Chapter 144

Chapter 144: A One-on-One Battle

Wang Jie spent several days circling the area before he finally found someone he recognized.

Nie Zhou.

As ever, the man’s habits hadn’t changed. He strolled the streets with a beauty in his arms, laughing as if nothing in the world could touch him.

Two days earlier, Wang Jie had seen Feng Wen Cheng as well.

But Feng Wen Cheng wasn’t worth the effort.

A clear river cut through the city. Small boats drifted by.

Nie Zhou lifted a hand, and a boat glided close. He stepped onto it with the beauty, holding her hand with one arm while the other wrapped her waist in a lazy, practiced flirtation.

Wang Jie stood at the bow, oar in hand, and moved down the boat toward the stern.

Step by step, he closed the distance.

The instant they brushed past each other, Nie Zhou’s instincts screamed. He shoved the woman toward Wang Jie and bolted for the shore.

Wang Jie was faster.

Jia Eight Steps.

He appeared in front of Nie Zhou before Nie Zhou could take a second step.

Wang Jie lifted his eyes.

Nie Zhou’s pupils shrank. “Wang—”

He didn’t even finish the name.

Wang Jie raised a finger.

Myriad-Stars Finger.

Last time, it had been a threat. A demonstration.

This time, it fell for real.

Finger shadows descended, fusing in an instant into a single lethal point that punched through.

Nie Zhou—one of the Four Alliances, a Full-Star Realm powerhouse with ninety thousand combat power—died in one strike.

The attack pierced straight through his forehead.

His body toppled, slow and slack, into the river. Crimson spread across the water like ink.

The beauty screamed.

People nearby froze, minds struggling to catch up.

Wang Jie stepped onto Sword Steps and shot out of the city. Along the way he flicked a finger and erased the Full-Star Realm who’d been fishing by the bridge.

That one had only just entered Full-Star Realm.

He died easily.

A boom shattered the river behind him. A flying wheel tore across the air—Zong Cheng Ping had finally moved.

Too late.

He could only watch Wang Jie vanish into the distance.

Zong Cheng Ping’s gaze fell to Nie Zhou’s corpse. His eyes shook.

Nie Zhou was not weak. In Lockwalk Space he could rank among the top five Full-Star Realm.

And he’d died like that.

It had to be that Chen Art.

But why strike here?

Miao Tai.

Lie Qiu, the Feng brothers, Fu An, and others gathered at once.

“Chase him!” someone shouted. “Don’t let him get far!”

Zong Cheng Ping’s voice was heavy. “He won’t go far. This is Lone Peak Gorge.”

His eyes were cold. “He wants this place to be his hunting ground.”

Cui Si’s face was pale. “He’s alone. He wants to counter-hunt all of us?”

“And where is Miao Tai?” Lie Qiu snapped, fury blazing. “He must have warned him!”

Feng Wen Sheng’s tone was grim. “Whether Miao Tai warned him or not doesn’t matter.”

He looked toward the canyon beyond the city. “This battlefield was inevitable. Now it depends on who has more patience.”

“This is a game of life and death.”

Full-Star Realm after Full-Star Realm surged after Wang Jie.

Beyond the city lay a desolate canyon—vast and scorched, stretching so far it seemed to connect star after star like a crescent chain leading into the universe.

The canyon was large enough to bury a million Blue Star.

Even Full-Star Realm would struggle to destroy it.

And more importantly, Lone Peak Gorge had rules: it was forbidden to launch attacks that targeted the region itself. Damage too great could collapse the entrance to Yi Sword Heaven.

Zong Cheng Ping and the others—eleven Full-Star Realm in total—reached the canyon’s edge.

“Fu An,” Zong Cheng Ping ordered, “you and the five from Lone Peak Gorge will form a group of five.”

He turned. “Lie Qiu. The Feng brothers. Two more. That’s another group of five.”

His voice hardened. “I’ll go alone. Keep the distance between groups within half an hour.”

“Report in every incense stick.”

He stared into the canyon. “We don’t need to search.”

“We’re hunting him.”

“And he’s hunting us.”

“Be careful.”

Fu An and the others looked grim. They split into three directions, forming a triangle of pressure—close enough to support one another, far enough to avoid being wiped out at once.

Zong Cheng Ping moved alone through the canyon, flying wheel circling in front of him as he watched the horizon.

Not far away, Wang Jie sat on a barren slope, his combat power detector chirping again and again.

Those were the Full-Star Realm.

They were announcing their positions.

The canyon was too large. If they hid, they might never find one another.

So they revealed themselves, baiting him into striking.

Three directions.

Two groups of five.

One solitary signal.

Zong Cheng Ping.

They weren’t close—but they weren’t far either.

They wanted Wang Jie to treat himself as prey.

They also wanted him to behave like a hunter.

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed.

He locked onto the group that read as Lone Peak Gorge’s five. Compared to the other five-man group, this one looked weaker.

But he didn’t move.

They were prepared. They wouldn’t make it easy.

Wang Jie edged toward the center between the three positions, slow and patient.

Days passed.

He watched the numbers on the combat power detector. No major shifts.

It was time.

If he didn’t move, they had no target. And they could wait forever.

The earth inside the canyon glowed dark red with heat. A group of five sat back-to-back in the open, waiting like stones.

Wang Jie watched from afar.

This was the closest he’d been.

The moment his attention truly settled on them, he turned around and left.

So that was their game.

Those five weren’t Lone Peak Gorge’s five at all.

They were Zong Cheng Ping, Lie Qiu, Fu An, and the Feng brothers.

Somehow they’d manipulated the combat power detector readings to deceive him, making him believe this was the weakest group.

And each of them wore a face-changing tool.

If Wang Jie didn’t have Qi Sight—if he hadn’t memorized their aura long ago—he would have struck and walked straight into a five-way siege by the most dangerous people here.

They had gambled that he would target Lone Peak Gorge’s five first.

If they won that gamble, he would likely die.

Too bad.

They lost.

Wang Jie didn’t go for them.

He turned and went for the other five.

In that group, he recognized two immediately: Cui Si and Qi Sheng. The other three were strangers. It didn’t matter.

Kill.

Jia Eight Steps.

Wang Jie appeared in the very center of their circle.

Their faces went white.

He struck.

Myriad-Stars Finger descended, finger shadows pouring down like a storm and sealing the five in place.

Even Zong Cheng Ping had struggled to suppress this move.

These five were nothing compared to him.

Two died first—erased so cleanly they barely had time to scream.

Then a woman, shredded by the descending shadows.

Qi Sheng was struck through the torso and thrown back, blood spraying.

Cui Si barely survived long enough to drop to his knees.

Wang Jie landed, looking down at them without expression.

Qi Sheng lay trembling, eyes wide with disbelief.

So this was Chen Art.

Power that had forced Zong Cheng Ping to back down.

How could a Ten Seals cultivator be this strong?

If Wang Jie weren’t a lockforce cultivator… he might have been the next Wandering God.

“We didn’t want this!” Cui Si shouted, voice cracking.

Wang Jie’s gaze was cold. “You didn’t want it, but you did it anyway.”

His tone carried no emotion at all. “Anyone who threatens my life—I don’t spare.”

Cui Si coughed blood and forced the words out. “Leave us alive to hold Lone Peak Gorge. Next year, the materials from Lone Peak Gorge will still be yours.”

“If you kill us, Black-White Heaven will pull another batch of lockforce cultivators back from the Star-Cloud Battlefield. Then you’ll have to fight them.”

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed slightly. That part rang true.

“Anyone who survives the Star-Cloud Battlefield,” Cui Si continued hoarsely, “no matter their combat power, will be far better at staying alive than we are.”

Wang Jie paused. “If I leave you alive, why wouldn’t you join them again?”

“Leaving us alive,” Cui Si said, “means they might not pull experts back from the battlefield.”

“And if they do,” he added quickly, “you can kill us then.”

He swallowed another mouthful of blood. “You have backing in your sect. You can learn in advance.”

Wang Jie studied him in silence, then the corner of his mouth lifted.

“Congratulations,” he said quietly. “You convinced me.”

He turned and walked away.

Cui Si sagged, letting out the breath he’d been holding. His eyes slid to Qi Sheng.

Qi Sheng’s expression was bleak.

The gap was too large.

No wonder everyone wanted to cultivate Chen Art.

He didn’t know how Wang Jie’s Chen Art compared to Great Chen Mountain’s—but after today, he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to stand against it.

“Quick,” Cui Si rasped. “Contact Senior Zong.”

Wang Jie headed for the direction where the solitary signal had been.

If you want to die alone, he would grant it.

Not long after, Zong Cheng Ping’s face turned dark as he received the report.

“They saw through it,” he said. “Wang Jie struck Cui Si’s side. Three dead. Two heavily wounded.”

Fu An’s eyelid twitched. “How did he see through the disguise? The face-changing tools were brought by Steward Wu’s people. He shouldn’t have been able to.”

Feng Wen Sheng’s expression was grim. “Forget that. The only ones who can still surround him are us.”

He looked toward the canyon’s depths. “We need a method. If we stay together, he won’t strike. If we split…”

He didn’t finish.

They all understood.

Once they split, only Zong Cheng Ping might survive.

Even Lie Qiu—violent and stubborn as she was—didn’t dare claim otherwise.

They had thought an organized alliance of Lockwalk Space’s Full-Star Realm could kill Wang Jie with preparation.

Instead, they were being hunted.

This man had no ties, no burdens, nothing to lose.

Too hard to deal with.

“Go!” someone shouted. “Save Qiu Zhao first!”

They were too late.

By the time they reached the solitary signal, Qiu Zhao was already crushed—pale, bloodied, slumped against a rock wall.

She looked at them, voice weak. “He said… leave us alive… to hold positions.”

Her lips trembled. “And he said… you were… being clever for nothing.”

Zong Cheng Ping closed his eyes.

Fu An and the others fell silent.

It really did feel like everything they did was anticipated, controlled.

“Clever for nothing,” Feng Wen Sheng repeated softly.

Then he looked up, eyes hard. “The siege has failed. He won’t give us a real chance to encircle him.”

“If we scatter, we’ll only die one by one.”

“I’m withdrawing.”

Feng Wen Cheng swallowed, face pale. “Me too.”

Fu An let out a bitter laugh. “Withdrawing.”

Lie Qiu stared at Qiu Zhao, then spoke in a low voice. “Withdrawing.”

One by one, they made the same choice.

Only Zong Cheng Ping remained.

He raised a hand. The flying wheel spun above his palm, humming with power.

“You can all withdraw,” he said quietly. “Only I can’t.”

Lie Qiu looked at him. “Senior… one-on-one. Do you have confidence?”

“No,” Zong Cheng Ping admitted. “The move he used to kill Nie Zhou was sharper than what he used in Yi Sword Heaven.”

“He’s stronger.”

Zong Cheng Ping’s eyes hardened. “But if I don’t even fight, I can’t explain it to the people above.”

He turned toward the canyon depths. “Leave. If you stay, he won’t show himself.”

“Let me settle this with him.”

Fu An watched him walk away, then helped Qiu Zhao up and headed toward Cui Si and Qi Sheng.

The encirclement had become a joke.

Days later, Wang Jie watched them depart the canyon.

Then he turned his gaze toward the distance.

Zong Cheng Ping.

A one-on-one battle.

Fine.

So far, only Zong Cheng Ping still had a large amount of materials. If Wang Jie wanted the last big share, there was only one way.

Wind howled through the canyon, sweeping yellow sand into the sky.

Wang Jie and Zong Cheng Ping stood atop two opposing ridges, less than a hundred meters apart.

Wang Jie smiled faintly. “Brother Zong… it’s only been half a year, and we meet again.”

Zong Cheng Ping’s voice was steady. “Brother Wang, your methods are astonishing. Your courage even more so.”

He watched Wang Jie closely. “Alone, you challenged all of Lockwalk Space. I admire that.”

“You give me too much credit,” Wang Jie said lightly. “I never intended to challenge all of Lockwalk Space.”

Then his eyes sharpened. “But speaking of methods—yours aren’t bad either.”

“From the beginning, the Four Alliances and Lone Peak Gorge ‘uniting’ to kill me was a smokescreen.”

His finger lifted and pointed at the ground beneath them.

“Those were never the real killing hands,” Wang Jie said. “The one truly meant to strike… was him.”

To the naked eye, the ground looked empty.

But Zong Cheng Ping’s expression changed instantly, his gaze snapping to Wang Jie with a hint of alarm.

“Detectors can’t find him,” Zong Cheng Ping said slowly. “Because of his race, his aura is naturally sealed. His skin can blend into the terrain. You can’t see him with the naked eye.”

His eyes narrowed. “Even so, you still discovered him.”

A grim recognition settled into his face. “You truly do have the ability to peer into other people’s power.”