Chapter 73

Chapter 73: An Ambitious Wang Jie

No wonder the Silver Radiance Empire had felt so strange lately.

Cultivators and resources were being moved in secret, yet nothing was openly drawn from Frost Splendor Sect.

Jun Hua had also warned Wang Jie not to leave.

Mu Ran’s arrival had been deliberately hidden.

Wang Jie stared out into the starfield.

This entire border was probably being laced with arrays.

Mu Ran was only one array adept among many.

They landed on the next planet.

Mu Ran glanced at Wang Jie. “Do you want to rest?”

Wang Jie looked touched. “Thank you for your concern, Master, but no. Finishing your mission matters more.”

Mu Ran’s face twitched. “You don’t need to be that eager.”

“Master, please give the order.”

Mu Ran studied the planet and did mental calculations.

This one was slightly larger than the last. He estimated Wang Jie would need three and a half days to drill through. Add the time he could force Wang Jie to spend “checking,” and it would be about right.

Wang Jie struck.

Mu Ran’s eyes widened slightly.

The destructive power had increased.

Wang Jie immediately said, “Thank you, Master. Junior has grown more proficient with the sword method.”

Mu Ran forced a smile. “Good. Very good.”

Still three days.

Mu Ran couldn’t say anything, only grit his teeth and insist on an extra day of “inspection.”

He worked nonstop while Wang Jie checked.

By the end of the fourth day, Mu Ran finally finished. Wang Jie climbed out again.

“Master,” Wang Jie asked curiously, “how will the arrays be activated when the time comes?”

Mu Ran looked truly exhausted—pale around the eyes, shoulders slumped. “A trigger is enough.”

“A trigger?”

“You’ll understand when the time comes,” Mu Ran said, sounding like he didn’t have the energy to explain.

Wang Jie nodded. “Understood. Then I’ll rest—”

“Wait.” Mu Ran’s voice sharpened. “Don’t rest.”

Wang Jie blinked. “?”

Mu Ran stared at him as if delivering profound wisdom. “Use this time to practice your sword. Your insights will deepen. That’s my experience from cultivating in Frost Splendor Sect.”

Wang Jie found it odd. The more time passed, the more he sensed Mu Ran had things he couldn’t say.

But it didn’t matter. Wang Jie wasn’t even sweating.

As they approached yet another planet, Mu Ran abruptly told Wang Jie to rest.

Wang Jie did.

Mu Ran, meanwhile, began setting up the array.

This planet was smaller than the previous ones. Wang Jie would finish in two days at most.

Mu Ran had to drag things out.

Wang Jie ended up resting a full day, then began drilling again.

Time flowed.

More than a month passed as they bounced from planet to planet, laying arrays in the same region.

Mu Ran looked visibly older.

Wang Jie remained energetic.

He also learned the name of what they were building—Double-Spike Formation, and Combined Double-Spike Formation.

A single Double-Spike Formation could only attack the space between two planets. Combined Double-Spike Formation was different—it could cover an entire region.

They occasionally encountered other ships during their work.

No one spoke. No one exchanged greetings.

Wang Jie could guess war was coming.

So could everyone else.

The mood in the Silver Radiance Empire grew more oppressive by the day.

The only outside contact they received was a supply ship delivering disaster materials to Wang Jie.

He needed Lockforce to keep drilling, and recovering Lockforce was crucial.

That supply delivery was the only reason Mu Ran managed to rest at all. Otherwise, Wang Jie wasn’t sure he would survive.

Mu Ran regretted his earlier arrogance. He shouldn’t have tried to act impressive in front of Wang Jie.

Now he couldn’t step down even if he wanted to.

When Mu Ran finally completed one section of the work, he waved Wang Jie over, eyes bright with relief.

“Finished,” he said hoarsely. He opened the star map and pointed. “Look—this region. This is the Combined Double-Spike Formation we’ve completed. If any living thing enters and the array is activated…”

He trailed off, lips curling into a grin that said enough.

Wang Jie’s curiosity wasn’t about the smile.

It was about the power.

Mu Ran only said one thing: “Keep it secret.”

Then he tapped Wang Jie’s personal terminal. “Check it. The Contribution system should be online.”

Wang Jie opened his terminal.

A new interface had appeared, simply labeled Contribution.

“What’s this?”

“Rewards,” Mu Ran said. “Everyone who participated in the array mission gets them. You have ten points—your reward for assisting me in completing one Combined Double-Spike Formation.”

He added, “We’ll continue. The maximum you can reach is probably fifty.”

Wang Jie stared at the number beside his name.

10.

Everything else on the screen was blank.

Mu Ran smirked at his expression. “Wait. Soon you’ll see good things appear there—things that’ll blind you.”

Wang Jie frowned. “This is Frost Splendor Sect’s reward system, isn’t it?”

Mu Ran nodded. “Don’t ask. Just earn points. The more points you have, the more it will help you. This chance doesn’t come often.”

Wang Jie’s eyes brightened. “Is there something in it that can help me reach the Star-Breaking Realm?”

Mu Ran scoffed. “Star-Breaking Realm? If you have enough points, you can reach Roaming-Star Realm.”

Wang Jie’s heart surged. “Then let’s continue. Thank you for the guidance, Master.”

Mu Ran grunted and took him to the next planet.

He assumed things would proceed as before—slow enough for him to keep up.

Instead, Wang Jie, encouraged by the promise of rewards, pushed his sword method further.

With one strike, the depth he carved doubled.

Mu Ran went stiff.

If Wang Jie’s efficiency rose again, Mu Ran wouldn’t be able to keep up at all.

He would lose face.

And it would be his own fault—he’d been the one who lit the fire under the young man’s ambition.

Seeing Wang Jie glance at him eagerly, Mu Ran coughed and made a decision.

He threw Wang Jie a packet of coordinates.

“You go drill these yourself,” Mu Ran said, stern and dignified. “Young people are impatient—I understand. But I can’t rush on my end. Arrays consume the mind. Even the slightest mistake will ruin everything.”

Wang Jie hesitated. “Then I’ll drill more slowly and stay with Master—”

“No.” Mu Ran waved him away. “Leave the ship to me. You go drill the upcoming planets. Mark each one when you finish. I’ll bury the seal-chen stone myself.”

“Won’t that exhaust you, Master?”

Mu Ran’s mouth twitched. “Watching you work reminds me of myself back then. Enough. Go.”

Then, almost as an afterthought, he said, “After you finish, ask your Emperor for other tasks. Earn more points. It will help you.”

Wang Jie bowed deeply. “Junior thanks Master for granting this.”

Mu Ran clasped his hands behind his back and nodded.

A few days later, another supply ship arrived with disaster materials.

Wang Jie boarded it and left for the next planet.

Mu Ran contacted Jun Hua directly.

He couldn’t wait for Wang Jie to leave.

The laborer had already done the hard work, and Wang Jie’s presence only increased his pressure.

Wang Jie, for his part, sped up deliberately.

He had figured it out long ago. Mu Ran couldn’t match his pace, so Mu Ran kept forcing him to “inspect” just to slow him down.

That was a waste of time.

Mu Ran cared about face but couldn’t increase his efficiency. Wang Jie had learned everything he could from him. He didn’t intend to keep accommodating him.

And the disaster materials delivered by the empire were allocated based on Wang Jie’s efficiency. Dragging things out didn’t earn him more. With that extra time, he would rather return to the Slaughterstone Planet and hunt.

So he pushed harder.

In a little over fifty days, Wang Jie drilled more than forty planets. That was enough for Mu Ran to lay four Combined Double-Spike Formation. At Mu Ran’s pace, it would have taken half a year.

During that time, the delivered disaster materials strengthened all of Wang Jie’s marks to dark gray.

He should have been comparable to Chong Xuan and Mo now.

But then something went wrong.

No matter how much imprint power he absorbed, his marks wouldn’t deepen further.

It felt as if the marks couldn’t “settle,” no matter what he did.

He searched his personal terminal for information.

There was nothing.

Some things simply weren’t shared.

He would have to ask someone.

In Silver Radiance Imperial Capital, Jin Chu stood before a massive star map covered in markers—supplies, personnel, arrays, warships, and more.

Jun Hua and Yu Dong stood behind her.

This was the Silver Radiance Empire, yet Jin Chu was the one orchestrating everything.

“We’ve already laid nearly a hundred Combined Double-Spike Formation,” Jin Chu said, eyes fixed on the map. “We have less than half a year left to prepare. We should be able to reach three hundred as planned and secure the entire border where the Frost Splendor Star Chain meets the Ninth Star Chain.”

“Supplies are in place,” Jun Hua reported. “Tens of millions of outer court disciples will arrive in ten batches. Nothing has leaked so far.”

Jin Chu nodded. “We can’t be careless. The sect has prepared for this war for a long time.”

Jun Hua bowed. “Thank you, Senior Sister, for mobilizing the sect’s array adepts.”

Jin Chu smiled. “I’m doing it for the Frost Splendor Star Chain. This corridor is the fastest route for the Ninth Star Chain to enter our territory.”

Jun Hua didn’t say what she really thought.

This war was an offensive campaign—Frost Splendor Star Chain attacking the Ninth Star Chain. A counterattack was unlikely.

Still, if the Ninth Star Chain somehow did counterattack, the first to suffer would be the Silver Radiance Empire.

Arrays were insurance.

Mobilizing array adepts was no small matter. Jin Chu had applied multiple times to the sect before she finally succeeded.

It helped that she was the number one inner sect disciple.

Otherwise, even as a commander, she wouldn’t be able to mobilize special existences like array adepts.

Jin Chu continued checking the Contribution system.

War merit distribution was no small matter either.

Then she paused.

“Wang Jie?”

She stared at the number beside his name.

Twenty points.

That meant he had assisted an array adept with two Combined Double-Spike Formation.

His efficiency was high.

By her estimate, a cultivator from a small place drilling to the required depth in six days was already impressive.

If she remembered correctly, the array adept he assisted should have been Mu Ran.

Most other cultivators from the Silver Radiance Empire capped at ten points.

War merit wasn’t easy to earn. Only Ten Seals cultivators had the chance to assist array adepts like Mu Ran. The more efficient array adepts had technological support, and while that made them faster, the people operating those machines didn’t even understand what they were doing—and weren’t counted in the Contribution system.

Jin Chu asked casually, “This Wang Jie—what do you know about him?”

Jun Hua and Yu Dong exchanged a glance without moving their faces.

Neither mentioned the possibility that Wang Jie might be connected to Jia Yi Sect.

Jin Chu filed the name away.

She paid attention to non-sect cultivators for a reason—soon, they might need people who didn’t carry Frost Splendor Sect’s scent.

The beasts of mad clan had noses too sharp.

They could smell Frost Splendor Sect on anyone who’d been too close.

Back at the Lakeside Residence, Wang Jie rubbed his head, frustrated. Even with the Lakeside Residence’s permissions, he couldn’t find what he needed.

Should he ask Jun Hua directly?

Before he could decide, Cheng Qian arrived again with another batch of sword tassels.