Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 1193: Chapter 1059: Interested?

Before long, the Omen Ship appeared above the desolate planet, landing not far from the base.

Three people walked down from the Starship, and Qu Jianlei and the other two went up to meet them. ”What happened?”

”Nothing, it’s just been a long time,” the Paranoid replied with a cheerful smile. ”Also wanted to see how your research is progressing.”

Progress... Qu Jianlei’s expression darkened slightly, then he gave a bitter smile. ”The test failed, but there were other gains.”

”Failed?” The Paranoid raised his eyebrows.

He really didn’t know how to mind other people’s feelings. ”Tell me about it—what can be done to make up for it?”

Granny Jia coughed lightly. ”Can’t be made up for, but the boss already said there were other gains.”

Mu Yu secretly pinched the Paranoid, and only then did he belatedly nod.

”Oh, as long as there’s something gained. That Starship and the two Attack Ships all have buyers lined up already.”

”The Starship’s buyer... forget it,” Qu Jianlei shook his head. ”Swap it for one with a clean background, just in case.”

”We can sell the two Attack Ships though, they’re not worth much anyway.”

From the two battles after the auction, just in Nameless Silver Notes alone they’d seized nearly ten billion; he could be considered to have a modest fortune now.

Chatting as they walked, they entered the newly built base.

”Pretty nice,” Mu Yu commented as she looked around. ”Feels like you could live here until the end of time.”

Qu Jianlei smiled at that. ”Too lonely. It’s just that I’ve got too many things on hand right now; otherwise I probably couldn’t stand the solitude.”

The Paranoid also nodded. ”Aside from being a bit remote, there really isn’t any other downside... Boss, what’ve you been working out lately?”

”Near-Earth jumps have broken the tens-of-millions-of-kilometers mark,” Qu Jianlei answered casually. ”We’re at forty to fifty million kilometers already.”

”And also... I’ve refined Attribute Weapons.”

The Paranoid didn’t care much about things like Attribute Weapons; he himself was the best Weapon. ”Tens of millions of kilometers... not bad!”

Qu Jianlei glanced at him. ”I haven’t worked on any Gold Attribute Weapons for now... but you sure you don’t want one?”

Before the Paranoid could answer, Mu Yu spoke up. ”Yes, of course we want them!”

Qu Jianlei nodded. ”Mm, I’ve also worked out a set of Fist Techniques, another inheritance from the Divine Text Treasure.”

The Paranoid’s eyes lit up at that. ”Can a Supreme use it?”

”Yes,” Qu Jianlei nodded. ”If you’re interested, I’ll give you a set later. Don’t spread it around.”

Bentley spoke up when he heard that. ”Boss, I want it too!”

”Right!” Seeing old Ben, Qu Jianlei remembered something else. ”Your Cultivation Technique for Breaking Through to Supreme has been fully completed.”

The Electromagnetic Attribute really isn’t that easy to break through to Supreme; besides having slow Cultivation speed, the Imperial authorities also control the spread of High Tier Cultivation Techniques.

In the vast majority of Star Realms, there simply aren’t any Electromagnetic Break-Through-to-Supreme Cultivation Techniques; you can only obtain them through special channels.

Qu Jianlei had already deduced a corresponding Cultivation Method long ago, but he always felt it wasn’t complete enough.

Especially now that old Ben was cultivating using a Spirit Gathering Array, he didn’t want old Ben to stop at Supreme.

Over these two years, he completely perfected the Cultivation Technique, and he had quite some expectations in his heart.

Bentley was overjoyed at this. ”Many thanks, Boss, I definitely won’t let you down. But as for Breaking Through... I want to wait a bit more.”

”Mm,” Qu Jianlei nodded. ”When you’re ready to Break Through, I’ll act as Dharma Protector for you.”

Others all assumed this was the boss playing favorites with Bentley, but Granny Jia slanted him a look. ”Will there be Tribulation Thunder?”

Though the two of them had been here for nearly two years, they really didn’t talk about everything; mostly each was busy with their own stuff.

Hearing this question, the Paranoid and Mu Yu instantly perked up. Tribulation Thunder... isn’t that retracing the road of the Primordial Warrior?

”There’s a certain chance there will be,” Qu Jianlei coughed lightly. ”With this sort of thing, I can’t exactly guarantee there won’t be, right?”

”Respect!” The Paranoid stuck up a thumb. ”Boss, you’ve done quite a lot over these two years.”

Qu Jianlei smiled. ”My biggest achievement, I haven’t even told you yet... How long can you stay here this time?”

”However long we want,” the Paranoid answered offhandedly. ”Feels like staying here is way more fun than on Celestial Handle Star.”

”Senior,” Mu Yu glanced at him. ”We’ve got other business this time too!”

Then she turned to Qu Jianlei. ”Boss, Nutrient Injection has arrived at Celestial Handle and says he wants to meet you.”

”Well that’s...” Qu Jianlei felt a bit of a headache coming on. ”Looks like my peaceful life’s getting interrupted again.”

He was complaining out loud, but he knew very well in his heart that this guy wasn’t an ordinary A-level. If he was looking for him, it definitely wasn’t something simple.

Then he let his gaze sweep over the base and sighed softly. ”Time to pack up again.”

The Paranoid spoke up again at that. ”It’s just a hideout. Is there really any need to be so sentimental?”

”That’s called feelings,” Qu Jianlei answered casually. ”Right, I’ve also got some clues on the path beyond Supreme.”

The three newcomers all looked at him together; Mu Yu even took the initiative to ask, ”Will it help Senior Chao Yun?”

”His condition...” Qu Jianlei hesitated, then shook his head. ”I need to make my own Advancement first before I can diagnose him properly.”

As for the Paranoid right now, he really was in a very strange state.

He definitely wasn’t above Supreme, but he also didn’t seem like Granny Jia, who had a 100% failure rate advancing to Supreme.

On the way back to Celestial Handle Star, Qu Jianlei passed the Mountain-Breaking Technique and Mountain-Breaking Fist on to the four of them.

The Paranoid liked this fist technique the second he saw it, but unfortunately the starship was way too cramped for practice.

Nine days later, the five of them appeared near the Polar Regions of Celestial Handle Star.

It had been close to two years since Qu Jianlei last set foot on a bustling planet, so he felt a bit dazed for a moment.

He’d originally planned to relax for a couple days, but then remembered Nutrient Injection was waiting on him, and decided to finish business first and chill later.

That very night, he met the skinny Fire Attribute A-level at the base.

Nutrient Injection exchanged a couple of token pleasantries, then went straight to the point, ”My lord, what’s Sante’s situation these days?”

”Sante...” Qu Jianlei blinked, ”Never heard of him. You don’t mean that above-Supreme guy, do you?”

”That’s the one,” Nutrient Injection nodded. ”He’s an Imperial top criminal, responsible for hundreds of bloody massacres.”

”Telling me this is really pointless,” Qu Jianlei waved a hand, speaking very casually. ”It’s not like I work for the Government.”

He had technically held a semi-official identity once, but what could you do—officialdom didn’t know how to cherish talent.

Strictly speaking, the one who pulled strings was the Divine Text Association’s Supreme Ke Rui’an, and that guy was already dead by his hand.

But to let someone like that run wild and implicate a whole slew of officials—does the Government really bear zero responsibility?

At the very least, there was a lack of oversight, and the whole system was showing signs of spinning out of control.

For a system like that, it was perfectly normal for Qu Jianlei to feel no reverence whatsoever.

But Nutrient Injection knew what kind of language actually got through to him. ”There’s a huge bounty, ten billion on his head... dead or alive!”

Hearing that, Qu Jianlei let out a contemptuous laugh. ”Ten billion for someone above Supreme... who exactly are they insulting here?”

The bounties on his own head, if you added them up, came to about ten billion already, if not more.

”That was the bounty from three hundred years ago,” Nutrient Injection said solemnly. ”Back then he was only Supreme.”

”Later everyone assumed he was dead, but the reward was never withdrawn... dead or alive still counts.”

”Now there’s evidence he’s advanced above Supreme. The bounty’s already broken the hundred-billion mark.”

”Broken... a hundred billion?” Qu Jianlei’s molars itched a little. ”Now that really is a bit of a pity.”

”Doesn’t matter if he’s dead or alive,” Nutrient Injection said considerately. ”Either way, he’s worth that much.”

”Of course, if he’s alive, the price goes up—could go as high as four or five times that.”

”He’s dead,” Qu Jianlei replied offhandedly. ”You know as well as I do he was really hard to deal with.”

The Luxury Starship had been arranged by Nutrient Injection; there was no way this guy didn’t know how that battle went down.

What he really wanted to ask was, ”You’re just an A-level, always sticking your nose into this kind of business. Aren’t you afraid of catching a stray shot?”

”Fugui is found in danger,” Nutrient Injection answered dismissively, then emphasized again, ”Even the dead body can be cashed in.”

”There’s not even slag left,” Qu Jianlei said with some annoyance. ”Maybe try telling me these things a little earlier next time?”

If he’d known his experimental material was worth over a hundred billion... he could’ve swapped for another test subject entirely.

”Huh?” Nutrient Injection hadn’t expected to get that kind of answer.

Then he asked cautiously, ”Did you... eat him?”

”Do I look that perverted to you?” Qu Jianlei asked back, half crying, half laughing.

Thinking of the Fallen on the Garbage Star, he stated firmly, ”The people I hate most are the ones who eat other people.”

”I just wanted to analyze how he advanced above Supreme... but he self-destructed.”

”Self-destructed...” Nutrient Injection silently chewed on those two words, then shook his head. ”What on earth did you do to him?”

”He was already dead at the time!” Qu Jianlei stressed. ”I was only studying his corpse!”

Isn’t that still kind of pervy? Nutrient Injection sighed. ”Do you know which camp he was from?”

”Tch.” Qu Jianlei snorted disdainfully. ”If I dare to kill, I dare to bury... Rebel Camp? They’re just another pack of bastards.”

”That camp... forget it, let’s drop it,” Nutrient Injection shook his head. ”He’s dead already, no point regretting it.”

That’s what he said, but it was obvious he still felt a bit conflicted.

The next moment, his attention shifted. ”Analyzing how to advance above Supreme... my lord, how exactly do you analyze that?”

Qu Jianlei looked at him, half exasperated, half amused. ”Why would I bother explaining it to you? And more importantly... would you even understand it?”

”What’s so hard to understand...” Nutrient Injection muttered under his breath, clearly a bit unconvinced.

But right after that, he switched topics again. ”My lord, did your research get any results?”

Now Qu Jianlei found it even funnier. ”Some. But what exactly could you do to help me?”

Fights between Supreme and above-Supreme—an A-level nobody like you really shouldn’t be butting in, okay?

”Well...” Nutrient Injection pondered a moment before speaking. ”There are other above-Supreme in the Rebel Camp.”

”I just want to ask one thing—my lord, are you interested?”