Chapter 239

Chapter 239: Observer

Elder Li Tong He knew his words struck hard, but he didn’t regret them.

This was reality.

If a few harsh truths could crush their resolve, they had no business climbing higher.

But he wasn’t thinking of Han Song when he said it.

His gaze slid to Wang Jie.

Star-Breaking Realm, with battle power already comparable to Han Song. Once he stepped into the tournament, how high could he climb in the Full-Star Realm round?

Elder Li Tong He honestly didn’t know.

But he expected an explosion.

The gap between the Full-Star Realm tournament and the Roaming-Star Realm round was long. If Wang Jie could break through to Roaming-Star Realm in that time…

The elder’s heart almost raced at the thought.

You didn’t need to be Roaming-Star Realm to participate in the Roaming-Star Realm tournament, but if Wang Jie did break through, his battle power would leap again.

By then, what kind of monster would he become?

“Wang Jie,” Elder Li Tong He said.

Wang Jie looked at him.

“The Full-Star Realm tournament requires Full-Star Realm to participate,” Elder Li Tong He said. “But the Roaming-Star Realm and Hundred-Star Realm rounds are different. Lower realms can participate as well.”

Wang Jie’s eyes gleamed. “This disciple understands.”

The others looked at Wang Jie with complicated hope.

In all of Black-White Heaven, aside from the Six-Path Roamer and the Zhi Family prodigies, he might be the only one with the potential to shock the universe.

Five years.

Under normal conditions, Wang Jie was confident he could reach Full-Star Realm within five years.

But he didn’t want normal.

He wanted to exceed the limit.

He needed to break it.

And to break it… based on his experience in Ten Seals, he needed life-and-death pressure.

On Blue Star, Shu Mu Ye had nearly beaten him to death twice. That was how he shattered limit after limit.

In the end, he had broken the hundredfold strength ceiling at Thunder Well by a strange stroke of luck.

He wasn’t chasing that again.

It required fate.

But ninety-nine times?

He had to reach that.

Life-and-death pressure.

Wang Jie made his decision.

“Elder,” he said suddenly, “we’re not going back. Turn the ship. Han Hai.”

Everyone froze.

Elder Li Tong He’s face twitched. He had spoken too much.

“Han Hai isn’t a playground,” the elder said tightly. “Go back and recover first.”

Wang Jie didn’t budge. “Starry Sky Martial Tournament starts in five years. This disciple wants to improve as much as possible before then.

“I don’t want to disappoint everyone.”

Han Song lifted his head. “Elder. Han Hai.”

Shi Wei clenched his fist. “Han Hai.”

Li Cai’s eyes shone. “That’s right. Han Hai. Let’s gamble.”

One by one, the squad voiced agreement.

Even Yun Ju didn’t object.

If they didn’t carve their way up in Han Hai, how could they ever stand on that tournament stage?

Wen Yuan wanted to cry.

Again?

Elder Li Tong He sighed. Reluctantly, he ordered the course change.

Han Hai was the fiercest zone of the Ying Yang Battlefield.

But with Xuan Gate closing its sect, it wasn’t as brutal as it once had been.

Some time later, the ship approached Han Hai.

Wang Jie looked out at the familiar sea of shattered planetary debris drifting through the void.

He hadn’t expected to ask for this himself.

It went against his usual survival-first approach.

But he had changed.

He could protect himself now.

Even if he ran into someone like Yue Bai alone, he was confident he wouldn’t be beaten into helplessness. He could at least escape. And he wasn’t alone—his squad was with him.

He realized he had grown used to the battlefield.

“Move.”

The squad leaped from the ship, landed on a chunk of broken land, and charged toward a distant clash.

The moment they entered, the local tide of battle flipped.

Light beams crisscrossed the void, but Wang Jie read their trajectories at a glance and dodged with ease.

On the battlefield, he killed enemy Roaming-Star Realm one after another, locking the advantage down quickly.

Han Song and the others fought just as fiercely.

Black-White Heaven cultivators nearby stared in disbelief.

Where did this pack of ruthless lunatics come from?

On the ship, Elder Li Tong He watched from afar with a complicated sigh.

In his youth, they had been impulsive too. A group of them had done everything possible to raise their strength before the tournament—sold resources, burned opportunities, forced their way forward.

Then they entered the tournament and learned what true despair meant.

The universe was too vast.

Fourth Nebula was the bottom layer of Bei Dou Bridge-Pillar.

And Bei Dou Bridge-Pillar, in the grand scale, was itself only one of the lower layers.

It was tragic.

Right then, Elder Li Tong He suddenly remembered something and immediately contacted the Command Hub.

—

Han Hai was weaker than Wang Jie remembered.

Not because he had become vastly stronger overnight, but because the whole war had cooled. Even the massive concentrated bombardments were half the scale they used to be.

After more than ten days, the pattern became undeniable.

While resting inside a hollowed chunk of debris, Wen Yuan said, “I asked around. Ever since Skyport, Han Hai has been like this. The death rate went from ninety-nine percent to fifty.”

Li Cai frowned. “Why?”

“Third Nebula withdrew most of their people,” Wen Yuan said. “And Second Star Cloud pulled out a group too.”

“Now the battlefield is basically Third Nebula and Second Star Cloud defending, and Black-White Heaven attacking.”

“They aren’t trying to take Ying Yang Battlefield anymore, but they also won’t let it go easily.”

Han Song’s eyes were cold. “If they’re only defending, no wonder the pressure dropped. Skyport drained them badly.”

“But Third Nebula retreating is the main reason,” Wen Yuan said.

Wang Jie fell silent.

Third Nebula retreating meant Xuan Gate retreated.

Xuan Gate led Third Nebula. Every war push came from Xuan Gate. If Xuan Gate stepped back, the rest would follow.

No wonder the battlefield changed.

Which was a problem.

A Han Hai like this couldn’t give him the pressure he needed to break his limit.

Unless he went to sneak attack a Hundred-Star Realm guarding the enemy line?

No. That wasn’t pressure.

That was suicide.

The battlefield had transformed.

Once Black-White Heaven gained the upper hand, everything became different.

And in such a situation, reaching battle general level would be hard. The enemy’s battle elite Roaming-Star Realm fighters likely had already withdrawn.

That day, the squad hid inside broken land to rest.

Wang Jie’s vision suddenly spun.

In the next instant, the battlefield vanished.

He looked up to find nothing around him but deep, empty space—far, far from Han Hai.

No one had noticed. Not even Elder Li Tong He.

And standing before Wang Jie was a man, studying him with an odd, measuring gaze.

Wang Jie reacted on instinct. “Junior Wang Jie greets Senior.”

He didn’t know who the man was, but he felt no hostility.

The man sighed, amazed. “To cultivate lockforce and reach your level… rare across all ages. Truly rare.

“No wonder Du Xian invited you.”

Wang Jie’s eyes widened. “Senior is Star Vault Vista’s observer?”

The man nodded. “Si Yao. Tai Qiong Walker.”

Wang Jie exhaled, relief loosening something in his chest. He bowed again. “Junior greets Tai Qiong Walker.”

To be honest, he’d almost forgotten about the invitation.

How long ago had Du Xian tried to recruit him into Star Vault Vista?

Too much had happened since.

He’d assumed they weren’t interested, or simply never came.

He didn’t expect a Tai Qiong Walker to appear now.

Si Yao smiled. “Wang Jie. Are you willing to join Star Vault Vista?”

Wang Jie met his gaze. “Senior means… the observation has passed?”

“Of course.”

“Then junior is willing.”

Si Yao’s smile deepened, and the tension in his shoulders eased.

Willing was enough.

This little kid might be connected to a Star Dao master. Star Vault Vista could not afford to ignore any Star Dao master, even indirectly.

And even without that connection, Si Yao’s investigation had already proved Wang Jie was extraordinary.

Lockforce had no future—so they said.

But that depended on the ceiling.

If the ceiling was Roaming-Star Realm, Wang Jie’s value was still considerable. After all, he fought Roaming-Star Realm while at Star-Breaking Realm. If he reached Roaming-Star Realm, he would have Hundred-Star Realm-level battle power and could guard an entire front.

If the ceiling was Hundred-Star Realm… then his value would be terrifying.

Either way, Wang Jie’s ability and character qualified him.

If there was a Star Dao master behind him, even better.

If not, Star Vault Vista still wanted him.

Si Yao held out a hand. “Take out Du Xian’s token.”

Wang Jie retrieved the piece of jade.

Tai Qiong Walkers observed through that jade. As long as it stayed within one meter of its bearer, it could be sensed.

Si Yao took it, brushed his finger across it, then returned it.

“From this moment on, you are Star Vault Vista’s observer.”

“Everyone invited into Star Vault Vista begins as an observer. Observation means you watch the people, events, and objects around you, and periodically write a report.”

“The report can contain anything you want. The next time you meet the person Star Vault Vista sends to assign you, you hand it over.”

“Normally, you won’t receive tasks. But if you do, you must complete them. Failure means reassessment. Success brings generous reward.”

Wang Jie nodded slowly.

So he had officially become… a worker.

Si Yao continued, “The benefits are obvious.

“You gain free access to Star Vault Vista’s intelligence on beings at Hundred-Star Realm and below. You gain Star Vault Vista’s protection. And you gain a path upward through our network.”

“And also—”

He tapped the jade in Wang Jie’s hand.

“This is your identity token. It can also block a fatal strike.”

Wang Jie’s eyes snapped to the jade. “Block a fatal strike?”

“Any fatal strike,” Si Yao said. “And it will transfer you to the nearest person who possesses an identity token, placing you under protection.”

Wang Jie’s breath caught.

A second life.

Even if everything else were stripped away, that alone made joining worth it.

Si Yao smiled. “From the moment you join Star Vault Vista, your identity changes completely. You’ll feel it more and more clearly.”

“Now, your first task.”

Wang Jie blinked. “Didn’t you say there usually aren’t tasks?”

Si Yao laughed. “You got lucky.”

Wang Jie stared at him.

Si Yao’s expression turned serious. “Your first task is this: break through to Full-Star Realm, participate in Starry Sky Martial Tournament, and obtain a ranking.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Isn’t that… overestimating me? Getting a ranking in Starry Sky Martial Tournament isn’t easy.”

Si Yao chuckled. “For others, yes. For you, it’s different.

“You fight Roaming-Star Realm while at Star-Breaking Realm. Even if you make no progress from now on, you’ll still take a ranking—and it won’t be low.

“This task is a formality.”

Wang Jie didn’t deny it.

No matter how many geniuses existed, in the Full-Star Realm tournament, he could enter the top hundred. There simply couldn’t be that many Full-Star Realm freaks with battle power over three hundred thousand.

Si Yao said, “This is the first Starry Sky Martial Tournament task. Star Vault Vista will reward you according to your ranking.

“If you barely enter the top hundred, you receive one hundred billion starstone, plus a Star-Refining Realm intelligence file.”

Wang Jie’s pupils tightened.

Top hundred, and the reward was already that outrageous?

One hundred billion starstone was immense.

And a Star-Refining Realm intelligence file… anything involving Star-Refining Realm was priceless.

It was practically a gift.

“The higher the rank,” Si Yao said, “the higher the reward. High enough to exceed your imagination.”

Wang Jie’s voice turned sharp with hunger. “What if I make the top ten?”

Si Yao studied him for a long moment, then asked, “You came from Frost Splendor Sect, didn’t you?”

Wang Jie hesitated, then nodded. “More or less.”

Si Yao’s smile was calm, almost casual. “Then I’ll give you a Frost Splendor Sect.”