Chapter 654: The Battle for the Celestial Martial Star

Chapter 654: The Battle for the Celestial Martial Star

Su Family Village.

Dong Wei’s troops successfully captured Su Family Village, forcing all the villagers to reluctantly sign transfer agreements, making their houses and land the property of the court (Dong Wei).

With these agreements and land deeds, they could claim that they were acquiring the land legally and properly.

Normally, the court would compensate them with a silver coin as land acquisition fees, but the payment was delayed, leading them to curse the court for being stingy, unable to part with even a single coin.

Many wealthy individuals from Su Family Village had returned after hearing the court was buying land at a high price, only to find it was just a single silver coin. Frustrated, they stomped their feet, as the land was worth millions. What a waste of time!

However, they didn’t realize that the court was not just toying with them; they had ulterior motives.

Gathering these wealthy individuals, they emotionally appealed to them, saying that the court was tirelessly working for the benefit of the people and that the national treasury was dwindling, needing these wealthy patrons to contribute, promising they wouldn’t be overlooked once the nation stabilized.

To put it nicely, they were encouraging contributions to the greater good; to put it bluntly, it was extortion.

What could they do? Resist? Say they wouldn’t pay? What did the plight of the world matter to them? They just wanted to enjoy their lives!

Refusing meant nothing short of death in the wilderness.

Dong Wei’s “conscience” saw fit to sign an agreement, claiming they would reward the contributors once the nation stabilized.

Of course, the agreement also included the amount they were expected to donate, which would later be labeled as voluntary contributions; if anyone questioned it, the agreement could be pulled out.

Dong Wei was notorious for such seemingly reasonable yet coercive practices.

Su Family Village was a prime location, discovered by Dong Wei’s geotechnical master, who promptly instructed a team to alter the spiritual energy in the area to meet his needs.

They needed to set up arrays and conduct rituals here for the Celestial Martial Star.

Rumors concerning the Celestial Martial Star had spread within the populace, and several authoritative masters of celestial stars had predicted its fallen location. Previously, they had successfully determined the fall sites of several celestial stars, establishing their credibility.

Every time a unique celestial star appeared, the star masters gained significant profits. They didn’t confide this knowledge to just one person but shared it with many.

Thus, more people flocked to the expected site of the Celestial Martial Star’s descent, hoping to encounter this extraordinary star and gain fortune.

However, this crowding led to a major problem: a mix of individuals causing conflicts, resulting in bloodshed.

The Sword Saint’s opportunity arose from such a bloody scenario.

While some rushed to seize the chance presented by the Celestial Martial Star, others sought to exploit it.

Dong Wei was among them.

Their plan was to change the location of the Celestial Martial Star’s fall, drawing it towards Su Family Village’s territory.

If successful, all the resources of the Celestial Martial Star would belong to them, sparing them the need to compete with others.

It was a solid plan, and they were quite confident about it.

They occupied the area of Su Family Village, positioning their crystals and spiritual artifacts according to a pre-established array and instructed the spirit masters and sorcerers to perform rituals, akin to ancient tribal shamans, to lure the Celestial Martial Star.

This time, the leader of Dong Wei was named Li Yun, an excellent spirit master who was coordinating and commanding the layout of the rituals. The entire region of Su Family Village was enveloped in spiritual light, and spiritual energy surged from the crystals into the sky.

It was nighttime, the sky filled with stars, occasionally streaked by shooting stars. After a while, a brilliant celestial star began its descent, getting closer to the ground.

Li Yun gazed up at the night sky and spotted the twinkling star falling.

“Can you confirm its trajectory? Will it land here?” Li Yun turned to the nearby celestial star master.

“Yes, my lord, we are well prepared now; the Celestial Martial Star will definitely fall in the Su Family Village area,” the celestial star master replied with confidence, clearly seeing the star’s trajectory.

“Alright, I await the moment.”

They continued their calm rituals, waiting for the moment to arrive.

As predicted by the celestial star master, the Celestial Martial Star did not fall as the authorities had anticipated, but instead headed towards Su Family Village, getting clearer as it approached.

“It’s coming, my lord. I wonder what treasures the Celestial Martial Star holds.”

The celestial star master chuckled, while Li Yun burst into laughter, eagerly anticipating the star’s arrival.

However, while they were celebrating, a group consisting of various dark organizations, including the Refining Demon Sect and the Dark Alliance, was also performing rituals—a patchwork army, yet one not to be underestimated.

“Hah, even if someone tries to use the array to redirect the Celestial Martial Star, its trajectory has already shifted. Though we can’t move it in the high skies, we can passionately perform a ritual as it nears the ground, forcing it off course and landing it within our designated area.”

At this moment, a man spoke up; he was one of the three united factions belonging to the Dark Alliance, named Zhu Yu, alongside two companions: Zhou Zi from the Refining Demon Sect and Heng from the Sea Domain Dragon Clan.

They had previously used spirit torment techniques to assault cultivators and disciples, causing them to collapse and absorb their spiritual energy.

But unexpectedly, when they targeted several women, they all dreamt of the same boy, who shattered their perceptions in various forms.

This boy was Lin Nuo, utterly ordinary in reality.

“Alright, the Celestial Martial Star is about to fall; now, change its course!”

They also sought to snatch the fruits of Dong Wei’s labor, forcing a change in trajectory as the star descended onto their territory.

Success!

The trajectory of the Celestial Martial Star did indeed shift, no longer heading towards Su Family Village but towards Zhu Yu’s domain.

Of course, Dong Wei soon detected this, suspecting foul play!

“There’s foul play! Quickly, intensify the rituals! Bring the Celestial Martial Star back!”

Dong Wei was not to be outdone and increased their efforts, scrambling for the Celestial Martial Star. The star’s falling direction changed again, and Zhu Yu’s group also intensified their energy, the trajectory becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Meanwhile, Su Kexin and her companions had already taken a carriage and left, while Lin Nuo observed them from the shadows.

Everything was going smoothly; Su Kexin was not returning to Su Family Village and was gradually moving further away.

Excellent! She wouldn’t encounter the Celestial Martial Star now; she could rest assured and go home to sleep.

The Celestial Martial Star was supposed to fall tonight, but its exact timing was uncertain. No matter; in the area of Su Family Village, definitely, there would be a tremendous noise and fireworks lighting the sky.

He lifted his head to check if the celestial star was descending.

Hmmm? It seemed a celestial star was falling, getting closer.

Something felt off; it wasn’t heading towards Su Family Village.

Lin Nuo was startled. Wait, was that the direction of the carriage driven by Su Kexin?