Chapter 351

Chapter 351: Unknown Combat Power

Green currents drifted through the air like swamp miasma, and swarms of strange flying insects passed now and then, humming like a living fog.

The ground was pitted with craters. Somewhere in the dark, something gnawed on bone with a wet crunch that made the skin crawl.

This was Sea-Cliff Madam Miao.

With a grim expression, Miao Mei went underground to find Old Ancestor Miao Sha.

“What did you say?” Miao Sha’s voice cut sharp with surprise, almost shrill. “A Third Zen mission?”

Miao Mei was a gray-faced old crone—Miao Sha’s daughter. “Yes. And the mission’s been out for more than ten days. I heard many people took it, Father. The Third Zen is coming after us.”

“Don’t panic,” Miao Sha said at once. “If it were the Third Zen itself, it wouldn’t be posted as a mission. It’s probably someone within the Third Zen targeting us.”

He thought for a moment, then made a decision. “Two things at once. First, contact the Heavenly Insect Clan and call in favors. See if their people can reach the Third Zen and get the mission canceled. Second, activate the Sea-Cliff Grand Array and move the core members immediately—just in case.”

“Yes.” Miao Mei left at once.

Two days later, ship after ship appeared in the void, packed with Third Zen disciples.

Ahead lay Madam Miao’s core territory—and an endless sea of insects churned there like waves rising and falling.

The Sea-Cliff Grand Array.

“Move!”

One after another, Third Zen disciples stepped out and charged at the formation.

Inside the array, Miao Sha’s shock deepened. He hadn’t expected so many to come. Was a single mission really worth this?

Only seventeen names were listed under Madam Miao on that mission.

Yet the attackers already outnumbered that.

What was going on?

“Retreat at once,” Miao Sha ordered. “We can’t meet them head-on. Use the Sea-Cliff Grand Array to stall them.”

He and Miao Mei led the core members to flee out the far side of the formation.

But the moment they burst free, an old man blocked their path.

“Miao Sha,” the old man said coldly, “you think this little trick can fool the Third Zen? Too naive.”

Miao Sha stepped forward, forcing calm. “Your Excellency… are you Elder Xu Zhao Nan of Zen Lake in the Third Zen?”

“Oh?” The old man’s eyes sharpened. “You recognize me?”

“I know the top three elders of Zen Lake,” Miao Sha said. “I just never had the chance to meet you. A pity.”

“No pity needed,” Xu Zhao Nan replied. “Aren’t we meeting right now?”

Miao Sha’s gaze flickered. “May I ask why you accepted the mission against Madam Miao? With your status, a few starstones could never move you.”

Xu Zhao Nan’s expression chilled. “I’ve long wanted to wipe out Madam Miao. I just never knew what your connection to my sect was.”

Miao Sha’s heart sank.

When Madam Miao had been founded, that was exactly the reason they’d dared to settle so close. Back then, there truly had been an elder inside the Third Zen who was intimately tied to them.

But that elder had died long ago.

And somehow, Madam Miao had remained near the Third Zen for years without anyone coming to uproot them—a blind spot beneath the brightest lamp.

“Now that the mission hall has posted this mission,” Xu Zhao Nan continued, “your connection no longer matters. You can be killed.”

Miao Sha forced a question through clenched teeth. “Has Madam Miao ever offended you, Elder?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why?”

“My Zen is rooted in goodness,” Xu Zhao Nan said, voice hard as iron. “But Madam Miao feeds insects with human lives. Utterly heartless. You deserve death.”

As he spoke, the void twisted. Endless starforce gathered to him—Zen Lake’s battle art: Guard the One.

“Elder,” Miao Sha said quickly, “Madam Miao has long prepared a gift for the Third Zen—something your sect would certainly want—”

Xu Zhao Nan didn’t listen. He struck.

Miao Sha’s expression darkened. These Third Zen lunatics—some were evil to the bone, others preached virtue like it was scripture. If you were so virtuous, why didn’t you cleanse the rot within your own sect?

Madman.

“Mei’er,” Miao Sha snapped, “take the clan members and go. I’ll hold him off.”

“Father, I’ll stay and help you!”

“It’s useless,” Miao Sha said, voice sharp. “Under Guard the One, he’ll drain our starforce. Numbers won’t help. Go now. He can’t beat me.”

Xu Zhao Nan drove forward with a palm strike—Mysterious True Transformation Scripture.

Miao Sha roared, “Xu Zhao Nan, you’re going too far. Don’t blame me for what comes next!”

Countless insects poured from his body, a buzzing tide that slammed into the palm-force head-on.

They battled, and stars shattered around them.

Two vast fields of starforce tangled like abyssal storms, tearing the void.

On the ship, Miao Mei looked back, eyes brimming with venom.

If Madam Miao survived this, she swore she would hunt down Third Zen disciples outside their territory, feed them to insects, and make them beg for death—without even the mercy of dying quickly.

An alarm suddenly blared.

“Aunt Ancestor—someone’s here!”

Miao Mei turned toward the far side of the ship. Under the stars, someone slowly raised a saber and swung.

The blade-light was so vicious it made people instinctively squeeze their eyes shut.

The ship exploded on the spot.

Countless Madam Miao clan members died in an instant.

Miao Mei surged forward in fury—only to meet another One Blade. Her scalp prickled as she dodged by pure instinct.

Then the void trembled. From far away, a woman fired a lance of starforce that shook the stars along its path—bone starforce.

Yue Jian.

Miao Mei snapped her sleeve and scattered the incoming force, but an attack struck from behind, piercing straight through her body.

A man stepped out, expression cold. A long spear whirled in his hands, sweeping in a killing arc.

Yue Jian frowned. “Senior Brother, she’s my target. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to interfere?”

The man thrust again, unmoved. “A mission doesn’t have a turn order. Whoever kills her gets it. If Junior Sister thinks it’s unfair, you can leave.”

“I think you’re the one who should leave.”

To the side, the one who’d opened with One Blade strode closer and cut again. This time, the strike wasn’t for Miao Mei—it was for the spear wielder.

Clang!

The spear nearly snapped. The man stumbled back, stunned. “Outer Zen’s First Blade really is fierce.”

The gaping wound in Miao Mei’s back didn’t bleed.

Instead, dead insects dropped out one by one.

She stared at the three of them with a gaze like winter steel. The Third Zen didn’t even take Madam Miao seriously—they were already fighting over credit before she was dead.

Fine.

She spun. Countless insects whirled around her, then burst outward in every direction.

Yue Jian attacked immediately.

The other two stopped arguing and focused on killing Miao Mei first.

In the distance, Miao Sha’s insects surged closer as well, merging with Miao Mei’s swarm. For a moment, even Xu Zhao Nan couldn’t tell where Miao Sha ended and where Miao Mei began.

Meanwhile, the Starwatch arrived outside the Sea-Cliff Grand Array.

Wang Jie saw Third Zen disciples battering the formation and hunting down Roaming-Star Realm cultivators inside.

Madam Miao was doomed.

Living beside the Third Zen had its benefits and its price. You could borrow their authority, but if the Third Zen decided to move, there was nowhere to run.

Wang Jie zoomed out the star map. The lockforce star-devourer was here.

He immediately turned the ship. The lockforce star-devourer wasn’t inside the Sea-Cliff Grand Array.

He was already close, so he slowed.

Behind him, Jiang Yu practically vibrated with excitement. The target had finally slowed down.

They could catch him.

Old Ji looked ahead, eyes narrowing. Was this Madam Miao?

It seemed the mission hall had recently posted a mission to destroy them.

Was this man here to take the mission too?

How overconfident.

A Full-Star Realm lockforce cultivator daring to get involved in a battle like this was just asking to die.

Still… if Madam Miao was wiped out, all the better. They were disgusting, squatting right outside the Third Zen like a festering sore.

Up ahead, Wang Jie sensed movement behind him.

Earlier, Jiang Yu’s ship had been distant enough to stay outside detection range. Now that Wang Jie had slowed and they’d closed the gap, the ship finally appeared on his sensors.

He frowned at the star map.

Same route.

Were they chasing him?

Or were they heading to Madam Miao to complete a mission too?

Either way, it set his nerves on edge.

In this situation, he could only assume the worst.

Who was targeting him? Su Qing?

Or that brat, Jiang Yu?

Whoever it was, he couldn’t afford entanglement right now. His target was the lockforce star-devourer.

Then another wave of combat power surged in from ahead.

Strong. Over five hundred thousand.

A Hundred-Star Realm expert?

Wang Jie’s face tightened.

Trouble in front, trouble behind.

He yanked out his deck board and launched himself away at once. As for the Starwatch—he abandoned it to draw attention elsewhere.

Ahead, Miao Mei grit her teeth, face deathly pale.

She’d finally slipped the Third Zen’s net. She had to escape.

Then she saw the Starwatch, and her eyes lit up.

That ship was at least Star Chain-class. Good enough.

She just hoped there wasn’t a Hundred-Star Realm powerhouse aboard.

With that thought, she shot toward it.

“Hurry, Old Ji! Catch him for me!” Jiang Yu shouted as his ship closed in.

Old Ji’s expression sharpened as he stepped out.

The moment he did, alarms wailed inside the ship.

The maid stared at the display, her face changing. “Young Master, unknown combat power has appeared ahead!”

“What?” Jiang Yu leaned forward.

Miao Mei boarded the Starwatch. At long range, she hadn’t seen the pursuing ship. All she’d noticed was the Starwatch.

But now, onboard, she glanced at the screen and saw another ship closing in from behind—and unknown combat power approaching.

And there wasn’t a single person on this ship.

Bad.

Something was wrong.

She spun to leave—

Old Ji blasted open the hatch and charged in.

They collided inside the Starwatch.

Wang Jie lay on his void splint and shot into the distance, jaw tight. He hated giving up the Starwatch, but he had no choice.

Spaceships were basically consumables. Most of the time, you simply couldn’t keep them.

In the future, he wouldn’t even bother naming them.

Boom.

As the thought crossed his mind, the Starwatch exploded in the distance.

Wang Jie stared, speechless.

On the pursuing ship, the maid went rigid. “Young Master… how is there a Hundred-Star Realm expert?”

How would Jiang Yu know?

He stared blankly as well—at the woman fighting Old Ji ahead.

“Young Master,” the maid said suddenly, “she seems to be Miao Mei of Madam Miao. The mission hall has a task to kill her.”

Jiang Yu’s brows knitted.

Why was Miao Mei on Lu Bu Qi’s ship?

Was he not here to take the mission… but to help Madam Miao?

No. Something still felt wrong.

He immediately raised the telescope-like device and looked again.

With one glance, he saw the tracking line clearly—it wasn’t pointing to the ship ahead. It stretched in another direction.

Jiang Yu snarled, “Change course! Lu Bu Qi is shameless. He ditched the ship and ran!”

The maid’s face darkened. They’d been played.

She veered the ship at once, chasing along the telescope’s line.

Old Ji was locked in battle with Miao Mei. When he saw Jiang Yu’s ship streak past, he frowned. What were they doing?

With a Nebula-class ship, catching Wang Jie would be quick.

The moment Wang Jie abandoned ship, he put on his combat power detector. Now it flashed constantly.

He looked back and saw a ship racing toward him.

Still chasing.

How were they tracking him?

His eyes flickered. A planet lay ahead. He descended at once.

He would hide first, figure it out later.

If that ship landed too, it would prove they had a way to lock onto him—and then he’d have to remove the threat.