Chapter 092

Chapter 92: Dare You?

“Greetings, Emperor.”

“Where have you been these days?”

“Do you truly not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

“I genuinely don’t know, I only learned from Senior Sister Jin Chu that you were involved in a certain mission.”

Wang Jie looked at Jun Hua. “It was a simple task—go to the Ninth Star Chain, meet a creature, get the item, and deliver it to Frost Radiance Sect.”

“Did you complete it?” Yu Dong asked, surprised. It sounded simple, but just hearing it made it seem like a near-death mission.

A ten-seal cultivator could hardly come and go freely in the Ninth Star Chain, could they?

Wang Jie did not go into detail about the mission or mention his identity as a Celestial Refinement Master or his status as an honored guest of Frost Radiance Sect. He would only speak of that once the Domain Lord returned. For now, he simply wanted to keep a low profile and focus on cultivation.

The more low-key, the better.

A ten-seal cultivator and Celestial Refinement Master were too eye-catching—likely to attract enemies.

There must be people hiding in the Eighth Star Chain, or else Frost Radiance Sect wouldn’t have needed to secretly cooperate with the Silver Radiance Empire to keep the mission under wraps.

Right now, Wang Jie was still too weak.

Watching Wang Jie leave, Yu Dong’s expression grew serious. “You were right. There’s something off about him. That mission was a death sentence.”

Jun Hua nodded. “Senior Sister Jin Chu said that mission was intended for the true disciple. We didn’t need to wait for his return. Since he’s back now, there must be forces behind him beyond the Frost Radiance Sect’s plans.”

Both of them immediately thought of the Armor One Sect. It was impossible to consider the angle of a Celestial Refinement Master.

“Good thing we kept Accompanying Lake residence,” Jun Hua murmured, her gaze thoughtful.

Accompanying Lake residence… Wang Jie had returned there ten days ago.

For these ten days, he had been practicing his sword technique.

The sword form technique in his mind fascinated him. Honestly, he had no idea how he was doing it.

Standing in the center of the lake, the most secluded part of Accompanying Lake residence, surrounded by barriers that obscured the view of ordinary people, Wang Jie focused.

Scattered around his feet were dozens of swords. With a flick of his mind, one sword rose into the air, hovering straight in front of him with the tip facing forward. Then the second, third, and up to the ninth sword lined up in front of him.

Raising his hand, all nine swords stood upright and slashed.

The nine swords twisted in a spiral shape as they sliced through the air and into the lake, their power minimal. He wasn’t aiming for destruction, merely testing his combat technique.

When the swords soared from the lake, swords on the shore flew toward them, continuously rearranging to form a lotus-like shape, expanding in a circular fashion to form a sword shield. These swords then shifted shapes in Wang Jie’s hands, becoming weapons, beast forms, or even flowers and plants.

He did not use lock force to bind them, yet these swords were connected. When lock force flowed into them, it immediately circulated through all the swords. In an instant, the sword formation came to life.

At this moment, the dozens of swords combined into a pair of wings, resembling real wings fluttering with light under the influence of lock force.

Wang Jie recombined the swords. However, as each sword broke, all the swords shattered and were destroyed.

He sighed. It was always like this. Every time he tried, it ended in failure. He wanted to inject lock force into the swords to test the combat power readings, but it didn’t work the way it did with a single sword.

These swords bore an unusual strain. Ordinary swords could not withstand the force of lock force.

Unless they were of exceptional material, even a star artifact would break. The sword form technique didn’t rely on the strength of star force or lock force but on the weapon’s material.

It had a kind of returning to simplicity, or perhaps, brute force appeal.

“My lord, here are the swords you requested.” Cheng Qian returned with servants carrying a pile of swords, neatly arranged on the ground.

Wang Jie nodded and, after they left, he cast his gaze over the swords. They all floated toward him and assembled into a human shape in front of him. The sword figure moved fluidly, walking, leaping, and even executing combat techniques with impeccable smoothness.

How was the sword form technique even possible?

Without any formal instruction, how was he able to control these swords?

The only thing he could think of was that woman.

After the swords shattered again, Wang Jie went out to find Su Ying Yu and bought all the best cataclysm materials she had. It wasn’t expensive. His wealth had reached nearly three million starstones, so it was no problem to buy the materials.

Su Ying Yu was grateful and mentioned that Accompanying Lake residence had been buying a lot of swords recently. She promised to keep an eye out for good ones.

That was exactly Wang Jie’s goal.

Cheng Qian’s connections couldn’t compare to hers. Unfortunately, the Berserk Clan didn’t have many swords in the weapons forged by the Celestial Refinement Master. They were a large race, skilled with battle axes, war hammers, chains, not swords.

Even though he couldn’t get any good swords, Wang Jie didn’t just focus on practicing sword techniques. He also worked on cultivating the Star Method, as well as training in the Armor Eight Steps and Yellow Beans.

He had a lot of things to practice.

At the very least, he wanted to deepen his imprint’s color. However, Silver Radiance Art couldn’t achieve that, but Mourning Water Art would, though he hadn’t gathered all the materials yet—it was quite troublesome. On top of that, enhancing his battle power became urgent.

His mastery of Qi allowed him to recognize Bei Yi, and if not for that, he wouldn’t have survived the Ninth Star Chain.

Therefore, Qi training was essential—and it had to be done well.

The Armor Eight Steps were for escaping, and the Star Method, while not crucial, could be improved with Qi training, serving a dual purpose.

Wang Jie had requested a High Gravity Planet from Jun Hua, a planet with over a hundred times the gravity, which was incredibly high.

Three months later, Wang Jie checked his self-assessment.

In his normal state, he had ten thousand battle power, reaching the strength of the Star Breaking Realm. If he fully unleashed his hundredfold strength, he could exceed thirty thousand battle power. As for his peak, when both Qi forces combined, his battle power reached—fifty thousand.

That was the starting point for Full Star Realm.

And yet, Wang Jie was only at the Ten Seal stage.

Who would have imagined that with a Ten Seal cultivation, he could reach the starting battle power of Full Star Realm? This meant that half of the universe’s Star Breaking Realm cultivators couldn’t match him, and only Heaven’s Chosen prodigies could fight him.

Now, he was eager to find someone to test his strength. His first thought was to challenge the Silver Radiance Empire’s former war god—Xuan.

The one who helped Jun Tang deal with Jun Hua, but was defeated by Yu Dong.

Perhaps he could help Wang Jie gauge his level of power.

The reason he thought of Xuan was that this person had never submitted to Jun Hua. Jun Hua even delegated authority over Xuan’s capture, offering a reward for whoever could make him submit and reveal Jun Tang’s co-conspirators.

Jun Tang wanted to control the Silver Radiance Empire, but he could never achieve that on his own. Jun Hua had already dealt with some of Jun Tang’s people, but it seemed there were more left.

Wang Jie didn’t understand why Xuan remained so loyal to Jun Tang.

Wang Jie arrived at the imperial prison where cultivators were held. Here, all cultivators had to regularly remove their star force and lock force, wear shackles, and take drugs to ensure they couldn’t escape.

In the deepest part of the prison, Wang Jie found Xuan.

The dim dungeon echoed with the faint sound of chains. The other prisoners bowed before stepping aside.

Over the past few days, many had attempted to persuade Xuan, but all had failed.

Wang Jie looked forward. A figure sat cross-legged, head bowed, with blackened hair hanging over his face. His arms and legs were shackled, the chains extending to the prison walls. Each shackle was the width of an arm, incredibly strong.

This was the only treatment of its kind in the entire prison.

Wang Jie stepped forward.

“My lord, please stop at the white line. Any closer, and you’ll be within his attack range,” someone warned from a distance.

Wang Jie glanced at the white line beneath his feet. “Will he attack?”

“There have been incidents. The imperial financial minister once crossed the line and was killed with a single strike.”

Wang Jie’s gaze flickered. He stepped over the line.

The guard froze but didn’t stop him, having already said what was necessary.

The moment Wang Jie crossed the line, Xuan suddenly looked up. His eyes were cold, and Wang Jie felt as though he had been marked by a beast. The air around them seemed to freeze.

“Are you not afraid of death?” Xuan’s voice was deep, resonating through the dungeon. Other prisoners, terrified, tried to retreat as far as possible.

Wang Jie looked at him. “The former war god, reduced to a prisoner, chained up like this. How pitiful.”

Xuan glared at Wang Jie. “Purpose. Origin.”

“Wang Jie, currently residing at Accompanying Lake residence. I’m here to ask you to surrender.”

Xuan’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Accompanying Lake residence. “What is your relationship with Jun Hua?”

Wang Jie walked closer to Xuan.

From a distance, the prison guards hurried to report. They didn’t know Wang Jie’s identity, but given his access, he was no ordinary person. If someone were to die here, it would be troublesome.

Xuan stared at Wang Jie as he drew closer, his star force suppressed, his gaze growing more intense.

“I reside at Accompanying Lake residence because I did something.” Wang Jie stopped just five meters away, within attack range. “I killed Jun Tang.”

Xuan’s eyes widened in shock. “You killed Jun Tang?”

“Does it not look like it?” Wang Jie raised his head proudly.

Xuan met his gaze, his eyes filled with aggression. “The outside world says that the one who killed Jun Tang is also dead. You’re saying that’s a lie? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

“Afraid? If I were, I wouldn’t have come. How about we make a bet?”

“A bet?”

“A bet that you can’t kill me, but I can kill you.”

Xuan stared at Wang Jie, then suddenly laughed. His voice echoed through the dungeon. “Kid, you’re only at Ten Seal. I’m at Full Star Realm. Even if my star force is suppressed, there’s no way a Ten Seal cultivator can compare to me. What makes you think you can say such things to me?”

Wang Jie raised his hand and grabbed a nearby chain, pulling it forcefully.

The thick chain was torn from the wall, shaking the entire dungeon as dust flew through the air.

A distant alarm sounded. “My lord, what are you doing?”

Under Xuan’s shocked gaze, Wang Jie tore out a second chain, the wall cracking with the force. Then he stomped on the chain that bound Xuan’s legs, crushing it to pieces. The solid ground cracked beneath his foot.

Xuan’s eyes widened. These chains were specifically designed to hold even the peak of the Star Breaking Realm. A Ten Seal cultivator was able to break them so easily?

With four chains destroyed, Xuan was no longer restrained.

But his star force and the drugs in his body remained the same.

Wang Jie tossed him a pile of starstones. “Feel free to restore your star force and relieve the effects of the drugs. I’ll be waiting.”

Xuan glared at Wang Jie. “Are you serious?”

Wang Jie smirked. “Dare you?”

Xuan nodded. “Fine, as long as no one interrupts, I’ll play with you.”

“There won’t be any interruptions.”