Chapter 293

Chapter 293: In Demand

Another feed arrived.

Everyone looked.

“Jia Yi Sect. Madam Yun lineage. Yun Jian.”

Wu Yuan recognized him instantly.

Because Yun Jian was Hundred-Star Realm.

Mo Wan Yin’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t expect an old acquaintance. Yun Jian is an adopted son of Madam Yun’s lineage. He stumbled into bridgeway art by chance and became extremely strong. When I was in First Nebula, he was already a top figure among Roaming-Star Realm. Now he should have reached Hundred-Star Realm.”

Her gaze shifted to the woman beside him. “But who is she?”

Yu Zhi and the rest stared.

Jia Yi Sect sent only two—Yun Jian and that woman.

“Even you don’t recognize her, Senior Sister Mo?” Wang Jie asked.

Mo Wan Yin shook her head. “Never seen her. She shouldn’t be from Jia Yi Sect.”

No one could identify her.

When Xu Huang club entered the Silver Radiance Empire, they moved straight toward Imperial Capital Star.

“They’re not going to seize the empire, are they?” someone asked, tense.

Yu Zhi looked at Wang Jie. “Junior Brother Wang. If they want the Silver Radiance Empire, let them have it. But keep the feeds. Don’t let them notice.”

Wang Jie nodded. “Understood.”

He contacted Jun Hua at once and suggested they relocate. The Lakeside Residence was too obvious.

Not long after, everyone moved into a mountain stronghold on Imperial Capital Star, transferring the surveillance screens with them.

Xu Huang club’s people did, in fact, enter the Imperial Palace to meet Jun Hua.

“Who told you to monitor the borders earlier?” a female disciple demanded.

Jun Hua kept her posture humble, cautious. “People from Xuan Gate.”

Su Su looked surprised. “Xuan Gate already came? That makes sense—they’re closest.”

Su Ji Kong’s gaze was calm, heavy. “Where are they?”

“They left,” Jun Hua answered quickly. “When they learned you were coming this way, they withdrew immediately.”

Su Ji Kong nodded. “Don’t be afraid. We won’t harm you. As long as you cooperate.”

“We will,” Jun Hua said at once. “Senior, please rest assured.”

“Continue monitoring the borders,” Su Ji Kong ordered. “And hand over everything you’ve recorded so far.”

“Yes.”

Su Su’s eyes widened. “Third Zen Heaven club?”

Qing Xiao glanced toward another screen. “It really is them.”

“And Yun Jian from Jia Yi Sect,” someone added.

Su Su exhaled softly. “As expected. One by one, they’re all coming. The Nan family’s hidden trove is too tempting.”

“Then let’s see who gets it,” Qing Xiao said lightly.

Inside the mountain, Wang Jie and the others watched the same feeds Xu Huang club received. Jun Hua didn’t falsify anything. There was no point.

“Candle-under-shadow club,” Wu Yuan said, focusing on a screen that showed two strange figures.

A man and a woman, close in age.

The woman carried a lamp. The flame on the wick cast the outline of a face.

It was… wrong. Unnatural.

Wang Jie frowned. “Candle-under-shadow club?”

Most of the others were unfamiliar with them too.

Wu Yuan explained, “Chu Zhao Mian and Han Mu. Master and disciple. Their ages aren’t far apart, but Chu Zhao Mian is Hundred-Star Realm. Among Bei Dou bridge-pillar’s rogue cultivators, she’s one of the strongest. Very few reach that level without joining a sect or major force.”

“And Han Mu,” Wu Yuan continued, “I’ve seen him once. His talent is frightening. Right now, he might rival a Six-Path Roamer.”

Wang Jie felt a chill.

He had underestimated rogue cultivators.

But the universe was too vast. Opportunity was too capricious.

Yun Jian stumbling upon bridgeway art itself was outrageous. Why couldn’t there be a Chu Zhao Mian?

Mo Wan Yin suddenly sucked in a breath. “I remember her… Candle-Shadow Madam Chu Zhao Mian. She once stood before a Guarding Star Realm expert.”

Everyone’s expressions changed.

A Guarding Star Realm expert was not a person.

It was an entire sky.

Wu Yuan nodded. “Yes. She challenged a Guarding Star Realm expert once. She lost, but not everyone even has the right to have their name remembered by someone at that level.”

His gaze was steady, almost solemn.

“Any cultivator who has ever stood before a Guarding Star Realm expert is a top powerhouse in the wider universe.”

Including Wu Yuan himself.

Before, they had only a vague sense of Chu Zhao Mian.

Now she became one of the most dangerous threats in their minds.

Yu Zhi frowned. “Elder, so far the arrivals have mostly been from Bei Dou bridge-pillar. There’s still no further news about red moon. Is the one spreading the news waiting for clubs from other bridge-pillars to arrive?”

Wu Yuan nodded slowly. “It’s possible. If so, this battle will be far harder than we expected.”

More feeds streamed in. There were too many.

The Silver Radiance Empire could barely keep up. Everything looked suspicious.

Even Wu Yuan and Yu Zhi couldn’t identify every club.

Then one group appeared—a cluster of unmistakably elite cultivators—and while Wu Yuan didn’t recognize them, Wang Jie did.

Si Yao had shown him images of certain geniuses before.

Among them was a woman born with violet eyes, stunning enough to be unreal. Rumor claimed she was born at the peak of ten seals, and that her first cry reached Star-Breaking Realm.

Now that woman had arrived in the Silver Radiance Empire.

And she was from another bridge-pillar.

“Young Ling Er?” Han Ling blurted.

Everyone leaned toward the screen.

Wu Yuan’s expression turned grim. “Nan Dou bridge-pillar. Cheng Yi Dao. Young Ling Er—called mirror flowers, water moon.”

He sounded genuinely wary.

“I didn’t expect even her to come.”

“Cheng Yi Dao has nerve, sending her into Bei Dou bridge-pillar. Aren’t they afraid she’ll die here?”

Yun Que stared at the lively girl on the screen. “They say when Young Ling Er was born, all mirrors around Ji Rang shattered. Her bridgeway art differs from the rest of Madam Shao’s lineage of Cheng Yi Dao. She’s praised as the genius most likely to surpass Shu Mu Ye?”

“That’s what the sect intelligence claims,” Wu Yuan said. “But we don’t truly know what her bridgeway art can do. Our understanding of other bridge-pillars is too limited.”

“As for surpassing Shu Mu Ye… Cheng Yi Dao advertises that too loudly. Young Ling Er is one candidate. Shao Gu Chen is another. Who can say?”

Wang Jie watched her and couldn’t reconcile her bright, playful expression with the fact she was a Hundred-Star Realm powerhouse even Wu Yuan treated cautiously. She looked younger than he was.

After Young Ling Er’s arrival, more cultivators from other bridge-pillars appeared.

Their numbers were smaller than Bei Dou’s, of course. Crossing bridge-pillars was no easy matter. Weaker clubs didn’t dare.

But that meant something else.

Anyone who came anyway… was strong.

The only good news was that no club clearly tied to Guarding Star Realm experts had appeared yet.

Half a month passed in uneasy quiet. The steady stream of new arrivals slowed—most of those who would come had come.

Then a single message spread through the crowds like fire.

“Only lockforce cultivators can find red moon.”

Just one sentence.

It shattered the false calm.

The source was the same as the earlier message about red moon’s appearance.

Someone was deliberately guiding the clubs.

The motive was unclear.

It could be a trap… but a trap for whom? Now that powerhouses from multiple bridge-pillars were here, anyone could suffer losses.

The more likely truth was simpler: someone wanted the Nan family’s hidden trove, lacked the strength to take it, and so broadcast the secret to the universe.

As factions argued about the messenger’s motive, they also began hunting lockforce cultivators.

Why only lockforce?

No explanation was given, but speculation spread.

The most common theory was that red moon originated from starforce and was hidden in a way starforce cultivators couldn’t detect—while lockforce, being a fundamentally different power, might sense it.

It was plausible.

Similar situations had occurred before.

And so the Silver Radiance Empire fell into chaos.

Lockforce cultivators became prizes.

Everyone wanted one.

A battle erupted in the Imperial Palace—someone attempted to seize control of the empire and use Jun Hua to gather all lockforce cultivators.

Xu Huang club refused to allow it.

The clash was brief, but the might of a Hundred-Star Realm cultivator shook the stars. Panic spread across Imperial Capital Star as countless civilians fled, unwilling to remain.

Inside the palace, Jun Hua’s nerves frayed.

Why were there more and more Hundred-Star Realm figures?

From within the mountain, Wu Yuan watched the disturbance, then withdrew his gaze. “That was Yuan Qiao Qiao.”

Yu Zhi’s eyes widened. “Ancient sword bridge-pillar… Nine Swords club… Yuan Qiao Qiao?”

Wu Yuan nodded.

The others looked confused.

Yu Zhi explained quickly, “Nine Swords club is the most powerful club of ancient sword bridge-pillar—formed from the nine strongest sword courts that control nine sword domains. Yuan Qiao Qiao is one of their three Hundred-Star Realm powerhouses.”

Zhi He’s gaze turned icy.

Sword court.

Zhi Ye, it seemed, was still imprisoned there.

Wu Yuan’s voice was low. “Yuan Qiao Qiao’s strike at the Imperial Palace was a probe and a warning. She’s telling the Silver Radiance Empire not to meddle. Now everyone is gathering lockforce cultivators.”

His gaze shifted to Wang Jie.

“This is our only advantage.”

Everyone looked at Wang Jie as well.

Among known lockforce cultivators, Wang Jie was the strongest.

Wang Jie’s jaw tightened. “It’s also our biggest danger.”

Silence followed.

If word spread that Wang Jie was here, the factions would stop hunting ordinary lockforce cultivators and come for him.

Those people wanted red moon.

Only Wang Jie mattered.

Wang Jie hadn’t expected it.

He had become the most sought-after prize in the entire storm.

“We have to move,” Wu Yuan said immediately. “We can’t stay here. If Jun Hua can’t withstand the pressure and exposes our location, we become everyone’s target. Even if she doesn’t, Xuan Gate will.”

Wang Jie agreed without hesitation.

They relocated at once.

At the same time, countless ships rose from the Silver Radiance Empire and fled toward the outskirts.

Each ship carried citizens—families uprooted, forced to abandon their homes because their empire had become a battlefield.

Jun Hua issued a public announcement across the empire.

Xu Huang club didn’t stop the evacuation. Their goal wasn’t the empire itself. The more civilians left, the less clutter there was. It suited them.

As time passed, clashes between clubs grew more frequent.

Days later, someone found the mountain where Black-White Heaven had hidden.

It was empty.

Only the surveillance devices remained, still streaming feeds.

“They ran.”

“Find them. If they came, they won’t leave so easily.”

“That Wang Jie is the most likely to find red moon.”