Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Sixty: A Solution

Lan Yiyi watched as Wang Jue opened his eyes, a flash of blood-red light surging from within them. It sent an involuntary chill through her, along with a sense that something was amiss.

Her instruction had not been limited to martial skills; she had also taught him much about controlling his mind, his emotions, and the clarity of his thoughts. She had once thought that, though Wang Jue was young in years, he was mature in his thinking and in other respects as well. There ought not to be any major problems with him.

But now, seeing his current state, she began to doubt whether her previous judgment had been right or wrong. Perhaps, she thought, this young man before her had truly encountered something too terrible for him to accept.

“Wang Jue, are you alright? Why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling?” With these thoughts in mind, Lan Yiyi asked him, hoping against hope that what she feared wouldn’t come to pass—otherwise, things would become very troublesome.

Hearing her, Wang Jue immediately gave his answer. “Captain Lan, I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I have this overwhelming urge to kill. I can hardly restrain myself.”

There was no attempt to disguise or hide his feelings, nor did he lie. Wang Jue was acutely aware that something was wrong within him, and so he could only lay his true thoughts bare, hoping Lan Yiyi would have a solution.

In truth, what Wang Jue wanted most right now was to find everyone from the Black Dragon Gang and kill them all, including their families. If not for a final sliver of reason in his mind, constantly reminding him not to let this incident affect his own family, he might have already lost control.

He needed a reason. He needed an excuse. Such were the rules of the Safe Zone, and the rules of this world. He was not yet at the level where he could trample on the rules.

This sense of repression born from his own lack of strength filled him with a peculiarly stifling frustration. Why did he train? Was it not to protect those he cared about? Now that he was capable of vengeance, why shouldn’t he wipe out his enemies completely? Was he supposed to let them live so they could return and torment his family again?

As Wang Jue struggled to control his emotions, these questions whirled unceasingly in his mind, striking at his very soul and leaving him in turmoil. He had given up on suppressing himself. Better to release than to repress. If he continued to bottle himself up, he even suspected he might one day go mad. He needed release.

“Captain Lan, if I want to eliminate the Black Dragon Gang, what negative consequences might there be?” Wang Jue half-closed his eyes, striving to keep his emotions in check. With Lan Yiyi’s presence, his mood had stabilized somewhat, and the murderous urge within him had slightly receded.

“I looked into it—the Black Dragon Gang isn’t much, but their backer could be a problem.” Seeing Wang Jue’s current state, Lan Yiyi struggled to process it. What could have happened to turn a perfectly good young man into this?

More than worry, what intrigued her was that Wang Jue seemed to have achieved some extraordinary breakthrough in the way of the sword. Though she practiced many arts, swordsmanship was among her frequent methods. She could tell that Wang Jue now resembled a razor-sharp blade unsheathed—yet she didn’t recall ever teaching him any sword techniques.

Could this be the swordsmanship he mentioned having learned at the dojo?

“Oh?” Wang Jue’s interest was piqued by her words. “Do you know who their backer is?”

His entire mindset had undergone a fundamental transformation. He no longer feared retaliation or worried about powerful enemies. Now, all he could think about was dealing with the backer as well—wiping them all out.

Life spans but a few decades, so why live so stifled? He was a swordsman, and for those who walk the path of the sword, the true essence is to break rather than bend. What’s the point of living if one is always hesitant, always afraid?

In his view, whether on Earth or Azure Star, the fundamental principle was the same: strength ruled all. If you were strong enough, you could trample the world’s rules. Though he was still far from that standard, it was only a matter of time.

As the saying goes, as long as you’re alive, there’s always a chance to rise.

“I already looked into it on my way here,” Lan Yiyi said, her expression grave. “Their backer isn’t overwhelmingly powerful, just a cultivator at the eighth level of the Spirit Accumulation Realm. But in the martial world, this person has quite a bit of renown.”

That was why she had arrived somewhat late; she had investigated the Black Dragon Gang before coming.

“Spirit Accumulation, eighth level?” Wang Jue’s brows knit into a deep frown.

With his current strength, he could hold his own against someone at the sixth level—though he might not win, neither could they kill him. But even with his confidence, he wasn’t foolish enough to think that, with his seventh-level Body Tempering cultivation, he could defeat someone at the eighth level of the Spirit Accumulation Realm.

The Spirit Accumulation Realm was fundamentally different from the Body Tempering Realm, something he knew well. Most could fight one or two levels above their own, but to leap an entire major realm? That was almost unheard of.

Seeing that Wang Jue’s expression didn’t change, Lan Yiyi pressed her lips together. “Enough. Now can you tell me what’s going on with you?”

“It’s like this…” Wang Jue, hearing her question, laid everything out—his thoughts, and all he had discovered.

“Wang Jue, your situation is rather worrying…” After listening, Lan Yiyi fell silent for a moment. “I can’t think of a good solution right now.”

For someone like Wang Jue, whose mind had been so violently stirred, if he failed to control his emotions, he might do something he would regret forever. Many on the bounty lists had walked down a path of no return under such circumstances.

She didn’t want to see Wang Jue, whom she valued, end up the same way, but she didn’t know how to help him.

“I know, but I really feel like I’m about to lose control.” Wang Jue nodded bitterly. He knew he was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. And if he did, even if he took his enemies with him, he would not escape unscathed.

“Hmm... In your case, you’re having a sudden urge to kill—a heart of slaughter has arisen.” Drawing on her experience, Lan Yiyi explained, “There are a few ways to deal with it, but I only know two. One is to suppress it, the other is to give in to it.

“Normally, suppression is safer, but not absolutely so. It’s best to have someone help you, and you must have a powerful will yourself, or else it could take a long time to let go of this killing intent.”

Lan Yiyi explained the first method in detail. When she got to the second, she hesitated, then continued: “As for yielding to your heart, there’s not much to say. Most people in this situation simply go out and kill, and keep killing.

“If you reach enlightenment, you succeed; if you don’t, you become a beast who kills for pleasure. Of course, there’s also the possibility that you’ll be killed before you get your revenge.”

She looked at Wang Jue’s youthful face and added, “We martial artists do not shy away from killing. Most of us fight and kill for status, power, money, or resources. But you must be clear about why you kill—be it humans or other beings.”

The martial path was one many aspired to, but few understood how difficult it was. In the true world of martial artists, it was often man against man, the strong preying on the weak, and all manner of unspeakable acts were commonplace.

Gang violence and loan sharking were, in her eyes, childish games. Such things seemed to her little more than children playing house.

“So tell me, what should I do?” Wang Jue looked to Lan Yiyi for advice. Even though he had made up his mind, he still wanted to hear her opinion. After all, whatever else, Lan Yiyi had been his guide in the martial way.

“You already know what you want to do—so why ask me?” Lan Yiyi shrugged. Aside from her initial surprise at the murderous aura Wang Jue exuded, she had remained perfectly composed, her emotions unwavering. In her view, only those who could control their emotions could achieve anything; those who could not were nothing but puppets.

Seeing the undisguised killing intent on Wang Jue’s face, she understood his resolve. “I have no objection to helping you. But this time, you will follow my lead. I’ll make sure you have the chance to confront your enemies yourself.”

She was direct and open. She approved of Wang Jue, and now that he was in difficulty, she would help him if she could. She could see that his mindset was one of directness—he repaid kindness with kindness, and enmity with retribution.

The saying ‘a gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even in ten years’ had no hold on Wang Jue. If he had the power for vengeance, why should he endure humiliation? Why not strike back immediately?

In this, Lan Yiyi could empathize. After all, in some ways, she and Wang Jue were the same kind of person.

Moreover, this was a rare opportunity for her as well. She believed that by helping Wang Jue this time, he would surely repay her in the future when he achieved success.

She trusted her own judgment when it came to people. She valued Wang Jue’s future, not his present. In fact, she knew that, of all those she had seen, Wang Jue’s potential was the greatest.

Someone with such immense potential, so long as he did not perish, was destined to reach the pinnacle of martial cultivation.

As for whether Wang Jue would repay her kindness, after these past days of interaction, the answer was obvious.

He would.