Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Will You Step In?

Wen Zhao glanced at Wang Jie.

In her understanding, Blue Star had no one who could stand against Yun Lai. Not the other Trialists. Not even the final batch of Ten Seals Trialists, perhaps.

Only Wang Jie might have a chance—because Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger was terrifying, and his strength kept skyrocketing.

If Wang Jie broke through to the Ninth Seal, and that insane strength kept climbing… it wasn’t impossible.

But the outside world didn’t know what he was capable of.

And Yun Lai, watching the trial from the sect, wouldn’t see everything—especially not Heaven-and-Earth Luo Xuan Finger. The sect would hide a move like that.

Maybe Yun Lai didn’t even know yet.

“There’s another problem,” Wang Jie said, turning to Bai Yuan and the others. “The third batch arriving means mutated creatures will evolve again tonight. Ninth Seal creatures will appear on a large scale.”

Bai Yuan frowned. “Shang Jing City is better off because of the insect tide. Our

safe zone expanded. But the other bases…”

“Especially Jin Ling Base and Tian Fu Base,” Sister Tang said grimly. “Hong Jian is unconscious. Li Xiang is dead. Zuo Tian’s missing. And the walls are broken. Those two bases are in danger.”

Wang Jie nodded. “We go to Jin Ling Base and kill as many mutated creatures as we can.”

Bai Yuan glanced at Wen Zhao and agreed.

At this point, analyzing Wen Zhao’s power didn’t matter. Keeping the bases alive mattered.

Wen Zhao didn’t resist their scrutiny anymore. She had returned after defeating Chong Ruo Ruo, and she had shared information freely. There was no reason to keep trying to control her.

Tian Fu Base would have to handle itself. Bai Yuan had his own arrangements.

Not long after, Wang Jie’s group boarded the Shou Qing Group aircraft and headed to Jin Ling.

They arrived within hours.

Feng Yu met them at the base.

When she saw Wang Jie, something complicated flickered in her eyes.

“How’s Hong Jian?” Wang Jie asked.

“Still unconscious. That arrow was too strong.”

“And Si Yan?”

Feng Yu hesitated. “Locked up.”

Wang Jie nodded, said nothing, and went to inspect the shattered southeast wall. The arrow’s path was carved into the stone like a scar. Yun Lai’s shot had been brutally sharp.

Then he sent Old Five and the others out to hunt in the dangerous zones beyond the base.

Wang Jie went to see Si Yan.

—

Ming He Road, Number 18.

Liu Ying opened the door.

Wang Jie hadn’t expected her to be here.

She looked awkward, almost nervous. “I… I came to find you, but they dragged me over to help, and then I just stayed.”

Wang Jie grunted and stepped inside.

It was clean—shockingly clean. He’d never seen this place like this.

Si Yan called from inside, lively as ever. “Oh? Little kid, you’re back? How’d it go? Bring me anything good?”

Wang Jie was only there to confirm whether anything strange had happened around the base. Si Yan watched the perimeter.

Everything was normal.

Wang Jie handed over a few disaster materials and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Si Yan said. “Bring me the thing the Trialists ride down in.”

“That melted,” Wang Jie said.

“Some do,” Si Yan replied, grinning. “Some don’t.”

He stepped aside to reveal an oval shell—like an eggshell. Half of it had melted away. Half of it remained intact.

Wang Jie leaned in, curious. “What do you want this for?”

“To study it. Maybe I’ll figure out how to build a spaceship.”

Wang Jie nodded. “Fine. If I see another one, I’ll bring it.”

“Deal.”

“Oh.” Wang Jie pulled out the Combat Power Detector. Wen Zhao had given it to him; she’d gotten it from Qi Wu. “Take this too.”

Si Yan’s eyes lit up. “What is it?”

“Detects combat power.”

Si Yan snatched it, delighted. “There’s something like this? Alien tech! This is perfect!”

For Wang Jie, the device wasn’t all that useful. Wen Zhao was far better than a beeping gadget. When the insect tide had chased them, the detector alarm had practically never stopped.

Better to give it to Si Yan.

Wang Jie turned to go.

Si Yan called after him. “Little kid.”

Wang Jie paused.

Si Yan’s face was suddenly serious. “Hua Xia has endured for thousands of years. How can we be turned into war slaves by outsiders? Our ancestors wouldn’t even rest in death.”

“If we still can’t change our fate in the end,” he said quietly, “then kill me. Do me that favor.”

Liu Ying bit her lip hard. “Me too.”

Wang Jie looked at them. “Why not just kill yourselves?”

Si Yan answered bluntly, “Because we’re afraid to die.”

Wang Jie held their gaze for a beat. “Fine.”

He left.

—

Over the next two days, Wang Jie and the others slaughtered mutated creatures outside the base. They killed the Moon Plant and the giant eagle. Even though the third batch’s arrival caused a wave of evolution the night they arrived, none of it mattered.

Not against Wang Jie.

He collected enough disaster materials to fill Wen Zhao’s storage ring.

The insect tide chase had turned their cooperation into something closer to comradeship.

Three days later, word came from Shang Jing City.

Yun Lai was coming.

Wang Jie’s group returned at once.

—

Elsewhere, a man walked through the sky, endless land stretching beneath him.

Mutated creatures filled the world. Sky and ground alike.

But none attacked him.

Not one.

The phenomenon was so unnatural it drew the attention of Jia Yi Sect. They investigated immediately.

A Trialist’s information should have been transparent—clean, obvious.

Yet this man’s records didn’t match reality at all.

Eighth Seal.

How could an Eighth Seal do this?

—

At Shang Jing City, the aircraft descended.

Cultivators watched tensely.

But no one moved.

Yun Lai stepped down to meet Bai Yuan head-on.

Behind Yun Lai walked Lian Qin.

Bai Yuan’s usual laziness was gone. His face was calm, but his eyes held an iron resolve.

As his gaze swept the crowd, it felt like the entire base merged into one—solid, unyielding.

Yun Lai smiled faintly, almost to himself. “I like that spirit. It’s fun to crush.”

It sounded like he was speaking to Lian Qin as well.

Lian Qin smiled back, eyes bright, but the smile looked a touch strained.

Bai Yuan stepped forward, but Yun Lai cut him off at once.

“I watched the trial,” Yun Lai said. “Your sword is fast. Quick Shadow—one of our Eighteen Ultimate Techniques.”

He glanced at Bai Yuan’s right hand. “I didn’t expect a native to comprehend an ultimate technique. But it doesn’t matter.”

“If I beat you, does this base obey me?”

Bai Yuan met his gaze. “Your goal is A-rank. Blue Star cultivators—and all Trialists—are your targets.”

Yun Lai nodded. “Wen Zhao told you. Saves me effort.”

He looked past Bai Yuan, as if searching for Wen Zhao, and found nothing.

Wang Jie and the others hadn’t arrived yet.

Yun Lai’s tone turned colder. “Do you understand? Even if every cultivator in this base attacked me together, it would be meaningless.”

“I could wipe you all out,” he said. “It would just take time.”

Bai Yuan didn’t disagree. “Starting from the Seventh Seal, numbers stop mattering. A Seventh Seal can break a blockade and escape. A Ninth Seal can come and go freely.”

“And you,” he added, “are the kind who can counterkill.”

“But slaughtering us doesn’t automatically give you A-rank, does it? If that’s all it took, A-rank would be common.”

Yun Lai didn’t refute it.

A-rank required an achievement that shook Jia Yi Sect.

He’d thought about it. He still didn’t have a satisfying answer.

“I’ll give you a path,” Bai Yuan said.

Yun Lai’s eyes narrowed, curious despite himself. “What path?”

Bai Yuan’s voice was steady. “Let me break through to the Ninth Seal.”

“And then I’ll fight you.”

Yun Lai stared for a beat, then laughed—sharp and contemptuous.

Around them, the Shang Jing City cultivators bristled, fury rising at the casual disregard.

Yun Lai stepped forward in a blur, appearing beside Bai Yuan as if space meant nothing.

“You have one day,” he said coldly. “Hand over the base.”

“Tomorrow, at this time, if you haven’t… I’ll open the walls and lure mutated creatures inside.”

“How many natives die after that won’t be up to me.”

Bai Yuan stared at him, eyes like ice.

Yun Lai ignored it, lifted a hand, and beckoned.

Lian Qin walked to him obediently. Yun Lai wrapped an arm around her waist and strolled into the base.

No one dared to stop him.

Sister Tang clenched her fists.

Farther away, Lian Fei bit her lip until it nearly bled, staring hard at Yun Lai. Her mother had always been the one in control—until now. This time, it was forced, and Lian Fei could see it.

When Wang Jie and the others arrived, they learned Bai Yuan had shut his doors.

They also witnessed Yun Lai’s arrival—his arrogance, his ease, the way the base bent around him.

“No wonder his sword is that fast,” Wen Zhao murmured. “Quick Shadow.”

Wang Jie asked quietly, “Does Bai Yuan have any chance?”

“If he breaks through to the Ninth Seal, I mean.”

Wen Zhao didn’t hesitate. “None.”

The answer sat heavy in Wang Jie’s chest.

Wen Zhao looked at him, eyes steady. “Will you step in?”

Wang Jie stared out into the night.

He didn’t answer.