Chapter 130: Chapter 94: Opportunity for a Breakthrough

Previously, because he had to take consecutive shifts during the period of ferocity, Liou Yuan neglected the Fixed Star Compass for several months, ultimately only being able to use it inside the Library Pavilion.

Though the gains were decent, they were ultimately just financial rewards.

What Liou Yuan truly desired in his heart was the boost to his cultivation gained from slaying Star Evil.

As luck would have it, this time he sensed clues pointing to at least a Calamity-level Star Evil.

Coincidentally, the Fixed Star Compass was also nearly fully charged.

"Isn’t this a heaven-sent opportunity!" Liou Yuan’s heart burned with excitement, his eyes lighting up.

Liou Yuan had only received a Calamity-level Star Evil reward once before.

That one time brought about a qualitative leap in his talent and strength.

If he could use the Fixed Star Compass to locate that Calamity-level Star Evil and report it to the two Foundation Establishment cultivators before him, wouldn’t the extermination reward easily be his?

"Truly, heaven is helping me!" This was truly an unexpected delight, and Liou Yuan immediately felt invigorated.

On the other side, the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Sun and Protector Zhao finalised the plan for guarding Chouhuai City.

The two Foundation Establishments then turned their attention to Liou Yuan and Zhao Feiyue.

The clues about the Star Evil had been delivered by these two juniors, so both sentimentally and logically, rewards were due.

"Five Extremes Mountain has taken in two excellent disciples; this level of insight—they have limitless potential." The Foundation Establishment Sun smiled at Liou Yuan and Zhao Feiyue: "Once this is over, I’ll definitely report to the Prefecture Lord, and you both will certainly benefit from it."

Guarding Chouhuai City was the duty of Foundation Establishment Sun, so it was naturally his responsibility to report for the rewards as well.

Zhao Feiyue smiled sweetly, shaking her head to refuse Foundation Establishment Sun, then said: "This time, discovering the clues to the Star Evil was entirely thanks to Mr. Liou. I wouldn’t dare claim the credit."

Unexpectedly, Protector Zhao waved his hand, cutting off Zhao Feiyue’s words, and said indifferently, "A gift from your elders should not be refused; to refuse is disrespectful. Your Mr. Sun wishes to reward you—so take it."

Then Liou Yuan saw Zhao Zhuoran looking at him, squeezing out a smile from his stiff, aged face, saying: "I imagine Mr. Liou won’t mind."

"That is what Miss Zhao deserves." Liou Yuan smiled gently.

He truly didn’t mind; without Zhao Feiyue’s help, he wouldn’t have been able to directly meet with the two Foundation Establishments.

He wouldn’t have had such a great opportunity to use the Fixed Star Compass, either.

It was merely splitting some credit—it’s not as if it was Five Extremes Mountain’s achievement anyway.

"It’s a good chance to build a rapport with the Zhao Family’s Foundation Establishments; it’ll make things easier at Five Extremes Mountain in the future."

As expected, Liou Yuan’s words made Zhao Zhuoran nod repeatedly, clearly satisfied with his response. He praised, "No wonder you’re Liou Zhen’s brother. Back then, when I first saw Liou Zhen, I knew this lad would reach Foundation Establishment sooner or later. Looks like you’re not inferior to your brother at all."

"You flatter me, Senior." Liou Yuan bowed his head slightly.

"Go, and let the remaining disciples know the departure is postponed." Zhao Zhuoran waved his hand, dismissing Liou Yuan and Zhao Feiyue.

Under the gaze of the Jin Dynasty Foundation Establishment, Liou Yuan and Zhao Feiyue slowly exited the secret chamber.

The Shoushan Tower’s directive was to guard until the day of Star Rotation.

Logically, Five Extremes Mountain’s disciples could stop guarding Chouhuai City with the remaining time.

But given Protector Zhao’s decree, not one of Five Extremes Mountain’s disciples dared to defy him.

Besides, the city’s array had been fully restored.

With the Auspicious Star in rotation and no danger in Chouhuai City, to the disciples of Five Extremes Mountain it was simply a change of location for cultivation.

So, led by Miss Lai, several disciples stayed put quietly, awaiting Protector Zhao’s command to depart.

Liou Yuan and his two companions took up residence in the same side room as before.

Though shabby, it barely kept out the wind and rain.

The Milky Way stretched across the night sky, as if a river woven from countless stars, flowing with dreamlike brilliance.

Among them, the nine stars suspended in the Weixiu constellation were especially prominent, their combined starlight raining a cool glow onto Chouhuai City.

Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming, side by side, sat cross-legged in the rubble-strewn courtyard, basking in the starlight.

Constant streams of starlight entered their bodies through their respective Star Acupoints.

Each stream was refined by their Cultivation Techniques, turning into the purest Spiritual Power.

Star Stones were naturally indispensable for their cultivation.

Without the help of Five Extremes Mountain’s array, simply absorbing Star Spiritual Qi was no longer enough for them.

The night passed, and as the starlight faded from the sky, Liou Yuan was the first to open his eyes.

He felt the changes in his Spiritual Power, his brows knitting slightly, clearly dissatisfied with the slow rate of increase.

"Two months have passed since I broke through to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, yet my Spiritual Power has only increased by a little over one unit."

"Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer requires twenty units of Spiritual Power."

"At this rate, it’ll be the year of the monkey before I reach the sixth layer."

Of course, the main reason Liou Yuan’s cultivation has slowed was because he took on the task of guarding Chouhuai City, losing a month of time.

During this period, his nights were spent cleaning out Star Evil from the city—leaving no time for cultivation.

True, but Liou Yuan calculated that there were only three months left before the sect-mandated year was up.

With the sixth layer still far out of reach, Liou Yuan felt a sense of defeat.

"No wonder Qiu Ming, a Five-Star Star Acupoint disciple, has lingered at Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer for so long without signs of breaking through to Sixth Layer."

"No wonder Senior Brother Pan Yang from the Library Pavilion has remained at the sixth layer for five or six years since entering Five Extremes Mountain."

"Damn, the higher the Qi Cultivation Realm goes, the tougher it gets!"

By every calculation, Liou Yuan didn’t think he could break through to the sixth layer within the next three months.

"I’ll just give it my best shot—but judging from the current situation, it’s not entirely hopeless." Liou Yuan thought of the current state of Chouhuai City.

Right now, there was an opportunity to break through within three months.

Namely, that hidden Calamity-level Star Evil lurking in the city.

If the Fixed Star Compass could pinpoint the Star Evil’s location, Liou Yuan could claim the reward for slaying it—then all would become possible.

Thinking back to the reward from killing the Alien Star Evil in Yanhe City—it boosted Liou Yuan’s strength by leaps and bounds.

By the same logic, the Calamity-level Star Evil hidden in Chouhuai City could do the same.

At this thought, Liou Yuan glanced at Qiu Ming, still engrossed in cultivation, and quietly slipped away into the house.

Sitting on the mattress in the side room, he shut his eyes to inspect the Fixed Star Compass floating within his body.

It had been seven days since he’d reported the Star Evil to Zhao Zhuoran and the Jin Dynasty Foundation Establishment.

The Fixed Star Compass was now fully charged.

Now, in the center of the Compass, star energy was surging—Liou Yuan could activate it at any moment.

"Heaven really favors me." Seeing the state of the Fixed Star Compass, Liou Yuan finally felt joy in his heart.

Rather than delay, he planned to take the Fixed Star Compass out and make a round through Chouhuai City today.

If he could confirm the Star Evil’s location and report it to Protector Zhao, with the city’s two Foundation Establishments, the Star Evil would surely be destroyed.

After all, it was now Auspicious Star rotation; the Star Evil, no matter how strong, would be greatly weakened—two Foundation Establishments would be more than enough.

He could easily claim the extermination reward without lifting a finger.

Of course, the only challenge was how Liou Yuan would explain his discovery.

The Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators couldn’t detect the Star Evil, so how could a Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer manage it?

Fortunately, over these days, Liou Yuan had devised an excuse.

"My pair of Evil Eyes can see things others can’t."

"I can’t really find the Star Evil either, but Protector Zhao and the others don’t know that."

"I’ll just credit everything to my Evil Eyes—then the story flows naturally."

This was Liou Yuan’s coping strategy.

At worst, he would expose his Evil Eyes—after all, it wasn’t something disgraceful.

Cultivators with such unique talents weren’t any secret to the Five Extremes Mountain high-ups anyway.

"With my big brother, the Foundation Establishment backing me, I don’t need to fear anyone coveting these eyes."

With that thought, Liou Yuan exited his inner gaze.

He was about to go stroll around Chouhuai City when—

His ears twitched, catching a sound.

Looking in that direction, he saw a tall and graceful figure step into the ruined courtyard—it was Zhao Feiyue.

Due to the difference between men and women, after the city defense ended in Chouhuai City, Zhao Feiyue no longer stayed with Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming in the same room.

Daytime was the only time Liou Yuan saw her.

Liou Yuan activated his Evil Eyes, swept them over Zhao Feiyue, then smiled and went up to greet her: "Miss Zhao, your cultivation progresses rapidly—soon you’ll reach Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, I imagine."

"Almost, once the Chouhuai City affair is over, I’ll return to Five Extremes Mountain and enter seclusion to break through to the sixth layer." Zhao Feiyue’s heroic brows climbed up, unable to hide her delight at Liou Yuan’s words.

After responding to Liou Yuan, she glanced at Qiu Ming still in the courtyard, then headed into the side room, evidently with something to say to Liou Yuan.

Liou Yuan cooperatively closed the nearly-collapsing door behind them, and the two sat facing each other.

Zhao Feiyue began explaining the latest news she had learned to Liou Yuan: "This morning I went to see Second-Grandfather, and from his mouth I got some information."

The relationship between Zhao Feiyue and Zhao Zhuoran went without saying—destined that she would get first-hand intel.

Liou Yuan nodded, listening attentively without interrupting.

"News has arrived from Jiangyang Prefecture."

"The Prefecture Lord rejected Mr. Sun’s proposal to relocate the city and will send two Foundation Establishments to assist."

Zhao Feiyue paused, then added: "Those two Foundation Establishments will bring a Foundation Establishment Magical Artifact of extraordinary power to aid us."

"What does that mean?" Liou Yuan’s expression grew serious; though he asked, he’d already guessed inside.

He hurriedly mused aloud: "Are they planning to act inside Chouhuai City? Do they have a method to locate the Star Evil?"

"No such method. Once it goes dormant, Star Evil is extremely hard to detect."

"Five Extremes Mountain and the Jin Dynasty do have treasures for investigating hidden Star Evil, but those aren’t used lightly," Zhao Feiyue explained.

"From what Second-Grandfather said, the Prefecture Lord likely intends to use the magical artifact’s power to just flatten Chouhuai City."

"Anyway, since the Star Evil is in the city, they’d rather destroy Chouhuai City than let the Star Evil remain."

"Well, the Prefecture Lord is ruthless!" Liou Yuan’s brows arched. Though he said this, deep down he quite approved of the Prefecture Lord’s decision.

At least in Liou Yuan’s view, this plan was more reliable than relocating residents.

"How soon will Jiangyang Prefecture’s Foundation Establishments arrive?" Liou Yuan asked quietly.

"In the next day or two." Zhao Feiyue shared all she knew.

The Star Evil matter was something she and Liou Yuan had reported together; so, as soon as she got news, she sought Liou Yuan out.

"Thank you, Miss Zhao, for running over specially." Liou Yuan acknowledged.

Zhao Feiyue’s main purpose was just to pass on this message.

After speaking, she immediately left.

Liou Yuan was left alone in the side room, lost in thought.

"Time is running out—Jiangyang Prefecture’s reinforcement is nearly here."

"I must locate the Star Evil before they arrive."

Thinking this, Liou Yuan wasted no time, striding out of the yamen.