Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Sold Out Completely

Half a month later, when Wang Jie finally pushed one imprint to its absolute limit, the Feng brothers arrived.

By then, every last scrap of the materials he’d taken from Lie Qiu was gone.

The cost was staggering.

Lie Qiu’s stash had been larger than what the Frostglow Sect’s alchemy disciple and the inner outer bazaar could offer combined. And even that much had only filled one imprint.

What about the other nine?

Even if he robbed the Four Alliances and the Lone Peak Gorge clean, it still wouldn’t be enough.

“Lord,” Miao Tai reported, “the Feng brothers are closing in on Wind-Seeking Star.”

Wang Jie’s eyes flashed. Good. He’d been waiting.

He stepped out, changed his appearance again, and went to find Lie Qiu.

Lie Qiu allowed him to stand beside her without a word.

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll come after you later?” Wang Jie asked, genuinely curious.

“As long as I’m not the only one who gets robbed,” Lie Qiu said, expression indifferent.

Wang Jie understood immediately.

If the Four Alliances and Lone Peak Gorge were both robbed, the people behind them wouldn’t only blame Lie Qiu.

But if she alone was stripped clean, she might be discarded.

This woman looked hot-tempered, but she was sharp—careful in the way she survived.

“You’re not planning to help them surround me, are you?” Wang Jie asked lightly.

Lie Qiu didn’t even blink. “Would it matter?”

Wang Jie smiled.

He’d considered that long ago. It didn’t matter.

He still had Chen Art and the IOU slip—two cards no one here could account for.

Unless Zong Cheng Ping personally arrived and the Four Alliances and Lone Peak Gorge truly joined in a full encirclement. If that happened, he could always bring out Elder Zhi Xing Xue.

And even without Lie Qiu luring the Feng brothers, Wang Jie might still walk into a trap eventually.

A trick like this only worked once.

In the end, it wasn’t about cleverness.

It was about whose fist was harder.

Lie Qiu began speaking softly, almost clinically, as if reading from a list. “Old Boss Feng Wen Cheng. Combat power eighty thousand. Specializes in…”

Wang Jie listened, then couldn’t help remarking, “You really did sell them out completely.”

Lie Qiu’s brow twitched. It sounded like an insult.

Not long after, a ship descended.

Inside, Feng Wen Sheng suddenly barked, “Move! Start up and leave now!”

Feng Wen Cheng stared at the screen. The terrain of Wind-Seeking Star was different. This place had clearly been through a massive battle.

The ship had barely lifted when it was smashed down again.

Wang Jie stepped into view. “Brother Feng. Long time no see.”

Feng Wen Sheng stared down, his voice turning bitter. “That’s… Wang Jie.”

With a boom, Wang Jie shot into the air.

And attacked.

Compared to Lie Qiu, the Feng brothers were far easier prey—especially when Lie Qiu had just finished explaining them in detail.

In the end, both Feng Wen Sheng and Feng Wen Cheng were beaten into the ground. The commotion was nothing like the battle he’d had with Lie Qiu.

Feng Wen Cheng roared at Lie Qiu, furious. “You betrayed us! Why are you helping him?”

Feng Wen Sheng’s face was dark, his mind racing. Lie Qiu had actually cooperated?

The only explanation he could imagine was that Wang Jie’s backing was even stronger than hers, forcing her to submit.

Lie Qiu said nothing. Inside, she felt a deep, vicious satisfaction.

Guilt?

None.

Wang Jie crouched, smiling at both men. “Materials. All of them. Thanks.”

Feng Wen Sheng swallowed the humiliation and spoke quickly, as if forcing the words out before pride could stop him.

“Among the Four Alliances, the strongest is Zong Cheng Ping. Not only is he the top Full-Star Realm in Lockwalk Space, he’s also Xiao Rong’s disciple. I don’t think you’ll dare touch him.”

He hesitated only a heartbeat before continuing. “The other is Nie Zhou. He’s in Lan Chang Nation—Lan Chang Nation…”

Wang Jie was pleased.

Another haul, even larger than Lie Qiu’s.

The Feng brothers had two people—one who cultivated, and another who had time to handle endless affairs. It made sense their stores would be deeper.

After Wang Jie left, Feng Wen Cheng glared at Lie Qiu like he wanted to tear her apart.

Lie Qiu met his eyes calmly. “Don’t look at me like that. You sold out Nie Zhou too.”

“You—” Feng Wen Cheng began, trembling with rage, but he knew he couldn’t beat her.

Lie Qiu wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest.

Feng Wen Sheng stopped his brother. “Brother. Enough.”

Then he looked at Lie Qiu, voice low and steady. “The best way to resolve a conflict is to expand it.”

“If he only took our personal materials, maybe we could swallow it. But he took what we were supposed to hand over to Black-White Heaven.”

“Either his background is so high he doesn’t care… or he’s an idiot.”

“Since we can’t handle him, we let Black-White Heaven handle him.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s what you’re thinking too, isn’t it?”

Lie Qiu didn’t deny it.

They had to blow this up—make it big enough that the matter would be taken out of Lockwalk Space’s hands.

Zong Cheng Ping had already gone to Yi Sword Heaven personally and still hadn’t been able to do anything.

Unless that hidden Roaming-Star Realm lockforce cultivator came out of seclusion—but no one even knew where that person was.

So they would force Black-White Heaven to pay attention.

Feng Wen Sheng’s tone grew colder. “One is Nie Zhou. One is Lone Peak Gorge. That means, in today’s Lockwalk Space, aside from Zong Cheng Ping… everyone else can be robbed.”

“That’s a massive number. The people behind us won’t ignore it.”

“We’ll see what kind of ability he has.”

“If he survives this, we’ve seen what he is. We never offend him again. If he doesn’t, he won’t show his face in Lockwalk Space ever again.”

“Dragging everyone into it is the best choice.”

In the starry sky, Wang Jie’s ship changed course for Lan Chang Nation.

Lan Chang Nation wasn’t a slaughterstone planet—just an ordinary technological civilization that had only explored a handful of nearby planets.

Nie Zhou had risen on a slaughterstone planet, but his home world had been destroyed. Lan Chang Nation was the closest thing left to it. When he had nothing to do, he stayed there.

Very few people knew that.

Finding Nie Zhou wasn’t difficult.

The problem was getting in.

Lan Chang Nation had only a single ship that could come and go, reserved for Nie Zhou alone. Others couldn’t enter, and they couldn’t leave.

Fortunately, the Feng brothers had provided a way. Wang Jie could use their names to lure Nie Zhou out—or get himself admitted.

In Lan Chang Nation, inside a skyscraper that stabbed into the clouds, Nie Zhou attended a gathering in formal wear.

His personal terminal chimed.

He checked it.

Feng Wen Cheng?

Was this about dealing with Wang Jie?

The soft music around him faded into nothing as Nie Zhou lifted his gaze toward the starry sky. That man was dangerous. Even Zong Cheng Ping had taken a step back.

After a moment, Nie Zhou messaged Lie Qiu and Zong Cheng Ping, asking what they intended.

Lie Qiu replied immediately: they had to deal with Wang Jie. Not only to eliminate the trouble he was causing in Lockwalk Space, but to seize the rewards from clearing Yi Sword Heaven.

Wang Jie was at Ten Seals. In Yi Sword Heaven he would definitely clear the third floor, fourth, fifth—maybe even the sixth. The rewards Zhong Yi left behind were too tempting.

Nie Zhou considered, then agreed.

But he didn’t want to leave Lan Chang Nation.

He wanted them to come to him.

“Ooh, what’s that?” a gorgeous woman beside him asked, leaning closer to his terminal.

Nie Zhou lifted it with a smile. “Top technology. Classified.”

She rolled her eyes. “Top technology? How useful can it be? Let me see.”

Nie Zhou chuckled, led her to a secluded corner, and chatted for a while. Soon he left with an arm around her waist.

Wang Jie’s ship was granted passage and headed into Lan Chang Nation.

Truthfully, the most dangerous part of what he was doing wasn’t fighting Lie Qiu and the others.

It was the ship.

If the ship was disabled, they were dead.

But it was also what Wang Jie worried about least.

His ship’s speed was rare even across Lockwalk Space. Some ships might match it, but none could surpass it.

To outrun his ship, you needed Star Chain–grade—starting at twenty million starstone.

Who would spend that?

For the first time in a while, Wang Jie felt a sliver of gratitude toward Du Xian. She might have tricked him, but she’d left him a way to travel the starry sky without fear.

Miao Tai, however, was terrified. He’d lived in Lockwalk Space too long. His fear of the Four Alliances was carved into his bones.

Soon the ship slipped past Lan Chang Nation’s scans and landed deep in the mountains.

Wang Jie stepped out. A flyer waited to escort him and Miao Tai into the bustling city.

When Wang Jie finally saw Nie Zhou, Nie Zhou was eating breakfast, laughing and flirting with a beauty.

Nie Zhou spotted them and waved, then murmured something to the woman. She gave him a coquettish eye-roll and left.

“What do you want to eat?” Nie Zhou asked pleasantly. “The breakfast here isn’t bad.”

Wang Jie sat across from him, then removed his mask without hesitation.

Nie Zhou’s smile faded as recognition hit. A bitter chuckle escaped him. “So that’s how it is. I got dragged in.”

Wang Jie’s voice was calm. “Lie Qiu and the Feng brothers both lost. If you don’t have Zong Cheng Ping’s strength, you’d better not resist.”

“Your purpose,” Nie Zhou said.

“Materials,” Wang Jie replied. “All of your materials.”

Nie Zhou nodded slowly. “That’s not unreasonable. As long as you don’t want my life.”

Then his eyes sharpened. “But I’m not someone you can scare.”

He raised his terminal. “Let me confirm something.”

Wang Jie only smiled.

Miao Tai stared, speechless. He’d expected some grand declaration, not a phone call.

Nie Zhou messaged Lie Qiu.

The reply came quickly.

Nie Zhou lowered his arm with a sigh. “Brother, I can’t beat you. I can’t even beat Lie Qiu.”

“Then hand it over.”

“No,” Nie Zhou said, rubbing his temple. “If I give it up without even fighting, how do I explain that to the people behind me?”

Wang Jie wasn’t surprised. “Fair. So what do you want?”

Nie Zhou met his gaze. “Give me a reason I must lose. I only need the result. The process can be… arranged.”

“I could just fight you,” Wang Jie said. “But if I only tell you, you won’t accept it.”

Nie Zhou’s smile returned, thin and dangerous. He pointed out the window. “The moment we fight, this planet is finished.”

He leaned back. “Do you know how many people live in Lan Chang Nation?”

“Twenty-three billion.”

Wang Jie looked out. Flyers streaked across the sky. People filled the streets below—hurrying, working, living.

Miao Tai couldn’t help blurting, “If you don’t want Lan Chang Nation destroyed, wouldn’t it be better to just hand it over?”

Wang Jie didn’t look away from the window. “You’ve got it backwards.”

Miao Tai frowned. “What?”

Nie Zhou laughed. It was low, almost delighted—and something feral hid underneath. Miao Tai suddenly realized he didn’t understand this man at all.

“Exactly,” Nie Zhou said. “Backwards.”

His eyes pinned Wang Jie. “I didn’t expect you to be this type.”

“Interesting.”

Then he leaned forward, voice dropping. “You can leave. Here, you’ll never get anything from me.”

Wang Jie finally turned back to him. “Using Lan Chang Nation’s twenty-three billion people to threaten me—this is why you met me here?”

His gaze narrowed. “Did you know it was me ahead of time?”

Nie Zhou shook his head. “No. But it’s one of my backups. People are soft-hearted. People are hypocritical.”

His smile sharpened. “If I ran into someone as crazy as me, I’d accept it.”

He watched Wang Jie closely. “But when I threatened you with Lan Chang Nation just now, I saw it in your eyes. I know what kind of person you are.”

Nie Zhou leaned in, staring straight at him. “So I’ll gamble with you.”

“You won’t dare fight me here. Because if you do—win or lose—twenty-three billion people will die because of you.”