Chapter 270

Chapter 270: The War That Wouldn’t Stop

Strangely, as the frozen chunks were pried out one by one, the cultivator’s qi began to flow smoothly again.

Only then did Wang Jie realize every shard had been lodged precisely where the qi was blocked. Those weren’t ordinary pieces of ice at all—they were most likely the enemy’s destructive starforce, frozen solid.

That palm strike hadn’t sealed the injury. It had sealed the destruction.

And carving it out afterward was, in its own ruthless way, a clean treatment.

“Next.”

The young woman looked languid, as if exhaustion sat on her shoulders like a cloak.

Wang Jie pressed his lips together. He wasn’t badly hurt, and after a brief hesitation, he decided not to draw attention to himself. He turned to leave.

He hadn’t taken two steps before he ran straight into Qi Xue Yin.

Qi Xue Yin saw him at the same time.

With everyone gathered here for treatment, Wang Jie slipping out stood out more than he liked.

His head started to throb. The last person he wanted to run into was an acquaintance.

Qi Xue Yin, on the other hand, brightened and hurried over.

A chubby boy trailed behind her, staring at Wang Jie like he’d seen a ghost.

This, this, this… wasn’t that guy?

Qi Wu.

The one who’d peddled combat power detectors back on Blue Star. The one who’d done business with Wang Jie and taken Yun Lai away.

Because of Qi Wu’s promise, Wang Jie had received ten billion starstones from Qi Xue Yin. By any measure, he’d come out far ahead.

Qi Wu had never imagined that man was still alive.

The Blue Star native who had defeated Shu Mu Ye and shocked the small handful of people who knew the truth was standing here, breathing, like nothing had ever happened.

Qi Xue Yin hadn’t told anyone after she returned.

Wang Jie hadn’t expected to see Qi Wu either.

“You’re not on the Yin Yang Battlefield anymore?” Qi Xue Yin asked the moment she reached him.

Back then, during the Skyport battle on the Yin Yang Battlefield, Wang Jie had vanished. Milky Way Defense Corporation had even sent people to ask after him.

That had been Qi Xue Yin’s doing.

She had been watching him the whole time.

Wang Jie could only sigh. “I got transferred here.

“Bad luck, I guess.”

He glanced at Qi Wu and gave him a small nod.

Qi Wu blurted, still stunned, “Miss… you knew he was alive?”

Qi Xue Yin gave a faint smile and didn’t explain. She tipped her chin toward the treatment area. “What, you came to have Wei Ke Ke treat you? Her methods aren’t gentle.”

“I was just curious. I came to take a look.” Wang Jie followed her gaze. “Her surname is Wei, so she’s from Flower Country’s Wei family?”

“That’s right,” Qi Xue Yin said. “She cultivates Heaven-Healing Art.”

Wang Jie raised a brow. “It’s really that impressive?”

Qi Xue Yin nodded once. “Even in First Nebula, where we look down on the other three great nebulae, we still have to treat Flower Country with respect. A lot of the time, we even ask them for help.

“If Flower Country were willing, First Nebula would absolutely have a seat at the table.”

Wang Jie could understand that. No matter how strong Flower Country was in direct combat, that healing art alone made them irreplaceable.

Qi Xue Yin clearly wanted to know why he’d ended up on the Yin Yang Battlefield. Wang Jie didn’t want to linger, but he also knew brushing her off now would only draw attention. So he gave her a brief version.

It didn’t go unnoticed.

Su Su saw them from a distance.

Singing Phoenix Hall and Flower Country both belonged to Second Star Cloud and were closely connected. Su Su had come to seek Wei Ke Ke as well, and instead she saw Wang Jie speaking with Qi Xue Yin. She immediately remembered what Qiao Xi had said.

Was this man really someone Jia Yi Sect had sent to Black-White Heaven to train?

Finding out wasn’t hard. Su Su beckoned.

“Senior Sister?”

“Go find out where Zhi He is,” Su Su said.

“Yes.”

Su Su watched Wang Jie. A star-breaking realm lockforce cultivator, yet dangerous in a way that didn’t make sense. Whether or not he was tied to Jia Yi Sect, she had to confirm it.

If Jia Yi Sect had found a way around the so-called “no future” of lockforce cultivators, the entire balance of the universe would shift. Lockforce cultivators far outnumbered starforce cultivators.

Wang Jie, unaware of the eyes on him, asked Qi Xue Yin about Heaven-Healing Art.

Qi Xue Yin didn’t hide it. “It’s essentially a Bridgeway Art that transfers injuries. As long as both sides consent, you can forcibly move one person’s wounds onto another.”

Wang Jie’s eyes widened. “That’s possible?”

“It’s Bridgeway Art,” Qi Xue Yin said with a small smile. “Miracles are normal.

“Just like Black-White Heaven’s Zhi family Fixed-Star Technique. Nobody understands it, yet it can lock down starforce—and it doesn’t work on lockforce at all.”

“And Heaven-Insect People can control insects.”

Wang Jie exhaled. “No wonder the strongest forces all have Bridgeway Arts.”

After a little longer, Wang Jie finally excused himself.

Qi Wu stared after him, still shaken. “He’s really alive. Back then even Jia Yi Sect confirmed he was dead. That’s why they didn’t take him. If they’d known, Black-White Heaven wouldn’t have been able to keep him.”

Qi Xue Yin’s gaze drifted toward the departing crowd. “After this battle, it won’t stay hidden.”

In that direction, Su Su had just left as well.

More and more people were starting to pay attention to him.

His past would be dug up soon.

And when it was, how many would be rattled?

Su Su quickly found Zhi He.

As a direct-line inheritor of the Zhi family, he drew attention wherever he went. He wasn’t hard to locate.

“I heard your sister died to Skeleton Clan creatures?” Su Su said.

Zhi He’s eyes flickered. His sister was Zhi Lan Xue, one of the Six-Path Roamers—the woman who’d been preparing to receive Bridgeway Art again, only to be erased in a single strike.

“Don’t misunderstand,” Su Su added. “I’m not gloating. Skeleton Clan is everyone’s enemy.”

“You came just to waste my time?” Zhi He’s voice was flat.

Su Su held his gaze. “Wang Jie. You know him.”

Zhi He looked away toward the starry void and didn’t answer.

Su Su continued, unhurried. “A lockforce cultivator. By rights, you shouldn’t know him.

“But his past makes it hard not to.”

Zhi He started to leave.

“He knows Jia Eight Steps,” Su Su called after him.

Zhi He halted and turned.

Su Su watched his face for a crack, a tell—anything. She saw nothing.

Did Black-White Heaven know? Or didn’t they?

“He knows Qi Xue Yin,” Su Su said.

Zhi He’s gaze sharpened.

“They’re close,” Su Su pressed. “Close enough that they must’ve met before Qi Xue Yin ever came to Black-White Heaven.”

Su Su knew Zhi Lan Xue had died during the bridge incident, which meant she also knew Black-White Heaven had dealt with Milky Way Defense Corporation.

“My Junior Sister Qiao Xi once tried to assassinate Wang Jie,” Su Su said. “He claimed he was arranged by Jia Yi Sect to train in Black-White Heaven.

“Is that true?”

Zhi He didn’t answer. He turned and walked away.

Su Su watched his back. A sealed jar, as always.

Zhi He was practical by nature. He’d heard of Wang Jie and seen him, but never spoken to him. Family faction fights. Lockforce versus starforce status. None of it interested him.

But Jia Yi Sect did.

So he went straight to Wang Jie.

Wang Jie had already prepared what he would say.

Inside the sect, he could hide Jia Eight Steps. Few recognized his qi techniques.

Outside the sect, things always surfaced.

“I participated in a Jia Yi Sect trial,” Wang Jie said. “As a native.”

Zhi He’s brows lifted. “You were a native in Jia Yi Sect’s slaughterstone planet trial?”

Wang Jie nodded. “That’s when I learned Jia Eight Steps.”

Zhi He studied him. “Where is your home planet?”

“Third Nebula, the eighth star chain.”

“Frostflower Sect territory?”

“Yes.”

“Why did Jia Yi Sect hold a trial there?”

“I don’t know.”

“And you met Qi Xue Yin during that trial?”

“Yes.”

Zhi He’s gaze deepened. “I’m Zhi family. Anything that harms Black-White Heaven is an attack on my Zhi family.

“You understand?”

Wang Jie inclined his head. “Senior Brother is right. This disciple will not harm Black-White Heaven.

“Senior Xing Xue showed me kindness.

“And I’ve received resources from the sect. I won’t repay that with betrayal.”

Zhi He left.

Wang Jie hadn’t given him the answer he wanted, so Zhi He would push the matter to someone who could investigate.

Zhi Ye.

Only Zhi Ye had the authority to dig up Wang Jie’s past. Zhi He was only a disciple.

But Zhi Ye didn’t pay it much mind. Whatever Wang Jie had been, he was now the disciple of Black-White Heaven’s Star Dao master. That alone was enough.

Jia Yi Sect or not, Zhi Ye was certain of one thing: Wang Jie was not one of theirs.

The war erupted again.

Star-refining realm clashes tore space apart—or at least, that was how it felt to Wang Jie and the countless cultivators around him. Wherever their eyes could reach was the battlefield. One moment of distraction meant death.

The space they could reach was their universe.

And in star-refining realm combat, that universe was nothing.

Reinforcements arrived—Su Su’s group included—and Wang Jie’s pressure eased. Experts sought experts. His only priority was avoiding Fang He.

The battle dragged on for more than half a month.

Too many died.

And still reinforcements poured in from behind—mostly lockforce cultivators, thrown into the grinder as cannon fodder.

Even hundred-star realm experts were falling.

Elder Mo died. Wang Jie saw it with his own eyes.

The earlier Elder Luo died too.

In the Cloudstream Domain, only Elder Wu remained of the three great elders, and even he was grievously injured, forced to retreat to the rear.

Wang Jie had no idea how many familiar faces from Cloudstream would survive.

And ever since abandoning the Three Domains, he hadn’t seen Xiao Rong again.

Dead or alive—who knew?

His personal terminal chimed.

Rotating rest shifts.

So the war truly wasn’t going to stop.

The earlier battles had been fierce, but compared to what came next, they had almost been gentle. Those with recognized names were now being assigned rest rotations.

It was Wang Jie’s turn.

He slipped through the chaos, leaping between meteors until he reached the rear and boarded a battleship.

The moment he stepped inside, he realized something was wrong.

The ship was in an uproar.

“What’s happening?” he asked, catching someone by the arm.

The man’s eyes were dull. “They’re choosing the dead.”

“Dead?” Wang Jie frowned.

“They’re selecting lockforce cultivators,” the man said hoarsely. “Planting different forces inside them. Even embedding technological weapons. Then they throw them at the enemy—suicide weapons, meant to hurt the other side.”

Wang Jie’s gaze tightened as he looked deeper into the ship.

Lockforce cultivators scrambled to hide. Some were working stations and got dragged away anyway. Starforce cultivators seized them without a shred of courtesy.

A few lockforce cultivators resisted.

But what did resistance matter?

Wang Jie watched them being hauled off in despair, jaw clenched. He wanted to stop it.

But on what grounds?

He was only a disciple. A star-breaking realm disciple.

In the command section, an old man watched a light screen displaying ships across the rear—each one grabbing lockforce cultivators.

An elder, newly transferred from the Elder Council.

His gaze suddenly snagged on Wang Jie.

He pointed. “That one too. Lockforce cultivator. Go—bring him.”

“Yes.”

“Wait.” The old man’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll go myself.”

He knew Wang Jie had backing. But the Elder Council had factions, and to curry favor with the Zhi family branch he served, he couldn’t hesitate.