Chapter 123

Chapter 123: The Four Great Refining Grounds

The ship traveled through the stars toward Fourth Nebula.

Wang Jie sat inside and stared out the window. After this parting, he didn’t know how long it would be before they met again.

Fourth Nebula was unimaginably far.

Mu Ran came looking for Wang Jie, trying to attach himself. With Wang Jie’s chen refiner status, he could do well anywhere.

That much was true.

Even the Zhi family needed chen refiners.

They were all being taken to Fourth Nebula now, and no one knew what the future held. As Frostflower Sect disciples, all they could do was help each other as much as possible.

Luo Yan was happy to follow Wang Jie again. First, Wang Jie was generous. Second, his status was clearly not low.

The trouble was, this Guest Elder’s demands were always strange—and it made Luo Yan act strange too.

Wang Jie set those thoughts aside and went into the fields.

To his surprise, the Heaven-Reversal Path had completed three materials at once.

The first was defeating a Frostflower Sect true inheritor. He had beaten Xia Mu with swordsmanship, and that counted.

The second was the tale of Yu Gong moving mountains. He’d thought of it while digging out the mountain and hadn’t expected it to count.

The third was even stranger: leading a hundred people to defect.

He looked at the hundred-plus people clustered around Luo Yan.

Did this really count as defecting?

It shouldn’t. The sect was destroyed, and even Xing Xue had left. That shouldn’t be called defection.

But after talking with them, Wang Jie realized it absolutely counted.

Because those people never intended to help the sect resist the invaders.

Run.

Running was the right choice.

Who the enemy was had nothing to do with them.

A bunch of ungrateful wolves.

Still, it completed the materials, so it was a lucky mistake.

That meant, out of nine materials, only three were left:

Learn a chen art.

Move five people to tears.

Collect a thousand slaughterstone.

He had to finish them fast and break through as soon as possible—or he would never feel safe.

With his current strength, he was helpless in front of Roaming-Star Realm cultivators.

Once he broke through, he’d at least be able to escape instead of being toyed with.

One of the disciples sidled up and craned their neck toward the front. “Elder, who is that senior?”

“My nephew,” Xing Xue replied.

“Wise and mighty,” the disciple said earnestly.

“He’s been scolding me since he was little.”

The disciple’s expression stiffened. “Not very sensible.”

“He even helped the elders chase me.”

The disciple’s eyes widened. “Ungrateful wolf.”

Xing Xue’s mouth twitched. “Say that louder.”

The disciple coughed, then abruptly bowed. “Disciple suddenly feels like I’m about to break through. Elder, please rest!”

They fled at once, and several others scattered with them.

Wang Jie watched the crowd run off and didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

He glanced outside.

That young-looking senior, Zhi Ye, was dragging the ship at extreme speed toward Fourth Nebula. Somehow, he had threatened Puppeteer Sect and Luo Kingdom and forcibly folded the Silver Radiance Empire, along with part of the Ninth Star Chain, into Fourth Nebula’s territory.

That was the price of the zen token.

“Senior,” Wang Jie asked, “what exactly is a zen token used for?”

Xing Xue’s tone turned heavy. “A zen token comes from Third Zen Heaven. And Third Zen Heaven is one of the strongest existences among the four great nebulae.”

“Whoever holds a zen token can receive one help from Third Zen Heaven,” she continued, “or use it to join Third Zen Heaven directly as a true inheritor disciple.”

Wang Jie’s eyes widened. “Third Zen Heaven?”

“You’ve heard of it?”

“I think so.”

He had not only heard of it—he had fought its disciples.

Wang Jie thought of Blue Star, where he’d lost to Shu Mu Ye in a single move.

Xing Xue said, “It’s far too distant from here. Don’t be fooled by the four great nebulae being equally famous. In truth, First Nebula is far stronger than the other three.”

She spoke matter-of-factly. “The simplest example: if you put the Nan family or my Ding Chen Zhi family into First Nebula, we might not even rank in the top five.”

“And Third Zen Heaven is in the top three.”

“Every rank represents a massive gap.”

Wang Jie nodded slowly.

Xing Xue glanced at him. “You don’t understand how huge that gap is.”

She paused, then corrected herself. “No. You should understand.”

Her eyes pinned him. “Like the gap between you and other Ten Seals cultivators.”

Wang Jie’s scalp tightened. Was it really that big?

The ship kept moving toward Fourth Nebula.

More than half a month passed.

During that time, Xing Xue never went out to speak to Zhi Ye even once. From her attitude, she was deeply unhappy with the Zhi family.

She would rather stay inside the ship and talk with the disciples around her.

During the journey, Xing Xue also told them about the Ding Chen Zhi family.

Why was it called the Ding Chen Zhi family?

Ding Chen was a Bridgeway Art. Everyone in the Zhi family possessed the Ding Chen Bridgeway Art—so they were called the Ding Chen Zhi family.

The ruling force of Fourth Nebula was called Black-White Heaven, and the helmsmen of Black-White Heaven were the Ding Chen Zhi family.

So the Zhi family’s status in Fourth Nebula was like the Nan family’s status in Third Nebula.

But compared to the scattered nine star chains of Third Nebula, Fourth Nebula was far more unified. It had seven star chains under it—fewer than Third Nebula, but the overall scope was far larger.

Those seven star chains were divided into an upper three and a lower four.

The upper three represented Black-White Heaven.

The lower four represented the Four Great Refining Grounds.

Each of the Four Great Refining Grounds occupied one star chain. They weren’t independent forces, but belonged directly under Black-White Heaven, training cultivators for it.

In other words, Fourth Nebula had only one force: Black-White Heaven.

Third Nebula was completely different.

So whether it was Xuan Gate, Puppeteer Sect, Luo Kingdom, or Frostflower Sect, facing the Zhi family of Black-White Heaven alone put them at a disadvantage—unless all nine star chains united.

But the nine star chains could never truly unite.

Wang Jie understood why the Zhi family could threaten Puppeteer Sect and Luo Kingdom so easily.

Third Nebula already had the Star-Cloud Battlefield and couldn’t afford to open another front.

For the Zhi family, it was only a matter of a few words.

Xing Xue told everyone about Fourth Nebula to give them time to choose which Refining Grounds they wanted to join.

The Four Great Refining Grounds were the gate into Black-White Heaven. Anyone who wanted to join Black-White Heaven had to pass through one of them.

Even if Wang Jie wanted to enter Black-White Heaven as a chen refiner, he still had to go through the Refining Grounds.

Now, everyone on the ship was thinking about which one to choose.

Xing Xue had secured them an off-the-books disciple status under Black-White Heaven. They were still Frostflower Sect disciples—unless Xing Xue died.

Mu Ran shuffled over, smiling ingratiatingly, his small mustache lifting. “Master Wang, which of the Four Great Refining Grounds will you join?”

Wang Jie smiled faintly. “What about you, Mu Ran? Which one do you want to join?”

Mu Ran waved both hands at once. “Don’t joke, Master Wang. You can call me Old Mu, or just Mu Ran. Don’t call me Master Mu—I’m not worthy.”

“It’s not like that,” Wang Jie said. “You’re a formation cultivator. There’s no need to be modest.”

Mu Ran let out a dry laugh. “I’m guessing Master Wang will join Zhi Academy.”

The Four Great Refining Grounds were Death Island, Zhi Academy, Great Chen Mountain, and Suo Xing Jian.

They all sent cultivators to Black-White Heaven, but their styles were completely different.

At Death Island, cultivators specialized in killing. They cultivated the Slaughter God Scripture. Blood was the trigger—the more lives they took, the stronger the killing aura they drew.

Any cultivator who came out of Death Island was not someone you wanted to provoke.

But Death Island also had the highest death rate.

Zhi Academy was relatively relaxed and trained disciples in all kinds of paths. Cultivators of crafting, alchemy, and formations were almost all there.

It didn’t have unique cultivation arts or battle skills, but it had the most masters across different trades. Many people who didn’t want to enter Black-White Heaven stayed at Zhi Academy.

Great Chen Mountain attracted starforce cultivators, because it had a chen art called Stacked Sky Light.

Great Chen Mountain had a complete training system for that art. Even though not everyone could master it, the chances were far higher than with other chen arts, so starforce cultivators all wanted to try.

And any cultivator who mastered Stacked Sky Light would be absorbed into Heavenlight Pavilion as soon as they entered Black-White Heaven.

Heavenlight Pavilion held a very high status in Black-White Heaven.

The last one was Suo Xing Jian.

The word “Suo” alone told you what it represented: lockforce.

Suo Xing Jian held all the slaughterstone planets in Fourth Nebula—ten thousand of them.

When Wang Jie heard that, he’d been stunned.

Frostflower Sect only had three hundred.

The difference was beyond imagination.

Because it had so many slaughterstone planets, Suo Xing Jian attracted countless lockforce cultivators from Fourth Nebula.

Not only that, it also had a dao-ground called Yi Sword Heaven.

The master of that dao-ground was the strongest lockforce cultivator in Fourth Nebula’s history: Zhong Yi, at the Hundred-Star Realm.

For a lockforce cultivator to reach the Full-Star Realm was already unbelievable. Wu Mian had been the strongest lockforce cultivator in Frostflower Sect, past and present.

Yet in Suo Xing Jian, there was more than one cultivator like that.

There was even a Hundred-Star Realm powerhouse like Zhong Yi.

That was why countless lockforce cultivators entered Suo Xing Jian and Yi Sword Heaven—hoping to become the next Zhong Yi.

Xing Xue didn’t interfere with anyone’s choice.

Which Refining Grounds to join became the hottest topic on the ship.

Wang Jie looked at the stars.

He was going to join Suo Xing Jian.

Outsiders thought it would be best for him to join Zhi Academy as a chen refiner. He wouldn’t need long before entering Black-White Heaven, and a chen refiner there could be called “master” wherever they went.

But Wang Jie wanted disaster materials—the more, the better. His deep black materials consumption had been supported by Master Luan’s demands on Frostflower Sect’s alchemy, letting him use materials freely.

And the Heaven-Reversal Path would demand even more—far more.

If he stayed in Frostflower Sect, even the sect’s alchemy stores might not be enough for him.

Suo Xing Jian was perfect.

“Senior,” Wang Jie said, “I’ve decided to join Suo Xing Jian.”

Xing Xue nodded. “As long as you’ve decided.”

“Is Zhong Yi really a Hundred-Star Realm powerhouse?” Wang Jie couldn’t help asking.

Xing Xue’s gaze turned distant. “That’s right. She’s a remarkable woman with unmatched talent, leaving her peers far behind.”

“No one knows her exact strength,” Xing Xue said. “Because she never sparred. She only fought life-and-death battles.”

“Many people guessed that at the Ten Seals level, she could already kill Star-Breaking Realm cultivators.”

“Even Full-Star Realm ones.”

Wang Jie’s heart jolted.

He knew what it had taken for him to injure a Full-Star Realm cultivator. Without his fields and his wrist guard, it would’ve been impossible.

That kind of leap was beyond understanding.

Could Zhong Yi really do it too?

“As far as I know,” Xing Xue continued, “the family once tried to make a move on her and seize her secret. It failed.”

Her tone sharpened. “Especially the last time—she was already at the Hundred-Star Realm.”

“Alone with one sword, she killed her way into the Zhi family. It took the old ancestor to drive her back.”

“From beginning to end, it lasted three hours.”

“The Zhi family forcibly suppressed the story. Outsiders thought it was just a legend, but it was real.”

“After that,” Xing Xue said, “no one in Fourth Nebula could interfere with her.”

Wang Jie hadn’t expected a lockforce cultivator could be that strong.

So what would his own limit be?

Lockforce cultivators had limits—but it depended on where that limit was.

If it was at Ten Seals, then Blue Star would be unbeatable.

If it was at Star-Breaking Realm, then he would be unbeatable in the Silver Radiance Empire.

At Roaming-Star Realm, Frostflower Sect would rarely meet an opponent.

At Hundred-Star Realm, he would be invincible across a nebula.

If he reached Star-Refining Realm… then whether a limit existed or not, what difference would it make?