Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Taking a Master

Shu Rang looked at him as if he’d just discovered an especially disappointing dish. “How did you end up cultivating lockforce? A power with no prospects.”

He shook his head. “Even if you didn’t cultivate anything else, focusing on qi refining would’ve been fine. You could’ve come out and cultivated starforce later. But now…” He sighed. “No future.”

“None?” Wang Jie asked quietly.

“At least not on this bridge-pillar,” Shu Rang said.

“Bridge-pillar?”

“Don’t overthink it.” Shu Rang waved a hand. “I investigated you. A Star-Breaking Realm cultivator who can fight a Roaming-Star Realm—your talent is real.”

He leaned back. “Lockforce has no future, but that doesn’t mean you can’t climb as high as possible within your limits.”

“If you reach Hundred-Star Realm, that’s already remarkable.”

“And it’ll be enough.”

Wang Jie hadn’t expected even a star dao master—someone who could cultivate qi and starforce together without fear—to declare lockforce a dead end. A heaviness settled in his chest.

Shu Rang tapped his cup. “Little kid. Why are you dazing off? Pour.”

“Oh. Right away.”

Shu Rang drank happily again, eyes half-lidded. “That look on your face—what, you’re sulking?”

He snorted. “Everyone has their fate. I’ve seen too much to count, and I still never accepted mine. So what if there’s ‘no future’?”

“If you reach Hundred-Star Realm, even a ‘no future’ becomes a future countless people can’t touch.”

Wang Jie let out a bitter laugh. “Junior’s been telling himself that for a long time.”

“Then you’re not completely hopeless.” Shu Rang eyed him. “Do you know why the three paths stopped coming after you?”

Wang Jie wasn’t surprised Shu Rang knew. “Because of Su Le. Junior can star-refine pills, and Su Le has Celestial Master Bai Ye behind her.”

Shu Rang waved it away. “The Zhi Family won’t offend that Bai Ye girl, but they’re not afraid of her either—especially when it comes to core power struggles.”

“Then why?”

Shu Rang set his cup down and gave a short chuckle. “Because they suspect you’re a star dao master.”

Wang Jie blinked, genuinely startled. He hadn’t known that.

Shu Rang chuckled again, pleased. “That reaction satisfies me.”

He leaned forward. “Whether you are or not doesn’t matter. As long as there’s a chance you might be, they can’t touch you. That’s the status of a star dao master.”

“Understand?”

“I do,” Wang Jie said.

“Do you really?”

Wang Jie froze.

A spark flared in his mind. He dropped to his knees on instinct. “Disciple Wang Jie pays respects to Master.”

His voice was loud enough that people nearby turned and stared.

Shu Rang grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up, scowling. “That’s not what I meant.”

Wang Jie stared, confused. “Then…?”

“You think it’s that easy to become a disciple under star dao?” Shu Rang glanced at the empty pot.

Wang Jie immediately turned. “Waiter. I’m buying this wine stall.”

Shu Rang went still.

“…”

—

By the river, a cool night wind blew. Stars glittered overhead, and moonlight painted the lake in silver.

Wang Jie sat with Shu Rang inside a pavilion, the purchased wine stall piled high with pots.

Shu Rang watched him for a long moment. “Little kid. You really want to take me as your master?”

Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “More than anything.”

“Why?”

Wang Jie answered without embellishment. “I want backing.”

Shu Rang laughed. “At least you’re honest.”

Wang Jie rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Junior’s been bullied too many times. If I don’t find ways to stay alive, I won’t make it.”

Shu Rang nodded. “That passes.”

Then his tone sharpened. “But it won’t be easy. For now, you can only be a registered disciple. The day you reach Roaming-Star Realm, you’ll count as my true disciple. Otherwise, you’re not qualified.”

Wang Jie immediately knelt again. “Disciple Wang Jie pays respects to Master.”

Shu Rang stared down at him, expression tangled with something Wang Jie couldn’t read—too many emotions held behind old eyes.

In the end, Shu Rang only sighed.

Wang Jie looked up, baffled. Was it really that shameful to cultivate lockforce?

“Get up,” Shu Rang said.

Wang Jie rose.

Shu Rang stepped out of the pavilion and onto the river.

He walked across the water, one step at a time, until he reached the center. Then he spread his arms.

The Star Compass floated up.

Qi rolled out of him, spreading toward the sky like a tide.

“A star dao master,” Shu Rang said softly, “uses qi as the guide.”

Wang Jie lifted his head—and his breath stopped.

Shu Rang’s qi covered the heavens. It flowed outward, and outward, and outward again, until it swallowed the Four-Dao Star Cluster whole.

The world around Wang Jie shifted. It was as if the Milky Way had hooked him by the spine and dragged him beyond the bounds of the Four-Dao Star Cluster.

The sheer vastness of that qi was unimaginable.

Wang Jie had never thought a person’s qi could reach this far. Could become this terrifying.

Then a ruler rose into the air—another treasure drawn from Shu Rang.

“Starforce,” Shu Rang said, “as the ruler.”

The ruler expanded in Wang Jie’s vision, growing until it stretched beyond the Four-Dao Star Cluster, laid out like a line drawn across the cosmos.

It extended again.

Far away, starships drifted past. Against that ruler, they weren’t even dust.

“Measuring star dao,” Shu Rang said.

Stars snapped nearer, pulled toward the ruler’s ends.

“Measure the firmament.”

The universe’s heaven and earth loomed—vast and unreachable.

The Star Compass and ruler released qi and force together, forming two luminous measuring lines that linked the four directions—up and down, left and right—like a grand lattice.

“It can calculate past and future.”

Space turned.

Time seemed to slide.

Seas became mulberry fields. Stars were born. Stars died.

Then the Star Compass and ruler descended.

The world snapped back into place.

Wang Jie staggered—then splashed into the river.

He realized, belatedly, that he was already in the center with Shu Rang.

Shu Rang’s gaze lowered. Endless starlight shimmered in his pupils, and for a moment he looked almost sacred.

“Wang Jie,” Shu Rang asked, “do you now know what star dao is?”

Wang Jie stood on the riverbed, drenched and stunned. “Disciple… still doesn’t know.”

He truly didn’t. What he’d seen was awe-inspiring, but it didn’t explain the purpose.

Measuring distances between stars?

That couldn’t be all.

Shu Rang threw his head back and laughed. “Of course you don’t know. If one performance was enough to understand star dao, then anyone could.”

“Come out.”

Wang Jie jolted back to himself and leapt, surging out of the water, soaked through.

Shu Rang tossed the ruler to him.

Wang Jie caught it.

That ruler—hadn’t it just stretched across the Four-Dao Star Cluster and beyond?

“A star dao master has two basic tools,” Shu Rang said. “One is the Star Compass, using qi as the guide. The other is the star-measuring ruler, using force as the measure.”

He eyed Wang Jie. “You don’t cultivate starforce. Then use lockforce as your measure. It works the same.”

He waved a hand. “This sky-measuring ruler is yours.”

Wang Jie’s heart pounded. “Thank you, Master.”

“And this.” Shu Rang tossed over a thick book.

Wang Jie caught it, flipped through, and frowned. “A language?”

“Star dao masters have an exclusive language,” Shu Rang said. “If you ever communicate with other star dao masters, you’ll use that.”

Wang Jie couldn’t help his amazement. A profession with its own language—no wonder the other three paths couldn’t compare.

Shu Rang strolled back to the wine stall and poured himself another cup. “Now you’re my registered disciple. That counts as an entry disciple of star dao. There are rules.”

Wang Jie followed, attentive.

“Without my permission, you do not reveal your identity as a star dao master.”

“You do not reveal anything about star dao.”

“You do not reveal your relationship with me.”

He took a sip, then said, “And most importantly—star dao masters have a duty to maintain the normal operation of the universe’s stars.”

“In the future, if you meet other star dao masters, hold to that principle. As long as you do, you’ll always stand on the side of reason.”

“That is our reason.”

“No one’s reason is greater.”

Wang Jie bowed. “Disciple will remember.”

Shu Rang nodded in satisfaction. “You took me as your master for backing, but you can’t reveal our relationship. So keep seeking your backing elsewhere—Su Le, Bai Ye, the people behind you in the Zhi Family.”

“If you truly can’t endure it anymore, then come to me.”

“But every time you ask me for help on your own initiative, my impression of you drops by one.”

Wang Jie’s expression tightened. “Disciple understands.”

“A registered disciple becoming a true disciple isn’t easy,” Shu Rang continued. “You haven’t even truly entered star dao yet. Whether you have fate with this profession… that depends on you.”

Wang Jie bowed again. “Disciple understands.”

Shu Rang drank, then looked at him with something complicated in his eyes. “One more thing.”

“If you truly learn something, you’ll have to do something for me one day.”

His voice turned flat. “It’s dangerous. Extremely dangerous. There’s a ninety-nine percent chance it’ll cost you your life.”

Wang Jie’s heart sank.

Shu Rang tilted his head. “You can still regret it now.”

Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “It’s only right for disciple to serve Master. I won’t regret it.”

Shu Rang stared at him for a long moment, then smiled. “Good. As long as you don’t regret it.”

“Of course,” he added, eyes glinting, “that thing might also make you feel incredible—might even change the fate of your life.”

“But you won’t touch it until you reach Roaming-Star Realm.”

“Learn star speech as soon as you can. I’ll come find you again.”

Then, as if remembering something amusing, Shu Rang waved a hand. “And remember—star dao masters stand above all.”

“That Su Le… if you want to fool around with her, do it. This master won’t interfere.”

He took another sip and finished casually, “But she’s not qualified to be the main one. At most, she can be a concubine.”

With that, he vanished into the night.

Wang Jie stood alone beside the wine stall.

All the wine was gone.

He turned to the river. Starlight glittered across the water. Everything that had happened felt like a dream.

He… had taken a master?

A star dao master?

Someone who didn’t even value Su Le or Celestial Master Bai Ye?

Real or not, Wang Jie still felt dazed.

He’d fought a Roaming-Star Realm assassin tonight—and taken a master on top of it. Too much had happened.

He should go back and let his mind settle.

He returned to the shop and immediately started his exercises.

Thank the heavens he hadn’t done them in front of Shu Rang—who knew what a star dao master might notice?

Each time he did those exercises, his strength increased. He couldn’t help looking forward to how far the limits of the Star-Breaking Realm could be pushed.

And hadn’t he been going out to find a place to stay?

How did he end up back here again?

Exhausted, he collapsed and slept.

The next morning, someone knocked.

Wang Jie opened the door.

Su Le stood outside.

This time she wasn’t wearing a bamboo hat or veil. She came openly, cheeks flushed with anger.

“Someone tried to assassinate you?” she demanded the moment she stepped in.

“Last night,” Wang Jie said.

“Outrageous!” Su Le snapped. “I already warned them, and they still dared do this? Don’t worry. I’ll get you an explanation.”

Wang Jie lifted a brow. “It wasn’t Gao Chi. I framed him.”

“I know.” Su Le’s eyes were sharp. “But it absolutely has something to do with the Zhi Family. In the Zhi Academy, plenty of people listen to them.”

“The Zhi Family wouldn’t contact an assassin directly,” she added.

Wang Jie exhaled. “Forget it. They’re too far above me. I can’t afford to offend them.”

Su Le’s expression softened with guilt. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t warned those masters, they wouldn’t have used this method on you.”

Wang Jie was about to respond when Su Le pulled out a bottle and pressed it into his hands.

“This is my apology,” she said. “And don’t worry. This won’t happen again.”

“When my Master leaves seclusion, I’ll ask her to go to Zhi Upper Realm and give them a warning. Whoever it is, they’ll have to give my Master face.”

Wang Jie thought of Shu Rang’s words. Was that really so?

He turned the bottle in his hand. “This is…?”

“Swiftstep Pill,” Su Le said. “It boosts speed. If you ever run into danger again, eat one first. This is four-wen.”

Wang Jie whistled softly. She really was rich.

He accepted it without ceremony.