Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Nine Sprouts

Wang Jie listened quietly, realizing it was time to learn more, or else he might not know what to do when encountering enemies in the future.

Returning to his room, he glanced back. Though the farewell had been abrupt, he had seen everyone he needed to see. Aside from the people from Blue Star, there was also Su Ying Yu. She had somehow acquired a sword, one far superior to the weapons given to him by the Berserk Clan, which required Star Refining. According to her, it was made from fifth-grade materials.

The sword was named Flying Fish.

Wang Jie gave her money, but she only symbolically accepted a small amount. In addition, she gave him a gift. As long as he was looking for it, there were celebrations every day in the Imperial Capital Star. Even if the customs were different, it didn’t prevent him from sending gifts, and he did so without hesitation.

With that, all the materials for the Mourning Water Art were completed. He hadn’t had the time in the Imperial Capital Star, but now, he could begin.

Wang Jie closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself in a field. In the instant he appeared, five green sprouts emitted light, and then, they merged in mid-air, falling toward his head.

Mourning Water Art.

Wang Jie slowly sat down to cultivate.

The Mourning Water Art was far more complex than the Silver Radiance Art—much more complicated—but the techniques it produced didn’t require further training. Wang Jie instinctively understood them. He repeatedly operated the Mourning Water Art, and once his body surface and the Ten Seals reached a faint black color, movement finally occurred. This technique allowed the Ten Seals to turn into a deep black.

He opened his eyes and exhaled.

Deep black?

The Frost Radiance Sect’s Frost Radiance Moon could only turn the Ten Seals to a shallow black. So, what would happen if the Ten Seals turned into a deep black and were noticed? The shallow black color was already quite remarkable.

Wang Jie didn’t dwell on it. He decided to perfect the technique first.

Not long after, his body began to slowly rotate. A shadow fell into the field as the Mourning Water Art finished, and he continued with his work in the field.

Wang Jie was surprised—he could still work in the field. Was the deep black not the limit for the Ten Seals? Was there something even darker?

Just as he was thinking, from underground, a series of green sprouts emerged but halted because several sprouts were blocked, originating from the Sword Step technique.

There wasn’t enough space.

Wang Jie counted them, his eyes widening.

This time, a total of nine green sprouts emerged. Too many.

Both the Starry Finger technique and Mourning Water Art usually produced no more than five sprouts, but now nine appeared. How precious must this technique be?

Wang Jie looked at the sprouts from Sword Step, feeling the urge to finish them quickly.

He was only missing the fine sword tassels.

The starry scenery held no meaning for Wang Jie. It couldn’t compare to the Weed fields of his homeland.

During the journey to the Frost Radiance Sect, he had started cultivating with the Mourning Water Art, absorbing Seal power while performing exercises. Materials from Yan Fu Yu and those he had bought, like Cataclysm Materials, were being absorbed. He had expected the Ten Seals to soon turn into a deep black.

But he had underestimated the difficulty of this step.

The Frost Radiance Sect’s top technique only allowed for a shallow black. Even the Frost Radiance Sect had never considered turning the Ten Seals into a deep black. This required not only vast amounts of Cataclysm Materials but also innate talent.

Without that, even techniques as precious as Mourning Water Art wouldn’t be enough for the Frost Radiance Sect to obtain. After all, it was just a technique within the Ten Seals.

For most cultivators, reaching a deep gray was already the limit. There was no need to go further.

There was also something Wang Jie had only recently learned, which made him feel somewhat helpless.

From the Ten Seals to the Star Breaking Realm, there was a saying: “The Ten Seals are the mountain, and breaking the Star Stage is difficult.”

This meant that to reach the Star Breaking Realm, one needed to break through the Ten Seals’ toughness while simultaneously breaking the Star Stage’s seals. That was when one could be considered to have reached the Star Breaking Realm. Wang Jie had known this, but he hadn’t realized that the deeper the color of the Ten Seals, the tougher they became, and the harder they were to break.

Because the Silver Radiance Empire had never reached a shallow black with their Ten Seals. Even the Frost Radiance Sect rarely did. So it was hard to find any external information on this subject.

Once the Ten Seals became shallow black, their toughness doubled. If they were deep black, there were no records, but they would surely be even tougher.

If the Ten Seals couldn’t be broken, then reaching the Star Breaking Realm was impossible.

Wang Jie exhaled. He had already taken this step, and there was no turning back. He had faced life-and-death situations countless times, so what was there to fear now? He would continue.

Not long after, they changed ships again.

They arrived at another starry nation, one stronger than the Silver Radiance Empire, and naturally, the ship’s speed was much faster.

Along the way, they changed ships several times.

The journey from the Silver Radiance Empire to the Frost Radiance Sect’s Frost Radiance Domain was long, and Wang Jie couldn’t even estimate it because the ships they used later were much faster than those of the Silver Radiance Empire.

Four months later, the ship slowed down, and they entered the Frost Radiance Domain.

Looking outside, the stars had brightened, and Frost Radiance Domain’s snow-covered planets shimmered.

The Frost Radiance Sect was said to have Three Peaks and Four Domains. Wang Jie knew the Four Domains, and the Silver Radiance Empire was located in the Condensed Brilliance Domain, where the domain master, the Condensed Brilliance Lord, ruled. As for the Three Peaks, there was Lush Peak, Rainbow Peak, and Fog Peak. These three peaks were known as the Star Peaks, the heart of the Frost Radiance Sect.

Wang Jie’s destination was Fog Peak, one of the Three Peaks.

He had already been confirmed as an honored guest by the sect.

Fog Peak would be where he lived from now on.

“Master, please look. That is the Star Peaks.”

Wang Jie looked into the distance. The so-called peaks were actually gigantic stars—vast stars so large that if Blue Star were placed next to them, it would just be dust. He had never seen stars that massive.

Three huge stars combined to create a spectacle visible from far away, resembling white snowy mountains. The surrounding mist steamed, giving the sight a chilling effect.

The Condensed Brilliance Lord introduced, “Lush Peak is at the top, the absolute core of the Frost Radiance Sect. The sect master and elders all reside here. It’s the largest star in the Eighth Star Chain.”

“Rainbow Peak blooms with ice-cold rainbow flowers, accompanied by Frost Radiance Star Force. It is where the true disciples and inner disciples reside.”

“Fog Peak also possesses Frost Radiance Star Force. It is home to honored guests practicing alchemy dao, formation dao, and artifact forging dao. It is also where outer disciples who make significant contributions can enter to cultivate Frost Radiance Star Force.”

“Every thousand years, Fog Peak changes its master.”

“Currently, I am the master of Fog Peak.”

Wang Jie was surprised. “Senior is the Condensed Brilliance Lord, and you can also become the master of Fog Peak?”

The Condensed Brilliance Lord smiled. “It’s a way the sect motivates us old fellows. Among the Three Peaks, only the master of Fog Peak can be contested. The other domains will all find ways to become the master of Fog Peak. I brought you here, but you will inevitably face some trouble. If you find it difficult, feel free to contact me.”

Wang Jie didn’t refuse. He was not one to show off his abilities.

As the ship descended to Fog Peak, several individuals, including Zhen Zhen and Jin Chu, bade Wang Jie farewell.

Zhen Bei Yi didn’t even spare him a glance.

The person who greeted Wang Jie was a disciple, who treated him with great respect and kept introducing Fog Peak.

Wang Jie walked through Fog Peak. True to its name, thick mist enveloped the area, but this mist came from Frost Radiance Star Force. It was highly beneficial for cultivators in the Frost Radiance Sect, but it had no effect on Wang Jie.

This disciple continued to explain the Frost Radiance Sect, telling Wang Jie about the possibility of hiring disciples, contributing to the sect, and that honored guests could access the sect’s history. He also reminded Wang Jie that the highest status in the Artifact Forging Dao at Fog Peak belonged to the missing Master.

The so-called “rank” referred to the classification of materials.

Wang Jie learned a bit over the next few days. Seventh-grade, which referred to the level of weapons that could be forged for those in the Hundred Star Realm, was a mid-tier rank. For the Frost Radiance Sect, it wasn’t particularly high because the sect also had Star Refining Realm cultivators, but it seemed that even training a seventh-grade smith was no easy task.

Smiths in the Silver Radiance Empire rarely exceeded third-grade.

Celestial Refinement Masters held high status simply because they could refine Star Force, but the status of a smith was different since they could pass down their teachings.

Wang Jie understood clearly that if the Frost Radiance Sect had to choose between him and the missing Master, they would undoubtedly pick the missing Master, despite the rarity of Celestial Refinement Masters.

Rarity could sometimes mean dispensability.

As an honored guest, he gained resources and status by joining the sect, but he also had to contribute, such as refining Star Force.

The disciple took Wang Jie on a tour of Fog Peak for an entire day before returning him to his quarters.

The place Wang Jie chose to live was at the base of a cliff on the back of a tall mountain. It was a secluded spot, and even if people wandered around, they would rarely come across it. Across the cliff was a waterfall, with a clear lake below. The scenery was quite beautiful.

The room was already equipped with a row of tools and storage rings filled with Star Force stones.

This was his task for the year: to complete thirty items for the sect’s Star Refining within a year. It wasn’t too much. With the speed of a normal Celestial Refinement Master, three to four months would be enough. The task wasn’t tiring, but it wasn’t light either.

For Wang Jie?

He could finish it in the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

As a newcomer to the Frost Radiance Sect, he knew it would be prudent to learn more for the time being. Over the next few days, he went to the Fog Peak Library during the day and rested at night, living a fulfilling life. To avoid trouble, he refined one tool every three days for someone to take away, just to check off his duties.

One day, someone visited.

“Disciple Tao Two wishes to see the honored guest senior.”

Wang Jie stepped out and saw a young disciple slowly bowing to him on the cliff. “Greetings, honored guest senior. I am disciple Tao Two, and I have come to visit.”

“What is it?”

Tao Two respectfully replied, “I wish to ask the honored guest to refine an artifact and offer one thousand contribution points.”

Wang Jie sized him up. He was the first person to come for refinement. In fact, it had been several days, and no one had asked him for anything. It felt strange, but once someone came, others would surely follow.

“Leave it here. Come back in three days to collect it.”

“Thank you, Master.” Tao Two left.

Wang Jie looked at the artifact and took it.

Meanwhile, Tao Two returned and met a shabby-looking middle-aged man in a furnace-like underground area.

“Did you give it to him?” the man asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll see how a Lock Force cultivator refines.”

Tao Two said, “If he weren’t a Lock Force cultivator, someone else would’ve asked him to refine by now.”

“The identity of the Celestial Refinement Master must be real. The Condensed Brilliance Lord wouldn’t be fooled, or else it would give the other old fellows an excuse to cause trouble. But how well he refines, we’ll see. Let’s hope it’s not too bad.”

Three days later, Tao Two arrived on time at the cliff.

Wang Jie handed over the artifact without saying much and returned.

Tao Two took the artifact to the man, who examined it. His eyes widened in surprise. “Not bad. What do you think?”

“I think it’s very good. Almost perfect,” Tao Two hesitated.

The man looked up. “Perfect.”

Tao Two nodded.

The man smiled. “Let’s go. We’ll visit this Celestial Refinement Master honored guest.”

Not long after, the man and Tao Two arrived at the cliffside.

“Disciple Tao Two, paying respects to honored guest senior.”