Chapter Fourteen: Star — Heavenly Fire! Draw Your Sword!

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Xing, Danheng, and Sanyueqi returned to the hotel together. Sanyueqi hummed a cheerful tune as she sorted through the photos taken today. Ever since getting the starry sky camera, it had become much easier for Sanyueqi to take pictures—instant prints on site with excellent results. No longer did she have to go through the tedious process of selecting photos and developing film afterward.

“Hmm hmm~ this one’s good, and this one too.” As she flipped through the photos, Sanyueqi suddenly paused, her expression turning to one of speechless disbelief.

“Xing…” Danheng and Xing noticed Sanyueqi’s reaction.

“What’s wrong?” they asked.

Sanyueqi held up a photo for them to see. In the picture, Xing was holding a trash can lid in one hand and leaning into a trash bin with his head.

Danheng fell silent instantly upon seeing the scene. Um... what kind of habit is this?

Xing scratched his head sheepishly. “Hehe, well... Sanyue, you know I bought those two lottery scratchers shaped like trash cans from Ye Yun a couple of days ago. So...”

Sanyueqi rolled her eyes. “You should be more careful. People who don’t know might think you’re a beggar.”

Xing quickly nodded, promising there wouldn’t be a next time. Whether that actually happened again would depend on his own discretion.

Danheng glanced at the time. “Let’s rest for now. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go out and look for that Great Guardian.”

The night passed without incident.

Early next morning, Xing sprang out of bed with a lively flip. After freshening up, he headed to the corridor, where Sanyueqi and Danheng were standing near his door.

“Good morning, Sanyue, Danheng. Why is it so noisy downstairs?” Xing asked as he stepped out. From the lobby below came a clamor of uproar.

Danheng pondered briefly. “Let’s go check it out.”

The three of them arrived at the lobby to find the silver-haired woman they had briefly met yesterday in the office. She was leading a group of Silver-Mane Iron Guards, surrounding the entire hotel.

The moment they appeared, Brunia spotted them and coldly read out a warrant for their arrest. “Bold villains, by order of the Great Guardian, you three are hereby apprehended.”

Surrounded on all sides, Sanyueqi helplessly shrugged.

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“Here we go again! This happens once every three worlds,” Danheng muttered, his eyes locking onto the Rift Passage nearby.

“*Ahem, ahem*,” Danheng coughed twice to draw Xing and Sanyueqi’s attention. When both looked his way, he gestured toward the Rift Passage.

Understanding immediately, Xing and Sanyueqi nodded.

Danheng then whispered, “View the corner and reverse thrice, the sovereign’s order is singular, borrow the city once!”

The moment he finished, Xing unleashed his Heavenly Fire Judgment in its liberated stance.

“Heavenly Fire! Draw the blade!”

With a swing of his sword, scorching flames swept through the Silver-Mane Iron Guards, knocking them all down. Even Brunia was blasted back over ten meters by the heat wave.

Wasting no time, Xing sheathed his sword and fled.

By the time Brunia recovered, Danheng, Sanyueqi, and Xing had already entered the Rift Passage.

Brunia furrowed her brows and immediately ordered a pursuit. “Everyone, follow me!”

Nearby, Pella watched the Rift Passage anxiously. “But... Lady Brunia, that’s the Rift Passage!”

Brunia’s resolve was firm. “We cannot let the villains go free!”

With that, Brunia led the Silver-Mane Iron Guards into the Rift Passage.

Using her familiarity with the terrain, Brunia and her forces quickly cornered Sanyueqi, Danheng, and Xing.

Faced with this, the three had no choice but to unleash their full power. Under their combined assault, the Iron Guards were soon incapacitated.

Xing pointed his Heavenly Fire Judgment sword at the remaining two—Brunia and Pella.

“Both of you, come at me together. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair!”

Brunia and Pella were tense; these three were overwhelmingly powerful, especially the small gray-haired one wielding the fiery greatsword—the damage potential was terrifying.

Still, with no way back, Brunia and Pella faced off against Xing.

Hidden in the shadows, Sanbo was stunned. “Wait, sister, your combat power isn’t matching the script at all! Weren’t you supposed to be in dire straits? What’s going on? You almost crushed the future Great Guardian just now! And that speech you gave—totally villainous!”

“No, no, I have to act quickly or the script will break.”

Sanbo tossed several special smoke bombs. Xing, Sanyueqi, Danheng, Brunia, and Pella were all instantly rendered unconscious.

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Sanbo slowly emerged. “Good thing old Sanbo was here to keep watch.”

He first tossed Pella near the Silver-Mane Iron Guard outpost in the upper district, letting her return and spread the word.

Then Sanbo led Xing, Brunia, Sanyueqi, and Danheng toward the lower district.

...

Meanwhile, Ye Yun was with Hook at an abandoned restaurant near Rivet Town, close to Pan Rock Town.

Ye Yun checked the kitchen; the equipment was intact but there was no gas.

He purchased a gas canister from the system and connected it to the stove.

Turning the knob, a flame flared up.

Outside, Rios was playing with Hook.

As for the Rift monsters nearby... with a single “Blazing Inferno” from Rios, all around were reduced to ashes.

Conditions were rough, so Ye Yun thought to make chicken soup, later adding noodles for a simple chicken noodle soup meal.

He had initially wanted to prepare spicy hot pot, but Hook was a child who’d barely eaten anything salty or oily since birth; Ye Yun worried spicy food would upset her stomach.

The rich aroma of chicken soup filled the kitchen.

Not far from the kitchen, a girl in a red coat with bare feet was searching for supplies.

“Medicine, medicine, let me see if there’s any here.”

The girl was Clara from the Mechanical Settlement.

Clara had come out to find medicine because Rift monster activity had increased recently and many in the settlement were injured.

Medicine supplies were low, so Clara brought several machine soldiers to Rivet Town to search.

While searching, Clara heard cheerful laughter.

“Master Rios, run faster!”

Looking up, Clara spotted Hook.

“Hook! Hook!”

Hook, sitting on Rios’s shoulders, heard someone calling her and made Rios stop.

Following the voice, Hook quickly spotted Clara near a pile of junk.

“Clara! My Clara!”

Hook slid off Rios and ran to Clara.

The two embraced warmly; Hook was delighted to see Clara.

“Clara, what are you doing here?”

Clara showed the medicine in her hands. “I came to find some medicine for everyone in the settlement.”