Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 57 The Traitor Revealed: Star Martial Arts Suppress Evil and Break the Array Eye

The silver fist light fell to the ground like a meteor, carrying the pure yang power to burn away evil spirits, and slammed into the black array patterns that were faintly visible on the ground.

"boom--!"

The earth trembled violently, cracks spreading outwards like a spiderweb, soil churning and grass clippings flying. The Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiend Array emitted a piercing shriek, the sound like the howls of countless wronged souls. The evil mist surged violently, thick as ink that could not be dissolved. Within the mist, countless twisted ghostly faces appeared and vanished, their gaping maws emitting mournful howls, as if trying to drag souls into the abyss.

Wang Hao stood atop the tree, his black robes fluttering in the fierce wind. His expression suddenly changed, then he let out a cold laugh, a smile that appeared particularly sinister in the dim light: "Useless! The Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiend Formation is rooted in the earth's fiendish energy and drawn upon the essence of a thousand people. How could you possibly break it with a single punch? Lin Chen, the more you struggle, the more gruesome your death will be!"

His hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals until his knuckles turned white from the force, as he chanted obscure, evil incantations, each syllable sounding like a venomous snake squeezed from between its teeth. Simultaneously, the twelve jet-black pillars of the array lit up, and dense black energy surged skyward, transforming into twelve ferocious black dragons. The dragons bared their fangs and claws, their scales gleaming with a chilling light, and they pounced towards Lin Chen with a nauseating, foul stench. Wherever the dragons passed, vegetation instantly carbonized, emitting a sizzling sound, and the ground was corroded into deep trenches, billowing black smoke.

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed, and his Star Martial Core activated at full power. A surge of silver light erupted around him, forming a massive star shield. Intricate runes flowed across the shield, twinkling like stars.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The twelve black dragons slammed into the shield one after another, creating a deafening roar. The shield shook violently, and countless cracks appeared on its surface, spreading like a spider web. Lin Chen groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The blood dripped to the ground and was instantly swallowed by the evil mist.

"Lin Chen!"

Su Muyue cried out in alarm, her voice trembling with tears. Ignoring her own exhaustion, she threw out all the Demon-Slaying Flags. The one hundred and eight flags formed a massive star array in the air, and silver-white runes rained down, continuously dissolving the black dragon's power.

However, the power of the Heavenly Fiend Formation was simply too great. The light of the formation flags dimmed at a visible speed, and the originally brilliant silver light became like a candle flickering in the wind. Su Muyue's face was as pale as paper, her lips were bloodless, her body swayed precariously, and her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

"Mu Yue! Don't hold on any longer!" Su Qingyue had killed two evil warriors with a single sword strike, black blood dripping from the blade. She rushed to Su Mu Yue's side and supported her, her voice anxious, "If this continues, you'll suffer a backlash from the formation!"

"No... I can't give up..." Su Muyue gritted her teeth, her voice barely a whisper, "Once the formation is fully activated, everyone will die here..."

Just then, a chilling killing intent suddenly came from behind Lin Chen.

The killing intent was so palpable that it pierced Lin Chen's back with a sharp pain. It was as fast as lightning, with an extremely tricky angle, aimed directly at Lin Chen's vital point in the back! This attack had been planned for a long time, gathering all the power of a mid-stage Meridian Opening Realm cultivator, carrying a determination to kill. Even the air itself seemed to be torn apart, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

"Lin Chen, watch out!"

Zhao Lei's eyes were bloodshot with rage as he roared and lunged forward, trying to shield Lin Chen from the attack. His voice was hoarse with anxiety, and his face was filled with terror.

But he was still a step too slow.

At the critical moment, Lin Chen seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and his body suddenly shifted half an inch to the left. That half inch was the boundary between life and death.

The cold blade grazed his ribs, tearing his clothes and leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound. Blood gushed out instantly, staining his clothes crimson. Even more terrifying, the black, malevolent poison instantly seeped into his body through the wound, like countless tiny worms crawling through his blood vessels, bringing a piercing, excruciating pain.

Lin Chen threw a backhand punch, the wind whistling as he met the attacker's palm strike.

"Bang!"

Both men took three steps back simultaneously, leaving deep footprints in the ground beneath their feet. Lin Chen steadied himself, his chest heaving slightly. He looked up at his attacker, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

Standing in front of him was none other than Zhou Yue, the strict yet upright homeroom teacher of the core class!

Zhou Yue held a dagger that gleamed with a black light in his hand. The dagger was engraved with strange runes and exuded a nauseating evil aura. His face was no longer gentle; instead, it was ferocious and sinister. A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were full of resentment.

"Teacher Zhou? It's you?"

Zhao Lei stood frozen in place, the iron rod in his hand clattering to the ground. He couldn't believe his eyes; his mouth gaped open, as if he could fit an egg inside. The other students were also stunned, speechless and unable to accept this fact.

"Teacher Zhou, why did you do that?"

"Why?" Zhou Yue sneered, his laughter filled with resentment. "I was originally the youngest director of the Martial Arts Association, with a bright future ahead of me. Just because of that old bastard Su Zhennan's words, I was demoted to this lousy school as a teacher, and I've been stuck there for ten years! The Wang family promised me that if I helped them get this done, they would make me the president of the Tianlan Province Martial Arts Association!"

His voice became shrill with excitement, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes were filled with a thirst for power.

"You've gone mad!" Su Qingyue shouted angrily, pointing her long sword at Zhou Yue. "The Wang family colluded with the evil race and betrayed humanity, and you actually joined them! Aren't you afraid of being nailed to the pillar of shame for humanity after you die?"

"A pillar of shame?" Zhou Yue laughed maniacally, his laughter echoing across the battlefield. "When the evil army arrives, the Wang family will be the new rulers! Then I will be second only to the emperor! What human righteousness? It's worthless in the face of power!"

Lin Chen clutched his injured ribs, circulating his star power to expel the evil poison from his body. The black poison was forced out through the wound, landing on the ground with a sizzling sound, corroding a patch of black spots. His eyes were terrifyingly cold, like millennia-old ice, and he finally understood all the previous doubts.

No wonder the Wang family was able to accurately grasp every step of their plan; no wonder the location of the anti-ambush zone was leaked; no wonder the Wang family knew the composition of the Su family's exorcism assault team.

It turns out that the real traitor was none other than their trusted homeroom teacher, Zhou Yue!

He was the one who conveyed the fake training route during the class meeting; he was the one who secretly installed jammers in the students' communicators; and he was the one who passed on all the core intelligence to the Wang family before the joint training.

"Zhou Yue, you've been hiding your true intentions well." Lin Chen spoke slowly, his voice devoid of any emotion, like a chilling wind drifting from an ice cellar. "Was the death of Senior Chen Feng thirty years ago also related to you?"

Zhou Yue's smile froze, then he said in a grim tone, "I didn't expect you to have found out even this. That's right, it was I who tipped off Wang Xiaotian back then, telling him about Chen Feng and Li Mo's whereabouts. Otherwise, do you think Wang Xiaotian, with his limited abilities, could have easily ambushed Chen Feng?"

"brute!"

Lin Chen roared, his killing intent surging. The killing intent was so palpable that it made the surrounding air heavy. The bloodshed of thirty years ago, the conspiracy thirty years later—both were connected to the man before him!

He held nothing back, unleashing his full power with the Star Chasing Step, instantly appearing before Zhou Yue and throwing a punch straight at his face. The fist whistled through the air, seemingly intent on shattering Zhou Yue's face.

Zhou Yue was prepared and charged forward, brandishing his dagger. The dagger was coated with a potent evil poison, gleaming coldly, each strike aimed directly at Lin Chen's vitals. His strength far surpassed that of an ordinary mid-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, clearly achieved through the forced enhancement of his cultivation using evil techniques; his movements carried an eerie, sinister aura.

The two instantly engaged in a fierce battle, their fists and blades flashing, shockwaves sweeping in all directions and causing the surrounding trees to rustle. Each collision produced a deafening roar, and the ground cracked continuously.

Wang Hao stood atop the tree, coldly observing the carnage, a smug smile spreading across his face. That smile appeared particularly distorted in the dim light: "Lin Chen, you didn't expect this, did you? Your most trusted teacher is the one who betrayed you! Today, you will all die here, not one of you will escape!"

He activated the formation again, and more royal family assassins and evil warriors surged in from all directions. They surrounded the group like a tide.

Half of the students had already been killed or wounded, and the rest were all injured and exhausted, forced to stand back-to-back in a circle, struggling to hold on. Zhao Lei, wielding an iron bar, stood at the forefront, his body already bearing more than a dozen wounds, blood soaking his school uniform, yet he gritted his teeth, refusing to let the enemy advance an inch. His arm trembled from the effort, but his eyes were incredibly determined: "Brothers! Hold on! Reinforcements will come! We can't let Lin Chen down!"