The Stars Beyond

Chapter 32: Odd Stones

There was not a single cloud in the night sky, allowing the brilliant constellations in the deep universe to inspire endless reverie.

As Wang Xuan hurried back into the old neighborhood, he could not help but notice a spacecraft streaking across the sky like a meteor. It vanished in an instant, leaving behind only a faint trail. The speed was astonishing.

Before he could fully process what he had just witnessed, another battleship soared above the city. Its alloy hull emitted an eerie glow, a testament to its ability to traverse deep space. The ship zoomed into the distance at an incredible speed.

Wang Xuan, with a meat sandwich in one hand and soy milk in the other, gazed up at the spectacle in surprise. What could be happening? Even the large battleships were taking flight, disappearing into the sky above the city.

Wang Xuan was almost finished with his dinner on his way home when his phone rang. It was a call from Qing Mu, even though they had only recently parted ways. Curiosity piqued, he answered the call, only to be greeted by Qing Mu’s laughter. Clearly, he was in a good mood.

“The Ashen Blood’s strongholds in the Old Earth have been eradicated. Their starships and battleships have nowhere to run. The authorities have issued stern warnings to organizations that defy the rules of the Old Earth. From tomorrow onwards, those organizations from Terra Nova will have to keep a much lower profile.”

Wang Xuan felt a surge of satisfaction upon hearing this news. He couldn't forget that fateful night when he was ambushed in this very forest before his eyes. Finally, that organization had met its demise.

Returning to his room, Wang Xuan placed the stones on his desk. He examined two of them carefully under the light, ignoring the third one. Both rocks were the size of a fist, slightly charred as if they had been burned or struck by lightning. Their exteriors bore traces of molten crystallization.

“They actually couldn’t sense the strong mystery factors...!” Wang Xuan mumbled to himself. This was the reason for his excitement and his determination to find a way to bring back these two stones.

Although it was right in front of their eyes, neither Qing Mu, Qian Lei, nor the military experts could sense the mystery factors. Even the people from Terra Nova, who had been there for years, remained oblivious to its presence.

Wang Xuan believed that his ability to sense the mystery factors was connected to his experience in the Inner Landscape, where he first encountered this mysterious substance. Despite the silence and desolation, he could gather the mysterious substance by activating the core technique of the Early Qin master. It seemed to descend from the void, nourishing both his body and mind.

When he entered the underground cavern where the female practitioner slumbered, Wang Xuan could vaguely sense mystery factors in the air. At first, he thought he was close to the Inner Landscape. However, he soon discovered that aside from the female practitioner laying in the golden bamboo boat, part of them were coming from the rock wall.

To his surprise, no one else seemed to notice any of this. Despite their strength, Qian Lei, Qing Mu, and Jin Chuan, remained oblivious to the mystery factors. Their attention was solely focused on the Divine Ascension Bamboo and the female practitioner.

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Wang Xuan wondered if only those who had absorbed the mystery factors in the Inner Landscape could detect their presence. He eventually became convinced that the others could not detect this special substance and simply regarded it as air.

Despite the calm expression on his face, excitement grew in Wang Xuan’s heart. He fixed his gaze on the rock wall and used his Hyper Perception to pinpoint its core location. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and he successfully retrieved two stones.

While traces of the mystery factors overflowed from the entire rock wall, these two pieces were the most unique. Aside from confirming that there was a rare substance inside the stones that was so dense it could not be melted, Wang Xuan also felt that they could bring him closer to Inner Landscape. Such a discovery caused his heart to race and ignited his excitement.

Furthermore, he also confirmed that the people from Terra Nova were ignorant of these apparently different mystery factors even though they could detect supernatural substances. Even their most advanced instruments failed to detect them.

“It appears that the Inner Landscape holds extraordinary objects,” Wang Xuan murmured. He ran his hands over the rough, charred stones, feeling the comforting substance drift into his body.

“Since these are the relics of ascension to immortality, I’ll name them the Ascension Stones.” He decided, finding the name to be very fitting.

His mind wandered back to those middle-aged men. They had not only mimicked him and taken some stones, but had also asked for more from him when they came out of the cavern.

A smile appeared on his face as he rejoiced in his quick-thinking to take extra stones with him, allowing him to keep a few for himself even after sharing. There were traces of mystery factors all over the cavern, so the stones that those people received were more or less stained with some too.

Wang Xuan deduced that the explosion occurred when the female practitioner had failed to ascend to immortality. As a result, the mysterious substances she had taken out from the Inner Landscape erupted violently too, splattering everywhere.

The cavern itself melted during that time, causing a significant amount of these precious substances to blend into the rock layers. It could be said that the entire cavern was a huge piece of treasure itself.

Unfortunately, the cavern was constantly being impacted later on, causing dense cracks to form on the wall. Due to this, the mystery factor managed to escape once more through the cracks. If this was not the case, there would have been a greater abundance of Ascension Stones, rather than just two.

Wang Xuan was confident that these two Ascension Stones were considered invaluable treasures by experts in the field. As he held the stones in his hands, he couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Before he even began to crack open the Ascension Stones, wisps of mystery factors were already being absorbed by his body. They nourished his mind, and also cleansed his muscles and bones. Most importantly, he could faintly perceive the boundary of the Inner Landscape once more!

Wang Xuan took a deep breath and meditated, preparing to activate the core technique of the Early Qin master. His heart was filled with a strong desire to explore. The sound of falling leaves drifting past the window reached his ears, followed by the sound of autumn rain hitting against the window.

All of a sudden, Wang Xuan snapped open his eyes and quickly chucked the two Ascension Stones in an inconspicuous corner. He dashed to the balcony and silently crouched down.

Various sounds reached his ears. Faint noises came from below the balcony, indicating that someone was stealthily climbing up. These sounds were so soft that they would go unnoticed by most people, especially when they were drowned out by the pitter-patter of rain. However, Wang Xuan possessed an extraordinary sense of hearing, surpassing that of the average individual.

Since the last time he achieved the hyper-perceptive state and entered the Inner Landscape, he had experienced significant growth. He not only attained the third layer of the Golden Body Technique, but his mental focus had improved significantly and his spiritual sense had become exceptionally sharp.

He could not fathom who would take advantage of the rainy night to climb up to his balcony. After fully liberating his perception, Wang Xuan heard other faint movements. His ears could pick up the subtle footsteps approaching in the corridor outside. The footsteps were very light, and two people came to a stop outside his door.

Before reaching the third layer of the Golden Body Technique, Wang Xuan would have easily overlooked these sounds. However, things had changed now. He was able to detect these barely audible sounds and sense that danger was drawing near.

A hand emerged silently on the balcony, followed by half a human head and then a gun. Wang Xuan could not make out the person’s face, but from his crouched position on the balcony, he could see the ominous gun aimed at the room.

Things would have turned out very badly if the two people outside the door broke in and Wang Xuan went to fend them off. This person could have fired the gun at him from the balcony.

Wang Xuan knew right away that these were professional assassins. Someone even more formidable than the previous group was targeting him. These three assassins were rather powerful.

Tonight, the stronghold of the Ashen Blood in the Old Earth was eradicated. Were these assassins driven by anger, or did the employer of the remaining Ashen Blood members increase their payment, thus motivating them to eliminate Wang Xuan on this chaotic night?

Whichever reason it was, ignited an uncontrollable rage within Wang Xuan. He had always treated others with nothing but kindness and could not fathom why he was repeatedly being targeted by people seeking to wash their hands with his blood.

The rain outside intensified, relentlessly pounding against the windows. The wind was blowing the raindrops into the balcony, drenching the assassin who had stealthily climbed onto it, intending to hide behind the curtains and ambush the target inside the house.

However, she had underestimated her target. As soon as she gracefully rolled over and stepped onto the balcony, a hand swiftly twisted her arm that held the gun. With a barely audible click, her bone snapped, causing her to involuntarily drop her weapon.

Before she could even yell to warn her accomplices, Wang Xuan swiftly twisted off her arm with one hand and delivered a powerful slap to her face. The force of the slap not only silenced her, but also caused the seven orifices in her head to bleed, nearly incapacitating her.

Wang Xuan was slightly surprised. He had confidence in his own strength. His physical body had become incredibly powerful after attaining the third layer of the Golden Body Technique. If an average person had been slapped by him like that, their face would have caved in, rendering them unconscious. This female assassin, however, remained partially conscious. A strong force surged within her body, as she attempted to break free from Wang Xuan.

She was far from an ordinary assassin; she was an expert in the Old Arts who had mastered the art of chi gathering. With a gun in her hand, she presented a true danger. It was evident that a team of highly skilled assassins had been dispatched to eliminate Wang Xuan tonight.

The female assassin, not fully unconscious, earned herself another slap from Wang Xuan. With his achievements in the Golden Body Technique, Wang Xuan proved to be a much more formidable opponent than someone who had just mastered the art of chi gathering.

The slap completely distorted the female assassin’s attractive face, causing tiny cracks to form in her frontal bone. Before she collapsed, a chilling realization dawned upon her—the man possessed far greater strength than the information provided in her intelligence. A seemingly half-hearted slap from him had nearly incapacitated her, leaving her feeling as though her skull had been bashed in. At this moment, she felt like a defenseless rabbit being pawed by a ferocious tiger.

Wang Xuan lifted the female assassin from the floor using one hand, while simultaneously retrieving her gun with the other. He swiftly returned to the room just as the door made a faint sound and silently swung open. Two individuals swiftly entered, rolling on the ground instead of walking in directly.

Wang Xuan’s shot missed and failed to hit anyone. However, the female assassin, whom he had forcefully tossed, collided with one of the intruders. The intruder was equally ruthless. He kicked the female assassin’s body aside, then threw a dagger at Wang Xuan’s face while getting up from the ground.

The moment Wang Xuan dodged the flying dagger, the intruder pounced on him. The second intruder arrived almost simultaneously, displaying incredible skill that far surpassed the woman’s. It was clear that both of them were also experts in the path of Old Arts. None of them carried firearms. One was armed with a short blade and the other was unarmed, relying solely on their skills to kill their target.

Wang Xuan let out a sigh, acknowledging the need to improve his marksmanship. The numerous missed shots served as evidence of his poor accuracy. However, the primary factor behind these missed shots was the remarkable skill possessed by the two intruders. Their movements were quick, nimble, and clearly honed through extensive physical training.

Both of them had already mastered the art of chi gathering long ago and were experienced experts in inner cultivation, having practiced for many years. If this encounter had occurred a week ago, Wang Xuan would have found it extremely difficult and even perilous to confront them. However, his recent journey to the Inner Landscape had completely changed the situation. He dropped his gun and faced the two men with his bare hands.

Bang! One of them swung his palm toward Wang Xuan, only to be effortlessly blocked by Wang Xuan’s right hand. The dull sound of the impact echoed through the room.

The assassin was taken aback. No one knew better than him how powerful his palm strike was. It could easily break the bones and tendons of someone who had mastered the art of chi gathering and inner cultivation. Yet, this young man stood unharmed before him.

Wang Xuan was equally taken aback as he noticed the assassin’s unusually thick and wide palms. He recognized this as a sign of practicing the Iron Sand Palm technique, which could deform the palms and cause bone thickening. A strike from such palms could prove fatal.

Bang! The intruder struck harder, smashing Wang Xuan’s desk into pieces. He was confident in his Iron Sand Palm technique, yet its ineffectiveness against this young man perplexed him.

Wang Xuan’s face darkened. He was the target of these intruders, yet they were destroying his belongings. At this point, they were being assholes.

Enraged, Wang Xuan retaliated fiercely, landing powerful punches on the intruders relentlessly. The two assassins were confused, wondering why this young man, who seemed composed during their initial attack, was suddenly filled with rage.

Unbeknownst to them, Little Wang had just started his job and it seemed like a portion of his first paycheck would be going to his landlord due to the damaged desk. This unexpected expense would surely leave him in a financially tight predicament.

The assassins were also astonished by the incredible strength of this seemingly ordinary young man. Each strike from him felt like being hit by a charging rhino. Their bodies were sent flying and they had broken quite a few bones in their bodies.

When their Iron Sand Palm technique collided with Wang Xuan’s palm, all they felt was excruciating pain and blood trickling from their calloused palms.

The two men crashed to the ground, unable to move. Their arm bones, leg bones, and breast bones were all fractured. They could not help but wonder if the organization had sent them to their deaths. How could they have been defeated by someone who had only recently mastered the arts of chi gathering and inner cultivation? The intel department must be blind!

Wang Xuan finally spoke up, “You’ve destroyed my desk and hindered my progress in the pursuit of immortality...”

A chilling fear, mingled with confusion, filled the hearts of the two assassins. They could not comprehend Wang Xuan’s anger over a cheap broken desk and the pursuit of immortality he mentioned.