Chapter 287

Chapter 287: Life

Wang Jie stared at him. “How do you play dead?”

If it were that easy, countless people wouldn’t have died for real.

And fooling cultivators wasn’t simple.

Xiao Rong cleared his throat and began, utterly serious. “The key is realism. And placement. And shape. And who you die beside…”

He went on and on—hard-earned experience, distilled into ugly little truths.

Wang Jie listened without interrupting. Who knew? One day he might need it.

Xiao Rong held nothing back. More than “playing dead,” he emphasized the most important part—watching the main force. If you played dead too well, you might be left behind during retreat and die for real. For that, too, he had endless tricks, rules, and details.

Wang Jie couldn’t help admiring him.

Xiao Rong, for his part, had never spoken like this to anyone before. He’d assumed Wang Jie—young, a Six-Path Roamer while still Full-Star Realm—must be the sort who fought to the last drop and never withdrew.

Now he realized Wang Jie wasn’t that kind of person at all.

They talked for three full hours before finally parting.

When Wang Jie returned to the rest room, it had already been cleaned.

The stain was gone, but the stench lingered.

His cheap master arrived and glanced at him. “That Xiao Rong is interesting.”

“There’s a reason he’s survived,” Wang Jie said.

Shu Rang smiled faintly. “His luck isn’t bad.”

Then he studied Wang Jie again, his expression sharpening with approval. “As expected. This method suits you best. It’ll let you reach Roaming-Star Realm at a pace close to ordinary cultivators—won’t delay you too much.

“You’ll just suffer.”

Wang Jie gave a strained laugh. “It’s beyond suffering. It’s like being skinned and having my tendons ripped out.”

“Pain is an illusion,” Shu Rang said, almost idly. “When you succeed, you’ll thank every moment of it.”

Then he stood. “Come. I’ll take you back.”

“We’re not leaving with the others?”

“Waste of time.”

The world blurred.

Wang Jie blinked—and the scene changed. Stars streamed beneath his feet, rushing past like a river of light. Shu Rang stepped forward as if walking across those stars, each step carrying them an impossible distance.

“Watch carefully,” Shu Rang said. “Think carefully. This is an entry requirement for my star dao masters—Return-to-Hidden Step.

“When you reach Roaming-Star Realm, you can cultivate it.”

Wang Jie watched the stars shift and flow beneath them.

Return-to-Hidden Step…

He could see it, but he couldn’t understand it. Not yet.

Shu Rang slowed deliberately, letting him feel the rhythm.

Time passed.

Before long, they returned to Black-White Heaven’s Third Star Chain—the core region.

Shu Rang took Wang Jie straight into Zhi Upper Realm.

They arrived beneath a deep, strange sky of stars that didn’t feel entirely real. Shu Rang raised his voice. “Old bastard, come out. Jian Yi is here to meet you.”

Wang Jie’s gaze flickered.

Old bastard?

If so… then the one here could only be Zhi Yu—the Old Ancestor of Black-White Heaven, and the Old Ancestor of the Zhi family.

Across all of Black-White Heaven, who else could Shu Rang speak to like that?

Ahead, the starry sky rippled like a mirror of flowing water.

A voice said, “Come in.”

Shu Rang led Wang Jie forward.

They passed through darkness—then Wang Jie halted in disbelief.

A ruined thatched hut sat against a cliff wall. A foul, stagnant ditch ran beside it. Chicken and pig pens stood nearby.

Wang Jie stared, speechless.

What was this place?

Shu Rang rolled his eyes. “So what are you this time?”

Coughing came from inside the hut, thin and weak. “I-I am a poor scholar, born in a country that values etiquette and keeps promises dearer than life. I have… cough… a marriage contract.”

“So?” Shu Rang asked dryly.

“The… cough… the one betrothed to me is the prime minister’s daughter.”

“You really know how to play,” Shu Rang muttered.

“Cough… please wait a moment. It will end soon.”

Wang Jie had the distinct impression that this voice truly might end soon.

Then a clamor rose from the distance.

A group of people rushed in as if they couldn’t even see Shu Rang and Wang Jie. They kicked the door clean off its hinges. A woman with narrow eyes stepped forward, contempt etched on her face.

Wang Jie looked inside.

A frail young man lay on a bed, coughing. A cracked bowl sat near his pillow, filled with murky medicine.

“Who are you?” the young man rasped. “W-what do you want?”

The woman frowned as she strode in. “So you’re the one engaged to this miss?”

“You… you are the prime minister’s daughter?”

“Hmph. You think you’re worthy of marrying this miss?” She snapped, “Hand over the marriage contract, or don’t blame me for being cruel.”

“N-no… cough… impossible. The engagement was set by our parents. How could I abandon it on my own? You… cough… you can’t.”

“Then go blame your parents.” Her voice turned cold. “They’re the ones who forced this disgusting engagement on you.

“Kill him.”

Men stepped forward, hauled the young man up, and pressed a wet cloth over his mouth and nose.

He struggled weakly.

Then he stopped.

Before leaving, the woman flicked her hand. “Burn it.”

Flames swallowed the hut.

Shu Rang and Wang Jie watched the corpse blacken.

Then, impossibly, the young man stood up in the fire, patted at the flames like they were dust, and stepped out with an awkward grin. “Sorry to keep you waiting. This way, please.”

A breeze drifted by, carrying the stink of the pigpen.

Wang Jie couldn’t stop staring.

This was Zhi Yu?

It was nothing like what he’d imagined.

Not long after, the three of them sat in a pavilion halfway up the mountain.

Shu Rang tipped his chin toward Wang Jie. “This is the disciple I told you about. What do you think? Looks decent, doesn’t he?”

Wang Jie rose and bowed. “Junior Wang Jie pays respects to Senior.”

The young man waved a hand. “No need.”

Shu Rang said to Wang Jie, “This is Zhi Yu—the Old Ancestor of the Zhi family, and your backer Zhi Xing Xue’s dad.”

Wang Jie bowed again. “Disciple pays respects to Old Ancestor.”

Zhi Yu laughed. “Enough, enough. Good kid. Truly good. To reach this level with lockforce… even I can’t help admiring it.”

Shu Rang cut in immediately. “So where’s his meeting gift?”

Zhi Yu stared. “Can’t you have a little restraint? Let me offer it on my own.”

“I’m afraid you’ll play dumb.”

“I won’t.”

Zhi Yu rubbed his storage ring, clearly thinking.

Shu Rang pulled out a wine gourd and took a drink. “You’re living well. Whatever you want, you just conjure it. Life experience fully maxed.”

“What are you planning to be next?”

Zhi Yu’s eyes lit with childish excitement. “A fallen king. I’ll command a million troops, and for the sake of a beauty, I’ll willingly kill myself by the riverbank. Imagine the scene. Imagine how she looks at me. Imagine how later generations record it. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.”

Shu Rang stared at him. “You’re sick.”

Zhi Yu chuckled, then tossed a jade pendant to Wang Jie. “This suits you. It’s called the soaring pendant. Activate it and, for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you’ll have Star-Refining Realm speed. Perfect for saving your life.”

Wang Jie’s eyes brightened. He bowed deeply. “Thank you, Old Ancestor.”

“We’re family,” Zhi Yu said, waving it off. “No need for ceremony. Kid, if you ever truly become a star dao master, don’t forget your own sect.”

“Disciple absolutely won’t.”

Shu Rang’s brows snapped up. “What do you mean, ‘truly become’?”

Zhi Yu immediately laughed awkwardly. “No, no—I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… star dao masters, you know. Roaming-Star Realm is only the beginning. It doesn’t count as a real star dao master. And this kid wants to go beyond Roaming-Star Realm.”

He didn’t finish the thought, but the implication hung in the air.

He didn’t think Wang Jie could reach the next realm.

Hundred-Star Realm?

Shu Rang’s voice turned cold. “Star-Refining Realm might be unlikely, but Hundred-Star Realm is enough.”

Zhi Yu nodded quickly. “Hundred-Star Realm is no problem. And yes, enough. You only need him to reach Hundred-Star Realm. That’s plenty.”

Then he tossed another item to Wang Jie—a meditation cushion.

It looked completely ordinary.

“Sit on it. When the starry sky martial tournament begins, it’ll drag you straight there so you can participate in the grand martial meet of the major Bridge-Pillar forces,” Zhi Yu said, grinning. “Kid, win face for Black-White Heaven. Try to get into the top ten at Full-Star Realm. I believe in you.”

Wang Jie stared at the meditation cushion. “Just… sit on it?”

“Simple, isn’t it?” Zhi Yu said. “Without methods like this, how could they hold a tournament? Gathering everyone from multiple Bridge-Pillar forces would take years.”

That made sense.

Shu Rang stood. “All right. Let’s go. We won’t disturb you while you ‘experience life.’”

Zhi Yu sighed dramatically. “Life is boring. What can I do? I can’t even go out, or those two girls will annoy me to death.”

Shu Rang took a step, then paused as if remembering something. He looked back at Zhi Yu. “Forgot to tell you. Zhong Yi went to the Ancient Sword Bridge-Pillar.”

Zhi Yu’s expression cooled instantly. “I know.”

Shu Rang turned and left with Wang Jie.

“Next, I’ll send you to Drunken Gloomwood,” Shu Rang said as they moved. “It’s where Black-White Heaven’s Club members gather. The battlefield is paused for now, so it suits you.”

Wang Jie hesitated, then asked, “Can you take me to Lockspace first? Windwhisper Star. I want to see my hometown people.”

Shu Rang considered, then nodded. “Fine.”

They crossed the distance in a blur.

—

Windwhisper Star.

Wang Jie’s sudden arrival sent shockwaves of joy through everyone who knew him.

“Old Boss!” Qing Zheng charged straight at him.

Behind him, Old Five and Old Nine stood quietly, eyes bright with disbelief and relief.

Wang Jie laughed—wide, unguarded. Only with them could he truly relax.

From a distance, Shu Rang watched for a moment, then looked away.

Good.

The cultivation world was treachery and death. If someone lived on that knife-edge for too long, sooner or later they would break.

People had emotions. Even the strongest cultivators needed somewhere to loosen their grip on the world.

Zhi Yu did it by living countless “lives,” finding insight and release in each.

Wang Jie did it by clinging to his roots.

These people of Blue Star were the anchor that kept him sane.

If they hadn’t existed, Shu Rang would have found Wang Jie another way to breathe. No one could stay tense forever.

Wang Jie couldn’t meet every person from Blue Star, but everyone he’d known came. They were already gathered from hosting Zong Cheng Ping, so the timing was perfect.

“Old Boss, let me see…” someone said, eyeing him up and down. “Huh? You got fatter.”

“Wrong,” another snapped. “He got thinner.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Old Boss clearly got fatter.”

“I swear on your dog eyes he got thinner!”

“Why are they my dog eyes? And why are they my eyes at all?”

Laughter burst out.

For a moment, it felt like Blue Star again.

Back then, Blue Star had been dangerous, but it had felt solid beneath his feet.

Now, even standing on alien ground, he couldn’t find that same certainty.

Only here did his heart finally settle.

Wang Jie asked, “How was Silver Radiance Empire when you left?”

Hong Jian answered, “They treated us well. When we left, Empress Jun Hua couldn’t bear it.”

He grinned. “Mostly because with us gone, you’d never come back.”

Sister Tang’s expression softened with pity. “She’s an empress ruling a vast starry sky, and yet she’s more uneasy than we are.”

“She told us a lot,” Hong Jian said. “According to her, Silver Radiance Empire is like a piece of meat that could be swallowed at any time.”

Wang Jie nodded. “That’s exactly what it is.”

Old Nine hesitated, then asked, “Old Boss… with your current status, if you wanted to deal with Silver Radiance Empire, is there anything you could do?”

Seeing everyone look over, he hurried to add, “Don’t misunderstand. I’ve got nothing against Silver Radiance Empire. I just want… a comparison.”

Wang Jie answered calmly, “One sentence would do it.”