Star Martial Era: From Mortal to Emperor

Chapter 147 Joining Forces to Eliminate the Threat

Lin Chen leaped onto the Gu Mother's back. The Gu Mother's body was like a moving small mountain, its back as broad as a road. Its hard shell was covered in black bristles, stiff and sharp like countless steel needles, sharp and uncomfortable to step on. Lin Chen ignored these bristles; he drew the Star Sword, gripped the hilt with both hands, and plunged the blade deep into the crack on the Gu Mother's back—a crack burned by the pill fire in their underground nest, not yet fully healed. The sword sank in halfway, and silvery-white star energy surged into the Gu Mother's body like molten iron, rampaging through her flesh. The Gu Mother cried out in pain, letting out a sharp screech, its massive body twisting wildly, trying to shake off the annoying insect on its back. Lin Chen held tightly to the Gu Mother's bristles with one hand and gripped the sword hilt with the other, refusing to let go no matter how much it rolled and thrashed.

"Qin Kun, what kind of skill is it to hide inside the Gu Mother's body! Come out and fight if you dare!"

Lin Chen shouted and cursed loudly, his voice echoing in the night sky. At the same time, he continuously activated his Star Qi, causing destruction throughout the Gu Mother's body, burning its internal organs, blood vessels, and nerves.

Qin Kun's voice came from inside the Gu Mother's body, muffled, as if through a wall, but the smugness and arrogance in his tone penetrated that wall and clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"I'm inside the Gu Mother! Kill her if you dare! But I warn you—once the Gu Mother dies, the millions of Gu worms inside her will instantly explode! At that time, everyone in the entire Qing Shi Border City will be buried with her! If you want to be a hero, be one to the end, even if it means taking those tens of thousands of lives with you!"

Lin Chen's heart sank.

Qin Kun wasn't lying. He could sense that the Gu Mother's body was teeming with countless Gu worms, densely packed and layered, like bees in a hive or ants in an anthill. Once the Gu Mother was no longer able to suppress them, they would surge out like a flood bursting its banks, covering the entire city within breaths. At that point, no one would be able to stop them.

The sound of horses' hooves.

It wasn't just one or two horses, but dozens, even hundreds. The sound of hooves was rapid and dense, like a downpour hitting a tin roof, coming from the official road outside the city, getting closer and louder.

When Chen Feng dismounted, the horse hadn't even come to a complete stop. He was wearing standard military armor, with the Martial Arts Alliance's scales emblem emblazoned on his chest. Behind him followed hundreds of martial artists—students from Star Martial University, law enforcement officers from the Martial Arts Alliance, and independent cultivators gathered from nearby towns. Their cultivation levels varied, ranging from the Meridian Opening Realm to the罡化 (Gāng) Transformation Realm, but their eyes were all the same—firm, cold, and pure.

"Lin Chen, we're here!"

Chen Feng strode up to Lin Chen, looked up at the boy standing on the back of the Gu Mother, and then at the Gu Mother's enormous body, which was emitting black smoke. His face was as solemn as iron.

"The alliance has dispatched an exorcism team, and they are on their way. It will take at least two hours, three at the latest." His voice was fast, but every word was clearly enunciated. "We must hold out until the exorcism team arrives. Before then, the Gu Mother cannot die, and the border town cannot be lost."

Lin Chen jumped off the Gu Mother's back and landed in front of him. The starlight on the sword had dimmed considerably, but his eyes were still shining.

"Qin Kun is hiding inside the Gu Mother, using her as a shield, so we can't hurt him. Once the Gu Mother dies, the Gu worms inside her will erupt all at once. We must find a way to force Qin Kun out of the Gu Mother's body, then seize the opportunity to kill the Gu Mother and seal all the Gu worms at the same time."

Su Muyue leaped from the rooftop, the array flags fluttering around her, the runes on them glowing and dimming as if breathing. Her face was still pale, but her eyes were calm.

"I have a way. The Su family has an ancestral technique for drawing out Gu worms. We can use the bloodline of a Martial Emperor as a catalyst to temporarily draw the Gu worms out of the Gu Mother's body." She glanced at the Gu Mother's enormous body, then at Lin Chen. "I can't be disturbed while casting the spell; someone needs to guard the array's core for me. Moreover, the Gu-drawing technique takes time, and Qin Kun won't stand idly by. Someone must restrain him."

Leng Feng walked over, carrying a battle sword, the blood on the blade still wet. "I'll hold Qin Kun back." He glanced at Chen Feng, "With Director Chen and me working together, keeping him occupied shouldn't be a problem."

Su Ling'er ran over from the makeshift treatment point, her hands still covered in medicinal powder. There was a gray streak on her face, from the smoke and dust she had just been choking on, which she hadn't noticed.

"Chu Fan and I will set up a net-like formation to seal the Gu worms as soon as they are lured out." She paused. "Chu Fan will be in charge of the formation's base, and I will be in charge of adding the core. As long as the Gu worms can get out, we can seal them."

Chu Fan rushed over from the isolation array, clutching the last few array plates in his hand. He pushed up his glasses, the lenses covered in dust.

"The Heavenly Net Formation requires at least six array eyes, and the materials I have are barely enough. But if the number of Gu worms exceeds our estimates, the formation might not be able to hold." He looked at Su Ling'er, "Do you have enough pills?"

Su Ling'er patted the medicine box. "Enough."

Lin Chen's gaze swept across the four people's faces one by one, finally landing on Chen Feng.

"Let's do it."

Chen Feng and Leng Feng were the first to rush out.

One from the left, one from the right, sword energy and palm energy erupted simultaneously. Leng Feng's battle blade slashed towards the right side of the Gu Mother's abdomen, a layer of visible qi condensing on the blade, each strike carrying the sharpness and ruthlessness unique to military swordsmanship. Chen Feng didn't use a weapon; his weapon was his fist. His late-stage Transformation Realm true qi condensed on his fist, each punch leaving a shallow fist imprint on the Gu Mother's hard shell, and cracking several fine lines on the surface. The attacks from both men weren't fatal, but they were painful enough, annoying enough, and enough to distract the Gu Mother.

Lin Chen circled around to the front of the Gu Mother, unleashing the Starry Sky Sword Technique. Each sword strike aimed directly at the Gu Mother's eyes—although the Gu Mother had no eyes, the thinnest part of its shell, where its head connected to its torso, was its vital point. Silvery-white sword arcs drew curves across the night sky, each strike landing precisely in the same spot, causing the cracks on its shell to grow larger and deeper.

Qin Kun was being relentlessly attacked inside the Gu Mother's body. He could feel the Gu Mother's pain, anger, and exhaustion; he could feel those nasty attacks peeling away layer by layer from her defenses. He knew that if he didn't act soon, the Gu Mother might be breached before he could even react.

He showed up.

The Gu Mother opened her massive maw, and a black figure flew out from the depths of her throat, landing atop her head. Qin Kun's black robe was scorched with several holes by the star energy, his face was covered in ash, and his hair was disheveled, making him look utterly wretched. But his eyes shone brightly, a mad, dangerous light.

"Your death is nigh!"

He had barely uttered those words when Chen Feng and Leng Feng attacked simultaneously. Chen Feng's fist and Leng Feng's blade, one to the left and one to the right, one above and one below, blocked all his escape routes. Qin Kun had no time to cast any spells and could only hastily fight back, conjuring a black shield in each hand to withstand their attacks. The three clashed, swords flashing and palms clashing, true energy and evil power exploding into halos of light in the night sky, a fierce and evenly matched battle.

"Now!"

Su Muyue took a deep breath.

She bit her tongue, activating the Martial Emperor's protective bloodline within her. Golden blood surged through her veins, like luminous rivers flowing from her heart to her limbs, and from her limbs to her fingertips. A drop of golden essence dripped from her fingertip, landing on the bluestone ground with a crisp sound, like a drop of water falling into a calm lake, creating not ripples, but radiance.

Her hands formed a mudra, her ten fingers rapidly changing shape, so fast that only a blur remained. She chanted an ancient incantation to summon poison, each syllable heavy and slow, like an ancient bell tolling in the deep mountains, one sound after another, unhurried and measured.

The golden essence blood transformed into a beam of light, shooting into the Gu Mother's body. The beam of light was very thin, like a needle, but its penetrating power was extremely strong. It pierced through the cracks in the shell, penetrating deep into the Gu Mother's flesh and blood, deep into the Gu Mother's internal organs, and deep into the dark and chaotic sea of ​​Gu worms within the Gu Mother's body.

The Gu Mother's body suddenly stiffened. Then, it began to tremble violently. Not the kind of trembling caused by pain, but an uncontrollable spasm from the depths of instinct, as if something within its body had been forcibly awakened, forcibly pulled, and forcibly ripped away.

Countless black Gu worms poured out from its seven orifices, crawled out from the cracks in its carapace, and spewed out from every hole and crevice in its body. These Gu worms varied in size, some as thick as a thumb, others only the size of a pinhead; they were jet black, with glossy carapaces and sharp mouthparts. Like a black tide, they surged towards Su Muyue, as if attracted, summoned, and drawn by something.

Chu Fan was already prepared. He set up six array eyes around the Gu Mother, each consisting of an array plate and an array flag, connected by spiritual energy threads to form a huge hexagon. He quickly formed hand seals, and the Heavenly Net Array was activated instantly.

Six golden beams of light shot into the sky from the array's core, curving towards the center at their tips and converging above the Gu Mother's head to form a massive golden dome. The dome's surface was covered with a dense, intricate mesh, so dense that even a mosquito couldn't escape. Thousands of Gu worms crashed into the mesh like moths to a flame, crackling and popping as their carapaces shattered and their fluids splattered.