Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The Heaven-Reversal Path

Wang Jie looked up.

It wasn’t only Tao Er. The second man carried himself with heavy calm, and as he walked, the snow and ice around him nearly melted.

This wasn’t ordinary snow. It was formed by Frost Splendor starforce—something even ordinary star-breaking realm experts would struggle to melt.

This man’s presence felt like at least a roaming-star realm expert.

Wang Jie stepped out onto the cliff.

The man approached with a broad smile. “Que Yi. I’ve come to pay a visit to Master.”

Wang Jie’s eyes widened. “Master Que Yi?”

He bowed at once. “Junior Wang Jie greets Master.”

Master Que Yi laughed and lifted him with a hand. “No need, no need. You and I both walk the forging path.

“If we’re too polite, we’ll feel like strangers.”

The forging path was divided between craft refining and star-refining. Strictly speaking, star-refining wasn’t considered part of the Forging Branch.

Most craft refiners didn’t acknowledge chen refiners as part of the Forging Branch—yet they couldn’t do without chen refiners, because they needed chen refiners to star-refine their tools. The relationship was tangled and awkward.

Some craft refiners were extreme, preferring their tools never become chen artifacts rather than showing chen refiners any respect.

Master Que Yi was mild by comparison.

Wang Jie had no desire to offend him. Sooner or later, he’d need Master Que Yi’s help forging swords—good swords, and as many as possible.

“Junior has only just arrived,” Wang Jie said carefully. “By rights, I should have visited Senior first, but I didn’t know the way and feared offending Senior, so…”

Master Que Yi waved a hand, smiling. “I don’t hold prejudice against chen refiners. Master needn’t worry.”

Wang Jie visibly relaxed. “Master, please come in.”

“Please.”

Master Que Yi’s visit was unexpected, and his attitude was friendly. The only problem was that he clearly came with a purpose.

He wanted to talk.

And talk.

And talk.

He wanted to understand why Wang Jie’s star-refining was so flawless.

“Forging is fusing materials to bring out higher performance,” Master Que Yi said, eyes bright. “Starforce is also a kind of material. But we can’t star-refine.

“To fuse starforce perfectly into a tool requires deep understanding of materials. Master, how do you do it?”

Wang Jie kept his face steady, but inside he was flatly speechless.

How did he do it?

He farmed.

Master Que Yi didn’t wait for an answer.

“Every material has its own traits—its temperament. Master, how do you control a material’s disposition?”

Wang Jie nearly choked.

Materials had dispositions now?

But Master Que Yi didn’t seem to care whether Wang Jie answered. If Wang Jie hesitated for even a heartbeat, Master Que Yi flowed straight into the next question.

Tao Er glanced at Wang Jie, apologetic. “Master, please don’t mind it. Master Que Yi is always like this—he gets carried away.

“If you want to change the topic, you can cut in. Master Que Yi won’t take offense.”

Wang Jie almost wanted to laugh.

No, this was perfect.

He listened seriously, nodding at intervals, and Master Que Yi grew more and more excited—like someone who’d finally found a fellow enthusiast.

They talked through the entire night.

Yes. Master Que Yi spoke for an entire night.

He treated Wang Jie as one of his own, and once he started, he couldn’t stop.

Fortunately, Wang Jie didn’t come away empty-handed. He memorized a great deal of what Master Que Yi said. In the future, if he spoke with others about the forging path, he wouldn’t sound ignorant.

The next day, Wang Jie left with Tao Er and headed toward the Mission Hall.

Master Que Yi had suggested hiring helpers to deal with errands—accepting mission orders, purchasing materials, and the like. Doing everything personally would waste too much time.

Wang Jie agreed.

He needed someone to buy an exquisite sword tassel.

The Mission Hall was where the Frost Splendor Sect posted missions. It was also where disciples posted missions of their own, and where people accepted missions.

It was bustling.

Planets were linked together by pathways, and pavilions and towers rose from the snow in breathtaking beauty.

“Everyone here is from the sect?” Wang Jie asked.

“Yes,” Tao Er said. “Only sect members may enter this Mission Hall. There’s another Mission Hall outside—missions there can be accepted by both sect members and outsiders.”

“Are lockforce cultivators allowed here?”

“Lockforce cultivators may not enter unless approved by an elder or Guest Elder.”

Despite the name, the Mission Hall was enormous—more like a district than a single hall.

Disciples posted missions. Elders posted missions. Even Guest Elders posted missions.

Tao Er led Wang Jie toward a long row of portraits. “Senior, this is where you can hire disciples.

“Many disciples put up their portraits, temperament, and abilities to earn contribution points. If Senior likes someone, you can hire them directly.

“Most are Outer Sect disciples. Inner Sect disciples rarely do this.”

Wang Jie looked down the line.

Every portrait was vivid, almost alive, with a short description beside it.

And the line seemed endless.

The Frost Splendor Sect had 3 million Outer Sect disciples. Even if only a fraction came here, it still felt like a sea.

Inner Sect disciples, on the other hand, numbered only 117.

The gap was absurd.

The minimum requirement to rise from the Outer Sect into the Inner Sect was star-breaking realm.

In other words, the Frost Splendor Sect had 117 star-breaking realm Inner Sect disciples.

In the entire Silver Radiance Empire, how many star-breaking realm experts had there been?

And that count had included lockforce cultivators.

In the end, Wang Jie hired a disciple named Luo Yan.

There was no special reason. Luo Yan’s portrait happened to be right beside him.

Back at the residence, Luo Yan arrived shortly afterward.

Luo Yan was quiet and introverted, about Wang Jie’s age. His posture was timid, as if he feared offending Wang Jie with a single wrong breath.

Wang Jie didn’t waste time. “I have two tasks for you.

“First, post star-refining missions. Ten thousand contribution points each time. One order every three days.

“Second, find me an exquisite sword tassel.”

Luo Yan agreed immediately and hurried off.

Wang Jie let out a breath.

Good.

He didn’t want to handle every trivial thing himself.

That afternoon, Luo Yan returned with a tool—a saber—for Wang Jie to star-refine. The buyer’s ten thousand contribution points had already been credited to Wang Jie’s sect balance.

The sect balance was recorded in a system on personal terminals. It tracked contribution points, allowed communication with disciples, and more. Those without a personal terminal could use a jade-like substitute with the same functions—though outside the sect, it became limited.

Most Frost Splendor Sect disciples used personal terminals.

Wang Jie’s balance now sat at twenty thousand.

It was worth noting that the contribution points from the war in the Ninth Star Chain could be transferred directly into the sect balance. But that amount was negligible. His true reward from the Qing Shan Cheng mission had been becoming a Guest Elder—an instant step into the sky. Otherwise, even that would have required paperwork and procedures.

Two days later, before Wang Jie even returned the star-refined saber, Luo Yan came back with a thick stack of images—photographs of exquisite sword tassels from both the Inner Bazaar and the Outer Bazaar, ready for Wang Jie to choose from.

A major sect truly was different. The variety alone was dazzling.

Far better than anything the Silver Radiance Empire could offer.

Wang Jie chose the most expensive one. Even so, it was only a sword tassel. No matter how expensive, it wasn’t truly costly.

He placed the tassel onto the green sprout.

It worked.

Wang Jie smiled, relief washing through him.

Finally.

All four materials required for Sword Steps were complete. Light gathered, then sank into his mind.

He learned Sword Steps instantly.

He closed his eyes and felt it.

Sword Steps—turning sword qi into footing. Each step could become a blade; each blade could become a step. Compared to Jia Eight Steps, it had advantages and drawbacks.

Jia Eight Steps was pure footwork.

Sword Steps could attack, defend, and reposition.

Its range was also broader.

But in tight spaces, it wasn’t as nimble as Jia Eight Steps.

Jia Eight Steps was one of the Jia Yi Sect’s eighteen ultimate techniques. It was slightly weaker than Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger, but not by much.

Sword Steps required even rarer materials than Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger. By that comparison alone, Sword Steps should surpass Jia Eight Steps.

After testing it, Wang Jie came to a clear conclusion: for close-range fighting, Jia Eight Steps remained superior. Once battles expanded beyond a planet—into the void—Sword Steps would be the better choice.

He didn’t immediately use Sword Steps inside the field. If he stepped on it there, the field might grow another technique.

Right now, he needed the entire field to grow one technique.

Heaven-Reversal Path.

It was the technique that appeared after he planted Sorrowwater Art. It required nine materials.

Nine.

He couldn’t imagine how valuable it had to be.

Then he looked at the requirements.

They were so absurd he nearly laughed.

The Heaven-Reversal Path required nine “materials”:

* Make five people cry from being moved.
* Lead one hundred people to defect.
* Become famous through swordsmanship.
* Collect one thousand Slaughterstones.
* Defeat a true inheritor of the Frost Splendor Sect.
* Perform the feat of Yu Gong Moving Mountains.
* Help an old granny cross the road within the Frost Splendor Sect.
* Expose three secret crushes.
* Learn a chen art.

Wang Jie stared at it, speechless.

What was this? What kind of nonsense—

And yet, after everything he’d already dealt with, it almost felt normal.

At least none of it pushed him toward becoming infamous.

He took a slow breath. Just learning a chen art alone would take a long time.

Technically, he could already move toward star-breaking realm. But Heaven-Reversal Path was too tempting.

Lockforce had no future anyway. If he could become invincible within the same realm, that wasn’t bad.

“Luo Yan.”

“Disciple is here.”

“Find out what it costs to buy Slaughterstones,” Wang Jie said. Then, without changing expression, he added, “Also—find out who in the sect has a crush on whom.”

Luo Yan froze. “Senior… you want me to investigate… crushes?”

Wang Jie nodded once. “Go.”

Luo Yan left in a daze, clearly wondering how anyone was supposed to investigate a secret crush.

Slaughterstones, at least, were easy.

The answer came quickly.

“One hundred thousand contribution points?” Wang Jie repeated, stunned.

“Yes,” Luo Yan said. “That’s the market price. In the Outer Bazaar, it rises to one hundred and fifty thousand starstones, or even higher.”

Wang Jie had known Slaughterstones were expensive.

He hadn’t known they were that expensive.

No wonder the Silver Radiance Empire had stored so few—they’d mined endlessly just to trade outward for Slaughterstones.

Luo Yan hesitated, then added, “Actually, that price isn’t even considered high.

“The sect doesn’t need to stockpile too many Slaughterstones. One Slaughterstone is enough to draw in hundreds of thousands of lockforce cultivators. Even with our sect’s resources, we can only support fifty million Outer Court disciples.

“So the sect keeps five thousand Slaughterstones in reserve year-round. Any surplus is either rewarded to subordinate forces or sold.”

He lowered his voice. “What’s truly expensive are other things—like unusual planets.

“If Senior can find an unregistered unusual planet, you could trade it to the sect for many Slaughterstones.”

Wang Jie let out a helpless sigh.

Unusual planets weren’t something you simply stumbled upon.