Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Dead End

Wang Jie reacted on instinct, his feet flashing through Jia Eight Steps.

A flying knife skimmed past his head—close enough to shave his scalp—then punched through the wall behind him, leaving a pinhole of daylight.

He snapped his gaze left.

A figure was already sprinting away.

Trying to run?

Wang Jie stepped forward and lifted a hand. Luo Xuan Finger.

Spiral Qi Force ripped across the gap.

The man dodged. The ground behind him detonated, blown into a pit that looked bottomless.

Wang Jie fired again and again, driving him into a narrow alley. The man thought the turn bought him safety—then a strike came from nowhere and drilled into his thigh. He crashed onto the pavement.

He twisted around, staring at the wall. Unbroken. What kind of battle skill was that?

Wang Jie’s silhouette filled the mouth of the alley. He raised a finger again.

The man bared his teeth and snapped out another flying knife. Terrifying Imprint Power flared; his Eighth Seal boiled as he poured everything into that throw.

It missed.

The knife tore through the finger force and shot straight for Wang Jie’s throat.

Wang Jie caught it barehanded.

Even the brutal force of an Eighth Seal strike couldn’t break his grip. In the same instant, Spiral Qi Force slammed into the man’s body and punched through his other leg.

A howl tore out of him as he folded into his own blood.

Wang Jie looked down at the knife in his palm, and understanding clicked into place.

“One of the Five Extremes of the Three Gods… Tian Fu Base’s Li Xiang.”

Li Xiang lay there gasping, legs numb and useless. He stared up at Wang Jie as if the world had stopped obeying its own rules.

“How… how did you catch my flying knife with your bare hand?”

Wang Jie hadn’t expected it either. His strength had spiked again—probably because of those exercises.

That had been Li Xiang’s full-power One Blade. They were both Eighth Seal. It shouldn’t have felt light.

But Wang Jie had grabbed it without thinking, his body reacting as if it had never been a threat at all.

He’d meant to dodge after the blade broke through Spiral Qi Force. Instead, he’d snatched it.

Only now did the shock settle into his bones.

“Why did you try to assassinate me?”

Wang Jie tightened his fingers around the knife and stared down at him.

Li Xiang gave a bitter, exhausted smile. “There’s no point talking. If you want to kill me, then kill me.”

“Because of Zuo Tian?”

The Broken Blade Hunting Squad was based at Tian Fu Base. Zuo Tian and Li Xiang were close.

Li Xiang’s gaze sharpened. “Only Zuo Tian can lead everyone through the apocalypse. You tried to assassinate him two years ago, and you still won’t stop. If I don’t kill you, I won’t sleep.”

“Did Zuo Tian send you?”

“My mission was to protect Sister Tang,” Li Xiang said, his voice thin with pain. “Who would’ve thought the two trialists who were supposed to assassinate Sister Tang would come looking for you… and I happened to be looking for you too.

“The world turns.”

A distant boom rolled across the city—from the direction of Bai Yuan’s place.

This night really wouldn’t let anyone breathe.

The trialists had never planned to cooperate with Blue Star. What they wanted was control: seize the base and take all the disaster materials for themselves.

If Li Xiang had moved in secret, then Zuo Tian was almost certainly nearby.

This round, the trialists had lost outright.

Wang Jie dragged Li Xiang back to his residence. Tomorrow, they’d talk.

As for the contents of the two trialists’ rings, he’d already taken them. Nothing important—those two were clearly nobodies.

Morning came with a strip of sunlight spilling over cracked streets.

The Shou Qing Group branch had been surrounded. More than a thousand cultivators stood in silence under Bai Yuan’s command.

Before long, Wang Jie stepped outside.

Bai Yuan looked at him. “For the base’s safety, move Wen Zhao somewhere else.”

“She didn’t go out last night,” Wang Jie said flatly.

Bai Yuan clasped his hands behind his back, almost lazy. “I know. Otherwise, she wouldn’t still be alive.”

Arrogant. And he had the strength to back it.

Wen Zhao didn’t argue.

She was powerful—stronger than every trialist she’d seen—but even she didn’t believe she could slaughter her way out of Shang Jing City.

“Relax,” Bai Yuan said. “We won’t do anything to her.”

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed. “Where’s Qi Wu?”

“Gone before last night,” Bai Yuan replied. “Ran faster than anyone.”

“And Zuo Tian?”

“What, you need something?”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re telling me you know nothing about what happened between him and me?”

Bai Yuan sighed. “That’s between you two. Right now, move Miss Wen Zhao somewhere else. She’s the only trialist left in Shang Jing City.

“We’re going to analyze her power.”

Old Five dragged Li Xiang out and dumped him in front of Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan blinked, genuinely surprised. No wonder they hadn’t found him.

“What happened to him?”

“He tried to assassinate me,” Wang Jie said coldly.

He produced the flying knife and flicked it—straight into the wall, burying it precisely where Li Xiang’s blade had punched through the night before.

Bai Yuan’s gaze dropped to Li Xiang.

Li Xiang closed his eyes and said nothing.

“This has nothing to do with Zuo Tian,” Bai Yuan said, calm and certain.

Wang Jie’s lips curled. “And why should I believe you?”

“What do you want?”

“I’ll keep an eye on Wen Zhao. She stays here. I guarantee she won’t threaten Shang Jing City. You can keep analyzing her power.

“If you don’t agree…” Wang Jie’s voice dropped. “I go find Zuo Tian and see if I can kill him this time.”

His fingertip twitched. His Eighth Seal surged. Behind him, Old Five and the others stepped forward in unison.

Outside, cultivators edged closer.

Bai Yuan frowned. Without Hong Jian’s intel, he might’ve acted. But now…

He glanced at Li Xiang again. Both were among the Five Extremes of the Three Gods—yet Li Xiang’s legs were ruined while Wang Jie didn’t have a scratch.

That kind of strength was hard to measure.

And Wang Jie wasn’t alone. His brothers weren’t weak, and Wen Zhao was worse.

This group was clearly stronger than the few trialists slaughtered in the night.

In the end, Bai Yuan nodded. “Fine.”

Wen Zhao stayed. Wang Jie would watch her.

But the perimeter tightened—more cultivators posted, more eyes. Sister Tang even moved into the house next door.

As for Li Xiang…

He died.

Wang Jie wasn’t going to let him live. Li Xiang was too extreme—too convinced that anyone who threatened Zuo Tian had to be erased. And Wang Jie sat at the top of his list.

Bai Yuan couldn’t stop it. The only thing he secured was Wang Jie’s promise not to go after Zuo Tian for the time being.

“Zuo Tian didn’t come,” Old Nine said quietly.

Wang Jie stared out the window.

They weren’t officially confined, but it was close—unless they went into the wild. Wen Zhao couldn’t, not while the base kept testing and probing at her power.

From Blue Star’s perspective, Wang Jie wanted that analysis too. If they could understand what made Wen Zhao different, it might change everything.

So he didn’t want to split from Bai Yuan and the others.

He kept her safe for one reason: there were things Wen Zhao would never say if Bai Yuan’s people broke her will and took control of her.

“Thank you,” Wen Zhao said softly.

“I’m not helping you,” Wang Jie replied. “I’m keeping my promise.

“We’re still cooperating.”

Wen Zhao leaned back on the sofa, studying him. “Enemies outside. Rot inside. And you still chose to protect me. I didn’t expect that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you want from me, Wang Jie? Don’t say ‘cooperation.’ Killing Zuo Tian doesn’t need me, and right now I can’t help you.”

Old Five and the others exchanged glances and slipped out.

This was between Old Boss and Wen Zhao.

Wang Jie sat across from her and went straight to it. “How can Blue Star’s people break free of the war slave status?”

Wen Zhao smiled as if she’d been waiting. “I knew you’d ask.”

She tilted her head. “Bai Yuan doesn’t trust the trialists, but you trust me?”

Wang Jie didn’t answer.

If Bai Yuan’s side ever got their hands fully on Wen Zhao, she would never speak. Pride like hers didn’t bend.

Wen Zhao’s smile thinned into seriousness. “Since you’re still willing to help me, I’ll tell you.

“Everything those trialists promised was a lie. There are no ‘slots.’ Pass the trial and you’ll become an outer sect disciple of Jia Yi Sect. An outer sect disciple doesn’t get to ‘earn’ freedom from being a war slave. Even if their backgrounds are impressive, it’s the same.”

She leaned forward, voice hard. “If you want Blue Star to escape the war slave fate, there’s only one way—fight.”

“Fight?” Wang Jie echoed.

“Fight until Jia Yi Sect acknowledges you,” Wen Zhao said. “Fight until some great power out there recognizes you and is willing to protect Blue Star.

“That is the only way.”

Her gaze went bleak. “It’s also the hardest way. Even if you defeat every trialist who comes to this planet, what does it matter? To a monster like Jia Yi Sect, any inner sect disciple could do the same.”

She didn’t say the rest, but it hung in the air.

A dead end. A road with no light.

An invincible expert needed worthy opponents before their invincibility meant anything.

If Blue Star’s trialists were ordinary, then even if Wang Jie slaughtered them all, it wouldn’t change the verdict.

Wang Jie frowned. “Inner sect disciples… they’re beyond Ten Seals, right? I beat all the trialists at the same realm.”

Wen Zhao looked at him with something like pity. “Because you cultivate lockforce.

“A genius with no future isn’t worth a sect paying a price for. Not even for a war slave the sect could replace without blinking.”

She continued, merciless. “And what you just described? That’s exactly what Jia Yi Sect demands from trialists. Every entrance exam has countless trial grounds like Blue Star. There will always be one or two geniuses who can suppress everyone at their level.

“Jia Yi Sect recruits most of those geniuses.”

Wang Jie’s jaw tightened.

“And you have no idea how terrifying the universe’s true powerhouses are,” Wen Zhao said. “When some of them were only Eighth Seal… they could’ve killed you in one move.”

Wang Jie’s pupils shrank.

Wen Zhao didn’t soften. “Don’t doubt it. My talent is average. You don’t even amaze me. How do you think you compare to them?”

“So Blue Star is destined to be cannon fodder,” Wang Jie said, his voice strangled.

Wen Zhao didn’t answer.

From the moment Blue Star had been chosen as a trial grounds, the outcome had been written.

And her words reached Bai Yuan and the others quickly.

Shang Jing City went into lockdown. Every defense tightened. The stance became clear.

All trialists were enemies.

Cooperation was a lie. Slots were a lie. Even the planned Shang Jing City conference was canceled—because trialists would never see Blue Star’s people as equals.

To them, Blue Star’s people were war slaves.

The broadcast rolled across the airwaves, one voice after another.

“Attention all bases. Attention all bases.”

“I am Bai Yuan.”

“I am Zuo Tian.”

“I am Sister Tang.”

“I am Hong Jian.”

“I am Lian Qin.”

“Do not cooperate with any trialists. Do not believe a word they say.”

“For ten years of Li Mo, Blue Star has bled. We’ve lost countless brothers and sisters. To survive, we’ve paid everything—but that doesn’t mean we pay with dignity.”

“This is the last shred of dignity we have.”

“War slave. Cannon fodder. If we can’t escape fate, then we punch fate in the face.”

“Fight the trialists. Let those high-and-mighty alien civilizations see Blue Star’s Bone Qi Method.”

“From this moment on—against all trialists—show no mercy.”