Chapter 210
Chapter 210: The Slaughter
Every promotion was hard-earned, because to form blood, one had to slay strong enemies with equal battle achievements—not simply those of similar cultivation.
“That’s why on the battlefield, your kill count is the only standard,” Di Zi said firmly. “Don’t tell me about realms or cultivation levels; they are meaningless. Even Star Refining Realm cultivators can die on the battlefield. Out there, no matter your strength, you’re no different from ordinary people.”
“Your kill count is your only voice on that battlefield,” she reminded them again.
Wang Jie stared at the jade pendant in his hand, [Is this all?] Apparently, the other Star Clouds also used this same pendant as their identity badge. Without it, forming blood would be impossible.
No matter how he looked at it, this was a carefully arranged war.
[So, this is the Star Cloud battlefield?]
At his side, a young woman spoke bitterly: “What’s the use? It’s just to make it easier for others to count our kills.” She stuffed the pendant carelessly into her chest pocket.
Wang Jie was speechless.
The crowd gradually boarded the starship. With a jolt, Ping Xiao disappeared behind them. They were officially heading toward the Ying Yang battlefield.
Inside the ship, Di Zi waited outside a resting chamber.
Soon, the door opened.
She stepped inside, bowing respectfully as she said: “Master, we’ve departed.”
Before her, an elder slowly opened his eyes, calmly gazing at Di Zi: “Did you see Wang Jie?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Assign him to guard the Formation Daoist—on the very frontline.”
“This disciple understands.”
All one hundred thousand people gathered inside the ship’s dining hall. The vast space still felt cramped with so many souls pressed together.
After their initial unease, the people around began accepting reality. Like the Star Force cultivators, they quickly formed alliances, banding together to improve their chances of survival on the battlefield.
But Wang Jie, though the strongest Lock Force cultivator, stood isolated. Nobody approached him. The gap between them was simply too great.
“Time to begin…”
Wang Jie stood up calmly, and under the gaze of one hundred thousand pairs of eyes, he started exercising.
He had long grown accustomed to this; his expression remained unchanged, making those watching him suddenly feel awkward for staring.
With the speed of a Star Cloud-class starship, traveling from Death Island to the Ying Yang battlefield took just over a month.
During this time, Wang Jie sat alone in a corner, unbothered by anyone. When it was time, he would exercise and silently cultivate. Of course, he didn’t practice the Bone Tempering Method—it was inappropriate in front of so many eyes.
[If I survive the battlefield, I should head to Devour Star to absorb more Lock Force.]
He had collected many materials in his storage ring to replenish his Lock Force during critical moments. Unfortunately, there were no convenient pills for Lock Force, unlike the Star Force pills. No alchemy daoist was willing to create pills specifically for Lock Force cultivators.
A month passed, and Di Zi appeared again.
This was only the second time everyone had seen her. Her purpose was clear—to assign battlefield missions.
Among the hundred thousand, only two groups were formed. Eighty thousand would follow her, and another twenty thousand would head elsewhere. As for Wang Jie, he received a solitary mission.
Wang Jie looked at his personal terminal, viewing the star map and his assigned task. [Guarding a Formation Daoist again?]
The same task he had once performed back in the Silver Radiance Empire, protecting Mu Ran.
After assigning missions, Di Zi left without another glance at Wang Jie. Nobody else knew he’d been given a special mission.
Soon, the Ying Yang battlefield came into view.
The starship trembled slightly as everyone disembarked, gazing ahead in awe.
Countless battleships densely surrounded various planets. Structures extended from the planets into space, connecting ships, transporting goods, repairs, and countless cultivators coming and going.
In the massive starport alone, thousands of similar starships waited. Nearby ships were boarding tens of thousands of cultivators.
Wang Jie studied these groups. [Aren’t they from Black White Heaven? Then they must be people from the Third Nebula.] They appeared vastly different, many wore simple clothes, some even held homemade weapons, their faces tight with nervousness.
As they boarded their ships and departed, he watched quietly.
In the distance, on the planets, countless figures hurried about, busy and shouting commands to one another.
Above, battleships formed lines, disappearing into space.
This was the reality of the interstellar battlefield.
There was advanced technology, cultivators, and endless people. Wang Jie’s group, coming from Black White Heaven, might actually be considered elites here compared to many.
He guessed correctly: those earlier groups were natives of Slaughter Stone planets—not referring to Lock Path Intervals, but worlds conquered by Black White Heaven outside the Fourth Star Cloud.
[If Blue Star hadn’t been relocated back then, I would probably be like them, boarding a ship with a crude weapon, becoming just another sacrifice, disappearing in the explosion of a planet.]
Nearby, Lock Force cultivators split into two streams, departing quickly.
Following the instructions on his terminal, Wang Jie searched for ship number 11693, the starship he was meant to board.
The port was too vast, spanning multiple planets. [Where do I even start?]
While pondering, his eyes suddenly sharpened, staring at a starship beginning to depart nearby.
Beneath the ship, someone hung desperately, hidden in its shadow.
As the starship launched, the figure leaped down, landing heavily onto the port as the ship vanished into the starry void.
Wang Jie stared in surprise at the armored figure, breathing heavily like a general of ancient times. The man raised his head, meeting Wang Jie’s eyes.
Just then, alarms began ringing sharply.
“Capture the battle slave at Port 0057, immediately seize him, immediately!” As the voice rang out, a screen appeared behind, clearly displaying the man’s face, large and unmistakable.
Cultivators around instantly rushed toward that spot.
The man who looked like a general gritted his teeth and growled, “I’m no slave! I am a guardian general of the nation! What kind of worthless creatures are you to dare treat me as a slave?”
A shadow flew past Wang Jie, swiftly pressing toward the man.
The general struck out with a fierce punch, releasing his lock force. A faint shadow flashed briefly.
Wang Jie felt shock: [Impossible—Spring-Autumn Hand?]
This man had truly grasped the Spring-Autumn Hand, even if it was just the initial form.
Yet the phantom shattered under a single palm strike. The general was easily crushed to the ground, his head pinned under the foot of a young man.
The young man sneered coldly: “What sort of guardian general do you think you are here? Just another lock-force fodder. If you hadn’t grasped a bit of the Spring-Autumn Hand, you’d already be dead.” With that, he kicked the general away. Immediately, cultivators rushed in to seize him.
After capturing the general, the young man turned his gaze onto Wang Jie, his eyes sharp with suspicion: “What is your business here?”
Wang Jie calmly replied, “I’m looking for spaceship number 11693.”
The young man raised his hand and pointed to the right: “That port, over there.”
“Thank you,” Wang Jie said, then turned away.
He searched for several long hours before finally locating the ship.
Stepping aboard, Wang Jie keyed in the mission details. The spaceship activated, lifting into the sky and heading toward the distant stars.
The Ying Yang Battlefield was vast, split into many smaller battle zones.
Looking at the star chart, Wang Jie realized it would take ten full days to arrive. The location marked was at the very edge of this battlefield sector. He didn’t fully understand the Ying Yang Battlefield yet, but he knew enough about formation daoists to guess that any formation they set would likely be on the battlefield’s outermost boundary.
The edge also meant it was the front line.
[Was this intentional?] he wondered. Was this arranged by his cheap master, or by Di Zi himself? He suspected the latter.
In Black White Heaven, he had no shortage of enemies.
Three days passed. Suddenly, the spaceship’s alarm blared sharply. Wang Jie checked the screen and saw enemies ahead to the right. He quickly adjusted course, avoiding the area.
Two more days passed, and another enemy appeared. Again, he diverted, taking the longer way around.
A few days later, a voice suddenly transmitted: “Spaceship 11693, do you have any supplies? Repeating—Spaceship 11693, any supplies?”
“None,” Wang Jie replied. The voice belonged to another ship from Black White Heaven.
Upon hearing his answer, the other ship fell silent.
Days later, Wang Jie was finally nearing his destination.
As he studied the surrounding planets on the star map, trying to pinpoint the exact world, alarms began shrieking urgently.
His expression changed instantly: [Not good.]
From afar, countless beams of light shot toward him.
The ship instantly activated its defenses, but there were too many beams. The shield trembled violently.
Without hesitation, Wang Jie piloted the craft toward the nearest planet. Yet, waves of energy beams poured forth, blotting out the stars. His ship was standard issue—built purely for speed with little defense. Though it allowed him to reach this place in ten days, it held up only briefly under the fierce bombardment before cracking apart.
Energy beams pierced through the ship.
Wang Jie narrowly dodged, kicked open the hatch, and propelled himself out into space, hurtling toward the planet.
Just as he jumped clear, the spaceship exploded behind him, scattering debris into the stars.
As Wang Jie sped toward the planet, he glanced back. The beams had stopped, but now he saw creatures approaching—bugs flying through space, much like sky locusts, but each one three meters long. Riding atop each insect was a being—a person from Gong Nation?
He was surrounded.
Countless sky locusts carrying Gong Nation warriors swiftly closed in, quickly catching up to him.
The fastest Gong Nation warrior swung a blade at Wang Jie, sneering viciously. Wang Jie deflected it but found his body restrained, movement difficult.
The sky locust shrieked and lunged toward him, jaws open wide to swallow him whole.
But Wang Jie had been waiting for this moment. Twisting sharply, he grabbed hold of the insect and leaped onto its back. Ignoring the Gong Nation warrior’s stunned gaze, he delivered a crushing palm strike, killing him instantly, and flung the corpse into space.
The sky locust struggled desperately to shake Wang Jie off, but he kept tight control.
He often commandeered creatures for travel.
With a single fierce punch, the locust’s limbs cracked open, and it ceased resisting, forced by Wang Jie toward the planet below.
Yet other sky locusts quickly surrounded him. Gong Nation warriors unleashed eerie battle cries, utterly unconcerned about their fallen comrade.
They charged relentlessly.
Dozens of sky locusts surged forward, weapons raining down toward Wang Jie.
Drawing his sword, Wang Jie swung it forward. Powerful lock force burst forth, instantly severing every weapon and slaying both the sky locusts and their riders with one sweep. But the more he killed, the greater the number of Gong Nation warriors charging at him.
Blood-stabbing methods filled the void, warriors darting around him, unleashing continuous strikes.
Wang Jie tightened his grip on the sword’s hilt, preparing Star-Gazing Sword Style.
Just then, the sky locust beneath him shook violently, interrupting his technique. A chilling flash of light approached—a giant blade swung at him by a Wandering Star Realm cultivator.
Wang Jie stomped down on the insect, thrusting forward one finger, using Starry Finger Technique.
Stars spun in harmony as countless finger-shadows cascaded through space, raining down upon everything nearby—including that Wandering Star Realm warrior from Gong Nation.
Under the Starry Finger Technique, the area instantly cleared.
Even the fearless Gong Nation warriors retreated from such overwhelming force. They might not fear death, but neither would they die meaninglessly. Clearly, Wang Jie was far beyond their strength.