Chapter 236

Chapter 236: A Request

Elder Li Tong He realized how frantic he sounded. He drew a long breath and forced his voice gentler. “You did nothing wrong, Wang Jie. You’re not at fault. It’s just that too many people have asked about you. As long as you return alive, everything is fine. Night Hunt already has your coordinates. They’ll bring you back soon.”

Wang Jie lowered his terminal, head still spinning.

Too many people had asked about him?

How many did it take to make Elder Li Tong He sound like that?

Other than Zhi Xing Xue, who else could possibly care?

Had his bargain master finally stepped in?

That seemed like the only explanation.

Wang Jie stayed hidden nearby. Nine hours passed. Then a ship drew close.

His terminal rang again.

“You can come out. I’m Night Hunt.”

Wang Jie stepped out and faced the descending vessel.

The hatch opened. A group filed out, led by a man Wang Jie had never seen before.

The man’s eyes locked on Wang Jie first.

Then his gaze slid to the enormous rift in the distance, and his expression tightened. What in the world was that?

Wang Jie hurried to bow. “This disciple greets—”

He didn’t even finish. The man caught him and stopped the salute. Pale-faced, he forced a faint smile. “No need. You’ve worked hard. Let’s go back.”

Wang Jie managed a stiff, bewildered “Oh,” and followed them aboard.

As the ship lifted off, the man looked back at the rift once more, wariness plain in his eyes.

On the way, Wang Jie grew increasingly uncomfortable.

The man wasn’t openly staring, but Wang Jie could feel him watching all the same—never relaxing, never letting his guard drop.

Night Hunt knew power struggles better than anyone.

The Black-and-White Realms, Zhi Study Valley, the four refining grounds, Zhi Upper Realm—behind every single one stood lords playing their games.

Yet Wang Jie’s disappearance had drawn every lord’s attention, as if the one who vanished weren’t a Star-Breaking Realm lockforce cultivator, but Old Ancestor Zhi Yu himself.

Nothing like this had ever happened before.

The man didn’t even dare imagine it: if it had been Wang Jie trapped in Skyport instead of Zhi Nan Xing, would Old Ancestor Zhi Yu have come out of seclusion personally?

What kind of identity did Wang Jie have?

Was he the core of the core among the Zhi Family?

No. If that were true, why would he cultivate lockforce?

The man couldn’t make sense of it, and neither could anyone else. All he could do was escort Wang Jie back and wait for answers.

Still, there was one thing he could ask.

“Wang Jie,” the man said at last.

“This disciple is here.”

“That rift in the frozen ground. Who did it?”

Wang Jie kept his face blank. “This disciple doesn’t know.”

The man held his gaze for a long moment, searching for cracks, then let the question go.

Qing Huan had warned Wang Jie not to speak of her.

Wang Jie didn’t dare breathe a hint. If her name leaked out, who knew what kind of disaster would follow?

Eventually, the ship neared the Command Hub.

Wang Jie felt a strange, dizzy relief, like he’d crawled back from the edge of death.

Skyport’s battle, Yue Jian’s betrayal, Yun Que nearly dying—he couldn’t think of a way to untangle any of it, but from the looks of the Command Hub, the situation wasn’t as ruined as he’d feared.

Waiting for him was Elder Li Tong He, Elder Ming, Liu Lin, Wang Jie’s squad, and a crowd of others.

Everyone looked at him as if he were suddenly a stranger.

A familiar face, but unfamiliar in a way that left them unsettled.

Wang Jie walked down the ramp under those complicated stares. In the end, Elder Li Tong He took him away without a word.

“Sit.”

Inside a small rest room, Elder Li Tong He sat and motioned for Wang Jie to sit as well.

No one else was present. Not even Elder Ming.

Wang Jie sat and couldn’t help asking, “Senior… what’s going on?

This is too much. This disciple hasn’t done anything world-shaking.”

Elder Li Tong He stared at him. “You haven’t?

Do you have any idea how many people asked about you after you disappeared?

Forget the sect. Even First Nebula had people asking.”

Wang Jie’s heartbeat jumped. “Who?”

“Milky Way Defense Corporation.”

“Why are they asking about me?”

“They want to borrow you for cultivation exchange in their territory.”

“I refused them already.”

Wang Jie rubbed his forehead. Back then Qi Xue Yin had asked, and he’d refused without hesitation. After that, she tried to use the excuse of demanding lockforce cultivators to negotiate with Black-White Heaven, insisting Wang Jie be included, and she was refused again.

He hadn’t expected them to come back a third time. They really weren’t letting go.

Elder Li Tong He couldn’t stop himself. He looked Wang Jie up and down like he was seeing him for the first time. “Who are you, exactly?”

Wang Jie didn’t know how to answer.

If he insisted he was just an ordinary disciple, it would sound like he was mocking the elder’s intelligence.

Elder Li Tong He waved a hand. “Enough. I won’t dig into it. You’re alive. That’s what matters.

At least now I can report that you’re back.”

He exhaled, then added with a mix of bitterness and disbelief, “When you went missing, the whole Ying Yang Battlefield shook. That’s never happened before.”

He gave a humorless chuckle. “If I died, I wouldn’t get half this attention.”

Wang Jie seized the chance to change the topic. “Senior, what happened with the Skyport battle?”

Elder Li Tong He said, “That fight was a scheme within a scheme. The sect received intel that Xuan Gate planned to unify Third Nebula, and the war was meant to distract and hide their real moves.

So we knew Skyport would have an ambush. What we didn’t expect was that they wouldn’t strike the Command Hub at all—they went straight for Skyport.”

“But it didn’t matter. Both sides prepared.”

“Night Hunt, Yun Que, and Zhi Family experts. That’s how we brought most of our people back.”

“And the sect disrupted Third Nebula’s layout on their end as well. Xuan Gate wants to become a second Nan Family? Dream on.”

Wang Jie’s eyes flickered. So his earlier warning really had mattered.

The details were too high-level. Elder Li Tong He didn’t elaborate. Wang Jie was still a disciple. He didn’t need to know everything.

After leaving, Wang Jie met briefly with his squad, exchanged a few words, then finally went to rest.

The Command Hub’s atmosphere loosened, returning to something close to normal.

Before he could sleep, there was one thing he had to do: report his safety to Zhi Xing Xue.

Plenty of people had tried to contact him, but Zhi Xing Xue was the only one he could reach. Others like Celestial Master Bai Ye were beyond him. He couldn’t contact Zhi Study Valley at all.

At the edict platform, the cultivator responsible for external communications rushed to him, almost fawning, and gave him priority.

Even the line behind him didn’t protest.

Soon, Zhi Xing Xue’s voice came through. “Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie bowed instinctively. “Senior. This junior is still alive.”

“Mhm. Good that you’re alive.” Zhi Xing Xue sounded genuinely relieved. “The Command Hub told me earlier.”

“Thank you for worrying, Senior.”

“I wanted to transfer you off the battlefield, but I couldn’t.”

There was a brief pause.

“You… took a master?”

Wang Jie knew there was no point hiding it. His bargain master’s interference had been too blatant. The man’s shadow had pushed straight through Zhi Upper Realm’s authority and into the war zone. What surprised Wang Jie was that Zhi Xing Xue hadn’t mentioned it before. Now she asked directly. “Yes. I took a master.

But Master forbids me from speaking of it.”

“Fine. People like that are always mysterious.”

Zhi Xing Xue had her answer. Even though Zhi Ye had already told her, hearing it from Wang Jie himself was different.

Star Dao masters were the most mysterious kind of people in the universe, across all ages.

And the method recognized as the strongest was called star dao chen art.

Zhi Xing Xue didn’t know what star dao chen art truly was, but she understood what it meant: once Wang Jie had that connection, his future was no longer something she could easily steer.

She wouldn’t need to watch Zhi Qing anymore. Zhi Qing’s line wouldn’t dare touch Wang Jie.

They spoke a little longer, and Wang Jie noticed it—Zhi Xing Xue’s attitude had changed.

Subtly. Complexly.

It made sense.

Before, Wang Jie lived under her protection. In a way, he was a chess piece she sheltered and used. If he died, it wouldn’t hurt her.

Now it was different.

Anything she asked of him had to be weighed against the person behind him. The balance had shifted. Her tone couldn’t help but change.

“Senior,” Wang Jie said, “this junior asks for your help in rejecting Milky Way Defense Corporation’s borrowing request.”

“Done. That’s easy. Borrowing is voluntary.”

She hesitated, then added, “But if that person wants you to go, I can’t stop it.”

That person could only be Shu Rang.

Wang Jie didn’t flinch. “That won’t happen. This junior won’t leave Fourth Nebula for now.”

“Mhm.”

Then Zhi Xing Xue said, “There’s one more thing. You’ve heard about what happened in Third Nebula?”

“I heard some.”

“If not for your timely intel, Xuan Gate might truly have unified Third Nebula. You deserve the first credit for that.”

Her voice turned formal. “Tell me. What reward do you want? This is the sect’s reward. You may make any request.”

Wang Jie’s heart kicked. “Any request?”

“Any.”

Wang Jie didn’t even pretend to hesitate. “This junior hopes to push Blue Star into Suo Xing Jian.”

Zhi Xing Xue sounded startled. She hadn’t expected him to bring up Blue Star—his home planet.

Back when they fled Frost Splendor Sect to Black-White Heaven, Wang Jie had begged for protection. At that time, Zhi Xing Xue was hollowed out by exhaustion and despair. Yet when she saw Wang Jie’s stubborn determination to protect his homeland, it mirrored her own desire to protect Frost Splendor Sect. And Wang Jie had earned merit. In the end, she traded a Zen Token to force Black-White Heaven to carve out a protected region in Third Nebula.

That region was Silver Radiance Empire, where Blue Star resided.

And now, Wang Jie brought Blue Star up again.

He had never forgotten his home.

The request sent a warm current through Zhi Xing Xue. Faced with an achievement large enough to drown him in rewards, he still only thought of his homeland. In a world full of schemes and betrayal, that kind of loyalty was rare.

Her gaze softened, steadying. So what if Wang Jie had a Star Dao master behind him?

She was still his supporter.

“All right,” she said. “I can submit that request to the sect, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

“Wait there,” Zhi Xing Xue said. “I’ll go and return.”

The call ended.

Wang Jie stayed at the edict platform, waiting.

Cultivators nearby glanced at him again and again.

Zheng Qi appeared, eyes shining, practically vibrating with eagerness. He rushed over and spoke with exaggerated respect. “Brother! You’re back! That’s great. I thought something happened to you. I asked the Command Hub multiple times to search Skyport for you, but they refused. Now that you’re safe, I can finally relax.”

Wang Jie rolled his eyes. “You again. Back to setting up stalls?”

“No, no. I’m here for you.”

“For what?”

“To see with my own eyes that you’re fine. Only then can I be at ease.”

Wang Jie stared at him. “…”

Zheng Qi stuck close like a shadow. Before, he only thought Wang Jie was talented and backed by a lord of Zhi Upper Realm.

Now he understood: Wang Jie was backed by the whole sect—no, maybe even by forces in First Nebula.

Someone like that was connected to the sky itself.

And this person had once wanted to join a squad, only to be turned away?

If anyone had accepted him then, they’d be soaring now.

How much regret must those who rejected him feel?

Zheng Qi certainly did. Deeply.

If he’d known, he would’ve dragged Wang Jie in the moment he first arrived at the edict platform—fed him, entertained him, treated him like an honored guest.

At least with Zheng Qi chattering away, Wang Jie didn’t grow bored.

After a while, Zhi Xing Xue contacted him again.

“It can be done.”

Wang Jie straightened, exhilaration flashing across his face. “Thank you, Senior!”

“But you’ll have to wait a long time.”

“Why?”

“Destroying a planet is easy. Moving it intact is not. You should understand that.”

Wang Jie did understand. He’d asked once before and been refused.