Chapter 119: 119. Seeking Justice

119. Chapter 119: Seeking Justice

"The next Heaven’s Collapse? If you want to survive, you must flee this world. Today, I’ve learned something truly staggering."

Li Yi, back at home, sank once more into deep thought.

"If that day truly comes, what should I do? Stay in Tianchang City, or, as they say, cross over to a new world for survival? If things really reach that point, with my current level, I can’t become a Crosser—I can only seek survival on my own."

Li Yi knew exactly his own worth.

Sure, he now possessed two techniques and controlled a fragmented relic, with immense future potential—but right now, he was just an ordinary Spirit Medium cultivator, and such people were a dime a dozen in this world, utterly unimportant.

He stared at the phantom, floating spear-shaped figure hovering in midair in the living room.

A strange thought suddenly flashed through Li Yi’s mind.

Back in Ghost Street, he had taken Zhao Ge as his master, and his master clearly wasn’t from this world.

"If only I could reach my master’s world," Li Yi thought, "then even if the Heaven’s Collapse truly happened, I could take my family to safety, rather than struggle just to survive."

But after careful thought, he realized he could never reach his master’s world.

It was simple.

Li Yi had no blood relatives in his master’s world; even if he used the Mud Horse, it would only return him to Tianchang City, never to his master’s realm—this was a dead end.

Unless—he could meet his master once more in Ghost Street.

But that was equally impossible.

Ghost Street was perilous beyond measure; even if his master truly went there, Li Yi could never receive word in time to meet him.

Their last encounter had been pure coincidence.

Sigh.

He let out a helpless breath.

Li Yi abandoned further thought on this heavy topic—he couldn’t control an unpredictable future; the only thing he could do now was strengthen himself as much as possible.

He cleared his mind.

He returned to his room, sat cross-legged, formed the Treasure Seal, and activated the White Bone Contemplation cultivation technique.

With the White Bone Contemplation technique and the fragmented relic’s enhancement, Li Yi was confident he could reach the Awakening of Spiritual Sense before the Heaven’s Collapse, becoming a master on par with Zhang Lei, Yang Yi, and Li Shaoqing.

Perhaps at that level, some of his current problems might resolve themselves.

As vast amounts of pure cosmic energy flooded his body,

Li Yi once again embarked on his evolution.

As before, his body glowed faintly in the dim room—a pure white radiance spreading outward like a soft halo, an energy field akin to the relic’s own, and even this mere leakage could sustain two or three cultivators’ training.

But Li Yi couldn’t absorb these energies—he could only let them radiate from his body, a massive waste in invisible form.

Only someone holding the fragmented relic would dare such extravagance; ordinary cultivators couldn’t even afford to hire a Guide, let alone waste energy like this.

Li Yi’s body now floated within a pure energy field, every cell active, his form visibly transforming.

The most obvious sign: Li Yi was undergoing his third shedding.

Another layer of old skin slowly peeled away.

Li Yi felt as if reborn for the third time—his flesh grew flawless, his bones tougher, his body stronger, and even the wounds from his fight with Chen Xiangxi had healed within these few hours.

This state lasted until evening.

At that moment, the energy field of the fragmented coin suddenly shifted.

As cosmic energy surged within the field, the resentment embedded in the coin stirred again—but this time, instead of screaming about Earth’s innate evil and charging at Li Yi as usual, the fragmented resentment merely awoke in silence, calmly staring at him.

Being watched like this sent a chill down Li Yi’s spine.

"Can you stop staring at me? I’m cultivating." He communicated mentally—this wouldn’t interrupt his practice.

The White Bone Contemplation technique was precisely this miraculous—it allowed one to focus on two things at once.

"Just now, I heard good news—your world is nearing its end. Ha! The innately evil Earthlings are finally reaching their end?" The fragmented resentment chuckled.

"."

Li Yi was momentarily speechless—so all this was just to mock him?

He ignored it and continued cultivating.

The fragmented resentment spoke again: "Pity. You, this young one with such deep innate demonic nature, won’t live to see yourself fall to darkness—I can’t help but feel disappointed."

Li Yi still ignored him, pushing hard in his cultivation.

"Hey, kid, you’re cultivating too slowly. Even if you had ten years, you’d never reach the threshold of crossing over—unless you change your method of crossing." The fragmented resentment suddenly changed tone.

"What method?" Li Yi finally responded, curious.

"Heh, how could I possibly reveal such an important secret so easily? Unless you agree to do me one favor." The fragmented resentment revealed its intent.

Li Yi asked again: "What do you want me to do?"

"Simple. Kill a hundred innately evil Earthlings. I’ll teach you how to cross over." The fragmented resentment said.

"Kill a hundred people? Damn, you’re the real devil," Li Yi cursed. "You think I’m a serial killer?"

"Didn’t you kill people easily before? One punch, one down. Hehehe." The fragmented resentment cackled.

Li Yi immediately explained: "Those were self-defense—they were trying to kill me. Have you ever seen me initiate a killing? I’m a decent young man. Don’t try to corrupt me, you cursed coin resentment—you’ve got the wrong guy."

"What about fifty?" the fragmented resentment said.

"Is this about numbers?" Li Yi said.

"Twenty. No less." The fragmented resentment began haggling.

Li Yi remained firm: "Forget it. If I can’t cross over, I can’t. Born here, die here—I won’t regret it."

"Born here, die here... Well said." For a moment, the fragmented resentment fell silent, then gradually faded away.

The cosmic energy of the coin calmed instantly.

"Did I upset it?" Li Yi wondered.

Whatever.

If the fragmented coin resentment wasn’t interrupting his cultivation, that was a good thing.

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, it was noon of the third day.

Three days of cultivation had allowed Li Yi to shed two layers of skin; he also noticed his senses had sharpened—he could now move freely around his home even with his eyes closed, relying solely on bodily perception.

While part of this was due to his familiarity with his home, it also proved he was nearing the Awakening of Spiritual Sense.

But bodily evolution didn’t happen overnight—even with rapid cultivation, adaptation, cellular replacement, all required time.

After resting, Li Yi drank a cup of Golden Nutrient Fluid to replenish his strength, preparing to resume cultivation.

But then his phone rang.

It was Wang Jian’s emergency call.

"Li Yi, it’s me. Have you rested well these past few days?" Wang Jian’s voice came through immediately.

Li Yi replied: "Wang Jian, is something wrong?"

He knew Wang Jian was always busy—unless there was a reason, he wouldn’t call.

"There’s a mission. I think you should come along." Wang Jian said directly.

"A mission?" Li Yi didn’t refuse. "Fine. I’m on my way. Where do we meet?"

"Wait by your compound gate. I’ll come pick you up." Wang Jian hung up immediately.

Seeing this, Li Yi quickly prepared, gave a silent nod to his silent parents, and set out.

Having chosen to join the Investigation Bureau as an External Operations officer, he had to accept occasional missions.

Li Yi saw no issue with it—he never refused when Wang Jian called.

Soon.

After standing by the compound gate for a moment, Wang Jian’s car pulled up.

Li Yi got in and noticed Zheng Gong and He Xiong were absent—only Chen Hao, Wang Jian, and himself were present.

"This mission is to apprehend a Spirit Medium cultivator named Huang Xin. He killed someone in the Old District and is now trying to flee to the Ruin District. I was patrolling nearby and got this task—out of caution, I decided to bring you along." Wang Jian, driving, briefly explained the mission.

Chen Hao shook his head: "Wang Jian, you’re being too cautious. Huang Xin is just one man. Don’t you think we two can handle him?"

"A desperate, vicious criminal is dangerous when cornered. Better to be safe. Our lives as investigators are worth more than theirs. We must protect ourselves—never put ourselves at risk. Even if we two are confident we can take him, adding Li Yi makes it foolproof."

"Fine." Chen Hao shrugged.

Li Yi asked curiously: "By the way, why did Huang Xin suddenly start killing?"

Wang Jian said: "Here’s the story. Huang Xin had a girlfriend they’d been dating for years—they were about to get married. But she demanded a dowry of 3.88 million taels because he was a cultivator. He couldn’t pay, they argued, and somehow it turned violent."

"You know how cultivators are—ordinary people stand no chance. He accidentally killed her. But Huang Xin was ruthless—he figured killing one was killing, so he wiped out her entire family."

"There’s really such a thing?" Li Yi was stunned.

Wang Jian said: "It’s normal. You’ll see plenty once you start doing missions."

Chen Hao added: "When I get married, I’ll find a woman who doesn’t want a dowry."

"Then stay single," Wang Jian said offhandedly. "No one in Tianchang City marries without a dowry. Before the Heaven’s Collapse, it was 388,000 taels—now it’s higher. You’re from outside—you don’t understand how deep this water runs."

"Damn, then I’ll marry someone from outside." Chen Hao said.

Wang Jian replied: "Even outsiders demand dowries."

"I don’t believe it. I’m a Spirit Medium, an Investigation Bureau External Operations officer—how can I not find a woman who doesn’t want a dowry?" Chen Hao snapped.

"To most people, you’re a promising cultivator. But to women, you’re just a bottom-feeding guy who won’t pay a dowry." Wang Jian lit a cigarette and smoked.

"."

One sentence left Chen Hao speechless.

In that moment, he almost understood the killer Huang Xin.

"Li Yi, you say—is Tianchang City really like this?" After a long silence, Chen Hao turned to Li Yi again, hoping for confirmation from him.

"How would I know? I'm still just a child," Li Yi said.