Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Stepping Forward

Shu Rang laughed, wine jug in hand, swaying as he wandered closer. “You’re not that fragile.”

Wang Jie wiped sweat from his forehead and forced himself to breathe. “Master truly is everywhere. Disciple admires that.”

Shu Rang dropped into a seat. “What—are you blaming me for not helping you at Star-Devourer?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Hah.” Shu Rang took a swig. “If that old maid hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve acted.”

He pointed to another corner. “Look.”

Wang Jie turned—and his gaze locked.

A corpse.

“You know who that is?” Shu Rang asked.

Wang Jie stepped closer, flipped the body over, and his voice came out raw with shock. “Elder Cheng?”

Shu Rang drank again and belched, thoroughly pleased.

Wang Jie stared at him, throat dry. “Master… this is—”

“Happy now?” Shu Rang asked, eyes suddenly deep as the starry void. “My disciple doesn’t get bullied that easily.”

“Hmph. He claimed he didn’t know you were my disciple. So what?”

“Bad luck.”

Wang Jie swallowed. Elder Cheng was a hundred-star realm elder of the elders’ court.

And he had died without a sound.

Black-White Heaven had no rumors, no whispers, nothing.

It felt unreal.

“Black-White Heaven won’t do anything?” Wang Jie asked.

“They don’t dare,” Shu Rang said, wiping his mouth.

Wang Jie exhaled shakily. “So that’s why Master told me not to announce my lineage.”

Shu Rang snorted. “In a backwater corner like the Fourth Nebula, if you shouted my name, who would dare touch you?”

“You’d live inside a dream forever.”

“And I didn’t take you as a disciple so you could play.”

His tone turned colder.

“Remember this. What you have to do is hard. So hard you can’t even imagine it.”

“The Fourth Nebula. Black-White Heaven. The Zhi family. They’re all stepping stones.”

“Step on them and pass, and you’re worthy to be my disciple. Fail, and die.”

The words were merciless, but warmth still flickered in Wang Jie’s chest.

He had spent most of his life with no one behind him.

Now, for the first time, he felt as if he could charge at anything.

“Disciple understands.”

Shu Rang seemed satisfied. He lounged back. “You did well this time. As a star-breaking realm lockforce cultivator, you played roaming-star realm disciples like toys.”

“Han Ling was decent. I don’t care how you stalled him. I don’t care how you beat that Zhi family girl.”

“The result is the result.”

“As your master, I’m pleased.”

He tilted his head. “That old maid told you the basics for full-star realm, yes?”

Wang Jie suppressed the urge to defend Little Lan. “Senior Little Lan explained it.”

Shu Rang grunted and tossed a jade slip over. It reeked of wine. “Go train. A method for tempering tendons and bones. Not bad—better than Black-White Heaven’s.”

“This transition from star-breaking realm to full-star realm is technically a bridge, but every major faction has their own way of tempering the body and raising saturation limits.”

“They won’t cut corners for outstanding disciples.”

“And this one surpasses everything in the Fourth Nebula.”

Wang Jie’s heart thudded. He reached for it—

Shu Rang stood. “That’s enough. I’m leaving. Cultivate.”

He stretched, looking lazy as always. “When you reach roaming-star realm, you can properly cultivate star dao.”

“Don’t disappoint me, little kid.”

Wang Jie bowed. “Master, don’t worry. Disciple will work hard.”

Shu Rang vanished as abruptly as he’d appeared.

The corpse went with him.

Wang Jie stared at the corner where Elder Cheng had been lying. A hundred-star realm cultivator could die that easily.

Then what kind of cultivation did it take to roam the universe freely?

He lowered his gaze to the jade slip.

No name. Only a method.

He studied it carefully and felt his scalp go numb.

It linked the lockforce inside the body into lines aligned with the meridians—rods, almost—and then used those lockforce rods to grind the meridians and bones, tempering them by force.

Who came up with something like this?

He didn’t need to practice to know it would be agony.

Lockforce was already fused into flesh. Forcing it into alignment and grinding it through the body was like peeling skin and ripping tendons—then crushing what remained.

The section on tempering bone was even worse. The method practically wanted a person to dismantle their skeleton, replace it with metal, and roast it in fire.

Wang Jie set the jade slip down with a long, slow breath.

Now he understood why Shu Rang had fled so quickly.

This wasn’t training.

It was torture.

He tucked the jade slip away. He would finish using Thunder-Seal Pills first.

The tendon-and-bone tempering could wait.

—

At Zhi Upper Realm, Little Lan stared in surprise at the smiling visitor outside the courtyard and hurried to bow. “Greetings, Lord.”

It was Zhi Ye.

“Enough ceremony,” Zhi Ye said gently. “Is Aunt here?”

“Master is inside. This one will report at once.”

A moment later, Zhi Ye was escorted into the courtyard.

He bowed. “Greetings, Aunt.”

Lady Xing Xue looked him over and motioned for him to sit.

Little Lan poured tea.

“Aunt, have you adjusted to being back?” Zhi Ye asked, voice soft, smile warm.

Lady Xing Xue replied flatly, “I’ve been back long enough. Whether I’ve adjusted or not, I’ve adjusted.”

“Why are you here?”

Zhi Ye smiled. “To congratulate Aunt on finding a capable helper.”

“Wang Jie?” Lady Xing Xue asked.

“Precisely.” Zhi Ye’s smile didn’t change. “Aunt’s eye is still as sharp as ever.”

Lady Xing Xue sighed. “Capable helper? He’s a child.”

“Still,” she added, “you helped him earlier. Thank you.”

Zhi Ye sipped his tea. “Aunt also brought Hao Qian Domain a new batch of lockforce cultivators. Call it mutual aid.”

He set the cup down, gaze sharpening. “But Star-Devourer caused a bigger uproar than expected. Aunt Zhi Qing doesn’t seem willing to let it go.”

Lady Xing Xue’s eyes stayed calm. “I know.”

“Do you want your nephew to lend a hand?” Zhi Ye asked.

“If you have something to say, say it,” Lady Xing Xue said. “Don’t circle.”

Zhi Ye chuckled. “Has Aunt heard of Red Moon?”

Lady Xing Xue frowned. “The Nan family’s Red Moon?”

“I know where Red Moon appeared.”

Lady Xing Xue’s eyes widened. “Where?”

Zhi Ye watched her with an easy smile. “Aunt, don’t get excited. Red Moon appearing doesn’t mean the Nan family appears.”

“And even if the Nan family returns, they may not help Shuang Hua Sect.”

Lady Xing Xue’s voice dropped. “Since I returned to Black-White Heaven, I have no intention of going back to the Third Nebula.”

“The Zhi family won’t lose a star-refining realm.”

Zhi Ye lifted his eyes. “Aunt misunderstands. That isn’t what I meant.”

He hesitated, then spoke quietly—too quietly for anyone else to catch.

Lady Xing Xue’s expression shifted in rapid steps. In the end she looked up, stunned. “That’s truly possible?”

Zhi Ye shrugged. “Seems there’s no reason to lie to Aunt.”

Lady Xing Xue stared at her tea for a long moment, then looked at him again. “So that’s why you helped Wang Jie.”

“Not only that,” Zhi Ye said. “I didn’t expect the child to reach this height.”

“When I helped him before, it was because Aunt Zhi Qing’s hands reached too far.”

“And now?” Lady Xing Xue asked. “You want him to find Red Moon?”

“Doesn’t Aunt want it?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“What does that have to do with Aunt?” Zhi Ye’s tone sharpened. “Acting Realm Lord Xing Xue—would you care whether a lockforce cultivator lives or dies?”

“Aunt spent years in Shuang Hua Sect. Have you truly changed like the rumors say?”

Lady Xing Xue stared him down. “You want him to go? Fine. Then you handle the trouble on Zhi Qing’s side.”

Zhi Ye rose immediately. “Then it’s settled.”

He turned to leave, his voice drifting back over his shoulder. “If Red Moon can be found, what grievance can’t be put down?”

“But don’t tell him yet. At least wait until he reaches full-star realm—perhaps even roaming-star realm—before you send him.”

He left.

Lady Xing Xue watched his back for a long time without speaking.

That nephew… he was too much like she used to be.

—

A month later, Wang Jie returned to Suo Xing Jian.

He went straight to the shop that could contact the outside. Lady Xing Xue’s reward was waiting there.

The little attendant didn’t dare touch it.

“Brother Wang, you’re back!” the attendant gushed. “Wonderful! Was your trip smooth? I heard you slaughtered your way through the Star-Devourer contest—little brother truly admires you!”

Wang Jie exchanged a few polite words and took the reward.

The moment he saw it, he didn’t know what to say.

Black Bright Jade Body.

A body-tempering method suited for star-breaking realm, meant to raise saturation and improve the body’s fusion with starforce.

In Black-White Heaven, it was precious. Not as valuable as the two scriptures, but still not something passed to anyone but elite disciples.

Forget a lockforce cultivator like him—most starforce cultivators didn’t qualify.

Lady Xing Xue had obtained it for him.

If not for the tendon-and-bone tempering method Shu Rang had given him, Wang Jie would have been ecstatic.

As it was, the reward overlapped.

The nameless tendon-and-bone method. Black Bright Jade Body. Both were body-tempering.

Wang Jie sighed and read Black Bright Jade Body more carefully.

The temptation hit quickly—not because it was stronger, but because it wasn’t as brutal.

Compared to Shu Rang’s method, Black Bright Jade Body was gentle.

That nameless method treated the body like it wasn’t human at all. Wang Jie had been so repulsed by it that on his return trip he’d rather keep taking Thunder-Seal Pills than attempt cultivation.

Now he had an alternative.

He piloted his ship toward Lone Peak Gorge, mind turning.

Two jade slips sat before him.

Which path?

He thought for a long time.

In the end, he chose the nameless tendon-and-bone tempering method.

Painful, yes—but Shu Rang had said it surpassed everything in the Fourth Nebula. That wasn’t praise he gave lightly.

Wang Jie had clawed his way upward by cultivating the best methods. He couldn’t afford to change now.

He had already walked the harshest roads—ten seals, Heaven-Reversal Path. Every step had been paid for in suffering.

So he would keep walking.

If lockforce cultivation had a limit, then he would climb to the very top of that limit.

His personal terminal rang.

Wang Jie glanced at it and raised an eyebrow. Du Xian?

She was back in Suo Xing Jian too.

“Don’t tell me you came back because of me,” Wang Jie said dryly. “Am I that important? Wherever I go, you follow.”

Du Xian laughed. “Guest, you’re my most important customer across the four refining grounds. Of course I follow my customers.”

Wang Jie wasn’t sure whether she meant it. “Fine. I’m glad you’re here. Saves me trouble. I want to buy intel.”

“Speak.”

“Wu Yun.”

“Her location?”

“Yes.”

“Five hundred thousand starstone.”

Wang Jie blinked. Not because it was high—because it was low. “That cheap?”

“For someone wanted by Black-White Heaven, abandoned, and liable to die any day, how high should it be?” Du Xian said lightly. “Consider it goodwill toward a guest fresh from victory.”

Wang Jie chuckled. “Then why not free?”

“That breaks the rules,” Du Xian said. “I don’t gather the intel myself. There are costs.”

“And remember this—if Wu Yun were still Black-White Heaven’s steward, I wouldn’t sell her location at any price. That would violate Star Vault Vista’s agreement with Black-White Heaven.”

“Keep that in mind, Guest.”

Wang Jie’s eyes flickered. “Understood. Thank you.”