Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 38 The Complete Cultivation Technique, The Wang Family's Conspiracy

Time ticked by. Outside the ancient books library, the sky gradually turned from bright to dusky yellow. The rays of the setting sun shone through the high windows, the beams of light shifting from east to west, bathing the entire fourth floor in a warm golden-orange hue. Dust motes drifted slowly within the beams of light, like countless tiny stars. At the long table by the window, the dozing researcher turned over, mumbled something, and then fell into a deep sleep again. Lin Chen remained motionless, as if frozen in stone. His breathing was steady and long, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. The stellar energy within his dantian vibrated at a peculiar frequency, synchronized with the deductions in his mind, like a precisely operating machine, every gear meshing seamlessly.

Three hours later, Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes.

A dazzling silver light flashed deep within those eyes, like the brightest star in the night sky, gone in an instant. If anyone else were present, they would surely have thought they were seeing things. His demeanor seemed to have undergone a subtle change—if before he entered he was a sword hidden in its sheath, then now that sheath had partially fallen away, and he appeared more composed and reserved, yet subtly exuding a chilling sense of power, like a dormant volcano, its surface calm, but beneath which churning, molten lava.

The "Star Martial Arts Basic Boxing Manual" has been successfully completed!

Lin Chen took a deep breath, feeling the surging power within his body. That power flowed through his meridians like a tidal wave, and with each breath, he could feel his dantian becoming fuller and more solid. After cultivating this fist manual, his *Myriad Manifestations Fist* directly broke through to the perfect realm—the bottleneck that had previously held him at "Great Completion" was shattered in one fell swoop, like a dam bursting, all obstructions becoming unobstructed under the cleansing force of stellar energy. His fist intent flowed smoothly and seamlessly, each punch resonating with the stellar energy in the air, and he could even faintly feel the surrounding space trembling slightly with his fist intent. The power had increased by 60%! This was an extremely exaggerated number, startling even Lin Chen himself. If a martial artist of the same level were to take a hit from his punch, they probably wouldn't even be able to stand; the sound of bones shattering would likely precede the sound of his fist hitting the ground. Moreover, he finally understood the true function of the Star Martial Core: it was not only the core of cultivating Star Martial arts techniques, but also the "living key" to the Qingyang City Demon-Suppressing Array—it could strengthen the seal by injecting star power, maintaining the stable operation of the array; it could also be used by the evil race to completely destroy the seal and release the countless evil races suppressed within the array by extracting power from the Star Martial Core. Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Lin Chen's back, sliding down his spine and wetting his collar.

This means that the safety of the Star Warrior successor is directly related to the survival of the entire human race's front.

More importantly, during the process of completing the fist manual, Lin Chen discovered a deeply hidden interlayer between the cover and the inner pages of this ancient book. This interlayer was located beneath the hardboard at the back cover, and unless the Star Martial Core's deductions revealed subtle energy fluctuations within—fluctuations as faint as the trembling of a spiderweb in the wind—ordinary people would have been completely unaware of it. Lin Chen carefully lifted the back cover, his fingers applying slight pressure, causing the paper to make a soft tearing sound. Inside, three thin, yellowed pages were pasted—the text on these pages was not written with ordinary ink, but rather in blood condensed from Star Power. The characters were dark red, like long-dried blood, emitting a faint silver light that flickered intermittently, as if alive. These were three blood seals sealed by Chen Feng using his own Star Power, each seal exquisitely crafted, only those possessing the Star Martial Core could unlock them one by one using the same Star Power. This is why, for the past thirty years, countless researchers, scholars, and martial artists have turned the pages of this seemingly ordinary boxing manual, yet no one has ever discovered the blood-written letters—without the Star Martial Core, these three blood-written letters are as if they do not exist, forever slumbering on the back cover, like secrets forgotten by time.

Lin Chen's heart raced again; he could almost hear the blood rushing through his ears. He steadied himself, closed his eyes, took two deep breaths, and then slowly opened them, channeling his stellar power into the first seal. The stellar power flowed like warm water, originating from his dantian, ascending along his meridians, passing through his arm, and seeping into the blood-written book from his fingertips. The seal, like an invisible lock, melted silently the moment it sensed the shared stellar power, like ice melting in warm water, without a sound.

The words of the first blood-written letter slowly appeared. The handwriting was neat and powerful, each stroke conveying composure and determination, as if someone were carving their will before a storm:

"In the year 971 of the Spiritual Qi Regeneration, Chen Feng left this letter. My junior brother Li Mo and I discovered the first Martial Emperor's handwritten notes at Qingyang No. 3 Middle School, learning the secret of the Demon-Suppressing Array that has stood for a thousand years. Wang Xiaotian colluded with the evil race, attempting to seize the Fist Scripture and break the seal. I have already arranged for Li Mo to take over a general store in the south of the city, allowing him to live in anonymity and await the successor of the Star Martial Arts. If anyone possessing silver star power sees this letter, they can go to Old Li's general store in the south of the city to find Li Mo; he has evidence of Wang Xiaotian's collusion with the evil race."

Lin Chen's heart sank, as if a heavy weight had pressed down on his chest. 971 years after the spiritual energy resurgence—that was thirty years ago. Thirty years ago, Chen Feng had already discovered the Wang family's conspiracy and laid out a contingency plan. He placed his junior brother, Li Mo, in a general store in the south of the city, letting him lie low as an ordinary small merchant, waiting day after day for thirty years. Thirty years—more than ten thousand days and nights—Li Mo guarded that general store, wiping the shelves, fiddling with needle and thread, exchanging pleasantries with the neighbors, yet always remembering that he was the guardian of the Star Martial lineage. This forbearance and foresight were deeply moving, and Lin Chen's eyes welled up slightly.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, his fingertips trembling slightly, and he broke the second seal. The second blood letter appeared, the writing even denser than the first, with some areas even bleeding due to excessive ink. Beside it, in the blank space, was a simple map, the lines hasty but every mark clear:

"In the year 974 of the spiritual revival, I infiltrated the Northwest Forest Region three times and discovered that the Wang family had set up the Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiend Array, intending to trigger the earth's fiendish energy at the critical point of the array to accelerate the seal's breakage. I have hand-drawn a map of the evil array's distribution, marking the location of all the array's key points and the method to break it. Successors of Star Martial Arts must remember: do not force your way into the evil array; you must break through each key point one by one to dismantle it."

The Twelve Heavenly Fiends Formation. Lin Chen memorized the name, each word as if etched into his heart. He glanced at the accompanying hand-drawn map, which marked the locations of the twelve formation eyes with red dots, each dot drawn with remarkable clarity, as if painted with blood. The formation eyes were connected by black lines, forming a bizarre network covering a large area of ​​forest in northwest Qingyang City, like an evil spiderweb waiting for its prey to fall into its trap. Beside it, in dense, small print, were the methods to break each formation eye—some required infusing star power to destroy its core, some required removing specific evil entities, and some required burning it with pure yang power. Lin Chen memorized all this information, not daring to miss a single word, as if those words were a life-saving spell.

Finally, Lin Chen broke the third seal. His fingers were trembling slightly, not from fear, but because he had a vague premonition of something. The handwriting on the third blood letter was completely different from the first two—the characters were hasty, inconsistent in size, and some strokes even had long trails of ink, clearly written in an extremely hurried and critical situation. Each crooked stroke of the text conveyed a sense of tragedy and determination, like a person's last words written with the last ounce of strength in their final moments:

"In 976 years of spiritual energy revival, the seal leaked, triggering a beast tide. I will detonate the Star Power Source and perish together with the Beast King to temporarily stabilize the seal. According to the first Martial Emperor's notes, the third critical point will be reached in 1000 years of spiritual energy revival (six months from now). The Martial Arts Association will definitely organize martial artists to reinforce the seal, and the provincial key joint training will be held in Qingyang City. The Wang family will take this opportunity to seize the Star Martial Core."

Star Warrior Inheritor, the responsibility of protecting humanity is entrusted to you.

May humanity prosper forever!