Set Up

"Ah..."

A scream rang out, and the stinging reek of blood drifted through the air.

"Xiao Mo..."

Zhou Wen roared in fury. Sword light flashed, forcing the Star Demon back.

Jiang Changkong turned to look. One of the two peak Star Qi fighters had been pierced straight through by a Star Demon.

A young man slashed out with his sword and retreated a few steps, his gaze shifting to Jiang Changkong. "You're Jiang Changkong? Where are the rescue soldiers you brought?"

"Wu Jun, fuck your mother."

Zhou Wen cursed outright. "You'd better shut the hell up. If it weren't for you, would we have charged out?"

"You were the one who said reinforcements had arrived," Wu Jun snapped angrily.

"Bullshit..."

"All of you, shut up. That peak Nebula Star Demon isn't here right now. I'll open a way out for you."

The blood-stained figure in white could not hide her fair skin even beneath the grime, and a faint flush surfaced on her face.

Traces of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. The hand gripping her sword was already a little unsteady, and blood oozed from her wrist.

"Senior Sister, this is all because of Jiang Changkong and Zhou Wen. We should break out directly and let them bear the consequences."

Wu Jun shouted viciously.

Jiang Changkong's head buzzed. He punched through a Star Demon and retreated several steps.

At a time like this, there was still internal strife?

They wanted to leave him and Zhou Wen here?

"I said, shut up."

Ying Yanxue barked coldly. Snow-white sword light fell, forcing back two Star Demons. "In a moment, I'll force open a path. All of you leave."

"Senior Sister, if you don't leave, I won't leave either."

Zhou Wen said urgently, "At most, half an hour, and Senior Sister Ziling will be here. Worst case, we retreat back in."

"Of course you two can't leave. It's all because of you that Senior Sister fell into danger."

Wu Jun said coldly, "Senior Sister, let's retreat first. With the energy barrier, we can still hold out for a while."

Jiang Changkong said nothing. He blasted another peak Star Qi Star Demon to death, and finally could not hold it in anymore. A mouthful of bloody water sprayed out.

He hesitated. Should he improve the Copper Skin Iron Bone Technique?

Only, in this situation, even if he improved it, it would not be of much use.

Besides, once he improved it, what he would have to face would be Nebula Level Star Demons!

His Taiji Fist had not yet reached complete perfection. Facing Nebula Level Star Demons was too much; he would only become a punching bag that could take more hits.

There was something wrong with Wu Jun too. If Wu Jun saw him break through in the middle of battle, would he have other ideas?

Boom!

Just then, a loud crash came from behind them. The huge rocks shattered, and a three-foot-long Star Demon covered in backward-pointing spikes crouched atop the broken stones.

"The barrier has been broken!"

Ying Yanxue's expression changed. She finally knew where the peak Nebula Star Demon had gone.

It had gone to break the barrier!

"Kill!"

Ying Yanxue shouted sharply, not daring to delay any longer. Star Power poured in, and a streak of sword light shot out.

The snow-white sword light carried a chill, then split into more than twenty streaks, enveloping all the Star Demons within.

"Take them and go."

Ying Yanxue barked coldly, then actually turned and charged toward the peak Nebula Star Demon.

"Senior Sister, I won't leave. I'll face the enemy with you."

Wu Jun, however, followed Ying Yanxue and charged over with her.

Zhou Wen did the same.

The remaining four seized the chance and rushed out.

Jiang Changkong was just about to follow Zhou Wen over when Zhou Wen kicked him away. "Hurry up and get lost."

The kick was heavy, yet also light.

Heavy because it sent him flying very far; light because he landed safely, without injury.

He fell into a patch of weeds and was just about to get up when a hand pressed him down. "Don't be rash. Take this phone and adjust the volume. It can lure away some of the Star Demons. After that, throw the phone away."

Jiang Changkong glanced at the person who had spoken. Liu Feng and the other two were lying prone in the grass.

They hadn't left!

Without hesitating, Jiang Changkong picked up the phone, adjusted the volume, and sprinted off.

"Wuyaa, ugh..."

A strange cry came from the phone.

Roar.

The Star Demons' footsteps faltered at the same time. The star qi Star Demons did not hesitate and charged straight at Jiang Changkong.

But the Nebula Level Star Demons stopped in their tracks, glanced at Jiang Changkong suspiciously, and hesitated.

Even the Star Demon at the peak of the Nebula Level stopped moving for a moment.

Seeing that it worked, Jiang Changkong deliberately paused for a second, but the Nebula Level Star Demons still did not chase after him.

A swarm of star qi Star Demons pursued him, and seeing that they were about to close in, he had no choice but to turn and run.

That was all he could do.

As for the remaining Nebula Level Star Demons, he truly had no solution.

Jiang Changkong ran with all his strength, with the Star Demons surging after him in a vast tide.

After running for a full fifteen minutes and confirming he had drawn them far away, Jiang Changkong threw away the phone and changed direction.

"Changkong."

Before long, Liu Feng and the other two came up to meet him and called out in low voices.

"Thanks. It's all thanks to your phone. I'll pay you back later," Jiang Changkong said gratefully.

"It's just a phone. What we earned this time is enough to buy plenty of them."

Liu Feng waved it off. "That was the sound of a Star Demon just now. Unfortunately, the Federation can only record its form, enough to briefly fool star qi Star Demons."

A phone was nothing. On this trip, Jiang Changkong had given them the lion's share.

Besides, trading a phone for goodwill from a martial arts school student was well worth it.

"Sigh. I hope they're all right." Jiang Changkong sighed. "What happened to the four who charged out with me?"

"Don't worry. They'll be fine."

Liu Feng found a spot and sat down. "This time, you were impulsive."

"Zhou Wen treated me well and took good care of me. Unfortunately, I couldn't help much."

Jiang Changkong shook his head.

"What did you say to them?" Liu Feng asked.

Jiang Changkong handed the phone to them. The three of them checked the messages and fell silent.

According to the exchange between Jiang Changkong and Zhou Wen, if they were only trying to break out, their chances of success had been very high.

But that Wu Jun had not waited for Ji Ziling to arrive. Instead, he had rushed out and shouted, alerting the Star Demons!

After a long while, Liu Feng said, "You didn't even figure out the situation nearby before charging straight in. The fact that you didn't die in there already means you've got some real ability."

Jiang Changkong said helplessly, "If not for that Wu Jun shouting, I wouldn't have gone out either."

"That was obviously to force you out to your death, and then someone else could play the hero saving the beauty."

Zhang Mo sneered. "You were set up. Or rather, Zhou Wen was set up, and you were just caught up in it.

Someone didn't want you people to save them. They wanted another group to do the rescuing."

Jiang Changkong frowned.

"We were preparing to leave at the time, but we discovered traces of human activity."

Xiao Hu said calmly, "After that, we checked the area nearby. There were people lying in ambush, watching you the whole time."

Zhang Mo continued, "Not long after you left, they came out. One peak Nebula Level, three late-stage Nebula Level."

"I know I was tricked."

Jiang Changkong's expression was ugly. "But I had to go. The ones I wanted to help were Zhou Wen and Ying Yanxue."

The three nodded and said nothing more. "Now that their crisis is resolved, what are your plans? Return to the city? Or go look for them?"

"I'm not going back. Since I've come out, I should properly kill some Star Demons and temper myself.

Besides, Senior Sister will be here soon. At the peak of the Nebula Level, once I meet up with her, we'll have no problem roaming freely for a while."

Jiang Changkong said.

He had finally managed to get out here. How could he go back so easily?

Although guiding simulated assessments brought in good income, Zhang Tao and Li He had already noticed him. He could not keep doing that forever.

This place was full of Star Demons. Killing more Star Demons was the correct path to improving rapidly.

"I knew you wouldn't go back so easily."

Liu Feng smiled and took a notebook from his backpack. "These are our notes. They should help you."

"You'd better watch closely. In terms of strength, we admit we can't compare, but when it comes to knowing this place, ten of you still wouldn't match us."

Zhang Mo and Xiao Hu smiled and took things out of their backpacks. "We still have quite a bit of dry rations left. We'll leave them all to you."

"Thank you, brothers, for helping me this time. When we get back to the city, I'll treat the three of you to a meal."

Jiang Changkong was endlessly grateful.

"It's settled, then. The three of us will be waiting for you to come back to the city and treat us," Liu Feng said with a smile.

"Definitely," Jiang Changkong promised.

"If we didn't have duties to fulfill and had to return to the city to report in, we really would've wanted to take a little more advantage of you."

The three of them laughed, then turned and left.

Jiang Changkong smiled as he saw them off. Once they were gone, his expression darkened.

Getting set up this time had all come down to him not being strong enough. If he had the strength, he would have blown Wu Jun apart on the spot.

There was no quick way to improve his strength back in the city. He could only stay here.

He wondered if Ying Yanxue and the others had left yet.

They probably wouldn't take those Star Demon corpses with them, right?