Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Heaven Reversal Path
Wang Jie lifted his gaze, looking up. It wasn’t just one person, but another presence that felt calm and steady, walking with a stride that nearly melted the surrounding ice and snow—quite powerful. It should be noted that this ice wasn’t ordinary snow, but Frostflower Starforce, a substance that even the common Star Breaking Realm cultivator would struggle to melt.
This person gave Wang Jie the impression of being at least a Wandering Star Realm expert.
The figure stepped forward, arriving at the cliff’s edge to face the two of them.
The man took a step forward and smiled at Wang Jie: “Master Xu Yi has sent me to pay a visit.”
Wang Jie was surprised. “Master Xu Yi?” He quickly bowed. “Junior Wang Jie, pays respects to Master.”
Master Xu Yi laughed heartily and raised his hand to lift Wang Jie up: “No need for formalities. We both belong to the Artifact Forging Dao lineage. Being too formal would make us feel distant.”
The Artifact Forging Dao was divided into two branches: Forging Refinement and Celestial Refinement.
Strictly speaking, Celestial Refinement did not truly belong to the Artifact Forging Dao. Most smithing cultivators refused to acknowledge Celestial Refinement Masters as their kin, for their paths differed too greatly. And yet, they could not do without them—for without Celestial Refinement, their crafted tools could not reach completion.
Thus, the relationship between the two was tangled and fraught with tension: bound by necessity, yet divided by principle.
Some smith refiners were extreme, refusing to allow their tools to become star artifacts, and they didn’t show respect to Celestial Refinement Masters.
This Master Xu Yi, however, was quite amicable.
Wang Jie didn’t want to offend him, which is why he was so polite—after all, he would need this person’s help in forging swords in the future. The more, the better: “Junior should have visited senior first, but since I’m new here and unfamiliar with the path, I didn’t want to offend senior…”
Xu Yi smiled and said, “I have no prejudice against Celestial Refinement Masters. Master doesn’t need to worry.”
Wang Jie visibly relaxed. “Master, please come inside.”
“Please.”
Master Xu Yi’s visit was unexpected, but his attitude was friendly. The only issue was that he wanted to discuss why Celestial Refinement was so perfect.
“Forging is about merging various materials to bring out their best potential.”
“Star force is a material as well. However, we are unable to perform Celestial Refinement. To perfectly merge star force with materials requires deep understanding of those materials. I wonder how Master achieves this?”
Wang Jie was speechless. How did he do it? He farmed the materials.
“Each material has its own characteristics, its temperament. How does Master control their nature?”
Wang Jie… Materials have personalities?
Master Xu Yi didn’t seem to expect an answer. Every time Wang Jie hesitated for two seconds, he would immediately ask the next question.
Tao Two looked at Wang Jie apologetically: “Master, don’t mind him. He’s like this, just talks on his own. Please feel free to change the subject if you wish. He won’t mind.”
No, this was fine.
Wang Jie listened seriously to Master Xu Yi, nodding occasionally, which only made Xu Yi more excited.
And so the conversation went on, through the entire night.
Yes, Master Xu Yi spoke nonstop for an entire night. He considered Wang Jie a kindred spirit, recognizing his ability. Once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.
Luckily, Wang Jie didn’t leave empty-handed.
He had retained much of what Master Xu Yi had said, and now, whenever the topic of Artifact Forging Dao came up, he wouldn’t have nothing to contribute.
The next day, Wang Jie met up with Tao Two and headed toward the Mission Hall.
Master Xu Yi suggested that they get some help with the miscellaneous tasks, like accepting mission orders or buying materials, since doing everything themselves was too time-consuming.
Wang Jie agreed.
He needed someone to help purchase exquisite sword tassels.
The Mission Hall was the place where the Frost Radiance Sect posted missions. It was also where many disciples of various sects posted or took missions. The place was lively, with people coming and going.
The planets connected by one another, and the pavilions and towers looked even more beautiful in the snow.
“Are all the people here from sects?” Wang Jie asked.
Tao Two replied, “Yes, only people from sects can come to the Mission Hall. But there is another Mission Hall outside, where missions can be taken by both sect members and non-sect members.”
“Are there any Lock Force cultivators?”
“Lock Force cultivators can’t enter unless approved by an Elder or an Honored Guest.”
The Mission Hall was actually a term used for the entire Frost Radiance Domain.
Sect missions were posted here, and disciples, elders, and even honored guests could issue missions.
“Senior, this is the place where you can choose disciples. Many disciples post their appearances, temperaments, and abilities here to earn contribution points. You can hire anyone you find suitable. Most are outer disciples. Inner disciples rarely do this.”
Wang Jie looked at the long line of portraits, each person looking vivid and lifelike with accompanying descriptions.
The view stretched endlessly.
The Frost Radiance Sect had three million outer disciples, so even with a small fraction here, it was plenty.
Inner disciples were only 117 in number.
The difference was vast.
To enter the inner sect, the lowest requirement was to be at the Star Breaking Realm.
That meant the Frost Radiance Sect had 117 Star Breaking Realm inner disciples. To put that into perspective, the entire Silver Radiance Empire had only a few Star Breaking Realm cultivators, and that included Lock Force cultivators.
Finally, Wang Jie hired a disciple named Luo Yan.
There was no particular reason—just that he was nearby.
Luo Yan’s portrait was right next to him.
After returning to his quarters, Luo Yan arrived shortly after to report in.
Luo Yan was a quiet young man who looked about Wang Jie’s age, appearing humble and timid, as if he feared offending Wang Jie.
“I have two tasks for you,” Wang Jie said.
“First, post a Celestial Refinement task. Each Celestial Refinement will earn one thousand contribution points, and you’ll accept one every three days.”
“Second, help me find some exquisite sword tassels.”
Luo Yan responded respectfully and immediately set to work.
Wang Jie sighed in relief. This was easier—he didn’t have to do everything himself.
The benefits of having someone to delegate tasks to were immediate.
That afternoon, Luo Yan brought a tool—a knife—for Wang Jie to refine using Celestial Refinement. The one thousand contribution points had already been credited to Wang Jie’s sect value.
The sect value was a system integrated into personal terminals to track sect contribution points and contact sect disciples. If someone didn’t have a personal terminal, Frost Radiance Sect also used a jade-like object with the same function, but it had limitations outside the sect. Most Frost Radiance Sect disciples used personal terminals.
At this moment, Wang Jie’s sect value was already 20,000. It’s worth noting that the contribution points from the Ninth Star Chain war were directly credited to the sect value. But honestly, that little amount of war contribution was insignificant.
The reward for the Green Mountain City mission was to directly become an Honored Guest, which was an instant elevation—far better than going through the process.
Two days later, before Wang Jie could perform Celestial Refinement on Luo Yan’s knife, Luo Yan brought a batch of images of exquisite sword tassels, all taken from both the inner and outer markets, allowing Wang Jie to choose.
It was worth noting—no wonder Frost Radiance Sect was a great sect. The sword tassels here were of a far better variety than those in the Silver Radiance Empire.
Wang Jie chose the most expensive one, a simple sword tassel, but it wasn’t too costly. After placing the tassel on the Green Sprout, it was a success.
He smiled, finally succeeding.
The four materials required for the Sword Step were all complete, and the light fused into his mind. He immediately learned the Sword Step.
Closing his eyes, he felt the technique. Sword Step was like stepping with sword qi, and the steps themselves could also be sword qi. Compared to Armor Eight Steps, it had its advantages and disadvantages.
Armor Eight Steps was purely a stepping battle technique.
But Sword Step could both attack and defend, and could also be used for mobility. Its range was even greater. However, for small-scale battles, it wasn’t as convenient as Armor Eight Steps.
Armor Eight Steps was one of Armor One Sect’s eighteen ultimate techniques. It was slightly weaker than the Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger but not by much. And since the materials for Sword Step surpassed those for Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger, by comparison, Sword Step was beyond Armor Eight Steps.
Wang Jie practiced for a while, eventually confirming that Armor Eight Steps was more suitable for close-range battles, while Sword Step was better for battles outside the planet and in the void.
He didn’t immediately use Sword Step in the field—it was more likely to develop a battle technique. Right now, he needed a whole field to plant a new technique, called Heaven Reversal Path. This was a technique that appeared after planting the Mourning Water Art, requiring nine materials.
Nine materials—this technique had to be valuable.
It required the following:
1. Move five people to tears.
2. Lead a hundred people to defect.
3. Make a name in swordsmanship.
4. Collect a thousand Slaughter Stones.
5. Defeat a true inheritor of Frost Radiance Sect.
6. Perform Yu Gong’s mountain-moving feat.
7. Help an old woman cross the street in Frost Radiance Sect.
8. Expose three secret admirers.
9. Learn a Star Method.
Wang Jie stood in place, speechless. What kind of list was this? Yet after going through all the materials, it didn’t seem so strange. At least it didn’t contain anything that would ruin his reputation.
It would take time, but this was just the start. The part about learning a Star Method alone would keep him busy for a long time.
He could technically break through to Star Breaking Realm now, but Heaven Reversal Path was far too tempting. Lock Force had no future, but here, being invincible at his current level, just like on Blue Star, didn’t sound so bad.
“Luo Yan.”
“Disciple is here.”
“Find out the cost of purchasing Slaughter Stones, and also, investigate who in the sect has secret admirers.”
Luo Yan was stunned. He thought he heard wrong: “Senior, did you say… investigate secret admirers?”
Wang Jie nodded. “Go ahead.”
Luo Yan left in confusion. Was this really part of his job? He wasn’t good at this kind of thing, and if it was a secret admiration, how could he find out?
Investigating secret admiration was no easy task, especially for Luo Yan. But the cost of purchasing Slaughter Stones came quickly.
“One hundred thousand contribution points?” Wang Jie was shocked.
Luo Yan respectfully replied, “Yes, outside the sect, Slaughter Stones are sold for one hundred thousand contribution points. If in the outer market, the price goes up to 150,000 starstones or more.”
Wang Jie knew Slaughter Stones were expensive, but he didn’t expect them to be that expensive.
No wonder the Silver Radiance Empire had so few—they kept mining and trading them for more Slaughter Stones.
Luo Yan added, “Actually, this price isn’t too high. The sect doesn’t need to store too many Slaughter Stones. One Slaughter Stone can attract hundreds of thousands of Lock Force cultivators. Even with the sect’s resources, they can only support up to fifty million outer disciples. So the sect usually keeps around five thousand Slaughter Stones. Anything more is either given to allied forces or sold.”
“The truly valuable things are other resources, like Strange Planets.”
“If you can find an unregistered Strange Planet, it’s worth a lot of Slaughter Stones from the sect.”
Wang Jie sighed. Strange Planets were not so easily found.