Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

"That’s impossible, right?" Granny Jia and Qinghu spoke in unison.

When Lund was young, he was once stunningly talented. As a Water Attribute, he was on par with Jia Shuqing.

But after he reached A-level, he stagnated for many years.

It wasn’t until he was a hundred and twenty that, supposedly thanks to some fortuitous encounter, he advanced to Supreme.

Yet even after his Advancement to Supreme, he was the most useless Supreme—his combat power was downright poor.

Qinghu’s impression of him was that he was very kind in how he handled things, nothing like a Blade native, but he loved to safeguard Blade interests.

In particular, he’d worked in the education system for a long time and had once served as Grand Patriarch of the Star Realm’s education system.

Leaving everything else aside, just judging from his reputation, he shouldn’t be the type to devour other people’s souls.

Moreover, Granny Jia and Qinghu pointed out another detail: Lund left Blade eighty years ago and reportedly went to the Imperial Capital to seek development.

Several decades later, someone said he died in the Imperial Capital; at any rate, no one ever saw him again.

Lund left Blade folk with a decent impression. Aside from being a bit soft in temperament, he was fine in every respect.

So many fellow natives couldn’t find him; you could see that this person truly seemed to be gone.

"But he really did call himself Lund," Qu Jianlei said in a low voice. "His parents are buried on Kongming Mountain, right?"

Granny Jia and Qinghu exchanged a glance; the latter nodded crisply. "Yes, on Kongming Mountain."

Kongming Mountain is the highest peak on Xueye; the climate used to be extremely harsh.

It’s better now and has become a scenic spot that receives some tourists every year.

But broadly speaking, Blade people doing tourism... that’s basically a joke.

All in all, Kongming Mountain’s climate is a bit harsh, the scenery is passable, but burying people here... that’s really rare.

The Imperial side values family bloodlines, and Blade folk especially so.

Building elders’ tombs in a place like this makes paying respects extremely inconvenient.

But many Blade people know that Lund really did bury his parents on Kongming Mountain—he didn’t acknowledge any other relatives.

After that, there were indeed several other quirky Awakened who buried their loved ones there.

The general idea being: "If I feel like paying my respects, I’ll go. Other people don’t need to bother me."

"Then it’s him," Qu Jianlei nodded, offering no further explanation.

Ke Zhe encountered the Supreme at the foot of Kongming Mountain, and every time he met that Supreme, it was there as well.

The natural scenery there is quite good, but the conditions are so harsh that even on Xueye Star it’s a place rarely visited by people.

As for out-of-system tourists... the tourism industry of the Blade Star Realm really is just a joke.

What’s especially worth mentioning is that Little Lake finally succeeded in infiltrating Xueye Star’s satellite system.

Using satellite scans, it quickly locked onto a spot that looked highly suspicious.

After carefully checking the records, they learned that it was where Lund’s parents were buried.

In recent times, no one had passed near the cemetery, but the few houses next to it didn’t look like places that had long been unoccupied.

Building houses beside a cemetery isn’t strange; they’re meant for people who come to worship to stay temporarily. If someone is actively tending the graves, then it’s for long-term living.

But Kongming Mountain stretches for thousands of kilometers and is so desolate that it’s impossible someone lives there permanently just to tend graves.

Wasn’t the whole reason Lund buried his parents there precisely because he didn’t want them disturbed?

Yet if no one took care of those houses, they would have been buried under snow long ago.

This was all Qu Jianlei had to go on; beyond that, he really didn’t have anything.

If he could stay on Xueye Star for a year or half a year, he’d probably find more clues, but that wasn’t realistic.

"Whatever the case, we can at least make a trip," the Paranoid suddenly popped up from who-knows-where.

"Those who don’t want to go can stay put. You’ll get your Cultivation Technique all the same... we’re a team, aren’t we?"

"I never said I didn’t want to go," Qinghu declared at once, then glared at him, sulking. "Only an idiot would believe you!"

The others also said they were willing to go—most of them didn’t even know who Lund was, so what was there to hesitate about?

Only Claire timidly raised a question. "Boss, we’ve killed so many people. Won’t he sense it?"

Qu Jianlei replied with a squinting smile, "That’s a good question. But if he really has Perception... will we be fine so long as we don’t go?"

"No way," Claire shook her head and answered with certainty. "Even if we don’t go, he’ll come looking for us."

"Doesn’t that settle it?" Qu Jianlei spread his hands. "Rather than wait for him to come, why don’t we go knock on his door?"

Three days later, deep in the vast mountain range, a man and a woman were walking through the snow.

The man looked like he was middle-aged, with a cold, severe face that screamed "don’t mess with me."

The woman was clearly much younger and far more lively; she kept pointing to the distance and saying things to the man.

Though the severe-looking man wore an expression that said "strangers keep away," he was obviously a bit helpless in the face of the woman’s chattering.

Every now and then, he had to stop and take videos or photos for her.

It was obvious they were a father and daughter out traveling, or else... a May–December couple?

Normally, the two of them appearing alone in the mountains like this would be rather unusual.

But seeing their light, agile Body Technique, anyone with eyes could instantly tell they were two Awakened.

Two Awakened wandering in the mountains is perfectly normal, and judging from how relaxed the man looked, he had to be at least B-level.

Walking on just like that, the two of them climbed over a peak, and the woman suddenly called out, "Old Yun, there’s a house up ahead!"

Old Yun’s brows furrowed slightly. "A house this deep in the mountains... it doesn’t feel quite right."

"Let’s go have a look first," the woman insisted, unwilling to let it go. "We’ve been sleeping in snow holes these past two days."

"Fine, fine," a trace of helplessness appeared on Old Yun’s cold, stern face. "Isn’t it all because you wanted to hike... just be careful."

The two of them hurried to the house, looked around inside and out, then came back out again.

"Old Yun, Old Yun," the woman called out again, "there are two graves here!"

"Then this must be where the Tomb Guardian lives," Old Yun replied in a low voice. "Aren’t you scared?"

"What’s there to be scared of? The living are scarier than the dead," the woman answered dismissively.

"Oh right, Old Yun, the scenery around here is pretty good, and it’s still early before dark. Why don’t we walk around some more?"

The woman was full of energy, and kept wandering about until it was completely dark before the two of them went back into the house.

Anyway, with the reflection of the snowlight, they didn’t have to worry about not being able to see.

Once inside, Old Yun took out a Defense Array and set it up, then fumbled out the generator to boil water and make tea.

For Awakened, eating a bit less isn’t a big problem. Out here in the great snowy mountains, being able to drink some hot water is far more comfortable.

All in all, the appearance of these two was rather strange, but their behavior wasn’t completely unreasonable either.

By late night, faint Perception was still being released from within the house from time to time, clearly on guard against potential danger.

Early the next morning, once the woman woke up, she started chirping away again.

"Old Yun, Old Yun, it’s actually pretty nice living here. Why don’t we just not leave today?"

Old Yun sighed helplessly. "You really are all impulse and no plan."

Two mountains away, there was a cave buried under heavy snow. Inside, a withered-looking man was sitting in meditation.

He let out a faint snort, a flash of cold cruelty crossing his face. "I’d planned to let you go, but if you insist on seeking death, don’t blame me."

Given his temperament, this kind of pair of straggling Awakened was the perfect target to strike at.

It was just that he’d been a bit unsettled recently, and these two had appeared too abruptly, so he’d suppressed the urge to kill.

Last night it wasn’t only them using Perception; he was also probing the surroundings to see if anyone was lying in ambush.

He could direct Yin Souls to scout, which was far more covert, and he didn’t have to worry about losing them.

After a whole night of probing, he could confirm that within a radius of two to three hundred kilometers, there were absolutely no living people.

After all, Yin Souls are extremely sensitive to the aura of the living.

Still, to be safe, he’d decided to let these two rather suspicious folks go.

But now they wanted to stay another day—that was something he couldn’t tolerate.

The Paranoid took Claire around again in the daytime, helping her take photos.

Only, when the two of them were reviewing the pictures, the Paranoid silently drew a "danger" mark on one of them.

Someone had been probing last night; with his Perception Ability, there was no way he wouldn’t notice.

Claire excitedly traced the issue with her finger. "Should I get ready to fight back?"

"Just take care of yourself. At most you’ll be on lookout. Anyway, when it happens, remember to stick close to me."

As for why it was Claire and not Celestial Sound, it was because the latter’s Light Attribute could alarm a Supreme Ghost Cultivator.

Nothing happened all evening up to midnight. Then, in the second half of the night, gusts of mountain wind began to howl.

Dozens of Yin Souls surged out, hurtling toward the house.

"Who’s there?" a startled shout came from inside, and the Defense Array’s strength began to rise.

The Defense Array could block Spiritual Attacks, so of course it could hold off Yin Souls as well.

Seeing his Yin Souls blocked by the Defense Array, their Soul Bodies rapidly dissipating, the withered man snorted lightly.

"Is that all you’ve got?"

The next moment, several hundred more Yin Souls poured out and crashed into the Defense Array. "Let’s see how long you can hold out."

These Yin Souls were all things he had painstakingly accumulated bit by bit. Worried about the Government noticing, he’d collected them very carefully.

Burning through Yin Souls against a Defense Array powered by Energy Blocks was extremely uneconomical.

However, he was used to being cautious. Even though he’d decided to make a move today, he still had to guard against any backup they might have.

Compared to this kind of expenditure, staying alive was far more important. Once you’re dead, you have nothing.

When those hundreds of Yin Souls slammed into it, the Defense Array immediately began to struggle.

The woman shouted loudly from inside the house, "What are these things? Why are the Energy Blocks draining so fast?"

"It’s all your fault!" Old Yun yelled back. "If you hadn’t insisted on staying here, would we be running into this kind of trouble?"

"Quit shouting," the woman’s voice was even louder. "Hurry up and boost the strength. Don’t let these things really break in."

"It’s almost at the breaking point," Old Yun complained at the top of his lungs. "Supply more Energy Blocks, hurry... how is there no signal? What a damned place!"

The withered man’s lips twitched into a grim smile: If I don’t block your signal, am I supposed to just sit back while you call the authorities for help?

But now even these hundreds of Yin Souls were close to being spent, so he might as well add a little more fuel to the fire.

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