Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Substitute Death

So Luo Kui had been right.

There had been something wrong with Celestial Master Qi.

That thunder strike likely had something to do with him.

But Black-White Heaven’s scheme bought blood only once.

Feng Men responded immediately.

In the starry void, sword qi erupted in every direction, encircling the entire battlefield.

A colossal sword array.

Wang Jie’s eyes swept around.

Everywhere—sword qi.

The array was so vast it made his stomach drop.

It began to contract.

Cultivators were erased as the walls of sword qi closed in—ripped apart like paper, regardless of whether they belonged to Black-White Heaven or Feng Men.

Inside the array, there was no ally or enemy.

Only death.

Wang Jie’s face went pale.

He was inside it.

Then he saw movement—cultivators rushing toward a single point. He didn’t hesitate. He sprinted with them.

In that direction, several hundred-star realm experts had gathered. At the center stood the strongest hundred-star realm of Singing Phoenix Hall.

Su Xian Yin.

Zhu Cheng was there as well.

Elder Wu of Black-White Heaven.

Yan Hui Xue of Xuan Gate.

Others, all clustered around Su Xian Yin.

Wang Jie wanted to rush over—

But they stood suspended in open void with no meteors nearby.

No footholds.

For someone who wasn’t roaming-star realm, approaching them directly was nearly impossible.

At the critical moment, someone called out from the side.

“Master Wang?”

Wang Jie turned and saw Qi Wu. The chubby boy was making exaggerated faces, trying to catch his attention.

Qi Wu leaned toward a nearby roaming-star realm cultivator and said loudly, “Brother, hurry up. Big Miss has high hopes for him—don’t let him die here.”

It was clearly meant for the roaming-star realm to hear.

Wang Jie immediately played along. He straightened and said respectfully, “I will not fail Big Miss’s expectations.”

Qi Wu nodded as if satisfied and turned to the roaming-star realm cultivator. “He’s someone Big Miss has chosen. Take him along.”

The roaming-star realm hesitated, then nodded. “I can bring him, but there may not be a slot for him.”

“Bring him first,” Qi Wu insisted. “We’ll talk about slots later.”

The roaming-star realm grabbed Wang Jie and hauled him through the void toward Su Xian Yin’s group.

Wang Jie shot Qi Wu a questioning look, but Qi Wu only raised a finger to his lips.

They drew close.

More and more roaming-star realm cultivators were gathering there.

But Luan Dao, Su Su, Qi Xue Yin—none of them were present.

Where had they gone?

Qi Wu finally leaned in. “No one can break this sword array. But Singing Phoenix Hall has a chen artifact—Substitute Paper Doll. Stick it on someone and it can take a death for them once. Slots are limited. You’d better secure one.”

Wang Jie frowned. “What exactly happened?”

Qi Wu’s face tightened. “Mutual scheming. We used a traitor to spread false information and lure their experts away, then we released Thunder Abyss lightning. Feng Men retaliated by activating this colossal sword array. A trade, basically. Whoever loses more pays the price.”

He glanced around at the closing sword qi. “That’s the game the lords play.

“We just try to survive.

“Especially you. Slots are limited. Figure it out.”

Wang Jie understood then.

No wonder the message he’d sent about the traitor had gotten no reaction. They’d already decided how to use him.

He looked toward Su Xian Yin.

Substitute Paper Doll.

He turned to Elder Wu and tried to contact him—only to realize Elder Wu’s terminal was damaged.

No connection.

So Wang Jie waved.

It was ridiculous in the middle of a shrinking sword array.

Plenty of people saw and ignored him.

Zhu Cheng noticed. His brows knit, and he murmured something to someone behind him.

A roaming-star realm cultivator immediately flew over and barked, “Non-roaming-star realm—leave.”

Before Wang Jie could answer, Qi Wu stepped forward. “He’s with Milky Way Defense Corporation. Who are you to order our people around?”

The roaming-star realm cultivator blinked, looked Wang Jie up and down, then retreated to report to Zhu Cheng.

Zhu Cheng’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t expected Wang Jie to have ties to Milky Way Defense Corporation. He said nothing more.

Wang Jie kept waving.

Elder Wu had his back turned, focused elsewhere. He still didn’t notice.

Wang Jie was too far to shout.

And the roaming-star realm escorting Qi Wu wasn’t about to help him.

Even bringing Wang Jie along had been an exception.

Then a voice broke through the tension.

“Master Wang?”

Wang Jie turned, startled—and then his surprise deepened.

“Senior Jiang?”

The newcomer was Jiang You Sheng.

Back on the ninth star chain, Wang Jie had crossed paths with him. Jiang You Sheng had even been the one to take him to Thunder Well for the first time.

Neither of them had expected to meet again here.

Jiang You Sheng looked as shaken as Wang Jie felt.

Only after returning to Puppeteer Sect had Jiang You Sheng learned the truth: that the ninth star chain had been lost on purpose to Frostflower Sect. Later, when Frostflower Sect fell, he heard Wang Jie had been saved once by an Old Ancestor. He’d tried to bring Wang Jie back to Puppeteer Sect—but Yi Yi had accidentally let him slip away.

Wang Jie had saved his life.

Even if Wang Jie had infiltrated and deceived him, that had been a matter of sides. Without Wang Jie, Jiang You Sheng would already be dead.

Jiang You Sheng was deeply grateful.

And Wang Jie, for his part, was grateful too. Whatever the reasons, Jiang You Sheng had helped him more than once. Without him, Wang Jie wouldn’t have survived Frostflower Sect’s collapse.

“It really is you,” Jiang You Sheng said quickly. “How are you here?”

Wang Jie gave a bitter laugh. “I got thrown onto the battlefield.

“What about you, Senior Jiang?”

“Reinforcement,” Jiang You Sheng said. “Puppeteer Sect had to send people too.” His eyes flicked to the shrinking sword qi. “Master Wang… do you have a slot?”

So everyone here knew about Substitute Paper Doll—or anyone who could gather here had already arranged it.

Wang Jie shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

Jiang You Sheng’s expression tightened. “Then what do we do? Without a slot, surviving this sword array is nearly impossible.”

“Senior Jiang,” Wang Jie said fast, pointing, “help me call Elder Wu.”

Jiang You Sheng didn’t hesitate. He flew to Elder Wu and spoke urgently.

Elder Wu turned, found Wang Jie, and understood immediately. He went to Su Xian Yin at once.

Su Xian Yin finally looked over.

Wang Jie bowed.

Su Xian Yin spoke softly to Elder Wu. Elder Wu’s eyes widened, then he hurried back toward Wang Jie.

He actually laughed. “You’re already on the list.

“What are you panicking for?”

Wang Jie blinked. “I am? How would I know?”

Even Jiang You Sheng looked stunned. A chen refiner might be valuable, but on a battlefield like this, value could be burned away in an instant. For Wang Jie to receive a slot, he had to be worth more than just that.

Substitute Paper Doll slots were scarce. Roaming-star realm took priority. The rest were carefully allocated.

Wang Jie didn’t know who had assigned his slot. He only knew that having one meant living.

He did have a backup—his Star Vault Vista identity token—but the less he relied on hidden cards, the better.

The sword array continued to shrink.

Cultivators fled toward the center in waves, faces twisted with terror. They couldn’t outrun the contracting sword qi. They were caught, sliced apart, scattered into nothing.

Su Xian Yin finally moved.

She drew out a sheet of paper and tapped it lightly.

The paper split into countless phantom fragments and drifted into the bodies of those gathered around her.

Wang Jie felt one sink into him as well.

Nothing changed. No warmth. No shield. No visible protection.

Everyone stood still and watched the sword qi approach.

Even with Substitute Paper Doll, waiting to be cut down was something most people couldn’t endure.

Several people flinched and took half-steps back.

Then a clear note rang out—music, steady and soothing, washing over the mind.

Su Xian Yin was playing.

Wang Jie drew a slow breath and fixed his eyes on the approaching sword qi.

It hit.

The sensation of blade-light tearing into flesh was immediate—bright pain that vanished into numbness almost as soon as it arrived.

The Substitute Paper Doll shattered inside him.

In the same instant, everyone the sword qi swept through was restored, unharmed.

Qi Wu looked like he’d crawled out of a river. He stood trembling, soaked in sweat, and nearly collapsed.

Most people looked the same.

They had just felt death.

Wang Jie’s breath came in harsh pulls.

He never wanted to feel that again.

They had stood at the sword array’s core.

Once the sword qi passed, the colossal array dispersed.

Ahead of them, Feng Men cultivators surged forward—an endless tide. Under this sky of broken stars, the number of survivors on their side was painfully small.

But from another direction, Black-White Heaven reinforcements came charging back in.

Luan Dao was among them.

The war continued.

What had just happened felt like an extreme exchange—both sides bleeding huge losses in a single stroke.

But it didn’t dull the battle’s intensity.

If anything, it sharpened it.

Now roaming-star realm cultivators were the main force.

Qi Xue Yin and others reappeared.

Luan Dao charged in front, One Blade flashing. Myriad-Instant Slash collided with a young man’s counter.

Tang Zhou.

One of Feng Men’s Three Swords—and the strongest of them.

Myriad-Instant Slash had once defeated Hanling, but it couldn’t break Tang Zhou.

Luo Kui and Fei Qiu Yun joined in with their own sword strikes.

Hanling and Qing Xiao entered the fray.

A Great Sun Halberd swept through the void trailing blackflame. Elsewhere, a gourd artifact opened its mouth and swallowed swords.

In another corner of the battlefield, a puppet hopped and bounced, absurdly lively amid slaughter. Wang Jie’s eyes caught on it—

And his gaze sharpened.

That puppet belonged to Yi Yi.

The same girl who had once guarded him on Deepweight Star under Jiang Yun Ji’s orders. She had to be connected to Jiang You Sheng.

Hundred-star realm experts moved as well. Farther out, star-refining realm combat still raged, shaking the void.

Wang Jie found the cultivator who used the imprisoning technique again.

Twice before, the man had fought him briefly and slipped away.

This time, Wang Jie had no intention of letting him escape.

Fang He had already fixed his hatred on Wang Jie again, but Yue Bai remained in the way, shielding him.

Shield Mountain Peak’s disciple—once he committed to defense—was truly hard to break.

Wang Jie almost wanted to thank Yue Bai. Of course, he knew Yue Bai was blocking Fang He for his own reasons, likely to repay an old humiliation. It had nothing to do with Wang Jie.

On this battlefield, Six-Path Roamer-level geniuses were everywhere. They filled the void like stars.

Wang Jie wanted to stay far from them.

The imprisoning cultivator wanted the same—he wanted to stay far away from Wang Jie.

But Wang Jie didn’t give him the choice.

Jia Eight Steps chased him like a shadow.

With so many already dead, the battlefield was less chaotic. It was harder to vanish into the noise.

The enemy’s starforce swept out in a strange shape, attempting to lock Wang Jie in place.

Wang Jie answered with a slash, brute force tearing it open.

“Brother,” the man snapped, trying to retreat, “do you really need to fixate on me?”

“You attacked me,” Wang Jie said, voice cold. “I won’t let you walk away.”

“I swear I won’t attack you again!”

“Nonsense.”

Wang Jie surged forward. Thunder Pattern slammed through, smashing the enemy’s starforce apart.

Swords flashed.

Sword Rig—One-Line Sky.