Yu
Chapter 508 Gods From All Directions
Zhao Wenlong took the lead, arriving at the entrance. Although there were signs that some participating students were ahead of them, Zhao Wenlong remained confident.
Comparison leads to progress. Compared to the ancient tower peak the trio had previously experienced, this tower climb was undoubtedly smooth.
“No ambush, let's go,” Hou Mingming said.
The trio followed the same routine, cautiously ascending to the fourth floor. As expected, they found the corpses of some ghost-faced monks.
However, unlike the previous floors, the environment here was different. It was evident that a mage skilled in fire-type Star Techniques had passed through.
Jiang Xiao even saw several blossoming flame flowers.
This was clearly the Star Technique: Flame Trail, from the Flame Fire Soul of the Imperial Capital's Fire Source Mountains.
Han Jiangxue's Flame Fire Rejection and Flame Fire Shield both originated from the Flame Fire Soul, so Jiang Xiao was very familiar with the Star Techniques within this Star Bead.
Flame Trail: Flame flowers bloom on the ground stepped upon, inflicting a slight burning effect. Within a certain range, the caster also receives information about the target's location when others approach the flame flowers, providing a certain degree of scouting.
What did this signify?
"Hmm?" Hou Mingming suddenly turned around, looking towards the corridor on the left. At the end of that corridor, a small figure was hopping and skipping.
"What's wrong? Enemies?" Jiang Xiao asked quickly.
"Shu Xiao Kui," Hou Mingming said.
Shu Xiao Kui?
Jiang Xiao was taken aback. A Qian-Gui Province Star Technique?
Throughout Jiang Xiao's journey, he had rarely encountered students from Qian-Gui Province, nor had he seen many Qian-Gui Province Star Techniques.
Well, of course, although Jiang Xiao was a battle-hardened veteran, he hadn't actually been to many places. The most exposure he had to people from various provinces was during the National League.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the provincial Star Techniques, students from Qian-Gui Province weren't too strong below the Star Cloud level. However, as the students' strength soared and they reached the Star River stage, Qian-Gui mages became a force to be reckoned with, rising rapidly.
The reason?
Naturally, it was because Qian-Gui Province's Gold-quality Star Beads were incredibly powerful!
Qian-Gui Province's basic mage Star Techniques weren't very useful, leading students to learn Star Techniques from neighboring provinces. However, the advanced mage Star Beads in Qian-Gui Province contained extremely high-quality mage Star Techniques.
Within the category of Gold-quality Star Beads, the plant and rock elements rose sharply!
As long as you were a mage, no matter what style you wanted to pursue – whether it was damage dealing, defense, or even a summoning style – you could find everything you wanted in Qian-Gui Province.
The pity was that it wasn't easy for Qian-Gui Province students to rise to prominence.
You had to know that the rank at which one could absorb Gold-quality Star Beads was roughly the Star River stage. By the time students reached the Star River stage, they had a certain level of strength and would look nationwide for Star Techniques that suited them.
This also led to students from provinces surrounding Qian-Gui coming to Qian-Gui Province to secretly learn Star Techniques after advancing…
It was normal that Jiang Xiao didn't see any Qian-Gui Province Star Techniques among a group of Star Cloud-level kids at the National Competition.
But at this National Team Selection Competition, among a group of powerhouses starting at the Star River level, Jiang Xiao finally had the opportunity to witness Qian-Gui Province Star Techniques.
As for whether the other party was a true Qian-Gui native, that was uncertain. After all, it could be a mage student from another province who went to Qian-Gui Province to "learn the trade" after reaching the Star River stage…
Of course, Jiang Xiao wasn't in a position to criticize others for secretly learning, because his own Star Techniques were also acquired in such a manner.
Except for his first four basic techniques, which could barely be considered Star Techniques from within Bei-Jiang Province, Jiang Xiao's other Star Techniques came from all over the country.
The Silence line came from Jin-Men City and Yan-Zhao Province. The Space line came from an unknown location.
The Disguise line came from the Kimchi Country, and the Rain of Tears line came from Ba-Min Province.
Even among the four basic techniques Jiang Xiao absorbed when he was at the Star Dust stage, Affection and Dawn weren't provincial Star Techniques. Strictly speaking, the Affection Halo was the representative Star Technique of the neighboring Zhong-Ji Province.
So, if we were talking about "secretly learning the trade"… Jiang Xiao had only used eight Star Slots so far, and five of them weren't from his own province.
Of course, the World Cup was about to begin, and everyone was a Huaxia Star Knight and a Huaxia person. It would be too small-minded to talk about provinces.
How could what scholars do be called stealing?
What?
You say the Kimchi Country isn't Huaxia?
Jiang Xiao has a word for you:
In front of my house, there are two trees. One is full of kimchi, and the other is hung with neon lights.
Uh…
While Jiang Xiao was pondering Qian-Gui mages, at the same time, a small tree person had hopped past the trio.
The Shu Xiao Kui resembled a tree stump, roughly 50 centimeters in both height and diameter. On top of its head was a cluster of lush green leaves.
Yes, very green…
On the tree stump's body were two eyes formed of green Star Power. Its small mouth was slightly open, constantly emitting strange noises.
The Shu Xiao Kui had "arms," which were two bare branches, and at the ends of these branches were two clusters of lush leaves.
It had no feet, only 5 or 6 roots supporting it on the ground. Moreover, those roots were fixed and couldn't move freely, so the Shu Xiao Kui couldn't walk and could only hop forward.
It seemed to hate fire very much, making "woo-yah woo-yah" sounds as it went around the blooming flame flowers on the ground.
Where there was one, there was a second.
Hou Mingming looked at the small tree people appearing from all directions, pondered for a moment, and said, "Let's follow them. They're likely sent out to scout. If we follow their direction, we can avoid a lot of detours."
Zhao Wenlong nodded. Being from Imperial Capital Star Warrior, he had of course seen the few summoning-type Star Techniques: Flame Fire Puppet and Flame Small Puppet.
Comparatively speaking, the Shu Xiao Kui was much more reliable than the Flame Small Puppet. The Shu Xiao Kui didn't have ADHD, and its intelligence was comparable to a border collie.
The Shu Xiao Kui was naturally gentle, docile, and most importantly, it wasn't as flammable and explosive as the Flame Small Puppet.
The Shu Xiao Kui had almost no damage-dealing Star Techniques. The two arms made of branches could extend 1 or 2 meters and perform actions such as entanglement and binding, but with its high intelligence and gentle personality, this wasn't a threat at all.
Therefore, they were excellent helpers and playmates for children.
Although the Shu Xiao Kui was a summoned creature and not a true extra-dimensional Star Beast, it was also a member of the "Star Beast Amusement Park."
Basically, any extra-dimensional creature that could appear in the Star Beast Amusement Park was harmless to humans and animals. After all, the target audience of the Star Beast Amusement Park was children.
The trio followed two Shu Xiao Kui, which obviously caught the attention of the two little guys.
Being gentle, they wouldn't attack people, but being highly intelligent, they seemed to realize the intentions of these people, so the two Shu Xiao Kui simply stopped and acted like two wooden stakes, motionless…
Jiang Xiao grinned. These creatures were so well-behaved and docile that he couldn't bear to threaten them.
Hou Mingming, however, revealed her bully nature, kicking one Shu Xiao Kui more than a meter away, saying, "Go! Lead the way!"
The Shu Xiao Kui whimpered, using its two branch arms to prop itself up. Its large green eyes seemed full of grievance…
Seeing Hou Mingming stepping forward to kick the tree again, Jiang Xiao quickly grabbed her arm.
"You're going to follow it? It's so slow, when will we get there?" Jiang Xiao stepped forward and cast a Blessing.
The brass-quality Blessing, after adjustment, made the Shu Xiao Kui slightly dazed. It proved that even summoned creatures couldn't resist the comfort brought by the divine skill, Blessing.
The Shu Xiao Kui's green eyes narrowed, looking extremely happy and satisfied. The leaves on its hands and head grew even lusher.
Jiang Xiao cast another brass-quality Blessing, enveloping the small wooden stake under his feet.
Then, Jiang Xiao bent down, directly picked up the tree stump covered in green leaves, and looked at the dizzy Shu Xiao Kui. Jiang Xiao's voice was as gentle as a midnight-colored youth streamer: "Good baby, where do you want to go?"
The Shu Xiao Kui squinted its eyes in satisfaction, extending its right branch and pointing in a direction.
Zhao Wenlong: "…"
The trio quickly set off, leaving several Shu Xiao Kui in the wind, constantly making strange noises, and hopping a little faster, seemingly trying to awaken their companions whose minds had been deceived. But how could its speed compare to the trio?
In the blink of an eye, the hopping Shu Xiao Kui had already fallen behind…
In front, Jiang Xiao's hands were filled with light as he ran quickly, holding the little tree stump in his arms, moving like lightning.
After several twists and turns, Hou Mingming discovered the enemy's tracks.
It turned out that the direction indicated by the Shu Xiao Kui was the direction of its master. The trio didn't have such Star Techniques and had no idea what information the Shu Xiao Kui wanted to convey to its master.
"This way, this…" Hou Mingming stopped speaking, and the trio stopped.
In front of them, the corridor was filled with green fluorescent light, twinkling and floating in the dark corridor.
Jiang Xiao had seen the Frozen Corridor at Wu Xiaojing's place.
And here, Jiang Xiao saw the "Green Tree Corridor."
Underground, on the walls, and even on the ceiling, dense branches spread out, green leaves gently swaying, and even the air was fresher.
The stone walls could no longer be seen here. Everyone seemed to have entered another world. Amidst the shimmering green lights, this was a passage composed of branches and leaves, lush and full of life.
"Mo ai lao zi, fan qiu de hen!" (Don't bother me, it's very annoying!)
A dialect with a special tone was heard. In this tree leaf corridor, a short-haired young man looked impatient, constantly lifting his right leg, which was bound by branches, struggling to break free from the shackles of the branches.
While struggling, he waved his hands repeatedly, throwing out a series of illusory shadow blades, each one deadly, attacking the enemy's vital points.
At the end of the green leaf corridor, a petite girl waved her right hand, and countless dense branches shot out quickly, overlapping in front of her eyes, piecing together a shield of branches.
The girl's eyes looked at the young man opposite her through the gaps in the branches. She raised her right hand, but paused slightly, turning to look behind her.
Unbeknownst to her, three tall figures were already standing behind her.
But the girl's gaze was fixed on the Shu Xiao Kui in Jiang Xiao's arms.
The next moment, two branches on the wall to Jiang Xiao's right slowly extended, gently came to Jiang Xiao's face, wrapped around the Shu Xiao Kui in his arms, and then sent it back.
Until the Shu Xiao Kui was held in the girl's arms, it still looked happy and satisfied, not yet recovered from its dizzy state.
The girl frowned slightly, gently tugged at the leaves on the Shu Xiao Kui's head, looked up at the trio, and knew who they were.
Swish…
On the ground, the dense leaves suddenly separated to both sides, revealing the stone ground that had been covered by green leaves, but the revealed stone ground wasn't wide, just like a small path.
Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows.
The girl just stretched out her small hand and made a "please" gesture.