Chapter 180

Chapter 180: Defensive Qi

Wang Jie laughed under his breath. “You were used. Who told you we ever stole anything from Elder Bian? And who told you I live in the Glazed Courtyard?”

Ji Zheng.

The name flashed through Yun Ju’s mind, and his expression tightened.

Ji Zheng served under Elder Bian at Zhi Academy. A fifth-rank craft refiner with real skill—the kind of person whose recommendations carried weight. Every time Yun Ju visited Zhi Academy, it was Ji Zheng who introduced him to tools and guided his purchases.

Yun Ju wasn’t stupid. He simply hadn’t cared. In his eyes, a mere star-breaking realm was beneath notice, and pursuing Su Le was too important to tolerate anyone getting in his way.

No one in their right mind would imagine a star-breaking realm could sit at the center of the Zhi Upper Realm’s power struggle.

But… Wang Jie?

The name pricked at him, familiar as an old thorn.

“You’re Wang Jie?” Yun Ju asked, voice low.

Wang Jie smiled. “I am.”

Yun Ju’s eyes narrowed to slits. Of course. That explained far too much.

Su Le stepped forward. “Yun Ju. Leave.”

Yun Ju swept his gaze over Wang Jie again, then turned to Su Le and softened into a smile. “I’ve disturbed you, Junior Sister. Please don’t blame me. Senior Brother was only anxious—overprotective. My men acted without restraint. I’ll take them back and teach them properly.”

He gave Su Le a slight bow. “Senior Brother will take his leave.”

Then he looked at Wang Jie one last time—long enough to make the promise in his eyes unmistakable—before leading his group away.

Only when they were gone did Su Le release the breath she’d been holding. “Good thing Mu Ran contacted me. Otherwise I might not have made it in time. Master—are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Wang Jie said. “But you came back quickly.”

“I was already on my way,” Su Le said with a smile. “I meant to visit a friend first, but Mu Ran’s message sounded urgent.”

Her expression sobered. “Master, be careful of Yun Ju. Whoever used him, the humiliation he suffered here will be paid back on you. He holds grudges. He’s vicious. Don’t underestimate him.”

“I won’t,” Wang Jie said.

“And there’s more,” Su Le added, then hesitated. “Let’s go inside first.”

They had barely turned when a man approached—stiff-faced, eyes dull, walking as if carved from wood.

Wang Jie noticed him at once.

His qi was strong.

“Excuse me,” the man asked, “where is Yun Ju?”

Su Le blinked, confused. “Who are you?”

“I am Shi Wei,” he said. “Wei as in ‘great.’ I came to find Yun Ju.”

“He left,” Su Le said, pointing. “That way.”

Shi Wei nodded with heartfelt gratitude. “Thank you. How long ago did he go?”

“Just now,” Su Le said. Curiosity got the better of her. “Why are you looking for him?”

Shi Wei smiled. “I’m going to beat him up.”

Su Le froze.

Wang Jie froze.

Shi Wei walked off as calmly as if he’d said he was going to buy tea leaves. Su Le and Wang Jie watched him go, exchanged a wordless look, and—since it clearly had nothing to do with them—let it drop.

Inside the Glazed Courtyard, Su Le got straight to the point. “Don’t fight for star-devourer.”

Wang Jie lifted a brow.

“That’s a killing trap,” she said. “I asked around. Zhi Shu is involved.”

“Zhi Shu?” Wang Jie repeated. He’d stepped into the Zhi Upper Realm’s current, but at the end of the day he was still nobody at the bottom. Names like that didn’t reach him easily.

“Zhi Shu is a young disciple of the Zhi Upper Realm,” Su Le said. “Roaming-star realm. Not a six-path roamer, but she’s from the zhi family. Her cultivation resources and her bridgeway art are on a different level from ordinary roaming-star realm.”

She hesitated, then added, “I also heard about your ambush in Lock Xingjian—the one led by Wu Yun from the steward hall.”

Wang Jie’s eyes cooled.

“Wu Yun is nothing compared to Zhi Shu,” Su Le continued. “They aren’t even in the same class. Zhi Shu is one of Senior Zhi Qing’s people.”

So that was the thread.

Su Le’s worry didn’t ease. “It’s not only Zhi Shu. Several disciples who were out traveling have returned—people Senior Zhi Qing once supported. Everyone thinks full-star realm will be the main players, but roaming-star realm are entering too. Not just one or two. How many of them want to harm you… I don’t know.”

Wang Jie’s thoughts drifted to the list he’d bought from Du Xian—Black-White Heaven’s elite disciple roster. It included Shi Wei.

Under the White Realm Lord: one of the white roamer.

And Yun Ju, too, was a white roamer. Wang Jie had never underestimated him for a second.

“Master,” Su Le asked softly, “you really intend to fight for star-devourer?”

Wang Jie exhaled. “I don’t have a choice. I need a massive amount of lockforce.”

He looked at his hands, as if he could crush the verdict the world had already stamped onto him. “Everyone says a lockforce cultivator has no future. I don’t believe it.”

His fingers curled into a fist. “I’m a chen refiner. I can star-refine pills.”

“At star-breaking realm, I can already fight roaming-star realm.”

“I can see the causes of a past life and remove disasters for others.”

His gaze sharpened. “So why should I have no future?”

“As long as I have enough lockforce to test paths, I can force open that future. I can carve out an extreme road for lockforce cultivators.”

He smiled—fierce, steady. “Even if it takes dying a hundred million times… so what?”

Su Le’s eyes brightened with something like awe. “Well said.”

She straightened. “Cultivation is fighting fate with heaven and earth. How can we accept someone else’s judgment as law?”

Wang Jie rose and stared up at the sky. “My wish—my body is as small as a grain of dust, yet my heart holds Mount Sumeru!”

Golden sunlight poured over him. Su Le watched, and for no reason she could name, she remembered the bleak, heroic music she’d once heard during his fortune-telling—notes like a dirge from hell, set against his brightness now.

He would do it.

At a distance, Mu Ran stood frozen, staring as if he’d just witnessed something too vast to process.

Su Le suddenly slapped the stone table. The sharp crack made Wang Jie flinch.

“Master,” she declared, “I’ll help you.”

Wang Jie tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’re fired up.”

“You said it yourself,” Su Le insisted.

“No,” Wang Jie cut in. “You’re a pill master. Competing for star-devourer is too dangerous.”

“I’m not going,” Su Le said at once. “My strength can’t help you in the fight. But I can ask my Eldest Senior Sister to come.”

Wang Jie blinked. “Your Eldest Senior Sister…?”

“She’s one of the six-path roamer,” Su Le said, pride ringing in every syllable.

Wang Jie stared.

Su Le lifted her chin. “Mo Wan Yin.”

Black-White Heaven had countless disciples, but the strongest and most famous were the six-path roamer—six roaming-star realm powerhouses who stood at the peak among their peers. Anyone above roaming-star realm could become an elder; they were no longer counted among the disciples at all.

Compared to the six-path roamer, names like Xiao Rong, Wu Yun, Yun Ju—even Zhi Shu—were nothing.

Wang Jie had known of the six-path roamer from Du Xian’s intel, but he hadn’t expected Mo Wan Yin to be Su Le’s Eldest Senior Sister. Su Le was the Eldest Senior Sister of the alchemy branch… and yet her own Eldest Senior Sister was a six-path roamer?

It was absurd.

Su Le spun on her heel, already moving. “Master, wait. Even if I have to kneel and beg, I’ll make Eldest Senior Sister come protect you and help you take star-devourer.”

“Hold on,” Wang Jie said, stopping her with a gesture. “Take this.”

Su Le accepted the item. “What is it?”

“If your Eldest Senior Sister refuses,” Wang Jie said, “show her this.”

Su Le nodded and rushed out.

Two days later, a gift arrived from Elder Zhi Xingxue: Teleportation Pills.

Teleportation Pills could move a person instantly across a certain distance. They were roaming-star realm pills, but because they contained the power of the void, ordinary pill masters couldn’t refine them.

Across the entire Zhi Academy, Wang Jie had never managed to buy a single one—no matter how aggressively he swept the market.

A typical roaming-star realm pill cost one million starstone. Teleportation Pills cost five million starstone each.

There were three.

Fifteen million starstone.

The price was one thing. The real problem was that they simply weren’t available. These were likely Elder Zhi Xingxue’s own.

Wang Jie accepted the gift with genuine gratitude.

That night, the person he’d been waiting for finally arrived.

“Disciple greets Master.”

Shu Rang gave a lazy grunt and dropped into a seat, a wine gourd dangling from his hand. Moonlight softened the sharpness of his face; he looked entirely too relaxed for someone who called himself a master. “How’s Star Speech?”

“I’ve learned it,” Wang Jie said.

Shu Rang spoke a few lines in Star Speech. Wang Jie answered in Star Speech.

As the words passed between them, the qi around their bodies trembled.

Star Speech wasn’t merely a language. It moved qi, as if some invisible pressure rode every syllable.

After a while, Shu Rang nodded. “Not bad.”

Wang Jie let out a breath. “What should disciple learn next?”

“Black-White Heaven has released a star-devourer,” Shu Rang said, as if announcing the weather. “Go fight for it.”

Wang Jie froze. Everyone had been warning him away, and his own master was sending him in. “Yes, Master.”

“That star-devourer is packed with lockforce,” Shu Rang continued, half to himself. “Get it and you’ll benefit. You’ll reach full-star realm quickly.”

He squinted at Wang Jie. “But it won’t be easy. Black-White Heaven disciples aren’t fools. If you were in their realm, you could ignore them. But you’re only star-breaking realm.”

He took a drink, then asked abruptly, “Have you learned how to use qi?”

Wang Jie’s eyes lit up. “Not yet.”

“Then why are you so excited?”

“Disciple wants to learn.”

Shu Rang rolled his eyes. “Fine. Qi usage can be divided into four types: yuan, zong, ying, and wei.”

“Yuan qi is innate. Everyone has it. It’s the engine of life, the foundation of everything.”

“Zong qi governs breath and the circulation of qi and blood. It regulates the heart.”

“Ying qi nourishes the body—and the spirit.”

“Wei qi exists outside the meridians. It guards against invading cold, evil, and external force.”

He tapped the table with a finger. “The qi you have now is thin. You’re still laying your foundation. If you want to apply it, the best use right now is wei qi. It will protect you far better than simply throwing qi up like a wall.”

Then, more quietly, “When you circulate qi, do it away from people—especially those with high status. Don’t let anyone recognize it. Qi belongs to the dead realm. It isn’t accepted.”

“Dead realm?” Wang Jie asked.

Shu Rang considered, then shrugged. “Think of it as another cultivation world. Hidden deep. Terrifyingly strong. Factions everywhere, and countless methods of using qi.”

He waved it off. “You don’t need that yet. Learn the simplest first.”

He leaned forward. “Move your qi.”

Wang Jie obeyed.

“Right now your qi clings to the surface,” Shu Rang said, voice turning precise. “Wei qi requires you to sink it into meridians and bone, to fuse it through flesh, and to spread it across the body in an instant…”

Under Shu Rang’s guidance, Wang Jie finally stepped through the true doorway of cultivating qi.

Some things were simple once you knew where to look. Without that first step, you could spend a lifetime outside the door and never understand.

Wei qi itself wasn’t complicated—just a handful of steps. The difficulty lay in the mindset.

Now Wang Jie had it.

And with that, the path ahead—once declared dead—opened into endless possibilities.