Chapter 242

Chapter 242: This Is Power

Back at Singing Phoenix Hall, the woman handed the star map over.

At the Han Hai front, Second Star Cloud’s highest authority stationed there wasn’t a Singing Phoenix Hall expert.

It was a Dagger-Offering Order.

Singing Phoenix Hall could only pass the map to that Dagger-Offering Order.

He gave no response at all.

After that, Han Hai fell into an eerie calm.

Nothing happened.

And the more nothing happened, the more uneasy Singing Phoenix Hall became.

“Go ask that senior again. What does he plan to do?”

“He knows I’m Singing Phoenix Hall’s mole,” someone said. “It’s normal for a Dagger-Offering Order not to trust me.”

An old crone spoke—also roaming-star realm. She’d lived too long, her battle power far from weak, yet she was still respectful when she turned toward the young woman nearby.

“Junior Sister Qiao Xi, what do you think?”

Qiao Xi was young, viewed as the next Su Su. Her status in the sect far surpassed the old crone’s, even though Qiao Xi’s battle power wasn’t necessarily higher.

Han Hai’s Singing Phoenix Hall forces were under Qiao Xi’s command, but many decisions still required her opinion.

Qiao Xi’s expression stayed calm. “The battlefield has gone quiet.

“We’re defending. Black-White Heaven is attacking. This kind of silence isn’t normal.

“If the encirclement is real, it’s coming.”

The old crone nodded slowly. “Conscripting twenty million lockforce cultivators is a massive move.

“Those lockforce cultivators are worthless in a real clash—no matter how many you have, they can’t stop us—but they can distort what we see.”

“When the next engagement begins,” Qiao Xi said, “we’ll find out.

“If we’re truly surrounded, then we can only trust that man’s intel.”

She paused, then continued, “But first, request reinforcements from Command Hub. Station a group outside Han Hai. If we break through, we’ll have support from both sides.”

They waited several more days.

Then, with a thunderous boom, countless beams of light swept toward Han Hai from every direction.

Black-White Heaven attacked.

And the assault was brutal—violent enough to feel like the days before Skyport.

The moment the first wave hit, Singing Phoenix Hall knew something was wrong.

Elder Wu Yuan moved.

Li Tong He moved with him.

Second Star Cloud’s and Third Nebula’s hundred-star realm experts immediately intercepted.

Black-White Heaven’s forces only grew—more cultivators, more warships, more pressure—until it looked like they meant to crush Han Hai in one strike.

Singing Phoenix Hall understood at once.

They were being surrounded.

Their gazes turned to Qiao Xi.

Qiao Xi’s face sank. “Break through according to the star map.”

“Senior Sister, wait!” someone urged. “If Black-White Heaven planned this, we’ll be charging straight into their trap!”

Qiao Xi hesitated.

Then she made a cold decision. Singing Phoenix Hall would retreat—but not break out yet.

They would push other cultivators into the front lines first, let them take the losses, then guide them toward the breakout direction.

Let someone else gamble first.

Singing Phoenix Hall was clever.

But everyone else on the battlefield was clever too.

Black-White Heaven attacked fiercely. Second Star Cloud’s forces retreated step by step—yet no one dared be the first to break out.

Wang Jie had expected it.

Because Han Hai wasn’t Black-White Heaven’s real target.

Second Star Cloud’s Command Hub was.

Xuan Gate used the battlefield as cover to scheme against Third Nebula.

Wang Jie used Han Hai as cover to strike Second Star Cloud’s Command Hub.

And Cang Wu’s disguise was the true camouflage.

Second Star Cloud’s attention was locked on Han Hai, obsessing over whether the intel was true or false—so they overlooked Command Hub entirely.

That made Black-White Heaven’s strike easy.

Worse, Command Hub had even sent forces to wait outside Han Hai, expecting a breakout.

Defense had thinned itself.

Once Second Star Cloud’s Command Hub fell, Ying Yang Battlefield’s outcome was decided.

Xuan Gate had already closed its sect. Third Nebula’s forces stationed here were few, their morale already broken.

As for whether Han Hai broke out, and which direction they chose—it didn’t matter.

Because there had never been a real encirclement.

The warships’ concentrated bombardment had only created the illusion of a sealing net.

It was resource waste, nothing more.

When the news came that Command Hub had been struck, Han Hai’s battlefield shifted instantly.

Singing Phoenix Hall. The Dagger-Offering Order. Even the people of Flower Country—everyone began scrambling to break out.

They hadn’t expected Black-White Heaven’s true target to be Command Hub.

They’d all ignored it.

“Break out now!”

“Which direction?”

“Any direction! If Command Hub was hit, then that mole’s intel was fake!”

Light flooded Han Hai, turning the void into a blazing day.

Wang Jie watched from afar, expression calm.

Breaking out now was too late.

Han Hai would be hunted down and slaughtered.

And Command Hub, already taken, couldn’t send aid.

Both fronts would collapse.

If they’d broken out at the start, maybe they could’ve saved Command Hub.

But the moment Singing Phoenix Hall chose not to break out immediately, Wang Jie knew the plan had worked.

Now it was time to see how much they could harvest.

“Follow me!” Wang Jie shouted. “Save whoever you can—save as many as you can!”

He shot out from the planet fragments.

Han Song and the others followed close behind.

Their eyes were different now when they looked at Wang Jie’s back.

They knew the entire chain of events.

They hadn’t expected Wang Jie to have a strategist’s mind.

Devious methods, tactical thinking—on a battlefield, a man like that was terrifying.

Even Yun Ju’s gaze changed.

Not hatred anymore.

Wariness.

Opposing Wang Jie suddenly felt… unprofitable.

The warship bombardment ended.

Han Hai entered the pursuit phase.

That was when Second Star Cloud finally realized the truth—there weren’t twenty million lockforce cultivators forming a real encirclement. There were only scattered groups, spaced out to create the illusion.

Despicable.

Nearby, Dagger-Offering Order experts tried to hide in the shadows, but Wang Jie swept his gaze across them and exposed them instantly.

In front of him, concealment was useless.

Qi was too obvious.

Farther out, countless lockforce cultivators surged forward with bloodshot eyes.

Han Song and the others rushed past Wang Jie like tigers into a flock.

Wang Jie’s attention went farther still.

He heard music—zither tones, flute notes, layered harmonies.

Singing Phoenix Hall.

Jia Eight Steps carried him forward in a blur. No one could stop him.

In the distance, Singing Phoenix Hall had collided with an enemy force and fallen into a chaotic melee.

Wu Jiang was there.

The old crone charged at Wu Jiang as if begging for death, fighting with everything she had.

Qiao Xi started to move to help—

A shout came from behind her.

She whirled, eyes sharp with frost and killing intent. “Wang Jie?”

Wang Jie stared at her, recognition flashing. “You?”

Qiao Xi abandoned Wu Jiang’s fight entirely. Her flute rose. Notes poured out, blanketing Wang Jie.

Thunder-Sound True Dharma.

Flute tones carried lightning, rain-slamming the battlefield.

Wang Jie’s eyes chilled.

Good.

He lifted a Thunder Pattern over his head and charged.

The thunder hammered the Thunder Pattern, cracking it apart piece by piece, but Wang Jie beneath it remained unhurt.

Jia Eight Steps twisted his movement into something strange and unreal.

In this period, his strength had risen—and so had his defense. With guard qi added, Qiao Xi’s Thunder-Sound True Dharma barely mattered.

Even when lightning struck his body, he didn’t slow.

In a blink, he was in front of her.

He pointed a finger.

Myriad-Stars Finger.

Finger shadows descended, rippling into existence beneath the planet fragments.

Around Qiao Xi, diamond-like starforce floated—each “diamond” holding lightning within it. Under the finger shadows, they detonated one after another, turning into violent storms of thunder.

The light was blinding, sealing the two of them inside a brilliant sphere.

No one could approach. Everyone retreated.

Han Song’s pupils trembled.

How long had it been?

Wang Jie could already fight Qiao Xi.

Qiao Xi was hailed as the next Su Su.

With a booming crash, the diamond starforce was shaken apart.

Wang Jie appeared directly in front of Qiao Xi and struck with his palm.

Qiao Xi couldn’t believe it—he had ignored her attack, walked through it. How had he improved this fast?

No time to think.

She spun her flute up to block.

Flute and palm collided.

Both of them slid backward.

The next instant, Han Song burst past Wang Jie, his hammer coming down like a falling mountain.

Qiao Xi’s face blanched. She retreated hard, starforce gathering around her as the flute tones continued.

The scene was almost beautiful.

It shattered under the hammer.

Only lightning remained, raging and wild.

Wang Jie stepped forward, cutting through the storm.

The flute’s song faltered.

Because Wang Jie’s hand had closed around the flute.

Qiao Xi tried to hold on—but she couldn’t. If she didn’t let go, she’d be dragged with it.

Han Song took the opening and slammed the hammer again.

Qiao Xi threw both hands out, starforce condensing into a wall.

Bang.

She was smashed backward.

Han Song moved to pursue—

But from the distance came a flood of music.

Eight Tones Eight Annihilations—cast by ordinary disciples.

Individually weak, but there were too many.

Han Song was forced to retreat, gripping his hammer.

Wang Jie surged forward, ready to finish it—

A sharp pain flared in his palm.

He looked down.

A twisted musical note was embedded in his flesh.

When had that happened?

The flute.

Qiao Xi spat blood, eyes vicious. “That’s our Singing Phoenix Hall’s Parasitic Rhythm. If you don’t want to die, get away from me.”

Wang Jie studied his palm for half a breath.

Then he spread his fingers, and the qi inside him vibrated.

The note—like a parasite burrowed into his body—shattered instantly.

His palm tore open, blood spilling.

Qiao Xi’s expression turned to shock. “Impossible. Parasitic Rhythm can’t be broken that easily!”

She didn’t get another word out.

Wang Jie stepped in.

His hand snapped around her throat.

He swung her like a weapon and slammed her into the ground.

Qiao Xi’s world spun. She tried to rise—

A kick struck her face.

She went limp.

Wang Jie looked down at the unconscious Qiao Xi.

Her status in Singing Phoenix Hall was high. Killing her would be waste.

Capturing her would still earn merit.

In the distance, Wu Jiang flashed One Blade and sent the old crone’s head flying. He glanced toward Wang Jie, nodded once, then went back to slaughtering.

Wang Jie waved Wen Yuan over. “Watch her.”

Wen Yuan wasn’t built for direct killing, but he could set formations and hold ground.

Wang Jie turned and rejoined the battle.

Han Hai became a rout.

Even those Second Star Cloud cultivators who managed to break out and meet the reinforcements waiting in the starry sky found only more Black-White Heaven forces closing in.

They had nowhere to go.

Command Hub had fallen.

All they could do was flee Ying Yang Battlefield.

Second Star Cloud was defeated. Third Nebula’s Xuan Gate had closed its sect. Leaders were gone.

No one could stop Black-White Heaven now.

After years of struggle, Ying Yang Battlefield finally reached its end.

Wang Jie sat inside a warship, staring out into the starry sky.

Around him, people talked excitedly, voices full of triumph. Even he felt his blood stir.

It was a different feeling.

Before, he’d always fought alone—one man clawing his way forward on a path soaked in blood.

But Han Hai…

Han Hai had been almost entirely his design.

A battle spanning millions of cultivators.

How many died, no one could count.

How many warships and resources were lost, no one could count.

All of it—born from one idea.

A single thought could carry that kind of weight.

Because he had laid the groundwork long before.

This was authority.

Authority could decide the life and death of countless people.

Wang Jie breathed in slowly.

The feeling was… not bad at all.