Volume One: Emerging Prominence, Chapter Ninety-Nine: Fellow Sufferers Commiserate

In truth, he knew that if he handed the money directly to his family, it would surely frighten them. They would press him for the source of the money, and that would be awkward. With his mother’s temperament, if she found out he’d earned it through fighting and killing, she’d certainly refuse to take it! Worse still, she’d scold him furiously and worry even more.

“Forget it. The family doesn’t need money at the moment anyway. If something comes up, I’ll step in then.” With his mind made up, Wang Jue slipped into the kitchen. He quietly added petals of the Nine-Leaf Flower to the porridge his mother was cooking. Concerned that his family might not withstand the force of the star energy, he deliberately used only a quarter of the petals. The originally translucent, white porridge instantly turned purple.

“My god, it actually changed color?” Wang Jue’s eyelid twitched as he stared. “Is this even porridge anymore?” He’d recently researched the Nine-Leaf Flower and knew it was immensely beneficial for both ordinary people and martial artists, which is why he wanted his family to have it. But a pot of purple…

Hearing a commotion from the living room, Wang Jue glanced around and spotted several unsteamed purple sweet potatoes. His eyes lit up; he hurriedly chopped and added them to the pot. When his mother entered the kitchen and saw the state of the porridge, she was so startled she stepped back. “Jue’er, what are you doing? How did the porridge turn purple?”

“No worries, I just suddenly wanted sweet potato, so I added some.” Wang Jue feigned calm, closing the lid.

“Uh…” His mother tugged at her mouth. How many sweet potatoes would it take to reach that shade? Her little rascal was such a spendthrift; she resolved not to let him into the kitchen again. Otherwise, she feared she might end up doing something regrettable.

The family drank the porridge together. None noticed that their faces had begun to glow with a healthy flush, their constitutions slowly improving. Only Wang Xiaoyu, clutching her empty bowl, looked up with eager longing. “Mom, I want more!”

Without hesitation, Wang Jue reached out to block her. “No, you don’t.”

“Wang Jue!!” Wang Xiaoyu’s anger erupted.

Their mother smiled. “There’s none left in the pot. I’ll cook more tomorrow.”

“Make sure to cook extra! I want three big bowls!”

“All right, I’ll make plenty.”

…

After finishing the porridge, Wang Jue set out alone for Blood Wolf Valley, intending to build up his family’s resources. He pressed forward, wasting no time on the outskirts, boldly choosing to delve into the inner region. The threat posed by the blood wolves had diminished greatly for him. Even so, after a round of slaughter, the money mattered little; what truly excited him was nearly a hundred points of star source gained.

Having disposed of the corpses, Wang Jue suddenly heard movement. He looked toward a cliff about a hundred meters away and saw a figure traversing it as if walking on flat ground.

“My god…” Wang Jue saw clearly—the person’s target was a spirit herb. The herb was a lotus flower; each white petal swayed in the wind like a cloud.

“Huh, a snow lotus—the holy medicine for healing,” the person muttered, drawing closer. “Didn’t expect to find this in the depths of Blood Wolf Valley.”

Just as he was about to pick it, he sensed someone approaching. He looked up, and instead of shock, his expression turned furious. “You again!”

“Hm?”

Wang Jue’s gaze shifted from the spirit herb to the person’s face, a moment of confusion passing through him. Recognition quickly dawned from the bun hairstyle.

The bun-haired girl immediately shielded the snow lotus, retorting, “This is mine. Leave!”

Wang Jue fell silent, lowering his gaze. The atmosphere turned tense. Without another word, the girl snatched the snow lotus and bolted.

In an instant, Wang Jue sprang into action. The ground beneath his feet shook, and he shot forward like a cannonball, hot on her heels.

“Damn…” The bun-haired girl’s angry voice echoed through the forest. Even with Wang Jue's master-level footwork, he couldn’t catch up—only barely keeping pace. After a short pursuit, Wang Jue stopped, watching her vanish quickly into the distance, clicking his tongue in regret. “Looks like her footwork isn’t low-level…”

Wang Jue wasn’t stubborn; knowing he couldn’t catch up, he didn’t waste energy. He simply turned around and started searching nearby, hoping to find other spirit herbs.

But not two minutes passed before the bun-haired girl came fleeing back, her face full of panic. An overwhelming, terrifying aura pursued her, like an ancient beast. Wang Jue sensed real danger, his expression turning grave.

Soon, a man in a white training uniform appeared at the edge of his vision, rapidly closing in on the girl.

“Bang!”

A fierce knee strike slammed against the girl’s crossed arms, the sound of bone breaking echoing even to Wang Jue dozens of meters away.

“Hand over the spirit herb!” The man’s voice was cold and harsh, as if he might obliterate them in the next instant.

The bun-haired girl cursed her luck. Meeting Wang Jue had been bad enough, but now another, far stronger adversary had appeared!

“Fine. I’ll give it to you!” She answered crisply, not one to suffer a loss. Reluctantly, she was about to hand over the snow lotus when she glanced at Wang Jue’s fleeing figure and shouted, “Brother, run with the herb! I’ll hold him off…”

“Damn, what a trap!” Wang Jue felt a sudden sense of doom and ran even faster, wishing for two more legs.

“Hah, as if you can escape.” The man sneered, ignoring the bun-haired girl. A pitch-black spear appeared in his hand. In a flash, he bounded across the ground and caught up to Wang Jue, yelling, “Get back here!”

Trouble.

Wang Jue’s face changed; he felt the gale of force sweeping toward him, chilling him to the bone. Realizing escape was impossible, he gripped his long sword and spun to fight.

“Clang!” Sword and spear collided.

A tremendous force surged into Wang Jue’s hand, a pain like bone splitting rolling in waves, threatening to make him faint. Was the strength really this great?

Wang Jue realized that none of the people he’d killed before had come close to this man’s power. Damn it, what kind of terrifying figure had this woman provoked?

“Bang!” “Boom!”

Two dull impacts later, Wang Jue was kicked beside the bun-haired girl.

Apparently surprised he hadn’t broken Wang Jue’s bones, the man arched a brow, sneering. “Well, kid, you’ve got tough bones.”

“Hiss…” Wang Jue lay beside the bun-haired girl, clutching his shoulder, gritting his teeth in pain.

“Hiss…” He glanced over and saw the bun-haired girl also grimacing, leaning against a tree stump, her gaze fixed on him.

The two, sharing their misery, locked eyes—sparks seemed to crackle between them.

Wang Jue glared, “Look what you’ve done!”

The bun-haired girl shot back, “If you hadn’t tried to snatch the herb from me, I wouldn’t have attracted this guy!”

“…,” Wang Jue muttered guiltily, “You ran first…”

“I must be cursed to meet a bastard like you!” She turned away bitterly. “It’s too late now; if I die, you won’t escape either.”

“Uh…” Facing her resentment, Wang Jue turned away, knowing he was in the wrong.

The man in white strode over, spear in hand, his gaze cold. “If you don’t want to die, give me the herb!”

Wait—

Only now did Wang Jue notice that the man’s right shoulder bore a wound, as if pierced by a sharp weapon.

He could fight so fiercely even injured? Wang Jue’s pupils contracted; he quickly pointed at the bun-haired girl.

The man looked at her, realized he’d been tricked, and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground. “Playing games with me?”

The bun-haired girl, stubborn even as her face reddened from lack of air, didn’t struggle or make a sound.

The man squinted. “Do I have to strip you piece by piece to find it?”

“You shameless…” She glared with trembling teeth, reluctantly handing over the herb.

With a cold expression, the man finally took the snow lotus from her hand, his face lighting up as he tossed her aside.

“Well, a hundred-year snow lotus! Perfect timing. Once I eat it, my strength will be restored, and I’ll have the confidence to deal with that old bastard!”

He shot a cold glance at Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl, sneering. “Since you still have some use, I’ll spare your lives for now!”

Without another word, he swallowed the snow lotus. His wounds eased immediately; the shoulder injury healed visibly. A surge of power, stronger than before, radiated clearly to Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl.

“This guy…” The two exchanged glances, uncertain what to think.

The man stood, checking the sky, his tone cruel and indifferent. “Get up. Both of you, follow me!”

The bun-haired girl stood, eyes flickering, clearly plotting escape. But she knew, even with Wang Jue dragged into this mess, she had little hope of escaping the man’s grasp. If they tried and failed, he would kill them without hesitation.

“Run and die, stay and probably die. Should I run?” She glanced at Wang Jue, noticing he showed no sign of panic. Relieved, she resolved to wait and see. “Forget it, better not run yet.”

Meanwhile, Wang Jue was calculating the gap in strength between himself and the man. He realized that even at his full power, he was no match; his chances of survival were greater if he didn’t provoke him.

The man paid no mind to their schemes—or rather, he utterly disdained them. Such was his supreme confidence in his own strength.