Chapter 1153: Retreating Unharmed

“Are the Stargazers in there doing alright?”

He Yingrui sounded calm, and she didn’t seem to be truly interested in the well-being of those Stargazers.

However, that was just a facade. She was most definitely concerned with the Stargazers. If all of them suffered a mishap, no one knew how long the Star Origin Dao Field would be able to remain hidden in the void.

“They’re unconscious, but their lives are not at risk.” Shang Xia replied while shooting Xiao Shengyi a profound gaze.

“In that case, what is your purpose of revealing yourself at this moment?” He Yingrui continued, Even though she still sounded calm, a dull green light appeared in her eyes. It was as though she was trying to look at the situation within the Star Observatory.

Peering through the spatial barrier around the Star Observatory, she could see a blurry figure.

The person within seemed to also have discovered something, and he raised his head to stare straight at her.

Before she could fully make out his appearance, she felt as though her divine soul was stabbed by the opponent and she shifted her gaze away. Shutting her eyes, she barely managed to stop blood from pouring out of them.

“Camp Commander He doesn’t seem too sincere...” A soft chuckle came from within the Star Observatory.

Liu Jiuzhen glanced at He Yingrui and knew that she failed to gain the upper hand in that exchange.

His heart sank. It seemed as though the expert in the Star Observatory was someone who was at least as strong as He Yingrui, or stronger. In fact, the mysterious expert within might be even stronger than himself.

How the hell did someone like that hide in the city?! How did no one manage to discover their presence?

If the Guards Commander was still in the city, there was no way something like that would happen!

Also... To be able to secretly enter somewhere protected by a spatial barrer... Why did that sound so familiar?

In the past, something similar happened to the Spirit Luxuriant World as Wen Juxiang of the Essence Hong World infiltrated them without being detected...

As his thoughts ran wild, He Yingrui’s voice rang through the air again. “I failed to act appropriately... Fellow cultivator, what will it take for you to release our Stargazers?”

A reply quickly came. “Actually, I don’t ask for much. I only wish to know how Star Origin City... No, how the Star Origin Dao Field managed to hide itself in the void.”

He Yingrui’s tone sank and she growled, “It’s something related to our Star Origin City. Forgive me, but I won’t be able to tell you anything about that.”

A mocking sneer came from within the next moment, “Don’t tell me it’s because there’s chaos within your city? Right... Why don’t I make a guess? Someone wasn’t very satisfied with Zhuge Xiang and planned to usurp his position as the Star Origin Guards Commander... Am I right?”

“Where did you hear such an absurd rumor?” He Yingrui laughed softly. She seemed to be laughing at his conjecture.

However, another reply soon came. The person within the Star Observatory sounded rather candid as he chuckled, “Oh? Would that mean that Xing Xingtian colluded with Tong Yutang to look for Zhuge Xiang’s cultivation grounds for fun? Is the news of them planning to assassinate him false too?”

He Yingrui sank into silence and she didn’t respond immediately.

The voice continued, “Oh right, I also heard that Tong Yutang managed to secretly learn about a combined battle formation. He seemed to be planning to use it to deal with Zhuge Xiang specifically. The experts of the Essence Hong and Essence Ming worlds are also assisting him with it... Looks like those are all rumors...”

“Combined battle formation?! What combined battle formation?!” He Yingrui wasn’t the person who spoke this time. Instead, it was Liu Jiuzhen who asked.

“Brother Liu, there’s no need to panic. Don’t fall for his tricks!” He Yingrui stopped Liu Jiuzhen from saying more before turning to the Star Observatory. “I don’t know where you heard such rumors, but it’s impossible for the experts of the Essence Hong and Essence Ming worlds to take part in this.”

“Ah... Haha! Would that mean that they have some sort of tacit understanding to work with your city... Hmm... I didn’t say that the experts of the 2 Essence Worlds would personally come though. I only said that they would assist the efforts... For example... Even though Tong Yutang’s combined battle formation might not require the experts of the Essence Worlds to personally take part, the existence of the battle formation itself is pretty interesting, don’t you think? Especially where it originated from.”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The mysterious expert in the Star Observatory seemed to have guessed some things from He Yingrui’s replies, and he seemed to be fishing for something...

He Yingrui didn’t reply directly. Instead, she sent a voice transmission to the captains hunting down the fugitives. “There’s no need to capture them. Kill them all!”

She didn’t hide her order from Liu Jiuzhen, and even after hearing her instructions, he didn’t question her about it.

He Yingrui spoke again, but she seemed to be shifting the topic away. “As long as you release our Stargazers, I’ll promise to allow you to leave the Dao Field safely. What do you think?”

The mysterious expert within didn’t respond immediately.

After a moment, when He Yingrui’s expression was starting to change and she was about to order them to barge into the Star Observatory, a reply arrived. “Sorry for turning down your offer. I won’t require your permission to leave the Dao Field.”

He Yingrui’s expression sank and she seemed to have thought of something. She growled softly, “This is bad. He’s going to escape. Brother Liu, charge in there with me!”

After she spoke, she created a spatial tunnel straight into the Star Observatory. Liu Jiuzhen failed to react as quickly and moved a little later, but he followed closely behind her.

It was then that the domain that shrouded the Star Observatory that threatened the lives of the Stargazers and Star Origin Guards popped like a bubble.

All He Yingrui saw was a blurry figure slowly disappearing, and the energy that remained the moment they forced their way in dissipated quickly.

Liu Jiuzhen arrived next, and his expression was dark. He growled, “It’s just a clone! We were tricked! He already left!”

He Yingrui was slightly pale and she mumbled softly, “The secret tunnel that leads out of the Dao Field... It’s how Xing Xingtian left previously.”

“Who told him about the secret passage?!” Liu Jiuzhen growled and tried to suppress the anger burning in him. He glanced at the unconscious Stargazers on the ground and noticed someone missing.

Liu Jiuzhen stepped forward and wanted to awaken Xiao Shengyi, but he noticed that He Yingrrui wasn’t in the best state of mind at the moment. He saw that she wasn’t only pale, but her body was trembling violently.

“Camp Commander He?” Liu Jiuzhen felt something off and he asked.

He Yingrui’s pupils were unfocused and she muttered in a hoarse voice, “They took our Stargazers’ core inheritance!”

Liu Jiuzhen frowned. He might not know why she was reacting so strongly, but from the look of it, she probably knew something he didn’t because she was a Camp Commander.

Stepping forward, Liu Jiuzhen tapped at the unconscious Xiao Shengyi, waking him up immediately.

Finally regaining his senses, The Martial Dipper Realm Grand Stargazer leaped to his feet and looked around. When he saw He Yingrui and Liu Jiuzhen, he heaved a sigh of relief.

“What happened here?! Grandmaster Xiao, you better give us a proper explanation.” Liu Jiuzhen growled in a low voice.

“Xin Lu betrayed the Star Observatory! She located the hidden tunnel and the mysterious expert grabbed everything before bringing her away!” Xiao Shengyi yelled, and he seemed to be out of breath as he spoke.

“That’s not possible, right? When we were knocked unconscious, you were the only one who was awake!” One of the Stargazers mumbled after Liu Jiuzhen woke him up.

Xiao Shengyi glanced at the Stargazer and knew that he was Xing Xingtian’s disciple. He grunted coldly, “heh, do you think I would know where the hidden passage was?”

The Stargazer who was rubbing his head grunted, “Grandmaster Xiao, if even you didn’t know where the passage was, how can Xin Lu...”

He seemed to have thought of something, and he stopped rubbing his head suddenly.

He Yingrui asked in a low voice, “Why did you stop talking? What’s the matter with Stargazer Xin Lu?”

Hesitating slightly, he didn’t dare to speak.

Another Stargazer who woke up mumbled softly, “We don’t know when Camp Commander Xing left, but if anyone knows, it has to be Xin Lu. After all, she’s the closest to him...”

The person who spoke emphasized the relationship between them, and it was clear that the relationship between Xin Lu and Xing Xingtian was something out of the ordinary.

A cold snort left He Yingrui’s lips, and she didn’t continue asking about the matter. Instead, she turned to Xiao Shengyi and asked, “If you were the only one who wasn’t struck unconscious back then, would that mean that you interacted with the mysterious expert? I wish to know more details about that person. Also, where is that secret passage that leads to the outside world? Is it still open? I need to seal it off immediately!”

Xiao Shengyi sighed softly, as though he had long prepared for He Yingrui’s suspicion. He revealed a helpless look and grunted, “You all might find it hard to believe, but that mysterious expert never thought of killing anyone when he arrived. His main goal was our thousand year inheritance and after I pointed out the secret room to show him how difficult it would be to break into since only Commander Xing and Guards Commander Zhuge knew how to open it, he actually managed to destroy the restrictions and formation without much difficulty. His inner qi seemed to possess the ability to get rid of restrictions!”

“How could that mysterious expert know that Xin Lu knows about the existence of the secret passage? Aren’t you the one who told them?” Liu Jiuzhen asked without turning his gaze away.

Xiao Shengyi replied calmly, “Xin Lu awakened suddenly and told the mysterious expert of the secret passage on her own. She also told the mysterious expert about the way to activate the passage.”

The cultivator who was rubbing his head early shot to his feet and snapped, “You... You... You’re lying! Why would Stargazer Xin Lu betray the Star Observatory? She’s merely at the Martial Extermination Realm. How could she awaken before us?”

A trace of panic flashed across Xiao Shengyi’s eyes, but he continued to explain, “She was wearing a necklace, and both of us know where it comes from. Her awakening earlier is natural. As for why she would betray our Star Observatory and leave with the mysterious expert... Need I say more?”

“Necklace?! Where it came from? The relationship between the Stargazers of your Star Observatory and the Seventh Camp is really messy...” Liu Jiuzhen mocked. “From the looks of it, Camp Commander Xing has been living extremely comfortably...”

He Yingrui might be a middle-aged lady, but she naturally understood what was going on. She mumbled, “Are you saying that even though Xin Lu was favored by Xing Xingtian, she never wanted to be with him? Did Xing Xingtian force her to stay by his side? Is that why she left the Star Observatory with the mysterious outsider when he appeared by exchanging the way to activate the secret passage for freedom?”

The Stargazers who managed to stay alive didn’t say a word, but they seemed to have confirmed her guess.

Xiao Shengyi chuckled bitterly, “Commander Xing’s prestige in the Star Observatory is immense, and Junior Sister Xin has her cultivation sealed off by Commander Xing... He said that the seal made use of the power of the stars, and even Martial Void Realm True Immortals would find it difficult to remove it. However, that mysterious expert did it easily!”

The Star Origin Guards who came with He Yingrui returned after completing their tasks of dealing with the escapees. The Star Origin Guards of the First Camp were also present, and they seemed to confirm that the mysterious expert had strange abilities to get rid of restrictions and formations from how the prison break occurred.

He Yingrui shot Xiao Shengyi a deep gaze and mumbled slowly, “Since the other party escaped, we’ll leave this for now. Grandmaster Xiao, the situation is dire and we need you to take control of the Star Observatory. I will get the rest to repair the prison, and you won’t have to worry about it. The most important task is to draw on the power of the stars, and you need to focus more effort into it.”

She didn’t shift her gaze away from Xiao Shengyi as she continued, “Our Dao Field requires a large amount of energy, and I believe you understand how important this is. Only after we ensure that the Dao Field is safe can we talk about anything else. Otherwise...”

He Yingrui didn’t complete her sentence, but her threat was clear.

Xiao Shengyi nodded solemnly.