Chapter 132: A Radiant Figure Beyond the Stargate

After gathering information about the events of the past two days from Old Man Fang, Zhang Ze returned to the training grounds.

Before six o'clock, Zhang Yue also arrived. As their eyes met, Zhang Ze was startled to realize that her metrics had reached the peak of the second grade. With a cell strength of 499S, it seemed she was very close to breaking through to the third grade.

The two didn't engage in much small talk before Woody arrived. She remained silent for a while, creating a rather oppressive atmosphere between the three.

After a moment of silence, Woody softly asked, "Is today September 18th?"

Zhang Ze and Zhang Yue nodded slightly.

Woody added, "The province is in a state of turmoil lately. If you two continue to stay at the Martial Arts Bureau, it will be hard to accumulate any real combat experience. While half a month is short, for you two, another two weeks here won't necessarily yield much improvement." In truth, this was a biased statement; had those two weeks been spent by Zhang Ze and Zhang Yue, they would surely have progressed beyond their current second and third-grade levels.

"The provincial garrison will soon be sending some elite soldiers into the Star Gate beneath our Martial Arts Bureau. I want you two to spar with them," Woody finally revealed her plan.

Zhang Ze hadn't yet formulated an opinion, but Zhang Yue asked meaningfully, "Teacher, will our sparring take place in front of the Star Gate, or..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ze realized the implication: Woody had no intention of letting them finish their full month of training at the Bureau.

Woody did not answer directly, saying only, "These garrison members will not be sparring with you outside the Star Gate." Seeing the two frown, she continued, "But don't worry for now; for the first period of time there, I will not let you two go on missions. Of course, this only lasts until you both break through your current cultivation levels."

"Understood."

Zhang Ze had heard of Star Gates and Star Realms, but as he was about to enter one, he felt a flicker of trepidation, though he kept it to himself.

Soon, they followed Woody to a low, pitch-black building in the southern part of the Bureau that radiated an oppressive air.

*Rumble—*

The heavy gate slowly rose, and Woody led them down a sloping path. Zhang Ze never expected to encounter a familiar, graceful figure outside the Star Gate.

"Ren Xue'er?" Zhang Ze was astonished.

The girl’s body trembled violently at the sound of his voice. When she turned around, Zhang Ze was momentarily speechless. After composing himself, he pulled Ren Xue'er aside to Woody and asked in a low voice, "Why are they here? Is she going to enter the Star Gate too?"

A moment ago, besides Ren Xue'er, he had spotted Wen Qing, Wen Song, and the three Duan brothers. The reason for their presence was obvious: the mid-grade experts of their families had already entered the Star Realm, and now it was their turn—a consequence of their collusion with the cult.

Woody looked at the young girl and realized she wasn't even a first-grade martial artist. Without waiting for Zhang Ze to press further, she spoke with cold indignation to the garrison officers escorting the group: "Where is your commanding officer?"

A middle-aged man soon appeared. He was a fifth-grade expert responsible for overseeing the group's entry into the Star Realm. Naturally, he knew who Woody was.

"Instructor Woody—"

Woody’s brow furrowed with anger as she questioned him, "Commander Liu's orders were for the younger generation of the Jiuhua Sect and the Wen family to enter the Star Realm. Why is this girl here? Are you unaware of the situation in that place? Once she enters, are you planning to have your men protect her?"

The officer turned crimson under Woody's reprimand. Even though the higher-ups loathed the Jiuhua Sect and the Wen family for their ties to the cult, they generally did not vent their anger on the younger generation, especially those who hadn't even embarked on the path of martial arts. After all, the dangers inside the Star Gate were no mere exaggeration.

The officer was left speechless, but Zhang Ze saw the true reason for Ren Xue'er's presence. Without further ado, he walked over to Wen Qing and the others, slammed a fist into Wen Song's gut, and sent him howling to the ground.

Zhang Ze didn't exchange a word with them. He returned to Ren Xue'er, who had become inexplicably quiet; she didn't even speak when their eyes met.

"I told you last time to come with me to Nanye City, but you insisted on staying at the Wen family estate," Zhang Ze scolded gently. His voice softened as he added, "It's alright now. I'll have someone take you away from here. Go to the Anqing Martial Arts Bureau and find Liu Qianqian and Peng Fei. My two 'good sons' will take care of you."

"Pfft—" Ren Xue'er couldn't help but laugh. "How old are you, and you already have sons?"

Woody rarely allowed such distractions, but she didn't interrupt this time. Only after she had arranged for someone to escort Ren Xue'er away did she lead Zhang Ze and Zhang Yue deeper inside.

It was then that she patiently explained the peculiarities of the Star Realm. "What we are approaching is the Star Gate. You can think of it as a stable spatial wormhole. There are many such gates in our country; our Anqing Province alone has two."

Zhang Ze interjected, "Teacher, does passing through the Star Gate lead to the so-called Star Realm? What exactly is in there?"

"Heh—" It wasn't Woody who laughed, but Zhang Yue, who explained, "The Star Realm is a vast universe where thousands of alien races survive... Or perhaps 'universe' isn't the right word. The infinite cosmos explored by our modern technology is merely something they created to deceive us."

Woody nodded. "Zhang Yue is correct. Furthermore, many physical laws do not hold true in that space. That is the real reason why our highly advanced modern thermal weapons are useless there."

Zhang Ze mused, "So that’s why you said we can only defend against these alien races through us martial artists?"

"Exactly."

As they spoke, they reached the end of the tunnel. Aside from the old man standing guard, there was nothing but a shimmering layer of light. Unlike ripples on water, this veil shimmered with a deep, haunting blue glow. It stood upright before them. Unlike the abstract concepts of wormholes or black holes, as Zhang Ze looked at it, he felt as if his entire being were being drawn into it.

Mysterious and beautiful—that was his immediate impression of the Star Gate.