Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Deepweight Star

Wang Jie saw the man.

The man sensed him, turned, and met his eyes.

“I am Huai Si,” the man said calmly. “Junior Brother’s face is unfamiliar. Are you newly entered to the Inner Sect?”

Huai Si looked a little older than Wang Jie. His gaze was gentle on the surface, but it carried the unpleasant feeling of someone trying to see through you.

Wang Jie didn’t answer. He kept walking.

Huai Si’s eyes flickered.

Ignoring him?

So this really was someone new—someone who didn’t even recognize him.

But a newly entered Inner Sect disciple who could reach this point… that meant terrifying physical strength.

“Junior Brother, don’t rush,” Huai Si said, friendly as if offering advice. “Once you pass the twelfth turn, gravity increases sharply. If you push too hard, you can injure yourself.”

Wang Jie stopped near him, almost level. “You don’t sleep?”

Huai Si froze, caught off guard.

Wang Jie looked away. “Go back. Wash up. Sleep.”

Then he stepped forward and crossed the twelfth turn.

Huai Si’s expression darkened. “Junior Brother has quite the temper.”

“No temper,” Wang Jie said without turning. “Just blunt.”

“Then I’d like to see how far Junior Brother can go.”

Wang Jie glanced back. “How far do I need to go before you’ll go back to sleep?”

Huai Si frowned. This person really wanted to drive him away?

“It seems I’m in Junior Brother’s way. Fine.” Huai Si folded his arms. “If Junior Brother can pass the halfway point beyond the twelfth turn, this Senior Brother will leave.”

From the twelfth turn to the end of Thirteen Bends, gravity increased by thirtyfold.

Halfway meant enduring roughly one hundred and thirty-fivefold gravity.

The further you went, the harder it became. Huai Si himself could only cultivate under one hundred and twentyfold gravity; forcing it could easily lead to serious injury.

Wang Jie smiled. “Deal.”

Step by step, he moved forward.

His physical strength was already around one hundred times that of normal cultivators. The deepening imprint power had strengthened his body further. Back when he first entered the Silver Radiance Empire, he could already endure one hundredfold gravity. Now he could attempt Thirteen Bends in full.

Huai Si watched, eyes tightening, as Wang Jie passed the halfway point.

Huai Si’s gaze shook.

He really did it.

The Frost Splendor Sect had a disciple who could reach this point?

Wang Jie looked back.

Huai Si nodded, forcing composure. “Impressive. May I ask Junior Brother’s honored name?”

“Don’t want to say.”

Huai Si’s mouth twitched.

Blunt.

The word stamped itself into Huai Si’s mind.

Still, he kept his promise. He turned and left.

Wang Jie continued until he reached one hundred and fortyfold gravity, then stopped. He took out soybeans and began qi refinement—using the process to assist his lockforce control training as well.

One gaze, 3,000…

He was still far away.

He trained most of the night. When light appeared in the east, he finally returned.

Back at Mist Peak, he handed his completed star-refining work to Luo Yan and received another ten thousand contribution points.

His contribution points grew steadily, but it still felt too slow.

Days passed.

Ever since that first night, Huai Si started showing up again and again at midnight, trying to strike up conversations.

Wang Jie ignored him as best he could, stepping past him and cultivating with his back turned.

The man was unbearable.

After more than half a month, Wang Jie simply walked straight through the end of Thirteen Bends and left.

His body adapted to gravity at an absurd rate. Even one hundred and fiftyfold gravity didn’t feel like a true limit.

He needed a new place.

And he needed to get away from Huai Si.

Wang Jie asked Luo Yan who Huai Si was. Luo Yan had no idea—he was only an Outer Sect disciple, and Huai Si’s identity wasn’t something he could easily access.

The problem was that most cultivation grounds in the Frost Splendor Sect were designed to support Frost Splendor starforce—especially on the Three Peaks. If Wang Jie cultivated lockforce there and was discovered, his identity would be exposed.

So he had Luo Yan search for alternatives.

In the end, Luo Yan found a location that was ideal:

Deepweight Star.

“Deepweight Star is a special planet owned by the sect,” Luo Yan explained. “Its gravity is extremely high, so its starforce carries gravity traits.

“Gravity-type planets are common among unusual planets. Deepweight Star is said to reach up to five hundredfold gravity at its peak. Its owner is Elder Yan.”

Wang Jie looked at the projection of the planet—black stone across its surface, like a dark gem in the void.

“It’s not far,” he said. “Perfect.”

But to cultivate there, permission was required. The planet belonged to Elder Yan.

Even a Guest Elder had to apply.

The conditions were simple: pay contribution points directly to Elder Yan.

And once on the planet, life and death were your own responsibility. No one would protect you.

The price wasn’t high—only five thousand contribution points.

That made sense. With Thirteen Bends available, few people would bother with Deepweight Star. Those who did were usually Outer Court or Outer Sect disciples, and most of them couldn’t afford the fee.

Wang Jie told Luo Yan to reject any new star-refining requests.

Cultivation came first.

The journey from Mist Peak to Deepweight Star took nearly ten days.

From a distance, the planet looked even smaller than Blue Star, covered in black rock. It resembled a dark glass marble embedded in the starry sky.

Gravity varied across the planet. Some regions were normal. Some were crushing. The strongest region was rumored to reach five hundredfold.

Wang Jie landed his ship and stepped out.

There were no plants in sight, yet there was breathable air.

It came from deep within the planet.

Many forces modified cultivation planets like this—providing oxygen and support systems so that disciples could survive. Otherwise, who besides roaming-star realm experts could live there?

Wang Jie stepped onto the hard stone, let his body adjust, and followed the map.

The landing zone was safe. Ahead lay an eightyfold gravity region.

Beyond that was one hundred and sixtyfold gravity.

That was what he needed.

Any higher, and even he couldn’t endure it.

Deepweight Star was empty—silent, desolate.

Which meant he could cultivate openly.

Wang Jie released lockforce, controlling soybeans as he walked through the gravity zone. From time to time he used Sword Steps, leaving deep scars carved into the stone as he moved farther and farther into the black landscape.

Time flowed.

Back at Rainbow Peak’s Thirteen Bends, Huai Si kept showing up at night, only to find the path empty.

Wang Jie never returned.

—

“Time for the eighth basic fitness routine.”

Wang Jie took a deep breath. Sweat drenched him, soaking through his clothes. Under heavy gravity, even simple movements became punishing.

Around him lay piles of calamity materials—slowly being absorbed during his exercise sessions.

He only absorbed lockforce from the materials while exercising. He didn’t rush. The materials were finite. Once they were gone, they were gone.

Without noticing, half a year had passed on Deepweight Star.

Now, six of his imprints had turned deep black.

When this batch of absorption finished, his materials would be depleted.

As for lockforce control, he had reached one gaze, 2,000.

Gravity training truly suited lockforce. And both Jia Eight Steps and Sword Steps had advanced rapidly as well.

His only truly bad memory was one accident—when he’d stepped over a boundary without realizing and used Sword Steps to land briefly in a one hundred and eightyfold gravity zone.

In that instant, his body nearly collapsed under its own weight. If he hadn’t forced himself to take a single step back into the one hundred and sixtyfold zone, he might have died there.

Only twentyfold difference.

And yet it was an impassable gulf.

It felt as if his hundredfold strength could no longer increase.

Still, even that brush with death had yielded something—his qi had grown a little.

So it was true.

Only by touching the limit could qi increase.

But the method was too dangerous. He wouldn’t dare attempt it again unless someone was nearby to help.

Deepweight Star’s emptiness soothed him.

In the vast starry sky, he had no home—except Blue Star.

Here, for once, he felt safe.

That peace didn’t last.

A second ship appeared, descending onto the planet and landing not far from Wang Jie’s own.

When Wang Jie returned to his ship to rest, he saw it.

And he saw who stepped out.

Huai Si.

Wang Jie’s brow tightened.

Again?

Was this man stalking him?

Huai Si smiled and waved. “Junior Brother. Long time no see.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Do you have nothing better to do?”

Huai Si didn’t seem offended. After being brushed off so many times, he’d grown a thick skin. “Ever since Junior Brother stopped going to Thirteen Bends, it felt pointless to go.

“So I looked into it. I thought you might come here. I didn’t expect I’d guess right.”

He laughed as if it were a joke.

Wang Jie said nothing. He walked into his ship and sealed the hatch.

Huai Si stood outside, staring at the ship, eyes narrowing.

Who was this person?

He couldn’t find anything.

Anyone who could pass Thirteen Bends should have been promoted to true inheritor immediately.

But this person hadn’t been.

It made no sense.

Inside the ship, Wang Jie felt the same unease.

Why was Huai Si so fixated on him?

They were both sect disciples. They had no ties. Yet Huai Si behaved as if he had to uncover Wang Jie’s identity.

If he couldn’t understand it, he wouldn’t waste time on it.

Hours later, Wang Jie left his ship and looked toward Huai Si’s.

Huai Si sensed him and stepped out. “Junior Brother needs something?”

Wang Jie raised his hand, letting Huai Si clearly see his storage ring. “This can hold plenty. I’m not coming back.

“Do what you want.”

Huai Si blinked as he watched Wang Jie head toward the gravity zone. “Junior Brother—what’s your name? We’ve met so many times. You could at least tell me that.”

Wang Jie didn’t answer.

Huai Si’s brow furrowed. “Junior Brother, if you’re preparing for starry sky martial tournament, you should be promoted to true inheritor and enjoy more resources.”

Wang Jie paused and turned back. “Starry sky martial tournament?”

Huai Si stared. “Don’t tell me you’ve never even heard of starry sky martial tournament.”

“I’ve heard the name,” Wang Jie said. “I don’t know what it is.”

“I thought you were cultivating in secret so you could surprise everyone at starry sky martial tournament,” Huai Si said, then quickly added, “It’s a grand event for the entire universe. Starting from star-breaking realm, every realm selects its strongest fighter. Their names become known across the cosmos.”

Wang Jie’s eyes sharpened with interest. “Why?”

Huai Si shook his head. “It’s tradition. Whatever the original purpose was, we don’t know anymore.

“But the older a sect is, the more it respects tradition. Anything preserved as tradition will be carried out, as much as possible.”

Tradition…

Wang Jie thought of the Jia Yi Sect’s trials—also preserved as tradition, also impossible to end.

Huai Si looked at him with open admiration. “I don’t know your realm, but if you can pass Thirteen Bends, you’ll shine at starry sky martial tournament.”

Wang Jie studied him for a moment. “You’re not bad either.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Huai Si watched his back recede and let out a long breath.

In truth, he didn’t care about Wang Jie as a rival. No matter how strong Wang Jie was, he couldn’t surpass true inheritor disciples.

What Huai Si cared about was this: was there someone behind Wang Jie?

No guidance, no master… then how could a disciple pass Thirteen Bends?

Even several true inheritor disciples couldn’t do it.

For the Frost Splendor Sect, Huai Si had to understand as much as possible.

Completely.

Blunt?

Then he’d use the method meant for dealing with blunt people.