Chapter 64: A Good Day
Wang Jie lifted his head and exhaled heavily, glancing back. Four Eyes had been right—the ship might be falling apart in function, but it was built like a fortress. Even after such a brutal collision, he had struggled to kick the door open.
Turning forward, he raised a hand in greeting. “Apologies, I did not mean to intrude. May I ask where I am?”
Before he could receive an answer, two figures shot toward him from both sides, one aiming for his head and the other for his legs—a coordinated strike executed with flawless precision.
With a swift pivot, Wang Jie effortlessly evaded their attacks and countered with two swift strikes of his own. The attackers were sent flying, crashing into the surrounding crowd.
Seven-Seal cultivation?
Before he could gather his thoughts, another figure leaped down from the second floor, carrying with him a fierce and violent force. This one was at Nine-Seal.
Wang Jie sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the strike. The floor beneath him cracked apart under the sheer force of the blow. Without hesitation, he kicked forward, sending the attacker hurtling through the air. Even a Nine-Seal expert had no time to react.
Around him, weapons were drawn and pointed at him in warning.
Wang Jie glanced around and raised his hands once more. “I mean no harm.”
“Ten-Seal combat strength. Everyone, stand down.” A deep voice rang out as a middle-aged man emerged from the crowd.
Wang Jie’s gaze sharpened. The oppressive force radiating from this man was immense. He was taller than most, his robust frame akin to a towering beast as he strode forward, his eyes locked onto Wang Jie. “You’re wearing a Battle Power Detector—you’re clearly not new to the universe. I don’t care what your intentions are. Get down and surrender, or I won’t be polite.”
Wang Jie met the man’s gaze. “I truly have no quarrel with you. This is all a misunderstanding.”
The man remained indifferent. “That doesn’t matter. I am Bian Qi, Star-Breaking Realm.”
Wang Jie’s pupils shrank.
In the next instant, Bian Qi vanished. Such speed! Wang Jie instinctively wanted to step into Armor Eight Steps, but he held back. He needed to gauge his opponent’s strength first.
Bian Qi struck with a sweeping blow.
Wang Jie locked onto the movement. His Battle Power Detector displayed a value: 3,900.
That little?
Boom!
Bian Qi’s arm connected, sending Wang Jie crashing into the wall. The material was far stronger than iron—it didn’t shatter but bore deep cracks.
Bian Qi nodded approvingly. “Not bad. That was already beyond the strength of a normal Ten-Seal expert, yet you’re still standing. Continue.”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The numbers changed—5,600.
Twice as much.
Wang Jie swung his elbow in retaliation, colliding with Bian Qi’s fist.
Once more, he was sent flying.
Bian Qi looked surprised. “Still holding up?”
He attacked again, this time unleashing 9,000 battle power.
Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed. As expected of a Star-Breaking Realm cultivator—he can directly reach 9,000 battle power. I can’t afford to take another hit. This level of destruction rivals Shu Mu Night’s strength at eighty-nine times its base. A single mistake could cause serious injury.
At that moment, the warship trembled violently.
Bian Qi halted his assault, his expression shifting. “What’s happening?”
A shrill alarm blared through the ship, panic spreading among the crew. Explosions echoed throughout the vessel, yet Bian Qi didn’t spare Wang Jie another glance—he bolted out. The rest followed, their faces pale with dread, save for a few who kept their wary gazes on Wang Jie.
Wang Jie rolled his shoulders. Could it be that my earlier crash damaged this battleship?
Boom! Boom!
The ship trembled again as explosions erupted in the distance. Amidst the chaos, frantic voices shouted orders and warnings.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Wang Jie sprinted through the corridors, heading away from the dining hall. As he ran, he encountered another group—distinctly different in attire from the ship’s crew. These newcomers were storming the warship, while the original crew dared not resist, kneeling in surrender.
A deafening crash thundered from above, sending a forceful shockwave through the structure.
Ahead, the corridor and its adjoining chambers were sliced apart by a single stroke of a blade.
Bian Qi fell, crashing heavily into the ground, blood spewing from his mouth, his face ashen.
Wang Jie lifted his gaze.
An old man, wielding a warblade, descended slowly.
The warship was ablaze with explosions.
“Where is Jun Tang?” the old man’s voice carried an undeniable authority.
Bian Qi struggled to his feet, glaring at him. “Old General, this has nothing to do with you! Why are you interfering?”
The elder lifted his warblade and pressed it onto Bian Qi’s shoulder, forcing him to his knees.
“Boy, when I was waging war across the starry skies, you were still in swaddling clothes. How dare you raise your voice at me? Are you seeking death?” The old man’s tone was domineering beyond measure.
Bian Qi lowered his head, his body trembling.
With that, the elder turned toward the other end of the corridor, where a young man emerged, his expression calm. “He merely serves me. Please do not blame him, Old General.”
The youth, Jun Tang, saluted with composed grace.
Around them, all present bowed in unison. “Greetings, Old General.”
“Greetings…”
Not wanting to stand out, Wang Jie mimicked their actions, bowing as well.
The old man sheathed his blade and sighed. “I do not wish to meddle in royal affairs, but an old friend entrusted me with a final request. I had no choice but to intervene this once.”
“You have already been stripped of your succession rights. Why persist in opposing that girl?”
Jun Tang met the old man’s gaze. “It’s not that I wish to fight her. It’s that she refuses to let me go.”
The old man shook his head. “Right or wrong, it’s not my concern. Let’s go.”
Jun Tang asked, “This is the only time the Old General will interfere?”
The elder looked at him silently before nodding.
Jun Tang smiled, bowed once more, and said, “Understood. I shall accompany the Old General.”
Wang Jie had been captured. How should he put it? The moment he laid eyes on that old man, he knew he had no chance of resisting. In truth, the old man didn’t even need to act—Bian Qi alone was enough to suppress him.
Not to mention the numerous cultivators surrounding them, the warship’s onboard weapons posed a direct threat to his life. And then there was that young man, Jun Tang—his presence was just as oppressive as Bian Qi’s. Without a doubt, this man was a Star-Breaking Realm expert.
Were there really so many Star-Breaking Realm cultivators in this vast universe?
For Wang Jie, his streak of misfortune began the moment Four Eyes failed to regulate the power extraction. Since then, everything had spiraled downward.
Now, shackled in heavy chains, he found himself among a group of prisoners, marching across the desolate, dimly lit landscape of an abandoned planet. His days as a miner had begun.
He was deemed a rebel.
It hardly mattered whether he explained himself or not. Outside, the empire was celebrating the ascension of a new Emperor, while he, along with Jun Tang, had been exiled to this forsaken rock, condemned to toil as a laborer.
There was no better word to describe it—misfortune.
This desolate world was ravaged by biting winds, the air thick with a nauseating stench that churned the stomach. The land was an expanse of unyielding gray stone, and their task was to extract a certain type of ore from beneath the surface.
Only by mining a sufficient amount could their sentences be reduced.
Each prisoner wore shackles of varying weights, dictated by their cultivation level and combat prowess.
Wang Jie, at Ten-Seal Strength, bore shackles over ten times heavier than most. But, to him, they were hardly an inconvenience. Clearly, the Silver Radiance Empire hadn’t considered him a significant threat. Bian Qi, however, was a different case—his shackles were ten times heavier than Wang Jie’s, his Star Force completely sealed. Rumor had it they had also drugged him, causing sporadic lapses in his consciousness.
Indeed, the treatment for Star-Breaking Realm experts was far harsher.
The relentless clanging of metal against stone echoed throughout the mine.
For all the empire’s advancements in exploring the universe and manufacturing warships, mining still remained a primitive task.
It was clear that the real purpose of this operation was not to extract minerals—it was punishment.
Wang Jie observed the system as he handed over his mined ore. He neither produced too little nor too much—his priority was understanding the situation first.
Two days passed, and things changed.
He became a target of bullying.
“You, you, and you—hand over your ore.”
The one issuing the command was Bian Qi. And the person collecting the ore? Jun Tang.
Jun Tang’s status was unique. Though stripped of his royal inheritance and declared a traitor, the mine overseers still feared him. No one dared challenge his actions.
Wang Jie glanced at the ore in his hands and, after a moment of consideration, complied. He was in unfamiliar territory and knew nothing about this place—it was best to endure for now. But then, things escalated. Not only did they demand his ore, but they also insisted he kneel while handing it over, as others had.
Kneel?
That, Wang Jie would not tolerate.
He ignored them entirely.
Bian Qi’s expression darkened. Striding up to Wang Jie, he seized his collar, his voice laced with menace. “Brat, I remember you. You barged into our warship. If they hadn’t caught up to you that day, I would have ended you myself.”
Wang Jie met his gaze calmly. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll hand over the ore, but I won’t kneel.”
Bian Qi scoffed. “You think you’re worthy of bargaining with us?”
Wang Jie scrutinized him. “A Star-Breaking Realm cultivator… How much of your power can you even use in this state?”
Bian Qi sneered. “Why don’t you find out?”
Wang Jie gestured toward the overseers outside the mine. “They won’t interfere?”
Bian Qi smirked. “No one will stop us.”
Wang Jie nodded. “Good. That’s reassuring.”
Bian Qi frowned. “Reassuring for what—?”
BAM!
Wang Jie struck, ramming his knee viciously into Bian Qi’s abdomen. The attack was swift and brutal—Bian Qi sensed it but, burdened by his shackles, had no way to evade. The blow forced him to double over, his body trembling as he collapsed to his knees.
Without hesitation, Wang Jie followed up with a powerful kick, sending Bian Qi tumbling down the rocky slope.
The commotion drew the attention of the thousands of miners nearby. They turned, stunned, as Wang Jie stood defiantly over the fallen Star-Breaking expert.
Even the mine overseers looked over—but they made no move to intervene.
Wang Jie raised an eyebrow. They really aren’t stepping in?
Jun Tang regarded Wang Jie with an unreadable expression. He hadn’t expected anyone here to challenge him.
Wang Jie gazed down at Bian Qi, chuckling. “You were right. No one’s stopping us. That makes this… interesting.”
At the base of the slope, Bian Qi took his time recovering, glaring up at Wang Jie with venomous hatred. “You’re dead.”
He scrambled up the slope and launched a punch at Wang Jie.
Wang Jie met his strike with one of his own.
Both were restricted, but Bian Qi far more so. As for Wang Jie—his true strength remained a mystery.
The outcome was decisive.
Bian Qi’s fist met a solid wall of resistance. Wang Jie effortlessly countered and struck back, sending him flying once more.
Jun Tang’s eyes narrowed. The suppression mechanisms in this mine were evenly distributed across cultivation levels. While Star-Breaking Realm experts faced heavier constraints, their natural strength, honed by years of battle, was far beyond what a Ten-Seal cultivator could match.
Yet Wang Jie was winning.
Among Ten-Seal warriors, this man was a force to be reckoned with.
Bian Qi, unwilling to concede, charged again.
Wang Jie dispatched him just as swiftly, driving him into the dirt before placing a firm boot on his face.
One down.
A component of the Sword Step Technique required him to step on the faces of a hundred foes. This was his first.
Bian Qi howled in fury, commanding those around him to attack.
Wang Jie did not hold back. One by one, they came—one by one, he beat them down. Throughout the battle, he continued observing the overseers outside the mine. If they intervened, he would submit—this was their domain, after all.
But no matter how much chaos erupted, no one interfered.
One after another, his opponents fell. And with each one, he planted his foot on their faces.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Jun Tang.
Another Star-Breaking Realm warrior.
Jun Tang remained motionless, his expression calm as he watched Wang Jie decimate his subordinates, stepping over them one by one.
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