Chapter 251

Chapter 251: Sword Array

Xiao Luo Si couldn’t beat Cheng Feng.

She was Roaming-Star Realm, yet Cheng Feng—Full-Star Realm—had lost to Wang Jie, who was only Star-Breaking Realm.

To her, it was a brutal blow.

She clenched her fists and watched Cheng Yi plunge into the melee to kill Wang Jie. That familiar feeling of being overlooked tightened around her throat until it was hard to breathe.

The old crone glanced at her and sighed. “Miss, retreat to the command hub first.”

Xiao Luo Si grit her teeth and surged toward their side anyway. Whether it was Madam Xiao’s Twin Heroes or this battlefield, she wasn’t going to let anyone shake her off.

“Miss!” the old crone snapped, alarmed, hurrying after her.

A sharp whoosh cut through the air.

Wang Jie dodged.

Sword light flashed through the space where he’d been—Cheng Yi’s blade.

Cheng Feng turned his head, eyes flashing. “Sister, he’s my opponent.”

Cheng Yi didn’t even look at him. “You’re not his opponent.”

Cheng Feng wanted to argue, but even Sword Spine—paid for in blood and backlash—hadn’t been enough. Fighting now would be pointless.

Cheng Yi didn’t care what he thought. She held her long sword in a reverse grip and slashed.

Wang Jie went instantly more cautious.

She was Roaming-Star Realm. Her battle power was higher than Cheng Feng’s. The pressure she brought was even heavier than Han Song and Qiao Xi.

Winning would be hard.

Cheng Feng’s sword was fierce.

Cheng Yi’s sword was light and nimble.

Two completely different styles.

Wang Jie had only just adapted to Cheng Feng’s brutality. Now Cheng Yi’s shifting angles and feathered cuts left him scrambling.

Only Jia Eight Steps kept him alive.

Forward, back, left, right—his footwork was uncanny, wrong in a way that made the eye doubt itself.

And for the first time, Jia Eight Steps played out clearly in front of Xiao Luo Si.

Her eyes widened. A sect technique?

Was this man really from the sect?

The old crone saw it too. Her gaze flickered.

Jia Eight Steps. Qi Refining. Lockforce.

Who had placed him inside Black-White Heaven?

He couldn’t have come directly from Jia Yi Sect. No matter how strong a Jia Yi Sect lockforce cultivator was, he wasn’t qualified to walk into this battlefield alone.

Cheng Yi’s voice carried, cold and mocking. “Another one from Jia Yi Sect. Don’t tell me you’re that Xiao family girl’s protector too.”

Behind her, Cheng Feng struck again.

Cheng Yi didn’t mind at all. She even coordinated with him as if it were natural.

For a stretch of time, even with Jia Eight Steps, Wang Jie couldn’t dodge everything. Cuts opened across his body again and again.

But the Star-Lock Armor held. His guard qi absorbed the worst of their sword qi and starforce. He wasn’t truly injured—yet.

The thunder pattern across his armor cracked repeatedly, teetering on collapse.

Killing intent thickened in Cheng Yi’s eyes.

A Star-Breaking Realm cultivator holding steady under her and her brother’s pincer was absurd.

He had to die.

Wang Jie was thinking just as urgently—of a way out.

The siblings’ teamwork was flawless. Qi Sight showed him weaknesses, but with two opponents weaving together, catching a clean opening was almost impossible.

Brute force wouldn’t work either. His strength was immense and his qi-lock convergence was strong, but their starforce ran deeper. They suppressed him with sheer volume, and neither his strength nor lockforce could crack it.

And he couldn’t mobilize all his qi. He had to keep a large portion as guard qi to resist their sword qi. One slip meant serious injury.

Cold sword light blanketed him.

Wang Jie shifted his body—Bone-Motion Art.

Jia Eight Steps was already strange. Bone-Motion Art made him stranger still, joints and muscles twisting through angles that shouldn’t have been possible.

And slowly—he began to adapt.

Cheng Feng and Cheng Yi exchanged a look. The same thought flashed in both sets of eyes.

End him.

That was when Xiao Luo Si moved.

From afar, Void-Grasping Hand seized toward Cheng Feng. She knew herself well enough not to target Cheng Yi.

At the same time, the old crone struck at Cheng Yi.

With those two entering the fight, Wang Jie finally had room to breathe.

He pointed a finger at Cheng Yi.

Taking hits without striking back had never been his habit.

Cheng Yi snapped her sword back to block. The finger strike pushed starforce through the air and forced her back three steps.

Light flared behind her—

Sword Spine.

The old crone’s face changed instantly. “Retreat.”

Cheng Yi’s Sword Spine wasn’t Cheng Feng’s. One strike would kill.

Even a Six-Path Roamer wouldn’t take it head-on here.

Wang Jie and the other two withdrew at once.

But Cheng Yi didn’t unleash Sword Spine.

She grabbed Cheng Feng and retreated instead.

In the instant they pulled back—

Sword qi erupted from beneath their feet.

Hidden swords.

Sword qi speared upward and spread, webbing the area.

The old crone blurted, “Sword Dao Grand Array?”

Her voice sharpened. “Miss, run!”

But it was already too late.

From far away, Cheng Yi and Cheng Feng slashed at the same time.

Sword Spine.

Two terrifying arcs ripped across the void and smashed into the battlefield.

Wang Jie moved—fast.

His thunder pattern shattered instantly. He barely slipped past Cheng Yi’s overwhelming sweep by a hair.

Xiao Luo Si and the old crone dodged as well.

With that single moment, the Sword Dao Grand Array fully formed.

Some escaped.

Some didn’t.

Outside the array, Cheng Feng exhaled. “What a pity. I didn’t get to beat him with my own hands.”

Cheng Yi’s eyes gleamed as she stared into the distance. “Older Brother, it’s time to harvest.”

Cheng Feng frowned. “What?”

Cheng Yi’s smile sharpened. “Two Black-White Heaven elders are trapped.”

Cheng Feng jolted. “What?”

Inside the Sword Dao Grand Array, Wang Jie and the others were just as stunned. They looked up and saw the two elders above them—one unmistakably Elder Wu.

Two Hundred-Star Realm elders… trapped?

“We were careless,” one elder said grimly. “We didn’t expect their target to be us.”

“It’s normal they’d want to strike at us,” the other replied. “But I didn’t expect they’d sacrifice a Hundred-Star Realm just to trap the two of us. That’s desperate.”

“And worth it,” the first elder said. “With us trapped, they can kill Elder Mo—and use this array to heavily wound us. The advantage swings their way.”

The two elders landed, faces dark as they studied the storm around them.

Towering sword qi spun without end, as if the world had been severed from the Cloudstream Domain itself.

A world made of nothing but sword qi.

Wang Jie stared too.

He’d never seen a formation like this. Every array he’d encountered before was built to handle ordinary cultivators.

This one could trap Hundred-Star Realm elders.

It felt like the world had been turned upside down.

Black-White Heaven and Feng Men cultivators were trapped together inside. The Feng Men side looked even more hopeless—as if they’d been abandoned.

They didn’t last long.

Black-White Heaven cultivators wiped them out quickly.

The old crone kept Xiao Luo Si close, eyes darting again and again, searching for a break in the pattern.

Wang Jie looked deeper.

Sword qi leapt and twisted. And beneath the towering storm, he saw something else—movement that looked like swords jumping.

Like dancing.

He slowly closed his eyes.

The array was suffocating danger, but it carried a sensation he couldn’t name.

This feeling…

Sword Rig?

His eyes snapped open. Why did it feel like Sword Rig?

But it wasn’t entirely the same.

His Sword Rig had come without warning—an understanding dropped into him as if forced, as if granted outright.

This Sword Dao Grand Array was constructed. Set. Driven by intent.

Why would two different powers feel so similar?

Or maybe what was similar wasn’t Sword Rig.

Maybe it was something else—

Yi Sword Art.

Yes.

He had Yi Sword Art too. Even though his limitations meant he could only use one sword to cast Rain Sword Art and couldn’t unleash its full might, the foundation was there.

So which was it?

Sword Rig, Yi Sword Art… or both?

In the distance, the old crone approached Elder Wu and Elder Luo. “Elders, this is Madam Xiao’s legitimate daughter of Jia Yi Sect—Xiao Luo Si. I beg you to open the sword array and let Miss leave.”

The two elders looked troubled. “Feng Men’s target is us. They prepared for this a long time. This Sword Dao Grand Array is extremely difficult to break.”

The old crone’s voice rose, face turning icy. “No matter what, Miss must return alive. Otherwise, the sect will demand answers from Black-White Heaven—and Black-White Heaven won’t be able to bear the consequences.”

Elder Wu’s voice deepened. “We can’t even get out ourselves. Your Excellency knows that, don’t you?”

The old crone barked, “Then fight with your lives. You can die. Miss cannot.”

“You—” Elder Luo flared, furious.

Elder Wu stopped him.

The old crone didn’t care. A Black-White Heaven Hundred-Star Realm elder was little more than a steward in Jia Yi Sect’s eyes.

Elder Wu forced patience into his tone. “Your Excellency, don’t worry. If we get any chance to leave, we’ll let Miss Xiao go first.”

The old crone snorted and turned away to find Xiao Luo Si.

Elder Luo’s fury boiled over. “That stupid old woman. We’re trapped in an array, life and death uncertain, and she still tries to pressure us with Jia Yi Sect.”

Elder Wu sighed. “Forget it. Don’t waste breath. Find a way to break the array.”

Watching that exchange, Wang Jie understood more clearly than ever how terrifying Jia Yi Sect’s weight was.

A peak Roaming-Star Realm servant dared to scold Black-White Heaven Hundred-Star Realm elders—and in this crisis, the elders didn’t dare openly clash with her.

Jia Yi Sect was far beyond Black-White Heaven.

All the Black-White Heaven cultivators inside the array searched desperately for a way out. But no one expected anything from ordinary disciples.

Those disciples huddled tighter and tighter around the elders, terrified of being swallowed by the formation.

“You. Go scout that direction,” Elder Luo ordered.

A disciple’s face went pale. He hesitated. “Elder, this disciple’s strength may not be enough. Please—”

Elder Luo waved a hand.

The disciple vanished.

Blood splashed across the ground. Everyone nearby trembled.

“You. Go.”

Another disciple shuddered and didn’t dare hesitate. He ran toward the direction Elder Luo pointed.

After a few steps, sword qi shredded him into nothing.

Elder Wu pointed elsewhere. “You. Fifty steps to the right front.”

The cultivator swallowed hard and obeyed.

“You. Ten steps straight ahead.”

He died screaming.

“You. Strike that sword qi.”

No harm.

“You.”

“You.”

The two elders kept selecting people. If someone survived, they were spared and not chosen again, but most were used up in moments.

No one dared resist. A Hundred-Star Realm elder could erase them all without effort.

To these elders, sect disciples might be “elites,” but they were still expendable.

The old crone watched coldly, occasionally murmuring warnings into Xiao Luo Si’s ear.

Then the sword qi shifted.

Countless strands curved and lashed at the people inside the array. Many died on the spot.

Wang Jie dodged hard, edging closer and closer to Xiao Luo Si and the old crone.

Elder Luo’s gaze landed on him, cold as steel. “You. Step back a hundred paces.”

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed.

He’d fought his way up from behind. A hundred paces back meant stepping straight into the worst slashing zone—testing the array with his life.

He didn’t move.

Elder Luo’s eyes widened. His hand lifted—