Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Who Do You Think I Am?

Wang Jie drove his fist into Yun Lai’s face and smashed him to the ground. Then he kicked him, sending him flying dozens of meters.

Everyone stared, frozen for a heartbeat as Yun Lai was beaten like that.

Furious, Yun Lai forced himself to look up through the pain. “You—”

Wang Jie kicked him again. Yun Lai flew like a punching bag and slammed into a wall, embedding in it as cracks spidered outward.

“War slave?” Wang Jie said. “Interstellar battlefield?”

He took a step closer. “Sorry. I didn’t think that far.”

He looked down at Yun Lai. “Who do you think I am?”

“My name is Wang Jie. I’ve survived in this damned apocalypse for more than ten years. The interstellar battlefield is just a higher-level dead end.”

He leaned in, voice low and sharp. “We’ve been ready to die at any time. You think you can threaten me?”

Yun Lai’s face swelled until it barely looked human. One eye was sealed shut, and blood smeared his vision. All he could see was Wang Jie closing in.

Wang Jie grabbed his throat, yanked him off the wall, and tossed him into the street like trash. “Tonight, you’ll learn what it feels like to be a war slave prisoner.”

That was the last thing Yun Lai heard before darkness took him.

Outside the base, Wang Jie’s words lit a fire in everyone.

Yeah—what was the difference between Blue Star after the apocalypse and some so-called interstellar battlefield?

It was just a dead end under a different sky.

They didn’t expect to live long anyway. If they could live one more day, that was one more day.

Sister Tang waved a hand. “Lock him up. Don’t be polite—just don’t kill him.”

Cultivators rushed in and hauled Yun Lai away, rough as could be, like they were dragging a dead dog.

Wen Zhao watched Wang Jie with a different expression now. His words reminded her of who she used to be—yet they’d chosen completely different paths.

Which of them had been right?

Nearby, Bai Xiao looked at Wang Jie with open gratitude.

Not long after, Wang Jie had showered and was sprawled on the couch chatting with Qing Zheng and the others when a gift arrived from Shang Jing City Base: a pile of disaster materials.

Sister Tang delivered it personally.

“For me?” Wang Jie asked, surprised.

Sister Tang smiled. “Thanks for helping us beat Yun Lai. Otherwise, all of this would have belonged to that guy.”

Wang Jie didn’t pretend to refuse. He took every last bit.

“If you have any other requests,” Sister Tang said, “say the word. You’re the base’s hero now.”

Wang Jie’s expression sobered. “Actually, I do.”

Sister Tang tilted her head. “Go on.”

“Find Zuo Tian.”

Sister Tang froze. “You’re sure Zuo Tian isn’t dead?”

Wang Jie nodded. “There’s no point arguing about old grudges or who’s right. Right now, you only have one choice: me or Zuo Tian.”

He met her eyes. “Choose me, and kill Zuo Tian—no matter what he wants to say or do.”

“If you choose Zuo Tian, we leave.”

Sister Tang studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. “I understand. Don’t worry—if he’s not dead, we’ll find him.”

Her voice was blunt, almost weary. “Like you said, right and wrong don’t matter in this cursed age. What we value is you.”

“Good.” Wang Jie smiled.

After Sister Tang left, Qing Zheng peered out the window. “Isn’t that Lian Qin? She’s here too.”

They all turned. Lian Qin had arrived with Lian Fei.

Around them, more and more people drifted over to stare. That battle had cemented Wang Jie’s status.

He was now the strongest cultivator on Blue Star.

He’d surpassed Bai Yuan.

“Old Boss,” Old Five whispered, “are you seeing her?”

“No,” Wang Jie said. “It’s time.”

“Time for what?”

Wang Jie didn’t answer. He went to do his routine. It was exactly time for it.

Lian Qin had come to deliver disaster materials as thanks—and she’d brought a marriage proposal letter, too.

Staring at the letter, Old Five and the others fell into deep contemplation.

Wen Zhao rolled her eyes and went to rest.

With all these materials, Wang Jie even had some left over after his routine.

What he needed most was a storage ring, but Wen Zhao didn’t have a spare.

The rings taken from other trialists couldn’t be used either.

Feeling the power surging through his body, Wang Jie realized it had grown again.

He sat down, breathing slowly. All his imprint power had been converted into raw strength. He didn’t know where the limit was, but even now it was absurd.

Sixteen times what he’d had when he broke through the Eighth Seal.

If he fought Yun Lai again, he’d win even more easily. He might even catch Eight Arrows as One with pure strength, instead of relying on the wrist guard to knock it off course.

And this was only a wrist guard—only the eighth set of the basic fitness routine.

What if it wasn’t just a wrist guard? What would intermediate routines do? Advanced ones?

If he could obtain this, that meant those things existed somewhere in the universe.

So where did they come from?

What terrifying faction—or race—possessed them?

He stared at the starry sky outside the window. Through the sky projection, he saw endless, deep darkness.

What was out there?

The thought made his blood stir.

Yun Lai had become a prisoner. That alone should have caused an uproar in the Jia Yi Sect, but the sect’s attention was on someone else—the young man walking high in the sky.

“It really is Shu Mu Ye. Report to the Sect Master at once.”

“No need. The Sect Master already knows. He’s ordered us to find someone to deal with him at any cost.”

“Then stop the trial. Otherwise who can handle him?”

“The trial of the Jia Yi Sect has never been interrupted, no matter what happens. This time is no exception.”

“Ten days—only ten days. After ten days, the final batch of trialists will descend. Find as many as you can. This matter has been listed as the Jia Yi Sect’s highest-level task.”

In the days that followed, Wang Jie went to Jin Ling Base again. Ninth Seal trialists were stirring up trouble.

Yun Lai was only one of eighteen Ninth Seal trialists. Even the weakest of the rest were stronger than the Blue Star cultivators inside the bases.

Bai Yuan went to Jiang City and captured a Ninth Seal trialist to bring back.

But it wasn’t a solution.

Beyond the five major bases, there were countless smaller ones. Many had already changed hands without anyone realizing.

The trialists did everything they could to gather disaster materials and increase their combat strength.

Wang Jie’s side had to train, too.

In that tense stretch, Qi Wu arrived.

Sister Tang brought him straight to Wang Jie.

“You were looking for me?” Qi Wu asked.

Wang Jie frowned. “I was?”

Qi Wu—chubby and sweating—smiled awkwardly and bowed. “I never thought this trial would end with Yun Lai defeated, Brother Wang. Before, I was blind and didn’t pay attention. I’m apologizing to you now.”

“What do you want?” Wen Zhao cut in.

Qi Wu’s smile tightened. “A deal. I want to trade a combat power detector for Yun Lai.”

Wang Jie raised an eyebrow. “Trade for Yun Lai? Why?”

Qi Wu rubbed his hands, as if the words were hard to get out. Under their steady gaze, he forced them out anyway. “Because my Milky Way Defense Corporation offended the Yun family, and now they’re suppressing us.”

“I joined this trial to get close to Yun Lai, hoping he could help me find a way out.”

He gave a strained laugh. “I never expected that before I even met him, you’d already caught him.”

Wang Jie glanced at Wen Zhao.

Qi Wu hurried to add, “The Wen family knows about this too. I just don’t know whether Miss Wen Zhao has heard.”

Wen Zhao shook her head. “I haven’t.”

Qi Wu exhaled. “To be honest, our company does a lot of business and has plenty of money, but we’re still within the reach of the Jia Yi Sect. It’s not hard for the Yun family to target us. If we can use Young Master Yun Lai to smooth things over, it’ll be the best outcome.”

He took a breath, then leaned forward. “So, Brother Wang—if you’re willing to help me with this…”

“When you step into the starry sky in the future, Milky Way Defense Corporation will give you a generous gift. Something that will definitely satisfy you.”

Wang Jie studied him for a long moment. “Then I won’t hide it either.”

“First, Yun Lai is a prisoner of the Shang Jing City Base now. I might not have the final say.”

“Second, he hates me. If I could, I wouldn’t let this future trouble live.”

Qi Wu coughed, clearly rattled.

He turned to Wen Zhao, choosing his words with care. “Miss Wen Zhao… you didn’t explain it clearly to Brother Wang?”

Wang Jie lifted a hand, stopping Wen Zhao before she could speak. “Don’t use the Jia Yi Sect and the Yun family to threaten me.”

“If I end up a war slave, I’m dead anyway. If I can drag one of you down with me, I will.”

Wen Zhao glanced at Wang Jie and said nothing more.

Qi Wu sighed. “You still have to be able to drag them down.”

“Brother Wang, everything in the trial is in the Jia Yi Sect’s hands. If you try to kill Yun Lai, I can guarantee you won’t be able to do it—not even for an instant.”

“He’s Yun Lai, an important member of the Yun family.”

Qi Wu leaned forward again. “Brother Wang, you’ve struggled through the apocalypse for so long—do you still believe in fairness?”

“This so-called trial is just a game that lets Yun Lai get his results in a ‘reasonable’ way.”

“The trial of the Jia Yi Sect can’t be interrupted—that’s the rule, and it has never changed. But no one said you can’t quit.”

Wang Jie looked up. He wasn’t stupid. When he’d let Chong Ruo Ruo go before, he’d already considered this.

It was the same reason he’d beaten Yun Lai outside the base instead of trying to kill him.

With his temperament, Yun Lai wouldn’t have lived this long otherwise.

But in a negotiation, he couldn’t let the other man control the pace.

“No need to lecture me,” Wang Jie said. “Maybe the water Yun Lai drinks right now has already been poisoned.”

Qi Wu’s face went stiff.

Then he went straight to the price. He pulled out a combat power detector and offered it with both hands. “I’ve improved it. It can help you locate wallstone.”

“Wallstone is the layer of material we trialists used to wrap around Blue Star when we descended.”

“If you can locate wallstone, you can lock onto where trialists landed and follow the traces to find them. That should help you a lot.”

Sister Tang’s eyes lit up. This was valuable.

The biggest problem right now was that the first three batches of trialists were missing. No one knew which bases had already been taken.

Even if the device couldn’t lock onto trialists directly, it could still point them at clues.

Qi Wu continued, “Yun Lai is useless to you. What he knows, Miss Wen Zhao also knows.”

“Rather than letting him waste your rice here, you might as well let me take him away.”

“This combat power detector is only a token of sincerity. With your ability, Brother Wang, there’s a high chance you can break free of the war slave fate—something even Yun Lai can’t control.”

“As long as you one day walk the universe, Milky Way Defense Corporation will reward you richly.”

He spread his hands. “Of course, if you still end up sent to the interstellar battlefield, then forget I said anything.”

“I, Qi Wu, will never deceive you—any of you.”

They exchanged looks, then finally turned to Wang Jie.

Yun Lai had been caught by Wang Jie. They said he was held by Shang Jing City Base, but in truth, Wang Jie decided his fate.

Wang Jie had Qi Wu step outside, discussed it with the others, and then agreed.

Of course, he added another batch of disaster materials as a condition, and Qi Wu agreed without hesitation. The chubby man had earned plenty of disaster materials selling combat power detectors.

He handed over a large share on the spot.