Chapter 211

Chapter 211: Second Star Cloud

The roaming-star realm Luo Kingdom fighter managed to block several of the descending finger shadows, but he was still forced backward. His saber fractured and snapped.

He stared at Wang Jie in disbelief. “What realm are you?”

He was ordinary for his level—combat power barely above a hundred thousand. The same kind Wang Jie had killed before.

Now, Wang Jie could have ended him easily.

But the locust beneath Wang Jie finally gave out. Its body shuddered, then fell, limp and dying.

Wang Jie’s gaze flicked down.

That instant was enough.

The roaming-star realm fighter surged in. Blood-Prick Art flared, turning his skin red as he roared and brought his broken saber down in a simple, vicious chop.

This was the moment Wang Jie wanted.

His sword vanished into his ring. In its place, a long whip snapped out.

As the saber fell, the whip coiled around the Luo Kingdom fighter’s body.

Thunder Pattern flashed.

The saber slammed into a wall of lightning and stopped dead.

The Luo Kingdom fighter’s face went pale. That thunder wasn’t something he could shatter.

The whip yanked him forward.

Wang Jie closed the distance in an instant.

This whip was loot from Great Chen Mountain—a third-tribulation chen artifact taken from a roaming-star realm enemy who’d dared strike at him.

Before reaching roaming-star realm himself, a whip like this was convenient.

Wang Jie seized the man by the throat. “Take me to the planet.”

The Luo Kingdom fighter spat blood and bared his teeth. “Dream on, little kid. You’re not roaming-star realm, but you’re this strong—my clan won’t let you leave alive. You’re dead.”

He twisted his body and struck at Wang Jie at an impossible angle.

Power-Storing Method?

Wang Jie grimaced. He hated dealing with people like this—people who didn’t fear death and didn’t care about pain. There was nothing to threaten, nothing to bargain with.

Then a blinding light ignited in the distance.

Wang Jie’s heart sank.

Beams swept toward him again.

Luo Kingdom had tech weapons too—not just gong-bones.

Some warships could unleash firepower strong enough to destroy planets. The better ones could erase roaming-star realm.

One or two beams wouldn’t matter.

But this wasn’t one or two.

The void lit up, streaked with dense lines of annihilation.

Wang Jie released Thunder Pattern.

The impact slammed into his lightning barrier with a thunderous crash. The force drove him toward the planet.

Then beams lanced up from the planet’s side as well—attacks from behind.

Wang Jie could only rotate Thunder Pattern again and again, trying to cover every angle.

The Luo Kingdom fighter used the chaos to struggle free.

Wang Jie tossed him straight into one of the oncoming beams.

He didn’t even have time to scream before he turned to ash.

Beams hammered in from every direction. There was nowhere to run.

Somehow, the planet-side barrage stopped.

A figure rushed in fast. “Follow me!”

Wang Jie flicked his whip out again.

The newcomer grabbed it—then hissed sharply. His palm split open. Barbs.

Wang Jie felt the jerk as the man yanked hard, dragging him clear of the beam range.

Behind them, locusts flooded in pursuit.

Wang Jie pointed.

Myriad-Stars Finger.

Finger shadows fell in a wide spread, ripping through the leading swarm and buying them space.

With a heavy thud, Wang Jie slammed into the ground, kicking up dust.

He was on the planet.

The soil was dark red. Pools of green liquid bubbled nearby, releasing foul steam.

Wang Jie exhaled hard. Solid ground had never felt so good.

A voice snapped from the distance, irritated and pained. “Little kid, how the hell are you so sneaky? A whip is one thing, but barbs too? Look at my hand. You owe me.”

Wang Jie turned.

A young man glared at him, his palm slick with blood.

“My apologies,” Wang Jie said. “Thank you for saving my life, Your Excellency.”

The young man snorted and sprinkled medicine on his injured palm. “I thought it was a normal whip. Didn’t expect it to bite this hard. Feels like it’s poisonous too. Really sneaky.”

It wasn’t just any whip. It was a third-tribulation chen artifact used by a roaming-star realm.

And the one complaining in front of him was also roaming-star realm. Of course it could tear his skin.

Wang Jie apologized again and offered a revival pill.

The young man’s expression eased at last. “You’re from Black-White Heaven?”

“Yes. And you are, Your Excellency?”

“Fang Jue.”

Wang Jie froze. “You’re Fang Jue?”

His mission assignment had been clear: support a formation master named Fang Jue.

Fang Jue looked him over, then laughed. “I get it. You’re the unlucky one.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Unlucky?”

“This spot wasn’t the front line at first,” Fang Jue said. “But some time ago, Ying Yang Battlefield pulled in a fresh batch of lockforce cultivators from who-knows-where and forced the line out this far. That cannon fodder batch died to the last man, but the mission still got done. I was left behind to set up formations.”

He gestured at the wasteland around them.

“No one knows I’m here. I just need to finish laying out the formation and go back.”

“This place is easy to leave, hard to enter.”

“And you, little kid, you pushed through both sides’ lines and stumbled in right when I’m about to finish. How is that not unlucky?”

Wang Jie let out a breath. “No wonder I got surrounded immediately.”

Fang Jue’s eyes narrowed. “Did you offend someone in your sect?”

“A little.”

“You’re not angry?”

“I’m used to it.”

Fang Jue clicked his tongue. “Good mindset.”

Wang Jie studied him. “Why did you save me?”

Fang Jue must have seen him trapped from the start. If his formation was nearly complete, saving Wang Jie wasn’t strictly necessary.

Wang Jie didn’t blame him for hesitating. He never placed his life in anyone else’s hands.

But the sudden intervention still raised questions.

Fang Jue shrugged. “Because I’m not confident I can make it back alone. This is the front. If I run into a real monster, I’m done.”

He paused, eyes flicking to Wang Jie again.

“You’re strong. What realm are you, exactly? Full-star realm?”

Wang Jie nodded. “More or less.”

Fang Jue didn’t press. He looked up at the sky. “We probably alerted the enemy this time, but I’m almost finished. For the next two days, don’t do anything. Just stay hidden. Two days, and we leave.”

He smirked faintly. “Shame, though. I killed a roaming-star realm earlier and didn’t get his identity token.”

Then he returned to his work.

Wang Jie sat down, gaze fixed on the stars.

Di Zi.

The name burned cold in his mind.

Hours passed.

The sky above the planet flashed with sudden brilliance—flares of distant combat.

Wang Jie lifted his head.

“Fleet,” Fang Jue muttered. “Probably ours.”

Wang Jie watched the intermittent bursts—warships exploding. Each detonation meant countless deaths. Warships weren’t like small transports; they needed crews, teams, entire systems to run.

Three full hours passed before the space battle finally quieted.

A streak of fire crossed the sky and slammed into the ground not far away.

Warship wreckage.

Fang Jue went to inspect it. “Ours. There are burned bodies inside. Want to look?”

Wang Jie’s eyes stayed sharp. “Won’t Luo Kingdom come to search this planet?”

“They’ll try,” Fang Jue said. “But they won’t find us.”

He tapped his temple. “You know why I’m the one doing this mission? I’m roaming-star realm. Even though my formation dao level is only Stone-Observing, it’s still beyond what ordinary people can see through.”

“A planet is too big. At most, they’ll scan. Anyone who knows even a little Breath-Concealing Method won’t be found. Otherwise, how do you think I hid for this long?”

His face tightened.

“But if the ones who show up aren’t those simple-minded Luo Kingdom types—if it’s Second Star Cloud—then we’re in trouble.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Second Star Cloud? You’ve faced them?”

“Everyone who survives long enough on Ying Yang Battlefield has,” Fang Jue said. “Second Star Cloud is recognized as stronger than Third Nebula and our Fourth Nebula—second only to First Nebula.”

“They don’t have a single unified power like Black-White Heaven, so they’re weaker in that sense. But any one of their factions is still terrifying.”

He exhaled slowly. “You ever heard of Flower Country?”

Wang Jie’s gaze shifted. Of course he had. He still had a Flower Country token brooch.

“They claim they can heal anything. As long as you aren’t dead, they can bring you back, no matter how bad it is.”

“That’s absurd.”

Fang Jue snorted. “Their bridgeway art is called Heaven-Healing Art.”

“Heaven-Healing Art…” Wang Jie repeated. “Even the name sounds ridiculous.”

“And even so, they still can’t unify Second Star Cloud,” Fang Jue said. “That tells you how fierce Second Star Cloud really is.”

He glanced skyward again, expression hard. “I don’t want to run into them. That’s just donating battle merits.”

He went back to work.

Two days later, Fang Jue finally finished.

Only then did Wang Jie see what he’d set up.

Double-Spike Formation.

Simple. Not particularly powerful. But designed to deal with those space locusts.

“Junior Brother,” Fang Jue said, grinning, “time to go.”

Wang Jie grabbed him tightly.

Fang Jue laughed. “Reach roaming-star realm sooner, little kid. Only roaming-star realm is where cultivation truly begins!”

Then he shot into the void in the direction Wang Jie had come from.

Whether or not it would draw attention no longer mattered.

It would.

They were still inside Luo Kingdom’s encirclement.

They hadn’t flown long before locusts swarmed in from every direction.

Wang Jie’s expression tightened.

Fang Jue threw his head back and shouted, “Watch closely—this is the best Double-Spike Formation I can lay down right now!”

The formation ignited.

In the starry dark, starforce flared and flickered. Stars swept through the void in layered arcs, blanketing the surrounding swarm.

Locusts dropped. Riders screamed. Luo Kingdom fighters tried to resist, but the overlapping Double-Spike Formation struck again and again.

Fang Jue seized the opening and dragged Wang Jie forward. “Attack!”

Wang Jie pointed.

Myriad-Stars Finger.

Fang Jue struck at the same time, and together they tore a gap through the swarm and escaped into the dark.

Wang Jie looked back.

So this was formation dao.

Once a formation was fully laid, the possibilities were endless.

If formations were already this effective… then what about star dao?

Shu Rang had once said formation dao wasn’t even worthy of polishing star dao’s shoes.

Fang Jue ran at full speed through the void, pushing himself until, a full day later, he finally stopped.

He bent over, panting. “We’re out. I’m exhausted. And little kid—stop gripping so hard. If I wanted to ditch you, I’d have ditched you already.”

Wang Jie gave a strained smile. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Fang Jue rolled his eyes. “This mission’s done. I can advance to Battle Trooper now. I’m never coming back to that place.”

He glanced at Wang Jie. “You just arrived, didn’t you? With the way you’ve offended people, we probably won’t meet again.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“Senior Brother,” Wang Jie asked, “you don’t want to build merit on the battlefield?”

Fang Jue snorted. “I’m not worthy.”

Wang Jie felt like he’d heard that line before.

Fang Jue waved a hand. “Since we have a bit of friendship, I’ll give you advice. Go to the Edict Platform and find a squad to lean on. Let them carry you a bit. Try to avoid being passively assigned missions.”

“Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died.”

“Then turn in your mission.”

“A squad?” Wang Jie asked, confused.