Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Qi

In the small courtyard, Qing Sheng sat across from Wang Jie and took a quiet sip of tea.

“Little Zheng was heartbroken when he heard you died.”

Wang Jie nodded faintly. “I know.”

Qing Sheng set down his cup and looked at him. “For now, I can’t go out anymore.”

“It’s getting more dangerous outside the base. Ten Seals creatures keep appearing. The safe zones are shrinking.”

“This delivery is the last one.”

Wang Jie studied him. “Uncle Qing… why are you willing to keep bringing Doctor Si Yan materials?”

“That can’t be a small sacrifice.”

Qing Sheng glanced toward the house. “Someone has to try another path.”

“If Blue Star is doomed, maybe he can build a ship and take a few people away.”

“As long as someone survives, Blue Star hasn’t truly been wiped out.”

Wang Jie looked at him for a long moment.

Even if the sky collapsed and the earth split, ants didn’t sit and wait to die. They searched for a crack, a way forward, however small.

Even if humans thought the effort was a joke.

Qing Sheng wasn’t strong enough to fight Shu Mu Ye. But he had his own road, no matter how ridiculous it looked.

That was why he was Qing Sheng—one of the men who helped establish the Five Major Bases in the first days of the apocalypse, protecting countless survivors, burning through his fortune without hesitation.

And the bases didn’t fail him. Shou Qing Group had become the largest—and the only—conglomerate that crossed all Five Major Bases.

“You’ve changed,” Qing Sheng said.

Wang Jie glanced down at his body and gave a thin, bitter smile. “I’m crippled.”

Qing Sheng chuckled. “Not that.”

“Your eyes. They’re different.”

“Not hatred anymore. There’s a mission in them.”

“That’s good.”

Wang Jie lowered his gaze to his tea.

A mission?

He just didn’t want to watch his home be destroyed. He didn’t want to see Jiang City again—the way it had been, with ordinary people forming the front line to buy time for cultivators, and behind the cultivators were children.

Qing Sheng didn’t stay long.

When he left, he only said one thing: “If Blue Star has no future, I hope at least you live.”

Wang Jie watched him go, then slowly clenched his fist.

Two more days passed.

Wang Jie counted the time. The next calisthenics was approaching.

Doctor Si Yan’s medicine was done, too. Even he admitted it probably wouldn’t work. He didn’t understand why Wang Jie insisted.

Wang Jie couldn’t explain it.

The courtyard was warm with sunlight. Beyond the walls, the world was drowning.

All four major bases were under attack by beast tides.

The safe zones collapsed.

There were no safe zones anymore. Ten Seals creatures roamed everywhere.

Across Blue Star, the land of Hua Xia churned.

Jiang City fell.

A million died. Those who lived scattered into the wild, fleeing without destination, surviving however they could.

The trialists stopped helping entirely. They all watched Shu Mu Ye and waited for the bridge to be completed so they could leave.

They didn’t care whether Blue Star’s people lived or died.

Jin Ling Base was attacked as well. Wen Zhao and Chong Xuan were willing to help, using the insect sea to hold the line, and Jin Ling survived.

But as Ten Seals insects multiplied, Chong Xuan’s control weakened.

Nan Guo Base was besieged by sea creatures and land creatures alike. When Lian Qin fell into despair, Shu Mu Ye appeared.

He chose Nan Guo Base as his next bridge site.

Along the southern coastline, he slaughtered mutated beasts until the ocean turned red and the stench of blood choked the air for miles.

He saved Nan Guo Base—for now.

But everyone knew it wouldn’t matter. Nan Guo Base couldn’t escape being buried.

They couldn’t live. They couldn’t run.

Shang Jing City Base was attacked too. Bai Yuan and the others resisted, but it was nothing more than a cup trying to hold back a flood.

In the end, Chu Yao stepped in.

Not for Blue Star.

For himself.

Wang Jie refused to leave. If Shang Jing City Base fell, Chu Yao wouldn’t even know how to take Wang Jie away.

The only option was to stabilize the base and wait until the bridge-building ended.

In Chu Yao’s eyes, Wang Jie trying to heal was a joke. Injuries like that could be treated quickly by true powers among the stars.

Blue Star didn’t have that kind of ability.

Wang Jie watched Chu Yao coming and going and understood perfectly.

There was nothing to thank. If Wang Jie weren’t here, Chu Yao wouldn’t lift a finger.

Shang Jing City Base was already a sea of suffering.

Chu Yao’s full strength had never been revealed, but Wang Jie could tell one thing: he was powerful.

He had something even Shu Mu Ye hadn’t managed to locate—a capability, a threat.

That night, the familiar voice sounded near Wang Jie’s ear.

He forced himself upright and began the calisthenics movements, following along as best he could. Heat flowed through his body like a current. He used the medicine while he moved.

After only a few motions, his body already felt a fraction better.

Then pain came roaring in.

Before this, parts of his body hadn’t even been able to feel pain.

Now it all returned.

It hurt like hell.

He clenched his teeth as sweat streamed down his face and soaked his clothes. Dark grime seeped from his skin.

The calisthenics didn’t last long.

But for Wang Jie, it wasn’t much different from the first time—so painful his body nearly convulsed.

Still, the effect was immediate.

When it ended, his injuries were healed.

The medicine wasn’t the key. The warm current was. It magnified whatever he took, magnified it endlessly.

It was absurd.

Wang Jie slumped to the ground and touched his wrist guard.

Without it, he would have died. Shu Mu Ye’s last punch had been beyond him.

Where did this wrist guard come from?

One wrist guard was already this miraculous. What if there was a full set?

He didn’t know what kind of force owned something like that, but it had to be a colossus.

He flexed his arms. His body felt light and clean. His strength hadn’t increased this time, but healing alone was already more than enough.

He opened the window immediately. The room stank.

After washing, Wang Jie collapsed into bed and slept.

The next day, he sat in his wheelchair in the small courtyard while Liu Ying pushed him.

Chu Yao stepped out and stared at him as if he’d forgotten how to breathe.

Wang Jie glanced up. “What is it?”

Chu Yao sat across from him, then grinned at Liu Ying, baring his teeth.

Liu Ying’s expression didn’t change. She simply turned and left. She didn’t like him.

The moment she was gone, Chu Yao’s face hardened. He stood, leaned in close, and stared at Wang Jie.

Wang Jie frowned. “What are you doing?”

Chu Yao sat back down, impressed despite himself. “You really have a lot of secrets.”

Wang Jie’s heart jumped.

“Not only can you boost your strength for a short time,” Chu Yao continued, “you can heal yourself.”

“Don’t deny it. We Dead Realm cultivators look at qi, not faces.”

“Your qi has fully recovered.”

Wang Jie steadied himself. “Qi?”

“Doctor Si Yan’s medicine is mediocre,” Chu Yao said flatly. “In the Corpse Sect, it wouldn’t even count as trash. There’s no way it heals you overnight.”

“You’ve got too many secrets. That’s exactly why you should come with me. Those star sects aren’t suitable for you.”

“If they discover what you’re hiding, they’ll pound you until even bone dust comes out.”

Wang Jie stared. “You think Shu Mu Ye wants me to follow him because he admires me?”

Chu Yao laughed once. “No.”

“He wants your secrets.”

“Cheng Yi Dao can let someone rebuild and break through physical limits. He’s rebuilt three times. And you? How long have you been cultivating?”

“On a trial planet, cultivating wild, and you still forced him to use that kind of power.”

“It’s insane.”

“Whether it’s Cheng Yi Dao or Jia Yi Sect—if you go with them, you’ll live worse than death.”

Wang Jie said quietly, “And the Corpse Sect sounds better?”

Chu Yao’s smile returned. “Here’s something you should learn. In the universe, the places that sound the most terrifying often benefit us the most.”

“Because everyone has secrets.”

“The Corpse Sect cultivates through the body. Everyone’s research has value—and it’s all secret.”

“If the Corpse Sect tried to pry into those secrets, the people below would rebel.”

“So the more secrets you have, the more you should come with me. Otherwise, there won’t be a place for you in this universe.”

Wang Jie didn’t argue. Everyone had a speech. He didn’t trust Jia Yi Sect, and he wasn’t about to blindly trust this man either.

He changed the subject. “Then what is qi?”

Chu Yao lifted a finger. “What do you see?”

“A finger.”

“Obviously,” Chu Yao snapped. “And what else?”

Wang Jie shook his head.

Chu Yao wiggled his fingertip. “There’s qi on my finger.”

“Qi isn’t one kind of power. It’s… a sense of alignment with the universe. A channel that connects you.”

“People have human qi. Beasts have beast qi. Luck, vitality—those are qi too.”

“Anything you can’t truly see but that still changes you can be called qi.”

“Even a nation has its own qi—its fate.”

“A force has qi as well. Call it momentum if you want.”

He leaned back. “Two ordinary people. Same height, same build, same strength, same speed.”

“One throws a punch ten million times. The other has never thrown a punch.”

“Who wins?”

“The one who’s thrown ten million punches,” Wang Jie said.

“Exactly,” Chu Yao said. “Because he has the feel of punching. That feel is qi.”

“In the universe, the living train strength. The dead train qi refining.”

“You can’t see it because you’ve never cultivated it. Normal people can’t see it either.”

“Just like you can’t see your own luck.”

Wang Jie felt like he understood—and like he didn’t.

Chu Yao looked him over from head to toe. “Finger arts and footwork. That’s what you’re best at.”

“Your fingers and your feet carry denser qi.”

“And your body holds a lot of qi, too, because your strength is outrageous.”

“Even your wrist has qi. That means you’re suited to weapons.”

He clicked his tongue. “You’re annoyingly complete. You know everything. How did a trial planet that’s only developed for ten years produce someone like you?”

“The Jia Yi Sect’s Martial Hall has combat skills like stars, but in ten years, no matter how talented someone is, they only master one or two.”

“You’re an exception.”

Wang Jie asked, “Then what about Shu Mu Ye’s qi?”

Chu Yao rolled his eyes. “You think qi sight is all-powerful?”

“Experts can hide and shift their strength. Veterans can even fake their qi range to trick you into misjudging them.”

“So don’t go casually observing other people’s qi. Only newbies like you get read so cleanly.”

“There are qi sight methods that can see through disguises, sure. Later.”

“Assuming you’re still alive.”

He grinned, suddenly bright. “So? The universe is exciting, right?”

“You know too little. Cosmic powers are as many as stars. Civilizations and races are endless.”

“There are oceans of food, flying-sword brothels, all kinds of insanity.”

“Come with me. With your ability, even if you can’t take revenge on Shu Mu Ye, you can still slaughter his disciples and granddisciples.”

“Cheng Yi Dao is full of hypocrites.”

“We’ll kill them together.”