Chapter 53: The Demise of the Starry Hostel!

Chapter 53: The Demise of the Star Sect!

As soon as Zhang Fang uttered those words, the four Star Sect disciples present were left staring in utter astonishment.

One had to know that within the Star Sect, Chuxingzi held a status second only to Ding Chunqiu. Normally, whenever any disciple encountered him, they would immediately bow and offer lavish flattery. If his flattery wasn't to his liking, their lives would practically be forfeit.

Even A Zi, a Reincarnator who possessed the memories of the plot characters, harbored a subconscious fear of Chuxingzi.

Yet here stood Zhang Fang, cursing him out straight to his face. Wasn't this entirely too daring?

For a moment, everyone's gaze converged on Chuxingzi. A Zi’s Third, Fourth, and Seventh Senior Brothers seized the opportunity to fan the flames.

"Eldest Senior Brother, kill this arrogant and ignorant punk! Show him the might of the Star Sect!"

"That's right, Eldest Senior Brother, finish him off! It's this brat who's been protecting A Zi, causing our fellow disciples to suffer heavy losses. Even Eighth Junior Brother has already fallen victim to their venom!"

"Eldest Senior Brother, kill him!..."

...

These three fellows only cared about provoking and stoking the fire, completely omitting the fact that A Zi had already learned the Art of Transforming Techniques.

Because doing so served their own best interests.

To them, even if Chuxingzi easily captured A Zi, he would undoubtedly mete out severe punishments to them for their incompetence, and there was even a high probability those punishments would cost them their lives.

Conversely, if Chuxingzi fell victim to A Zi's schemes, he would still end up in a mutually destructive scenario even if he managed to subdue her.

By then, they could reap the fisherman's profit—first disposing of Chuxingzi, and then capturing A Zi to take back to Ding Chunqiu and claim credit.

On one side was a life completely beyond their control; on the other was the glorious prospect of potentially replacing Chuxingzi.

As long as the three of them weren't fools, they naturally knew how to choose.

As for noble human qualities such as loyalty and camaraderie, they simply did not exist among the disciples of the Star Sect.

Under everyone's gaze, a flash of violent rage first crossed Chuxingzi's face, which then immediately transformed into a condescending smile. "Hehehe... It seems I rarely travel through the Central Plains, causing the martial artists here to lose all due reverence for my Star Sect."

Everyone knew this was a smile born of extreme anger, clearly indicating he had prepared himself for slaughter.

However, facing the murderous Chuxingzi, Zhang Fang continued to approach him unhurriedly, showing no intention of stopping at a safe distance to adopt a defensive posture or prepare for combat.

When the distance between them closed to less than three feet, he brazenly raised his right palm. From the looks of it, it resembled nothing more than two street ruffians about to fight, rushing forward simply to deliver a direct slap across the opponent's face.

Chuxingzi gave a cold laugh, then flicked his sleeve, causing a cloud of green smoke to immediately diffuse into the air.

Seeing this, A Zi grew extremely anxious and hurriedly called out a warning, "Brother You, be careful! That's the Star Sect's 'Toxic Toad Smoke,' get away!"

Yet, A Zi's warning proved a step too slow. By the time her voice rang out, that mass of greenish toxic vapor had already enveloped Zhang Fang's head and face.

Zhang Fang only felt an unusual, cloying sweetness hit his nose and mouth, followed by a sudden weakness in his limbs. His footing turned unsteady, and he nearly tumbled face-first to the ground.

Panic-stricken, A Zi wanted to step forward to rescue him, but terror of Chuxingzi's terrifying strength left her hesitating and undecided.

Chuxingzi, meanwhile, let out a loud laugh and abruptly shot out a claw, aiming straight for Zhang Fang's throat. "A rat hiding his head and tail, yet daring to show me such disrespect! Watch how I deal with you today—"

"Slap!"

Before Chuxingzi could finish his boast, Zhang Fang—who should have been heavily poisoned and utterly devoid of any resistance—suddenly flashed a sharp gleam in his eyes. Just moments before the enemy's right hand was about to close around his windpipe, he struck like lightning and clamped down on the other's wrist.

Startled, Chuxingzi attempted to channel his internal energy to break free. But Zhang Fang's "Longevity Sacred Qi" had already drilled like countless fine threads along his finger tips into the meridians of Chuxingzi's arm, instantly draining even a shred of strength from half his body.

"The guy has already tried to deal a fatal blow, yet the Reincarnation Tower still hasn't given me a hidden quest? Could it be because I was just a background extra through the whole ordeal?"

Mutting softly under his breath so only he could hear, Zhang Fang's right hand—which he had just raised and had yet to put down—unhurriedly traced a circle in the air. A dragon's roar echoed across the wilderness as a golden, phantom dragon materialized from his palm. With a single push of his hand, it plunged straight into the chest and abdomen of the immobilized Chuxingzi.

Awooo!~~~

Boom!

Struck solidly by the 8th-level "Proud Dragon Repents," a sickening sound of fracturing bones rang out first. Then Chuxingzi's face distorted, his eyes bulging nearly out of their sockets. Spewing a massive mouthful of fresh blood, his body flew backward like a tattered leather ball for over ten yards.

He then crashed heavily onto the ground, his life or death unknown.

The reversal happened so swiftly that the remaining Star Sect disciples failed to react in time.

Clearly, the punk had already been poisoned by the Eldest Senior Brother and was on the verge of being captured alive. How, in the blink of an eye, had their mighty Eldest Senior Brother been counter-killed?!

Wasn't this simply too absurd!

Having dealt with Chuxingzi, Zhang Fang's aura instantly returned to its previous steady state. He dusted off his palms as though the mere act of striking Chuxingzi had dirtied his hands. "The Eldest Senior Brother of the Star Sect is nothing more than a one-move wonder. Wouldn't you agree, A Zi?"

As he spoke, Zhang Fang winked at A Zi.

The latter immediately caught on. Taking advantage of the fact that the other three had yet to recover their senses, she flashed forward and grabbed her Third Senior Brother, Chuchenzi, firmly by the shoulder.

The Art of Transforming Techniques was unleashed once again! Chuchenzi's body immediately began to convulse violently, as if struck by lightning.

Seeing this scene, the remaining two Star Sect disciples attempted to flee, only to be intercepted and blocked by the flying shield Zhang Fang flung out. A Zi, having successively eliminated two opponents, seized the opportunity to ruthlessly finish the job, swiftly and decisively "transforming" the final two Star Sect disciples as well.

With all opponents dispatched, A Zi approached Zhang Fang with an ingratiating smile, putting on an extremely adorable front and speaking in a sweet, delicate voice, "Um... Brother You, under your brilliant leadership, I killed so many Star Sect disciples in one go. Among the items they dropped, are there any you don't need or look down upon?"

Hearing this, Zhang Fang unhurriedly raised a single finger.

A Zi was stunned. "What is this... supposed to mean?"

"Chuxingzi isn't completely dead yet," Zhang Fang lowered his hand and said. "Although this fellow was beaten into a near-death state by me, if you're willing to give me 1,000 points, I wouldn't mind ceding the head of this top-tier second-rate expert to you."

Chuxingzi wasn't dead yet?

After a brief moment of surprise, A Zi quickly caught on. Previously, seeing Chuxingzi sent flying by a single palm strike and lying motionless, she had subconsciously assumed the man was dead.

Yet right up until now, she hadn't heard any notification regarding the elimination of Chuxingzi!

Realizing this, she began calculating silently in her mind. Presently, Chuxingzi had been reduced to this state by Zhang Fang alone, with zero contribution from her from start to finish. If Zhang Fang finished him off, Zhang Fang would claim ninety percent of the kill reward points for himself, leaving her with a mere meager fifty percent.

If she delivered the final blow, the two of them would each receive seventy percent.

Given Chuxingzi's strength, the difference of those two levels meant securing four to five hundred extra points at best. Buying this kill for 1,000 points seemed like a heavily losing trade at first glance.

However, let us not forget Chuxingzi's other identity: the leader of the Star Sect pursuit party in her main storyline quest!

In the final mission tally, whether Chuxingzi was slain by her own hands or whether she simply coasted to victory while teamed up would undoubtedly yield completely different final evaluations.

And the gap between those two outcomes was definitely worth far more than 1,000 Reincarnation Points!

Watching the young girl's eyes darting around as she weighed the pros and cons, Zhang Fang grew slightly impatient and urged, "So, are you buying or not? Chuxingzi is currently breathing more out than in. If you dawdle any longer, he might just kick the bucket on his own."

"I'll buy it!"

Startled by his words, A Zi transferred the points to Zhang Fang with lightning speed. Then she charged straight toward the unconscious, dying Chuxingzi and delivered a lethal palm strike directly to his crown.

[Your team has slain Chuxingzi, the premier disciple of the Star Sect. Rewards obtained: 1,400 points, Formless Powder x52, Heart-Refining Pellet x5, Heart-Piercing Nail x5, "Three-Yin Centipede Claw" training insights x1, "Bone-Extraction Palm" training insights x1, "Flying Star Art" training insights x1, "Three-Yin Centipede Claw" manual x1!]

(End of this chapter)