Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Whose Inheritor?

Wang Jie was thrown onto the ground before a Star-Refining Realm powerhouse—the Edge Sect Chief Huntsman, a middle-aged man. Luo Kui stood nearby, along with a Hundred-Star Realm elder who stared at Wang Jie like a curiosity that shouldn’t exist.

“Luo Kui,” the elder said, voice tight, “he didn’t die?”

Luo Kui cupped his fist. “Disciple struck him down into the Cloudstream with my own eyes. I watched him fall. I don’t know how he survived.”

Wang Jie met their eyes calmly. “I cultivated Jia Eight Steps. Before I fell into the Cloudstream, I used it. From above, it would look like I dropped straight in, but I actually retreated and caught the land.”

Luo Kui frowned. Was that what happened?

He had been far away. He hadn’t seen clearly.

The elder didn’t linger on the point. “Above the Roaming-Star Realm, there’s no need to fear the Cloudstream. One can walk the void. Only those below the Roaming-Star Realm find it difficult.

Above the Cloudstream is like the starry sky.”

His gaze sharpened. “What I want to know is this—how did you break the formation?”

“Sword arts,” Wang Jie said.

“Sword arts?” The elder’s brows jumped.

Luo Kui let out a cold laugh. Sword arts? In front of the Edge Sect?

The Edge Sect Chief Huntsman’s interest flickered to life. “What sword arts?”

“Yi Sword Art,” Wang Jie replied.

The elder gestured. “Show us.”

Wang Jie’s storage ring had been taken by Luo Kui. He had no sword.

Luo Kui tossed him one without ceremony.

Wang Jie caught it and immediately unleashed Rain Sword Art.

The elder watched, puzzled. “How does this break arrays? How did you locate the foundation nodes?”

Wang Jie couldn’t answer honestly. He’d relied on his sword rig.

Before he could dodge the question, the Edge Sect Chief Huntsman spoke, eyes narrowing. “Zhong Yi’s sword art.”

The air shifted.

The elder and Luo Kui both turned toward the Chief Huntsman. Their expressions changed in the same instant, as if the name itself carried weight.

Wang Jie blinked. “You recognize it?”

“Zhong Yi?” The elder’s face tightened, as though he’d just remembered something he didn’t want to.

Luo Kui’s gaze darkened.

The Chief Huntsman stared at Wang Jie. “Did you obtain this Yi Sword Art from Zhong Yi?”

“Yes,” Wang Jie said.

“Then…” The Chief Huntsman’s voice sharpened. “Are you Zhong Yi’s inheritor?”

Wang Jie didn’t deny it outright, but he didn’t fully confirm it either. He glanced at the elder and Luo Kui. Their reactions were too obvious to ignore.

What was Zhong Yi to them?

“I asked you a question,” the Chief Huntsman snapped.

Wang Jie answered evenly. “More or less.”

“Where is Zhong Yi?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how did you learn Yi Sword Art?”

“She taught me.”

“Who taught you?” the Chief Huntsman pressed.

“Zhong Yi.”

“Where is Zhong Yi?” the elder demanded again.

Wang Jie stared at them, genuinely at a loss. “I really don’t know. She taught me, then left.”

The Chief Huntsman exchanged a look with the elder. “Take him away.”

—

As Luo Kui dragged Wang Jie out, the elder’s expression grew heavier. “Chief Huntsman… could Zhong Yi be in the North Dipper Bridge-Pillar, fourth nebula? He’s from Black-White Heaven, and that’s within fourth nebula.”

The Chief Huntsman shook his head. “I don’t know. But she originally came from the North Dipper Bridge-Pillar.”

“And the boy?” the elder asked. “What do we do with him?”

The Chief Huntsman’s gaze turned grave. “If he truly is Zhong Yi’s disciple, he’s difficult to handle.

You know what kind of person she is. One person, one sword, roaming the universe. Her sword arts are beyond common sense. If we provoke her again, no one here will withstand it.”

The elder exhaled, frustrated. “To think we’d run into someone like this here. Trouble.”

—

Wang Jie was locked in a subterranean prison beneath the Edge Sect Command Hub.

Along the way, he asked Luo Kui about Zhong Yi, but Luo Kui said nothing, his expression heavy with thoughts he refused to share.

Wang Jie’s instincts screamed that Zhong Yi’s name carried extraordinary weight within this Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar.

And in the North Dipper Bridge-Pillar, too.

She was the ruthless one who fought the Zhi family alone, the Lockforce cultivator who carved out a legend in fourth nebula.

Someone like that didn’t go anywhere without leaving a trail of broken rules.

The cell itself was simple—three sealed walls and a single exit. No window. Almost no light.

Wang Jie sat in silence.

His storage ring had been confiscated, leaving him a prisoner stripped clean.

Yet they hadn’t bound him. They hadn’t poisoned him.

The Edge Sect’s confidence was absolute.

Hours later, footsteps approached.

“Hey. Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie looked up.

A girl stood at the entrance, lively and bright-eyed, her expression so open it almost looked innocent.

“You know me?” he asked.

“Senior Brother Luo Kui told me.” She leaned forward eagerly. “You know Zhong Yi’s Yi Sword Art, right? Can you teach me?”

Wang Jie said nothing.

The girl pouted, then smiled again. “My name is Hou Xiao. Teach me Rain Sword Art. I can let you live.”

Wang Jie’s gaze sharpened. “Why should I believe you?”

Hou Xiao tilted her head as if seriously considering it. “Then who do you believe?”

“The Edge Sect Chief Huntsman.”

“But I’m not from the Edge Sect.”

Wang Jie blinked. “You’re not?”

Hou Xiao nodded, flashing a cheerful grin. “I’m from Sword Pool. You should know something about the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar. The Edge Sect is within the Three Sword Domain. Our Sword Pool is within the Five Sword Domain.”

So she was like Xiao Luo Si—an outsider thrown into someone else’s battlefield.

Hou Xiao’s voice stayed light, but her eyes were sharp. “Also, you shouldn’t be trying to make me earn your trust. You should be figuring out how to find a way to live through me. Because you don’t have any other options, do you?”

She looked sweet. Her mind was not.

Wang Jie answered flatly, “The Edge Sect cares about Zhong Yi. I can trade Yi Sword Art for my life. Teaching you doesn’t guarantee anything.”

Hou Xiao bit her lip. “Then we trade. You teach me Yi Sword Art, and I’ll tell you my understanding of Sword Dao.”

“A dead man has nothing worth learning.”

“You…” Hou Xiao stomped, indignant. “Yi Sword Art isn’t even that profound! Zhong Yi has plenty of sword arts. But what I’m offering is Sword Pool’s understanding of Sword Dao. Luo Kui has wanted it for ages and I never taught him.

You know why he arranged that whole thing with Fang He to target your people? It was a gift for sending me to this battlefield. Hmph. You can imagine how high my status is.”

Wang Jie looked at her. “I don’t believe you.”

Hou Xiao’s cheeks puffed. She snorted and stormed off.

Not long after, Luo Kui arrived.

He stared down at Wang Jie, voice flat. “Two choices. Die. Or become a mole. Choose.”

Wang Jie looked up. “A mole?”

Luo Kui’s expression didn’t shift. “We have many moles inside Black-White Heaven. The more, the better. If you agree, we can let you go back.”

Wang Jie exhaled slowly. “I can’t.”

Blue Star was inside Black-White Heaven. His people were there.

Zhi Xingxue and the others had treated him well. His cheap master was there too.

His ties to Black-White Heaven ran too deep.

Luo Kui’s voice lowered. “Wang Jie, don’t burden yourself. This war between bridge-pillars is nothing but a territorial dispute. We’re all humans. Betrayal isn’t some impossible sin.”

He paused. “Your identity reached us through a mole.

And we have plenty of moles in Black-White Heaven, just like Black-White Heaven has them in the Edge Sect.”

Wang Jie tested him. “And you aren’t afraid I’m a mole Black-White Heaven sent over? A scheme within a scheme?”

Luo Kui laughed quietly. “They wouldn’t be willing. And even if you were, once you’re in our hands, you’ll do what we say.

We have methods.”

Wang Jie stopped speaking.

Luo Kui leaned closer, voice deceptively calm. “Think about it. Life matters more than anything. Earn merit here and you can still enter the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar.

You’re a Lockforce cultivator. You have no future anywhere. Why cling to Black-White Heaven?”

Wang Jie’s gaze stayed steady.

Even if his future was bleak, he would not sell out his home.

Luo Kui left.

No one came again.

Half a month passed.

Then the wall behind Wang Jie ruptured—pierced clean through by finger force.

Wang Jie turned sharply. “Who?”

A voice answered from the other side, muffled and featureless. It was impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman, as if it had been deliberately stripped of identity.

“Little kid. Are you truly Zhong Yi’s inheritor?”

Wang Jie approached the hole.

On the other side sat a figure in another cell—face masked, posture relaxed. They didn’t look imprisoned at all.

They were even holding pastries.

Wang Jie glanced at his own cell’s exit, then back through the hole. “Who are you?”

“Don’t worry about who I am. Tell me the truth. If you’re Zhong Yi’s inheritor, it benefits you to admit it.”

Wang Jie answered simply. “I am.”

“What does she cultivate?”

“Lockforce.”

The masked figure fell silent for a moment, then spoke. “The Edge Sect won’t kill you.”

Wang Jie’s brows rose. “Why?”

“Another way to say it…” The voice turned colder. “The Edge Sect doesn’t dare kill you.”

Wang Jie stared through the hole. “Who are you really?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just remember this: the Edge Sect won’t kill you. Now you have a bottom line. That should settle your heart.”

Wang Jie didn’t respond.

The masked figure stood. “I’m leaving. Remember—I helped you. Sincerely.”

They turned away.

Wang Jie stopped them. “Sincerely? Where’s the sincerity in that?”

The masked figure froze and turned back. “Wasn’t I clear enough?”

“Clear, yes. Sincere, no.”

“Little kid, don’t be unreasonable. I told you the Edge Sect’s bottom line. No matter what you do, you won’t be killed. How is that not sincere?”

“I want to leave.”

“You can’t.”

“Find a way.”

The masked figure sighed. “I keep a low profile. I can’t help you.”

Wang Jie said nothing. He picked up a pebble and jammed it into the hole, blocking it.

A beat of silence.

Then the masked voice came again. “Little kid… you can become a mole.”

“I won’t.”

“You have feelings for Black-White Heaven?”

“More or less.”

“Then become a fake mole.”

Wang Jie’s mouth tightened. “The Edge Sect will control me.”

“Then remove the control.”

“Easy to say.”

“It’s not as hard as you think.” The masked figure’s voice sharpened with conviction. “I can teach you a sword art. If you master it, no matter how the Edge Sect controls you, it won’t work. You’ll be able to remove it yourself.

Then you leave. The sky is wide.”

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not trying to trick me into becoming a mole?”

The masked figure gave a low laugh. “Is there any need? Your life is already in their hands. If they wanted, they could torture you to death. Why bother tricking you?

You were meant to die anyway.”

Wang Jie removed the pebble and peered through again, curiosity cutting through caution. “What sword art?”