Chapter 53: The Corpse Sect
Wang Jie waved a hand, brushing the matter aside. “Let’s not dwell on that for now. Can I cultivate this Qi? Will it increase my combat power?”
Chu Yao chuckled smugly. “Of course.” He lifted a finger and flicked it lightly. “Qi and Lock Force are two entirely different paths. In most major sects, disciples are strictly prohibited from practicing both simultaneously. While doing so can grant quick gains at the start, it severely restricts your future potential. One path represents life; the other, death.”
He gave Wang Jie a meaningful look. “But you’ve already chosen Lock Force—your future is already limited. Adding Qi to the mix won’t change much in that regard. So, if you can manage to master Qi and combine it with Lock Force, your combat power will double.”
Wang Jie’s eyes lit up. “Seriously? Teach me!”
Chu Yao nodded, then paused, frowning at Wang Jie. “You’re not planning on challenging Shu Mu Night again, are you?”
Wang Jie didn’t deny it. “I am.”
Chu Yao groaned, ruffling his own hair. “Brother, why won’t you give up? Let me spell it out: even if your combat strength doubles, you still won’t beat Shu Mu Night. It’s absolutely impossible.”
“I understand,” Wang Jie replied. “But I still want to try.”
“That’s suicide.”
“It’s better than dying right now.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“Call it what you want.”
Chu Yao shot to his feet, knocking over his chair with a clang.
In the room, Liu Ying flinched, startled. Yet she gathered her courage and stepped forward, murmuring, “P-please calm down.”
Chu Yao glared at Wang Jie.
Wang Jie simply looked back, silent.
A lengthy pause followed. Finally, Chu Yao exhaled and turned away, gripping his hair once more.
Wang Jie eyed his back. “You know my cultivation path is a dead end, that studying both Qi and Lock Force only makes it worse. Yet you’re willing to take me away—even if I’m threatening to risk my life against you.”
“Chu Yao, are you doing this for my own sake, or is there something else behind it?”
Chu Yao turned around, face again composed. “I’m saving you.”
Wang Jie nodded. “Whatever your motive is, even if you drag me to the Corpse Sect and hack me into a thousand pieces, just let me try one more time. That’s all I ask.”
“I survived once before. This time will be no different.”
“I promise, after the duel with Shu Mu Night, I’ll go with you—no matter what you plan to do with me.”
Chu Yao exhaled slowly. “Is it worth it?”
Wang Jie said nothing. Everyone was selfish; he was no exception. He didn’t want to die. He yearned to see the vast Starry Sky and witness the true universe with his own eyes.
But there were responsibilities he couldn’t ignore.
Some obligations needed to be fulfilled.
“Even if I promised to take your close friends along,” Chu Yao pressed, “would you still insist on risking your life in this duel?”
Wang Jie’s gaze remained steady. “I’m an orphan, but the Dean treated me well. He once bought me soy milk and fried dough sticks. I also love fried chicken and egg tarts.”
Chu Yao was speechless.
Liu Ying swallowed nervously.
Chu Yao arched a brow. “Look through it.”
He raised a finger.
Wang Jie let out a small sigh of relief and lifted the strange Eye to look at Chu Yao.
Something transparent shimmered at Chu Yao’s fingertip—a flame or a wisp of smoke, sometimes spiraling, sometimes rising, as though it were alive.
“This is Qi.”
“There are two ways to cultivate Qi. The faster way is by using a tool to see it—if you keep observing, you might eventually grasp it. The other method is to sense it on your own, which takes far too long. You don’t have that luxury.”
He lowered his hand. “For now, keep using the Eye. Once you can see Qi without it, you’ll be able to sense your own Qi. Then, pair it with Lock Force, and your combat strength will soar.”
“That simple?”
“Simple?” Chu Yao scoffed. “Try it first! Across all the major powers in the Death Realm, the Corpse Sect’s Eye is the best tool for instantly perceiving Qi. No other sect can compare. Do you realize how valuable this Eye is?”
“Even so, truly understanding Qi takes time. Most people fail and are weeded out. Only those who succeed are qualified to stay in the Corpse Sect.”
Wang Jie continued studying Chu Yao through the Eye.
After a while, Chu Yao began to feel uncomfortable—like Wang Jie was trying to see right through him.
“All right, that’s enough! Go look at someone else! Everyone has Qi!”
“Even ordinary people?”
“Of course. Why not? Do you think a normal person can’t have luck, or excel in something? A blacksmith’s Qi is concentrated in his arms. It depends on one’s natural gifts.”
Instinctively, Wang Jie turned toward Liu Ying.
Her Qi was faint, but its strongest concentration was—
Her chest. Quite large indeed.
Wang Jie lowered the Eye, glancing at Chu Yao. No wonder he was always staring at Liu Ying.
Chu Yao met Wang Jie’s gaze.
They both kept straight faces.
Wordlessly, they looked away.
“Can I have a look?” Liu Ying asked hesitantly.
“No,” both men said in unison.
Liu Ying: “…”
Elsewhere, in the Armor One Sect, Gu Moon stared at Wen Si Yuan in shock. “So, you knew from the start he was from the Corpse Sect?”
When Chu Yao revealed the Eye, everyone recognized it as a Death Artifact unique to the Corpse Sect.
Wen Si Yuan remained calm, eyes on the lake. “Knowing changes nothing. The trial won’t be halted.”
Gu Moon marveled, “A single trial… and we have both Shu Mu Night and the Corpse Sect involved. No wonder you tried to keep us out.”
Wen Si Yuan turned toward Gu Moon, speaking solemnly. “We won’t interfere with how Star Dome Vision reports this, but I swear on the name of Armor One Sect—we had no idea the Corpse Sect was here.”
Gu Moon nodded, voice cool. “I understand, Elder. You can rest assured.” He looked toward the lake again. “All the same, if that native really masters Qi Observation, he’ll definitely clash with Shu Mu Night again.”
Wen Si Yuan’s gaze darkened as he stared at Wang Jie. “What I find even more intriguing is how he healed those injuries.”
Ting He stole a quick glance at Wen Si Yuan. Her mind wandered back to Chu Yao’s conversation with Wang Jie, and her expression grew pensive.
For a novice, unlocking Qi Observation was like stepping into a brand-new world. Wang Jie spent the entire day testing his newly gained sight, observing everything with insatiable curiosity. He noticed that Four Eyes’ Qi was concentrated around his head. From the upper floors of a building, he studied passersby—each with a unique amount of Qi, sometimes abundant, sometimes faint.
For cultivators, Qi revealed both their overall strength and their area of expertise.
Eventually, Wang Jie lent the Eye to Liu Ying. The outcome was startling: Liu Ying now viewed Chu Yao with outright hostility. Chu Yao, for his part, treated her like she was some bizarre creature, refusing to converse with her at all.
In a small courtyard, Wang Jie’s eyes sparkled. “If the Corpse Sect has something like this Eye, do the other Death Realm factions have similar artifacts?”
Chu Yao rolled his eyes. “Didn’t I just explain? This belongs exclusively to the Corpse Sect. It’s called a Death Artifact, and when paired with our sect’s cultivation methods, it’s unrivaled. Anyone who sees this Eye knows it came from the Corpse Sect.”
“Corpse Sect spans the cosmos, ruling over a million stars that harbor civilization.”
“Not just anyone can earn one of these.”
Wang Jie scrutinized him. “So your status must be pretty high, then.”
Chu Yao laughed. “You flatter me. I’m just one of the Hundred Coffins in the Corpse Sect. People call me Death Chu Yao.”
Just then, Liu Ying emerged from inside, quietly setting tea on the table.
Wang Jie once again raised the Eye to look at Chu Yao.
Chu Yao smirked. “You won’t see through me. I can move my Qi wherever I want, so what you see is just a trick.”
Liu Ying, curious, studied Chu Yao as well.
Noticing her gaze, Chu Yao grinned playfully. “Little girl, do you still want to watch?”
Liu Ying lifted her finger and pointed at his mouth. “Why does your mouth have Qi?”
Chu Yao burst into laughter. “This is Qi Transference, a simple demonstration.” But mid-laugh, he froze, eyes wide. “Wait… what did you just say?”
Wang Jie also stared at Liu Ying in disbelief.
She glanced at them both, confused. “I said, why does your mouth have Qi?”
“You… can see it?” Chu Yao was dumbfounded.
Liu Ying nodded.
Wang Jie put the Eye back to his own eye and looked. Indeed, Qi flowed within Chu Yao’s mouth. Yet, without the artifact, he saw nothing.
An awkward silence fell.
Then Liu Ying turned and started walking away.
“Wait,” Chu Yao said quickly, blocking her path. “Look at me now. Tell me where my Qi is.”
Liu Ying’s eyes shifted, and she pointed to a spot three inches above his wrist.
Chu Yao moved his Qi.
Liu Ying pointed again, right where it went.
He stood there, stunned, while Liu Ying calmly returned inside.
Slowly, Chu Yao turned to Wang Jie, and their eyes met.
Up till now, Liu Ying hadn’t been present when they discussed Qi Observation. She’d never learned Qi cultivation. Yet, after one glance through the Eye, she could already sense Qi on her own?
It was unbelievable.
“How long did it take you to develop Qi Observation?” Wang Jie asked softly.
Chu Yao twitched. No matter how long he’d taken, it couldn’t compare. His gaze flicked toward the house. That girl was a genius. Wang Jie was already an outlier among these natives, and now there was another?
He had to take her.
She was far too gifted to ignore.
Liu Ying, meanwhile, was growing ever more guarded under Chu Yao’s unwavering attention.
As Wang Jie recovered, he ventured outside the Upper Capital City Base to hunt mutated creatures. News of his survival hadn’t spread—nobody deliberately kept it secret, but most of those who knew him were gone.
Qing Zheng, Old Five, and Wen Zhao had moved to Golden Hill Base.
Only Bai Yuan remained at the Upper Capital City Base.
Soon, Bai Yuan came knocking with outside updates. He was astounded to see Wang Jie still alive and could hardly contain his excitement.
Even though Wang Jie had lost twice to Shu Mu Night, he was still the closest anyone had come to rivaling that foe. Across the entire Blue Star—and possibly the cosmos itself, at the Ten Seal level—he might be the only one even near Shu Mu Night’s league. Him surviving meant hope still lingered.
“Our territory keeps shrinking,” Bai Yuan said grimly. “Frontier City has fallen. Only Southern Nation Base, Golden Hill Base, and Upper Capital City Base remain safe.”
He paused. “On Blue Star, humans are no longer the main players. Shu Mu Night’s focus has shifted to the oceans.”
“Just yesterday, a report reached Southern Nation Base—a fearsome Ten Seal creature rose from the depths and launched an ocean-wide assault on Shu Mu Night.”
“The trial participants weren’t wrong. Once the Armor One Sect scattered so many Heaven Stones, they pinned their hopes on the mutated creatures.”
Wang Jie felt his heart grow heavy.
The more mutated creatures appeared, the more potential challengers arose against Shu Mu Night. But those creatures also brought destruction, posing dire threats to humanity’s few remaining bases.
They were simply too weak now.
Chu Yao sneered. “Armor One Sect must be desperate indeed, expecting these mutations to be enough to stop Shu Mu Night.”
He turned to Wang Jie. “Forget Shu Mu Night—someone like you, Brother Wang, could probably annihilate the strongest mutated beasts on Blue Star. None of them can reach the Star-Breaking Realm, so as long as they stay in the Ten Seal realm, you’re invincible.”
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation