Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

The top-secret conference room is located on the third basement floor of the Tianlan Province Martial Arts Headquarters.

The meeting room had no windows, the walls were painted with dark gray anti-eavesdropping paint, and several fluorescent lights overhead hummed, casting a stark white light. The air was stagnant and stifling, like a basement.

The large screen was lit up, displaying the intercepted secret letter. Lines of red text clearly outlined every detail of the plan: the location of the counter-ambush, the time to break through the encirclement, and the number of assault team members—all were displayed.

Su Zhennan sat in the main seat. His face was ashen, and he gripped a white porcelain teacup tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white. Several fine lines slowly appeared on the surface of the teacup, spreading out like a spider web. He didn't speak, but anyone could see that he was suppressing his anger.

Jiang Chen stood in front of the large screen, his military uniform impeccably tailored, the top button fastened at the collar. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were bloodshot, and anger lurked beneath them.

Lin Chen, Su Muyue, and Su Qingyue sat on either side. No one spoke; the only sound in the conference room was the hum of the fluorescent lights.

"Impossible," Su Zhennan said. His voice wasn't loud, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

He slammed his hand on the table.

With a loud crash, the teacup in his hand fell to the ground, shattering into seven or eight pieces, spilling tea everywhere. He stared at the printed secret letter on the table, his eyes blazing with fury: "Our plan was known only to the four of us! How could it have been leaked? Is there a traitor among us?"

No one responded.

Silence spread through the meeting room, like a stone pressing on everyone's chest.

The core circle indeed consisted of only four people—Su Zhennan, Jiang Chen, Lin Chen, and Su Muyue. Su Qingyue knew some of the details, such as their plan to break the formation and encircle the Wang family, but she didn't know the specific coordinates of the anti-ambush circle, nor the number of members in the Evil-Slaying Assault Team.

It was written very clearly in the secret letter.

Jiang Chen spoke slowly, his voice a little hoarse: "Elder Su, I can vouch for myself with my military insignia. I am not a traitor. I have served in the army for thirty years, and I have killed more evil people than I have seen members of the Wang family. I would never betray the human race." As he spoke, he reached out and touched the military insignia on his chest, as if touching an old friend.

"I believe you." Su Zhennan nodded, then looked at Lin Chen. "I couldn't possibly be a traitor. Thirty years ago, I failed to save Chen Feng, and I've lived with that guilt my whole life. How could I possibly collude with the Wang family?"

Lin Chen didn't speak. Of course he knew he wasn't.

All eyes slowly fell on Su Muyue.

Su Muyue's face turned deathly pale, as white as paper. She abruptly stood up, pushing her chair back with a loud thud on the floor. Her body trembled slightly, and her lips quivered before she could speak: "It wasn't me! How could I be a traitor? I grew up in the Su family. My grandfather is Su Zhennan, and my sister is Su Qingyue. How could I collude with the evil clan and betray my own family?"

Her voice was trembling, and her eyes were red, but she gritted her teeth to keep the tears from falling.

"Mu Yue, don't get agitated." Lin Chen quickly stood up and took her hand. Her hand was icy cold and trembling. He looked into her eyes and said very seriously, "I believe you. You are definitely not the traitor."

Su Muyue looked at him, her eyes welling up with tears.

Lin Chen turned to look at Su Zhennan and Jiang Chen, his tone firm: "I guarantee with my Star Martial Core that Mu Yue is not a traitor. She had countless opportunities to harm me. She could have poisoned me at school or interrupted my cultivation; she wouldn't have waited until now."

Looking at his granddaughter's pale face, Su Zhennan felt a pang of guilt. His momentary suspicion had hurt her. He sighed, his voice softening, "I'm sorry, Muyue. Grandpa shouldn't have doubted you."

"It's alright, Grandpa." Su Muyue wiped her eyes and shook her head. "I know everyone is worried right now."

Lin Chen frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Although only the four of us know about our plan, we're not the only ones carrying it out. The Su family's Evil-Slaying Assault Team, soldiers from the military, and people around us could all have come into contact with some of them. The mole doesn't necessarily have to be in our inner circle; it could very well be someone close to us."

Jiang Chen nodded: "That makes sense. My adjutant, Li Ming, is responsible for delivering all confidential documents. Every single document has to pass through his hands. As for the Su family, Mu Yue's assistant, Xiao Cui, has been following you to organize the array data, and she has also come into contact with the array breaking plan. These two people are the most suspicious."

"Xiao Cui?" Su Muyue was stunned for a moment. "Impossible, right? I brought Xiao Cui from my hometown. Her parents were killed by the evil race, and she has always hated them. How could she be a traitor?"

Su Qingyue leaned back in her chair and said coldly, "You can't see into someone's heart. The Wang family is best at coercion and enticement. Threatening with the lives of their relatives, tempting them with cultivation techniques and resources—they have plenty of ways to make people submit. Nothing is impossible."

Su Zhennan took a deep breath and waved his hand: "Alright, now is not the time to investigate who the traitor is. The most urgent task is to formulate a new plan to deal with the Wang family's preemptive action."

Jiang Chen nodded and pointed to the map of the Northwest Forest Region on the large screen. The map was covered with various markings in red and blue, densely packed together. He picked up a laser pointer and moved the red dot across the map.

"The Wang family has learned the location of our counter-ambush, and the original plan has been ruined. They have decided to detonate the Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiend Formation on the first day of the joint training, and at the same time launch a rebellion in the city, so as to break through the evil-suppressing formation in one fell swoop."

He drew several circles on the map: "The troop deployment is as follows—Wang Hao will lead 500 Wang family assassins and 300 evil clan warriors to ambush at the center of the evil formation in the forest area, responsible for seizing Lin Chen's Star Martial Core. Wang Xiaotian will lead 1,000 Wang family elites to launch a rebellion in Tianlan City, taking control of the Martial Arts Association and the military. At the same time, the evil clan will send a 1,000-strong squad to break through the weak points of the seal, cooperating with the Wang family's actions."