Chapter 021

Chapter 21: Battle Power Detection

Wang Jie gazed out of the window. The vehicle moved steadily within the base, with no clear distinction between the clean and polluted areas. “I don’t know,” he muttered.

Wen Zhao, curious, asked, “What’s Bai Yuan’s sword style like?”

Qing Zheng retorted, “Do you think you’d recognize it?”

Wen Zhao confidently responded, “I think I could.”

“Uncle Liu, tell him,” Qing Zheng urged.

“I don’t know,” Uncle Liu replied.

Qing Zheng was surprised. “You’re a six-seal cultivator, and you’ve mixed in Upper Capital city. How do you not know Bai Yuan’s sword style?”

Uncle Liu shook his head. “Anyone who’s seen his swordplay is dead. Normally, forget about seeing the sword—most people can’t even see the sword itself.”

Qing Zheng sighed. “Well, there’s nothing we can do.”

Wen Zhao didn’t press the matter further.

With some time left before Zuo Tian arrived in Upper Capital city, Wang Jie’s first priority was to form a hunting team.

Over the past two years, Wang Jie had reflected on many things, realizing his mistakes. He had overestimated himself and underestimated his enemies. He had also been too isolated and had failed to leverage external forces.

Due to the need to hunt mutated creatures, the influence of hunting teams had been rising. They gained priority access to intelligence from various bases, the right to use aircraft, flight route applications, communication routes, and priority in exchanging goods, among other privileges.

Currently, the top hunting teams were more influential than some bases. For example, the leading team, the Broken Blade Hunting Team, was founded by Zuo Tian.

Many people didn’t trust the base to protect them, but they trusted the hunting teams. The elites were concentrated in the hunting teams. Bases existed for survival, while hunting teams existed for personal gain—this was the key difference.

To form a hunting team, one needed 100 points, with each point representing a previously unregistered cataclysm material of at least three seals.

This meant Wang Jie needed to find 100 unmarked cataclysm materials with three seals or higher before he could officially create a team. For Qing Zheng, this was easy. The Leading Pillar group had a number of such materials in Upper Capital city, which they could directly use.

Cataclysm materials didn’t have to be handed over to the base; they remained the property of the hunting team.

Wang Jie named his hunting team “Blue Star.”

The Blue Star team consisted of Wang Jie, Qing Zheng, Guan Dao (Old Five), and Old Nine, named Feng Jiu.

After registering the team, Qing Zheng immediately set about gathering cataclysm materials. Leading Pillar group materials were easy to obtain, and they bought others from external sources. Collecting these materials was crucial to improving the team’s rank.

No one cared where the materials came from; acquiring them was all that mattered.

The Leading Pillar group also had its own hunting team, the Shou Qing Hunting Team, which ranked highly among the hunting teams in Hua Xia. Much of their cataclysm material came from purchases.

However, this method wouldn’t last forever. Everyone valued these materials, and they were both expensive and scarce. Even if available, they were often bought by Upper Capital city bases first.

The higher one ranked, the more points were required, and the gap was exaggerated. The top ten hunting teams had been established for several years, with some even longer, and had accumulated significant amounts of registered cataclysm materials.

Only by reaching the top ten could a hunting team truly be considered significant.

Wang Jie decided, “Tomorrow, we’ll go out to hunt mutated creatures.”

“Why not today? The day is still young, and we could take an aircraft,” Qing Zheng wondered.

Wang Jie was certain it would be tomorrow because he had something to do today.

He had heard that Upper Capital city had a romantic landmark, and he planned to gather sweet tears there.

That evening, Wang Jie left.

Old Five, Old Nine, and Qing Zheng came along.

“What do you think the boss is up to?” Old Five asked.

“Who knows? Guess what? He actually had Lian Fei write a proposal letter for him!” Old Nine replied.

“What? That’s crazy! Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“None of your business,” Old Five snapped.

“Lian Qin wants to arrange a marriage with our family. What do you think about that?”

“…” Old Nine fell silent.

“I’ll tell Father immediately. We should have Lian Fei marry the boss. It’s not every day the boss likes someone.”

“Wait, I feel like something’s off here,” Old Five muttered.

“Alright, maybe the boss is out on a date with Lian Fei right now.”

“Could be. By the way, having Lian Fei write a proposal letter… the boss wants some ceremony.”

“Got it.”

Meanwhile, Wang Jie hid in a corner, waiting. This time, he was more prepared. He wouldn’t be left waiting aimlessly. He saw a couple, pushing the man to propose marriage.

“Big brother, we’ve only known each other for three days.”

“Try it, you never know, right? But there must be tears.”

“I can’t cry.”

“Make her cry.”

“…”

“Brother, I was thinking of breaking up.”

“Propose to her.”

“Isn’t this a little strange? Who are you to her?”

“I told you, propose.”

Bang! The ground cracked open.

“Alright, brother, I understand.”

Wang Jie continued gathering sweet tears late into the night, collecting five materials in total. The easiest one was the Evil Person’s Severed Palm. He had no idea how long it would take to collect the others.

The proposal letter was another headache.

He returned home and went straight to sleep.

Sometime later, the door suddenly opened, and Old Five and the others entered. “Boss, Wen Zhao’s gone.”

Wang Jie shot up. “Where did she go?”

“Outside the base. It seems like a trial taker showed up. Someone from Upper Capital city’s base told her.”

Wang Jie rushed out toward the base.

Outside the Upper Capital city base, under countless gazes, a small Fatty in a black, finely-crafted battle suit sat leisurely on a stone bench, eyes closed in rest. The onlookers were envious of the battle suit—it clearly wasn’t made by Blue Star craftsmanship. The suit didn’t reflect light under the sun and looked exceptionally sturdy.

The Fatty wore a dark green lens over his left eye, with numbers flashing on it, giving him a highly technological look.

Bai Yuan stood at the bottom of the city, hands clasped behind his back, staring at the small Fatty.

When Wen Zhao arrived, Bai Yuan turned to her. “Do you know him?”

From afar, the Fatty’s lens flashed, emitting a beeping sound. He suddenly opened his eyes and locked onto Wen Zhao, his gaze lighting up. “Isn’t this the Wen family young lady? What a coincidence to see you here.” He waved at her. “Congratulations on breaking through to the eight-seal level!”

Wen Zhao stared at him, her eyes flashing with recognition. “It’s you?”

“Do you know him?” Bai Yuan asked.

Before Wen Zhao could respond, the Fatty approached, beaming. “Not bad, Wen family young lady. You’re actually hanging out with these natives. You should explain to them—I’m a good person, a kind person.”

“What are you doing here?” Wen Zhao asked.

The Fatty pointed toward Upper Capital city. “This is the largest power in the trial ground. There should be plenty of cataclysm materials. I’m here to buy.”

Bai Yuan glanced at the Fatty, then at Wen Zhao. It was normal for trial takers to know each other, but it seemed this young lady was cautious of the Fatty.

When Wang Jie arrived, they were already negotiating prices.

There was no helping it—the items the Fatty had on display were quite tempting.

“Battle Power Detector?” Wang Jie asked, surprised, as Bai Yuan handed him the dark lens. He put it on, and the numbers continuously changed. He directly looked at Bai Yuan.

This was Wang Jie’s first time meeting Bai Yuan, though Bai Yuan seemed to treat him casually.

Beep beep beep.

The numbers stopped at five hundred.

The Fatty explained, “Five hundred is the minimum for a seven-seal cultivator. When a cultivator reaches a single seal, it’s one; the numbers keep increasing. Of course, these numbers don’t represent actual battle power, since they jump with combat and change depending on the strength of the seals.”

Wang Jie understood why Bai Yuan was interested. This device could help reduce the time spent finding powerful mutated beasts, and it could even give an alert.

The Fatty chuckled. “Very useful, right, Wen family young lady?”

Wang Jie turned to Wen Zhao, who nodded. “Many cultivators in the universe wear these things.”

“Of course,” the Fatty said.

“However…” Wen Zhao glanced at him, her eyes narrowing. “The more elite you are, the less likely you are to use it, because it can be misleading.”

The Fatty rolled his eyes. “Alright, stop talking about elites. No offense, but you all should know your place. Even if you’re at the top of Blue Star, compared to the great cosmic forces, you’re all the lowest rung. You’ll be heading to the interstellar battlefield soon.”

“In the interstellar battlefield, the most important thing is survival. Don’t think about fighting or making achievements. That’s all nonsense. Staying alive is more important than anything.”

“Take the opportunity to improve your methods now. Don’t regret it later.”

Before Wen Zhao could respond, he handed her a device. “Wen family young lady, this is for you. Wishing you victory in this trial.”

Wen Zhao smiled and quietly took it, not saying anything more.

Bai Yuan and Wang Jie could both tell the Fatty was trying to silence Wen Zhao, obviously hiding something. But the truth was, there was nothing more to consider for now.

Wang Jie handed the lens back to Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan gestured for the Fatty to follow. “Shall we talk inside the city?”

The Fatty agreed without hesitation, completely unafraid of being surrounded.

As they walked toward Upper Capital city, the Fatty glanced back at Wen Zhao’s legs. “Just a heads-up, that thing is analyzing your power.”

Wen Zhao’s expression remained unchanged.

Bai Yuan’s face remained neutral, as if the revelation didn’t concern him.

“What’s his background?” Wang Jie asked, intrigued.

Wen Zhao answered, “Galaxy Combat Equipment company. Qi Five.”

“Galaxy… a company?”

“That’s just how it’s understood. It’s a business conglomerate specializing in manufacturing combat equipment. They often participate in various forces’ trials and sell gear.”

Wang Jie understood. “Seems like his power isn’t low if he can infiltrate the Armor One Sect trials.”

Wen Zhao didn’t elaborate. Inside the city, Old Five and the others arrived, ready to begin their hunt.

The Leading Pillar group had aircraft stationed at all five major bases, and more than one at that.

They were about to take an aircraft to a dangerous zone two hundred kilometers away, where mutated creatures roamed. The battle power detector that Wen Zhao had obtained would help save time.

At the speed of the aircraft, it didn’t take long before they arrived.

The area was surrounded by towering trees. Some were normal, but most were mutated. However, mutated trees didn’t necessarily pose a threat.

Beep beep beep.

The detector kept ringing as Wang Jie wore it, examining his surroundings.

He looked to the right. “Eight hundred meters away, a seven-seal mutated beast.”

“Two kilometers away, a group of five-seal creatures.”

“Split up.”

For the next two days, they remained in the dangerous zone, constantly hunting mutated creatures. With Wen Zhao and Wang Jie’s strength, unless they encountered something like the Moon Plant, the most powerful creature, they easily dealt with threats in just a few moves.

Meanwhile, Qing Zheng reached seven seals quickly.