Chapter 133
Chapter 133: No Escape
Soon after, the two men reached their destination. In the distance, they saw Wang Jie dodging the attacks of a fierce creature, constantly moving around its perimeter.
“Is that him?”
“Yes, that’s him. Be careful, he’s fast and strong. I can’t gauge his cultivation level.”
“Lord Feng has said that we shouldn’t judge combat ability based solely on cultivation, but the scanner hasn’t registered any changes. Yet, this person can evade the attacks of a Star Breaking Realm beast, showing an incredible mastery of his own combat power. It’s normal if you’re no match for him.”
The man nodded but remained silent. The person beside him was a Star Breaking Realm expert under the command of Feng Wen Cheng from one of the Four Alliances. He was much stronger than the man and specialized in speed. He hadn’t been looking for Slaughter Stones; rather, he had come for Wang Jie, hoping to use him to obtain an antidote for Sword Poison.
No one was foolish. Rather than putting their life in the enemy’s hands, it was better to take a chance and act.
The two men calmly watched from afar.
At a distance, Wang Jie finally spotted the Slaughter Stone. The reason he hadn’t killed the beast immediately was because he had encountered a similar situation before. A creature had once crushed a Slaughter Stone before dying, trying to quickly increase its Lock Force, which had led to his failed attempt at collecting it. He wouldn’t let that happen again.
With a single step, flames soared into the sky. To him, the fire was far gentler than the thunder of Thunder Well. In a flash, he appeared on the creature’s back, raised his leg, and stomped down.
With a loud boom, the earth collapsed, and a terrifying force created a visible storm that spread out in all directions. In the blink of an eye, it surged toward the two men, who hadn’t even reacted before the storm nearly suffocated them, forcing them to retreat.
The power of that stomp was unimaginable.
The creature was crushed beneath his foot.
The man stood frozen. “Is that… such power?”
The other person immediately turned and began walking away, muttering to himself. He hadn’t even seen how Wang Jie had appeared on the creature’s back. His speed had been far beyond his own, and his strength was equally terrifying. How could he possibly be his match?
But after walking a few steps, he stopped. Wang Jie stood in front of him.
The man who had been frightened also turned and saw Wang Jie.
Both were stunned.
When had this person appeared?
Wang Jie looked at them, smiling. “What are you two doing?”
“We were helping you look for a Slaughter Stone,” the man quickly responded.
“And him?” Wang Jie asked, pointing to the other person.
“He came to help look for the Slaughter Stone when he heard about it.”
“Is that so?” Wang Jie said, his smile widening. “Well, he’s a good person. Alright then, since you’re willing to help, help all the way. Come here.”
“My lord, I’ve already helped you find it. What are you doing?”
“Rather than trusting people, I trust efficiency,” Wang Jie replied, his voice steady. “Alright, I’ve poisoned you with Sword Poison. Go ahead and find the Slaughter Stone. Your target is a hundred. And you,” he paused, glancing at the other person, “you need ninety.”
Watching the two men leave, Wang Jie dug a Slaughter Stone from the ground. Not bad, he had found ten Slaughter Stones in half a month. This Sword Mastery heaven was rich in them.
Wherever strong creatures gathered, there would be Slaughter Stones.
He hoped to collect a thousand here.
Next, he stopped collecting and began heading towards the entrance to Sword Mastery heaven. The deadline for this group was approaching, and he needed everyone to stay and continue gathering Slaughter Stones. The more people, the more efficient the collection would be.
Otherwise, how could he do it all alone?
At Lone Peak Gorge, Miao Tai received troubling news. None of the people from the Four Alliances who had entered Sword Mastery heaven had returned.
This news shook the Lock Path interval.
The Four Alliances took immediate action, urgently replacing the next batch of fifteen individuals set to enter Sword Mastery heaven. They swapped out the weaker cultivators and shifted the focus from exploration and cultivation to investigating why the previous batch had not returned.
Miao Tai furrowed his brow. Fifteen people hadn’t come back, and several of them were even Star Breaking Realm cultivators. What had happened inside Sword Mastery heaven?
His personal terminal buzzed, and a voice on the other end spoke. “Senior Fu An.”
“Where is he? Didn’t he come out?”
“No.”
“What happened inside?”
Not just Miao Tai, but several others who had left Sword Mastery heaven with him were also being questioned.
Miao Tai answered that everything had seemed normal.
Fu An murmured, “Why is this happening?”
No one had an answer.
They would just have to wait for the results from the new batch of fifteen.
One month later, still no one had emerged.
This shook the Lock Path interval to its core. The Four Alliances gathered at Lone Peak Gorge, and the original five Full Star Realm cultivators returned as well.
Miao Tai was among them, along with the others who had left with him. They were the last to emerge from Sword Mastery heaven.
The final batch of fifteen, originally set to enter, was canceled. Even if it hadn’t been canceled, they wouldn’t have dared to enter.
No one would dare enter Sword Mastery heaven until the mystery was solved.
Meanwhile, Wang Jie had gathered thirty people to help him collect Slaughter Stones. Yes, a full thirty people.
The first two batches of fifteen had been successful in gathering the stones.
These people were fortunate—they hadn’t died inside Sword Mastery heaven. They had originally planned to return before the deadline, but Wang Jie had blocked them at the entrance. No one was leaving until he had collected a thousand Slaughter Stones.
Each person was required to report their progress in gathering the stones.
Wang Jie tallied the results. They had already collected five hundred and sixty-eight Slaughter Stones, which was considerable.
However, as time went on, it became harder. The number of Slaughter Stones was decreasing sharply.
Huh? Two signals had dropped.
Had two people died?
Casualties had occurred. That was to be expected, given how powerful the creatures inside Sword Mastery heaven were. Most of the people were gathering the Slaughter Stones in teams. At first, things had been fine, but the further they went, the stronger the creatures became.
The last batch of fifteen should be arriving soon.
Had they not come because the previous batch hadn’t returned? Wang Jie wasn’t in a hurry. He watched the number of Slaughter Stones increase, feeling satisfied.
But what would the outside world think about the reason these people weren’t leaving? How would they handle it?
Thinking about this, he fell into deep thought.
Soon after, he ordered all the collected Slaughter Stones to be brought to him.
When the people gathering the Slaughter Stones saw the message Wang Jie had sent, they exchanged glances. “Don’t worry. Soon, powerful experts will arrive to deal with this man. He’s forcing us to collect Slaughter Stones. We’ve found them. Whether we get them or not depends on his abilities.”
“Four Alliances and Lone Peak Gorge are gathering many Full Star Realm experts. Does this man really think he can act with impunity in the Lock Path interval? Ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, the Four Alliances and Lone Peak Gorge were strategizing the final move: to unite five Full Star Realm experts and enter Sword Mastery heaven to uncover the truth.
Wang Jie stood at the entrance of Sword Mastery heaven, watching the positions of everyone’s signals on his personal terminal. He didn’t move.
These people hadn’t gotten close to him.
He guessed the reason. His eyes turned cold. They were clever—if they couldn’t deal with him, they were counting on the outside world.
After all, even if the Sword Poison was real, they didn’t think it would act that quickly.
The reason they were gathering the Slaughter Stones was to create a mutual deterrent. Since he needed the Slaughter Stones, he couldn’t kill them, and they could delay things until external reinforcements arrived.
In the end, whether they could get the Slaughter Stones depended on who was stronger: him or the external reinforcements.
Alright then, let’s see who’s stronger.
Wang Jie stood up and left. He couldn’t stay here much longer. Who knew how many powerful experts would enter next? He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could suppress the entire Lock Path interval.
Two days later, a spaceship landed at Sword Mastery heaven. Ten people stepped out.
Among them were five Full Star Realm experts and five Star Breaking Realm experts.
This was a remarkable lineup in the Lock Path interval.
Frost Radiance Sect had fifty million outer disciples, but only Wu Ming was a Full Star Realm cultivator.
Now, five had appeared at once.
The ten people entered and immediately contacted others through their personal terminals.
At once, Sword Mastery heaven became lively. The people Wang Jie had forced to gather Slaughter Stones all began converging at the entrance. There were two leaders: Lie Qiu and Feng Wen Sheng.
From the Four Alliances, the leaders were Lie Qiu, Zong Cheng Ping, Nie Zhou, and the Feng family brothers.
The most powerful of them was recognized as Zong Cheng Ping.
Lie Qiu and Nie Zhou were evenly matched, while the Feng family brothers were the weakest individually, but together they made a formidable team.
As the people gathering the Slaughter Stones arrived, Lie Qiu immediately asked why. Upon hearing the reason, he was enraged. “Such audacity! This is a blatant violation of the Lock Path interval rules.”
Feng Wen Sheng spoke in a low voice. “We don’t know his full strength, but he definitely has Full Star Realm power. He won’t be easy to deal with.”
Lie Qiu scoffed. “What’s so hard about it? He’s not here, so he must be too afraid to face us directly. I’ll go take care of him.”
Feng Wen Sheng quickly stopped him. “His personal terminal signals have all disappeared. He’s in the dark, and we’re in the light. Let’s not rush. We need to come up with a plan first.”
“You don’t want to force him to never come out again, do you? That would be even worse. Who will dare enter Sword Mastery heaven in the future?”
“One Full Star Realm expert hiding away? Even if we come alone, it won’t be safe.”
Although Lie Qiu had a fiery temper, he wasn’t foolish. Upon hearing this, he suppressed his anger. “What do you suggest?”
Feng Wen Sheng frowned. “If he’s gathering Slaughter Stones, we can make a deal with him. Let’s first see if the Sword Poison in their bodies is real. I suspect he’s not too far from the entrance. At least he knows we’re here.”
Far in the distance, on a mountain peak, Wang Jie watched from afar.
This distance had already exceeded the range of the combat power scanners. Otherwise, he could detect those at the entrance, and they would also detect him.
He knew that the people collecting Slaughter Stones had gathered at the entrance, which meant something was happening there.
Reinforcements had arrived.
No surprise, this time there were definitely Full Star Realm experts.
The Sword Poison was a lie, but he was truly inside Sword Mastery heaven. Those people could leave, but what about later?
If he were from Lock Path interval, he would do everything possible to eliminate the hidden danger of Sword Mastery heaven. Otherwise, the most valuable place in Lock Path interval would be useless. Black White heaven would never allow that.
But Black White heaven wouldn’t intervene directly in Lock Path interval’s affairs.
Wang Jie sat cross-legged. While they were trying to figure out how to deal with him, he would think of a way to handle the reinforcements.
Sword Mastery heaven was his biggest bargaining chip.
Soon, the people at the entrance split into five teams, each led by one of the five Full Star Realm experts. One team stayed at the entrance, while the other four entered Sword Mastery heaven to search for Wang Jie and resolve this hidden danger.
The four teams spread out in four directions.
Wang Jie used Toad Breath, sitting on the mountain peak like a statue, ensuring his combat power was minimized to blend in with the surrounding creatures. His combat power detectors focused on the distant figures.