Chapter 99

Chapter 99: The Only Choice

Below them, shockwaves hammered upward.

Smoke and dust swallowed the sky until nothing could be seen.

Kui Yan had broken past his own limit, reaching the same power as Wang Jie’s borrowed strength.

They fought to the death on a doomsday planet, trading blow after blow, a battle of pure will.

And Xuan held off the other Full-Star Realm Luo Kingdom fighter.

His gaze was calm and empty.

As a soldier, this was his fate.

Just as he’d said when he left Imperial Capital Star—dying on the battlefield was best.

Any outside power had a limit.

Wang Jie’s borrowed power had a limit.

Kui Yan’s Blood-Prick Art had a limit too.

Inside Kui Yan, his blood evaporated under the high heat. Pricking blood already reduced it; the longer he forced the technique, the less he could endure.

Wang Jie could feel it.

Kui Yan’s attacks began to slow.

His deep-red pupils paled.

His body dried out, skin tightening, muscles withering like dead wood.

Boom.

The shattered ground split again.

Peaks collapsed and drifted into space like broken teeth.

Wang Jie slammed a palm into Kui Yan’s forehead.

Kui Yan stared at him unwillingly, trying to see Wang Jie’s face.

He couldn’t.

All he saw was red fading into black.

Then he fell.

Wang Jie panted hard.

He’d killed him.

A Full-Star Realm powerhouse.

The oxygen thinned as the planet tore itself apart. Wang Jie’s breaths grew sharper, faster.

He took out the Three-Tribulation Chen Artifact Cauldron.

His trump card.

As long as Kui Yan was dead, he could hide inside and wait for rescue—

If rescue came at all.

So Jin Chu’s ship could not be allowed to fail.

He was about to climb inside when he turned and saw Xuan.

Xuan lay on shattered ground.

Not far away, the Full-Star Realm Luo Kingdom fighter Xuan had fought was down as well—barely alive, unable to move.

Wang Jie’s expression changed.

He grabbed the cauldron and leaped across broken earth, landing beside Xuan.

He hauled him up. “What happened? Why didn’t you board the ship?”

Xuan gave a bitter smile and spat blood. “If no one held him back, the ship couldn’t get out.”

Wang Jie felt something heavy settle in his chest.

His attention had been on Kui Yan the entire time. He hadn’t even realized Xuan was gambling everything against that other Full-Star Realm.

“I’m sorry,” Wang Jie said hoarsely. “I dragged you into this.”

Xuan looked toward the Luo Kingdom fighter he’d taken down. It wasn’t dead yet, but it couldn’t move.

“Worth it,” Xuan said. “I was doomed anyway.”

His voice softened, almost content. “Dragging one enemy down with me at the end… worth it.”

He swallowed, blood bubbling at his lips.

“Wang Jie… do you know that in my whole life, I’ve never killed an enemy this strong?”

Silver Radiance Empire and Luo Kingdom were not the same.

Luo Kingdom’s true enemy was Frost Splendor Sect.

A Luo Kingdom Full-Star Realm powerhouse should be fighting someone like Jin Chu—not Xuan.

Xuan couldn’t even beat Jin Chu.

Yet he’d fought to the death and taken down a Luo Kingdom Full-Star Realm cultivator.

That was something to be proud of.

Wang Jie watched the light fade from Xuan’s face. “Tell me your last wish. I’ll do it for you.”

Xuan shook his head. “Do you know why I helped Jun Tang?”

Wang Jie didn’t.

In his eyes, Jun Tang didn’t deserve help like that.

Jun Hua was already emperor, yet Xuan had still tried to assassinate her. Even if he’d succeeded, he would’ve had no place left in the Silver Radiance Empire.

The only guess Wang Jie had was leverage—family—chains.

Xuan said, “Because he used to be my subordinate. He went to war with me.”

Wang Jie stared. “Just because of that?”

Xuan closed his eyes. “So many lord types talk about sharing hardship. They can’t do it.”

His voice grew faint. “Whatever his purpose is… however fake he is… at least he did it.”

He exhaled. “Doing it is enough.”

A pause.

Then, softer still: “At least… he lived at our level.”

After that, Xuan stopped breathing.

Wang Jie stared, blank, as the man died.

Beneath his feet, the ground cracked again.

In the distance, lights flickered—the ship.

Wang Jie climbed into the cauldron, pulling Xuan’s body in with him.

In the next instant, the ground beneath them shattered completely.

That Luo Kingdom fighter, not quite dead yet, drifted into open space. It would die soon.

Chunks of shattered earth slammed into the cauldron from all sides.

An ordinary object would’ve been crushed.

But this was a Chen artifact forged for monsters of the Full-Star Realm.

Even at the heart of a planet’s destruction, it held.

After a time, the cauldron was hauled into the ship.

When Wang Jie finally emerged, he sucked in air hard, nearly choking.

Jin Chu helped him up.

His injuries were terrible. He was nearly spent.

Wu Mian stared at Wang Jie as if he were seeing a legend walk out of fire. “A Ten Seals cultivator beat a Full-Star Realm Luo Kingdom fighter in Blood-Prick Art state… Guest Elder, my lord, that’s worthy of respect.”

Jin Chu looked at Wang Jie too, disbelief written plain across her face.

If he could beat Kui Yan…

Then he could beat her as well.

Was he really at the Ten Seals?

What kind of Ten Seals could do this?

Wang Jie was taken away for treatment.

The ship’s medicine helped, but only barely.

He still had to wait for his exercises.

Not much longer now.

“Where’s that Luo Bone?” Wang Jie asked later, voice rough.

The Luo Bone was the ship Luo Kingdom rode.

“It escaped,” Jin Chu replied, respectful. “We didn’t chase it. We kept our eyes on your fight with Kui Yan.”

Wang Jie stared into the starry void.

The planet that had existed was gone—nothing left but drifting ruins.

“Go to Blue Star,” he said.

The ship turned back.

When they reached Blue Star, it halted in orbit.

Wang Jie didn’t rush down.

He only set foot on Blue Star after he finished his exercises.

As for Xuan…

Wang Jie raised a memorial stone for him on Blue Star.

Without Xuan in that battle, Wang Jie would have died.

Xuan not only held off the other Full-Star Realm Luo Kingdom fighter—he also delayed the enemy at the end so the ship could escape cleanly.

Otherwise, none of them would have lived.

A memorial stone.

It was also one of the materials for Sorrowwater Art.

But Wang Jie raised it for Xuan not because of that.

He raised it because he meant it.

Of course, the material was completed too.

Now Sorrowwater Art lacked only one last material: bringing a gift.

That requirement was simple.

He only needed to bring a gift to someone’s event.

Meaning he could obtain Sorrowwater Art at any time.

As for Sword Steps, it also lacked only one material: an exquisite sword tassel.

For Star-Gazing Sword Form destroying the stars, he had already completed it.

He did have a tassel.

He just didn’t want to use it.

Back on Blue Star, after the memorial, Wang Jie briefly explained what had happened.

He only spoke about the battle.

He didn’t mention how close it had come.

If everyone knew his fight had destroyed an entire planet, there was no telling what that shock would do to them.

That was the destructive power of Full-Star Realm battles.

After Wang Jie spent half a day with everyone, Jin Chu warned him.

“Luo Kingdom holds grudges,” she said. “They always repay them. That Luo Bone escaped, and it will definitely bring news of Kui Yan’s death back. This place isn’t safe.”

Wu Mian’s voice was low. “Back at the star-cloud battlefield, Luo Kingdom lost a hundred-star realm. They forcibly gathered millions of cultivators and fought a powerful enemy to the death—killing two hundred-star realm and one star-refining realm.”

His eyes were distant. “Their own losses were even worse. They almost collapsed.”

“But even so, they never regretted it.”

Wu Mian looked at Wang Jie. “That is Luo Kingdom.”

“Kui Yan dying here won’t alarm all of Luo Kingdom. But Kui Yan belongs to Luo Kingdom’s Kui family—and that family can still mobilize enough power to wipe out this entire region.”

Wang Jie frowned. “They’d rather take revenge than care about the war situation?”

Wu Mian shook his head. “I’ve fought alongside Luo Kingdom before. Their thinking is simple.”

“Revenge.”

“The bigger picture has never been something they consider.”

“If you want them to give up, there is only one way.”

Wang Jie’s brow rose. “Fight.”

He’d heard that before.

Back then, Wen Zhao had said that if Blue Star people didn’t want to be treated as war slaves—and wanted the outside world to notice them—there was only one way.

Fight.

In the end, it was always the same law.

The strong ruled the weak.

Wu Mian nodded once. “Only when you hurt them enough will they learn to stop. Otherwise, they’ll never end it.”

Wang Jie understood. “What’s your plan?”

Jin Chu and Wu Mian exchanged a look.

“If the Guest Elder truly wants to save Blue Star people,” Jin Chu said, “there’s only one way.”

“Take them away.”

Wu Mian finished it. “Abandon Blue Star.”

Wang Jie looked out the window.

The sky was a bright, endless blue. Clouds drifted like soft white sails.

Abandon this place?

This was home.

For every Blue Star person—more precisely, for every Hua Xia person—home was not something that could be replaced.

“Silver Radiance Empire can’t hold Blue Star,” Jin Chu said quietly. “The Gate Master’s battlefield is at the Ninth Star Chain. They can’t possibly send support here.”

Her voice left no room for illusion. “So unless you want to be destroyed with Blue Star, giving it up is the best—and only—choice.”

Wang Jie asked, “Can’t we push Blue Star away?”

Jin Chu and Wu Mian froze, staring at him like he’d suggested tearing the universe in half.

Wang Jie remembered how Blue Star had arrived here in the first place.

It had been pushed.

Even now, he still didn’t know what kind of power it took to move a star.

By logic… it shouldn’t be impossible, right?

Jin Chu cleared her throat. “Pushing Blue Star away and destroying Blue Star are two different things. The universe contains starforce, and planets absorb starforce on their own. Moving a planet isn’t just about the planet itself. It involves the universe’s starforce too.”

She hesitated, then admitted, “As for moving a planet, I don’t know if the sect even has someone that strong. At the very least, we’ve never seen one.”

Wang Jie understood what she wasn’t saying.

Even if the sect did have someone capable… they might not help.

He thought for a moment. “Please contact Silver Radiance Empire. I want to relocate Blue Star people.”

Jin Chu immediately contacted them through the ship.

Wang Jie sent the news out as well.

A decision this enormous had to be discussed.

But bringing it up was enough.

No one would refuse.

One Trial… and then Luo Kingdom’s arrival…

It forced Blue Star people to taste despair again and again.

They didn’t want to taste it anymore.

Giving up Blue Star was painful—heartbreaking—but people had to survive.

Soon, Jin Chu returned with an answer.

Silver Radiance Empire had already dispatched an extra-large battleship to pick them up.

Taking away more than ten million Blue Star people would be no problem.

Wang Jie stood atop Jinling Base’s city wall and stared into the distance.

He had lived here for eighteen years.

He had fought here for eighteen years.

There were too many memories.

Now, if he abandoned it and returned later…

Blue Star might vanish into the universe, just like that planet that had shattered.

The thought made him feel like he couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t bear to leave his family and friends.

And he couldn’t bear to leave his hometown.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

The moment Silver Radiance Empire’s battleship arrived would begin the countdown.

Everyone treasured the remaining time, preparing to move while saying goodbye to Blue Star.

Wang Jie went to the orphanage from his childhood.

It had long since become ruins.

At the gate, the sign had fallen and was coated in dust. Thick black bloodstains smeared across it like old, dried ink.

This was where he had eaten fried chicken for the first time.

That taste was something nothing could replace.

Not far from the orphanage was where they had been burned by Zuo Tian.

That place had become the most tragic memory of his life.

It was a pity he hadn’t managed to kill Zuo Tian.