Chapter 309

Chapter 309: The Woman in the Dream

Wang Jie snatched the token. “Barely.”

He checked the Star Compass and chose his direction.

Bao Lei didn’t dare speak again. Only when Wang Jie stepped away and committed to a route did Bao Lei finally release the breath he’d been holding.

Wang Jie paused, then looked back. “Where did your Luo Kingdom’s Power-Storing Method come from?”

Bao Lei blinked. “Power-Storing Method?”

Wang Jie’s stare made him swallow.

After a beat, Bao Lei said in a low voice, “From a corpse.”

“A corpse?”

Wang Jie hadn’t expected that. He’d been thinking of Bone-Motion Art—yet Bao Lei was giving him something else entirely. The man was terrified of lying and being killed.

Bao Lei nodded. “It’s Luo Kingdom’s greatest secret. All of Luo Kingdom’s battle techniques come from that giant corpse.”

“It was a titan,” he continued, voice rough. “No head. No limbs. Only the torso remained.”

“Our ancestors lived on it for a long time and gradually comprehended Power-Storing Method and Blood-Prick Art. With those two techniques, plus Luo Kingdom’s fast breeding, we took control of the Sixth Star Chain.”

“Only Power-Storing Method and Blood-Prick Art?” Wang Jie pressed. “Nothing else?”

Bao Lei shook his head. “Nothing else.”

“Bone-Motion Art,” Wang Jie said.

Bao Lei’s pupils contracted. “How do you know that?”

Wang Jie’s killing intent surfaced, sharp as frost. “So you were lying.”

“I wasn’t!” Bao Lei blurted. “Bone-Motion Art exists, but we can’t use it. It’s even stronger than Power-Storing Method. Our Old Ancestor’s records mention it, but even Old Ancestor couldn’t obtain it.”

“If I weren’t Bao family Young Lord—if I hadn’t read the clan histories since childhood—I wouldn’t know.”

He stared at Wang Jie, shaken. “How do you know it?”

Wang Jie’s eyes didn’t soften. “Luo Kingdom truly can’t use Bone-Motion Art?”

“Luo Kingdom has countless people,” Bao Lei said quickly. “Ask anyone. Ask outsiders from other Star Chains. We’re watched constantly. If we truly had Bone-Motion Art, it wouldn’t stay hidden.”

Wang Jie believed him.

He’d looked into Luo Kingdom after acquiring Bone-Motion Art himself. He’d found no trace of Luo Kingdom actually possessing it.

Bao Lei swallowed. “Then why do you know Bone-Motion Art?”

“You really want to know?” Wang Jie asked.

Bao Lei’s face went pale. He shut his mouth.

Wang Jie turned and left. Bone-Motion Art was clearly important—Bao Lei’s reaction made that obvious—but now wasn’t the time. There would be chances later.

Honestly, Bone-Motion Art required six different materials—more than Myriad-Stars Finger—and yet when he used it, it didn’t feel much different from Power-Storing Method. He always had the sense he wasn’t using it correctly.

After this was over, he’d need to find an opportunity to ask around in Luo Kingdom.

Now, though, he had a clear goal: find Wu Yuan.

That meant he couldn’t avoid people the way he’d been doing with Nan Zhi.

But as long as he stayed ready, unless the one he ran into was a Hundred-Star Realm with preparations on Guan Sou’s level, nobody would be able to stop him from leaving.

He crossed a boundary and looked up.

Someone was staring at him, shocked.

A member of Nine Swords Club—Roaming-Star Realm.

Wang Jie immediately turned and left, moving on.

He kept searching in that direction, eyes never leaving the Star Compass, wary of that sudden, concealed qi appearing again.

Two days passed—at least, it felt like two days.

Then, finally, he saw it: a trace of qi nearby was stirring. The signature matched what he remembered. He’d observed Wu Yuan’s qi before. This felt right.

If it wasn’t Wu Yuan, it was someone of similar realm and strength—a Hundred-Star Realm.

Wang Jie steadied his breathing. He pulled out the boat, raised it overhead, and charged.

The moment he burst into the zone, the Star Compass flickered.

Another trace of qi appeared.

It appeared too abruptly—almost simultaneously—right where he was headed.

He’d guessed correctly.

Wu Yuan was there.

And in the same instant, another figure stepped out along a straight line of the formation.

Sword light flashed.

Wu Yuan’s eyes had only just opened. His head had barely started to turn when the sword swept past.

The light scraped along the boat’s edge, slicing the void—then cut a thin, bloody line across Wu Yuan’s throat.

Wu Yuan fell.

He didn’t even finish turning his head.

Wang Jie staggered under the shock of the sword light. The boat slipped from his hands and dropped.

But it had blocked the strike. It had bought him the fraction of a second he needed.

Wang Jie turned.

And his mind shook.

A dream.

He’d had it so many times.

In it, a woman walked away from him, getting farther and farther. She felt so familiar. He was certain she was his, as surely as he was breathing—yet she kept drifting out of reach, until even her face blurred beyond recognition.

Only a delicate sword tassel swayed in the distance.

Now she was here.

Not a blur.

He saw her face. He saw eyes like still autumn water, holding galaxies within them. He felt that familiar aura like a hook in his chest.

It was her.

At the same time, the woman—who had been about to swing a second sword—froze.

For the first time, ripples moved through those calm eyes. She stared at Wang Jie in shock.

Then she turned and left.

Gone.

Wang Jie stood frozen for a heartbeat—then ran.

But this was the formation.

Chasing a direction meant nothing. It could flip, fold, deceive. He could run forever and still never reach her.

He yanked out the Star Compass and checked—

Only Wu Yuan’s qi remained, weakening steadily.

No second trace.

Nothing.

She hadn’t been a dream.

She was here.

Wang Jie’s emotions twisted into something he couldn’t name—excitement, longing, dread, all at once.

And one thought stabbed through it all.

That sword light.

Was she the killer?

Was she the one who killed Su Ji Kong? Lan Tui? All of them?

Who was she?

He didn’t know what to feel.

He only knew he wanted to see her, to speak to her—even one sentence.

“You recognized me, didn’t you?” he shouted into the empty air.

“Why did you run? You knew I was here!”

“Who are you?”

“What happened between us?”

“Tell me!”

Silence answered him.

It was as if she’d never existed.

Wang Jie forced himself back to Wu Yuan. Wu Yuan’s qi was dropping fast. He knelt, checked the wound, and exhaled.

Lucky.

Because the boat had intercepted the sword’s line, the cut had slipped just off the fatal angle. Wu Yuan was bleeding badly, but he wasn’t dead.

Without that block, Wu Yuan would have died instantly.

The strike had been too fast. Wu Yuan hadn’t had time to react at all.

What kind of swordsmanship was that?

Wang Jie fed Wu Yuan a Revival Pill, then hoisted him onto his back and moved.

Now that he knew the killer was her, the fear that had gripped him earlier twisted into something else entirely.

Unease?

To hell with unease.

That was his woman.

In this formation, nobody was safer than he was.

Elsewhere, the woman stood silently, her gaze settling back into stillness after that brief ripple.

She looked back.

So they had still met.

Red Moon had been found by him. Under the formation, crossing paths like this was always possible.

She’d thought she could cut him down without hesitation.

But when she looked at the sword in her hand, she couldn’t do it.

Wang Jie.

Don’t let me meet you again.

Wang Jie crossed boundary after boundary, searching.

He knew the truth: if she chose to avoid him, he would never find her.

But he couldn’t stop. It felt like searching for the missing half of himself.

Wu Yuan coughed, spitting blood.

Wang Jie lowered him gently. “Elder, how are you?”

Wu Yuan panted, fingers brushing his throat. He tried to speak, but only a hoarse rasp came out. He pointed weakly at himself, eyes confused.

“When I found you, you were already down,” Wang Jie said. “Who attacked you?”

Wu Yuan shook his head.

Wang Jie hadn’t seen how she moved either. He’d only seen Wu Yuan’s head barely turning—barely—before the sword had already passed.

Too fast. Too clean.

“She must have thought you were dead,” Wang Jie said. “That’s why she left.”

Wu Yuan nodded, relief flickering through the shock.

Then the next problem rose like a wall.

Wu Yuan was badly injured. He couldn’t help much right now.

And Nan Zhi was still in Guan Sou’s hands.

Without Nan Zhi, Wang Jie couldn’t find the exit. But he couldn’t fight Guan Sou. And luring that woman to Guan Sou—if she’d even listen—was a risk he didn’t want to take.

Even if she was the killer, even if she was dangerous, her place in his heart eclipsed everyone else.

Su Ji Kong. Lan Tui. Their lives meant nothing to him.

Not compared to her.

For now, he stayed where he was and let Wu Yuan recover.

Wu Yuan treated his own injuries. The sword strike had been fast, but it hadn’t left any lingering force. After a few days, Wu Yuan could speak again, though his voice remained rough and hoarse. His strength hadn’t been damaged.

“Too fast,” Wu Yuan said, face pale. “I couldn’t react. They didn’t use any special power. Just one slash—pure killing.”

He swallowed hard. “I’ve never seen swordsmanship like that. It felt like my realm didn’t matter. One sword and that’s it.”

He looked at Wang Jie. “You know I’ve faced Guarding Star Realm experts before. I lost in a single move. But that move—at least they exerted strength.”

“This sword…” He trailed off, the words failing him.

Wang Jie asked quietly, “Could it be Star-Refining Realm?”

Wu Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. If it’s only Hundred-Star Realm, then their battle strength is absolutely at Guarding Star Realm level.”

“By the way,” Wu Yuan added, “how did you find me?”

Wang Jie took out the Star Compass. Word was already spreading outside; hiding it was pointless now. “Star Compass. A star dao master’s tool.”

Wu Yuan nodded, unsurprised. “So that’s how. Only star dao methods could be this absurd.”

“What now?” Wu Yuan asked. “Can we get out of the formation?”

Wang Jie decided there was no point hiding Nan Zhi anymore. He couldn’t shake Wu Yuan off, and if he wanted to deal with Guan Sou, he’d need Wu Yuan’s strength.

Especially since he’d already mentioned to Wu Yuan that Dao Yi Club had a descendant of the Nan family—when they’d been tracking Shao Ling Er earlier.

“Nan Zhi?” Wu Yuan repeated, understanding dawning. “That explains it. I saw her more than once whispering to Shao Ling Er. Every time, Shao Ling Er would look our way afterward. She was stirring Shao Ling Er up, trying to get them to move against us so she could operate freely.”

Wu Yuan’s expression darkened. “But now it’s trouble. Guan Sou is unfathomable. If he’s holding Nan Zhi, taking her back won’t be easy.”

Wang Jie let out a bitter breath. “If he didn’t want to use me to lure the killer, I might already be dead.”

Wu Yuan frowned. “Reverse-Delusion Mountain is terrifying. Even with a star dao master behind you, they might still kill you.”

He told Wang Jie to locate Guan Sou. No matter what, they had to bring Nan Zhi out.

Wang Jie nodded.

They discussed it for a long time and still couldn’t find a workable way to steal Nan Zhi from Guan Sou inside the No-Abode Mirror Domain.

Then Wang Jie’s expression shifted.

He felt a thread of connection.

Faint, but real.

Red Moon?

Wu Yuan noticed immediately. “What is it?”

Wang Jie listened to that pull for another heartbeat, then said slowly, “I think… Red Moon is reaching out to me.”