Chapter 52: Qi
Within the secluded courtyard, Qing Sheng sat across from Wang Jie, silently sipping his tea.
“Xiao Zheng was devastated by your supposed death.”
Wang Jie nodded lightly. “I know.”
Setting down his teacup, Qing Sheng gazed at him. “For now, I can’t leave either. The situation outside the base grows increasingly perilous. Ten-Seal Beasts keep emerging, and the Safe Zones are shrinking.”
“This will be the last time I bring materials.”
Wang Jie looked at him. “Uncle Qing, why are you willing to send supplies to Four Eyes? The cost is not small.”
Qing Sheng’s gaze shifted toward the room. “Someone must walk a different path. If Blue Star is doomed, perhaps he can build a spaceship and take a few people away. As long as someone survives, Blue Star isn’t truly dead.”
Wang Jie studied Qing Sheng intently.
Even if the sky collapses, ants do not sit idly awaiting death. They carve a path, even if to humans it seems like a futile struggle.
To Qing Sheng, he lacked the strength to confront Shu Mu Night, but he had his own convictions—no matter how ridiculous they seemed to others. That was why he was Qing Sheng—the man who, at the dawn of the apocalypse, helped establish the Five Great Bases, protected countless survivors, and exhausted his fortune without hesitation. His determination was unparalleled. The bases, in turn, had not forsaken him; his Leading Pillar Group became the largest and only enterprise spanning all five bases.
“You’ve changed.” Qing Sheng scrutinized Wang Jie.
Wang Jie glanced down at himself and smirked bitterly. “I’ve become crippled.”
Qing Sheng chuckled. “I meant your eyes. They no longer burn with hatred, but with purpose. That is good.”
Wang Jie silently sipped his tea. Purpose? He simply did not want his homeland to be destroyed. He never wanted to witness another scene like the Frontier City’s fall—where countless ordinary people stood in the front lines, giving their lives just to buy time for cultivators. And behind those cultivators were the children they sought to protect.
Qing Sheng left without much more to say. But before he departed, he spoke one last sentence:
“If Blue Star has no future, I hope at least you survive.”
Wang Jie watched his retreating figure and slowly clenched his fists.
Two more days passed.
Wang Jie counted the days. The time for calisthenics training was approaching. Meanwhile, Four Eyes had completed the medicine.
Even he admitted that the medicine was unlikely to be effective, but Wang Jie insisted on using it. Wang Jie couldn’t explain why.
The courtyard basked in gentle sunlight, yet outside the base, rivers of blood flowed.
The Four Great Bases all faced Beast Tide sieges. The Safe Zones had completely fallen. There were no more safe havens—Ten-Seal Beasts roamed unchecked. The entire land of Hua Xia was in turmoil.
The Frontier City was breached.
Over a million perished. The remaining survivors, scattered and homeless, had nowhere to flee but into the wilderness.
The Trial Participants no longer intervened. Their eyes were fixed solely on Shu Mu Night, waiting for him to construct the bridge so they could leave. The fate of Blue Star’s people did not concern them.
The Golden Hill Base was also under attack. Fortunately, Wen Zhao and Insect Xuan were willing to assist. A tide of insects blocked the onslaught, preserving the base. But as the Ten-Seal Insects increased in number, Insect Xuan’s control over them began to wane.
The Southern Nation Base faced an assault from both land and sea. Just as Lian Qin was on the brink of despair, Shu Mu Night appeared. He had chosen Southern Nation Base as his next bridge-building location. He slaughtered Mutated Beasts along the southern coastline, dyeing the sea red with their blood. The stench of carnage permeated a hundred miles.
Although this temporarily secured the base, everyone knew that its fate was sealed.
They would neither survive nor escape.
The Upper Capital City Base was similarly besieged. Bai Yuan and others resisted, but their efforts were as futile as trying to douse a raging fire with a cup of water.
Then, Chu Yao stepped in.
He did not act for the sake of Blue Star’s people—he sought only his own stability. Because Wang Jie refused to leave. If the Upper Capital City Base fell, Chu Yao had no way to take Wang Jie with him.
The only solution was to stabilize the base temporarily—at least until the bridge construction was complete.
To him, Wang Jie’s desire to heal was laughable. Such injuries could only be swiftly treated by Starry Kingdom’s forces. Blue Star held no such capabilities.
Watching Chu Yao come and go, Wang Jie understood his actions.
There was no need for gratitude. If Wang Jie weren’t here, Chu Yao wouldn’t have lifted a finger. The Upper Capital City Base had already become a graveyard.
Chu Yao had never revealed the full extent of his strength, but it was formidable—formidable enough to pose a threat even Shu Mu Night could not ignore.
That night, a familiar voice echoed in Wang Jie’s ears.
Struggling to rise, he forced himself into the movements of the calisthenics routine. As the warm current surged through his body, he simultaneously applied the medicine. Within just a few motions, he felt a stark difference—his body, though wracked with pain, had loosened. The agony surged like a tidal wave.
Previously, there were places in his body where he could no longer even perceive pain.
Now he could.
And it hurt—excruciatingly so.
Gritting his teeth, sweat dripped from his forehead, quickly soaking his clothes. His skin oozed black impurities.
The routine didn’t last long.
Yet, for Wang Jie, this session felt as grueling as his first. And due to his injuries, the pain nearly made him convulse. But the effect was undeniable. As the calisthenics routine concluded, his wounds—healed.
The medicine wasn’t the key. The warm current had amplified its potency beyond imagination. It was miraculous.
Slumping onto the ground, Wang Jie touched his wrist guard.
Without this artifact, he would have died. Shu Mu Night’s punch was never something he could have withstood.
Just a single wrist guard had such an incredible effect—what if he possessed a complete set of equipment?
He had no idea what kind of force possessed such an artifact, but he surmised it must belong to an entity of immense power—one that stood at the pinnacle of existence.
Stretching his arms, he felt his body lighten, completely at ease. Though this experience had not enhanced his strength, merely recovering from his prior state was a great fortune.
Quickly, he opened the window—the stench in the room was unbearable.
After bathing, Wang Jie sank into his bed, feeling utterly comfortable, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.
—
The next morning, as usual, he sat in his small courtyard, confined to his wheelchair, while Liu Ying pushed him forward.
Chu Yao emerged from the house, his gaze locking onto Wang Jie, his expression momentarily frozen.
Wang Jie glanced back. “What’s wrong?”
Chu Yao took a seat across from him, his gaze shifting toward Liu Ying. He grinned, baring his teeth in a somewhat provocative manner.
Silently, Liu Ying turned and walked away. She had no fondness for this man.
Once she was gone, Chu Yao’s expression turned severe. He suddenly leaned in close, his sharp eyes fixated on Wang Jie.
Feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Wang Jie frowned. “What are you doing?”
Chu Yao leaned back in his chair, a smirk forming. “You sure have a lot of secrets.”
Wang Jie’s heart skipped a beat. He met Chu Yao’s gaze warily.
“Not only can you rapidly increase your strength, but you also have the ability to heal yourself. Don’t bother denying it—cultivation in the Death Realm isn’t about looking at people, it’s about observing their Qi. And yours has fully recovered.”
Wang Jie hadn’t expected to be exposed so easily. “Qi?”
“That four-eyed bastard’s medicine was weak. In Corpse Sect, it wouldn’t even qualify as a rudimentary elixir. There’s no way it could have healed you overnight.” Chu Yao stretched his legs lazily. “With all your secrets, you should come with me. The sects under the Starry Heavens aren’t suited for you.”
His eyes glinted with something akin to amusement. “If they ever find out about all your secrets, they won’t stop until they’ve picked your bones clean.”
“You think Shu Mu Night wants you by his side out of admiration? Wrong. He wants your secrets just as much as anyone else.”
“Sincere One Dao cultivators can undergo Re-Cultivation, breaking past the limits of their bodies. Shu Mu Night has done it three times. And you? How long have you been cultivating? You started as nothing on a Trial Star, yet you forced him to exert a significant amount of power. It’s astonishing. Whether it’s Sincere One Dao or Armor One Sect, if you go to either of them, you’ll suffer a fate worse than death.”
Wang Jie eyed Chu Yao cautiously. “And the Corpse Sect? It doesn’t sound any less terrifying.”
Chu Yao chuckled. “Let me teach you something: in the universe, the more terrifying something sounds, the better it might actually be for you. Because everyone has secrets.”
“Corpse Sect’s cultivation is tied to the study of the human body. Everyone’s research has value, and everyone guards their findings as their own secrets.”
“If our sect pried into everyone’s secrets, we’d be torn apart from within.”
“So, the more secrets you have, the more you belong with us. Otherwise, this universe will have no place for you.”
Wang Jie had no desire to continue this conversation. Every sect had its own philosophy, its own reasoning. He didn’t trust Armor One Sect, and he certainly wasn’t about to trust this man either.
“You mentioned Qi earlier. What exactly is it?”
Chu Yao raised a single finger. “What do you see?”
“A finger.”
“Obvious. What else?”
Wang Jie shook his head honestly.
Chu Yao waggled his finger slightly. “At its tip, there’s Qi. Qi isn’t just a force—it’s a connection, a resonance between oneself and the universe.”
“Humans have human Qi, beasts have beast Qi. Luck, vitality—these are also Qi. Anything intangible yet influencing reality can be considered Qi.”
“Even entire nations have their own Qi, known as National Fortune.”
“Sects and organizations have their own Qi as well. You can call it Sect Fate.”
“Imagine two ordinary people: one has thrown a punch a million times, the other has never thrown a punch in his life. Assume their height, weight, strength, and speed are identical. Who is stronger?”
“No need to think. It’s the one who has thrown a million punches, because they possess the ‘feeling’ of the strike. That feeling is also Qi.”
“In this universe, the living cultivate strength, the dead cultivate Qi.”
“You can’t see it because you’ve never trained in it. Just like how you can’t see your own luck.”
Wang Jie seemed to understand… yet also felt as if he didn’t.
Chu Yao lowered his hand, giving Wang Jie a once-over. “Your Finger Techniques and Footwork are your strengths. I can tell because the Qi in your fingers and feet is denser. Also, due to your immense strength, your body holds a substantial amount of Qi. Even your wrists contain traces of Qi, meaning you’re proficient with weapons.”
His gaze sharpened. “I have to say, you’re quite well-rounded. Proficient in many disciplines. It’s baffling how you managed to learn so much in just ten years on a Trial Star.”
He tilted his head to the sky. “Even in Armor One Sect’s Martial Hall, where battle techniques are as numerous as the stars, a single person can only master one or two techniques in ten years. Yet you… you’re an anomaly.”
Wang Jie’s curiosity stirred. “What about Shu Mu Night’s Qi?”
Chu Yao rolled his eyes. “You think Qi observation is omnipotent? Experts can conceal and manipulate their own Qi. Some, with enough experience, can even create false Qi signatures to deceive their enemies. So, don’t carelessly examine others’ Qi.”
“It’s only you rookies who get read so easily.”
“Of course, there are higher methods of Qi Observation that can see through disguises. But that’s something for the future… assuming you live long enough.”
His lips curled into a smirk. “So? The universe is fascinating, isn’t it? You know too little. The forces out there are as countless as the stars, and civilizations stretch beyond imagination. Vast feasts, legendary brothels where swords fly through the air, endless wonders…”
“Come with me. With your abilities, even if you can’t kill Shu Mu Night, you could at least slaughter his disciples and minions. Those hypocrites in Sincere One Dao deserve to die. You and I, together—we could kill them all.”
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation