Chapter 268

Chapter 268: Traitor

Fang He searched like a predator unleashed.

His eyes swept the void. He vaulted from asteroid to asteroid, carving a path toward the places where he sensed Wang Jie’s presence.

Along the way, Black-White Heaven cultivators didn’t even try to stop him. Everyone recognized him—fighters from the No-Chen Domain and the Hao Qian Domain included.

Wang Jie, meanwhile, didn’t know Fang He had betrayed them. He was still thinking about him, still wondering where he’d gone.

And in the middle of that chaos, Wang Jie met a different kind of killer.

The man didn’t use sword methods at all—he used a trapping art.

After fighting in the Cloudstream Domain for so long, Wang Jie had gotten used to it: everyone swung swords. This was the first time he’d met someone who didn’t.

The attacker was an old man, his face folded into deep ridges, his gaze sharp with calculation. His combat power hovered around three hundred to four hundred thousand, and his starforce had a strange quality to it. Every time he attacked, he first spread a wide net of trapping power, forcing Wang Jie to retreat—then followed with killing strikes.

Even Jia Eight Steps couldn’t break through that net.

Wang Jie had no choice but to respond with Rain Sword Art at range, using broad sweeps to burn through the old man’s starforce.

After several exchanges, the old man’s eyes flickered with annoyance.

He turned and left without hesitation.

Wang Jie watched him go, impressed despite himself. That kind of decisiveness only came from long years on the battlefield.

This was exactly what he’d been warned about: the reinforcements supporting Blade Gate weren’t only from the three great powers. Many were cultivators from the fringes—people who had fought, stolen, and survived under pressure until they became monsters in their own right.

Wang Jie barely had time to breathe before another attack came.

A massive “gear” of sword qi swept from east to west, neatly arranged in rotating lines, chewing through space like a grinding wheel.

Wang Jie raised his sword.

Rain fell in invisible curtains as he cut through it—angled sword qi slashed across the formation and split the “gear” cleanly in half.

The cultivators who had been about to surge forward recoiled instantly.

Then cold poured down.

Wang Jie moved without thinking.

A flash of light cut through where he’d stood and split the asteroid beneath him in two.

That strike felt familiar.

Wang Jie lifted his head, staring into the distance—

Fang He stood there, blade in hand, eyes burning.

“Fang He?”

Fang He grinned, vicious and delighted. “Finally found you, Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie’s chest tightened.

When the Three Domains retreated, he’d asked around. No one knew where Fang He was. He’d heard rumors Fang He had been expelled from the command hub by the Chief Huntsman—maybe he hadn’t made it in time.

Back then, Wang Jie had already felt the danger. This kind of isolation could push someone like Fang He into betrayal.

Now Fang He was openly striking at him on the battlefield.

There was no doubt.

He really had betrayed them.

Wang Jie’s brows drew together. Trouble.

If Fang He turned traitor, the first person he’d hunt was Wang Jie—and he wouldn’t stop.

Fang He strode closer, excitement fever-bright. “New grudges, old grudges. It’s time to settle them.”

He raised his blade and cut down.

Wang Jie dodged instantly.

Blade light carved through and split another asteroid.

Wang Jie leaped into the void, Sword Steps flaring underfoot as he shot toward the next rock.

Behind him, Fang He’s blade light flashed again and again, drawing lines across space.

He was building a net.

Wang Jie gritted his teeth. If that net closed, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Fine.

Qi-Qi Convergence.

Lockforce surged up like a pillar. The void trembled. Four swords rose and stacked with Rain Sword Art, expanding his killing range.

Sword qi flooded outward. Fang He’s blade light tore across the void, but Wang Jie’s sword qi intercepted it—while another portion lunged straight at Fang He.

At the same time, Wang Jie drove his thunder pattern forward and smashed it into the blade light from the side.

The forming net warped.

Fang He roared with laughter and chopped down again—One Blade, thrown with full force.

Wang Jie met it head-on, releasing everything he had.

Bang!

The impact drove him straight down into the asteroid’s interior. The rock shattered instantly, exploding into fragments.

Wang Jie’s arms split under the pressure. Blood ran. He forced the blade away, twisted his body, and slammed a kick into Fang He’s side.

Fang He’s expression twisted with disbelief.

This wasn’t sparring. This wasn’t the command hub, where he’d been injured and unable to fight properly.

Wang Jie was Star-Breaking Realm.

How was he blocking this?

Fang He flipped his blade and cut upward again. The void around them began to form a smaller blade net.

Too fast.

Wang Jie forced himself back with Bone-Motion Art, then struck out with a finger—Myriad-Stars Finger.

The finger force hit Fang He’s blade and shoved him back several steps.

Wang Jie’s second-limit breakthrough was still settling, and his strength was still climbing toward the ninety-nine-times limit. His combat power had leaped again. He still couldn’t overpower Fang He, but he wasn’t helpless.

He simply didn’t want to waste everything he had on a drawn-out duel in the middle of a battlefield.

Fang He didn’t care.

His eyes held only Wang Jie.

A Star-Breaking Realm this strong was unheard of. If Wang Jie grew any further—if he reached the Roaming-Star Realm—would any Six-Path Roamer be able to stop him?

The thought made Fang He’s attacks more frantic, more murderous.

Each One Blade came with crushing pressure. Wang Jie spat blood again and again under the blows.

But his qi was stronger now. His thunder pattern had turned green. And with his bracer and Qi Sight, he could occasionally counter and injure Fang He—small wounds, but real ones.

Hurting a Six-Path Roamer in a full-power clash like this… if word spread, Black-White Heaven would be shaken.

Wang Jie remembered the Star-Devourer contest, when Han Ling had casually knocked him flying. That helplessness was gone.

If Fang He had no stronger hidden method, and the fight dragged on, once Wang Jie found a true weakness through Qi Sight, mutual destruction might not be impossible.

A blade light slid along Wang Jie’s bracer and cut into him. He used the bracer and the Cloud-Thread Robe to forcefully block the strike, then countered instantly with another finger.

The hit landed on Fang He’s elbow.

Fang He’s arm went numb. His blade nearly slipped.

It was the same trick that had injured Luo Kui.

Wang Jie seized the opening and fired tempered sword-thread, trying to slip it into Fang He’s body.

Fang He’s eyes tightened.

He retreated.

Wang Jie hadn’t expected that.

If Fang He wanted distance, Wang Jie would give him distance the hard way.

Swords poured out of Wang Jie’s storage ring and slashed forward in a wave—Sword Rig, One-Line Sky—stacked with Rain Sword Art.

Fang He spun his blade, scattering sword qi.

When he looked up again, Wang Jie was already gone, Sword Steps carrying him into the maze of asteroids.

Fang He chased immediately, rage and obsession twisting his face.

Wang Jie glanced back, breathing hard. Fang He’s fixation was maddening.

He coughed, blood at the corner of his mouth.

Then starforce surged from another direction—fast, enclosing.

The trapping expert.

A chen artifact shifted into a strange form and swept toward Wang Jie, trying to box him in with Fang He.

Wang Jie swallowed a Swiftstep Pill, forcing more speed into his body, and then he swallowed a Body-Guarding Pill and a Revival Pill as well.

Two waves of starforce closed in from left and right.

If he was surrounded here, he was finished.

He tensed, ready to trigger the IOU Slip.

Then blackflame erupted.

It slammed into Fang He.

Fang He startled and cut through the blackflame, splitting it apart. His gaze snapped up. “Han Ling?”

Wang Jie turned. “Senior Brother Han?”

Han Ling descended like a falling star, Great Sun Halberd in hand.

His eyes were ice as he faced Fang He. “A Six-Path Roamer betraying the sect. Fang He, do you know your crime?”

Fang He sneered. “You don’t get to lecture me. Besides, my Six-Path Roamer status has already been stripped, hasn’t it?”

Han Ling’s expression didn’t change. “You fled the battlefield. Who else can you blame?”

“I didn’t!” Fang He roared, fury boiling over. His gaze swung to Wang Jie. “It’s him. It’s all because of him. I’m going to butcher him!”

Han Ling stepped in front of Wang Jie without hesitation. “Fang He is mine.”

His voice turned cold as iron. “This is between Six-Path Roamers.”

Wang Jie exhaled, relief flooding him. “Thank you, Senior Brother Han.”

“Han Ling,” Fang He growled, “you really want to fight me to the death?”

“On the battlefield, enemies decide life and death.”

“Then let me kill Wang Jie,” Fang He snapped. “You don’t need to protect him.”

Han Ling’s answer was simple. “I can’t.”

Fang He’s eyes went red. “Then die.”

He struck—blade light flowing like a tidal wave.

Han Ling met it head-on. The Great Sun Halberd swept, and blackflame boiled into the void as their forces collided.

Wang Jie’s eyes flicked toward the trapping expert’s last position.

That bastard had targeted him the entire time and tried to strike while Fang He hunted him. Despicable.

Wang Jie moved to chase—

And found nothing.

The trapping expert had vanished the moment Han Ling arrived.

Wang Jie clenched his jaw. It felt like being hunted by a Dagger-Offering Order—killers who only struck when you were already bleeding.

The battlefield was full of death. The worst kind came from people like that.

He backed away from the Six-Path Roamer duel. If he got too close, he’d be erased by collateral damage.

And now he could see it plainly.

Black-White Heaven was losing.

They were being pushed back hard. Not just Wang Jie—Han Ling, too. The entire battlefield line was sliding backward.

The enemy had too many experts.

In the past, the most visible threats had been Blade Gate’s Three Swords—Cheng Yi, Cheng Feng, and the rest. Now, strange monsters kept appearing, each carrying combat power in the three to four hundred thousand range. Black-White Heaven’s casualties mounted rapidly.

That elderly Roaming-Star Realm cultivator who had stayed on this battlefield for centuries—

Wang Jie saw him die.

A chunk of ice that made a cicada-like hum pierced through him, froze him in place, and shattered him into fragments.

Warships continued to explode.

Then Elder Luo’s corpse fell.

Something broke in Black-White Heaven’s line.

Han Ling knocked Fang He away and retreated instantly—dragging Wang Jie with him.

Wang Jie didn’t understand why Han Ling protected him so stubbornly, but he didn’t waste time questioning it. Survival came first.

As they retreated, Wang Jie asked hoarsely, “Senior Brother Han… are we completely defeated?”

“Not yet,” Han Ling said, eyes fixed on the distant void. “We still have one last move.”

“What is it?”

The answer arrived before Han Ling could.

A vast wave rolled over the battlefield—the pressure of the Star-Refining Realm.

Wang Jie looked up and saw them.

Three Star-Refining Realm experts charged into position and formed a living barrier across the battlefield, cutting off Blade Gate’s pursuit route.

Wang Jie understood immediately.

This was the last move.

Using the Star-Refining Realm battlefield as the dividing abyss. Blade Gate wouldn’t dare chase through it. To cross was to enter a deadland.

For now, Black-White Heaven’s fleeing forces were safe.

Han Ling finally exhaled. “As long as our Star-Refining Realm doesn’t lose, we aren’t truly defeated.”

Wang Jie scanned the chaos around them. Countless Black-White Heaven cultivators stumbled here, battered and bloodied. Those below the Roaming-Star Realm were sprinting across asteroids, leaping from rock to rock like desperate insects.

“The enemy has more than three Star-Refining Realm experts,” Wang Jie said quietly.

Han Ling nodded. “That’s why the question is how long we can hold before their hidden monsters finally move.”

Wang Jie couldn’t help it. “If they have more… why not strike now? Why wait?”

Han Ling’s gaze stayed on the distant, impossible battle. “Star-Refining Realm has transcended ordinary cultivators. It isn’t easy to reach that step.”

His voice was grim. “So when they fight, they try to see every method the enemy has—to ensure a guaranteed kill. Otherwise, they can be dragged to death.”

“Our three Star-Refining Realm experts are strong. Even if the enemy has hidden Star-Refining Realm cultivators, their goal is to wait for a chance to kill ours in one strike. We cultivators… aren’t valuable in their eyes.”

He paused. “And even if the front advances, the Northern Dipper Bridge-Pillar will reinforce and push it back again. It’s a tug-of-war.”

His eyes hardened. “Killing a Star-Refining Realm changes everything.”