Chapter 306

Chapter 306: The Might of Red Moon

Nan Zhi let out a long breath. “What do you want?”

“That’s my question.” Wang Jie’s voice sharpened. “You used club channels to pass messages. You used me to find Red Moon and get in here. What do you want?”

Nan Zhi’s brows knit. “This is my family’s place. Am I not allowed to return?”

“You’re allowed. But you used everyone to do it.”

“So you’re going to judge me with morality?”

“I don’t care what you do to others,” Wang Jie snapped. “But you used me, too. From the moment I heard Red Moon had appeared to now, how many times have I nearly died?”

“You think you can erase all that with one sentence about whether you ‘should’ come back?”

Nan Zhi clenched her fists. “Then what do you want?”

“What you gain, I gain.”

“How much?”

“The complete Red Moon manual.”

Her eyes widened. “Red Moon is the foundation the Nan family was built on. You’re greedy.”

Wang Jie shook his head. “Four Seasons is your family’s real foundation. And you were willing to reveal part of Red Moon—so why not all of it?”

Nan Zhi held his gaze. Her voice cooled to ice. “Fine. You want it? I’ll give it to you.”

She lifted both arms.

Starforce surged into the sky. In Wang Jie’s Qi Sight, the qi in her body rose like thin streams, gathering, spiraling, compressing—

Until a blood-red moon formed above her head.

Wang Jie stared.

So this was the complete Red Moon. But Qi Sight alone wouldn’t let him steal it.

Nan Zhi stood beneath that moon, bathed in eerie crimson light. Her presence turned ghostly, unnatural.

“Wang Jie,” she said softly, “don’t you want Red Moon?”

“I’ll teach you. Hand to hand.”

“Watch.”

Her right arm lifted and pressed down.

Wang Jie reacted instantly, Thunder Pattern flaring above his head.

The red moonlight became endless killing intent—countless fused sword edges—slamming down and cleaving the Thunder Pattern apart.

Crimson slashes swept in from every direction.

This was her true power.

Before, what she’d used was only what she’d learned in Cheng Yi Dao—yet even that had let her trade blows with a Six-Path Roamer. Now she was moving as Nan family blood.

Wang Jie used Jia Eight Steps to avoid the first wave, then looked up—and his expression changed.

Wherever Red Moon passed, it was killing intent. There was nowhere to hide.

A shriek tore through the air.

The surrounding void crushed inward. Razor-edged pressure wrapped his entire body.

Wang Jie unleashed Qi-Qi Convergence, power roaring through him, and stabbed a finger toward Nan Zhi—Myriad-Stars Finger.

Nan Zhi watched it calmly. Dark red light condensed like a lantern illuminating the path ahead. The shadow of the Myriad-Stars Finger couldn’t even penetrate.

“Nan family’s Red Moon isn’t something your Chen art can oppose,” she said, voice quiet and cruel. “Red Moon is a manual, a battle technique… and a Chen art.”

She flicked her hand.

A single red slash swept sideways, sharp enough to split the void.

Wang Jie’s eyes locked onto it. He yanked out his boat and slammed it down upright beside him, using it as a shield.

The crimson blade struck.

The boat held.

But the impact shoved Wang Jie bodily out of the zone, forced across the boundary as if he’d been thrown.

Nan Zhi’s eyes flashed. He blocked it?

Wang Jie surged back in the next instant, boat in one hand, the other hand whipping forward. Swords burst from behind him—Sword Rig-One-Line Sky.

Nan Zhi hadn’t expected him to withstand that earlier strike.

Red Moon’s glow had dulled. Her face tightened. She bit her fingertip and touched the bleeding point to the moon.

Swords stabbed toward her—only for Red Moon to flare, suppressing them.

Crimson moonlight spread like burning flame.

Wang Jie held the boat steady, but the pressure had changed. It was no longer pure sharpness. It was burning—an invisible flame that didn’t sear flesh so much as scorch thought itself.

His mind felt like it was being set alight.

Nan Zhi stepped in and pressed her palm down.

A miniature Red Moon formed in her palm.

Wang Jie raised the boat to block. The strike landed with a heavy boom. The boat held—

But the Red Moon in her palm pressed through, sliding past the boat’s defense and slamming straight into Wang Jie’s forehead.

His pupils tightened.

Before he could react, a single word flared between his brows:

Illusion.

Gu Xun Yi’s gift—meant to let him cross Deadland and deliver a message.

Wang Jie had almost forgotten it existed.

And now it erupted.

The Illusion character shoved the Red Moon phantom away in a flash.

Nan Zhi’s body jolted. Blood burst from her mouth. She staggered backward, eyes unfocused, and the Red Moon above her head cracked—then vanished in an instant.

She collapsed, on the verge of unconsciousness.

Wang Jie touched his forehead, stunned. Just like that… it was used up?

That character had come from Gu Xun Yi. It shouldn’t have been wasted here.

At minimum, it should’ve blocked an attack from a Hundred-Star Realm.

What a loss.

He put the boat away and stared down at Nan Zhi. Red Moon really was worthy of the Nan family’s reputation. Even with his defenses, the full set had pushed him to the edge.

If not for that character, he might be lying where she was.

He’d need Gu Xun Yi to write him another one—if he could find the chance. A blow to the forehead was no joke.

Wang Jie sat down, swallowed a Revival Pill, and began to recover.

Nan Zhi lay unconscious.

Two days passed before she finally stirred.

When her eyes opened, she looked hollowed out—dizzy, weak, slow to understand where she was.

Then her gaze lifted.

Wang Jie stood over her, cold-eyed, a faint smile cutting at the corners of his mouth.

Nan Zhi blinked, memory returning in pieces. “That power… what was it?”

Wang Jie gave a short laugh. “And you think I’d tell you?”

She pressed a hand to her head and forced herself upright. Her voice was thin. “No wonder you’re a disciple of a star dao master. Impressive.”

Wang Jie tossed her a Revival Pill. “How long will this formation last?”

“If no one interferes… a hundred years.”

“That long?”

Nan Zhi’s expression turned complicated as she looked around. “Nan family’s Old Ancestor set it up personally. Even Star-Refining Realm would struggle to get out.”

Wang Jie exhaled. “Nan family really was something. They bled themselves dry for their legacy.”

He paused. “I’m curious. Who destroyed the Nan family?”

Nan Zhi shook her head. “That’s why I came back. I want to know who did it. There are only a few people who could.”

Wang Jie’s tone stayed flat. “Even if you find out, it won’t matter. You can’t take revenge. Nan family has no one left but you.”

“You really think you can surpass the whole Nan family?”

“I can cultivate,” Nan Zhi said, gaze dark. “And I can bring someone in by marriage.”

“Bring someone in?”

“I’ll find someone with extraordinary talent and make him marry into the Nan family. Feed him with our resources. If he can break through to Old Ancestor’s realm one day, he can take revenge for us.”

Wang Jie snorted. “If that day comes, do you think he’ll still listen to you? And would it still be the Nan family?”

Nan Zhi didn’t answer.

She knew the truth. One woman alone couldn’t resurrect a fallen clan.

It was common in the cultivation world. Countless families rose, countless fell.

Wang Jie felt no pity. The Nan family had once ruled the Third Nebula, towering over Black-White Heaven. Their layouts across the Third Nebula reeked of war preparation. A power like that didn’t rise without crushing plenty of others along the way.

“It’s over,” Wang Jie said. “All your plans.”

He met her eyes. “There’s only one option left. Give me what I want—enough. I’ll keep your secret. You live, keep the Nan bloodline alive, maybe pass it down.”

“Otherwise, you die here.”

Nan Zhi stared at him. “Do you want all of the Nan family’s resources?”

Wang Jie smiled. “Don’t play that game with me. You’d never truly choose a Lockforce Cultivator.”

“No matter what I’ve shown, I don’t have a future.”

“But you’re a star dao master,” she insisted.

“Enough.” Wang Jie’s voice hardened. “Either give me what I want, or die here. Choose.”

Nan Zhi’s gaze sank. She’d tried to soften him—pretending the marriage plan, trying to lull him into greed.

It didn’t work.

She only wanted a chance to kill him.

Wang Jie understood exactly how the outside world looked at Lockforce Cultivators—after everything he’d faced since leaving Blue Star, he’d learned the contempt firsthand. He’d also learned something else: nobody who survived out here was stupid.

He couldn’t guarantee he’d never be tricked. The only thing he could do was keep his head clear and refuse to be blinded by profit.

Nan Zhi had leveraged the entire cultivation world—countless people across the four Bridge-Pillars—just to pry open this chance. Every word she spoke had a purpose.

Against someone like her, he needed absolute control.

It took her several more days to recover enough to stand without swaying.

Her face looked less ghastly, but she wasn’t close to full strength—and Wang Jie had no intention of letting her become it.

“Move,” he said.

Nan Zhi led the way. She had no choice.

Wang Jie had even embedded a Tempered Sword-Thread into her body as insurance.

Zone by zone, she navigated. Each time they crossed a boundary, she paused to sense the next direction.

“That way is bad. Avoid it,” Wang Jie said, eyes on the Star Compass.

Nan Zhi’s mouth tightened, but she changed course.

Together, they were efficient. Nan Zhi could feel the main route through the formation; Wang Jie could sense whether anyone lurked nearby. They slipped past people without ever being seen, moving steadily toward her destination.

They traveled for a while longer.

Then Wang Jie stopped abruptly, staring at the Star Compass.

That qi…

Senior Sister Mo?

It had to be her.

But another qi was there too—much stronger—and Senior Sister Mo’s was shrinking fast.

No.

She was in danger.

“This way,” Wang Jie said.

Nan Zhi frowned. “That’s not where we’re going.”

“Help me save someone.”

“Who?”

“Doesn’t matter. Save her. Now.”

They crossed three zones in rapid succession. The moment Wang Jie entered the next area, he saw Mo Wan Yin frozen in ice.

Wang Jie flashed forward with Jia Eight Steps and pressed a palm to her back, using Lockforce and her Starforce together to push back the cold.

Nan Zhi swung her Chen artifact—the World-Burning Wheels—toward the other side.

A man stood there.

Shen Yan.

He hadn’t expected them to appear so suddenly. He casually swept his sword across. Wherever his Chen artifact passed, the void congealed into frost. The Wheels’ flames couldn’t get close, weakening rapidly.

Nan Zhi’s expression changed.

This was a true expert.

“Senior Sister Mo,” Wang Jie said, voice tight.

He withdrew his hand.

Mo Wan Yin shuddered. Frost cracked and fell away from her body. She turned and stared. “Junior Brother Wang? Why are you here?”

Wang Jie released a slow breath when he saw she was intact. “I saw you were in danger and came. How did you run into Shen Yan?”

Mo Wan Yin glanced at Shen Yan, voice low. “Accident. I didn’t expect the gap to be this big. We need to find a way out.”

Shen Yan looked from Nan Zhi to Wang Jie to Mo Wan Yin, puzzled. “Why is someone from Dao Yi Club helping you? Someone explain.”

“I’ll explain,” Wang Jie said—and threw a punch.

Power surged through the frozen void toward Shen Yan.