Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Lakeside Residence

At this point, Wang Jie stopped trying to hide.

He’d already seen the broadcast of his “death” spread through the Silver Radiance Empire. If they intended to silence him, they wouldn’t need a public hunt.

When the ship lifted smoothly into the sky, he finally understood just how crude Si Yan’s little craft had been.

His escape from the mining planet had been chaotic, and that ship had been half-dead. But this vessel?

It rose steady as stone. The moment it cleared the atmosphere, it accelerated so hard the stars became streaks – yet the cabin barely trembled.

That was what true technology looked like.

Two days later, they reached the Silver Radiance Imperial Capital.

During the trip, Wang Jie asked questions nonstop. This time his targets were the ship’s crew, not Jun Tang.

They were friendly, almost eager. Whatever he asked, they answered. Wang Jie absorbed it like a sponge.

By the time he arrived, the empire no longer felt completely alien.

He was brought to meet Jun Hua.

And beside her stood the woman who had impersonated Jun Hua during the assassination attempt.

Yu Dong.

A Full-Star Realm powerhouse.

Above Ten Seals was the Star-Breaking Realm. Above Star-Breaking came Full-Star.

Of everyone Wang Jie had seen, only the old general had been Full-Star Realm.

Yu Dong was the second.

Shu Mu Ye didn’t count. Wang Jie had no idea what realm Shu Mu Ye had been before recultivating – but if Wang Jie had to guess, it was higher than Full-Star.

Wang Jie studied Jun Hua and Yu Dong.

They studied him right back.

“Thank you,” Jun Hua said first, voice gentle and edged with cold. “You helped me solve a problem I couldn’t easily solve otherwise.”

Wang Jie’s expression stayed calm. “It was only right.”

Yu Dong flicked her eyes over him.

Jun Hua’s smile deepened slightly, amused. “If it was only right, why did you run?”

“I took the wrong path,” Wang Jie said with perfect seriousness.

Yu Dong rolled her eyes, as if it physically hurt her to witness such a straight-faced lie.

Jun Hua didn’t press. “I don’t like owing favors. I’ll give you two choices.”

“First: become my guard. The benefits are generous.”

“Second: I can recommend you to join Frost Splendor Sect. Of course, you’ll still have to take the trials.”

“Pick one.”

Wang Jie’s brows rose. “Frost Splendor Sect? The strongest sect of the Eighth Star Chain?”

Jun Hua nodded. “I’m an inner sect disciple of Frost Splendor Sect. I have the qualifications to recommend someone.”

“The necessary procedures must still be followed, but with your strength, you won’t have trouble.”

She paused, then looked to Yu Dong briefly, as if deciding how much truth to give.

“I won’t lie to you.”

“Frost Splendor Sect cultivates Frost Splendor starforce. Most regions and battle skills are created for that starforce. They aren’t well-suited for lockforce cultivators.”

“And those who cultivate lockforce can only enter the outer court. You cannot become a true disciple.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Then what’s the point of trials?”

Yu Dong answered before Jun Hua could. “Even the outer court has ranks. Put it this way – Frost Splendor Sect has fifty million outer court disciples.”

“Where do you think you should rank among them?”

Wang Jie stared at her. “Fifty million?”

Yu Dong gave him a look full of contempt, like he’d just crawled out of a backwater cave.

Wang Jie truly was stunned.

Jun Hua said, “You don’t need to know everything about Frost Splendor Sect yet. If I choose to send you there, I’ll explain the details before you leave.”

She met his eyes. “Now tell me your answer.”

Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be your guard.”

Yu Dong looked at Jun Hua in surprise.

Jun Hua looked unsurprised, as if she’d expected this. “Good. Someone come.”

A guard stepped forward and bowed. “Your Majesty.”

“Take him to rest.” Jun Hua’s gaze lingered. “And your name?”

“Wang Jie.”

Wang Jie was led away.

Yu Dong watched him go, frowning. “How did you know he’d pick the first option?”

Jun Hua’s eyes remained thoughtful. “Based on what we’ve seen, there are two possibilities.”

“One: he truly just entered the universe and knows nothing. That matches the way he asks basic questions – though he could still be doing it deliberately.”

“Two…”

She turned, stepped once –

The void rippled with icy shards, and Yu Dong followed.

In a single step, they crossed a huge distance and stopped before a crude, shell-like object.

Wang Jie’s ship.

Jun Hua placed her hand on the hull and pressed slowly.

Layers of wallstone flaked away like old paint, peeling off to reveal a mark beneath.

Yu Dong leaned in. Even blurred, she recognized it. Her pupils shrank. “Jia Yi Sect?”

Jun Hua’s expression turned solemn. “Wallstone is used by major powers during training for short-term space travel. It’s convenient – paint it on and you’re done.”

She peeled another layer away. “But have you ever seen someone paint on this much?”

Yu Dong pressed her hand to the hull. “It’s wallstone everywhere.”

“That’s obscene.”

“So either he’s a newcomer – which doesn’t explain this ship or the wallstone – or…” Jun Hua’s gaze drifted toward the distant Imperial Palace. “He’s connected to Jia Yi Sect.”

Yu Dong frowned. “If he’s from Jia Yi Sect, why hide it? In the Third Nebula, a Jia Yi Sect disciple would have nothing to fear.”

“And wouldn’t Jia Yi Sect disciples cultivate starforce?”

“I don’t know,” Jun Hua said quietly. “Something major has been happening outside. Jia Yi Sect launched an extreme trial.”

“But we’re too remote. We don’t know the details. Even news from Star Vault Vista has been blocked. Nothing has reached us.”

She exhaled. “But just what we’ve heard suggests bigger trouble ahead.”

She looked back toward the palace, her voice lowering. “If he’s truly just a newcomer, we form a good connection and that’s that.”

“But if he’s tied to Jia Yi Sect… that changes everything.”

Yu Dong studied her. “So you’re going to interrogate him?”

Jun Hua shook her head. “No.”

“I don’t want to ask.”

“I only want to protect Father’s country.”

Yu Dong’s expression softened, and she sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you.”

The Silver Radiance Imperial Capital dwarfed Blue Star. And Wang Jie had already seen enough planets to know Blue Star was small by cosmic standards.

As he was escorted through the capital, he saw a prosperity that surpassed even Blue Star’s peaceful era.

They brought him to an island set within a great lake, not far from the Silver Radiance Imperial Palace.

The lake encircled the island like a moat. The scenery looked like a painting – wind, water, soft light. The entire island belonged to him alone, and the surrounding waters were sealed off.

A small old man stepped forward, refined and courteous, leading a sea of people behind him.

“This subordinate Cheng Qian,” he announced, smiling, “leads three thousand members of Lakeside Residence in greeting our lord.”

Wang Jie stared at the kneeling crowd, uneasy. “Who are you people?”

Cheng Qian’s smile stayed gentle. “We are here to serve my lord in Lakeside Residence. There are one thousand guards, three hundred maids, seven hundred general staff, two hundred cooks, gardeners-”

Wang Jie looked around. The island stretched for more than ten kilometers. The lake around it was massive – dozens of times larger.

And this was not some rural corner of an outer world.

This was the Imperial Capital. The Imperial Palace was right there.

Land here was worth a fortune beyond measure.

To live like this – on an island, protected, served – was something ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

His gaze shifted to the guards. Every one of them was a cultivator. Their cultivation wasn’t high – the strongest was only at the Eighth Seal – but even that was impressive.

Under Cheng Qian’s guidance, Wang Jie walked into his first “home” beyond Blue Star.

From the outside it carried an ancient elegance. Inside, it was sleek with technology.

There was even a gravity room for training.

Jun Hua’s treatment of him felt too generous – almost wrong.

Wang Jie couldn’t understand it. Even if he’d killed Jun Tang, why would Jun Hua place this much value on him?

Cheng Qian bowed again. “My lord, next I will introduce your permissions.”

Wang Jie frowned. “Permissions?”

“Yes. The permissions of Lakeside Residence. Anyone who resides here automatically gains them.”

“First: a custom ship. Please choose the style and functions you prefer.”

A light screen unfolded in the air, filled with ship models and technical descriptions so detailed Wang Jie couldn’t make sense of half a line.

Cheng Qian saw his confusion and began to explain-

Wang Jie cut him off. “Give me the most expensive.”

Cheng Qian didn’t blink. “Yes.”

“Next: a private imperial travel route.”

He brought up a full star map of the Silver Radiance Empire. “Please choose which regions you wish to travel to with priority speed. Only my lord’s ship may use this route.”

Wang Jie stared at the dense map until his eyes hurt. “Later.”

“Yes. Next: troop mobilization authority.”

Wang Jie stiffened. “I can mobilize troops?”

Cheng Qian bowed. “Anyone who resides in Lakeside Residence gains this right. My lord may mobilize one hundred warships, including two captains, escort forces-”

Wang Jie exhaled, already developing a headache. “Enough. If I need it, we’ll talk.”

Cheng Qian smiled serenely. “Yes.”

“And next: maids. My lord, please look.”

Images flared across the screen – beautiful maids in different outfits, posed like a catalog.

“If my lord desires, you may choose freely. They all belong to my lord.”

Wang Jie gave Cheng Qian a long, flat look.

That was too much.

He didn’t even want to think about how dangerous that temptation could be.

“Don’t mention this again.”

Cheng Qian bowed. “Yes.”

He continued listing privileges anyway. Wang Jie wandered through his new residence while Cheng Qian’s voice went on without pause, reciting permission after permission like scripture.

By the end, Wang Jie barely cared about the “privileges.” Three things, however, hit him hard.

First: he owned two slaughterstone planets.

A slaughterstone planet was a world where a slaughterstone had been dropped years ago. Only one stone was needed – after that, lockforce would transform the ecology.

He owned two of them.

Which meant he could hunt mutated creatures anytime, gather disaster materials, and absorb imprint power.

Second: the empire’s complete star map was open to him. Within it, he could search for Blue Star’s location.

Third: a storage ring.

Back on Blue Star, Wen Zhao’s storage ring had made him jealous enough to grind his teeth.

Now he had one too.

It belonged to the master of Lakeside Residence.

Which meant it belonged to him.

He activated it with a drop of blood immediately.

Inside was five hundred million Silver Radiance coins – along with disaster materials, healing potions, and daily supplies.

Wang Jie still couldn’t understand why Jun Hua treated him like this.

It felt… eerie.

He used the star map to confirm the locations of his two slaughterstone planets. They were far, but manageable.

He immediately connected his private travel route to them, ensuring he could reach them as fast as possible.

His private ship was already being manufactured and delivered.

For shipmakers, “most expensive” was easy. “Custom” was what slowed things down.

Wang Jie didn’t understand functions well enough to customize, so “most expensive” suited him perfectly. They could simply deliver the top-tier model and call it done.

And on top of everything else, the Royal Library was fully open to him.

Even its highest floor of cultivation manuals.