Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Came to Kill in Person

A Five Tribulations chen artifact corresponded to the Star-Refining Realm.

That was a weapon meant for Star-Refining Realm experts—something whose value couldn’t even be measured.

Most Star-Refining Realm powerhouses out in the universe still used weapons they’d obtained back when they were only at the Hundred-Star Realm. That alone said enough: a true Five Tribulations chen artifact sword was priceless.

Wang Jie didn’t know how Zhong Yi, a Lockforce cultivator, had ever wielded a Five Tribulations chen artifact, but that didn’t change what it was worth.

If he sold it… what would it fetch?

Just thinking about it made his throat go dry.

No wonder Qiu Chou had been willing to fight Shen Wang again, willing to offend Black-White Heaven’s lords, willing to gamble everything.

That was the kind of value hanging in the air.

The sword was right there.

Before seeing it, Wang Jie hadn’t been desperate. Now that it sat in his sight—buried in the ground behind the archway—it was like someone had hooked his heartbeat and yanked.

He took a few quick steps forward.

Please be dead, he thought.

Then he stopped so abruptly it felt like his bones locked.

He saw it.

Qi.

Moving.

The chained Eight-Prison Mad Clan creature wasn’t dead. It was playing dead—qi flowing into all eight arms, poised to lash out the instant he crossed the line.

Wang Jie backed away.

A beat later, the creature’s patience snapped. It sat up, eyes fixing on him with ravenous hunger.

“Humans…” it rumbled.

The chains across the ground shuddered. Lockforce surged like a tidal wave, slamming into the space around them.

The Combat Power Detector spiked.

One hundred and fifty thousand.

Wang Jie retreated with Jia Eight Steps and turned away without hesitation.

One hundred and fifty thousand combat power, and an Eight-Prison Mad Clan lifeform. He couldn’t say he had no chance, but he didn’t have confidence either.

And even if he won—so what?

If he killed this creature and then some Star-Breaking Realm expert from Black-White Heaven entered afterward, they could take the sword cleanly. That would be the most disgusting outcome imaginable.

He couldn’t bring the sword out right now anyway.

Better not to fight.

“Humans… come back…” the creature howled. “I’ll eat you…”

Wang Jie didn’t answer. He didn’t even slow down.

Wait.

Sooner or later, he’d come back for that sword.

He left the tenth layer and returned to the surface.

Qiu Chou’s expression hardened the moment he saw him. “You didn’t fight?”

Wang Jie shrugged. “I didn’t dare. It’s an Eight-Prison Mad Clan lifeform—one hundred and fifty thousand combat power.”

Qiu Chou’s eyes widened. “Eight-Prison Mad Clan? One hundred and fifty thousand?”

For a moment, disbelief flickered across his face, then a sharp, ugly understanding settled in.

Zhong Yi had been terrifying. Star-Breaking Realm, and she had suppressed a monster like that.

No wonder Wang Jie hadn’t made a move.

But Qiu Chou also understood something else.

If Wang Jie’s combat power was below one hundred and fifty thousand, then so was his.

Wang Jie said flatly, “Forget it for now. We can’t pass the tenth layer, and even if we could, the sword might not even be on that layer.

“We’ve got time. We’ll take it slow. One day we’ll clear it.”

Qiu Chou exhaled through his nose. He scanned Wang Jie again—making sure he had no extra storage rings, no sword—then finally spoke.

“Leave. Go raise your strength. Come back when you’re sure.”

Wang Jie turned to retrieve his storage ring.

“Wait.” Qiu Chou’s voice snapped like a blade. “Leave the material storage rings.”

Wang Jie looked at him. “I never said every layer’s rewards belong to you. I only promised the sword.”

“I don’t want them,” Qiu Chou said coldly. “But you can’t take them. When you get the sword, you can take those things.”

Wang Jie laughed, short and humorless. “If you don’t give me materials, how am I supposed to raise my strength?”

“That’s your problem.” Qiu Chou’s impatience flared. “Go.”

A chill flashed through Wang Jie’s eyes. For a heartbeat, the urge to smash Qiu Chou’s skull open surged so hard it nearly spilled into his face.

He swallowed it.

Not now.

He took his own storage ring and left.

The moment he was out of Yi Sword Heaven’s range, he contacted Du Xian.

“I want to buy all information on Qiu Chou.”

Du Xian’s voice carried a note of amusement. “I hear killing intent.”

“Good,” Wang Jie said. “You heard right.”

He wanted Qiu Chou dead. The man had treated him like livestock.

“Five million starstone,” Du Xian replied.

Wang Jie froze. “Five million?”

“That’s a friend price,” Du Xian said. “If we didn’t have another relationship layered on top, it would be at least another million.

“He’s a Roaming-Star Realm cultivator. A Three Tribulations chen artifact suited for Roaming-Star Realm starts at four million starstone.”

“But he’s a Lockforce cultivator,” Wang Jie said.

“That depends on where that Lockforce cultivator stands,” Du Xian replied. “Across all of Lock Interstice, you won’t find anyone who can beat him. His influence isn’t low.”

The price made Wang Jie hesitate.

He could afford it, but it wasn’t worth it right now.

He would swallow the anger for the moment. When he returned to Yi Sword Heaven with a clear plan—and enough certainty to kill Qiu Chou cleanly—then he’d act.

If he ever had to fight Qiu Chou without absolute confidence…

Then even five million would be worth paying.

Shen Wang’s lesson was still fresh.

As for the materials Qiu Chou was holding, they weren’t urgent yet.

From Star-Breaking Realm to Full-Star Realm took a staggering amount of lockforce. It would never be a quick climb.

Fine.

Let Qiu Chou keep them for now.

Wang Jie’s ship sliced through the starry sky.

Ahead, another ship approached.

Star Belt-class.

The master was Lie Qiu.

The two ships slowed as they drew close, both sides recognizing the other.

Wang Jie frowned. Why was Lie Qiu here?

On the other ship, Lie Qiu stared at his vessel on the screen, her expression twisted with unease.

“Bring him over,” a cold female voice said from behind her.

Lie Qiu lowered her voice. “With your strength, you could just blow up his ship. Why lure him?”

“That ship is valuable,” the woman said. “Forget its price. Its added value comes from Zhi Ye. He bought it here in Lock Interstice. Blowing it up would be a waste.”

Lie Qiu hesitated.

“I told you to lure him,” the woman said. “Do you not understand?”

“I’m thinking of an excuse,” Lie Qiu said tightly. “I don’t want to make him suspicious.”

“If you can’t lure him, you die,” the woman replied. “We’ve already seen him. He won’t escape.”

Lie Qiu’s throat bobbed. After a moment, she opened a channel to Wang Jie.

“Wang Jie?”

Wang Jie answered, watching her ship. “Lie Qiu? Why are you here?”

“I’m looking for you,” Lie Qiu said. “I want to make a deal.”

“What deal?”

“One anomalous planet in exchange for the person behind you helping me transfer refining grounds. I want to go to Zhi Academy.”

Wang Jie blinked in surprise.

Even the woman behind Lie Qiu seemed caught off guard.

“You want to go to Zhi Academy?” Wang Jie asked. “Why?”

“You don’t need to know,” Lie Qiu snapped. “Are you taking the deal or not?”

“I can’t agree to that myself,” Wang Jie said. “I can only pass it on to the person behind me.

“What kind of anomalous planet is it? You hid it yourself?”

“Yes.”

“How am I supposed to trust you?”

“I’ll give you half the star coordinates,” Lie Qiu said. “The other half comes after the person behind you agrees.”

The two ships came to a slow stop, side by side.

“Send it to me,” Wang Jie said.

“I can’t,” Lie Qiu replied quickly. “Terminal messages are easy to steal. Come over yourself. I split the star chart into two halves. One half is on me. The other is stored elsewhere. If you try to rob me, the other half will be destroyed.”

Her ship’s hatch opened, facing his.

Wang Jie didn’t suspect a trap.

He’d found Nie Zhou’s anomalous planet through a ragged star chart too—not a terminal message—and that planet had saved his life. Another anomalous planet offered the same way was temptation he couldn’t ignore.

Besides, Lie Qiu couldn’t fight him. Not even close.

He stepped out of his ship, crossed the gap, and entered hers.

Lie Qiu approached him slowly.

Up close, Wang Jie saw it immediately: fear in her eyes, and a stiffness in her gait that didn’t belong.

Ice spread through his mind.

He stepped with Jia Eight Steps to retreat—

and stopped dead.

The hatch behind him had already sealed shut.

To get out, he needed two steps. First, break through the hatch. Second, leave.

He couldn’t even complete the first.

Black snowflakes drifted across his vision.

A clear, cold voice rode the freezing air. “Let me see how strong your Ten Seals really are.”

Wang Jie twisted away as black snow spread, freezing the void itself.

Lie Qiu bolted, scrambling away.

The crew in the control cabin froze where they stood.

Then shattered.

Not even blood sprayed. Everything broke apart like brittle ice.

Wang Jie raised his hand and blasted through the ice ahead of him. The Combat Power Detector screamed, alarms rising in pitch as his combat power surged past one hundred thousand—straight to one hundred and twenty thousand.

He turned.

A woman stood there, expression colder than the snow she commanded.

Roaming-Star Realm.

Starforce cultivator.

And her starforce was wrong—anomalous, vicious.

“Who are you?” Wang Jie demanded.

The woman’s mouth curved in a thin sneer. “Wu Yun.”

Wang Jie’s pupils shrank.

Steward Wu Yun.

The one the four alliances and Lone Peak Gorge dealt with directly.

He’d never imagined a Steward Hall powerhouse would come in person to kill him.

Wu Yun’s gaze was ice. “Little kid. You’ve made enough trouble in Lock Interstice. Do you really think ants can’t be crushed?”

She swept her arm.

Endless black snow erupted and swallowed the cabin.

Wang Jie flashed forward with Jia Eight Steps and drove a punch straight at her—simple, brutal.

He’d fought Roaming-Star Realm before.

But the moment his fist entered the black snow, it slowed.

His knuckles went numb. Frost crept up his arm. His body stiffened as if his blood had turned to ice, and his strength visibly drained away. By the time he reached Wu Yun, his punch carried almost no threat at all.

Wu Yun laughed softly. “A mere Lockforce cultivator. Today I’ll show you the difference between starforce and lockforce.”

Black snow piled at his feet, more and more, thick enough to feel like it had weight.

At the same time, the ship’s communications died. So did his personal terminal. Everything went silent.

She was cutting him off from the outside world.

Wang Jie’s breath came out thin.

The cabin had become her world.

He forced qi and strength together. A visible wave of qi slammed outward, pushing back the frost for a heartbeat.

Then he pointed.

Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger.

The strike pierced through the black snow and shot straight for Wu Yun.

Wu Yun’s eyes widened slightly. “You can attack through my black-snow starforce?”

No wonder he’d been able to suppress Lock Interstice.

But it still wasn’t enough.

The black snow spun into a cyclone. Its density multiplied tenfold. Wang Jie’s strike hit the storm and dissolved, erased before it could touch her.

Black snow rose from the floor and the void alike, swirling without end.

Wang Jie’s lungs tightened.

Her starforce already crushed him, and it was anomalous starforce on top of that.

That finger strike had carried the power of his pre-peak attack before reaching Star-Breaking Realm, and it still couldn’t reach her.

If he hadn’t broken through…

he wouldn’t have had any ability to resist at all.

Wu Yun was far stronger than Shen Wang. Stronger than Qiu Chou. Stronger than any Roaming-Star Realm he’d ever seen—perhaps unmatched.

This was Black-White Heaven’s Steward Hall: below, it commanded the four refining grounds; above, it reached into Zhi Upper Realm itself.

In the distance, Lie Qiu trembled violently—not from fear, but from cold. The black snow’s chill seeped into bone and stole all control.

She hadn’t expected Wu Yun to come in person.

Wang Jie was finished.