Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter 56: Lending a Hand

Wang Jue’s own abilities were indeed somewhat lacking, and there weren't many missions he could accept. Excluding the hundreds of bounty tasks, there were still nearly nine hundred missions left to sift through, yet he couldn’t find a single one suitable for him. It wasn’t that there weren’t any missions—on the contrary, he simply didn’t care for most of them, and those he did find appealing were out of reach due to his insufficient strength.

After wrestling with this dilemma for quite some time, Wang Jue finally admitted to himself that there truly wasn’t a single task that fit him. “Alas… in the end, it’s all because I’m too weak.” He ultimately placed the blame squarely on his lack of strength.

“If I’m not strong enough, then I just need to train harder. No one’s going to disturb me here, anyway…” Knowing there was no point in continuing to browse missions, Wang Jue decided that rather than waste time here, he might as well devote himself to cultivation. Even if he couldn’t break through, he could at least get closer to that goal.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed in his hospital room, Wang Jue entered a meditative state to cultivate. Ordinarily, as a patient, a nurse should have come to help him change his bandages at the appointed time. Yet the entire day passed without a soul appearing, as if Wang Jue was invisible to everyone.

He cultivated from morning straight through to noon, only stopping when hunger forced him to pause. He pressed the button by his bedside and kept his gaze fixed on the door, waiting for several minutes, but still no one came. Helpless, Wang Jue’s eyes fell on the basket of fruit Lan Yiyi had brought, and he grabbed an apple to stave off his hunger.

After quickly devouring the apple, he moved on to a banana, then peeled an orange… Having eaten half the basket, he finally felt a faint sense of fullness, though he knew fruit alone was hardly satisfying. But he didn’t mind; after all, he had already resolved to leave the hospital the next day.

Satisfied, Wang Jue didn’t idle or nap, but immediately returned to his cultivation. Time slipped by quietly.

Soon evening arrived. After spending almost the entire day cultivating, Wang Jue stopped again and finished the remaining fruit. He had no further desire to continue training tonight—after such a long session, mental exhaustion was inevitable—so he decided to sleep.

“No more cultivation tonight. Time to rest. When I wake up, I’ll be discharged.” He lay down, pulled the covers over himself, and shut out the world.

...

He slept until noon the next day before waking. It was Sunday, so there was no need to attend school; otherwise, after two days in the hospital without going to class, his teachers would surely have called his parents by now. Wang Jue felt deeply relieved—at least he didn’t have to worry about his hospitalization being exposed.

As he sat pondering what to do next, a little dazed from sleep, Lan Yiyi entered his room carrying a box. “Awake?” she asked.

“Uh… good morning, Captain Lan,” Wang Jue replied, unable to shake the suspicion that Lan Yiyi had installed cameras in his room. Otherwise, how could she show up so soon after he awoke?

Curious as he was, Wang Jue wasn’t foolish enough to ask. Whether she had surveillance or not was none of his business. Besides, this was a hospital—surveillance was perfectly normal.

Setting those thoughts aside, he was far more intrigued by why Lan Yiyi had come to see him so early. From what he knew of her, she was hardly someone with time to spare. Most likely, she had a reason for her visit.

“It’s not early anymore; it’s already noon. I was here once before, but you were still asleep, so I didn’t wake you,” Lan Yiyi explained as she approached his bedside.

“Alright,” Wang Jue said, a little embarrassed as he rubbed his nose. He was probably the only one still saying “good morning” at noon. But there was little he could do—being a student, he had to get up early five days a week, and on weekends he could only sleep in a bit. Sleeping until noon like this was almost unheard of for him. In his mind, waking up always meant it was morning—this notion was deeply ingrained.

As he searched for something to say, his gaze happened upon the box in Lan Yiyi’s hands, and a sudden excitement sparked within him, his eyes shining with anticipation. “Captain Lan, what’s inside that box?”

Even if Lan Yiyi didn’t answer, Wang Jue could already guess what it was. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had to be the star energy stones he’d been longing for!

Without a word, Lan Yiyi handed the box to him. “Here, open it and see for yourself.”

She didn’t understand why Wang Jue was so fond of star energy stones. But she didn’t dwell on it—there were plenty of people who coveted them. Nearly every martial artist did, herself included.

Wang Jue accepted the box, which was wrapped in a metallic casing. Upon opening it, the sight inside caused his eyes to burn with fervor. It was his second time seeing star energy stones, and never before had he seen so many at once. The entire box was filled with stones about the size of a pigeon egg.

In truth, they weren’t all that large.

[Star Source detected. Absorb?]

As soon as Wang Jue’s hand touched the stones, a prompt flashed before his eyes.

“Captain Lan, can I be discharged now?” Struggling to suppress his urge to absorb the stones, Wang Jue set the box aside and glanced at Lan Yiyi, a little embarrassed. “Um… I wanted to ask, will those people from the Nightfall Organization be coming after me again?”

He couldn’t help it—that was the question that had been nagging at him, and unless he got a clear answer, he wouldn’t be able to relax. Especially since, with his current strength, if the Nightfall Organization decided to send someone stronger—say, a fourth-tier Condensation Realm cultivator—he would be doomed.

He may have bested two third-tier Condensation Realm enemies in succession, but that was only because they had underestimated him and never imagined a mere third-tier Body Tempering cultivator could unleash such frightening power. Naturally, they had met a tragic end.

But Wang Jue himself hadn’t fared much better. If Lan Yiyi hadn’t arrived when she did, those two would likely have chosen suicide to avoid capture only as a last resort. Otherwise, once they recovered a little, Wang Jue would have been the one to die.

Although he secretly hoped more Nightfall Organization bounty hunters would show up to deliver him easy rewards, now was not the time. At the very least, he needed to be strong enough to defeat them before wishing for their appearance.

“The Nightfall Organization shouldn’t show up again for a while, so you don’t need to worry,” Lan Yiyi answered, a touch of killing intent lacing her tone. “Yesterday, when my people discovered the whereabouts of their remaining members, we struck hard and wiped out the three of them.”

The search for the Nightfall Organization had been anything but easy. Before being found, those fugitives had already committed several crimes, and when confronted, they even dared to fight back. Had she not been present, it would have been perfectly normal for the hunters to suffer casualties. It was her presence that had ensured her team's safety and enabled them to eliminate the enemy entirely.

“You can leave the hospital whenever you wish; it’s up to you,” Lan Yiyi said, eyeing Wang Jue’s physique with a hint of suspicion. “I asked the doctor when I arrived—he said your body’s fine and you’re recovering quickly. You can be discharged at any time.”

She knew some people had special constitutions and could recover at astonishing rates, but Wang Jue was something else entirely. He hardly seemed like an ordinary person; “abnormal” was probably a more fitting description.

“Whew… that’s a relief.” Wang Jue let out a long breath. “I told my mother yesterday I’d be home today—if I can’t go back, I’ll be found out.”

His plan to leave the hospital wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision but something he’d considered when calling his mother the previous day. Most people wouldn’t choose to stay in the hospital unless they had no other choice, and Wang Jue was no exception.

Especially now that Lan Yiyi had brought him the star energy stones he’d been dreaming of. If she weren’t here, he would have absorbed them into star source points already. So he intended to leave, find a quiet place to absorb the stones, and enhance his own potential.

Lan Yiyi didn’t try to dissuade him. True to her forthright nature, she immediately stated her real reason for coming: “Besides bringing you the star energy stones, there’s something else I’d like your help with.”

“Help?” Wang Jue was surprised. Lan Yiyi was so strong—what could someone like him, a mere third-tier Body Tempering cultivator, possibly help with?

Noticing his questioning gaze, Lan Yiyi considered her words. Ordinarily, someone of Wang Jue’s level had no place in her hunting team, no matter how unorthodox his true strength might be. However, on their last hunt, several members of her squad were injured in their attempt to capture a third-level star beast alive, with Zhou Meng suffering the most grievous wounds and still not fully recovered.

“Normally, with your current strength, my hunting team wouldn’t take you,” Lan Yiyi explained after a short pause. “But last time, a team member was badly injured and hasn’t recovered yet…”

She continued, “Our hunting squad has monthly quotas to fulfill. Aside from our assigned missions, we can hunt additional star beasts to earn cultivation resources. Right now, we’re short-handed—if you’re willing, you can come with us to help transport the star beast corpses. If you agree, I can offer you a reward of five thousand credits. But there are two things you should know in advance.”

“First, while I’ll do my best to keep you safe, if we encounter a truly dangerous situation and I can’t protect you in time, I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”

“Second, because you’re not strong enough to contribute in combat, your main task will be transporting star beast corpses. In exchange, I’ll pay you five thousand credits.”

“If you agree, just wait for my call in the next couple of days. Once I’m ready, we’ll head out.”

Having finished, Lan Yiyi fixed her beautiful eyes on Wang Jue, feeling uncharacteristically nervous, as if afraid he might refuse.