Chapter 340

Chapter 340: Growing Wild Grass

Shu Rang’s expression turned to ice as he stared at Shen Zhou. “You want to seal his cultivation for ten years?”

Shen Zhou nodded. “You can put it that way. After ten years, we’ll release him.

“If you want to stop me, Senior, you can. But then my master will come and have a talk with you. And when that happens… you still won’t be able to protect him.”

Ten years without cultivation meant Wang Jie would unquestionably lose the Wandering-Star Tournament ten years from now.

Once he lost, the protection around him would vanish.

For now, no one dared touch Wang Jie—because he was the one who had opened the Wandering-Star Tournament in the first place.

Shu Rang studied Shen Zhou for a long moment, then smiled. “Old Ghost Da Yan really thinks I’m afraid of you lot.

“Fine. You don’t need to watch him for ten years. I’ll go to the Star Palace myself and have a chat with them.”

Shen Zhou’s gaze sharpened. He fell silent.

Shu Rang turned to Wang Jie. “Take care of yourself. I’m going to the Star Palace to play a big game.”

Wang Jie’s heart lurched. “Master… don’t do anything reckless.”

If Shu Rang truly had the power to deal with those enemies, he wouldn’t have been forced to hide in Black-White Heaven.

Going to the Star Palace like this was walking into a death trap.

Shu Rang shook his head and patted Wang Jie’s shoulder. “Relax. I didn’t hide in Black-White Heaven because I was afraid of them. I just didn’t want too many people dying over who was right and who was wrong.

“But when they push too far… that’s different.”

“And you…”

He stopped, as if the words had caught behind his teeth.

Wang Jie’s chest tightened. “What is it? What’s the real reason?”

Shu Rang’s eyes were complicated. “If I tell you, you’ll truly have no way back.”

Wang Jie gave a bitter laugh. “Do you think the Star Palace will believe you never told me?”

Before Shu Rang could answer, he continued, voice steady. “Besides, my fate has been tied to yours for a long time. I don’t need a way back.

“That’s what I promised you.”

Shu Rang’s fingers dug into Wang Jie’s shoulder. He hesitated—long enough for the silence to ache—then spoke a few words in star-speech.

Wang Jie couldn’t understand any of it.

It was something deeper—something like belief woven into Star Dao itself.

Yet the sound still sank into him, planting a seed.

What was inheritance?

A battle technique? A cultivation method? Wealth? Resources?

None of those.

True inheritance was a person’s will, a people’s culture, and the faith carried in the heart.

And that was the hardest thing in the world to destroy.

A war of faith was a war without surrender—only death.

“Strictly speaking,” Shu Rang said softly, “I owe you an apology.

“I didn’t help you much. I didn’t even guide you through the basics of Star Dao, and yet I made you shoulder a struggle that was never meant to be yours.”

He took a breath, as if tasting something bitter. “All I can do now is give you absolute freedom to cultivate. I can’t help you… but I won’t let anyone drag you down, either.”

He looked Wang Jie straight in the eye. “Wang Jie.”

“Ten years. Climb higher in ten years. Ten years from now, fight for another ten. Grow like wild grass—spreading and spreading—until one day you cover the entire universe.”

With that, Shu Rang reached out, seized Shen Zhou, and hauled him away as if he weighed nothing.

Wang Jie watched him go. He bowed slowly and didn’t speak.

Without Shu Rang, he wouldn’t be where he was now.

A struggle that didn’t belong to him?

The moment he touched the star compass, it had already become his.

The starry sky above was empty and vast. Standing alone on the planet’s surface, Wang Jie was hit by an overwhelming loneliness.

He couldn’t go back to Black-White Heaven.

Master was gone, and for a moment he didn’t even know where to go.

So he waited.

Not long after, someone arrived.

The newcomer stopped short when she saw him. “You?”

Wang Jie turned. A woman stood there—Ji Xiang Wan, an observer of the Star Vault Vista. She was the only person on Si Yao’s list who could be assigned missions.

Ji Xiang Wan was at the Hundred-Star Realm. In Black-White Heaven, she served under the white realm lord as Bai Shou, and her status was high enough that few would dare slight her. Of course she recognized Wang Jie.

Wang Jie met her eyes. “If I assign you a mission as a Star Vault Vista analyst, you won’t refuse, will you?”

“I won’t,” Ji Xiang Wan said immediately.

“Look after the blue star people on Windwhisper Star. I’ll come back.”

“Understood.”

“And one more thing,” Wang Jie said. “Send me to this location.”

Ji Xiang Wan took him with her and left at once.

Within the Star Vault Vista, status didn’t always follow cultivation. Wang Jie outranking her was normal, and she showed no hint of resistance.

If anything, it raised Wang Jie’s opinion of the Star Vault Vista all over again.

Even a fringe place like Black-White Heaven could be kept under its control. The depth beneath the surface was unimaginable.

Some time later, Ji Xiang Wan brought him to the Ninth star chain of Third Nebula—a lively, prosperous region with a Star Vault ship exchange large enough to dwarf the local skyline.

The Star Vault Vista’s reach spanned the universe.

Even the Silver Radiance Empire had its exchange.

And everywhere it planted itself, it built an intelligence system—no matter how remote the location.

Wang Jie had the authority to access the nearest sources of information at a moment’s notice. Ji Xiang Wan didn’t even have that level of clearance.

After dropping him off, she left.

Wang Jie entered the exchange and went straight to the top floor, looking down over the bustle below. A shopkeeper trailed behind him.

“Customize a ship for me,” Wang Jie said.

“Of course. What are your requirements?”

Wang Jie listed a few—deliberately.

He needed to leave a trail. If someone investigated him later, it would look suspicious if he came here and didn’t order anything.

He might never take delivery of the ship, but the order itself mattered.

He was here to wait for Si Yao.

And while he waited, he needed to understand what had been happening outside. He’d woken up to enemies at the door, been dragged away by that Bargain Master, and until now he didn’t even know how the world had shifted.

Ever since Wang Jie defeated Ting Chen and took first place in the Full-Star Tournament, the outside world had erupted.

At first, it was simple chaos—people ruined because they’d gambled everything and lost, endless digging into Wang Jie’s past, and hungry anticipation for the Wandering-Star Tournament ten years from now.

But later, the conversation changed.

Wang Jie’s expression darkened as he scrolled his personal terminal.

Twelve Heavenly Stems.

The bizarre talisman power Ting Chen had used in their final clash had been given a name: Twelve Heavenly Stems. And now rumors were tying it to something far larger.

A few people in the major sects had spoken about it—briefly—before the topic was stamped down. Yet the harder the suppression, the louder the whispers grew in places the authorities couldn’t fully reach.

Some claimed Twelve Heavenly Stems was connected to the Dead Realm.

Some said it was tied to the previous era.

Others argued it was simply another branch of star position methods.

No one agreed on the truth. What everyone agreed on was the same thing: the moment Ting Chen used that power, she drew the gaze of countless figures across the four great bridge-pillars.

Even through a screen, Wang Jie could feel the weight of it.

Yin San tribulation. Twelve Heavenly Stems.

Whatever their origins, their strength was terrifying—and from another angle, it also revealed just how formidable the Star Vault Vista truly was.

Yet there was something else the world talked about even more.

A photo.

In it, Wang Jie was soaked in blood, and he was kissing Ting Chen.

Heat climbed up his ears. He told himself it had been nothing but fury and impulse, but his mind betrayed him anyway—the softness of that instant, the faint fragrance that had slipped into his breath.

He hadn’t cared at the time.

Now it sat in his memory like a brand.

He wondered how Ting Chen was doing. She was probably furious.

Good.

He stared at the image again despite himself.

It did look… impressive.

Days passed. The words Twelve Heavenly Stems vanished from public discussion, as if the topic had been erased overnight.

But the photo only burned hotter.

And that, more than anything, told Wang Jie how serious things had become.

A few days later, Si Yao arrived.

The moment he saw Wang Jie, he laughed in genuine surprise. “I didn’t think you’d really make it to the end and take first place. Congratulations.”

Wang Jie looked at him oddly. “You’re congratulating me? The person I beat was your Star Vault Vista Big Miss. She won’t retaliate against me, will she?”

Si Yao shook his head, amused. “Big Miss doesn’t know you’re my person.

“Besides, either way you both belong to the Star Vault Vista. The fact you made it this far only proves my judgment.

“Even if she tries to make trouble, I’ll block it.”

Wang Jie didn’t buy it. Si Yao was bold—but this bold?

Si Yao’s expression turned solemn. “Analyst Wang Jie. Since you won the Full-Star Tournament, you will receive the following reward.”

He paused, and even his eyes seemed to ripple when he spoke the next words. “The Drunken Dream Manor on the Second star chain of Third Nebula will be given to you.”

Wang Jie froze. For a moment he was sure he’d misheard.

Si Yao wasn’t much better. He hadn’t expected the higher-ups to go this far.

He’d said before that if Wang Jie made the top ten, he could give him Frost Splendor Sect.

But now that he was saying the word “give” for real, it felt heavy.

And Frost Splendor Sect wasn’t even comparable to Drunken Dream Manor.

One was on the Eighth star chain. The other was on the Second.

Across Third Nebula’s nine star chains, the Nan Family stood at the very top. Beneath them came Xuan Gate and Drunken Dream Manor—names that could stand alongside each other. Everything below those three could be ranked however you wanted.

In other words, Drunken Dream Manor was on par with Xuan Gate.

Just like that… it was being handed over?

Wang Jie’s mind raced in a different direction. “Why would the Star Vault Vista give me Drunken Dream Manor?”

He had heard of the place.

Third Nebula’s strangest region—shrouded in wine scent all year. Some of that scent could knock even a Star-Refining Realm cultivator unconscious, making it impossible for outsiders to interfere with what happened there.

Yet the people within never interacted with the outside world either.

The Nan Family had vanished.

Among the nine star chains, some still waited for the Nan Family’s return. Others betrayed them and tried to build their own power.

No matter which side they belonged to, they all wanted Drunken Dream Manor. But the manor remained sealed tight; no one could reach it.

Not even on the ying yang battlefield or the dual-wind line had anyone ever seen a disciple of Drunken Dream Manor.

They were like ghosts—like they didn’t exist at all.

If Si Yao hadn’t mentioned it now, Wang Jie might have forgotten the manor entirely.

“Drunken Dream Manor belongs to the Star Vault Vista?” he asked.

“It does,” Si Yao said, nodding once. “For a long time. Only a small number of people know the secret.

“From this moment on, it belongs to you, Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie forced the words out. “What does that mean? How does it ‘belong’ to me?”

“Go there,” Si Yao said simply. “They’ll listen.”

“There are Star-Refining Realm cultivators inside?”

“Of course. Otherwise, how could it sit on the Second star chain?”

Wang Jie’s breath turned hot. “Can I make them do anything?”

Si Yao nodded again. “Yes. Drunken Dream Manor is yours. No one will stop you. The people there won’t resist either—because to them it’s all the same who they obey.

“As long as you don’t order them to commit suicide.”

Wang Jie understood instantly how enormous this was.

Drunken Dream Manor was far more valuable than Frost Splendor Sect. And because it was a reward from the Star Vault Vista, it also meant the Star Vault Vista couldn’t bypass him and interfere with the manor directly.

He couldn’t wrap his head around it. “Is winning first place really worth that much?”

Si Yao spread his hands. “I don’t understand it either. You’re excited, I get it. The Second star chain isn’t far. Want me to take you there?”

Wang Jie wanted it—more than he wanted to breathe.

If he could take control of Drunken Dream Manor, he’d finally have roots in the universe.

He wouldn’t be drifting like duckweed anymore.

Frost Splendor Sect had run. Black-White Heaven had run. He didn’t want to run again.

But no matter how fierce the temptation, he forced his pulse to steady.

Drunken Dream Manor wasn’t going anywhere.

He had ten years.

Only ten.

Master had gone to the Star Palace to carve out ten years of free cultivation for him. Wang Jie could not waste a single day.

He looked at Si Yao, quiet resolve settling into his bones. “Senior, can you send me to Third Zen Heaven as fast as possible?”

Si Yao blinked, clearly expecting a different answer. “You want to go to Third Zen Heaven?”

Wang Jie nodded. “Ten years is short.”