Chapter 260
Chapter 260: Meditation Peak
Hearing Fang He’s words, everyone turned their gaze toward Wang Jie.
Indeed, no matter what Wang Jie said, the greatest flaw was that he was still alive.
Wang Jie smiled and took out a small boat, saying: “I relied on this to return.”
Everyone stared at the boat.
“What is this?”
“A treasure from the Zhi Vault,” Wang Jie said proudly. “It’s the one I chose.”
Fang He’s expression immediately darkened. The Zhi Vault was the Zhi Clan’s most treasured storehouse. How could this man possess something from there?
Elder Wu and Elder Mo both examined the boat carefully, then looked back at Wang Jie skeptically: “Don’t tell me this thing can float on Yunxi?”
“Of course,” Wang Jie replied calmly. “Elder can try it out.”
Elder Wu took the boat and headed toward Yunxi.
Everyone waited where they were.
Shuang Jin watched as Elder Wu placed the boat onto Yunxi’s surface. It actually floated—truly floated!
She turned to Wang Jie with astonishment in her eyes, “It truly floats upon Yunxi.”
Fang He’s expression grew even uglier. “Even if it floats, it doesn’t prove Wang Jie isn’t a traitor! How could he have escaped the Edge Sect’s blockade?”
Wang Jie chuckled coldly, “Why would Edge Sect blockade a dead man? Didn’t Senior Brother also declare me dead?”
Fang He opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
Elder Wu returned, handing the boat back to Wang Jie in amazement, “Truly worthy of the Zhi Vault’s treasures. Over so many years, aside from planetary fragments, nothing else has floated upon Yunxi.”
He looked at Wang Jie and asked, “You escaped Edge Sect’s surveillance with this?”
Wang Jie nodded, “Exactly. Everyone from Edge Sect believed I was dead, so no one pursued me. Disciple took the chance to escape, hiding on an uninhabited fragment to heal. Though I faced hardships, I eventually returned.”
This was the truth, except he conveniently omitted the misfortune of being captured again afterward.
As for the boat’s secrets, revealing it was necessary to explain his return. Moreover, within the Wandering Star Realm, a boat able to float on Yunxi might not even be considered a great treasure.
“Impossible!” Fang He angrily shouted. “He couldn’t have returned alive. The battlefield was too close to Edge Sect. How could he have remained undetected?”
Wang Jie sneered, “So Senior Brother means I should be dead?”
Fang He clenched his fists tightly, turning to Shuang Jin and bowing deeply, “Tong Shou, please give judgment and investigate if this man is a spy.”
Wang Jie likewise bowed to Shuang Jin, “Tong Shou, please judge this matter clearly. When Fang He abandoned the battlefield, others surely witnessed it.”
Fang He’s heart sank. Yes, there were indeed witnesses. If Wang Jie had died, those people would naturally keep silent. But Wang Jie was alive, and that meant trouble. Especially since Wang Jie had connections with so many lord-ranked figures, unlike an ordinary disciple.
Elder Wu and Elder Mo exchanged glances and both turned toward Shuang Jin.
Shuang Jin’s gaze settled on Fang He, “I’m very certain Wang Jie is not under Edge Sect’s control.”
Edge Sect’s method of control relied on the spy remaining undiscovered. Once a spy was identified, it was easy to detect the quicksilver seal, though impossible to remove. Edge Sect didn’t care if Wang Jie was exposed, only that he didn’t die on their territory. Only Wang Jie himself knew he truly was not controlled. If word reached Edge Sect, perhaps they would even grow suspicious. Still, simply surviving was enough—Edge Sect didn’t expect much else from him anyway.
Hearing Shuang Jin’s words, Fang He’s heart plunged into despair. Regardless of suspicions, without evidence it was useless. Especially since Wang Jie’s boat served as proof of his survival.
Yet Fang He’s retreat had definitely been witnessed by others.
All eyes now turned toward Fang He.
Face pale, Fang He bowed deeply again, speaking with difficulty, “Disciple did not intentionally abandon Junior Brother Wang. The situation was urgent; Disciple needed to save the elders and other senior brothers. Compared to a Lock Force cultivator, Star Force cultivators were more crucial. Tong Shou, please understand.”
This admission essentially confirmed that Fang He had intentionally abandoned Wang Jie to die.
Even if he refused to admit outright cowardice, no one here was foolish enough to believe otherwise.
Wang Jie remained calm. He needed say no more.
Shuang Jin stared deeply at Fang He, who remained bowed, and spoke slowly, “Fang He, given your actions, I hereby revoke your steward token and order you confined within Yunxi Domain for ten years, forbidden to leave.”
Fang He gritted his teeth and respectfully acknowledged the punishment.
“You may go.”
Fang He departed, casting a venomous glare at Wang Jie before leaving.
Wang Jie coldly watched him go. [This isn’t finished. He nearly cost me my life. It won’t end this simply.]
“Wang Jie,” Shuang Jin called gently.
Wang Jie bowed respectfully, “Disciple is here.”
Shuang Jin’s eyes softened, “Rescuing Fang He was a task I forced upon you. Do you resent me?”
[Nonsense. Even if I did, I wouldn’t dare say it aloud.] Wang Jie replied respectfully, “Since I was on the battlefield, it was my duty to serve the sect. This is my mission as a disciple of Black White Heaven, as well as my fate as a cultivator.”
Elder Wu and Elder Mo exchanged surprised glances. This little fellow truly knew how to speak well.
Shuang Jin smiled, “Well said. These words should be heard by every disciple of Black White Heaven, especially those hiding in safety and unwilling to face battle.”
Elder Wu rolled his eyes inwardly. If given a choice, who would willingly fight on the battlefield?
“You succeeded in your mission and also broke the formation. For this, I award you one hundred million battle merit points.”
Wang Jie felt disappointed. [Not much.]
“Furthermore,” Shuang Jin continued, “given your dedication to the sect and as compensation for being abandoned, you’re granted half a year at Meditation Peak.”
Wang Jie looked puzzled, “Meditation Peak?”
Elder Wu chimed in quickly, “Little fellow, hurry and thank Tong Shou. Meditation Peak is a special location at the sect’s center. Once inside, you’re free from external concerns, no matter what happens outside. Even if the sect center falls, those inside Meditation Peak don’t have to act. It’s absolute freedom within Yunxi Domain, as long as you remain on the peak.”
Wang Jie never expected such a wondrous place existed in the Cloud Stream Domain, and gratitude rose swiftly in his heart.
This reward couldn’t have come at a better time. He had so much cultivation to pursue, especially the fitness exercises that now increased his strength. With persistent practice, he’d soon reach the second limit—eighty-nine times his strength. There was also the mysterious pattern learned at the spaceport, the Sword Rain Technique, and refining his body with sword silk.
Too many things awaited his focus.
Wasting time on the battlefield was never his desire.
Meditation Peak was not far from Tong Shou’s location, shaped by five planets arranged in a ring.
Following Elder Wu’s lead, Wang Jie soon arrived at Meditation Peak. Gazing around, he saw each of the five planets had its own unique environment. In the distance, he noticed a figure seated cross-legged, back facing them in quiet cultivation.
“Currently, two people are at Meditation Peak,” Elder Wu explained, gesturing towards the distant cultivator, “one can stay four months, and the other ten years. The one over there is approaching his four-month limit.”
Curiosity stirred within Wang Jie: “Who has permission to stay here ten years?”
Elder Wu chuckled lightly, “Ten years isn’t even long. That person could stay forever if he wanted—but he himself wouldn’t wish it.”
Wang Jie intended to ask more, but Elder Wu had already turned to leave, advising as he walked away: “Come out when your half-year ends. Don’t delay, or you’ll face punishment.”
Watching Elder Wu disappear, Wang Jie turned his gaze once more towards the figure in the distance, eyes flickering. He had seen this person before—or rather, not his appearance, but his qi.
When Wang Jie had been imprisoned beneath Edge Sect, he’d seen several prisoners taken away, memorizing their qi. This man was one of them.
For cultivators who knew how, qi could easily change and thus was hard to remember, becoming like a second face. But those unskilled at qi manipulation could not alter it.
This man had been released from Edge Sect’s dungeon. He was a spy.
Slowly, Wang Jie walked towards him.
After a short while, he stopped behind the man and respectfully saluted: “I am Wang Jie. May I ask senior brother’s name?”
The man opened his eyes with a displeased frown: “Junior brother, don’t you know interrupting others during meditation is very rude?”
Wang Jie replied apologetically: “This is my first time at Meditation Peak. Fearing I’d disturb senior brother, I hoped senior brother might point me toward a suitable place.”
“Suit yourself,” the man responded indifferently.
Wang Jie nodded in thanks: “Thank you, senior brother.” As he walked away, he glanced back once, carefully memorizing the man’s appearance.
Next, he sought the other person.
One who could stay at Meditation Peak forever must surely be extraordinary—a true lord-level figure.
But after searching all around and finding nothing, he gave up. Looking back again, he noticed that first man had also disappeared. Counting days, nearly four months had passed since Wang Jie saw him at Edge Sect’s prison. His permitted stay was probably ending now.
What merit had he earned to gain access to Meditation Peak? Edge Sect must have cooperated with him somehow.
Now, Meditation Peak was left with only Wang Jie and the unseen cultivator.
If the other person wanted to remain hidden, so be it. Wang Jie turned his mind toward cultivation.
He began by combining sword silk with the unnamed Bone Tempering Method to enhance his physical strength. The familiar agony quickly engulfed him—sword silk entering flesh made him feel as if his body were sliced apart, until numbness left him barely aware of himself.
Day after day, he refined his bones and tendons, performing his fitness exercises whenever the time came. When overwhelmed by pain, he practiced the strange walking pattern for relief. In spare moments, he studied the Sword Rain Technique. Time slipped quickly through his fingers with these routines.
Yet he failed to notice the distant figure quietly observing him, gaze filled with curiosity.
Anyone watching Wang Jie’s routine would find it bizarre. They couldn’t see how he refined himself, merely observing him seated in obvious pain. They didn’t understand his strange fitness exercises or the odd pattern he walked. Only his Sword Rain Technique earned any praise.
After all, it was a star method.
“A lock force cultivator practicing a star method—interesting,” the observer muttered softly. However, he showed little real concern and withdrew his gaze, calmly sitting not far from Wang Jie, who remained entirely unaware of him.
In a blink, half a year had passed.
These six months, Wang Jie’s days were astonishingly productive, uninterrupted by outsiders.
After diligent practice, he successfully boosted his strength to the eighty-nine-fold limit of the Star Breaking Realm through his fitness exercises—the second limit. Though the strength increase slowed with every increment, achieving the final limit wouldn’t take too long. Thanks to the sword silk, his physical refinement also reached a matching extreme—ready to handle this new level of power.
But now he was desperately thirsty.
Not for water, but for the severe depletion of lock force inside him.
Since joining the battlefield, constant fighting had drained his lock force, and though disaster materials replenished some, it was barely enough. After these intense six months, his strength surged to new heights, intensifying his craving for lock force.
It felt like searching desperately for water in a desert.
Aside from that, his Sword Rain Technique improved, allowing him to wield four swords simultaneously, greatly amplifying its power.
Only the strange walking pattern yielded no progress. Yet this didn’t disappoint him—after all, even Wandering Gods paid attention to it, proving its difficulty.
Just how strong had he become now? Driven by curiosity, Wang Jie tested himself.