Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Breakthrough

Before long, a woman with a delicate face, looking no more than thirty, entered under the guidance of the old woman. Her expression was as cold as frost, and her eyes were filled with indifference. She was followed by Zhi Shu.

Upon seeing Zhi Xing Xue, the woman broke into a smile. Although it seemed warm, there was an unmistakable chill in her gaze. “Younger sister Zhi Qing, I greet my second sister.”

Zhi Xing Xue looked at her calmly. “It’s been a long time, Fifth Sister.”

Zhi Qing locked eyes with Zhi Xing Xue. “It’s been so long since we last met, and yet, Second Sister looks so much older. Doesn’t the Frost Radiance Sect have any nourishing waters?”

“Fifth Sister, you haven’t changed a bit,” Zhi Xing Xue replied, her tone devoid of emotion.

Zhi Qing smiled. Before she could speak again, Zhi Xing Xue’s voice rang out, “So hypocritical.”

Zhi Qing’s expression darkened as her smile faltered. “I’m curious, Second Sister, why have you returned? Is it not humiliating to be beaten so badly, like a stray dog?”

“I no longer care about face. We’re both half in the grave, and you still cling to your youthful appearance. What’s the point?” Zhi Xing Xue’s words were sharp.

“That’s something you don’t need to worry about. But your return has caused quite a stir,” Zhi Qing said with a cold smile.

“It’s nothing. When people disgust me, I strike back,” Zhi Xing Xue replied dismissively.

“Is that why you’ve left me with no practitioners of the Lock Force on my battlefield? That doesn’t follow the rules, does it? This is not the way of the Lock Path interval,” Zhi Qing pointed out, her voice sharp.

“This is my rule, Zhi Xing Xue’s rule,” came the cold reply.

Zhi Shu frowned. “Was this what Grand Aunt did?”

“Shut up.” Zhi Xing Xue snapped harshly, sending Zhi Shu into a momentary shock. Zhi Shu was about to retort, but the next instant, a chilling aura swept through her, freezing her entire body, as though time had stopped. The unbearable cold filled her senses, and for an instant, she felt as if every cell in her body was shattering. The feeling of staring death in the face was one she hadn’t felt in years—perhaps not even in the Star Cloud Battlefield.

But this sensation was brief, vanishing almost as quickly as it came.

Zhi Qing stepped in front of Zhi Shu, her eyes locked on Zhi Xing Xue. “Second Sister, if the junior speaks out of turn, it’s one thing, but as a senior, your actions are excessive.”

Zhi Xing Xue’s gaze was frigid as she took slow, deliberate steps toward Zhi Qing.

Zhi Qing’s eyes flickered, but she stood her ground, unblinking.

Closer. Closer.

As Zhi Xing Xue approached, an inexplicable unease gripped Zhi Qing. Old memories surfaced, and she recalled a time when she had been a child in the Black White Heaven, killing countless people. That era had forced a turnaround for the Zhi family, transforming the disadvantage caused by the deaths of her three elder brothers. No one dared to cross her.

Back then, she had been just a little girl.

Each encounter with Zhi Xing Xue had filled her with fear. That was why she had strived to surpass her elder sister, to break free of the terror. She had to outdo this elder sister in everything—until the family split, and she left the Fourth Star Cloud.

Now, the same feeling resurfaced.

She thought she had long conquered the fear in her heart, but as Zhi Xing Xue neared, the terror she had thought was gone spread uncontrollably. Memories flooded her mind.

Suddenly, she saw Zhi Xing Xue’s eyes turn blood-red. Reflexively, she took a step back.

With that step, her resolve faltered.

Zhi Shu, in shock, watched as Zhi Qing retreated. The person she had long admired and looked up to, retreated.

Zhi Xing Xue halted and stared at Zhi Qing. “Have I been too lenient with you, for you to dare scheme against me now? Xiao Qing, I have helped you before.”

Zhi Qing clenched her fists and stepped forward, her expression grim. “You betrayed the family. You shouldn’t have come back.”

“This is not for you to interfere with.”

“Times have changed. You think you can shift the balance with a mere ant? Second Sister, you’re too naïve. That ant, if I wish, can be crushed at any time.”

“Then you’ll have to face me.”

Zhi Qing turned and walked away.

…

As materials continued to be delivered, Wang Jie’s time in the Lock Path interval officially reached three years.

Once the three-year term expired, the deacon hall was allowed to forcibly draft him for the battlefield. And indeed, Wu Yun had done so.

However, Zhi Xing Xue intervened and blocked the summons, causing quite a stir in the outside world.

Zhi Qing personally descended to challenge Zhi Xing Xue, determined to pull Wang Jie into the battlefield. Zhi Xing Xue had the support of several elders, especially Zhi Ye’s backing, leading to a stalemate where neither side could overpower the other.

Wang Jie waited in silence.

Materials continued to arrive.

Whether or not he would go to the battlefield, he still needed to reach the Heaven Reversal state with his tenth imprint. He had already absorbed one wave of materials, and this time, it should be enough.

It was time for his exercises.

He began absorbing the Lock Force.

The tenth imprint shifted from a deep black toward Heaven Reversal.

The entire Lock Path interval watched Wang Jie’s actions, but only Wang Jie focused on the materials.

When the exercise ended, the tenth imprint was complete.

As the tenth imprint reached Heaven Reversal, Wang Jie’s body suddenly contracted, as if the imprints were pulling him inward.

What was happening?

Before Wang Jie could react, a wave of pain flooded over him as his flesh tightened. The agony hit him like a tidal wave, consuming him. He curled up on the ground, feeling as though his body would shatter. The Ten Seals twisted as though alive, then shattered and dissolved.

It burned, an excruciating heat.

His flesh was being melted.

The blackness from the imprints spread throughout his body, seeping into his blood and flesh.

Sweat evaporated from his body as a thick mist surrounded him.

No one had mentioned that the color change of the imprints would cause such a reaction. This was something that should happen during the Breaking Star stage.

To reach the Star Breaking realm, one needed to integrate the powers of the Ten Seals into the flesh, transcending and refining it, before breaking the Starforce as a final step. This was the Star Breaking realm.

The hardest part of this process was breaking the mountain of Ten Seals, releasing their power and merging it with the body. But Wang Jie had bypassed that process, as the imprints dissolved of their own accord.

Was he different from others?

What was even stranger was that others didn’t suffer like this. Wang Jie had seen others break through to the Star Breaking stage, and their integration of Starforce or Lock Force into their flesh was much more natural. While painful, it was nowhere near as excruciating as what he was experiencing.

What was this agony?

It felt like his entire body was being melted. Blood and flesh seemed to flow like liquid, dripping away.

It was more painful than death.

During this process, for the first time, Wang Jie regretted his decision. Regret filled him as he wished he had broken through during the deep black stage, instead of enduring this agonizing pain.

If only he had known, he would never have attempted this.

But it was too late to regret now.

His pupils trembled. He watched as the imprints slowly melted. It was like ink spreading slowly through his body, merging and transforming.

How long would this process take?

His body was shrinking, his flesh consumed.

With a roar, Wang Jie swallowed a restoration pill. This was a pill used to treat the Breaking Star stage, worth a thousand starstones each. He had bought two hundred pills just in case.

The pill entered his body, easing his breath for a moment. He sat down, enduring the pain that continued to course through his body. The melting agony felt like thousands of needles piercing through him, worse than when he had mined in the Heavy Depth star.

But now, no one could help him.

He swallowed another restoration pill.

He continued to consume the pills whenever he couldn’t bear it. Each one seemed to dull the pain, and soon, he was numb to the external world. His thoughts became hazy.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he could feel the pills dwindling.

Meanwhile, the blackness covering his body was nearing completion.

His sense of touch had already disappeared.

The blackness continued to contract over his body, the process still ongoing.

He had to keep swallowing the pills. Without them, he felt like he might faint.

After consuming all two hundred restoration pills, Wang Jie guessed that around six days had passed. The next exercise wasn’t far off.

His body was completely covered now. It wasn’t black anymore, but Heaven Reversal. The light around him was being devoured, and he couldn’t even see himself.

It felt as though he was being sucked into an endless vortex, as if he would vanish from this universe altogether.

He didn’t belong in this universe.

When the last part of his body was covered by Heaven Reversal, his heart trembled. A cold sensation shot up from his chest and into his brain, separating his consciousness from his body. He seemed to see himself, but the Heaven Reversal made it hard to discern.

Was that him?

Why could he see himself? Was he… dead?

The heartbeat grew weaker.

But Wang Jie’s thoughts became clearer. The further he drifted from his body, the clearer his thoughts became. But instinct told him not to leave his body, never to leave it.

Suddenly, faint music reached his ears.

Old memories stirred. It was the same faint music he had heard on his way back from the Heavy Depth star to Frost Radiance Domain, the yellow paper scattered on the ground, piercing the spaceship, and the clear face he saw.

That was… a dead person.

He couldn’t die.

He absolutely couldn’t die.

But how could he return? His body was growing more distant, and his heartbeat grew fainter.

He couldn’t die. He couldn’t die. He couldn’t die~~

“Now, begin the eighth set of basic fitness exercises.”

A voice pulled him back into his body. Wang Jie suddenly opened his eyes. He quickly took out a revive pill and swallowed it. He had two pills left, so he took one.

Enduring the pain, he stood up and began his exercises.

What had just happened? Had he seen himself? Had he heard the music? He wasn’t sure whether it was a hallucination.

Instinctively, he followed the exercise movements. Inside his wrist guard, a hot current flowed more strongly than usual, continuously coursing through his body.

As the exercise continued, the Heaven Reversal that enveloped his body slowly faded, blending into his flesh and turning into a deep black.

Then, it became lighter—dark gray, then light gray, and finally faded away.

The exercises didn’t take long, but Wang Jie felt as though he had lived through years.

When the voice stopped, signaling the end of the exercises, Wang Jie collapsed, gasping for breath, his gaze blankly staring at the ceiling.

He felt as though he had just gone through an indescribable life-and-death ordeal.

Thud.

The heartbeat rang out loudly.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

His body itched, and he suddenly sat up. Huh? It didn’t hurt anymore? That extreme pain had disappeared, though he wasn’t sure when.

The Lock Force had completely merged with his flesh. A near-black layer of grime covered his body.

The familiar sensation.

He rushed to wash up and looked in the mirror. Had he grown taller?

He had gained about five centimeters in height.

And when he clenched his fingers, he could feel his strength had increased significantly. It was more than before. He wasn’t sure how to compare it.

If his strength was one as a Ten Seal cultivator…

Then, he was now a hundred times stronger than a regular Ten Seal cultivator—one hundred.

A regular Star Breaking Realm cultivator’s initial strength should be ten times that of a regular Ten Seal cultivator—so ten.

Previously, his strength was a hundred, but now, it had at least increased to a hundred and thirty or a hundred and fifty.

This increase was based on a Ten Seal cultivator as the standard, not himself.

Why such an increase?

He should have reached the Star Breaking Realm, even though he hadn’t broken through the Ten Seal Mountain and the planets. His realm had undoubtedly reached that point. The method of his breakthrough was just different.

So, he was now in the Star Breaking Realm.