Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Time
Far away from Blue Star, deep in the universe, stars hung like a waterfall spilling into a lake.
At the bottom of that lake, images shimmered—sixty-seven of them. The surviving trialists. Only sixty-seven left.
The moment Wen Zhao unleashed White Sword Edge Descends, an old man playing chess atop the waterfall chuckled. “It’s over. Qing Feng’s line produced a fine seed. With that Bridgeway Art, she’s good enough to catch up to this year’s Starry Sky Martial Tournament.”
Then Wang Jie snapped his fingers.
The old man’s smile vanished. He leaned forward, eyes locked on the lake. “Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger?”
Across from him sat a girl with glasses, her beauty so unreal it felt like a lie. Her gaze was strange, intent.
“A lost martial art?” she murmured.
The old man’s breath quickened. “Martial Hall preserves the cultivation recordings of Jia Yi Sect’s seniors through the ages. Some come from eras so ancient they might as well be legend. For a native to learn Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger… it isn’t impossible.”
His eyes brightened with something feverish. “Heaven has pity. Our lost arts are returning.”
He rose. “I’m going to tell those old fools. This one has to be brought back.”
And with that, he left.
When he was gone, the girl withdrew her gaze. She slipped off her shoes and socks, dipped her pale feet into the waterfall, and swung them lazily as the water rushed around her ankles. Resting her chin in one hand, she watched the lake again.
“Too bad it isn’t Myriad-Stars Finger Art,” she said softly.
—
Wang Jie felt half his Imprint Power drain away just to unleash that one move.
It was something he could only do after finally recovering.
And it came from the first plot of land.
Outside Jin Ling City, cultivators stared, numb with disbelief. Even in this apocalypse era, no one had ever witnessed anything so outrageous—sword qi towering dozens of meters was one thing, but those two giant fingers were something else entirely.
They closed like a pair of titans folding the world between them.
The massive sword light shattered.
Wen Zhao fought desperately, pouring power out as she resisted the crushing pressure. Blood slid from the corner of her mouth. Still, she couldn’t stop the white sword from cracking apart.
Her eyes flashed. In the final instant, she burst free.
Then the two fingers collided.
It sounded like heaven striking earth.
The boom rolled across the land outside Jin Ling like thunder made solid. The ground trembled. People on the city wall staggered, feeling as if the shockwave might toss them off.
The white sword was gone, shattered without a trace.
Wen Zhao stood at a distance, panting hard, staring at the devastation.
The earth had sunk more than ten meters. The destruction spread across a hundred-meter radius.
That wasn’t something Seventh Seal could do.
She looked at Wang Jie.
Wang Jie was shaken too. He hadn’t expected Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger to be this absurd. His Imprint Power had been drained to the edge of collapse.
Saving power? With a move like this, you were lucky if you weren’t emptied out completely.
It was his first time using it.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Hong Jian stood frozen, thoroughly stunned. If Wen Zhao had been replaced with him, that finger strike would have killed him instantly—no escape.
Lian Fei and the others had gone pale. Was that kind of destruction even possible for a person?
Wen Zhao’s voice cut through the silence. “That move—did you learn it from the sky projection too?”
Disbelief sharpened her words.
As she spoke, the thin purple veil on her face slipped loose. For most people, her back was turned and they couldn’t see.
But Wang Jie saw clearly.
For a moment, even he was caught off guard.
In this disaster era, beauty like that was rare. But it wasn’t just her face. Her presence felt… wrong for this world. Too clean. Too far above the dust.
“Yes,” Wang Jie said, and didn’t deny it.
Wen Zhao frowned. “Jia Yi Sect has Eighteen Ultimate Techniques. I’ve never heard of this one. Are you really from Blue Star?”
“I was born outside Jin Ling,” Wang Jie replied. “One of the orphans Shou Qing Group rescued. You can verify it.”
Wen Zhao fell silent, as if the answer had unsettled something.
If he really was a native, then what he’d learned wasn’t just uncommon. It was something even Jia Yi Sect’s formal disciples didn’t have.
That finger strike was terrifying.
Wang Jie lifted his chin slightly. “Still want to continue?”
He spoke boldly, but it was a bluff. He couldn’t fight again—not without risking total collapse.
Wen Zhao studied him for a long moment. Then she raised a wooden whistle and blew once.
A snow-white shadow streaked in.
Wang Jie tensed, thinking she’d called a helper. Hong Jian’s hand tightened on his blade hilt.
The shadow resolved into a dog—large, beautiful, fur like fresh snow. A faint white glow shimmered between its hairs, so flawless it looked unreal.
“Xue Ju!”
Someone cried out.
Wen Zhao swung onto Xue Ju’s back and looked at Wang Jie once more. “Congratulations. You kept your home.”
Her voice was calm, almost pleased. “But I’ll come back.”
Xue Ju bolted away into the night.
No one stopped her.
No one knew how much strength she still had in reserve.
When she was gone, every gaze turned to Wang Jie again—stunned, shaken, unable to look away.
Hong Jian approached and stopped in front of him. “Thank you.”
“I want Wolf King’s Three Eyes,” Wang Jie said.
Hong Jian didn’t hesitate. “Fine.”
Wang Jie turned and left. Under countless stares, he walked back into the base. He didn’t need to leave an address—Hong Jian could find him with a single order.
He returned to his place in Wastewater Zone, shut the door, and pulled out the disaster materials he’d gathered. He began absorbing them to restore his Imprint Power.
He’d stepped into the light.
Now he had to be careful.
News of the battle spread through Jin Ling Base like wildfire. Lian Fei and the others fled, no longer daring to stay. The Zhao family held an emergency meeting, scrambling to figure out how to mend the breach.
Outside Wang Jie’s door, more and more people gathered. Many were Hong Jian’s men, posted to keep others away.
A pile of disaster materials appeared at Wang Jie’s doorstep—left for him to use.
An hour later, Hong Jian came himself and waited quietly.
—
In the misty world, Wang Jie stood over the first plot of land and used Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger again.
That hollowed-out feeling—Imprint Power ripped away—was still unbearable.
But as the combat art settled into the soil like a brand, the field responded.
Five green sprouts pushed through the earth.
Last time, Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger had required three materials.
This time, it required five.
Wang Jie touched the sprouts.
Loser’s Will. Villain’s Severed Palm. Sweet Tears. Ten Proposal Letters. Snow-White Canine Tooth.
“What kind of name is Ten Proposal Letters?” he muttered.
Snow-White Canine Tooth…
His mind jumped to Xue Ju. That tooth had been blindingly white.
And this time, the art growing in his field wasn’t Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger.
It was Myriad-Stars Finger Art.
—
When Wang Jie opened his door again, Hong Jian stepped inside.
He didn’t just bring Wolf King’s Three Eyes. He brought more disaster materials as well—enough to make anyone’s eyes burn with greed.
Wang Jie glanced at them. “Didn’t you say Yan Si took these?”
“Yan Si demanded them,” Hong Jian said, expression flat. “I didn’t hand them over. I only put them under his name to keep him calm. As long as he doesn’t leave, I can’t officially move them.”
Wang Jie understood. “Thanks.”
Hong Jian let out a breath. “I’m the one who should thank you. Without you, this base would already be in alien hands.”
He looked at Wang Jie. “Take my position. Become the chief commander.”
Wang Jie’s gaze stayed calm.
Hong Jian smiled, as if he’d expected that reaction. “I’m not testing you. I’m telling you the truth—I can’t hold on.”
He looked tired for the first time. “That Wen Zhao was too strong. Forget her. I can’t even handle Yan Si. And there are more trialists like them out there.”
He swallowed. “Even the Odds-Calculator—one of the Five Extremes—was killed. I don’t believe I can surpass him.”
Wang Jie’s voice stayed even. “I have something I need to settle.”
Hong Jian’s eyes narrowed. “Zuo Tian?”
“If I don’t kill him,” Wang Jie said quietly, “then there’s no such thing as justice anymore.”
Hong Jian frowned. “What does that mean? What kind of hatred do you have with Zuo Tian?”
Wang Jie didn’t answer. He only said, “Remove the bounty board’s top target.”
Hong Jian hesitated. “With your strength, stepping forward is normal. But if it isn’t hatred that absolutely cannot be resolved, it’s better to endure. Our real disaster isn’t the mutant plants and beasts—it’s Jia Yi Sect.”
“You’re underestimating Zuo Tian,” Wang Jie replied.
Hong Jian fell silent.
Wang Jie changed the subject. “Tell me about the other bases.”
Only Hong Jian knew. With mutant plants and beasts destroying communications and roads over the years, news rarely reached ordinary people. High-level commanders were the ones who understood what was happening beyond their walls.
Hong Jian’s eyes dimmed. “Yan Si didn’t lie about one thing. The night we surrounded and killed Moon Plant really was the ten-year metamorphosis period.”
He paused, as if still tasting the dread. “After that night, the wild plants and beasts evolved. At least one realm. For now, the wild is almost impossible to enter. Seventh Seal mutant creatures are everywhere, and there are creatures as strong as Moon Plant.”
“That night, killing Moon Plant saved this base. But many smaller bases were destroyed.”
He counted on his fingers. “Among the Five Major Bases: South Base and Jiang Base made it through with the help of trialists, like us. Shang Jing City has Bai Yuan holding the line. Tian Fu Base relied on Zuo Tian. They all survived.”
“For now, the Five Major Bases are stable.”
Wang Jie listened, realizing how much had changed while he’d kept his head down for two years, working as a guide and avoiding attention.
The Five Major Bases had grown. As smaller bases collapsed, survivors poured into the largest strongholds.
And while Wang Jie was learning that, the outside world was learning something too.
The bounty board’s top target had been removed.
—
Tian Fu Base.
Deep underground, in the headquarters of the Broken-Blade Hunting Squad, a young man who looked barely thirty stood in the dark. Two bodies lay at his feet, dressed in clothes nothing like anything on Blue Star.
Trialists.
In a farther corner, another trialist corpse lay crumpled, forgotten.
The young man stared down, face blank.
A voice came from outside. “Minister, the bounty board’s top target has been taken down.”
The young man’s eyes snapped open. Cold light flashed. “Who?”
“Hong Jian. Jin Ling Base has a man named Wang Jie. He’s the age you predicted, Minister—and he defeated an Eighth Seal trialist.”
The young man’s gaze deepened. “It’s him.”
He exhaled once, slow. “Jin Ling Base… no wonder.”
“Minister, should we contact Hong Jian? The top target was put up under your name—”
“No.”
The answer was absolute.
“Announce this publicly,” the young man said. “The second batch of Eighth Seal experts will arrive the moment someone on Blue Star breaks through Eighth Seal.”
His voice sharpened like metal drawn tight. “I, Zuo Tian, call on all of Blue Star—do not break through Eighth Seal. If you do, and the second batch arrives, no one will be able to stop them.”
“Yes.”
The announcement spread through Hua Xia in a storm.
People watched Zuo Tian’s every move; he was one of the Three Gods. His words confirmed what many had only feared: the Jia Yi Sect trial was real. And worse—there was more coming.
Whoever broke through Eighth Seal and drew down the second batch would be branded a criminal to all of Hua Xia.
The reasoning became clear to anyone paying attention.
The first batch of trialists didn’t want the second batch arriving early either. They wanted to squeeze Blue Star dry, take every resource, then break through themselves and face the second batch from a position of strength.
Not long after the announcement, Bu Qiao—one of the Five Extremes—died in Jiang City.
A squad of five trialists killed him.
All five were Seventh Seal.
Together, they crushed Bu Qiao without giving him a chance to strike back.
Then they repeated the message to the world: no one from Blue Star was allowed to break through. Not allowed. Not allowed. Not allowed.
A bottom line written in blood.
After that, they vanished. No one knew where they went.
But their target was obvious.
The Three Gods. The Five Extremes.
Anyone strong enough to be close to Eighth Seal.
—
Back in Jin Ling Base, Wang Jie stared at the photos coming in—trialists sighted, bodies left behind, attacks too precise to be random.
Where trialists went, death followed.
Their first targets weren’t mutant plants or beasts. It was Blue Star cultivators.
“If it’s a trial, there has to be a goal,” Wang Jie said. “Did Yan Si ever mention what it was?”
Hong Jian shook his head. “No.”
Feng Yu stood behind him, quiet as a shadow.
They were at Xuan Lake.
Wang Jie stared at the lake’s flat surface. “By logic, we’re all human. The first enemy should be the mutant plants and beasts.”
He crouched at the water’s edge. “But these trialists went straight for cultivators. Yan Si did too. He organized the siege on Moon Plant for disaster materials.”
He lifted his eyes, expression hard. “And yet it’s obvious the real priority is stopping Blue Star people from reaching Eighth Seal.”
He dipped a hand into the lake. Even in summer, the water was icy. He let Imprint Power thread outward, spreading across Xuan Lake—and then stopped.
He huffed once, annoyed with himself. “Find the coldest point in the lake with instruments.”
Hong Jian blinked.
Wang Jie’s mouth twitched. “Why waste Imprint Power on something a thermometer can do?”
Hong Jian waved a hand, and his people moved.
Not long after, they found it.
The southwest corner of Xuan Lake.