap to lure him. Secondly, there was no need for him to pursue him, because the most important thing now was to get away as soon as possible and reunite with Yu Tiange at the teleportation array.

There were patrolling monks to the east, so he couldn't go there. Therefore, he caught up with Beishan and Jiuzhi to the southwest in less than five breaths.

Jiuzhi knew nothing about the situation, so although he was uneasy, he could only obey the orders of these two strangers and try to travel as fast as possible.

Southwest of the garrison, on Hero Street, the men of Wang Tudou's squad were already sweating profusely from their busy work.

His name is Qin Heizi. He's been with the squad for less than four years, and his responsibilities have always included purchasing supplies, managing the finances, and addressing any weaknesses in the squad. During operations, he's in charge of setting up ambushes, deploying troops, and launching the final attack in a short time. Under normal circumstances, he doesn't need to participate in combat; he just needs to do his job well.

This is the duty of the horse-riding position, also known as the carrying position, since almost all the valuable items in the team are on his/her back. This role requires exceptional mental fortitude and a very cautious, calculating personality; it's not a role that just anyone can do.

Qin Heizi planted the last battle flag in an alley on Hero Street, then turned and left, cursing as he flicked the soul thread: "Damn it, every time they give me work, it's so urgent, and I have to do it well... I suspect that this is Potato's way of putting pressure on me so he can deduct money from my pay...!"

"Have you finished the pressure task?" Potato immediately asked.

"brush!"

Qin Heizi, hiding in the shadows, immediately replied with a solemn expression, "It's done, they've arrived...!"

"Sensing my presence, prepare to clear a path for me, I'm going in...!" Chen Mingfan interrupted in a low voice from the parking space.

"Attention, both of you! Jiu Zhi is in extremely poor condition. Don't accidentally hurt him!" Wang Tudou warned urgently.

"Want more money?!"

The two players in the dual-gun position said in unison, "If you don't pay more, we'll wipe them all out right now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, three figures flew over on Hero's Street. Beishan, who was leading the way, grabbed Jiuzhi and shouted back, "Damn it, the patrolling monks sensed our approach and are already here...!"

"Ignore them, hurry up!" Tianhan, who was lagging behind, frowned and urged, "We're not far from the great formation. If we fly as fast as we can, we'll be there in no time..."

In the shadows of the long street, Qin Heizi wiped the sweat from his brow and silently counted in his mind: "3, 2, 1, release...!"

When the time came, Beishan precisely led Jiuzhi past the spot where Qin Heizi had just stopped, but as soon as he entered, he felt a faint spiritual energy fluctuation around him.

"It's cold, something's not right...!" He suddenly turned around to warn him.

Before he finished speaking, Tian Han had already crashed into a spot more than ten steps behind him.

In the shadows, Qin Heizi let out a long sigh and grinned, "Damn it, when it comes to scheming and plotting, who can beat me! Immortal Mist Maze Mirror—Open!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Heizi raised his hand and summoned the main formation flag, using himself as the formation's core, and shouted, "Enter!"

"Boom!"

The landscape and the appearance of Hero Street underwent a dramatic transformation in an instant, and everything around looked illusory and blurry.

Beishan, holding Jiuzhi's hand, suddenly realized what was happening amidst the rising illusion. When he turned to look around, he found himself and Tianhan behind him in a mountain shrouded in celestial mist, unable to discern directions or see the complete scenery.

"Damn it, it's that same guy's accomplice! We've fallen into a trap...!" Tian Han shouted urgently, "Quick, unleash your power, use all your trump cards, and shatter this illusion!"

"Ong!"

As he spoke, he amplified his aura, but unexpectedly, just as the spiritual energy in his abdomen burst forth and abruptly dispelled the surrounding immortal mist, he saw hundreds of fist-sized spheres floating around him.

"A hidden weapon that is triggered by spiritual energy...!" Tian Han was dumbfounded.

In the shadows, Qin Heizi closed his eyes and whispered, "Let's eat something good...!"

"Bang bang bang bang...!"

In an instant, hundreds of Soul-Shattering Heavenly Explosion Stars, which explode upon contact with spirits, burst around Tian Han's body like fireworks.