Chapter 214
Chapter 214: Dagger Bearer
Wang Jie followed behind Zhi Nan Xing, lifting his gaze toward the distant horizon where countless streaks of sword qi surged upward, perfectly aligned like soldiers awaiting command. Each streak represented a cultivator, and hundreds were gathered there, swords raised. [I wonder whose side they belong to.]
In another direction, he saw various strange cosmic giant beasts soaring through the stars.
It all came down to one word—chaos.
There was no unified command, and most troubling was his inability to distinguish friend from foe.
“Hey, how do you tell friend from enemy?” Wang Jie asked.
Zhi Nan Xing didn’t answer.
Wang Jie quickened his pace, effortlessly overtaking Zhi Nan Xing. Seeing Wang Jie pass him as casually as if strolling through a garden, Zhi Nan Xing grew even angrier at the apparent ease of it.
Moving from one planetary fragment to another wasn’t difficult. Though separated by void, these distances were far smaller than typical gaps between planets, easily traversed by cultivators in a single leap.
Just as they jumped from one fragment onto the next, they suddenly saw dense rows of cultivators emerging from behind the distant mountains, facing them directly.
Zhi Nan Xing froze.
Wang Jie glanced at him quickly, asking: “These people—are they allies?”
Zhi Nan Xing immediately turned and fled. In an instant, the assembled cultivators unleashed a barrage of attacks. Though few among them had reached the Star Breaking Realm, with most being only ten-seal or lower, their sheer numbers were enough that Wang Jie didn’t wish to fight them head-on.
If the entire battlefield had only these cultivators, he could easily sweep through them. But in this chaotic place, caution was wiser.
The attackers couldn’t keep pace.
Wang Jie and Zhi Nan Xing swiftly leapt onto another planetary shard, finding no one there. They both sighed in relief.
Zhi Nan Xing glared at Wang Jie, snapping irritably: “Stop following me. Go find your own hiding spot.”
“How exactly do you distinguish friend from foe?” Wang Jie persisted.
Zhi Nan Xing wasn’t inclined to answer, but realizing this man wouldn’t stop asking otherwise, he grudgingly replied, “There are two ways. First, if you recognize someone, you clearly know if they’re friend or enemy. Second—assume everyone is an enemy.”
Wang Jie blinked in surprise: “Everyone?”
Zhi Nan Xing sneered coldly, explaining, “In a battlefield this chaotic, you still hope to clearly identify friend or foe? Even if you can, how would others know to do the same? Strike first to survive. Anyone unfamiliar is your enemy.”
Wang Jie marveled inwardly, [This is true battlefield experience.]
In such chaos, even accidental killings didn’t matter. No one would ever discover who was responsible. This was war—a three-sided clash between star clouds.
Unlike mortal battles, there were no uniforms. Cultivators especially could disguise themselves at will. Heaven alone knew whom you might face.
No wonder the central command hadn’t mentioned how to tell friend from foe.
His personal terminal had been constantly buzzing with alerts.
After resting briefly, Wang Jie and Zhi Nan Xing examined their surroundings.
Floating amid the stars were countless bodies, human and cosmic beast alike, alongside numerous warship wreckage fragments. Many debris pieces served as bridges between floating islands.
“Where to next?” Wang Jie asked.
Zhi Nan Xing scanned around, saying quietly, “I don’t know.”
“You seem pretty familiar with this place, yet you don’t know?”
“I’ve studied the Hanhai Sea battlefield star chart, but it explicitly stated there’s no truly safe place here.”
Wang Jie didn’t doubt this. The battles in Hanhai Sea raged everywhere. Occasionally, distant shockwaves would shake even the remote islands.
Fortunately, there were currently no enemies nearby, so they could remain hidden for the moment.
Zhi Nan Xing had no intention of leaving either.
He glanced again at Wang Jie. Perhaps having this man along might prove useful against stronger foes. But suddenly a troubling thought crossed his mind: [Will this guy expose my identity to any powerful enemy we encounter and use me as bait?]
That wasn’t impossible.
Uneasy, he studied Wang Jie again.
But Wang Jie wasn’t paying attention to him now. He was looking toward another planetary fragment, spotting people from the Puppet Master sect.
Indeed, they were Puppet Masters from the Third Nebula’s Seventh Star Chain, alongside cultivators from the Gong Nation. Their opponents were a group of women.
“Phoenix Song Hall?” Zhi Nan Xing murmured gravely. One glance, and he immediately started retreating.
Wang Jie quickly warned him: “Wait! If you move now, they’ll discover you.”
Zhi Nan Xing paused, eyes flickering warily. Their hiding place wasn’t far away. Those other cultivators had probably intended to conceal themselves as well but had stumbled upon each other instead.
The Gong Nation cultivators charged, with Puppet Masters providing support.
In response came an eerie melody.
Wang Jie had heard Phoenix Song Hall’s music before, but previously he’d been far away alongside Fang Jue and hadn’t felt its power. Now it was entirely different. Under the music’s influence, even lock force trembled. The land shattered, and visible ripples spread through the void like cracks spreading across a mirror.
Zhi Nan Xing immediately shut his eyes, suppressing his aura using star force.
Wang Jie instinctively did the same, pressing down on his own lock force.
[Is this the famed music of Phoenix Song Hall?]
Sounds shaking heaven and earth, melodies that govern life and death—this was Phoenix Song Hall’s legendary strength.
Among the women, the leader had reached Wandering Star Realm and was quite powerful. Several cultivators from the Gong Nation were also Wandering Star Realm experts, yet their fierce charge was completely suppressed by the melody. Only the Puppets remained unaffected.
Suddenly, the music reached a deafening crescendo, transforming visibly into rolling heavenly thunder that swept forth, crushing the puppets instantly.
[Thunder Sound True Technique.]
As Wang Jie stared intently into the distance, he suddenly felt his heart leap—a chilling sensation brushing against the back of his neck. [Enemy!]
He immediately stepped aside using Armor Eight Steps.
At that same instant, a cold dagger blade appeared from nowhere, its sharp tip nearly piercing Wang Jie’s eyes. He was stunned by how close the attacker had gotten without his awareness.
Beside him, seeing the sudden blade, Zhi Nan Xing exclaimed aloud: “Dagger Bearer!” Reacting instantly, he struck his palm toward a shadow cast by stones on the ground.
At precisely the same moment, the dagger vanished and reappeared, stabbing sharply into Zhi Nan Xing’s palm.
Drops of blood fell silently to the ground.
Zhi Nan Xing spun around, retreating swiftly, and shouted urgently to Wang Jie, “I’ve locked his starforce, quickly, kill him!”
Wang Jie swung his hand, sending forth a sword strike. The blade slipped past Zhi Nan Xing’s shoulder, piercing exactly where Zhi Nan Xing had just struck—straight into the shadow.
The strike seemed to hit nothing, yet blood slowly stained the blade. A figure twisted out from the shadow, body impaled, glaring unwillingly at Zhi Nan Xing. “Star… Star Lock… The Zhi Clan…” With that, he died.
Zhi Nan Xing released a heavy breath, glancing at the injury on his palm. The blade had almost struck him. Had the assassin’s primary target not been Wang Jie, he himself might have died.
“Let’s go,” Wang Jie appeared beside him, gripping him firmly, and fled.
The disturbance here had drawn attention from the distant battlefield.
Thunderous music, like the roar of heavenly thunder, swept toward them, shattering mountains with endless echoes.
Wang Jie, gripping Zhi Nan Xing, swiftly escaped using Sword Step. His incredible speed left Zhi Nan Xing dazed. In an instant, they evaded the attack from Ming Huang Palace.
Releasing him, Zhi Nan Xing fell to the ground, gasping heavily, “Thank you.”
Wang Jie glanced back. Ming Huang Palace did not chase; their true opponents were Puppet Master and the forces from the Gong Nation.
“The most dangerous opponents on the battlefield are the Dagger Bearers,” Zhi Nan Xing said gravely. “These people are extremely despicable. They never fight head-on and specialize in assassination. Too many of our comrades have fallen to their blades.”
Wang Jie did not respond. He grabbed Zhi Nan Xing again and ran.
Before Zhi Nan Xing could react, countless beams of destructive light bombarded the area they’d just left, instantly reducing that land to rubble.
In the distance, blinding flashes surged toward their position.
“It’s cluster bombing! Both sides are clearing the battlefield—run!”
Overhead, countless beams of light surged backward—it was the cluster attack from Black White Heaven.
Soon after, another wave of beams swept through from the opposite side.
Wang Jie carried Zhi Nan Xing, leaping like a flea across the battlefield, bounding swiftly from one shattered planetary fragment to the next. Along the way, countless people perished miserably. Members of Black White Heaven, as well as other star cloud factions—including those from Ming Huang Palace—all fell within the deadly bombardment range.
There was nowhere left to run.
The bombardment area was far too vast.
Wang Jie activated his Thunder Pattern as beams rained down mercilessly, leaving no gaps, pressing Wang Jie and Zhi Nan Xing deep underground as though crushed by the steps of giants.
Zhi Nan Xing clenched his teeth and said, “Both sides must have committed huge numbers of cultivators simultaneously, wiping out each other’s forces. Such scenarios rarely happen and won’t last long. It’s a contest of resources and logistics.”
Wang Jie brushed away the debris, replying tersely, “No need to explain further. I only need to know if those technological weapons can threaten us.”
“They can. If they have enough resources, they’ll bombard us relentlessly until your lock force runs dry. If we’re unlucky and face even more powerful technological weapons, their destructive capability might surpass even Wandering Star Realm cultivators, and then we’ll be finished,” Zhi Nan Xing said seriously.
Wang Jie exhaled slowly. [That’s unlikely.] Such weapons surely existed, but on this chaotic battlefield, weapons with destructive power exceeding a hundred thousand were improbable.
He took out a star disk. “Watch the combat power detector.”
Zhi Nan Xing also put on a detector, activating it. The beeping was now far quieter.
Countless lives had been extinguished in the recent barrage.
All three sides were purging the battlefield.
Losing tens of thousands at once was common here.
No wonder few dared enter the Hanhai Sea battlefield. Here, cultivators weren’t treated as humans at all—this was truly a grinding mill of flesh and blood.
Injecting energy into the star disk, Wang Jie detected some scattered presences nearby, none too powerful.
Zhi Nan Xing watched curiously, “What’s that?”
Ignoring the question, Wang Jie instead asked, “How did that Dagger Bearer approach me unnoticed?”
“Dagger Bearer is a power from the Second Star Cloud, equal in renown to Ming Huang Palace, specialized in assassinations,” Zhi Nan Xing explained with envy. “They combine two unparalleled techniques. One is the Shadow Meld Technique, allowing them to hide within shadows and even change their shape for camouflage. The other is Hidden Edge, concealing their killing intent.”
“They cultivate the Breath Concealment Method since childhood, combining it with Hidden Edge and Shadow Meld Technique, making them peerless assassins.”
Wang Jie finally understood. No wonder he’d been caught off guard.
“Shadow Meld Technique… Like a Shadow Hunter Beast?”
“Similar,” Zhi Nan Xing confirmed.
Wang Jie inwardly grew wary. [I’ll have to be very cautious in the future.]
“Rumor has it Black White Heaven once had a powerful cultivator who could challenge even a Six Dao Wanderer, yet he fell at the hands of a Dagger Bearer. There are countless cases of their assassinations throughout the cosmos—even experts of Star Refining Realm,” Zhi Nan Xing added gravely. “It’s a shame we couldn’t take the enemy’s identity plate. That Dagger Bearer should’ve been Full Star Realm.”
They continued hiding underground.
Soon, another bombardment swept down, fracturing the land, forcing Wang Jie to drag Zhi Nan Xing along once more.
Zhi Nan Xing’s speed couldn’t match Wang Jie’s, and the fact Wang Jie didn’t abandon him filled Zhi Nan Xing with gratitude.
He was thankful Wang Jie was there. Otherwise, he’d have had to desperately withstand these bombardments alone. Even if he’d survived, encountering enemies would have spelled disaster—not to mention they’d already run into a Dagger Bearer once before.