Chapter 386: Unveiling the Qi Refiners

Wan Ze turned his head to look at them and said with a wistful smile, “Yeah, it’s pretty absurd. I haven’t told you guys the details about Qi Refiners before because I hadn’t figured it all out myself. As far as I know right now, that world is called Huangliang.”

Zhai Yu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Huangliang… He’d heard the word before. It was from the classic idiom, “A Dream of Huangliang.”

But he never imagined he’d hear Ah Ze say it as the name of a real place.

Wan Ze said in a low voice, “The senses of touch, taste, and pain there are exactly the same as in reality. Normal people can fall into that world, too… I’ve seen it happen. Their presence can awaken terrifying entities and even alter the environment, so the people inside avoid the areas where ordinary people appear.

“For ordinary people, being there is purely a nightmare. They’re sent back to reality when things get truly dangerous. Of course, you could also just think of it as a game… except if you die in there, you die in reality, too. The ‘sudden death’ kind.”

Zhai Jia and Zhai Yu both sucked in a sharp breath.

They had both seen people who had died suddenly.

In his years at the Police Headquarters, he’d seen at least ten “sudden death” cases. These were people who looked perfectly healthy and then just dropped dead. No external injuries, no signs of poisoning, no medical history. The coroner’s report would almost always say “sudden cardiac death” or “cause unknown.”

In the end, those cases were all filed away and left unresolved.

But now Wan Ze was telling him those people might not have died from sudden illness, but because of a place called Huangliang.

A look of understanding finally dawned on Zhai Yu’s face.

“Also, Qi Refiners can’t use their abilities in the real world…” Wan Ze frowned in thought. “That’s one of the things I’m sure of right now. I don’t know the specific reason, but the fact is, no matter how strong they are in Huangliang, once they’re back in reality, they’re just like us… Oh no, that’s not quite right. Some of them might even be in worse physical shape than a normal person… but that’s just hearsay. Anyway, from what I’ve encountered so far… they can’t use that Magic in reality… I’ve heard some veteran Qi Refiners can achieve a hypnosis-level of psychological suggestion, but I’ve never met one.”

“Holy shit, why’s that?” Zhai Jia looked bewildered and tried to analyze it. “If the two worlds are connected, it makes no sense that you can use powers in one but not the other. That’s like being able to swim in a pool but not in the ocean. It’s illogical… I feel like there’s definitely something more going on here.”

Wan Ze shrugged. “I don’t know the specifics yet. There must be some secret, the kind that the people at the very top are desperately keeping under wraps. I can’t reach that level yet. Even that ‘big brother’ of mine can’t…”

He gave a bitter laugh, then seemed to remember something and looked up at Zhai Jia and Zhai Yu in the back seat. “There’s something else. The people inside have ‘knives’ set up in the real world.”

Zhai Jia was stunned. “Knives? Damn, so they have collaborators?”

Wan Ze couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s the gist of it, but these guys aren’t ordinary people. Huangliang is huge, though I don’t know exactly how big… In the region where I am, the ones calling the shots are called the Five Elders Association. I don’t know the specifics of the organization, just that they’ve arranged for these ‘knives’ to specifically clean up ordinary people who know about Huangliang but aren’t Qi Refiners. To be honest, I still don’t understand why they do it…”

“To silence them? Holy shit, what kind of logic is that? Wouldn’t it be better if everyone knew? Then everyone could go inside to practice Cultivation,” Zhai Jia couldn’t help but say.

But Zhai Yu suddenly cut in, “You think resources are infinite? We have to fight over resources just to practice martial arts, let alone what it’s like for them.”

Zhai Jia froze. “That’s true. But why hunt down and kill everyone who knows? Do they really have to die?”

Zhai Yu didn’t answer his question.

Neither did Wan Ze.

Perhaps they would find out the real reason later.

“Anyway, that’s the situation. The important thing right now is that the organization they’ve planted in the real world is very powerful. They even have Refining Grandmasters among their ranks.”

The moment he heard that, Zhai Yu’s expression changed completely.

Refining… Grandmaster?

Those were the handful of people standing at the very pinnacle of the Martial Dao.

Every single one of them was a legendary figure, each with their own power and influence.

If they even had Refining Grandmasters on their side, then the organization’s tentacles reached far deeper and wider than he had ever imagined!

“Holy shit!” Zhai Jia sucked in a harsh breath. He patted his pocket with one hand, wanting a smoke, but found nothing. To say it wasn’t mind-boggling would be a lie.

To be honest, this was the first time he had heard such detailed information from Wan Ze.

He couldn’t help but look over at him.

But Zhai Yu reminded him, “Xiaojia, keep your eyes on the road!”

Zhai Jia took a deep breath and grunted, “Mm.”

“The stuff on the outside… we have a foundation, so it’s manageable… but the inside is extremely dangerous.” Wan Ze took a deep breath and said with feeling, “So far, every Qi Refiner I’ve met in there has been the ruthless, kill-for-treasure type. In Huangliang, at least from what I’ve seen, there’s no rule of law like in the real world. They believe in survival of the fittest.”

Hearing this, Zhai Yu leaned forward slightly, shifting his weight closer to the two front seats. He frowned and said in a low, serious voice, “It’s that treacherous?”

“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what I know.” Wan Ze paused, then continued, “Miss Ling was once hunted by a mysterious organization. It was around that time that I first came into contact with matters related to Qi Refiners… That place is huge. So huge that the area I’m in is just a single city, but it seems to be bigger than our entire East Sea Federation.”