Chapter 262

Chapter 262: Head-On Clash

Wang Jie turned sharply. “Pushed here? This… isn’t the sect?”

Shuang Jin laughed. “Of course it isn’t. You thought I could take you straight back to the sect?”

Wang Jie exhaled hard. Right. That was too much, even for her.

He looked back at Star-Devourer. “Chief Huntsman—who pushed it here?”

Shuang Jin’s gaze deepened. “Who do you think?”

Wang Jie stayed silent.

Shuang Jin continued, “No wonder so many people searched when you disappeared. Congratulations, Wang Jie. To think you managed to become a disciple of Star Dao. Across the entire Beidou bridge-pillar, only a handful ever get that kind of fate.”

She studied him as if he were a puzzle. “I can’t imagine how a lockforce cultivator pulled it off. But it explains things. Otherwise, how could you have this kind of strength?”

Wang Jie didn’t respond. His strength wasn’t because he’d been accepted.

It was the other way around.

His strength was why his cheap master had chosen him.

“To push an entire planet from the sect to here,” Shuang Jin said, “a star-refining realm could do it, but it wouldn’t be easy. For a Star Dao master, moving stars is a daily task.”

With that, she turned to leave. At the edge of her departure, she added, “Fill up your lockforce properly.”

Wang Jie stared at Star-Devourer, heat rising in his chest.

His cheap master really did deliver.

He’d shoved Star-Devourer right to him.

Then a thought struck.

To absorb lockforce from Star-Devourer, didn’t he need assistance? The last time, Little Lan had helped him. Otherwise, Star-Devourer would have drained him instead.

As if hearing the thought, Shuang Jin returned.

“One more thing,” she said. “Star-Devourer has been modified. You can absorb on your own. No one needs to help you.”

Wang Jie bowed quickly. “Thank you for the reminder, Chief Huntsman.”

Once she was gone, he stepped onto Star-Devourer.

The landscape was mostly unchanged. Scars from the old battle still marked the ground.

It hadn’t truly been that long since the fight for Star-Devourer, but it felt like another lifetime.

Now came the real purpose.

He was starving.

Wang Jie pressed a hand to the earth and began to circulate the Heaven-Reversal Path.

The response was immediate.

Lockforce surged into him like a tide—vast, boiling, endless. It rushed through flesh and blood, flooding every channel.

His expression tightened as his depleted reserves refilled at an absurd rate.

At this stage, lockforce fused through flesh and blood until reaching the peak of full-star realm. Breaking through to roaming-star realm meant fusing lockforce into bone—so the body no longer needed to breathe in the void, so lockforce and body became one, granting true freedom to walk the stars.

For most cultivators, full-star realm was a transition. Long ago, it hadn’t even existed.

But for geniuses, it was where the gap widened. The stronger the body, the more power it could hold. When the breakthrough came, the result would be correspondingly terrifying.

Wang Jie absorbed without pause.

More than half a month passed before his body finally reached saturation.

If someone saw him now, they might assume he’d already stepped into full-star realm. But Wang Jie knew he still wasn’t at his limit.

He took out the combat power detector.

Now he could finally test himself.

With lockforce restored, he was back at his peak.

First—his normal battle power.

Wang Jie drew a slow breath, then let his lockforce erupt.

Lockforce blasted skyward. The combat power detector’s numbers jumped rapidly, surging past his previous normal limit and racing toward two hundred thousand.

Wang Jie lifted his hand, five fingers curling as power condensed. Lockforce whipped the void itself. Star-Devourer trembled beneath his feet.

The number climbed faster—then stabilized at two hundred fifty thousand.

His current normal battle power.

Next—qi and strength combined.

He stepped forward, and the number shot past three hundred thousand.

Then—Qi-Qi Convergence.

The value leapt again, punching beyond four hundred thousand before slowing, the final digits creeping upward.

Wang Jie watched it settle.

Numbers didn’t decide everything—pills, arrays, tools, technique matchups, experience. But numbers still told you what tier you occupied.

For other cultivators, “normal” meant starforce eruption.

For Wang Jie, “normal” was already Qi-Qi Convergence.

If he compared himself to a typical cultivator who didn’t cultivate qi, his baseline was roughly in the three-hundred-thousand range.

Fully unleashed, he could fight beyond four hundred thousand.

And he was still far from a Six-Path Roamer.

A Six-Path Roamer’s normal battle power was five hundred thousand. That was the starting line.

Reaching that with “normal” power wouldn’t be easy. Even if he pushed his star-breaking realm strength to its absolute limit, he might still fall short without breaking through to full-star realm.

Still—Wang Jie was satisfied.

A Six-Path Roamer at star-breaking realm never had this kind of battle power. As for the four wandering gods… maybe. Maybe not. He didn’t know.

Sometimes, he felt combat power ratings were flawed. Realms didn’t perfectly map to numbers. Talented cultivators broke limits constantly.

Realm and battle power were separate ideas.

And in war, neither truly mattered.

Only kill count did.

He put the detector away.

Time to move.

Star-Devourer would remain here. He could return whenever he wanted. The planet belonged to him—no one else could enter, not even the Chief Huntsman.

It should be safe.

Unless the command hub fell.

Wang Jie left Star-Devourer and prepared to explore—something every cultivator stationed at a command hub was expected to do.

But the moment he stepped back into the bustle, he heard it.

Fang He. Fleeing again.

Wasn’t that already settled?

Fang He was a Six-Path Roamer. Who dared keep talking?

Only after Wang Jie asked did he learn this wasn’t about his old case.

Ten-plus days ago, Fang He had left with Song Yan and a large group.

Only Fang He returned.

Everyone else died.

Wang Jie’s brows rose. “All dead? Not one survived?”

A cultivator sighed. “Not one. Only Fang He came back.”

Nearby, whispers spread.

“It has to be Fang He. Greedy for life, afraid of death. Remember what happened before? He ran and refused to face the Three Swords of Edge Gate. The Rain-Slaying God almost died because of him.”

“And that kind of person is a Six-Path Roamer.”

“Senior Brother Song even asked him along so he could atone and shorten his time on the main battlefield. Who would’ve thought Fang He wouldn’t even save Senior Brother Song?”

“Did you hear it when they left? That Rain-Slaying God warned them—said Fang He would run for himself. It came true.”

Wang Jie listened, expression unreadable.

Was it surprising?

Not really.

Song Yan was a traitor. If he deliberately asked Fang He along, something was wrong.

What surprised Wang Jie was that Fang He made it back alive at all.

As for the others—he felt nothing. Even if he’d tried to stop them, they would have gone anyway. And he had no proof Song Yan was a mole. He couldn’t say he recognized Song Yan’s qi from Edge Gate’s underground prison.

If he did, Wang Jie would be the one who died.

Everyone had their own fate. He didn’t owe strangers his life.

A furious voice suddenly boomed across the area.

“Shut up! If anyone dares run their mouth again, I’ll tear them apart!”

Fang He arrived, face twisted with rage.

The crowd fell silent immediately.

Fang He’s teeth ground. “I’ve said it a hundred times. Song Yan is a traitor. He led us straight into a trap. He didn’t die—he went to Edge Gate.”

His chest heaved. “I couldn’t save anyone. I barely escaped myself.”

He pointed a trembling finger at the nearest faces. “Say one more word and I’ll rip your tongues out.”

Then his gaze landed on Wang Jie.

His expression went even darker. “Was it you? Did you spread this? Slander me again and I’ll make you pay.”

Wang Jie lifted a brow. He hadn’t said a word, and Fang He was already snapping at him.

Ironically, Wang Jie was the only person present who believed Fang He’s accusation about Song Yan. But there was no world where he would defend Fang He.

Wang Jie said calmly, “Stop biting whoever you see. I didn’t slander you.”

He tilted his head. “I just prefer the truth.”

Fang He’s restraint shattered.

He strode forward, killing intent spilling openly, starforce pressing down like a mountain. “Kid. If I want you dead, no one can stop me.”

Wang Jie stepped forward as well.

Lockforce erupted.

Qi-Qi Convergence.

Power swept outward, meeting Fang He’s pressure head-on.

Wang Jie smiled, cold as steel. “You look pretty energetic for someone who claims he nearly died. With that much energy, how did you fail to save even one person?”

Around them, heads turned toward Fang He. It was true—he didn’t look badly injured.

Fang He’s face contorted. “You’re asking to die.”

He struck.

Blade shadows burst outward, covering the area in a net of killing light. Starforce poured in, clearly meant to crush Wang Jie in a single blow.

Wang Jie had expected it.

Qi Sight.

Sword Steps.

He slipped through the blade shadows, footwork sharp and strange, moving like a ghost through a storm. Fang He’s technique—Rakshasa Dance—was infamous. Once it formed, peers couldn’t escape.

But Wang Jie did.

He appeared behind Fang He and drove a palm forward.

Fang He snapped his blade back in a reflex slash.

Wang Jie raised his left arm.

A deafening clang—his bracer barely stopped One Blade. The sweep of steel lashed outward, injuring several cultivators who didn’t dodge fast enough.

Using the instant his bracer held, Wang Jie slammed his right palm into Fang He’s abdomen.

He didn’t hold back.

But Fang He’s starforce turned the strike sluggish, like punching into deep mud. Ten parts of force—maybe two landed.

Fang He dropped the blade and cut down again.

Wang Jie twisted, contorting his body at an impossible angle, avoiding the slash by a hair, then retreated with Sword Steps.

Fang He’s eyes widened. Two dodges.

There wouldn’t be a third.

The blade net completed, void flashing with cold streaks as the trap closed around Wang Jie. Rakshasa Dance wasn’t about the blade itself—it was the net.

Fang He raised his blade high.

“Die.”

And then—

A breeze swept through.

The blade net shattered.

An invisible force dissolved Fang He’s starforce in an instant, shoving him back five steps. His technique bucked violently. Blood burst from his mouth.

His eyes went wide with horror.

The Chief Huntsman had intervened.

At that moment, Elder Luo stepped forward, fury in his voice. “Fang He! Wang Jie! What do you think you’re doing?”

His gaze swept coldly over both. “You have nerve. Fighting privately in the command hub?”

Wang Jie bowed. “Elder, please judge fairly. Senior Brother Fang attacked first. I only defended myself.”