Chapter 037
Chapter 37: A Great Matter
Watching Yun Lai being taken away by Qi Five, Wang Jie stood on the city wall, his gaze turning cold.
“You can’t kill him,” Wen Zhao comforted him, understanding Wang Jie’s frustration. “It’s not because of the Yun family, but because Yun Lai himself has been chosen as a Heaven’s Chosen prodigy by the sect. People like him will always be protected.”
Wang Jie frowned. “If Heaven’s Chosen prodigies are protected, how can they grow?”
Wen Zhao replied, “A powerful sect not only needs top-tier experts but also requires numerous disciples to serve it—mid-level disciples and elite disciples are indispensable.”
“When Yun Lai is protected, it means the resources dedicated to him will be reduced. He will be trained as an elite disciple, and the sect will not worry about his growth mentality.”
Wang Jie understood now. “Let’s go.”
Over the next few days, improved battle power detectors were distributed to various bases, and some cultivators who had just broken through to eight seals began searching for trial takers. They indeed found a few.
All of them were handed over to Wang Jie and Bai Yuan to handle.
Ordinary cultivators were no match for these trial takers.
Wen Zhao’s solution was clear: they would fight, breaking the fate of battle slaves and breaking the destiny of Blue Star.
So, they would first deal with all the trial takers.
At the very least, they had to ensure that this trial failed, giving Blue Star a chance to breathe. There had been exceptions in the past, and Blue Star could hold on until the next trial.
Ten days later, Upper Capital City Base had captured twenty-four trial takers. While the efficiency wasn’t high, it was already quite good.
Other trial takers were still being tracked.
There were definitely trial takers hiding in the base, but their exact location was still unknown.
Four Eyes had been brought from Golden Hill Base to Upper Capital City, where the best research equipment in Hua Xia was available, and Four Eyes’ expertise in mechanical research could truly shine.
Wang Jie did another workout, this time doubling his gains. However, the consumption of cataclysm materials had also greatly increased, depleting all of his remaining stock.
His power reached thirty-two times that of a typical eight-seal breakthrough.
Such terrifying power amazed even him. The outside world had no idea.
Wen Zhao also didn’t know that every time Wang Jie did his workout, the increases were so tremendous.
Everyone was waiting for the first person to break through to the ninth seal.
Meanwhile, the third batch of trial takers had already arrived.
But that day, what seemed like a calm day was interrupted by fiery meteor trails streaking across the sky.
Standing on a ruined high-rise outside the base, Wang Jie watched in shock. “How could this be? Has someone broken through to the tenth seal already? Who is so fast?”
Bai Yuan hadn’t even reached the ninth seal, yet someone had already broken through to the tenth seal, bringing the fourth batch of trial takers.
He rushed back to Upper Capital City Base.
Upon returning, he learned that Bai Yuan had already broken through to the ninth seal, but there was no joy in that.
The tenth seal trial takers had arrived.
The tenth seal was the theoretical greatest barrier beneath the star-breaking realm.
For regular cultivators, the difference between the ninth and tenth seals was immense. One represented city-level destructive power, the other regional-level destructive power.
Yun Lai’s title as Heaven’s Chosen prodigy came from his destructive power, which reached the tenth seal level despite only being at the ninth.
Now, the real tenth-seal cultivators had appeared. And nine of them had appeared at once.
“How could this be? The fourth batch of trial takers should only have five people. Why are there nine, and why are they all in Hua Xia?” Wen Zhao was confused; this was different from what she had expected.
Wang Jie immediately began searching for other captured trial takers.
Most of them were unaware, but two seniors from Armor One Sect knew the situation. The fourth batch should indeed have only five.
But now, nine had appeared, and they were all concentrated in Hua Xia, not spread across Blue Star.
Something was wrong.
Where had the problem come from?
In central Hua Xia, a young man walking through the sky looked at the falling meteor trails and smirked. “They’ve come? Now things are getting interesting.”
Boom.
In the distance, a fiery meteor fell. A young man, pale-faced and standing over two meters tall, emerged from the smoke. He looked unhealthily white.
After landing, he cut his finger and let blood drop. “Come, insect tide.”
In another direction, a bald young man with a short sword walked out of the smoke. Without even looking around, he walked straight in one direction.
Outside Golden Hill Base, a fiery meteor fell, creating a huge pit.
Many cultivators immediately became alert, preparing for a beast tide.
Hong Jian had even contacted Upper Capital City.
He couldn’t handle the ninth-seal cultivators, let alone the tenth.
Under many watchful eyes, a beautiful woman emerged, facing Golden Hill Base. She took something out of her storage ring and threw it into the sky.
Hong Jian and the others saw a symbol rise above the clouds.
He didn’t know what this symbol meant but stayed on high alert.
This woman was a tenth-seal cultivator, and the pressure she exuded was immense.
Far away in Upper Capital City, Wen Zhao saw the symbol released in the clouds and exclaimed, “Sect signal sigil?”
Her expression changed, and she quickly contacted Bai Yuan.
At the eastern edge of Upper Capital City Base, where the safe zone met the danger zone, Yun Lai sat inside an armored vehicle, his face grim. He was determined to kill that native—he had to.
Since his back was to the south, and they were inside the armored vehicle, they didn’t see the symbol above the clouds.
The vehicle was being driven by Qi Five, who cautiously glanced at Yun Lai. “Young master, the trial has changed. The fourth batch was supposed to have five people, but suddenly there are nine, and look, they’ve all landed on this land. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Yun Lai’s voice was icy. “What are you trying to say?”
Qi Five lowered his voice. “Do you think it’s possible that the Yun family sent people to take revenge on you?”
Yun Lai looked outside, unsure.
Just then, Qi Five’s battle power detector beeped, a sound different from the usual power detection—it was someone contacting him.
“Young miss?” Qi Five exclaimed.
Yun Lai turned to him. “Who?”
“Young miss, why are you here for the Blue Star trial?”
“Yes, yes, understood.” Qi Five quickly turned the vehicle around, heading back toward Upper Capital City Base.
Yun Lai frowned. “What are you doing?”
Qi Five replied, “Sorry, young master, we have to go back.”
“What’s going on?”
“Young miss is here. She wants us to gather in Upper Capital City.”
“Qi Xue Yin?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t she in the process of breaking through to the star-breaking realm? How could she be here for the trial? She’s already participated before.”
Qi Five’s face grew solemn. “I don’t know. Young miss just told me to return.”
As the vehicle turned, they happened to see the symbol above the clouds.
Yun Lai was stunned. “Sect signal sigil? It’s from the Wen family. What’s going on?”
Qi Five said gravely, “I knew something was wrong. Young master, hold on.” He slammed the accelerator, and the armored vehicle sped toward Upper Capital City Base.
That night, Wang Jie returned to Upper Capital City Base.
As soon as he arrived, he was summoned to meet Bai Yuan and the others.
Wen Zhao, Qing Zheng, Old Five, and several top cultivators from Upper Capital City were present.
“Did you see the signal?” Bai Yuan asked.
Wang Jie nodded. “The one above the clouds? It seems to have come from Golden Hill Base.”
Wen Zhao said gravely, “That’s a sect signal sigil, meaning assembly. The signal was released by someone from the Wen family. It must have been Wen Star Ru.”
“What’s going on?” Wang Jie asked, confused. Trial takers should be dispersed, so why gather? Was it because of Yun Lai? That didn’t make sense.
Bai Yuan answered, “It’s complicated. Trial takers have appeared in Tianfu, River City, and Southern National Base. They don’t seem hostile but are asking to assemble at Upper Capital City. It seems something big has happened. We’ve agreed to this; otherwise, we couldn’t handle them all. We’ll have to wait until the tenth-seal trial takers arrive to find out more.”
“Should be soon,” Bai Yuan added.
Half an hour later, a spacecraft from Golden Hill Base landed, and Hong Jian, accompanying the woman who released the signal, emerged. They were taken to where Wang Jie and Bai Yuan were.
“Xing Ru, sister,” Wen Zhao greeted her.
Wen Star Ru nodded at Wen Zhao. “I saw your trial process. The sect is impressed.”
Wen Zhao acknowledged her with a brief nod. Wen Star Ru wasn’t here for her, after all.
Bai Yuan invited her and Hong Jian to take a seat.
Wen Star Ru wasted no time. “I’m here to tell you something very important. It concerns the survival of Blue Star, so please listen carefully.” She glanced at Wang Jie, then at Bai Yuan. The rest of them didn’t matter much to her.
But Blue Star needed their resources.
“In the known universe, there are many powerful forces. Some are humans, some are cosmic giant beasts, and some are strange life forms.”
“And among the humans, there’s a sect called Sincere One Dao, which is on par with Armor One Sect. Within Sincere One Dao, there is a person named Shu Mu Night. He’s only at the eighth seal, but his power within the tenth seal is unparalleled in history.”
She looked at Wang Jie, her face grave. “I saw that you defeated Yun Lai. But if Yun Lai were to fight him…”
She held up a finger. “One strike. Just one strike, and he would lose.”
Wang Jie’s gaze sharpened, thinking about the young man Insect Ruo Ruo had mentioned. Could it be him?
Bai Yuan stared at her. “So, the five trial takers who were supposed to come have now become nine?”
Wen Star Ru nodded. “Four were added temporarily. I’m one of them. Zhao’er knew I was about to break through to the star-breaking realm, so my retreat was interrupted for this trial—to deal with Shu Mu Night.”
“Besides me, there are three others. All from powerful forces, and all came for him.”
“The reason is simple.”
Her tone dropped. “Shu Mu Night, or rather, Sincere One Dao, intends to use Blue Star as a sacrificial offering for the bridge building.”
Wen Zhao’s eyes widened. “Bridge building?”
Wang Jie and the others were clueless. What was bridge building? What sacrificial offering? Everyone was confused.
Wen Star Ru pointed to the stars. “In the part of the universe you cannot see, there is a bridge whose beginning and end are unknown. That bridge can give us immense power, but the condition for building it is ‘bridge building,’ and that requires piling—positioning the piles correctly. Unfortunately, Blue Star is the place where the piles are being positioned. Armor One Sect knew this but didn’t act on it because Blue Star has billions of people. Even if Blue Star is used as a sacrificial offering, we would first need to evacuate you.”
“But for some reason, Sincere One Dao discovered this, and Shu Mu Night is here to set the piles. He intends to use Blue Star as the sacrificial offering to build the bridge and gain the power from it…”