Chapter 266

Chapter 266: Gathering Storm

After that came the natural climb, step by step, until he reached the ninety-nine-times strength limit—the same peak state he’d once held on Blue Star under the Ten Seals.

Now, that peak belonged to the Star-Breaking Realm.

His qi had grown noticeably.

And his thunder pattern… it had turned green.

Good.

His physique was stronger. Even his eyesight felt sharper.

Fighting for his life had its benefits, but if he had a choice, he never wanted to fight like that again.

He stayed on the Meditation Peak for more than ten days before finally leaving. The first person he went to see was the Chief Huntsman, to thank her for allowing him to recover there.

Shuang Jin looked him up and down, her expression faintly strange. “At this point, as long as you fully absorb your lockforce, you’ll reach the Full-Star Realm.”

She paused. “Congratulations, Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie bowed. “Thank you, Chief Huntsman. And thank you to Senior Shuang Ying for protecting me.”

“Enough.” Shuang Jin waved it away. “Go replenish your lockforce. You can’t stay here.”

Her tone sharpened. “You only get one chance.”

Wang Jie frowned. “What happened?”

Shuang Jin’s face turned heavy. “Blade Gate has sent massive reinforcements. We’re abandoning the Three Domains.”

—

Wang Jie sat on Star-Devourer, absorbing lockforce as quickly as he could, his expression grim.

Abandoning the Three Domains meant abandoning the command hub as well. They would pull out of the Cloudstream Domain entirely.

And that meant Star-Devourer would be left behind.

No one would help him move it now.

Shuang Jin had made it clear: the enemy’s Star-Refining Realm was the real threat. Trying to move Star-Devourer would draw attention. Better to bind it among ordinary worlds and gamble on one day returning.

The odds were slim. A Star-Refining Realm sweeping their gaze across the battlefield would likely notice Star-Devourer’s abnormality instantly.

But “slim” was still better than “impossible.”

“Wang Jie, we’re leaving.”

Elder Wu arrived in person to take him.

Wang Jie couldn’t hide his reluctance as he looked at Star-Devourer. Its greatest value wasn’t pushing him into the Full-Star Realm—it was what it could do once he reached the Roaming-Star Realm, when his hunger for lockforce would become truly terrifying. It could even carry him to the Hundred-Star Realm.

And now it was gone.

His bargain master hadn’t expected this either.

He followed Elder Wu onto a warship. All around them, warships were already pulling out of the Cloudstream Domain.

Every cultivator was packed inside.

Wang Jie watched the command hub recede into the distance. He felt oddly calm, but those who had lived there for a long time weren’t.

“I remember the last full retreat,” an elderly Roaming-Star Realm cultivator said quietly. “That was hundreds of years ago. I followed my master in the Cloudstream Domain back then, struggling just to survive. In the blink of an eye… so much time has passed.”

Wang Jie looked over, startled. Hundreds of years?

To stay on a battlefield that long took strength and luck—but also intelligence.

“Senior Brother, you’ve been here as long as the three elders,” someone said.

“About that.”

“Then why did we retreat last time?”

“Same situation.” The old cultivator smiled faintly. “Every so often, Blade Gate brings massive reinforcements. Black-White Heaven has always played defense. We stretch the line, grind them down, and look for a chance to counterattack.”

He looked out at the void. “We’ll return to the Cloudstream Domain. Whether we’ll be among those who return… that’s another matter.”

Then he noticed Wang Jie watching him, and he bowed with easy courtesy. “Senior Brother Wang.”

Wang Jie hurriedly returned the bow. “Senior Brother, you’re too polite.”

The man was Roaming-Star Realm, and likely not weak. Yet he still chose to treat Wang Jie with careful respect—survival instinct sharpened into habit.

There were many like that on the battlefield.

Fang He and Wang Jie were “famous,” but plenty of people had once been famous too. Then they learned restraint, because their strength couldn’t sustain the endless consumption of war.

Fang He was a Six-Path Roamer, already standing at the peak of his realm. He didn’t need to be low-key.

Wang Jie had become a focus because he’d dared to clash with Fang He—and because he’d survived.

But if you gathered every Roaming-Star Realm cultivator in this war, you’d find more than a few monsters hiding in the shadows.

The only reason their names weren’t known was simple: the people who remembered their past were dead.

Wang Jie chatted with the elderly cultivator for a while and learned that the Cloudstream Domain wasn’t the only place that had retreated. The No-Chen Domain and Hao Qian Domain had withdrawn before, too.

He also learned that the enemy reinforcements weren’t only Blade Gate. Most came from factions outside the three great powers of the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar.

Those three were:

Sword Court, the strongest, controlling nine Sword Domains.

Sword Pool, controlling five.

Blade Gate, controlling three.

It looked like they’d divided the Bridge-Pillar cleanly, but the Bridge-Pillar was too vast. Beyond their absolute territory lay huge stretches of space—regions that couldn’t draw close to the Ancient Sword itself, yet still existed and were tangled with the three great powers’ influence.

Every wave of “mass reinforcements” came largely from those forces surging forward.

They would bleed, retreat to recover, then surge again.

That was why the Three Domains withdrew periodically.

Not an exception—normal.

No wonder Shuang Jin had been so calm.

“Senior Brother Wang,” the old cultivator warned, “don’t underestimate those outside the three great powers. Many of them are terrifying.”

He held Wang Jie’s gaze. “Some came from the three great powers originally, then founded their own sects or clans. Those sects still hold cultivation quotas within the three great powers—and they can touch the Ancient Sword as well.

“Others are simply born monsters, not inferior to any core disciple.”

He met Wang Jie’s eyes. “Be even more careful with them. They’re better at killing and seizing.”

Wang Jie nodded. “Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother.”

“Of course, we aren’t the only ones who’ll be reinforced,” the old cultivator added. “Every time the enemy surges, the Northern Dipper Bridge-Pillar will respond too.”

He smiled. “Just wait. A lot of people will come.”

—

The Cloudstream Domain fell behind them.

In the distance, the Asteroid Belt emerged—vast, spanning the stars. Crossing it meant entering the Fourth Nebula, the line separating the First Main Battlefield from the nebula beyond.

Wang Jie saw warships from the other two domains as well, all retreating toward the rear of the Asteroid Belt.

Once the fleets crossed, they began laying defenses across a huge area—releasing Orbital Dust, spreading Orbital Fog, planting Ice-Crystal Cloud Thunder, and more.

At the same time, Jia Yi Sect issued a mobilization order, calling the entire Northern Dipper Bridge-Pillar to support the battlefield.

The order spread like wildfire, jolting countless people awake.

—

“Jia Yi Sect’s mobilization order?” someone murmured. “If you count the timing… the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar is due for a big push again.”

Then, with a hard decision: “Xian Yin.”

“Disciple is here.”

“Go. Bring Su Su. Support the battlefield.”

“Yes.”

—

In Flower Country, a young woman lay sprawled on a bed surrounded by snacks piled into small mountains.

“Senior Sister! Senior Sister Coco, wake up!” someone pleaded. “The elder ordered you to support the battlefield!”

“I’m not going,” the girl muttered, eyes still closed. “I’m sleeping.”

“You can’t! The elder said you have to go!”

“I won’t. Who can make me?”

“The elder said if you don’t go… she’ll burn all your snacks.”

The girl shot upright, teeth grinding. “That old hag! She won’t go herself. It’s a battlefield—people die!”

—

“Ten thousand—no, one hundred thousand Shield Mountain Peak disciples, hear my order. Depart to support the battlefield!”

“One hundred thousand Falling Bow Hall disciples, hear my order!”

“One million Luo Kingdom beings, hear my order!”

—

“Grandfather,” a young man asked uneasily, “why do we have to support them?”

“This is a chance.” The old man’s voice was firm. “A chance to be noticed by Jia Yi Sect.

“Do you know when the powerful existences in the First Nebula hand out temporary transfer quotas? Aside from trading benefits, this is the best opportunity.

“A mobilization order from Jia Yi Sect means the whole Northern Dipper Bridge-Pillar is watching this battle. If you earn merit, you might be transferred into Jia Yi Sect to cultivate.”

His eyes sharpened. “Our Puppeteer Sect will depend on you.”

The young man grimaced. “Fine. But it’s dangerous.”

“Then don’t be stupid. Stay behind in the chaos. Get merit, then snatch what you can.”

“That sounds wrong…”

The old man sighed. “You child… Fine. Let me tell you again about your great-grandfather’s rise to fortune.”

“…I understand, Grandfather,” the young man said quickly. “I’m leaving.”

—

At Jia Yi Sect, above a waterfall, a young girl sat barefoot before a chessboard. She wore glasses, and somehow they only made her more striking—too beautiful to feel real.

“Xi Liu,” someone said gently, “still studying that game?”

She smiled. “It’s interesting.”

The speaker chuckled. “Reverse-Delusion Mountain’s endgame is indeed interesting. It can temper the mind. But it doesn’t mean much to you. Go out. Relax.”

“Where?” Xi Liu asked.

“Anywhere you like. The Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar is reinforcing. You can go watch… or have a little fun.”

A pause, then another suggestion. “Or you could look at the new kids who joined the sect club. See if there are any good seedlings.”

Xi Liu lifted her head, her smile bright as sunlight. “All right.”

—

Behind the Asteroid Belt, warships lined up in ranks, stretching into the dark.

At the very front stood the Chief Huntsman, the Black Realm Lord, and Zhi Ye, with nearly ten Hundred-Star Realm elders behind them. Beyond that was a sea of warships packed with cultivators.

Wang Jie stood inside one of them, staring into the distance.

No one spoke.

An alarm had just sounded.

The enemy had arrived.

In the Asteroid Belt, Orbital Dust was disturbed, and Ice-Crystal Cloud Thunder detonated in bursts—tiny white points blooming with frost across the black.

This was the main battlefield now. If a warship was destroyed, anyone below the Roaming-Star Realm would have to jump to the asteroids and fight on drifting rock in open space.

“They’re here,” someone said in a low, tight voice.

Everyone looked out.

The shadows surged closer.

At the front were Thunderflare Hou, hurling lightning wildly as they advanced, bolts splashing across the Asteroid Belt.

Behind them came blazing phoenix snakes—long, red, winged serpents with beautiful burning wings and vicious, monstrous heads.

Behind them, red streaks darted and flashed—blood falcons, each streak a killer in motion.

These three starry sky behemoths were among the most common forces the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar deployed on the First Main Battlefield.

From this distance, Wang Jie couldn’t see people at all—only lightning, fire, and red light. The enemy cultivators were hidden behind that storm.

Then a voice rolled across the void, reaching every ear despite the distance.

“Shuang Jin. Long time no see.”

Three figures appeared.

The man in the center was the one who spoke—Han Heng, hailed as Blade Gate’s greatest genius across the ages.