Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Array Adept

The welcome for Frost Splendor Sect’s disciples was kept low-key.

Wang Jie stood behind Jun Hua and Yu Dong. The number of guards around them was small—only him and Ming Xu.

They waited in silence. It wasn’t long before a sleek, high-tech aircraft streaked in and came to a stop outside the Imperial Palace.

Two women stepped out. Their clothing wasn’t much different from the people of Silver Radiance Imperial Capital—fashionable, bright, and beautiful.

“Sister Yu Dong! Sister Jun Hua!”

One of the women shouted excitedly, waving as she ran toward them.

Jun Hua and Yu Dong froze.

“Man Man?” Jun Hua blurted.

Man Man rushed in and hugged them tightly.

The other woman approached more slowly, smiling.

Jun Hua held Man Man’s shoulders and looked her over. “Why are you here?”

Man Man grinned mischievously. “Surprised? I kept it secret on purpose.”

Yu Dong flicked Man Man on the forehead. “You little girl. You had us wondering for days what disciples from the Frost Splendor Domain were doing here.”

Man Man stuck out her tongue, then glanced back at the woman behind her. “Do you know this Senior Sister?”

Jun Hua and Yu Dong looked at the woman carefully.

They didn’t recognize her.

Frost Splendor Sect’s star region was enormous—three peaks and four domains, they said. Its disciples were as countless as stars. Even though there were only a little over a hundred inner sect disciples, not everyone could meet them.

Yu Dong’s expression grew solemn as she observed the woman. She couldn’t see through her cultivation at all.

This woman was definitely a standout among the inner sect disciples.

Yu Dong shot Jun Hua a sharp look.

Before Man Man could speak again, Jun Hua and Yu Dong bowed together.

“Jun Hua and Yu Dong greet Senior Sister.”

Man Man blinked. “Sister Yu Dong, if you don’t even know her, how do you know whether she’s Senior Sister or Junior Sister?”

Jun Hua shot her a stern look. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Man Man giggled and tugged the other woman’s hand. “Senior Sister Jin Chu is really nice. It’s fine.”

Jun Hua and Yu Dong’s faces changed instantly.

“Senior Sister Jin Chu?” Yu Dong repeated, almost disbelieving.

The woman smiled. “Junior Sisters, it’s been a long time.”

Jun Hua and Yu Dong bowed again, even deeper this time.

“Greetings, Senior Sister Jin Chu.”

“We pay our respects, Senior Sister Jin Chu.”

Jin Chu waved it away, then helped them up. “We’re all sisters. There’s no need for formalities.”

Her gaze drifted over the Imperial Palace and the surrounding grounds. “Junior Sister Jun Hua, your Silver Radiance Empire isn’t bad. The environment is good, and the Imperial Palace is grand. How about it?”

She smiled. “Take me on a tour.”

“Of course.” Jun Hua moved at once. “Senior Sister’s visit is an honor for the Silver Radiance Empire. Senior Sister, please.”

Jin Chu walked forward, still smiling.

Even as the Emperor, Jun Hua remained a step behind her.

That single step burned itself into Wang Jie’s mind.

The Silver Radiance Empire ruled billions upon billions of people. Blue Star was an ordinary planet tucked away in some corner of the universe.

Yet an empire like this treated an inner sect disciple with such respect. It was easy to imagine how terrifyingly powerful Frost Splendor Sect truly was.

And if Frost Splendor Sect was this strong…

Then compared to Jia Yi Sect, it still felt like the edge of the cosmos.

Wang Jie followed behind and listened to their conversation about the sect’s daily life.

Then something felt off.

Their voices grew softer and softer, until words that should have been audible simply weren’t. They were close enough to touch, yet parts of the conversation never reached him at all—like an invisible barrier had swallowed the sound.

Wang Jie glanced at Ming Xu, confused.

Ming Xu gave him a faint smile and shook his head, eyes still fixed forward.

Wang Jie could only keep walking.

Not long after, he and Ming Xu were dismissed and told they didn’t need to accompany them.

For the next few days, Wang Jie received no orders.

He’d returned from the Slaughterstone Planet because Jun Hua said he could meet Frost Splendor Sect’s disciples and broaden his horizons. Yet now he couldn’t even see them.

Five days later, he was finally summoned into the Imperial Palace.

Jun Hua was there.

The two female disciples from Frost Splendor Sect were not.

“Wang Jie,” Jun Hua asked without preamble, “do you know the array path?”

Wang Jie shook his head.

“That’s fine,” Jun Hua said. “There’s a mission I want you to complete. If you do, the benefits will be significant—rewards not only from the Silver Radiance Empire, but from Frost Splendor Sect as well.”

Wang Jie didn’t know what she wanted, but he wasn’t in a position to refuse. “Emperor, please speak. I will do everything I can.”

Jun Hua looked satisfied. Whether Wang Jie truly had connections to Jia Yi Sect or not, she had already given him benefits. Asking him to work wasn’t unreasonable.

“In a while, an array adept will come to set up arrays,” she said. “Your job is to assist him—handle the chores he doesn’t want to do.”

Her tone sharpened. “During that time, you are not to go anywhere until you receive my notice.”

“Any problems?”

An array adept…

Wang Jie nodded. “Understood.”

Back at the Lakeside Residence, he immediately searched for information on the array path.

It didn’t take long.

Arrays were a method of linking different cultivation energies together to unleash greater power.

Some believed that all power in the universe was born from the universe itself. Since it came from the same origin, all types of power—no matter how weak or strong—were connected at their core.

Finding those connections was the duty of an array adept.

An array adept was a cultivator who studied arrays.

Their status was extremely high. Many times, what ordinary cultivators could not do, an array adept could.

Wang Jie read until his scalp tingled.

A new world was opening in front of him.

So the universe didn’t just have cultivators and technological civilizations. It also had an array civilization.

And alongside it—pill path, forging path, and more.

These were cultivator professions.

“Lord,” Cheng Qian said as he arrived, “this is the new batch of sword tassels.”

Wang Jie didn’t even look up. “Cheng Qian, do you know arrays?”

“I’ve heard of them,” Cheng Qian replied. “I’ve even seen them. Lord… are you trying to understand the incident from two hundred years ago?”

Wang Jie frowned. “What incident?”

Cheng Qian hesitated. “Then I misunderstood.”

“It has to do with an array adept?”

Cheng Qian nodded and spoke carefully. “Two hundred years ago, a cultivator who suffered misfortune in the empire accidentally became an array adept. He was clearly only at the Ten Seals, yet he used arrays to bury two Star-Breaking Realm experts of the empire.”

He swallowed. “He died later, but the incident caused the empire’s top fighters to wither. If the Emperor hadn’t returned, the entire empire would have only had Xuan as a powerhouse above Star-Breaking Realm.”

Wang Jie’s eyes narrowed. “What about the old General?”

“The old General was traveling outside. He only returned in the past few decades.”

Wang Jie told Cheng Qian to bring him records of the incident, but the empire had sealed it away. Even the Lakeside Residence couldn’t access it.

Still… the idea alone was enough to make his heart race.

A Ten Seals cultivator burying two Star-Breaking Realm experts? Even if the Silver Radiance Empire’s Star-Breaking Realm experts were the most ordinary kind, that shouldn’t have been possible.

Wang Jie had never fought the Star-Breaking Realm. He suspected that if he went all out, he could battle one—but killing two? That felt impossible.

And he had once beaten Shu Mu Ye—a genius famous across the universe—while only at the Eighth Seal.

An ordinary Ten Seals cultivator couldn’t even fight a Star-Breaking Realm opponent.

Arrays…

Wang Jie originally thought only he had been assigned a task, but in the following days he realized something else was happening.

Ming Xu disappeared.

No matter how he searched, he couldn’t find him.

Then the Ten Seals cultivators among the Imperial Palace guards vanished one by one. Cultivators outside the palace disappeared as well.

Even with the Lakeside Residence’s permissions, Wang Jie couldn’t find any information.

A guess formed.

They weren’t using him because he was special.

They were using him because they had no one else.

Something big was about to happen in the Silver Radiance Empire.

On the surface, everything looked the same. In secret, they were preparing.

Wang Jie didn’t keep digging. There was nothing to find anyway.

He stayed at the Lakeside Residence, went nowhere, and continued Qi Refining.

Ten-some days later, Jun Hua sent him coordinates personally and ordered him to go receive the array adept.

Wang Jie took his private ship.

On a barren, windswept planet, he watched a small, mustached old man step out of a ship.

Wang Jie hurried forward and bowed. “Wang Jie, under orders to welcome Senior.”

The man looked to be in his fifties, arrogant and faintly lecherous. Two slanted mustaches hung above his lip like a crooked eight, making him look ridiculous.

He glanced at Wang Jie. “Ten Seals?”

“Yes.”

“A Ten Seals cultivator from the Silver Radiance Empire…” The man clicked his tongue. “Fine. It is what it is.”

He walked over to Wang Jie’s ship and looked it up and down. “Not a bad ship.”

Wang Jie smiled. “If Senior likes it, Senior can take it. It would be junior’s honor to gift it to Senior.”

The man looked Wang Jie over again, eyes lingering. “Not bad. Good attitude. Wang Jie, right?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Mu Ran.”

Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “A fine name. Worthy of an array adept. It suits Master’s presence.”

On Blue Star, Wang Jie had worked as a guide for two years. Flattery was part of the job—especially since he charged higher fees than most.

Mu Ran laughed loudly. “Good, good. Let’s go.”

He boarded the ship. Wang Jie followed, amused. Mu Ran already sounded like he owned the place.

The ship lifted into space.

The destination was set by Mu Ran. Wang Jie hadn’t been told where they were going.

Mu Ran wandered around the ship and shook his head. “Looks fancy on the outside, but the inside is average. I misjudged it. Keep it.”

Wang Jie kept smiling. “If Master needs one, junior can contact the Emperor at once and have a private ship custom-made for Master.”

Mu Ran waved a hand. “Handle the real business first.”

He sat down and looked Wang Jie over with arrogant eyes. “Do you know what you’re supposed to do?”

Wang Jie shook his head. “I’ll follow whatever Master orders.”

“Do you understand arrays?”

“No.”

Mu Ran snorted. “A backwater is a backwater. You know nothing at all?”

Wang Jie sighed, sounding embarrassed. “Junior has lived in a small place all his life. If I hadn’t been fortunate enough to receive the empire’s order today and see Master’s elegance, I’d probably never meet an array adept in my entire life—let alone understand arrays.”

He lowered his head in a show of humility. “I’m afraid junior can’t keep up with Master’s brilliance. I ask Master to guide me.”

Mu Ran’s expression softened slightly. “Your attitude is good. I’ll teach you slowly. Just follow my instructions.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“It’s fine if you don’t understand,” Mu Ran said. “What I hate is people pretending they do.”

He raised two jet-black stones from his storage ring. They were irregular, full of sharp faces, yet every surface gleamed smooth as a mirror.

“These are seal-chen stone,” he said. “They can seal Starforce—or any other power—inside.”

“Don’t mistake them for chen artifact. A chen artifact can unleash Starforce. This can drain Starforce from within, and it can run on its own as long as it has a power source.”

He took out another seal-chen stone and held it up. “The power source is external stimulation. Like this.”

In front of Wang Jie’s stunned eyes, a thread of Starforce shot from one seal-chen stone into another.

The second stone reacted as if a switch had been flipped. It fired its own Starforce back.