Chapter 63: Safe Journey
A radiant glow converged as a single sword strike pierced into Wang Jie’s mind. He stood there, momentarily dazed, then raised his hand and grasped the blade. It felt different.
The Gazing Star Sword Style required three rare materials, much like the Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger, and its power was comparable. Lifting his sword, he pointed towards the murky sky, his eyes sharpening as he beheld the twinkling stars. Each of them was a potential focal point for his next strike.
This technique far surpassed the Rainbow Drinking Sword Style.
For the next stretch of time, Wang Jie diligently honed the Gazing Star Sword Style. Half a month later, he executed a strike into the earth. From that strike, something took root—a new combat technique known as Sword Step.
This new art required four special materials.
With a mixture of apprehension and excitement, Wang Jie reached out and touched the four green sprouts.
Gazing Star Sword Style: Annihilate Stars.
A finely crafted sword tassel.
Pluck a Seven-Colored Flower and gift it to the closest person.
Step on the faces of one hundred people.
The first two seemed normal enough. The third was a bit odd, and the fourth… well, it wasn’t necessarily difficult.
The greatest challenge, however, was undoubtedly the first. To obliterate a star with the Gazing Star Sword Style, one required strength at the Star-Breaking Realm. That level of power was impossible to achieve on Blue Star, and even if it were, it would be far too dangerous to attempt.
Next, he needed to locate the Seven-Colored Flower and the sword tassel.
As the vision dissipated, Wang Jie found himself seated once more, gazing into the distance. Sword Step would have to wait. For now, his existing combat techniques were more than sufficient.
Besides training the Gazing Star Sword Style, he had spent the last half-month performing rigorous physical exercises to increase his strength.
His power had now multiplied to ninety-seven times his original strength.
His suspicions had been correct—the barrier of his physical limits had loosened.
Without a doubt, in terms of raw strength, he had surpassed Shu Mu Night, who had undergone three cycles of cultivation. Shu Mu Night had previously reached eighty-nine times his base strength. Whether he had broken through further was unknown, but Wang Jie had now reached ninety-seven.
Several days passed. After completing another set of exercises, Wang Jie exhaled deeply.
His ultimate limit—ninety-nine times his original strength.
Beyond that, he could not advance further.
Coincidentally, this day marked nearly a full year since the first wave of Trial Participants had arrived.
It was time for him to leave.
Upper Capital City Base—Outer Perimeter
Countless cultivators gathered in the distance, their gazes locked onto the crude vessel before them.
This so-called spaceship—could it truly break free from Blue Star?
Among the crowd, Older Sister Tang, Lian Qin, and Hong Sword were present.
Meanwhile, Qing Zheng, Old Five, and Old Nine stood with Four Eyes, surrounding him in a tight formation.
“Boss, don’t worry about a thing,” Qing Zheng assured him. “If this thing fails, we’ll make sure he accompanies you in the afterlife.”
Four Eyes rolled his eyes. “It won’t fail. And even if it does, you won’t be able to see it.”
“At the very least, don’t let it explode,” Old Five shouted.
Four Eyes sighed. “Illiterate fools. Do you even see the conditions necessary for an explosion here? The propulsion system isn’t even from this world—I merely extracted its energy source.”
Then, realizing the futility of arguing, he stopped. What was the point? They wouldn’t understand anyway.
Wang Jie was deeply uneasy. Nervousness clawed at his heart, yet leaving was inevitable.
“Hey, brat! You ready?” Four Eyes called out.
Wang Jie gestured, signaling his preparedness.
Four Eyes exhaled sharply and pressed the activation switch.
A colossal force erupted from the spaceship’s core, impacting the ground with a thunderous crash. Without any gradual acceleration, the ship shot straight into the heavens, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving only a white streak in the sky.
Four Eyes stared blankly. “…I might have overdone it.”
Old Five and the others turned their gaze toward him, their expressions dangerous.
Hong Sword looked toward the sky. “Safe journey.”
Across the Three Great Bases, across Hua Xia, countless people silently watched the heavens, offering their silent blessings.
Beyond Blue Star
Wang Jie had faced countless perils—surviving beast tides, dueling Shu Mu Night, defying death itself. He feared nothing.
But this—this terrified him.
It felt as if his very soul had been torn from his body.
Was the speed truly this unfathomable? Blue Star had vanished in an instant. This was beyond mere velocity.
Clenching onto his seat, his entire body tensed as Seal Power surged through him, sweat trickling down his forehead. It felt as though the very fabric of the universe trembled around him—a sensation worse than death itself.
Fortunately, the feeling only lasted a short while.
A slight tremor coursed through the vessel. Then, all at once, silence returned.
Peering outside, Wang Jie saw that Blue Star had faded into the distance. The Sun, a gleaming jewel embedded in the vast darkness, shone brilliantly, though it, too, receded ever further.
Around him, the cosmos stretched endlessly, filling him with a peculiar weightlessness.
Wiping his forehead, Wang Jie steadied himself. That Four Eyes—he hoped Old Five and the others gave him a proper beating. The sheer velocity had nearly shattered his soul.
The speed remained incredibly high, but now that they had escaped the atmosphere, it felt more stable.
Curiosity took hold as he gazed at his surroundings. So this was the universe.
Looking up, he saw the Bridge—still there.
Wen Zhao had spoken of this before. No matter where one traveled in the universe, the Bridge would always be visible—unless obscured.
Shifting his perspective, he caught sight of a luminous beam stretching vertically through the void. Or perhaps, it was something else—a cosmic pillar binding the heavens. If there was a Bridge, then naturally, there had to be Bridge Pillars.
These pillars, too, could be seen from anywhere, for they extended through the entire cosmos.
No wonder they called it the Cosmic Sea.
A sea necessitated a bridge—calling it a Cosmic River simply wouldn’t fit.
With scattered thoughts meandering through his mind, Wang Jie sat there, simply staring at the stars.
He remained in that trance for several days.
He had enough food to last three years—compressed rations, Cataclysm Materials to replenish his Seal Power, and various survival supplies.
But one thing remained uncertain—when would he finally encounter extraterrestrial life?
Based on Four Eyes’ calculations, at this speed, he should reach the source of the extraterrestrial signals within a year.
Days passed, and the once-mesmerizing abyss of space soon lost its novelty.
It was time to train.
His Ten-Seal Realm had reached its peak, yet he remained clueless on how to advance to the Star-Breaking Realm.
If he could not enhance his realm, then he would refine his Qi control.
Wang Jie carried a large handful of soybeans with him.
By now, he could manipulate seventeen soybeans freely around his body using Qi Control. The more proficient he became in this technique, the stronger his combat prowess would be. It was much like Shu Mu Night—they both possessed an eighty-ninefold strength enhancement, yet Shu Mu Night’s mastery of Qi and Strength Integration made him far superior. If Wang Jie couldn’t combine the two seamlessly, he wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
The same principle applied to Chen Method. Despite both being Eight-Seal Practitioners, Wang Jie had to rely on every external aid available just to fight him to a draw, whereas Chen Method used only his innate power and Star Force. Shu Mu Night had already mastered this level of control, and Wang Jie believed he could achieve the same—but he needed time and dedicated training.
The duller the practice, the better it was for cultivating patience and precision.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Wang Jie stared at the forty-plus soybeans floating around him and continued honing his skill.
Suddenly, an invisible force swept through his spacecraft, hurling it violently off course. The Battle Power Detector blared incessantly as Wang Jie tumbled inside the vessel. He barely managed to grab hold of a chair to stabilize himself before turning his gaze outside.
Through the viewport, he caught a fleeting glimpse of an enormous silhouette—so colossal that it vanished within a mere blink of an eye.
“A… giant beast?”
The Battle Power Detector settled at a reading of three hundred thirty-two thousand one hundred nineteen.
Wang Jie was stunned.
A power level surpassing ten thousand? What did that even mean?
According to Four Eyes’ research, the highest recorded battle power on Blue Star was seven thousand eight hundred, originating from a Deep Sea Giant Beast slain by Shu Mu Night. The device had never been able to measure Shu Mu Night’s own battle power, nor Wang Jie’s.
But even if their numbers could be gauged, they would never exceed ten thousand. Achieving that threshold meant reaching the Star-Breaking Realm, a level they only knew about from captured Trial Participants.
Yet, what Wang Jie had just witnessed—
A staggering three hundred thirty thousand plus.
He had never imagined encountering such a terrifying creature. He couldn’t even see its form clearly.
He removed the Battle Power Detector from his wrist, perplexed. Was this device really capable of measuring a power level beyond three hundred thousand? Had Four Eyes modified it, or was it naturally this advanced?
Then, realization struck.
His expression darkened as he turned toward the external display.
His course had shifted.
The airflow generated by that passing behemoth had sent his spacecraft spiraling off its original path. Wang Jie’s face turned grim as he checked the navigational data. His trajectory had deviated significantly—but at least he could still locate his previous signal coordinates.
He needed to correct his course.
Back on Blue Star, he had practiced manual navigation a few times. It was difficult, but not impossible.
However, as soon as he attempted it, his face twisted in horror.
He couldn’t change direction.
Something was broken.
The turbulence caused by that gargantuan creature must have damaged a crucial system, rendering the navigational controls useless.
He was doomed.
His complexion turned pale as he stared at the screen. This was serious.
…
In the vast abyss of space, an enormous warship streaked forward, its sheer size distorting the surrounding starry void with its immense gravitational pull.
Inside the warship, every crew member bore a grave expression. The atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Suddenly, an alarm blared.
Everyone’s hearts sank. Panic flickered across their faces.
Inside the command chamber, a young man’s eyes snapped open. His gaze was cold and razor-sharp as he glared at the screen. “They’re still chasing us?”
“Your Highness, no, it’s something else—it’s an unknown object approaching us. Its exact coordinates are unclear.”
The young man furrowed his brows as he scrutinized the monitor.
Soon, the image became clearer. A massive, oval-shaped object slowly emerged into view, steadily advancing toward them.
“What is that?”
“A rock?”
“It’s… a spaceship.”
The young man narrowed his eyes. “That thing is a spaceship?”
“We’re detecting life signs inside. It’s heading straight for us.”
“Make it move aside.”
“We’re too late—there’s no time to avoid it.”
“Force it away at once.”
Desperate, the warship’s crew attempted evasive maneuvers. But the mysterious spacecraft refused to change course. Its speed remained constant, directly on a collision path.
It was too late.
With no alternative, the warship activated emergency defenses.
“Deploy forceful deterrents.”
The rogue vessel hurtled into the warship’s docking bay at breakneck speed. Defensive barriers—used exclusively in warfare to repel enemy invasions—snapped into place, attempting to halt its entry.
Yet the intruder’s velocity was too great. One by one, the barriers shattered under the impact. The ship barreled forward relentlessly, only stopping after colliding with an internal bulkhead—wrecking half of the warship’s dining hall in the process.
Thick smoke billowed from the crash site.
Immediately, thousands of armed soldiers surrounded the wreckage, weapons aimed at the mangled vessel.
Tension ran high.
Thud.
A deep vibration resonated from within the ruined spaceship.
The surrounding warriors tightened their grips on their weapons, their knuckles whitening.
Inside the command center, the young prince’s brows knitted together as he stared at the screen displaying the dining hall.
Thud.
With a resounding boom, the spaceship’s hatch was kicked open. A lone figure burst out, coughing violently.
The soldiers surged forward, weapons raised. “Surrender! Do not move!”
“Drop your weapons and kneel immediately!”
Cough, cough.
Wang Jie struggled to suppress his coughing fit, his vision blurred by the suffocating haze.
Damn it, that was close.
Six months ago, he had embarked on his journey into space aboard this crude spacecraft, following a preplanned route. Who would have thought he’d encounter an unknown Cosmic Giant Beast that hurled him off-course, breaking his controls? The past four months had been spent in constant anxiety.
But nothing had been as nerve-wracking as this moment.
He had just crashed into an enormous warship, an entity so vast it dwarfed even the bases on Blue Star. Worse, the warship hadn’t even tried to evade him—instead, it had outright swallowed him whole.
For a moment, he had genuinely thought he was going to die.
Still coughing, he glanced around.
Hundreds of weapons were aimed directly at him. His Battle Power Detector continued to display fluctuating readings.
Could these weapons actually be measured in terms of battle power? No—that wasn’t it. Some among them were cultivators.
“Kneel immediately!” a voice thundered, filled with authority.
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation