Shu Jing smiled and coldly shouted out while the Silver Blade in his hand released a powerful icy blue wind force towards Lin Yingmei. The wind force transformed into a devastating hurricane that destroyed everything in its way. It then completely surrounded Lin Yingmei from all sides with afterimages.
However, no matter how cunning or unpredictable his attacks, he still couldn’t injure Lin Yingmei. The Arctic Star Serpent Spear constantly spun around her like an impenetrable wall, bouncing back every single one of Shu Jing’s blade illusions.
This was the first time Shu Jing had fought against a Star Knight. Seeing none of his attacks being effective, he breathe in cautiously in his heart,
The Majestic Star Lin Chong was definitely impressive. Anything he could do, he had already done. Right now, he was the most powerful he’s ever been, yet it was still not enough.
“Master, how are you feeling?” Lin Yingmei asked, concerned.
“Yingmei, are you hungry or something? Put some power into it!”
Shu Jing was thrilled. All the cells in his body were being invigorated due to the intense battle, and the Star Symbol on his forehead shined even brighter than before, reflecting his mood.
“Your servant understands!”
Lin Yingmei’s spear once again shot forward.
Seeing her master in high spirits, Lin Yingmei’s figure transformed into a fearsome figure, resembling that of a demon from hell. She completely shrunk the space between them and instantly appeared in front of Shu Jing, her body inches away from the ground. Before the dark aura surrounding her had the chance to disperse, her Arctic Star Serpent Spear had already begun to slash right across.
A flash of light!
The night seemed to have split apart.
Shu Jing wasn’t able to say a word. His face went pale, his wrist swinging upwards. He didn’t bother to shoot only used the Silver Blade to defend against the attack.
He no longer planned to rely on the power of his energy bullets. Instead, he would focus on simple speed to defeat Yingmei.
Shu Jing’s hands gripped the Silver Blade tightly, the icy sword tip flashed like thunder and lightning .A powerful murderous aura enveloped Lin Yingmei’s body.
The darkness was suddenly split apart!
Shu Jing’s body was like an illusion, appearing by her side in a blink of an eye.
Sounds of weapons colliding rang out again and again.
Lin Yingmei withdrew, her spear shaking But she still managed to rigidly maintain the spear in an offensive stance. Like her title, her spear was as towering as a mountain, solid and unyielding.
Facing Shu Jing’s strange surprise attack, her face remained calm.
Shu Jing smiled slightly. His sword flashed like lightning, his speed faster than the wind itself. The blade headed directly towards Lin Yingmei’s chest.
All of this happened in an instant, but with the short distance between them, each moment lasted as long as a lifetime.
At the last second, Shu Jing slightly shifted the direction of his blade. The shockwave of this attack shot right by Lin Yingmei, ripping a piece of her clothes.
With his attack piercing through Lin Yingmei’s clothes, along with the huge inertia force of his movement, Shu Jing crashed into her embrace.
Time seemed to have stopped.
Lin Yingmei stared at the chest that was pressed right on top of her as her entire body turned stiff. The strange feelings transmitted by being so close to him eventually jolted her awake.
The moonlight shined down on them, illuminating Lin Yingmei’s shocked expression.
Shu Jing had demonstrated an amazing potential for fighting.
He gasped heavily, his entire body felt like falling apart. He didn’t even have the strength to the pull the trigger of his gun. If Lin Chong had continued to attack him now, the only thing he could do was sit and wait for his death.
As Lin Yingmei retrieved her Arctic Star Serpent Spear, Shu Jing lost all his remaining strength and fell forward.
“Master!”
Lin Yingmei called out and quickly stopped his fall with her arms. Seeing his determined expression, even the Majestic Star couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“Not bad, Master.”
—
After the fight, they continued their journey in search of Relic Blade Sand. Shu Jing sparred with Lin Yingmei daily. His improvement rate was astonishing, each time they fought Lin Yingmei was shocked anew.
This was the first time that she had seen a Star Master able to integrate with a Star Knight’s experience so easily. It was almost as if she and Shu Jing were made for each other.
Since they were pursued by the Deviance Star, they had to reserve some strength while training, which consumed huge amounts of Star Energy. When the time came, they wanted to go into battle at their best condition, with the Star Combat state exciting their blood endlessly.
Ten days later, at night.
A strange event began to occur in the sky. Suddenly, the entire night became blindingly bright while the 108 sacred stars resonated. A single dazzling blue star began to glow intensely, causing the night to turn into day.
Shu Jing and Lin Yingmei stopped in the middle of their training and looked up.
After the sacred star released the intense blue light, a red dense ray of light shot to the East as the star followed along and began to fall towards the Liangshan Maiden.
A chaotic light path carved its way across the night.
“A Fallen Star!” Lin Yingmei whispered.
“Fallen Star? Are you saying that a Star Knight has been defeated?” Shu Jing immediately understood what she meant.
Lin Yingmei nodded calmly “That’s right, when a Star Knight is defeated, their representative sacred star will fall from the sky, and we call this a Fallen Star.”
“Are they dead?” Shu Jing felt some pity about this matter.
“It would be better to say that they have returned home.” Lin Yingmei maintained her usual expression while staring at the distant Liangshan Maiden. It was impossible to tell what was on her mind.
“I wonder which Star it was.”
“It’s probably Master’s all-time favourite, the Leader Star Song Jiang!” Lin Yingmei said casually while glancing at Shu Jing.
Shu Jing smiled sheepishly. How could he not detect the faint sour note in Lin Yingmei’s voice?
“But why would you assume that it is Song Jiang who has fallen?”
Shu Jing was too curious and asked. From Lin Yingmei’s tone, he could tell she held some disdain towards the legendary leader of the 108 stars. Could it be that the Star Maiden Duels shared a similarity with the classic novel when it comes to Song Jiang’s idiocy? (1)
“Even if it’s just fighting prowess, she can’t compare with the current Master.” Lin Yingmei said flatly.
Shu Jing’s face reddened from Yingmei’s straightforwardness.
“According to what your servant knows, during every single Star Duel, Leader Star Song Jiang was always the first one to be defeated.”
“Is she really that useless?”
“Amongst all the combat specialised stars, she is the weakest.” Lin Yingmei shook her head.
According to Yingmei, the Star Knights specialties are divided into Martial Arts, Mystic Arts and Star Master abilities. Martial arts and Mystic Arts are the most important powers since the Star Master abilities are only useful when used to support an appropriately powerful Star Master partner.
Historically, Song Jiang’s ability have been rated at the lowest. Throughout the Five Great Dynasties era, no Star Master would willingly contract with her.
Lin Yingmei explained: “Song Jiang lacks combat abilities, yet she sits at the very top of the ranking. There is a rule in the Star Duel. Defeat a Star Knight and one shall gain their Star Energy. You can imagine what huge amount of Star Energy is residing within the Leader Star. No Star Knight or Star Master would pass on this immensely beneficial “medicine”.”
Shu Jing felt even more pity for this Leader Star once he found out about this matter. Her situation is just too similar to Xuanzang’s flesh. (2)
Timely Rain oh Timely Rain (3), will you just be like your nickname and be around to deliver a timely experience boost for your fellow Star Knights?
“Yingmei, are you also after her power?”
Lin Yingmei smiled lightly: “Master is looking down on this servant too much. Lin Chong treats people fairly, I don’t have any interest in killing useless weaklings. Of course, if Master orders me to, I will complete the mission without hesitation.”
“Fighting a defenseless enemy is also not something I want to do.”
In this matter, they had common opinions. However, Shu Jing also quietly thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if he could end up making a contract with this Timely Rain Song Jiang.
Note:
(1) In the classic novel, Song Jiang, while he was an expert martial artist and a scholar, made some seriously bad decisions while leading the 108 heroes, resulting in his own tragic death later. He also famously saved Lin Chong’s arch enemy Gao Qiu, who is also the main antagonist of Water Margin.
(2) Xuanzang (From Journey to the West) is a monk whose flesh will grant immortality to any demon who consumed it.
(3) Song Jiang official nickname is the “Protector of Justice”, but he was also known as the Timely Rain for his kind and generous nature.