Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Star-devourer Contest

Shu Rang lounged back, satisfied with himself. “Some geniuses build entire schools on top of these four types of qi. That’s how factions form.”

“But you? You start by mastering the foundation. Learn these four before anything else.”

He tipped his gourd. “Well? Hard?”

“Not hard,” Wang Jie said. “Disciple is confident I can master it.”

“Good.” Shu Rang’s eyes gleamed. “How could my disciple lose to mere Black-White Heaven disciples? Even cultivating lockforce, you must be the best. Otherwise, how could you be worthy of Black-White Heaven feeding me with the strength of the entire sect?”

Wang Jie’s brows flicked up. That sounded… significant.

Shu Rang either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Stop thinking about nonsense. Keep practicing. Before you fight for star-devourer, I want you to internalize wei qi. It’s difficult and simple for the same reason—practice makes perfect.”

He looked ready to leave again.

Wang Jie hurriedly spoke. “Master—disciple has a question.”

“Speak.”

“I have scripture-viewing qualification,” Wang Jie said. “Is it suitable to go now?”

“Scripture viewing?” Shu Rang paused. “Great domain scripture?”

“Yes.”

Shu Rang looked genuinely surprised. “Elder Zhi Xingxue treats you well. She even fought for scripture-viewing qualification for a lockforce cultivator.”

Wang Jie said nothing. He’d paid for that qualification in blood and desperation.

“Don’t go now,” Shu Rang said. “Wait until you break through from full-star realm to roaming-star realm.”

At Wang Jie’s look, Shu Rang smiled faintly. “Great domain scripture is decent. When roaming-star realm cultivates, it can produce phenomena. If yours is loud enough, stronger forces might notice you. That brings benefits.”

He pointed with the mouth of his gourd. “Go when you can be seen. Going now would waste it.”

Wang Jie bowed. “Yes, Master.”

After that, Wang Jie sank into qi refinement with the stubborn focus of a man who had waited too long. He trained wei qi until it became instinct.

Three months passed before he truly grasped the basics—before he could sink qi into meridians and bone and spread it through flesh in a blink.

When he emerged, he learned the star-devourer contest’s exact date.

Four months.

It had already been eight months since the announcement first spread.

A full year, then.

Was that extra time something Elder Zhi Xingxue had fought for, or had Zhi Qing planned it from the start?

Su Le returned to the Glazed Courtyard as soon as she heard he was out. She looked at him oddly, as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or scold.

“Eldest Senior Sister refused?” Wang Jie asked.

Su Le shook her head.

Wang Jie’s heart still sank. He could already see the blood and chaos ahead; without protection, he would have to carve his way through with his own hands.

Then Su Le said, “Eldest Senior Sister agreed.”

Wang Jie stared. “Next time, don’t pause like that.”

Su Le huffed. “Why did she agree?” she demanded, then frowned. “No—why do you think she agreed? I showed her the thing you gave me and she agreed immediately. She even looked… excited.”

“You didn’t look inside?”

“You didn’t let me.”

Wang Jie exhaled slowly. Honest to the point of danger.

Su Le leaned closer, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Did you write her a love letter?”

Wang Jie took a quick step back. “Stop imagining things. It’s a pill.”

“A pill? What kind?”

“A six-wen pill.”

Su Le’s eyes widened. “Six-wen?”

Wang Jie produced a small bottle and handed it to her. Su Le opened it, and the moment she saw what lay inside, her breath caught.

A six-wen Burststar Pill.

She looked up at him, stunned. “Master… you can refine six-wen pills? Even masters struggle with that. How did you do it?”

“Star-refining,” Wang Jie said simply. “It naturally raises the grade.”

Understanding dawned over Su Le’s face. No wonder Mo Wan Yin had looked excited. No wonder she’d agreed.

If star-refining could raise five-wen to six-wen, the value—to a person, to a sect—was immeasurable. Black-White Heaven struggled with six-wen pills as if there were a bottleneck no one could break.

Su Le’s hands trembled as she offered the bottle back, reluctant. “Master’s ability is extraordinary.”

Wang Jie smiled. “Keep it.”

Su Le snatched it to her chest as if he might change his mind, then tucked it away with the speed of someone guarding treasure.

He had already given Mo Wan Yin three pills. This bottle held two more. He still had fifteen six-wen Burststar Pills remaining.

Burststar Pills themselves were easy. Six-wen was another matter entirely.

Du Xian had been watching him because of it, waiting to see if he could truly star-refine results like this.

If Du Xian reported it to Black-White Heaven, Zhi Study Valley would absolutely make room for him.

But Wang Jie had no intention of becoming Black-White Heaven’s tool.

Frostflower Sect had taught him enough. He’d been respected there, and yet that cold domain lord still found a way to reach him.

Only strength protected you.

Once he was placed in Zhi Study Valley, his path would be decided for him.

Su Le’s gaze grew even more reverent. “Thank you, Master.”

She hesitated, then remembered something. “Eldest Senior Sister asked me to bring this to you.”

Wang Jie took the container and felt his pulse jump. “Thunder-seal Pills?”

“Yes.” Su Le nodded quickly. “Eldest Senior Sister cultivated thunder pattern too. These Thunder-seal Pills are what she had left over. When she heard you cultivate thunder pattern, she told me to bring them—so you can better protect yourself.”

Wang Jie bowed slightly. “Tell Eldest Senior Sister I’m grateful.”

“You can thank her yourself at star-devourer,” Su Le said, eyes bright. “She’s looking forward to meeting you.”

With Thunder-seal Pills in hand, Wang Jie returned to seclusion.

Four months remained. Even with a six-path roamer protecting him, he refused to rely on anyone. Zhi Qing was not an enemy you survived by hoping.

Three months passed in a blur of pain and refinement.

When Wang Jie emerged, his red thunder pattern was deeper, denser—more absolute. By his estimate, it could withstand one hundred and twenty thousand destruction power.

That was only a number.

In a real fight, he believed he could contend with experts around two hundred and fifty thousand combat power.

And he was still only star-breaking realm.

One month remained until the star-devourer contest.

It was time.

His ship cut through the deep void, distant lines of light streaking past—stars, some large, some small. If you truly counted, you’d realize Blue Star was nothing in the universe. There were worlds a hundred times its size, a thousand, ten thousand… even billions of times larger.

On the screen, his destination drew nearer.

The star-devourer’s position lay in the third star chain of the fourth nebula, connected to Zhi Academy—close enough to tempt, far enough to kill.

Before reaching it, he was to meet one person.

Little Lan.

She had escorted him to Zhi Academy. Now she would escort him again.

Elder Zhi Xingxue had tried to stop him, but when it came time to help, she never hesitated. Whatever her motives, Wang Jie couldn’t deny his gratitude.

A knock sounded at the hatch.

When he opened it, Little Lan stepped inside.

Wang Jie hurried forward and bowed. “Greetings, Senior.”

“So soon, and we meet again,” Little Lan said, walking in as if the ship belonged to her.

Wang Jie forced a smile. “Circumstances left me no choice. I hope Senior—and Elder Zhi Xingxue—can forgive the trouble.”

Little Lan studied him. “You’re truly determined to fight for star-devourer?”

“Yes,” Wang Jie said. “Junior is certain.”

“Then so be it.” Little Lan’s voice remained even. “Life and death are fate. My task is to escort you safely to star-devourer and ensure no one can touch you outside of it. What happens once you enter the battlefield is beyond my responsibility.”

Wang Jie bowed again. “Junior understands. Thank you, Senior.”

They sat in the ship’s reception room while the vessel flew itself onward. Little Lan accepted the tea he poured and spoke without preamble.

“I’ll explain star-devourer to you.”

“Star-devourer’s volume is twenty thousand times the minimum a star-breaking realm cultivator must destroy to qualify,” she said. “That’s considered large.”

Wang Jie did the math in his head. Star-breaking realm’s baseline was half of Blue Star. Twenty thousand times that… ten thousand times Blue Star.

Enormous.

“And the planet itself is strange,” Little Lan continued. “Lockforce has been poured into it for countless years. Everything on it—mountains, rivers, grass, trees—is far tougher than on an ordinary world.”

She looked at him sharply. “Has anyone ever told you star-breaking realm doesn’t choose strange planets as targets? Because the powers contained in such planets aren’t something a star-breaking realm can break.”

“With star-devourer’s size and the lockforce inside it, even roaming-star realm would struggle to punch through it. So the battlefield is on the planet itself.”

Wang Jie listened in silence.

“The rules are simple,” Little Lan said. “There are two jade stones on star-devourer. One is marked black, the other white. Whoever gets both and hands them to the elders outside star-devourer ends the contest.”

Wang Jie stiffened. “Outside?”

“Yes.” Little Lan’s gaze hardened. “You understand what that means.”

“If you aren’t roaming-star realm, how will you step into the void? Even if you take both jade stones, how will you deliver them to the elders?”

She leaned forward. “Are you still going?”

Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Little Lan exhaled, almost tired. “Then it’s your choice. Your master has high hopes for you. Don’t die there.”

Wang Jie’s jaw tightened. He didn’t have the luxury of fear. If he obtained star-devourer, he would never worry about lockforce for full-star realm again—perhaps not even for roaming-star realm.

How could he not fight for it?

If Zhi Qing didn’t value him for his lockforce needs, she wouldn’t have released star-devourer at all.

And Master Shu Rang had pushed him into this.

He absolutely knew the rules. If he still demanded Wang Jie participate, then this, too, was a test.

Half a month later, they crossed into the third star chain—leaving Zhi Academy behind. The paperwork for Wang Jie’s departure had already been handled by Elder Zhi Xingxue.

From the outside, the star chain looked the same as any other. The difference lay in Black-White Heaven’s authority. The moment a civilization brushed against that sect’s reach, their place in the universe was redefined.

It was a tragedy.

Knowledge shaped reality, but knowledge that outstripped one’s strength could be lethal.

Along the way, Little Lan briefed Wang Jie on Black-White Heaven’s elite disciples, warning him of those to watch.

Wang Jie already had intel from Du Xian, but he didn’t interrupt. Du Xian’s information could never be complete.

Yet as Little Lan spoke, Wang Jie realized something uncomfortable.

Du Xian’s intel was more detailed than Little Lan’s.

That only deepened his awe for Star Vault Vista’s reach.

One day, the ship chimed an alert—someone was approaching.

They’d passed other ships without incident. An alert meant the approaching vessel was extremely close to the Shen Wang Number and closing fast.

Wang Jie looked at the screen and felt a flicker of disbelief.

Shi Wei.

The same man who had calmly announced he intended to beat Yun Ju.

They’d only met once outside the Glazed Courtyard, and now he was here, on a course that could only mean one thing.

He was heading for star-devourer too.