Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Over ten days later, a business starship landed at the starport of Qingsha. The arrivals were people from the Marriott Group.

In the Prosperous Star Realm, supreme figures don’t necessarily use business starships every time they travel.

But this time they came to complete the company’s final audit, so there were quite a few involved parties.

Even just to showcase their strength, it was indeed necessary to arrive on the group’s business starship.

Little Lake caught this piece of information, which is why Qu Jianlei and the other two waited outside the starport, striving to obtain firsthand data.

The fleet receiving them quickly departed the starport, and Qu Jianlei exchanged glances with Mu Yu, both of their expressions slightly serious.

"Two supremes have arrived," Mu Yu sighed lightly, "The one with the water attribute is very likely Qian Cengxue."

Qian Cengxue is one of Marriott’s two supreme honored guests, relatively older, more active, and highly powerful.

Qu Jianlei also furrowed his brows, then nodded slightly.

"Being able to deal with three supremes at once is a good thing... although we need to keep it low-key."

They were confident in ambushing two supremes, and within the plan, Mu Yu could even consider not taking action and just providing support from outside.

But if there were three, it would be hard to guarantee no noise is made.

"Let’s plan this out," Mu Yu replied solemnly, "With proper operations, it’s not impossible."

That evening, the two visiting supremes settled into Marriott’s premises in Qingsha.

At that point, three supremes had gathered there: Red Beard, Xian Ming, and Qian Cengxue.

Taking advantage of the night, Qu Jianlei sneaked into the premises, this being his second visit, making him quite familiar with it.

Even so, he almost exposed himself.

Not because of the three supremes, but a new guy who looked like a modified warrior, but was actually a dark attribute A-level.

A dark attribute awakened, whose perception ability gets enhanced at night.

Qu Jianlei’s focus was entirely on the three supremes, then on various equipment, and lastly the other people.

Due to the long trip, many were a bit exhausted, so no welcoming banquet was arranged that night.

Xian Ming and Qian Cengxue did check in with Red Beard, and the three talked well into the late night.

Initially, Qu Jianlei planned to strike when the three finished discussing and went to rest separately.

But unexpectedly, while waiting, he was momentarily distracted and suddenly felt a sense of unease.

It wasn’t a strong sense of impending danger, but rather like a sudden intuition as during the last star wars.

Not good! Qu Jianlei realized something was amiss, as if guided by fate, secretly enhancing the affinity with his wood attribute.

He was originally hiding beside a large tree, possibly over two hundred years old, impossible for two people to wrap around entirely.

The next moment, an obscure dark element swept through the area, seemingly confused.

"Oh dear," Qu Jianlei muttered under his breath, grateful he hadn’t used dark element invisibility.

Otherwise, the resonance between dark elements could easily expose his presence.

After the dark element’s wave passed, Qu Jianlei didn’t dare to breathe, as if he had become one with the large tree.

Not long after, the dark element gently swept over again.

At this time, Qu Jianlei passively realized the source of this perception ability was indeed a stranger, a modified warrior.

Alright, this was actually a dark attribute A-level, just previously concealing his aura exceptionally well.

And fearing exposure to the three supremes, Qu Jianlei hadn’t dared to intentionally perceive this party.

— Concerned that the three supremes might have unknown methods, he acted very cautiously.

However, it was precisely this caution that made him overlook others, nearly exposing himself.

That dark attribute A-level clearly grew suspicious too, and half an hour later, another wave swept through.

This time, the wave was quite noticeable, and the three supremes who were discussing felt it.

Xian Ming Supreme took the initiative to release spiritual power, evidently inquiring about it with the A-level.

The A-level used his watch to reply, "Just detected an unusual element wave, but didn’t find anything abnormal."

Xian Ming nodded and then explained to the other two.

"Pu Ju Xiang just retired recently, he’s quite cautious in his work... the group will let him regularly inspect the mines."

Concerning precious metal mines, miners might not behave honestly, no matter how much this matter is guarded, it curbs some greed.

And incidents mostly happen at night, so this dark attribute A-level named Pu Ju Xiang is very useful.

"That’s indeed the case," Red Beard nodded, "The boss was meticulous, paying a high price to recruit this person."

Qian Cengxue remained impassive, expressing, "Isn’t having a dark attribute A-level stationed here long-term a bit..."

"Let’s see how it goes," Xian Ming replied solemnly, "At the start, we need to supervise strictly, we’ll discuss future arrangements later."

As they communicated, Qu Jianlei didn’t dare to breathe – what if they were employing a tactic?

Until the moment the sky began to brighten, the A-level named Pu Ju Xiang just began to show signs of weariness, starting to sit cross-legged.

Qu Jianlei observed for another seven to eight minutes, noticing the person’s spiritual power receding and their mood becoming calm, then quietly left.

As soon as he left, the sky shifted from the pitch darkness before dawn to brightness.

Especially Qingsha Star, due to the composition of its air, has a higher refraction rate, making it brighter earlier than other planets.

Qu Jianlei had anticipated this and chose the most opportune moment to retreat.

However, this change in the sky indicated that Pu Juxiang sensed the weakening trend of the Dark Element, prompting him to rest proactively.

After leaving the yard, Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but secretly thank his luck for cautiously using Wood Attribute assimilation.

Ever since the emergence of the Wood Attribute Exclusive Poison, Wood Attribute Awakened in the entire Imperial have been notably discreet.

Although a specialized antidote has been developed, it is still in the trial phase and not widely applied.

He explained briefly to Mu Yu, who also couldn’t help but feel fortunate, "If a Supreme of the Wood Attribute shows up, you’d be in danger."

Perception among the same attribute elements is much more sensitive than among other Awakened.

Let alone Qu Jianlei’s weak handling ability with the Dark Attribute, even if adept, it might not elude that A-level Pu Juxiang.

Moreover, he’s from the military, with particularly sharp perception.

Unless he’s a Supreme with exceptional micro-operation skills in the Dark Attribute, using the Dark Element might very well be detected by the other party.

Qu Jianlei nodded upon hearing this, "If we want to act, we must first remove this thorn... unless we strike during the day."

"Acting during the day is inadvisable," Mu Yu shook her head decisively, "unless Jia Shuqing is present, then we can bring about rainfall."

However, the problem is, while they can summon Granny Jia, it’s rare for the Marriott Group’s three Supremes to gather.

Summoning Granny Jia requires at least half a month’s time from notification to arrival.

The three Supremes can’t stay together for long; even though Supremes are widespread, such high-end combat power isn’t squandered.

This gathering has taken place only because it’s comparable to a grand ceremony.

Qu Jianlei nodded, "Alright, let’s see how they plan things today."

Through the Marriott Group’s intranet, he already learned that Xian Ming would visit Qingsha Star’s head today.

This meeting is symbolic; the head’s Cultivation Level is only A-level, yet represents the Imperial’s control over Qingsha.

Xian Ming is the leader of Marriott and a Supreme; he certainly won’t converse deeply with the other party.

However, as soon as the two meet, the signal is sent out, and the subordinates now know how to proceed.

Yet such meetings are full of variables, making it truly challenging to predict what might happen.

It turned out the head truly valued Marriott, as the two chatted for over an hour, even having lunch together at noon.

That evening, Xian Ming hosted other partners at the base, with four Supremes joining.

Including Marriott’s own three Supremes, there were as many as seven Supremes attending the banquet that night.

Despite neither Qu Jianlei nor Mu Yu fearing this lineup, they also realized it was certainly not a good moment to act.

Even though both believed they couldn’t defeat the seven, they could at least escape, but such a commotion... would likely alarm half of Qingsha Star.

Missing this chance would make finding such opportunities even more difficult.

Thus, the two quietly lurked inside and outside, waiting for the potential moment.

After a few drinks, the seven Supremes actually discussed possibilities beyond Supreme.

Among Supremes, such exchanges weren’t uncommon, and with occasional technique demonstrations, it was quite enjoyable.

The Supremes all had good tolerance and could control their breath well.

However, when speaking passionately, a slight elemental fluctuation during technique execution was inevitable.

Such fluctuations didn’t trigger the Energy Sensor’s alarm, but other A-levels that were more sensitive could sense it somewhat.

The A-level Dark Attribute named Pu Juxiang felt a bit discomforted because, during nighttime, his Perception Ability was overwhelmingly sharp.

Therefore, even though he wasn’t seated with the Supremes but rather with the Modified Warriors, he left the table early.

Nonetheless, the visiting Supremes didn’t linger too late; after all, it was a welcoming banquet that required maintaining some decorum.

Whether these four Supremes intended to welcome the Marriott’s forces was difficult to say; life is much like a play, and play mirrors life.

Around one in the morning, the four departed contentedly, and Xian Ming Supreme also informed everyone to prepare to wrap up.

There’s always someone who drinks too much at a welcoming banquet, although most Awakened can expel the alcohol, some enjoy a slight buzz.

Thus, amid this clearing out, inevitable breath fluctuations occurred, while not very pronounced, it was still quite chaotic.

Pu Juxiang disliked such occasions and had already returned to his room.

With his Dark Attribute, at such late night hours, he was overly sensitive to most breath fluctuations.

However, under the current circumstances, he couldn’t complain and could only deliberately shield this sense.

This made him very uncomfortable, like a healthy person suddenly losing clarity of vision.

Just as he was agitated and restless, a peculiar and indescribable sensation abruptly struck him.

"Hmm?" He only managed a faint hum, then blacked out and lost consciousness.

Before passing out, his last thought was: Another Dark Attribute A-level?