Chapter 132

Chapter 132: Deadline

Wang Jie moved on to Eighth Layer.

Miao Tai stayed behind in Seventh Layer, planning to hunt a little more. Surface creatures varied wildly in strength, but Seventh Layer rarely produced anything too powerful. For him, it was the safest option.

Within the fifteen layers, that was the awkward reality for most Star-Breaking Realm cultivators.

They couldn’t go lower. They didn’t have the strength to go higher.

In Eighth Layer, Wang Jie ran into a Full-Star Realm creature with fifty thousand combat power.

The difficulty matched Fifth Layer—and this one wasn’t even as formidable as the rock giant he’d fought there.

He killed it and earned two hundred thousand starstone, far less than what Fifth Layer had rewarded.

Then came Ninth Layer.

Just like the fourth, fifth, and sixth, no one truly knew what strength it took to break through the ninth.

The reason was simple: step into Ninth Layer, and you often met Star-Breaking Realm creatures moving in packs.

How was an ordinary Star-Breaking Realm lockforce cultivator supposed to survive that?

Wang Jie entered.

Then he left.

Defeated.

Because inside, he caught a reading of one hundred thousand combat power.

That was the minimum threshold for Roaming-Star Realm.

To pass Ninth Layer, did you need Roaming-Star Realm strength?

If he used the IOU slip and gambled everything, he might be able to force his way through. But even if he succeeded, there might be no reward. It wasn’t worth it.

He would come back after reaching Star-Breaking Realm.

Within the fifteen layers, the Star-Breaking Realm was considered to occupy five layers.

Above the ninth were the tenth and eleventh.

If they existed at all, then Zhong Yi must have been able to clear them.

Was she really that strong?

His current strength at ten seals was already absurd. Star-Breaking Realm was deeper still—unfathomable.

How had she cultivated?

Wang Jie could only respect it.

He returned to the surface and lingered at the entrance to the fifteen layers, thinking.

Then he turned back toward Fourth Layer.

He would use the Thousand-Color Stone in the heavy gravity zones to master Chen Art as quickly as possible.

It was both a material for the Heaven-Reversal Path and a way to increase his strength.

Back in Fourth Layer, he went straight for the darkest ground.

One hundred and fifty times gravity.

Perfect.

He settled in to train.

Wang Jie didn’t know a crucial rule about Yi Sword Heaven.

The entry time was one month.

That was the law.

Anyone who stayed longer than a month without leaving was assumed dead. If they truly were dead, so be it. If they weren’t, then anyone entering afterward had the duty to eliminate them.

And if you did eliminate them, you received rewards from both the Four Alliances and the Lone Peak Gorge.

The reward was tempting enough that the rule had teeth.

Which meant no one dared to deliberately overstay.

A month passed from the day Wang Jie and the others entered Yi Sword Heaven.

Miao Tai stood on the ship and watched Yi Sword Heaven recede into the distance.

Wang Jie still hadn’t returned.

An accident?

Possibly.

Or maybe he simply didn’t know the deadline.

Miao Tai hadn’t deliberately kept it from him. It was common knowledge.

If Wang Jie didn’t know, that wasn’t Miao Tai’s fault.

Either way, anyone entering later wouldn’t be able to touch him.

Each year, the Lone Peak Gorge entered first.

Ten people. One month.

After that, the Four Alliances entered.

Entering earlier didn’t mean better. Earlier meant risk. Yi Sword Heaven’s resources were endless, and the Four Alliances preferred entering later—once they had more information.

They could even judge the danger by who returned from the Lone Peak Gorge.

This time, only three people came out with Miao Tai.

Besides Wang Jie—and the three confirmed dead—the remaining three were unaccounted for.

Most likely dead as well.

Yi Sword Heaven, this year, was labeled dangerous.

Only four returned.

Then it was the Four Alliances’ turn.

They could send fifteen at a time.

Those fifteen went in with a mix of hope and fear.

Meanwhile, Wang Jie remained in Fourth Layer, staring at the Thousand-Color Stone.

Five days straight.

On the fifth day, dizziness crawled behind his eyes. He decided to go up to the surface, clear his head, and find something to eat.

That’s when he ran into someone.

The man stared at him.

Surprise flashed in his eyes—and a flicker of killing intent.

It vanished fast, but Wang Jie still caught it.

So you want to kill me?

The man forced a polite tone. “Your Excellency, you were with the group from the Lone Peak Gorge that entered, right? Why haven’t you left yet?”

Wang Jie couldn’t be bothered. “None of your business.”

The man’s gaze sharpened.

He wanted the reward for killing an overstayer. He was Star-Breaking Realm—strong enough to gamble.

But he hesitated.

Someone who dared to overstay was probably dangerous. Not worth provoking.

He turned to leave.

Behind him, Wang Jie spoke, mild as if curious. “Why did you ask why I haven’t left?”

The man looked back. “The one-month deadline has arrived. I saw Your Excellency still here, so I wondered whether you’d run into trouble.”

Wang Jie lifted a brow. “One-month deadline? What’s that?”

The man’s expression shifted.

He doesn’t know?

Then how did he get in here?

Is he… not from Lock Passage?

As the thought crossed his mind, Wang Jie started walking toward him.

The man turned and bolted.

Wang Jie took one step.

Jia Eight Steps shortened the distance like it didn’t exist. In moments, Wang Jie was right in front of him.

The man couldn’t read Wang Jie’s strength. At first glance he looked like ten seals, but what ten seals cultivator chased a Star-Breaking Realm like this?

Clearly, the realm was being concealed.

The man bowed quickly. “Senior, please forgive my rudeness. I spoke without thought.”

Wang Jie smiled. “I asked what the one-month deadline is, and you ran. What’s that supposed to mean?

You look down on me?”

“Of course not,” the man said, sweat beading. “Senior, don’t misunderstand. I simply… something came up.”

“So you ignored me.”

“No, I…”

“The one-month deadline,” Wang Jie said, voice calm.

The man didn’t dare stall. He explained Yi Sword Heaven’s rules in a few quick sentences.

Wang Jie listened, then asked, “That’s all?”

“Yes, Senior.”

“So if you overstay a month, you just leave. That’s it?”

The man hesitated, eyes flickering.

Wang Jie’s gaze pinned him.

The man swallowed and confessed, “If you kill someone who stays past the deadline, you gain rewards from the Four Alliances and the Lone Peak Gorge. That’s why no one dares to overstay.”

Wang Jie nodded. “So you were about to hunt me.”

The man went pale. “No, Senior. Junior absolutely didn’t mean that.”

Wang Jie placed a hand on the man’s shoulder.

A stabbing pain flared through the man’s body. He tried to retreat—couldn’t. He was held in place like iron.

“Senior…?” His voice shook.

Wang Jie released him.

The man clutched his shoulder. A thin blood mark had appeared. He looked up, uneasy. “Senior, what does this mean?”

Wang Jie wasn’t listening.

He was thinking about slaughterstone.

He needed a thousand slaughterstone.

Buying them would be nearly impossible. Even Frost-Hua Sect only had five thousand in reserve. Black-White Heaven had more, but there was no world where they’d sell to him.

Even if they did, how much could he possibly pour into it?

And the requirement only said “collect a thousand slaughterstone.”

It didn’t say they had to be unused.

Which meant slaughterstone from slaughterstone planets would still count.

He’d been blinded by the Silver Radiance Empire’s assumptions, thinking each slaughterstone planet only had one slaughterstone.

That was the minimum, not the rule.

Lock Passage had tens of thousands of slaughterstone planets, and each one held a different amount.

The place with the most slaughterstone?

Yi Sword Heaven.

If Yi Sword Heaven held so many slaughterstone, why wouldn’t he collect them here?

Finding them was simple: look for strong creatures. Creatures empowered by slaughterstone clustered around them.

Wang Jie looked back at the man.

Working alone would be slow.

But plenty of people were coming.

“You said fifteen people entered this batch?” Wang Jie asked.

“Yes, Senior.”

“Where are they?”

“I… don’t know,” the man said quickly. “They could be anywhere.”

Wang Jie nodded. “I see.”

Then, like it was a casual thought, he added, “Oh. I just put Sword Poison inside you. Without my antidote, even Roaming-Star Realm can’t save you. So… you might die.”

The man’s face drained. He stumbled back, checking his shoulder again.

He’d never heard of Sword Poison, but the universe had every kind of poison imaginable. It wasn’t impossible.

“Senior,” he pleaded, “why would you do this? Junior truly didn’t mean to offend you. Please show mercy.”

Wang Jie smiled. “Relax. Do what I tell you, and when you leave Yi Sword Heaven, I’ll detox you.”

His smile faded.

“But if you try to cure yourself instead—if you refuse to work—then you die.”

The man’s throat bobbed. “What does Senior want Junior to do?”

“Collect slaughterstone in Yi Sword Heaven.”

The man stared. “Slaughterstone?”

“One hundred,” Wang Jie said, raising a finger. “Bring me one hundred slaughterstone, and you walk away.

“Or you can recruit others. For every person you bring me, I’ll reduce your quota by ten. Bring me ten people, and you won’t need to search at all.”

The man’s eyes flickered with calculation.

Wang Jie sent him his personal terminal coordinates, then waved. “Go.”

The man hesitated. “Junior… leaves now?”

Wang Jie didn’t answer.

The man forced himself to bow and retreat.

Wang Jie watched him go, expression indifferent.

People didn’t learn without pain.

The so-called Sword Poison was a lie.

What Wang Jie had done was lodge a broken sword fragment in the man’s body. Sword Rig was real. As long as Wang Jie was within range, he could make that fragment move.

The man couldn’t dig it out.

He could only obey.

Sure enough, the man hadn’t gone far before agony tore through him. He collapsed, face ashen, and took a long time to recover.

He staggered onward.

The pain hit again.

He understood then: he wasn’t escaping. If he left Yi Sword Heaven without detox, he was dead.

Wang Jie began searching for slaughterstone too, keeping a close watch on time.

Not one of them would slip away.

Over ten days later, on the surface of Yi Sword Heaven, a ferocious creature threw back its head and roared, spewing fire that swept across the land.

In the distance, the man Wang Jie had threatened stared at his personal terminal and spoke to the person beside him. “It’s ahead.”

The other man looked about his age, also Star-Breaking Realm. “Remember what you promised. Once we deal with him, you’ll join under Lord Feng.”

“I won’t go back on my word,” the first man said.