Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Anomalous Planet

Lack of prospects was one reason Starforce cultivators looked down on Lockforce cultivators.

The other reason was simpler.

Starforce cultivators really were stronger.

They had more paths, more potential, more extremes.

A cultivator who had absorbed anomalous planet starforce and a Lockforce cultivator with the same combat power might look equal on paper, but the Lockforce cultivator wouldn’t stand a chance.

That was the gap.

Lockforce cultivators could never escape the label of cannon fodder.

“You didn’t come to tell me you know where an anomalous planet is, did you?” Wang Jie asked, watching Miao Tai with a spark of hope.

Miao Tai gave a stiff laugh. “This lowly one doesn’t know. I don’t have the ability to obtain the four alliances’ or Lone Peak Gorge’s information. I only wanted to tell Lord that such a possibility exists.

“So they won’t deceive Lord.”

Wang Jie waved him off. “I’m not subordinate to them. They don’t owe me reports.”

Miao Tai bowed and withdrew.

Wang Jie stared into the stars.

He could say he didn’t care, but now that the thought existed, how could he not?

He couldn’t interrogate Zong Cheng Ping and the others even if they had hidden an anomalous planet. But Nie Zhou’s side was different.

Nie Zhou had died. His four alliances were the only faction that had truly fallen.

Wang Jie contacted Du Xian at once.

“I want to buy Nie Zhou’s information.”

“Nie Zhou?” Du Xian sounded surprised. “Isn’t he dead?”

“I want to know whether he left clues about an anomalous planet.”

Du Xian understood immediately. “All right.”

A moment later, she named the price. “Fifty thousand starstone.”

Wang Jie blurted, “So cheap?”—and regretted it instantly. He sounded like he was showing off.

Du Xian laughed. “It isn’t cheap.

“If Nie Zhou weren’t Full-Star Realm, it wouldn’t even be ten thousand. He’s dead, and he’s a Lockforce cultivator. His information isn’t valuable.”

Wang Jie paid without hesitation. Du Xian sent the intel.

He read through it carefully, then singled out one location. Afterward, he contacted Du Xian again.

“According to this, only Nie Zhou knew this place. How did you learn it?” He added quickly, “I’m not testing Star Vault Vista’s methods. I’m verifying the information.”

“I can’t explain it clearly,” Du Xian said. “I can only tell you this: nothing in the universe can hide from Star Vault Vista.”

A chill ran through Wang Jie’s chest. His wariness toward Star Vault Vista deepened.

Du Xian continued, “Also, if you really find an anomalous planet, you don’t have to sell it to Black-White Heaven. You can sell it to us.”

“This is Black-White Heaven’s territory,” Wang Jie said. “If I sell to you and Black-White Heaven finds out, won’t it be trouble?”

“Black-White Heaven also forbids anyone from interfering in the four refining grounds,” Du Xian replied lightly.

Wang Jie had no real rebuttal.

Rules were what existed on the surface.

“Don’t worry,” Du Xian said. “Our price will definitely make you tempted.”

Then she ended the call.

—

Dark clouds pressed low over scorched land.

Countless people trudged across ground where magma flowed. From time to time, brilliant flashes tore across the sky, and the earth shook.

In the distance, ships rose into the air. Some were caught by sudden wild winds and torn apart, exploding in midflight. Those inside died nine times out of ten. The survivors on other ships watched with numb eyes, as if they’d long since grown used to it.

In a burning forest, a man ate quietly.

Behind him, tens of thousands lay in ambush, silent as shadows.

A sudden beep sounded.

He opened his personal terminal.

“Xiao Rong?” came a voice.

“Who are you?”

“Don’t worry about that. Return to Lock Interstice and kill someone named Wang Jie. If you do, I can make you completely free—never entering the battlefield again.”

Xiao Rong’s gaze sharpened. “Give me proof first. Then I’ll move.”

“Then come back,” the voice said. “Go to He Yun Jian. Someone will give you a promise there.”

Xiao Rong’s expression shifted. “Fine.”

He Yun Jian—the Steward Hall’s seat in Black-White Heaven.

If they could offer him a promise there, the odds were high this was real.

He left immediately.

He didn’t want to spend another day in this hell.

Everyone thought he stayed on the battlefield by choice.

He hadn’t.

Who would willingly remain in a place where death could strike at any moment?

But the sect needed him. They needed a symbol for all Lockforce cultivators: as long as he remained, Lockforce cultivators could pretend they had a backbone.

Wang Jie?

What had that man done in Lock Interstice that the sect would trade away its “backbone” for his death?

Was Cheng Ping all right?

—

Back in Lock Interstice, Wang Jie arrived at Nie Zhou’s most secret residence.

According to Star Vault Vista’s intel, only Nie Zhou himself had ever known this location.

Nie Zhou’s four alliances hadn’t collapsed yet, only because Wang Jie still needed the faction to gather materials for him. Otherwise, it would’ve been gone already.

Nie Zhou had been wild and unruly, but his home was unexpectedly plain.

Wang Jie swept every inch with lockforce the moment he arrived, then found a cache underground.

Mostly materials.

Pills, starstone, formation scrolls—Nie Zhou wouldn’t leave those at home. He’d keep them on his person.

Wang Jie had killed him without looting. He didn’t know whether someone else had taken the valuables afterward.

Still, the cache wasn’t empty. There were three sixth-grade materials and one seventh-grade material.

And a large quantity of seal-chen stone—essential formation material, graded like everything else.

Fifty-two pieces of fourth-grade. Eleven fifth-grade. Five sixth-grade. One seventh-grade.

Not bad.

Nie Zhou wasn’t even a formation specialist. Where did he get this many seal-chen stones?

Had he robbed a formation cultivator?

The rest of the materials weren’t worth much.

Then a rag in the corner caught his eye.

Nie Zhou liked cleanliness. He dressed well. His home, though simple, was tidy. A random rag didn’t fit.

Wang Jie picked it up.

Star coordinates.

The cloth was torn and the markings faint, but he could redraw them.

So Nie Zhou had hidden coordinates in plain sight, making them look like trash. Careful bastard.

Wang Jie redrew the coordinates and boarded his ship.

On the way, the shop’s little attendant contacted him—meaning Zhi Xing Xue was reaching out.

He checked the direction. He was already close to the coordinate location. He decided to go there first.

Two days later, he arrived and saw a planet rotating slowly ahead.

From the outside, it looked unremarkable. There were other planets nearby. Nothing about it screamed special.

But the coordinates pointed to it.

He entered immediately and ordered his ship to analyze.

Every ship had basic analysis functions. The higher the ship’s grade, the more detailed the results.

His ship was high-grade.

The conclusion came quickly.

Wang Jie stared at it, first startled—then exhilarated.

He’d found it.

An anomalous planet.

Nie Zhou had actually hidden one.

The analysis reported strong toxins in the atmosphere. Toxic planets weren’t rare.

But this toxin was different. It fused with starforce. It permeated the air and flowed inside the planet itself.

Final verdict: anomalous planet. The toxin possessed blood-corrosion properties.

Wang Jie named it on the spot.

Blood-Poison Planet.

His first instinct was to contact Du Xian and sell it to Star Vault Vista.

Then he paused.

Not yet.

Right now, the person who could shelter him was still Zhi Xing Xue. However tempting Star Vault Vista was, he wasn’t safe without Zhi Xing Xue’s support.

He went straight to the shop.

The little attendant greeted him warmly, then withdrew the moment business began.

“Senior,” Wang Jie said. “It’s me.”

“Xiao Rong has returned to Black-White Heaven,” Zhi Xing Xue said without preamble.

Wang Jie’s heart sank. He’d already suspected his enemies might use Xiao Rong. Xiao Rong was a Lockforce cultivator—outsiders couldn’t interfere with what he did in Lock Interstice.

“You can’t beat Xiao Rong,” Zhi Xing Xue said. “He’s at the peak of Roaming-Star Realm. The sect gave him many life-saving items to increase his survival odds on the Star-Cloud Battlefield. He’s also viewed the Great Domain Scripture. His battle strength surpasses ordinary Roaming-Star Realm and is enough to match someone at the same realm cultivating anomalous starforce.”

Wang Jie’s jaw tightened.

“So either you avoid him,” Zhi Xing Xue continued, “or you find a way to strike first.”

“Can’t we flip him?” Wang Jie asked.

Zhi Xing Xue’s voice turned heavy. “My influence is too low. I’m only just starting, and Xiao Rong was cultivated by others from the beginning.

“Even if his disciple Zong Cheng Ping stands with you, it won’t matter. At most, it makes Xiao Rong hesitate a little.”

“So even threatening him with Zong Cheng Ping won’t work,” Wang Jie said.

“It won’t.”

A headache began to build behind Wang Jie’s eyes.

Zhi Xing Xue didn’t have a clean solution either.

He’d forced the Elder Council to promise that no one could interfere in Lock Interstice affairs—good for him in one sense, disastrous in another.

Now the disaster was here.

If Xiao Rong returned, no one could directly intervene.

And Xiao Rong’s influence inside Lock Interstice was not something Wang Jie could match. The moment he returned, the four alliances and Lone Peak Gorge would likely abandon Wang Jie without hesitation.

“There is one more method,” Zhi Xing Xue said at last.

“You mentioned before that you cleared eight of Yi Sword Heaven’s Fifteen Layers and obtained a technique—Zhong Yi’s—that deepens a Ten Seals imprint to pitch-black. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll submit it to the sect. If I can earn merit with it, we may be able to keep Xiao Rong outside Lock Interstice.”

Wang Jie’s eyes lit. “How likely?”

“Not very,” Zhi Xing Xue admitted. “It’s only a Ten Seals technique.”

“But deepening an imprint to pitch-black is valuable,” Wang Jie pressed. “It helps combat strength within the Ten Seals, and it helps after breaking through too.”

Zhi Xing Xue sighed. “The sect already has such a technique.”

Wang Jie’s heart sank.

“I’ll submit other things too,” Zhi Xing Xue continued. “I’ll try to pull as many people as I can to block Xiao Rong.”

She said “block Xiao Rong,” but Wang Jie understood. It meant confronting Zhi Qing’s faction. The cost would be steep.

Wang Jie hesitated, then said, “Senior… I found an anomalous planet recently. Would that help?”

Zhi Xing Xue’s voice jumped with surprise. “You found an anomalous planet?”

He described it briefly.

“Hold it,” Zhi Xing Xue said immediately. “Don’t let anyone discover it. I’ll contact the black realm’s Realm Lord at once. An anomalous planet and the technique should be enough to block Xiao Rong.”

The call ended.

Wang Jie let out a slow breath and couldn’t help a bitter smile.

The planet hadn’t even warmed in his hands before he was giving it up.

But if it saved his life…

It was worth it.