Chapter 224

Chapter 224: Provocation

Seeing Wang Jie’s dark expression, Li Tong He’s voice turned heavy. “This is unreasonable. No matter how Zhi Qing’s line targets you, they shouldn’t set a requirement this inhuman.”

He continued, sharper now. “Not even Six-Path Roamers can do it.

“In Black-White Heaven’s history, the highest level any Six-Path Roamer has ever reached is Battle Elite.

“They can’t even touch the possibility of Battle General—unless they spend their entire lives on the battlefield and let time do the work.”

He stared at Wang Jie. “You cannot stay here forever.

“Don’t worry. You saved my life. I’ll speak to friends across every faction and fight for you. With Senior Xing Xue behind you as well, we should be able to change this decision.”

Wang Jie bowed. “Thank you, Elder.”

He knew it wouldn’t help.

This wasn’t Zhi Qing’s doing. This was his stingy master—who either didn’t act at all, or acted with ruthless finality.

If Six-Path Roamers couldn’t do it, what hope did he have?

Wang Jie left Li Tong He and paid to rent a rest chamber.

He wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

So he would endure.

His next mission was simple in name: protect a transport ship.

Wang Jie couldn’t help finding it absurd.

His first mission had been to destroy an enemy transport ship. His second mission was to protect his own.

If the enemy coordinated sabotage the way Black-White Heaven did, protection would be a nightmare.

Five people accepted the mission, including Wang Jie. The other four were all Roaming-Star Realm.

A middle-aged man who looked much older than his appearance stepped forward, smiling broadly. “We’re all on the same ship. That’s fate. I am He Qian—a five-blood Roaming-Star Battle Trooper. I’ve been in the Ying Yang Battlefield for twenty years. I doubt anyone here has been here longer than I have.”

Wang Jie and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads.

He Qian nodded with satisfaction. “Judging by your faces, you may all still be disciples. You’ve been in the sect far less time than I have. I’m registered under Steward Hall now. So for this mission, I’ll act as the old boss and coordinate our defense. Agreed?”

In the sect, disciples were disciples, stewards were stewards, elders were elders.

But there was another kind of person—still a disciple, yet too long in the sect without becoming a steward or elder. Such people were forced to register under Steward Hall or the elder council, and their behavior was constrained accordingly.

He Qian was one of them.

They were rare. A disciple who reached Roaming-Star Realm usually had a high chance of becoming a steward. Others could take posts in places like Discipline Hall or Zhi Upper Realm. Only those who accomplished nothing else ended up registered like this.

Registration didn’t always mean incompetence—but often, it did.

As for those who never reached Roaming-Star Realm, they were generally dispatched outward, stationed across Guarding Star Realm territories. Those were far more common.

One of the Roaming-Star Realm cultivators spoke first. “We’re willing to follow Senior Brother He Qian’s command.”

He Qian smiled wider. “Good. This mission won’t be easy. Only by working together can we complete it.”

He assigned positions: each person would guard a specific side of the ship, patrolling a fixed zone. At the first sign of an attacker, they were to intercept immediately.

Wang Jie was assigned to the right-rear quarter, near the stern.

He Qian didn’t posture or overcommand. He simply divided responsibilities cleanly.

Days passed as the transport ship traveled toward a battlefield. It wasn’t on the scale of Han Hai, but it still held a million cultivators locked in chaos. This transport carried supplies for warship repairs.

Wang Jie tried using the Star Compass.

And immediately felt the limitation.

In the starry void, even a “small” area was larger than a planet. The Star Compass’s detection range was substantial, but not enough to map threats across open space.

If someone lay in ambush outside its range, he would have no warning.

Wang Jie grimaced and put it away.

Several days later, as he stared into the starry dark, his heart suddenly jumped.

He snapped his head toward the stern.

The ship trembled.

His terminal blared an alarm: “Under attack. All fellow senior brothers, take caution.”

The ship’s light membrane flared to life. Outside it, a figure rushed in with terrifying speed and raised a blade overhead.

Wang Jie drew a sword and hurled it like a spear.

The sword ripped through the void toward the attacker.

The blade came down and smashed into it.

The void rippled outward. Wang Jie’s thrown sword snapped in half, but the recoil drove the attacker back several steps.

The attacker stared at the ship in shock.

Wang Jie stepped onto the hull, eyes cold, and unleashed the Star-Gazing Sword Form.

Sword moves rained down in glittering arcs.

The attacker retreated rapidly.

But then—

The transport ship shook again. A breach opened on another side. Explosions tore through the hull.

Another impact. Another rupture.

The ship began to die.

Wang Jie swore under his breath.

He’d seen this before—only last time, he’d been the one attacking.

Now he was defending.

The ship continued to explode, swaying violently. Wang Jie had no choice. He pulled back and boarded a small ship, launching himself away.

He could block one direction, but if the others failed, the transport ship would still fall.

Moments later, the massive transport ship detonated, broke apart, and plunged at an angle toward a nearby planet.

Small ships scattered, fleeing.

Wang Jie caught sight of He Qian chasing an attacker in fury.

But it was useless.

The attackers had completed their mission. They wouldn’t stay to fight. They fled immediately.

He Qian couldn’t chase for long.

Wang Jie turned his ship around and returned to the Command Hub.

After that, he took mission after mission. Some succeeded. Some failed.

His luckiest run came when two Third Nebula Roaming-Star Realm cultivators tried to hunt him. Wang Jie killed both—and both carried more blood drops on their identity tokens than he did.

He gained two drops at once.

Half a year later, Wang Jie reached Battle Guard.

Half a year.

The speed was absurd.

His name spread throughout the Edict Platform.

He Qian died.

He died during a mission.

After twenty years in the Ying Yang Battlefield, he still couldn’t outrun death.

Many had died earlier—faster, quieter.

Compared to them, Wang Jie—only Star-Breaking Realm in cultivation—reaching Roaming-Star Battle Guard was nearly unbelievable.

During those months, he continued practicing the movements. His strength value rose to 190.

By the multiplier system within Ten Seals, that meant nineteen times strength.

Back at Ten Seals, he’d once broken limits and reached one hundred times strength. Compared to Star-Breaking Realm, that hundred times translated to ten times.

So he had gained another nine times strength since then.

Slow, but that was cultivation.

The higher you climbed, the slower improvement became.

Strength wasn’t combat power.

But when strength reached an extreme, everything changed.

Wang Jie longed for the day he could reach one hundred times strength even as Star-Breaking Realm. If he could, then even without advancing in realm, his combat power would become terrifying.

During this period, he ran into Zhi Nan Xing.

Zhi Nan Xing had also returned from Han Hai.

Their interaction was nothing like their first meeting at the Command Hub.

Zhi Nan Xing didn’t want to admit it, but there was respect in his eyes now. Every time something went wrong, it was Wang Jie—and Wang Jie still survived.

Wang Jie could only smile bitterly. He didn’t want to be unlucky either.

At the Edict Platform, missions kept increasing, and most were connected to Third Nebula.

“Senior Brother Wang!” someone called. “Over here!”

Wang Jie looked up and saw a familiar stall owner waving him over. The man sold miscellaneous goods and information, and he’d once been the one to warn Wang Jie about the Han Hai Battlefield—back when he’d assumed Wang Jie would die.

Now his eyes were wide with disbelief.

Wang Jie sat by the stall and smiled. “So? Still haven’t sold it? Want me to give you business?”

The stall owner rolled his eyes. “Even if you take it, it’s useless. I’ll wait. Sooner or later the fated one will come.”

Here, rank mattered more than time. If your level was higher, you were Senior Brother—simple as that.

The stall owner lowered his voice. “Senior Brother Wang, I called you over because I heard something.”

“What?”

“I heard the sect is sending reinforcements to the Ying Yang Battlefield.”

Wang Jie blinked. “Reinforcements?”

“It’s reliable,” the stall owner said quickly. “My cousin is a Battle Trooper. I’m on his team. He told me, and the message came from the sect.

“They say a lot of people got transfer orders, including some genius disciples. White Roamer and Hei You, for example. Also some elders’ juniors.”

Wang Jie nodded. “Thanks.”

The stall owner grinned. “Senior Brother, have you thought about forming a team? If you do, plenty will join.

“But don’t let people talk you into anything right now. If that batch of geniuses really arrives, you can pull them into your team then. When you return to the sect, those connections could matter.”

Wang Jie studied him. “And you? What’s your angle?”

The stall owner laughed awkwardly. “I’m Zheng Qi. I’m hoping Senior Brother can take me in when the time comes.”

So that was it.

He wanted a connection.

Wang Jie patted Zheng Qi’s shoulder. “Fine. If I form a team, you’re in.”

Zheng Qi’s face lit up. “Thank you, Senior Brother!”

Wang Jie understood the logic. Joining teams was difficult, especially if you were trying to ride someone else’s merits.

But forming a team was different.

He was a Roaming-Star Battle Guard. Even if his realm was Star-Breaking Realm, nobody here cared about that.

Rank decided status.

Across the entire Ying Yang Battlefield, his level was high. Few could surpass him, and Roaming-Star Realm cultivators weren’t common.

Not long after, Wang Jie accepted another mission and left.

Again: protect a transport ship.

This time, they were attacked—yet they held.

It was impossible to fail every time.

When he returned to the Edict Platform, he found the crowd thicker than before. He wanted to find Zheng Qi and ask for more details, but Zheng Qi had already taken a mission and departed.

Instead, Wang Jie saw a familiar face.

Di Zi.

She noticed him too, her expression calm—so calm it was as if she’d never targeted him at all.

For a moment, Wang Jie even wondered if he’d misjudged her. Was she truly the one who had assigned his first mission and shoved him into Han Hai?

Di Zi herself gave him no reaction.

But the man at her side did.

“So this is Wang Jie, Battle Guard,” he drawled, voice loud and sharp with mockery. “What mission could possibly require you to come accept it yourself? Didn’t the person behind you plan everything out for you?”

His tone was teasing, almost intimate—he stood close behind Di Zi like he belonged there.

The volume drew attention. People nearby turned.

When they realized it was Wang Jie and Di Zi, they instinctively backed away—yet more eyes gathered, hungry for a spectacle.

Wang Jie had become a rising figure on the Ying Yang Battlefield: half a year to reach Roaming-Star Battle Guard, despite being a Star-Breaking Realm lockforce cultivator.

Di Zi was Elder Ming’s disciple. Her status had always been high.

And she, too, was a Roaming-Star Battle Guard.