Chapter 52: So You're the F***ing Guy Called Star-Plucker?!

Amidst a burst of eerie, mocking laughter, four figures closed in rapidly from the distance. Before the leader could even finish his sentence, they had already formed a complete encirclement, trapping Zhang Fang and Azu in the middle.

Seeing this, Azu immediately put on a look of utter terror, playing the part of a helpless maiden as she sweetly greeted them: "Third Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Brother, Eighth Senior Brother, what kind of wind blew you all here?"

The leader, who was Azu’s Third Senior Brother, Chuchenzi, laughed triumphantly: "Junior Sister, the rest of us brothers have searched high and low for you. Master has given strict orders: the moment you are found, you are to be dragged straight back to the Star-Hosting Sea."

"Junior Sister, I advise you to obediently give up any ideas of resistance, hand over the Divine Wood King Cauldron, and come back with us to beg for Master’s mercy."

Hearing this, Azu immediately retreated to Zhang Fang’s side and whimpered, "I do want to go back with you guys, but this Wanderer Brother here—"

"Cut the crap." Not giving Azu a chance to continue her performance, Zhang Fang reached out and gave her shoulder a push, casually channeling a wisp of his *Longevity Sacred Qi* into her body. "Since they are here to capture you, why waste your breath? Just kill them all right now! Hurry up and deal with these useless good-for-nothings, and then come back with me to the Beggar Sect!"

Azu felt a warm current flow from her shoulder into her body, instantly making her feel supremely comfortable from head to toe. Unable to help herself, she widened her eyes and lowered her voice to ask, "Wanderer Brother, how am I supposed to use the internal energy you just channeled into me?"

Leaning lazily against the trunk of a withered tree, Zhang Fang replied in a slow, unhurried manner, "This breath of true energy I gave you offers no bonuses to your attack or defense, but it does grant a slight boost to your recovery speed after taking damage."

"Of course, apart from that, it has an even greater use."

Hearing this, Azu eagerly asked, "What greater use? Can you give me the bottom line first so I have some peace of mind?"

Nodding obligingly, Zhang Fang explained, "With the blessing of my true energy, the Samsara Tower will recognize you as allied with me in combat. After you slay an enemy, the reward points we earn will be split fifty-fifty."

Azu: o(≧口≦)o ???

Are you a demon?

Before she could say anything else, Zhang Fang urged her impatiently, "If you're going to fight, hurry up and do it! Didn't you say that aside from Ding Chunqiu and Xingxingzi, no one else in the entire Star-Hosting Sect is your match?"

"If you keep dawdling, I'm going to step in myself."

"Though, don't say I didn't warn you: according to the Samsara Tower’s evaluation criteria, one of your main quests is to evade the pursuit of the Star-Hosting Sect. Being able to counter-kill a Star-Hosting disciple will definitely improve your main quest rating. If I steal your kill..."

Struck by sudden realization, Azu immediately changed her tune. Compared to mere point rewards from killing enemies, improving her main quest rating was the true source of her major gains!

Hesitating no longer, she lunged fiercely toward Chuchenzi, her left hand striking a deceptive phantom blow while the five fingers of her right hand curled into a cruel claw, aiming straight for his lower abdomen.

It was precisely a lethal move from the Star-Hosting Sect's unique martial art, the *Three-Yin Centipede Claw*!

It had to be said that after undergoing trials and reaping rewards within her first Samsara world, Azu's overall combat strength was no longer comparable to that of the little enchantress in the original text. Facing the combined attack of four Star-Hosting disciples alone, she still appeared composed and at ease. Especially when paired with her nimble footwork—which was even slightly superior to Zhang Fang's—she firmly controlled the rhythm of the entire battlefield.

Seeing that she was completely steady, Zhang Fang had no intention of interfering whatsoever. He simply crossed his arms over his chest, watching the battle with casual, leisurely detachment.

In reality, however, he was using this opportunity to observe and commit every single variation of the techniques displayed by the five individuals firmly to memory.

Naturally, Zhang Fang held not the slightest shred of interest in learning the unorthodox and wicked martial arts of the Star-Hosting Sect.

Yet, since he had set his sights on Ding Chunqiu's head, he certainly didn't mind familiarizing himself with the old fiend's combat style through his disciples beforehand.

As the saying goes: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Making a bit of extra preparation could never be wrong.

Admittedly, while Ding Chunqiu's character was atrocious, his martial arts achievements were indeed worthy of praise.

Though these Star-Hosting disciples had only learned the superficial aspects of his martial arts, their moves occasionally displayed brilliant variations that made Zhang Fang's eyes light up.

Azu, in particular, had relied on a strategy of nurturing battle through battle during her first Samsara world to kill more than a dozen Star-Hosting disciples. Combined with all her loot drops, she had mastered eight or nine-tenths of the Star-Hosting Sect's various martial arts. Making a horizontal comparison, she could barely be considered a second-rate expert even within the world of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*.

Her combat strength was only slightly inferior to warriors on the level of the Beggar Sect elders, the You Family Brothers, or Bao Butong.

Coupled with her treacherous and unpredictable venom arts, poisons, and poisoned hidden weapons, even a veteran second-rate martial artist of the pugilistic world would not necessarily be able to gain the upper hand against her.

Had she not been so anxious to cultivate the *Art of Transforming Energy* earlier, ruining herself in the process, even Elder Chen would have been utterly powerless against her, no matter how hard he tried to track her down.

The five Star-Hosting disciples traded blows at blinding speed, exchanging over thirty moves in the blink of an eye. Having probed her limits through these thirty-odd moves, Azu finally seized an opportunity: she grabbed her Eighth Senior Brother Tianlangzi's left wrist pulse-gate, dropped her stance, sank her waist, and swung with all her might, using his very body to fend off the coordinated attacks of the other three.

As for the Eighth Senior Brother whose wrist had been captured, his expression changed drastically in an instant. His already wretched and ugly face twisted beyond human recognition, and gripped by extreme terror, even his voice grew faint and trembling: "The... the Art of Transforming Energy!"

Witnessing this scene from the sidelines, Zhang Fang couldn't help but reveal a sneer of utter disdain behind his iron mask.

At the same time, he cursed silently in his heart: Idiot!

Sure enough, upon hearing the Eighth Senior Brother cry out those four words, the three remaining Star-Hosting disciples, who had intended to press the attack, pulled back without the slightest hesitation. The looks they cast at Azu were now filled with vigilance and dread.

The disciples trained by Ding Chunqiu had chanted the slogan "The Star-Hosting Old Immortal possesses boundless magical power" so many times that they had even brainwashed themselves into believing it. They truly thought Ding Chunqiu was invincible under heaven, and that all heroes of the world were merely earthen dogs and stray mutts compared to the Star-Hosting Sect's venom arts.

In the original story, four or five Star-Hosting disciples would dare to treat Xiao Feng like thin air just by banding together.

Could you believe it?

And the less they regarded others, the more utterly terrified they were of Ding Chunqiu. In their understanding, the most powerful, the most terrifying, and the most formidable martial art in the world was the *Art of Transforming Energy*, with no exceptions! Skills like the *North Ocean Divine Technique*, the *Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies*, the *Six Meridians Divine Sword*, or the *Eighteen Palms of Subduing Dragons* weren't even worthy of carrying their Star-Hosting Sect's shoes!

Hearing that Azu had actually mastered the *Art of Transforming Energy*, how could they dare to press the attack any further? If the penalties for failing a mission within the Star-Hosting Sect hadn't been so excessively harsh, they probably would have bolted long ago.

As for rushing forward to rescue someone?

Out of the question!

With his wrist paralyzed and no reinforcements in sight, the "Eighth Senior Brother's" arm turned dark purple and withered at a visible speed, while his very essence, vigor, and spirit drained away at an unimaginable rate.

In less than five breaths, black Qi had spread all over his body.

Whether the *Art of Transforming Energy* was inherently this malicious and tyrannical, or whether it possessed a natural suppression over the other martial arts of the Star-Hosting Sect, the "Eighth Senior Brother"—suppressed by the *Art of Transforming Energy*—was brought to the brink of total exhaustion in the blink of an eye. With a final burst of Azu's palm force, his entire body was sent flying backward like a tattered sack, tumbling across the ground several times before all breath completely left him.

[Your party has slain Star-Hosting Sect disciple Tianlangzi. Rewards obtained: 140 points, 5x Formless Powders, 21x Azure Phosphorus Needles, 1x Meditation on the Striking Marrow Palm!]

Among these quest rewards, the 140 points were the result of splitting the reward after two Samsara travelers formed a party.

According to the rules of the Samsara Tower, a solo player killing a plot-level powerhouse naturally received 100% of the point reward. For a party of 2-3 players joining forces, each player received 70% of the total reward. If one player secured a solo kill while teamed up, the killer received 90% while the other received 50%.

Under these rules, the total points obtainable by Samsara travelers after forming a party effectively increased by forty percent out of thin air. However, due to various factors such as identity, faction, and mutual trust, Samsara travelers rarely teamed up.

Zhang Fang and Azu were an exception, because... after Azu killed the enemy, all the remaining quest rewards had fallen entirely into Zhang Fang's private inventory.

The Party Leader Distribution Mode!

Since Zhang Fang had to shoulder all the negative consequences resulting from sparing Azu, and had also promised to help her complete her family-reunion main quest, her compensation was simply to act as a thoroughbred utility tool within this party.

She did the hardest labor, while the distribution of rewards was decided entirely by Zhang Fang.

Yet this little utility tool was currently looking immensely proud of herself. Having slain Tianlangzi and frightened the remaining three senior brothers far away, she simply placed her hands on her slender waist and shouted to the skies: "Who else!?"

"Oh?..." Just as Azu's voice faded, a mocking voice echoed from afar: "It's been two years, and Junior Sister's strength has grown increasingly impressive. Now, do you even hold this Senior Brother of yours in contempt?"

Accompanying the teasing voice, a tall, thin middle-aged man wearing a pair of waxed-tip mustache twirls arrived before them.

From his words, it wasn't hard to deduce that this person was none of other than the chief disciple of the Star-Hosting Sect, Xingxingzi, whose venom arts were second only to Ding Chunqiu's!

According to Azu, Xingxingzi's martial arts were far superior to those of his fellow apprentices, and even her current self was no match for him.

Seeing this fellow arrive, Zhang Fang knew he could no longer remain a bystander. He smiled faintly, stepped forward to meet Xingxingzi, and greeted him very politely:

"Are you the fucking Xingxingzi!?"