Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Survival

With a soft hiss, the ship lurched. Warning lights strobed red across the panels as an alarm shrieked through the cabin.

Wu Yun’s eyes widened. She’d already spread her Black Snow Starforce across the entire area, doing her best not to affect the ship. This had to stay secret. She couldn’t leave so much as a trace outside—otherwise even the Elders Council would come after her.

And yet Wang Jie had erupted with enough strength to shake her Black Snow Starforce.

What kind of power was that?

Wang Jie clenched his fist. Using Qi-Qi Convergence, he unleashed his combat power fully. An invisible pressure wave burst from his body, scorching the void itself. Through Qi-sight, his pupils locked onto Wu Yun. He raised his hand, drew his sword in one smooth motion, and slashed.

Star-Gazing Sword Form.

Countless sword shadows, packed with terrifying force, tore open the Black Snow Starforce and swept toward Wu Yun.

Wu Yun’s expression shifted. For the first time, she dodged.

The sword shadows carved into the ground and punched through the ship’s structure, making the hull tremble even more violently.

Wang Jie seized the opening and sent a voice transmission to Lie Qiu. “Go to Yi Sword Heaven. If she’s attacking me, she’ll kill you to silence you. Go—now.”

Lie Qiu stared into the black snow blotting out her vision. Gritting her teeth through the freezing cold, she forced the ship onward, driving it straight toward Yi Sword Heaven.

Wang Jie wanted to retreat to his own ship, but he couldn’t. Wu Yun was too strong. Her Black Snow Starforce wasn’t something he could truly break.

That earlier slash had only worked because he’d caught her off guard.

Wu Yun released even more Black Snow Starforce. One by one, Wang Jie’s sword shadows froze and dissolved into darkness.

He couldn’t break through at all.

Wu Yun didn’t spare the ship a glance. In her eyes, Wang Jie was already dead.

But death alone was far too cheap.

“Little kid,” she said coldly, “betray Zhi Xing Xue and come under Lord Zhi Qing. Do that, and I can spare your life.”

She hadn’t come personally just to kill him. That would’ve been easy.

What she wanted was to use him to humiliate Zhi Xing Xue. Zhi Xing Xue had gone out of her way to help this man seize control of Lockspace. If he betrayed her now, Zhi Xing Xue would lose all face in Black-White Heaven—no standing left to contend for anything.

Lord Zhi Qing would crush her completely.

That was Wu Yun’s real purpose.

Wang Jie’s gaze flickered. “You mean it?”

Wu Yun’s voice sharpened. “If I didn’t, you’d already be dead.”

The Black Snow around them thinned, just slightly.

Wang Jie exhaled. “What are your terms?”

Wu Yun laughed. “What terms could matter more than your life?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re stalling.”

Then her voice turned flat. “Three breaths. I’ll give you three breaths. Agree within three breaths, or you die.”

Wang Jie let out a small, helpless sigh. These people really could read him at a glance.

“One.”

With one hand on his sword, he forced lockforce through his flesh.

After reaching the Star-Breaking Realm, lockforce fused into blood and bone, transforming the body itself. That was why his strength had surged so violently.

“Two.”

Lockforce boiled over his skin, forming a second layer of pressure. At the same time, he used Toad Breath to suppress any outward leak of his power.

“Three.”

Wang Jie’s eyes hardened. He swept his sword again.

Star-Gazing Sword Form.

Wu Yun’s face turned glacial. “Courting death.”

She flicked her hand. Her Black Snow Starforce fused completely, becoming a black beam that devoured the world. Sword shadow after sword shadow melted away—only for more to surge forward, endlessly stitching themselves back together to resist that dark, freezing force.

Wang Jie struck with his other hand, a finger thrusting into the darkness.

Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger.

A massive finger of power formed inside the blackness, crossing the distance again and again as it drove toward Wu Yun.

Wu Yun watched it close in, chin lifting slightly. Behind her, beneath her feet, the void rippled outward, shaking the ship as if another sky had descended.

“Earth Tide.”

Waves of Black Snow Starforce surged from her in every direction, one after another, each stronger than the last. Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger shattered. Wang Jie’s sword shadows shattered. The darkness collapsed into the tide and rolled toward him.

Wang Jie retreated step by step. No—he couldn’t retreat. The more ground he gave, the stronger that tide became.

Instead, he stepped into it.

Under Wu Yun’s startled gaze, he forced his way forward and braced himself inside the tide. Then he drove a punch down toward the ground, trying to pin the tide in place and arrest its momentum.

Wu Yun stared at him. “You’re not Ten Seals. You’re Star-Breaking Realm.”

Wang Jie lifted his head. One sword after another appeared behind him.

Sword Rig: One-Line Sky.

Lockforce and Qi flooded into every blade. The swords aligned into a single straight line and shot toward Wu Yun like a spear.

Wu Yun narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t expect killing a mere Star-Breaking Realm cultivator would force me to use the Mystic Star Umbrella.”

An umbrella appeared before her, spinning slowly in the air.

The sword line struck the umbrella—and couldn’t move it an inch.

A Three-Tribulations Chen Artifact.

Wu Yun seized the handle and stepped through the tide, pressing down toward Wang Jie.

Wang Jie retreated as the swords whipped around, slashing in from the side.

Wu Yun’s brows knit. How was he still controlling them? She’d swept through with starforce—lockforce should have scattered to nothing. And yet the swords moved like they were alive.

It didn’t matter.

She swung the umbrella in a tight, flowing arc.

Thousand-Snow Umbrella Dance.

Every sword shattered.

Wang Jie tried again—Star-Gazing Sword Form—but the umbrella’s dance scattered his sword shadows like mist.

The tide surged over him.

He was blasted backward, punching through bulkhead after bulkhead inside the ship. He spat blood and collapsed hard.

Wu Yun advanced step by step, Black Snow Starforce rippling beneath her feet as the tide crawled forward like a beast made of darkness.

In the control room, Lie Qiu watched, frozen. The gap was too great. Black-White Heaven stewards were terrifying—far beyond ordinary Roaming-Star Realm cultivators, let alone a lockforce cultivator like her.

Wang Jie had swept through Lockspace with Ten Seals. After breaking the star, he was even stronger. Yet in front of Wu Yun, he still looked helpless.

If he died, she would be silenced. Without question.

What could she do?

Yi Sword Heaven was ahead. She’d already pushed the ship to its limit. Would she make it in time?

And even if she did—what would it change?

Wu Yun’s cold gaze settled on Wang Jie again. “Last chance. Join us. Yes, or no?”

Wang Jie lifted his head and coughed out another mouthful of blood. His voice was hoarse. “I don’t want to live like a dog.”

Wu Yun laughed. “If you’re not a dog, what are you? You’re a dog. Right now you’re Zhi Xing Xue’s dog, and one day you might be mine. If you want to live, you’ll be a dog.”

Wang Jie stared at her. “Even dogs choose their master. You’re not worthy.”

Wu Yun’s smile vanished. Black snowflakes drifted down from the void like ash. She opened her umbrella and approached, the cold deepening as the darkness crept closer.

“You really want to die?”

Wang Jie flexed his fingers, eyes never leaving her. Qi gathered around the umbrella, her sword arm, and her feet. The umbrella was the core of her offense, and the heavy concentration around her feet meant a movement technique—fast, sharp, hard to catch.

At this distance, even if he struck, he might miss.

So he changed the battlefield.

“Do you know Zhong Yi’s sword?” he asked suddenly.

Wu Yun’s eyes flickered. “What are you trying to say?”

“I can get it.”

Wu Yun’s breath caught for a fraction of a second. “You can get Zhong Yi’s sword?”

“Where is it?”

“The tenth layer.”

“How do you clear it?”

“Star-Breaking Realm. One hundred and fifty thousand combat power.”

Wu Yun frowned. Star-Breaking Realm, and that kind of requirement? Absurd.

No wonder Black-White Heaven had never cleared it through all these years.

Forget the tenth layer. Even the eighth and ninth layers were notoriously hard.

How strong Zhong Yi had been—no one knew. Countless people in Black-White Heaven wanted an answer.

A lockforce cultivator had left behind fifteen layers and sealed off every later generation. It made no sense.

Black-White Heaven ruled the fourth nebula. Genius cultivators were never scarce. There had even been a time when they selected and trained a batch of talents specifically in lockforce, sacrificing countless promising lives to force a breakthrough through the fifteen layers—

And still they failed.

Resources, manpower, time—Black-White Heaven had poured all of it into those layers.

If Wu Yun could bring Zhong Yi’s sword back, perhaps she could please Zhi Qing, perhaps she could erase the stain of her earlier failure.

“You’re sure you can take it?” she asked.

Wang Jie’s tone didn’t change. “Of course. Besides me, who else is there?”

Wu Yun studied him for a long moment. “Get me that sword. Betray Zhi Xing Xue, and I can guarantee you live like a person. Not like a dog.”

Wang Jie’s eyes slid—just briefly—toward the void outside. Yi Sword Heaven was getting closer and closer. “If I betray her, I’ll have nowhere left to stand.”

“You think one sword buys you freedom?” Wu Yun’s voice was edged with contempt.

Wang Jie lowered his voice. “That sword is a Five-Tribulations Chen Artifact.”

Wu Yun’s eyes narrowed.

The black snow stopped.

Then it reversed—shooting through the ship from the opposite direction. In a blink, the hull was perforated like a sieve. Explosions tore through compartment after compartment.

Wang Jie’s face tightened.

Wu Yun sneered. “You really think I can’t tell you’re stalling? I don’t care what you think stalling will accomplish. You only have one life.”

She stepped into the starry sky. Her movement was so fast Wang Jie didn’t even have a chance to strike.

“Betray,” she said from outside, “or die.”

The ship bucked and burned.

Wang Jie gritted his teeth and forced himself up amid the sparks. Space yawned open through ruptured walls. He couldn’t keep his footing—so he swallowed a Breath-Holding Pill.

Far away, Lie Qiu screamed, begging Wu Yun to spare her.

Wu Yun didn’t even look her way. They were ants. Their deaths meant nothing.

The ship continued to burn and detonate.

Lie Qiu’s voice broke. “Think of something—fast!”

Wang Jie’s jaw clenched. They were close to Yi Sword Heaven, but he couldn’t contact Qiu Chou. All he could do was pray Qiu Chou would see.

The ship shook again.

Metal screamed.

The void ate through the cabin.

Wang Jie’s body was exposed to open space again and again.

So was Lie Qiu.

Now the ship held only two living souls.

Wu Yun watched with almost casual amusement, like she was enjoying the spectacle of ants scrambling in a flood.

Then—

Sword Qi swept in from the distance.

Wu Yun turned and swung her umbrella. The Sword Qi scattered.

Wang Jie released a tight breath. Qiu Chou had arrived.

A figure strode through the starry sky, closing fast, sword in hand. Qiu Chou’s gaze snapped to Wu Yun.

“A Roaming-Star Realm cultivator?” he blurted, startled.

“A starforce cultivator?”

“Qiu Chou!” Wang Jie shouted. “Kill her! She’s trying to kill me!”

Qiu Chou glanced at Wang Jie, then back at Wu Yun. “You’re a starforce cultivator. Why are you in Lockspace?”

Wu Yun’s expression darkened. “Get lost. This doesn’t concern you.”

“She’s Wu Yun!” Wang Jie shouted again. “A steward from the Steward Hall!”

Wu Yun’s face sank.

Qiu Chou’s expression changed completely. Rage flashed across his features as he turned on Wang Jie. That bastard was trying to get him killed.

If he didn’t know who she was, he could retreat and pretend he’d seen nothing. But now?

Now Wu Yun would kill him to silence him.

Not long ago, the Elders Council had sworn publicly: anyone who meddled in Lockspace would not be spared.

Wu Yun would never leave a loose end in a stranger’s hands.

“I don’t know who Your Excellency is,” Qiu Chou said stiffly. “I’ll take my leave.”

He turned to flee.

Wang Jie shouted after him, “I already sent word outside! Qiu Chou is the witness. Wu Yun, your crimes will spread across Black-White Heaven!”

Qiu Chou exploded. “Wang Jie! Don’t you dare—”

Wang Jie’s eyes were cold. “Then help me kill this traitor who violated the sect’s rules.”