Star Trace Gate

Beifeng Town.

Liu Wei led seven or eight of his old brothers from the cooking army, speeding through the chaotic monk soldiers in the city, and after passing through several quiet and deserted streets, he hurriedly arrived at the gate of the garrison.

After returning from Nanshan, they did not change their disguise and took extreme precautions to avoid encountering strangers throughout their journey.

Before long, the group arrived at the gate of the garrison. Liu Wei first glanced to the left and right to make sure no one was around, then quickly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his sleeve and flicked it into the gap of the base of the stone lion on the left side of the gate.

After finishing all this, he dusted off his hands and said, "Let's go to the Martial Monk's Mansion to meet up with Master Zhenyi and the brothers in the camp."

As soon as the words were spoken, the group left the place and hurried towards the Martial Monk's Mansion.

Along the way, they saw many scattered monks of the Imperial Guard. These men were all in a sorry state, their armor tattered and their bodies covered in wounds. They did not question strangers, but instead fled around like headless flies, or sought out empty houses to hide in.

"Tap tap tap...!"

The group cautiously walked a long way, and just as they were about to reach the Martial Monk's Mansion, a series of heavy footsteps suddenly came from ahead. Hundreds of people, clad in blood-stained armor, were rushing menacingly toward the Martial Monk's Mansion, exuding a chilling aura.

The leader of this group of warrior monks was Wu Batian. His armor was covered in blood and gore, and he carried two large hammers on his shoulders. His gait resembled that of an underdeveloped goose.

Liu Wei turned his head and glanced around before waving his hand and shouting at Wu Batian, "Stop right there!"

Not far away, Wu Batian turned around instinctively, raised an eyebrow, and shouted, "Who the hell are you?! You dare to make me stop?!"

Liu Wei was slightly taken aback, then emphasized, "I am your father!"

Wu Batian's mind was completely muddled; he seemed still immersed in the chaos and carnage of the battle. He instinctively raised his twin hammers, raised an eyebrow, and retorted, "I'm your father! Try taking advantage of me again!"

Seeing that he was about to make a move, Liu Wei thought to himself, "Damn it, if I don't explain myself, this guy might just hit me twice."

So he immediately waved his hand and shouted, "You're safe! There's a code! Your father has a code! Xiuwan Courtyard, your mother Xiaohong, your mother Chunli, your mother Surou... weren't those all people I introduced you to?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Wei, still worried that these things might not be guaranteed, deliberately released a wisp of his divine soul aura.

In fact, this action was completely unnecessary, because after hearing the nicknames of all the mothers in the Embroidery Courtyard, Wu Batian's eyes instantly cleared, and he exclaimed with delight, "Eh... it really is Father! Since you've returned, why did you need to disguise yourself?"

Liu Wei quickly concealed his aura, stepped in front of Wu Batian, and asked softly, "Let's not talk about anything else for now, what are you doing here?"

Wu Batian said in a deep voice, "Godfather, the Martial Monk's Mansion has been captured. We're just about to storm in and make our fortune."

After a moment's thought, Liu Wei immediately asked, "Where is Lord Zhenyi? Why can't I sense his presence around me? Before I left, I specifically instructed you to protect him closely and not to leave his side for even a moment. Have you completely forgotten?!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Batian felt wronged and immediately explained, his face turning pale, "Father, it's not that I don't want to follow him! It's just that Lord Zhenyi runs away too fast... He's nowhere to be seen, no matter where there's danger. I'm a fierce general, not good at running away, so I really can't keep up with his pace of avoiding battle!"

"The Grey Robe Camp's attack didn't go smoothly earlier, and Master Zhenyi felt that Moro still had a trump card, but he deliberately didn't use it. So, in a fit of anger, he ran away first and got separated from us. Then he disappeared. I guess... he's hiding somewhere to recuperate."

Upon hearing this, Liu Wei frowned and pondered for a long time before asking again, "How many of our brothers were killed or wounded in this great battle?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Batian grinned, "Heh heh, we didn't suffer many casualties! Our Master Zhen is too damn cunning. After the battle started, he kept reminding me via telepathy not to let our men charge head-on, but to follow behind the Gray Robe Camp and Moro, pretending to fight hard. They shouted the loudest slogans and ran the fastest, so the losses in our camp were not many. In total, we only lost about thirty men and were wounded over a hundred. Now we still have over seven hundred men who can participate in the battle."

Liu Wei grinned: "Our Lord Zhen really treats me like a brother. He knows I only have so much money, and he's afraid I'll squander it all. No doubt about it, our Lord Zhen is a man of impeccable character!"

Wu Batian's mind wasn't on this at all; he was only excitedly saying, "Father, the Martial Monk's Mansion has been captured! We can't fall behind the Gray Robe Camp! We have to rush in! Kill what we should kill, loot what we should loot! I'll take some men to get Star Source, and while I'm at it, I'll kidnap a few of Niu Dali's women for you! I don't mind having a few more godmothers...!"

Liu Wei was very pleased and nodded, saying, "My dear son, your filial piety has truly moved me. But we cannot go in. Instead, we must lead the brothers in the camp to stay as far away from the monks' residence as possible and not get involved in Moro's affairs."

Wu Batian was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why?! This Martial Monk's Mansion was conquered by everyone together. It's almost time to divide the spoils, so why shouldn't we go in? It's the rule to divide the spoils after victory! Even if the Gray Robe Camp is eating shit in the courtyard, it should still be divided between the two of us!"

"You know nothing!" Liu Wei frowned slightly, raised a finger and said, "Little Ba, remember this! If you've decided to follow a wise ruler and acknowledge his talent and wisdom, then remember, whatever he wants to do, you do. Whenever he disappears in a crisis, you disappear; whenever he appears, you appear. Because you yourself aren't smart enough and can't see things clearly, you must take your benefactor as a guiding light and borrow the wisdom of others to protect yourself. That's the right thing to do."

Wu Batian, carrying two large hammers, looked bewildered: "Dad, what you said is so impressive, but I still don't understand... what exactly does it mean."

"Sigh, your brain... I can only seize the opportunity and learn slowly." Liu Wei waved his hand: "Call the brothers in the camp, let's retreat, quick!"

Before long, Liu Wei, with his cooks who had suffered almost no casualties, decisively left the war zone of the Martial Monk's Mansion.

……

The inner courtyard of the Martial Monks' Residence.

Under the moonlight, Moro led Daoguang and the others, walking steadily into the inner courtyard.

Rows of bald men knelt densely in the courtyard; they were all Niu Dali's personal guards. Their armor was torn, their faces were covered in blood and dust, and their eyes were filled with empty despair.

Daoguang leaned closer and whispered in Moro's ear, "Senior brother, the Gray Robe Camp has searched the place thoroughly. Only about three hundred guards remain in the martial monk's residence. No one has escaped. What do you think... should we do with these people?"

Moro's eyes were icy cold, and his mind was not on these people at all. He simply said indifferently, "Kill them."

"Yes."

Daoguang nodded, then waved to the side.

"Puff puff……!"

The next moment, swords flashed and axes clashed, blood shot into the sky, and heads fell to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot. In an instant, the entire inner courtyard was filled with the pungent smell of blood.

Moro didn't even look at it, but asked in a low voice, "How's it going at Yangxin Xiaozhu?"

Daoguang replied telepathically, "Senior brother, as you instructed, Jingshen and Fulai, along with more than ten of our own travelers, are keeping watch at the entrance of Yangxin Xiaozhu. So far, no one has entered Yangxin Xiaozhu and come into contact with the illusionary realm that hides the star source."

"Hmm." The more something was on Moro's mind, the more composed he appeared. "Let's go take a look."

The group walked through the corridors and courtyards and soon arrived at the first floor of Yangxin Xiaozhu. They entered the first private room on the left, which was Qingfeng Daoren's library.

Inside the pavilion, moonlight filtered through the bookshelves on either side, casting deep shadows on the floor.

Everyone looked up, their eyes focused on the ancient landscape painting hanging on the main wall. With its few strokes, it depicted a secluded pastoral environment, which was called "Dream Landscape".

Moro stood before the painting, slowly closed his eyes, and then released his divine soul to perceive it, and the surroundings instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately afterwards, an invisible wisp of divine soul power rose from between his brows, spreading towards the painting like a thin mist.

The landscape painting suddenly rippled, and the ink-colored mountains and streams began to flow, transforming into thousands of shimmering white fluorescent lights, like a cascading galaxy. The painting gradually thinned and faded, eventually disappearing completely like a handful of quicksand.

A deep well suddenly appeared, its rim covered with moss-etched patterns, and cold air rose from within, quickly permeating the entire library.

After carefully sensing the surroundings and confirming that it was safe inside the well, Moro led the rest of the group and leaped into the illusion within.

Before long, amidst the swirling starlight, everyone found themselves in an illusion.

Moro slowly opened his eyes and looked up. In the distance, he saw layers of green peaks rising and falling; nearby, there were small bridges, flowing water, and weeping willows like smoke.

Beneath their feet was a moss-covered path that wound its way to a small courtyard surrounded by red walls.

The vermilion gate of the small courtyard was ajar, revealing a beautiful and magnificent view inside. That was where Daoist Qingfeng cultivated his Dao.

Moro looked at the courtyard with his hands behind his back and whispered, "Spread out and search, find the Star Source as soon as possible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone scattered and quickly began searching the area around the courtyard.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Daoguang rushed back, his face filled with barely concealed excitement, shouting, "Senior brother, we found it! The Star Source is in the thatched shed in the backyard! It's amazing...!"

Upon hearing this, Moro immediately crossed the small courtyard and arrived at the thatched hut in the backyard.

The thatched hut was low and simple, originally just used to store some odds and ends that the Feng Shui lineage of Qingfeng Daoist would usually use, but at this moment it was shrouded in a dazzling light.

Pieces of starlight piled up like mountains of gold and silver, their dazzling light blinding people.

Upon witnessing this shocking scene, Jing Shen and the others immediately began to breathe rapidly and chant Amitabha Buddha's name frantically.

Moro's eyes reflected the starlight, and he was deeply shaken. With just a rough sense, he realized that the amount of star energy piled up here should indeed be more than two hundred million.

He suppressed his excitement, stepped forward, and carefully sensed the aura emanating from these star sources. He discovered that each star source had a special mark left by the Divine Court, which could not be stored in his consciousness space and could only be stored using some extremely special storage magic treasures.

Moro examined the star sources and sighed inwardly, "Fortunately, the experts in the Divine Court's treasury have inscribed forbidden marks on these star sources, making it extremely difficult to move them. The slightest movement will definitely be noticed. Otherwise, given Niu Dali's insatiable nature, he would probably have already run away with these star sources or transferred them directly."

Daoguang leaned closer and asked softly, "Senior brother, what should we do next?"

Moro pondered for a moment, then turned and instructed, "According to the original plan, instruct Feng Yiyang to have the monk soldiers guarding outside escort all the civil officials of the inner court into this place, carefully count the amount of star energy, and make sure there are no mistakes. Also, make sure to keep a record. In addition, have Feng Yiyang lead two hundred monk soldiers to guard outside Yangxin Xiaozhu and observe the surrounding movements."

Tonight, before taking action, Moro had already ordered all officials of the inner court to stand by, so that after capturing the Warrior Monk's Mansion, they could immediately enter "Dreamland" to verify the number of Star Sources.

He then added, "Also, notify the leaders of the five hundred travelers to hold a meeting in the main hall of the Martial Monk's Mansion. Niu Dali is dead, and the chaos in the city is even worse, but we cannot lose Beifeng Town. The forces sent by the Divine Court are far stronger than we expected. We must discuss a plan to support the North Tower's Number One Formation and help the Underworld Generals quell the chaos!"