Chapter 162

Chapter 162: Nine Form Diagram

Wu Yun, unwilling to accept her defeat, looked back at Wang Jie behind the Darkstar umbrella, her eyes blazing with fury. She leaped into the air, rushing down the path she had come from.

Wang Jie raised his hand, and countless swords shot out, each one shimmering with cold light. Sword Form Technique—Single Line to Heaven.

Dozens of swords pursued Wu Yun, relentlessly closing in on her. She turned swiftly, unleashing her black snow star force, an energy that connected heaven and earth, blocking all the swords in their path. With a powerful surge, she broke free from the Sword Mastery heaven and fled into the vastness of the starry sky.

She was running.

The moment she left the Sword Mastery heaven, the black snow star force began to dissipate. Her star force was now almost depleted.

Wang Jie felt weak, his body heavy with exhaustion as he watched Wu Yun escape. He couldn’t follow—he couldn’t even catch up. His own injuries were severe, and he quickly swallowed a restoration pill to try and regain some strength.

His chest felt heavy, and a shard of his mask fell to the ground. It had been the mask that had blocked Wu Yun’s previous strike, saving his life. Without it, he would have had no strength to continue, let alone borrow strength with the debt note.

Thankfully, the borrowed power had been enough to force her into retreat.

This was the power of a Black White heaven star force cultivator. If it hadn’t been for his various tactics, even with Qiu Chou’s assistance, he would have died without a doubt. Wu Yun had looked down on cultivators who used the lock force, but she was right to do so.

Her star force wasn’t superior to Qiu Chou’s lock force, but the difference was in its strangeness.

The black snow star force easily crushed the lock force.

Wang Jie slapped the broken pieces of the mask off. What a waste.

The land of Sword Mastery heaven had changed drastically because of this battle. He could only guess how many lives were lost in the aftermath.

Turning, he gazed ahead.

On the ground lay a severed head—it was Qiu Chou. Most of his body had already been buried beneath the earth.

Wang Jie stepped forward, his movements slow and deliberate. He reached Qiu Chou’s side and, fatigued, sat down, staring at him.

Qiu Chou’s eyes were covered in the black snow, rendering him blind for the time being. Though he could not see, he sensed that Wang Jie was before him. If it had been Wu Yun, he would have already been dead.

“She… she left?” Qiu Chou asked, his voice weak.

“Yes,” Wang Jie replied simply.

“Good, we… cough cough… we fought her off together. Do you know she’s a deacon of the Deacon Hall? The Black White heaven deacons are not cultivators to be trifled with. They watch over the great domain canon and emerge from the battlefield as fierce warriors. That woman is a formidable character. Lucky for us, we joined forces. Otherwise, we would’ve surely died.”

Wang Jie chuckled. “You have thick skin. You pushed me out to die earlier, and now you pretend nothing happened?”

“I didn’t!” Qiu Chou protested weakly. “You’ve also pushed me out before! But… but I couldn’t find the right moment to strike back. Besides, you’re the one who told me she was Wu Yun. If you hadn’t, she wouldn’t have hunted me down, right?”

Wang Jie nodded, his tone cool. “That’s right. So we’re even.”

Qiu Chou’s voice grew weaker, “Right, even. So, can I leave now?”

Wang Jie’s voice turned cold. “That’s settled, but what happened before still stands.”

Qiu Chou hesitated, his voice trembling, “Before, I saved you… cough cough, do you remember? We’ve always been cooperating. I… I’ll even give up that sword. We’re even now, it’s all square.”

Wang Jie didn’t respond. He took a deep breath, but remained silent.

Qiu Chou, unsettled, began to speak faster. “Wang Jie, Brother Wang, we’re even now, right? From now on, in this Lock Path interval, you can do whatever you want. Wu Yun won’t give up, she’ll come back to kill you. I’ll help you. How about we join forces again and deal with her together?”

Wang Jie didn’t answer.

Qiu Chou knew he was there, speaking on, but Wang Jie remained silent. He wanted to send a message out, but his personal terminal was damaged, and his contact with the outside world was severed. Qiu Chou’s terminal was also destroyed.

Fortunately, his personal terminal could still contact his spaceship. As long as the distance wasn’t too far, he could control it remotely.

Days passed.

Finally, when it was time to take the restoration pill and exercise, Wang Jie swallowed one and completed his exercises, fully recovering before speaking: “How long would it take for Wu Yun to recover from her injuries?”

Qiu Chou had suffered greatly over the past few days. His injuries hadn’t been treated, and they had worsened. His complexion was ashen, and his voice was faint, as if he might die at any moment. “Actually, it’s all external injuries. We… we don’t cultivate the strange star force, so recovery isn’t too hard, cough cough. The difficult part is replenishing star force. She cultivates the strange star force, and that’s hard to replenish unless she goes back. Here in the Lock Path interval, she can only replenish normal star force.”

“You don’t need to worry. With normal star force, Wu Yun and I will surely be able to kill her.”

Wang Jie reached out, pulling Qiu Chou out of the ground. As Qiu Chou was about to thank him, Wang Jie casually threw him back onto the ground.

Qiu Chou didn’t dare to show any anger. He forced himself to express gratitude, but as he spoke, he coughed up blood.

Wang Jie stared at him, pulling out the nine form diagram. “Come, perform various movements.”

Qiu Chou was confused. “What movements?”

Wang Jie sat on a stone, unfazed. “Stop pretending. You can see now. Do various movements for me—walking, jumping, running, flying, and anything else. Do them all. Don’t think about running. The distance to the starry sky is considerable, and you’re not Wu Yun. You won’t escape.”

Qiu Chou was confused, unsure of Wang Jie’s intentions, but he had no choice but to obey.

He did his best to perform various movements, occasionally glancing over at Wang Jie, wondering what he was doing.

Wang Jie was focused on the nine form diagram.

He was tracing Qiu Chou’s movements.

As Qiu Chou completed various actions, the figures on the nine form diagram became clearer. As the name suggested, the diagram had nine figures, and once all nine were completed, the diagram would be considered a success. So far, five had been finished.

Wang Jie made Qiu Chou continue changing movements—thinking poses, muscle-showing poses, even silly faces—forcing Qiu Chou into an awkward position, but he could not refuse.

As the last figure was completed, the nine forms merged into one, creating a lifelike, almost moving Qiu Chou.

Wang Jie stared at the nine form diagram—it was indistinguishable from the real Qiu Chou. No, it wasn’t just similar; it was him.

It was a perfect imitation.

Unfortunately, Qiu Chou was too injured to exert strength; otherwise, even his strength could have been mimicked.

Qiu Chou was still moving, following Wang Jie’s instructions.

Wang Jie released his hold, and the nine form diagram floated in midair. With a swift movement, Wang Jie stepped over the diagram, and it rippled like water. The next moment, he emerged from it—now, he was another Qiu Chou.

Qiu Chou stared at the exact replica of himself, unable to differentiate between the two—every movement, expression, and even the subtle injuries on his body were replicated perfectly.

“What… what is this?” he stammered.

Wang Jie smiled, though it was Qiu Chou’s smile.

Qiu Chou had never been so terrified of himself. Watching himself smile felt like seeing the most terrifying thing imaginable.

He turned and fled.

I’m dead. He never planned to let me live.

Wang Jie raised his hand, controlling Qiu Chou with lock force from afar. Qiu Chou, attempting to break free with his own lock force, found himself powerless against the recovered Wang Jie, who easily captured him and slammed him back to the ground.

“Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything. Just don’t kill me.”

Wang Jie looked down, his eyes cold with murderous intent. “Our past debts are settled. But you’ve seen my secret, and for that, I’m sorry.” He raised his hand.

Qiu Chou’s pupils contracted, his face turning white. “I won’t leave the Lock Path interval, and I’ll give you everything I’ve collected over the years—tons of materials, a star cloud map for escape routes, and… and…”

Bang

Before he could finish, Wang Jie’s palm struck down, ending it all.

To enemies, there was no mercy.

He had used Qiu Chou to deal with Wu Yun, and Qiu Chou had used him as a shield. Neither of them were good people, and there was no need to dwell on it. Qiu Chou had always been an enemy, and once he was dealt with, that was that.

Wang Jie rummaged through Qiu Chou’s storage ring. There wasn’t much—only some starstones, pills, and everyday supplies. Any valuable items were likely hidden elsewhere, just like with Nie Zhou.

Wang Jie hadn’t planned to take everything. One couldn’t be too greedy.

He walked past the nine form diagram again, restoring himself.

He wasn’t sure how long Qiu Chou’s appearance would last without the nine form diagram, but he had no intention of trying.

Approaching the entrance to Sword Mastery heaven, he noticed two spaceships nearby—one was Qiu Chou’s, the other was his own, which he had remotely controlled back.

Qiu Chou’s spaceship was now useless. Wang Jie remembered that it had been fine during his fight with Wu Yun. It must have been damaged when Wu Yun left the Sword Mastery heaven—she hadn’t planned to let him go.

He was about to board his spaceship when he paused, turning his head. In the distance, Lie Qiu stepped forward.

Wang Jie was surprised, eyeing her carefully. “You’re still alive?”

Lie Qiu’s expression was grim, and her voice was bitter. “I got lucky. Your spaceship passed by me, and I grabbed it, or I’d be dead in the cosmos.”

Wang Jie’s gaze grew cold with killing intent. “You’re still alive, yet you dare appear before me? You brought Wu Yun here.”

Lie Qiu sighed helplessly. “I had no choice. I didn’t expect Wu Yun to come to the Lock Path interval herself. She risked everything. If she doesn’t kill you, she won’t leave. If she kills you, even if Black White heaven discovers her, she can swap identities and continue as a deacon, perhaps even rising in rank.”

“But she came looking for me because of you, so I have every right to kill you, don’t I?”

Lie Qiu nodded. “True, but before, you promised me that as long as the spaceship headed to Sword Mastery heaven, you would spare me. I can buy my life.”

Wang Jie raised an eyebrow. “Buy it with what?”

“Strange planet.”

Wang Jie was taken aback. “You actually have a Strange planet?” Previously, when Lie Qiu had lured him to her spaceship, it had been under the pretense of offering a Strange planet. It seemed it had been true all along.

Lie Qiu smiled bitterly. “The Lock Path interval has seen many power changes. Today, it’s the Four Alliances; tomorrow, maybe eight, or nine. Do you know why the power shifts so frequently? It’s not because we’ve offended those above us. Now we know—it’s not the upper powers fighting.”

Of course, it wasn’t the upper powers fighting. Everyone had known it at first, but now they were all clear—the Lock Path interval was controlled by Zhi Qing.

She was a formidable figure, one of only three in Black White heaven who could rival her status. Even the realm lords of the Black and White realms were beneath her. With someone like her in charge of the Lock Path interval, who dared challenge her?

“The real reason… is the Strange planet.”

“They’ve been searching for a Strange planet for ages. If they can’t find it, they either change people or reshuffle everything.”

“And those who find a Strange planet are either replaced or taken away.”

“We’ve been searching for one. I’m not sure if anyone else has found one, but I have one hidden.”

Wang Jie was intrigued. “What kind of Strange planet?”

Lie Qiu recollected, “It’s a planet that can shift or fold attacks. That is, if you strike there, your attacks will be redirected, shifting to another direction without you even realizing it.”

It sounded like a valuable place.

Wang Jie nodded, but if Lie Qiu was lying, she would pay the price with her life.