Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Qinghu didn’t answer the Paranoid’s question, instead she glanced at Granny Jia, then faintly furrowed her brows.

Granny Jia watched them chatting; she originally didn’t plan to butt in, but that one look made her a bit displeased.

"Qinghu, your wings have gotten tough, huh? What’s with that frown?"

Out of the three Supremes here, she was the only one who knew Qinghu—the other two had been in abnormal states for the past two hundred years.

"You are..." Qinghu’s brows tightened again before she tentatively asked, "No way, you’re... Senior Shui Qing?"

"If I’m not me, who would I be?" Jia Shuqing gave her a helpless look, but didn’t say more.

Yet Qinghu’s gossip radar was triggered, "Weren’t you... weren’t you..."

"Everyone says I’m gone, right?" Granny Jia shook her head indifferently. "I just hate trouble and went into seclusion for some peace and quiet."

Hearing this, Qinghu couldn’t help looking at Qu Jianlei, thinking that this one also likes hiding away. They really are a perfect match.

"No wonder I could vaguely sense some aura on you as well. But... I really didn’t expect you to be almost unaffected."

"I’ve been affected plenty," Granny Jia muttered softly, but still couldn’t be bothered to explain further.

Recently, whether it was the Paranoid or Qinghu, both counted as seniors.

Now that a junior had finally shown up, the old lady very naturally put on the airs of a senior.

The Paranoid saw that the two of them knew each other, so he spoke in surprise, "Little Jia, this one is also an elite among the juniors?"

Granny Jia nodded. "Of course. Not just an elite, she also has the strength to challenge the realm above Supreme."

"I’m afraid it’s not just strength, is it?" The Paranoid looked at Qinghu thoughtfully. "She must have had some fortuitous encounters too."

Qinghu felt a bit resistant toward this overbearing guy and looked at Qu Jianlei without expression. "And this is?"

"A senior," Qu Jianlei spread his hands with a wry smile. "Mm, definitely rather stunningly talented."

Mu Yu spoke up at that, cutting in, "Boss, is this Qinghu... also joining the team?"

Even though she rarely communicated with the outside world and had wasted two hundred years, her age wasn’t for nothing.

Her question was exactly to probe this person’s reliability.

"Probably," Qu Jianlei nodded, then sighed. "She got dragged into this by me."

"But she also has her own understanding of Spiritual Qi."

Mu Yu glanced at Granny Jia, then at Qinghu, and sighed with genuine feeling. "These juniors, every one of them is remarkable."

Hearing that, Qinghu couldn’t hold back anymore. It was one thing for that guy to mistake Jia Shuqing for a junior, but how could you say that too?

Could it be that you’re also older than Jia Shuqing? But... no matter how she looked, that didn’t seem right.

"I still haven’t asked... how should I address you, Senior?"

"I’m Mu Yu," Mu Yu answered with full confidence. She believed her reputation should last for a while yet.

However, Qinghu blinked, looking a bit at a loss.

Hearing that, the Paranoid couldn’t help speaking up, "Mu Yu of Chaoyang Academy... don’t tell me you haven’t heard of her?"

"Chaoyang Academy?" Qinghu blinked again, then nodded in realization. "So it’s that one..."

"But, if I may be so bold to ask, weren’t you... weren’t you frozen? Don’t tell me you’re fine now?"

She really did know of Mu Yu, she’d just failed to connect the name for a moment.

In her mind, Supremes who’d been frozen were basically beyond saving.

On the rare occasions that someone was saved, it always caused a huge sensation.

News like that served as proof that the Imperial had made a significant leap in either technology or its Cultivation System.

Yet she really hadn’t heard any recent news about Mu Yu; that name was incredibly old.

Could it be that she’d only been cured very recently, so the news hadn’t spread yet?

But she was roaming the interstellar space with Rhodiola rosea, Jia Shuqing, and the others; from the look of it... it didn’t seem like she’d just been cured.

"That’s a long story," Mu Yu glanced at Qu Jianlei and answered in a low voice.

"Anyway, just don’t mention me when we run into outsiders."

Qinghu thought for a moment and vaguely guessed something. "If I remember correctly, your Spiritual Power was damaged?"

"Yeah," Mu Yu nodded. "If that news gets out, the consequences... you know!"

Don’t tell her this is really what happened? Qinghu stared at Qu Jianlei in astonishment. "You treated it too?"

Qu Jianlei touched his forehead and gave a helpless little laugh. "I’m starting to feel like I’m getting more and more in demand now."

Qinghu regarded him thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "A treasure obtained from the Celestial Hook Enigma Mansion?"

The Paranoid and Mu Yu both raised their brows in unison.

The two of them had speculated about the origin of the Soul Nourishing Pill, but even the Paranoid didn’t know Qu Jianlei had once cleared the Mist Mansion’s trials.

Qu Jianlei nodded at her words, then shook his head. "Not entirely."

The Soul Nourishing Pill did indeed come from the Celestial Hook Enigma Mansion, but without Blue Star’s knowledge, how could he possibly have recognized it as a Soul Nourishing Pill?

Qinghu looked at him with deep meaning. "So Ran Bingluan really is Rhodiola rosea."

Hearing that, Granny Jia curled her lips in speechless exasperation. This kid really hid his tracks deep.

The Paranoid wasn’t interested in this topic—she was right there; did they really need to pin down her identity so clearly?

"Why do I get the feeling... that you’ve seen the realm above Supreme?"

Qinghu hesitated for a moment, then still nodded. "Senior is right."

"So there really are beings above Supreme around now?" Mu Yu’s interest was piqued. "Can you help introduce us?"

Qinghu spread her hands and answered very frankly, "Do you think it’s appropriate for an A-level to request an audience with a Supreme?"

"Hmph," the Paranoid snorted lightly. "Who here isn’t above Supreme?"

"Eh?" Qinghu looked at him in astonishment. "You, you... Senior, you’re also above Supreme?"

The Paranoid snorted again, but this time there was a faintly disgruntled tone. "At the very least, I’m four hundred years old now."

"Heh," Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Those two hundred years you spent like useless mud, compared to Mu Yu’s time in cryo... was there really that big a difference?

Granny Jia was the one who spoke up lazily, "Qinghu, you know this much now, but that also means you can’t leave."

On the surface it sounded like a casual reminder, but hidden within that admonition was a faint hint of killing intent.

Qinghu, however, didn’t care. "In the remainder of my life, what I need to do is charge for the realm above Supreme. The rest doesn’t matter."

At this topic, Mu Yu couldn’t hold back again. "That Supreme you met—what era was he from?"

Qinghu pondered a moment before answering, "He should be a bit younger than Senior Shui Qing."

"No way?" The other four Supremes all exclaimed in unison at that.

Among them, the Paranoid’s expression was the strangest. "A Supreme a bit over two hundred years old... who is it?"

He wasn’t even sure whether he knew that person, but he just couldn’t help asking.

"This... isn’t convenient to say," Qinghu shook her head. "That lord would sense it."

The Paranoid and Mu Yu exchanged a look. After a brief hesitation, the Paranoid continued asking, "Was he already famous two hundred years ago?"

Qinghu thought for a bit, then still shook her head. "You could say so, I guess. Can we not talk about this?"

The four Supremes fell silent at her words.

Seeing the atmosphere turn strange, Qinghu took the initiative to speak. "About this Alien Energy matter... I don’t know how the seniors view it?"

After a brief silence, it was still Granny Jia who answered. "What we’re doing right now is looking for a way to convert it into Spiritual Qi."

The Paranoid chimed in, "We’re going to snatch the Super Qi Gathering Array. Scared?"

"Snatch... that?" Qinghu’s eyes widened in surprise.

She had considered that this four-Supreme combo might do some crazy things, but she hadn’t expected them to be this insane.

Yet after thinking it over, she gave a slight nod. "So it really is to deduce a new Array?"

"Mm," Granny Jia nodded slightly. "We already have a normal Spirit Gathering Array. We’re only missing the Super Spirit Gathering Array."

"Normal... Spirit Gathering Array?" At that, Qinghu glanced at Qu Jianlei in surprise again.

No question, this was another one of this guy’s inventions. His output really was impressive!

As for the Super Qi Gathering Array clearly being under Military protection, she didn’t have the slightest scruple, even though she had always been very by-the-book before.

For Awakened who are trying to challenge new heights, anything in the way ought to be removed.

Granny Jia nodded. "We’re already all using it."

This only made Qinghu more curious. "You all agree that using Spiritual Energy for Cultivation works better?"

In just such conversation, the newly arrived Supreme gradually blended into this team.

A bit over ten days later, the Omen Ship and the other Starships tailing behind it arrived at the Hope Star Realm, targeting Star No. 3.

There’s no need to dwell on the landing process. Of the seven people, only Qinghu entered the planet under the identity of a "Transparent Man."

New to the place, the seven of them followed their usual routine of wandering around for a few days to lower the risk of the Omen Ship being exposed.

Then the five Supremes began slowly infiltrating the Military Region, gathering intel on all aspects of the Cultivation Rooms.

Though Qinghu had no formal identity, she was particularly skilled at disguising herself as an ordinary person.

When Qu Jianlei first met her, he almost missed her entirely, which showed just how high her level of Concealment and Concealing Aura was.

After spending a bit more than ten days, with Little Lake’s help, they figured out how the Qi Gathering Arrays were being used.

On Star No. 3, there were four Simplified Qi Gathering Arrays open to use, mostly A-level Awakened doing Cultivation inside.

There were two normal Qi Gathering Arrays open, while only one Super Qi Gathering Array was in operation.

Across all the Qi Gathering Arrays, there were nine Supremes cultivating inside. In addition, there were more than ten other Supremes residing on this planet.

This wasn’t strange. A Supreme’s cultivation time wasn’t unlimited, and besides cultivating, they also needed to relax.

What surprised Qu Jianlei was that he actually found two acquaintances here: one was Fangcao, the other was Spirit Fox.

Among them, Spirit Fox had once again reached the peak of A-level and was currently most likely tempering his body.

Qu Jianlei had no intention of disturbing them. Although they had once fought side by side, now the two sides had already embarked on different paths.

Just knowing that old comrades were safe was enough.

Spirit Fox should be trying to build connections with the Military, dropping by every so often and having even treated people to meals.

Qu Jianlei knew very well just how serious what he was about to do was.

He didn’t want to drag old friends into it, so he kept an eye on Spirit Fox from time to time, planning to avoid him when they made their move.

In the process, he unintentionally discovered that some inconspicuous guy also seemed to be paying attention to Spirit Fox.

He carefully extended his Perception, then was a bit stunned: it was actually Xiao Moshan?

(Updated to here; calling for monthly tickets, follow subscriptions, and recommendation votes.)