Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Seeing that its master leopard was dead, the secondary leopard let out a mournful howl. The sound wasn't loud, but it was more chilling than any roar. It stopped charging at the array patterns and retreated to the deepest part of the cave, curling up its body. The scarlet red in its eyes became even more intense, like two flames burning to their fullest extent.

Then, it suddenly charged towards Su Muyue.

It's gone mad. It's completely gone mad.

The leopard's charge was more violent than ever before. It slammed into the silver cage with all its might, each impact tearing a gash in its body from the barbs, splattering black blood everywhere. But it didn't care; it seemed to feel no pain, no fear, only one command in its mind—kill.

"Snap—!"

The trapped beast formation finally couldn't hold out any longer.

The silver cage shattered under the frenzied assault of the leopard, its array patterns scattering like broken glass, turning into countless silver specks of light before dissipating into the air. Su Muyue, reeling from the backlash of the array, groaned and was thrown backward, crashing heavily to the ground. A trickle of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth. She tried to stand up, but found herself powerless.

The leopard broke out of its cage and pounced on Su Muyue, who was closest to it.

Its speed was astonishing, leaving only a black afterimage in the air. Its gaping maw was already open, revealing two rows of sharp fangs, black saliva spurting from between its teeth. Its target was Su Muyue's neck—the Shadow Leopard's hunting instinct meant a single, fatal bite, severing her cervical vertebrae.

"Mu Yue, watch out!"

Lin Chen panicked and tried to rush over, but his body was still in mid-air, at least a dozen steps away from Su Muyue. His face instantly turned deathly pale, and his pupils dilated sharply.

It's too late.

"Bang--!"

A dull thud.

Leng Feng rushed forward and used his entire body to block the attack from the leopard.

He didn't have time to draw his sword, dodge, or even shout. He instinctively lunged forward, shielding Su Muyue beneath him and using his broad back to absorb the leopard's fatal claw.

The leopard had four claws, each as long as a human hand, with sharp, knife-like tips. They tore through Leng Feng's camouflage as easily as tearing a sheet of paper. The sharp claws dug deep into the flesh of his back, slicing diagonally from his left shoulder to his right waist, leaving three deep, bone-revealing wounds.

Blood gushed out instantly.

It wasn't a slow flow, it was a gushing out. Dark red blood spurted from the wounds, splashing onto Su Muyue's face, onto the ground, and onto Leng Feng's own camouflage uniform. The three wounds were so deep that you could see the white bone and slightly writhing muscles inside.

Leng Feng grunted.

He didn't yell, didn't shout, didn't even groan. He just gritted his teeth, pushed Su Muyue aside, and then used all his strength to sit up.

His face was as white as paper, and his lips were bloodless, but his eyes were still so stubborn and hard, as if nothing in this world could make him bow his head.

"Leng Feng!"

Su Ling'er gasped, nearly dropping the medicine bag in her hand. Looking at the three shocking wounds on Leng Feng's back, and the gushing blood, her eyes instantly reddened. Her hands trembled, but she gritted her teeth and pulled out the last Bewitching Pill from the bag, throwing it with all her might towards the leopard's eyes.

The mind-control pill traced an arc in the air, striking the leopard precisely in the eye before exploding.

"Bang--!"

A pungent fumes billowed from the pill, hitting the leopard's eyes and nostrils. The leopard let out a scream, violently shaking its head and frantically pawing at the ground. Its eyes, burned by the mind-altering pill, were temporarily blinded. Like a headless fly, it stumbled around the cave, crashing into the walls and rocks, its head bleeding profusely.

Lin Chen seized the opportunity.

He didn't stop after landing; he bent his knees, pushed off the ground, and his body shot forward again. The Star Sword drew a silver arc in his hand, its tip pointing directly at the leopard's heart. His movements were fluid and decisive, without the slightest hesitation or delay.

"Pfft—!"

The sword tip pierced the leopard's heart with pinpoint accuracy.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone present heard it—it was a muffled thud, like something had broken.

The leopard let out a mournful howl, its sound growing fainter and weaker until it became a barely audible sigh. Its body stiffened for a moment, then went limp, collapsing to the ground like a rag doll. The crimson in its eyes slowly faded, its pupils dilating into a deathly gray.

The battle is over.

The cave suddenly fell silent.

It was so quiet you could hear the water dripping from the cave ceiling—drip, drip, drip, like some ancient timer counting down the hours. It was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat and breathing; everyone was breathing heavily, greedily filling their lungs with air.

Su Ling'er was the first to collapse to the ground, her back against the cave wall, her hands braced on either side of her body, panting heavily. Her pill bag was empty, and she tossed it aside carelessly. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her hair was wet and clung to her face, but she didn't bother to wipe it away.

Chu Fan leaned against the rock wall at the cave entrance and slowly slid down to the ground. His hands were still trembling slightly—not from fear, but from exhaustion of his spiritual energy. His face was pale, his lips were dry, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Lin Chen sheathed the Star Sword, knelt on one knee, supported himself with his hands, lowered his head, and gasped for breath. His back was soaked with sweat, and his camouflage uniform clung to his body, drenched in moisture.

Su Muyue knelt beside Leng Feng, frantically pulling out wound medicine from her storage bag. Her hands were trembling so badly that she couldn't unscrew the cap of the medicine bottle several times. Her face was still smeared with Leng Feng's blood, warm and smelling of rust.

"Leng Feng, how are you? Are you badly injured?" Her voice trembled, every word shaking.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Leng Feng gritted his teeth, blood still seeping from the wound on his back. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, but his voice remained hard and stubborn, like a rock that could never be broken. "This little injury won't kill me."

Su Ling'er crawled over and stuffed a bottle of healing pills into Leng Feng's hand. Her eyes were red, but she held back her tears.

"Eat this quickly, it'll help you recover faster." She paused, her voice becoming slightly choked, "You were so foolish just now, how could you shield me with your body? What if something had happened to you..."

"We can't let Miss Su get hurt." Leng Feng took the pill but didn't eat it immediately. He looked up at Su Muyue, his eyes serious as if he were saying something very important, "You are our teammate. Protecting our teammate is my responsibility."

Su Muyue didn't speak. She lowered her head, poured the wound medicine into her palm, and then gently, little by little, applied it to the wound on Leng Feng's back. Her hands were still trembling, but her movements were very light, as if she was afraid of hurting him.

Leng Feng didn't move. He didn't even frown. He just sat there quietly as she applied the medicine.

Lin Chen stood up, walked to the Shadow Leopard's corpse, and crouched down. He drew a short sword from his waist and cleaved the leopard's head open. The sound of the skull shattering was exceptionally clear in the quiet cave; bone fragments broke, and brain matter and blood mingled and flowed out.

He found the tiny black worm deep within the brain tissue.

The insect was only the size of a little finger, completely black with a glossy sheen, like a black pearl. Its body was curled up in a ball, its six slender legs tightly clutching the Shadow Leopard's brain tissue, its mouthparts deeply embedded in the brain. The insect's body was still twitching slightly—it was still alive, but not far from death. The Soul-Controlling Gu was bound to its host's life; if the host died, it wouldn't live much longer either.

Lin Chen used the tip of his short sword to lift the insect and place it on a clean cloth. The insect wriggled a few times on the cloth, its six thin legs flailing wildly in the air like a drowning person struggling. Then it slowly, very slowly came to a stop, its body changing from black to gray, and finally turning into a small clump of ash.

"It really is a Soul-Controlling Gu." Lin Chen frowned, his voice low. He stood up, wrapped the ashes in a cloth, and stuffed them into his storage bag. He glanced at the Shadow Leopard's corpse, then at the impenetrable darkness deep within the cave. "The Evil Clan's movements are getting faster and faster. We must report this to the Martial Arts Alliance as soon as possible. The appearance of the Soul-Controlling Gu here means that the Evil Clan has already infiltrated this area; we cannot let our guard down."

Chu Fan leaned against the cave wall, his eyes closed, and said weakly, "I definitely have to report it. But right now, can I rest for a while? I feel like my spiritual energy has been drained, and I can't even stand up straight."

Su Ling'er rolled her eyes at him: "You're the one who sets up the formation, what's there to complain about being tired? Look at Leng Feng, he suffered such serious injuries but didn't utter a sound."

"I'm not complaining about being tired, I'm just stating the facts." Chu Fan opened his eyes and retorted weakly, "Setting up an array isn't tiring? Try controlling eight array flags at the same time; the spiritual energy consumption is even greater than in actual combat."

"Alright, stop arguing." Lin Chen interrupted their bickering and went over to help Leng Feng up from the ground. Leng Feng's complexion was still very bad, but the wounds on his back had stopped bleeding thanks to the healing medicine. The three hideous wounds were covered with a layer of dark yellow powder, which seeped into the wounds and made a slight hissing sound.

Chu Fan stood up from the ground and dusted off his pants. He walked to the rock where the Shadow Leopard had been lying, and was about to lean against it to rest for a while when the stone slab under his feet suddenly made a strange sound.

It wasn't the sound a stone should make.

It was a muffled thud, as if the stone slab beneath was hollow. He looked down and saw a thin crack along the edge of the slab beneath his feet, from which a wisp of black mist seeped. The mist carried a pungent, putrid stench, exactly the same as the evil aura emanating from the Shadow Panther, but many times more concentrated.

Chu Fan's hair stood on end instantly.

He squatted down, gripped the edge of the stone slab with his fingers, and lifted it off forcefully.

Beneath the stone slab, a dark tunnel was revealed.

The tunnel entrance was about half a person's width, just enough for an adult to pass sideways. The tunnel walls were constructed of rough stones, held together by their interlocking without any mortar. Black moss covered the walls, dripping damp black liquid. A cold wind blew from the depths of the tunnel, carrying a strong, malevolent aura; its touch on the face felt like an icy hand caressing the skin.

"Lin Chen, come quick! There's a tunnel here!" Chu Fan's voice became shrill with excitement and tension.

Lin Chen walked over quickly, squatted down next to Chu Fan, and glanced inside.

Deep within the tunnel was an impenetrable darkness, so thick that even his night vision couldn't penetrate it. The darkness seemed to have a physical form, slowly writhing, like a sleeping behemoth with its mouth slightly open, waiting for its prey to walk in. Evil energy surged out of the tunnel in waves, as if something deep within it was breathing.

"This should be a secret stronghold of the evil race." Su Muyue walked to the entrance of the tunnel and inserted the Demon-Slaying Array Flag into it. The flag vibrated violently, and the runes on its surface lit up one after another, emitting a dazzling silver light. "There's a very strong aura of the evil race inside, along with a lot of evil poison. I've never sensed such a dense evil energy before."

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed, and he slowly stood up.

He glanced at the impenetrable darkness deep within the tunnel, then at his teammates beside him—Leng Feng leaned against the cave wall, pale-faced; Su Muyue was so exhausted from her spiritual energy that she could barely stand; Su Ling'er's hands were still trembling; and Chu Fan's complexion was not much better than Leng Feng's.

But the tunnel is right in front of us. The secrets of the evil race might be inside. If we don't go down now, the things inside might have already been moved by the time we come back.

He took a deep breath and gripped the hilt of the Star Sword tightly.

"Let's go down and take a look." His voice wasn't loud, but it was firm. "Maybe we can find evidence of the evil race's conspiracy."

He was the first to jump into the tunnel.