Chapter 202

Chapter 202: Guidance

The Zhi family’s Fixed-Star Technique was almost unreasonable. It directly fixed an opponent’s starforce in place.

It was Wang Jie’s first time seeing it used. No wonder Zhi Shu had been so unwilling to accept it.

If Wang Jie cultivated starforce, he would be fixed on the spot. Winning would become far too hard.

So this was the Fixed-Chen Zhi family.

Azure’s starforce was fixed too. The bronze slips dropped, their formation collapsing.

Against the Zhi family, starforce cultivators were naturally at a disadvantage.

Just when everyone thought Spring-Autumn Hand would decide the match—

Azure lifted her eyes.

Above her head, beneath the collapsing Earth Bastion, a phantom of saber and sheath appeared.

Slash.

Fixed-Star Technique fixed the starforce being used at that moment.

Azure had used Earth Bastion to conceal the formation of Guillotine Platform, luring Zhi Qing Po into using Fixed-Star Technique.

Fixed-Star Technique couldn’t be used endlessly. Each use came with a cooldown.

And that single slash shattered all twelve bronze slips as they closed in.

If the bronze slips hadn’t approached, Guillotine Platform’s strike would have been useless.

Now Spring-Autumn Hand was broken. Fixed-Star Technique had been spent.

Azure lunged forward and cut horizontally at Zhi Qing Po.

Zhi Qing Po repeatedly froze the space with starforce, trying to form shields of cold void, but Azure’s saber kept cutting through—step by step, forcing her back.

In the air, starforce like flowing sand mixed with flames, spreading and churning until it felt as if it could blot out the world.

Sand-burning starforce.

Ye Huang couldn’t help stepping forward. He cultivated sand-burning starforce too.

It was exactly the same.

Sand-burning starforce happened to counter Eternal Freeze.

It melted the ice.

Azure forced her way through the frost and slashed toward Zhi Qing Po.

In that moment, blinding radiance erupted.

Light ripples starforce.

A soft boom echoed.

Zhi Qing Po was knocked off the platform.

Defeat.

Black-White Heaven fell silent again.

In raw strength, the two should have been evenly matched.

But Azure had used the Zhi family’s Fixed-Star Technique to break Spring-Autumn Hand. That was the difference in combat experience.

For the Zhi family, Fixed-Star Technique could be both their making and their undoing.

Wang Jie was impressed. He prided himself on combat experience, but Azure was absolutely formidable too.

Two battles, two losses.

White Realm Lord Jun Qian remained calm, as if none of it bothered him.

But Black-White Heaven’s disciples looked ugly. Shocked whispers spread through the crowd at the First Nebula’s strength.

Whether it was Shen Zhao or Zhi Qing Po, both were top-tier figures in Black-White Heaven at their realms—meaning top-tier in the Fourth Nebula. Yet they still lost.

And the other side might not even have sent their very best.

Si Shang He’s eyes flicked toward Wang Jie at the back of the crowd. In truth, whether Star-Breaking or Full-Star, they could have sent that man.

He had beaten Zhi Shu.

But White Realm Lord Jun Qian controlled everything here. Si Shang He couldn’t interfere.

Now came the third battle.

Behind Qi Xue Yin, a man stepped out.

He wore plain robes and carried a saber wrapped in white cloth, without a sheath. His face was cold and still.

The moment he moved—

Wang Jie’s heart suddenly tightened. He hadn’t noticed him before. Not once.

And it wasn’t just Wang Jie. Everyone who had attended the pill assembly stared in surprise. The man’s outfit was odd, yet why had no one registered him until now?

Si Shang He’s expression turned grave. “A saber hidden within the self.”

Celestial Master Bai Ye’s face was solemn too. “To suppress a saber’s edge this deeply is rare in the Roaming-Star Realm.”

White Realm Lord Jun Qian spoke. “Han Ling.”

In the crowd, Han Ling stepped out without hesitation.

This battle was his.

As one of the Six-Path Roamers, Roaming-Star combat was his responsibility.

Below the stands, many Black-White Heaven disciples finally relaxed.

They didn’t fully understand the shock that man had brought to the pill assembly crowd. They only trusted Han Ling completely.

Han Ling was one of the Six-Path Roamers—an invincible existence in their hearts.

The Six-Path Roamers didn’t appear every generation. This generation was a burst of geniuses, and Black-White Heaven had gathered all of them.

Han Ling had spent years on the Star-Cloud Battlefield. His combat experience and talent were both terrifyingly high.

He would definitely win.

On the platform, Han Ling stared at the man, far more serious than when he faced Mo Wan Yin. “Black-White Heaven, Han Ling. Please enlighten me.”

The man slowly unwound the white cloth from his saber edge. “Milky Way Defense Corporation, Luan Dao. Please enlighten me.”

“Begin,” White Realm Lord Jun Qian said.

Han Ling waved a hand, and violent blackflame swept across the platform in an instant, staining the sky. Even distant parts of Black-White Heaven seemed to shiver under the pressure. It wasn’t even in the same league as the earlier fights.

Wang Jie’s eyes sharpened.

This was the might of a Six-Path Roamer.

If he faced Han Ling, he wouldn’t withstand even the first wave. He would burn to ash.

Luan Dao kept unwrapping the cloth unhurriedly.

Blackflame licked his body, scorching him. Skin charred. Hair singed. His entire body flushed red with heat.

The crowd stared, dumbfounded.

Was he going to be roasted alive?

Han Ling reached into his storage ring, pulled out a long halberd, then thrust.

With that thrust, the blackflame abruptly compressed and merged completely into the halberd.

“Great Sun Halberd!”

“That’s Senior Brother Han’s Great Sun Halberd!”

“The opponent is dead.”

“No one survives Senior Brother Han’s Great Sun Halberd intact.”

Luan Dao finally finished unwrapping the cloth.

Only then did everyone realize the cloth had not been burned by the blackflame at all.

The instant the cloth came off, Luan Dao gripped the saber with both hands and slashed.

Great Sun Halberd stabbed straight in.

When the saber fell, it was like heaven and earth colliding.

A thunderous boom shook the air. The space above the platform visibly warped, and fragments of saber-glow swept outward.

White Realm Lord Jun Qian flicked a finger, and the aftershocks were blocked.

The platform’s stone was carved away layer by layer.

Han Ling stared at Luan Dao, gripping the Great Sun Halberd tightly as starforce poured out in a wild surge. A black river-like image even seemed to flow along the ground from his feet.

“That’s the phenomenon Han Ling manifested from contemplating the Great Domain Scripture,” Mo Wan Yin said under her breath.

Wang Jie watched, tense.

Luan Dao’s eyes didn’t waver. He only stepped forward with his right foot.

Maybe it was an illusion, but it felt as if the saber slashed again in that instant.

But the halberd was still braced against the blade. How could it strike again?

Another massive boom.

Han Ling spat blood and was blasted off the platform. He slid back several steps, only stabilizing when the Great Sun Halberd plunged into the ground.

Everyone stared in shock.

What just happened?

Wang Jie didn’t understand either. He kept qi sight up, but both of their qi was concentrated on their weapons—vast, violent, and compressed. He couldn’t read it.

“Senior Sister,” Su Le whispered, “how did Senior Brother Han lose?”

Mo Wan Yin shook her head.

White Realm Lord Jun Qian looked at Luan Dao. “Girl, your preparation is a little too thorough.”

“If I’m not mistaken, that was Third Zen Heaven’s Outer Zen First Blade art—Myriad-Instant Slash.”

The crowd froze.

Myriad-Instant Slash?

The name sounded almost blunt to the point of absurdity—and yet—

Qi Xue Yin smiled in admiration. “Uncle Jun truly has broad knowledge. That’s right. It’s Outer Zen’s First Blade.”

“Luan Dao was seconded to Third Zen Heaven and barely managed to cultivate this saber art. Please don’t laugh.”

Laugh?

Who would dare?

One blade had defeated Han Ling. Who could laugh at that?

White Realm Lord Jun Qian praised, “Even if it’s Outer Zen, if Outer Zen’s First Blade is cultivated to the peak, it’s not inferior to Third Zen Heaven’s meditation path at all.”

“For this boy to master it, he truly is a rare genius. This loss isn’t unfair.”

“It’s also good for Black-White Heaven’s disciples to broaden their horizons.”

“Everyone thinks the Six-Path Roamers are incredible. Do you see clearly now?”

“Back then, the First Nebula’s Yun Lai easily defeated a Six-Path Roamer.”

Black-White Heaven’s disciples fell silent.

Han Ling put away the Great Sun Halberd and said with genuine admiration, “Brother Luan Dao has superb saber skill. I accept defeat.”

Luan Dao nodded and said nothing else, returning behind Qi Xue Yin.

But no one dared ignore him now.

He was terrifying.

In Black-White Heaven, he might have been the strongest Roaming-Star cultivator.

Pills, forging, arrays, Star-Breaking, Full-Star, Roaming-Star—six matches.

Black-White Heaven lost them all.

It wasn’t just ugly anymore.

Qi Xue Yin had offered no face at all.

Many people looked ashamed.

No matter what, Black-White Heaven should have been allowed at least one win. They had come from far away. Doing this felt too harsh.

But others guessed the cooperation between the Milky Way Defense Corporation and Black-White Heaven was so important that Qi Xue Yin wouldn’t yield an inch.

Qi Xue Yin bowed to White Realm Lord Jun Qian, Si Shang He, and the others. “Thank you, Seniors, for your mercy. Junior came prepared. Though Black-White Heaven lost, your glory remains.”

Si Shang He felt bitter, but when he remembered the secondment offer Qi Xue Yin had mentioned, he swallowed his anger.

Six out of six, then a secondment offer. Soft and hard together—her methods were sharp.

White Realm Lord Jun Qian looked at her with a half-smile. “A loss is a loss. But it’s good for these disciples to see that even though Black-White Heaven controls the Fourth Nebula, we are not invincible.”

Qi Xue Yin was about to speak when space twisted.

A figure stepped out of the distortion and appeared before everyone.

Wang Jie turned, startled.

Zhi Ye?

Qi Xue Yin saw him and quickly bowed. “Junior Qi Xue Yin greets Senior Zhi Ye.”

The people behind her bowed as well.

All of Black-White Heaven bowed too. Only White Realm Lord Jun Qian, Si Shang He, Celestial Master Bai Ye, and a few others did not.

Zhi Ye raised a hand. “No need for courtesy.”

Qi Xue Yin straightened, eyes bright. “Junior planned to pay respects after the pill assembly, but I didn’t expect to see Senior now. It’s truly an honor for Junior.”

Zhi Ye smiled. “Our sect lost six matches in a row. If we’re talking about honor, the honor should be ours.”

Qi Xue Yin didn’t mind the edge in his words. “Senior also made quite a name in the First Nebula back then. You came from nowhere and vanished to nowhere. You were many people’s nightmare.”

“Compared to Senior, this is nothing.”

“Before I came, elders in my family specifically told me to greet Senior. If Senior can guide me by even a few moves, it would be the honor of Junior’s life.”

Black-White Heaven’s disciples relaxed a little.

Qi Xue Yin’s attitude seemed sincere. Did Elder Zhi Ye really have that much fame in the First Nebula?

White Realm Lord Jun Qian and the others weren’t surprised.

Zhi Ye wasn’t a realm lord only because of seniority. In battle, who in Black-White Heaven dared claim they could beat him?

Wang Jie hadn’t expected Zhi Ye’s status in Qi Xue Yin’s eyes to be so high.

Qi Xue Yin was respectful to White Realm Lord Jun Qian, but toward Zhi Ye she carried both restraint and a faint, genuine wariness.

Zhi Ye chuckled. “Girl, you talk just like the elders in your family.”

Qi Xue Yin smiled and bowed again.

“But if you want guidance, fine.”

Zhi Ye agreed.

Qi Xue Yin’s eyes lit up. “Many thanks, Senior.”

Everyone could tell she wasn’t just being polite.

She truly wanted Zhi Ye’s guidance.

“But I also have a junior,” Zhi Ye continued, his tone shifting, “who hopes for guidance from your side.”

Qi Xue Yin frowned in confusion.

White Realm Lord Jun Qian’s eyes flickered.

Si Shang He shot a subtle glance toward Wang Jie at the back of the crowd.

Here it comes.

Others might accept defeat, but Zhi Ye would not.

“Wang Jie,” Zhi Ye called out.