Chapter 229: 220. Mythical Beings

220. Chapter 220: Mythical Beings

After some discussion, Li Yi concluded that everyone's reasoning was correct: first become a Cross-Borderer, at least securing a future safeguard; as for entering the Golden Academy, that could only be accomplished later through his own efforts.

Once he had thought it through, he immediately contacted Zhang Lei to share his decision.

"Alright, I'll inform the higher-ups at the Investigation Bureau about your Cross-Borderer status. I'm sure we'll have results soon. Rest well in the coming days and prepare for the crossing. After you left, I received some information—it's confirmed there'll be a Cross-Border operation in about six days. I don't yet know the details, but if you can join, you'll likely receive a reply within three days."

Li Yi said, "A Cross-Border operation in six days? That's sudden."

"I don't know either. Once you become a Cross-Borderer, you might know more than I do."

"Understood. Let me know as soon as there's news."

After hanging up, Li Yi turned to the others in the hall: "You all heard that. If everything goes smoothly, the Cross-Border operation begins in six days."

"A Cross-Border operation? That sounds thrilling—we're going to another unknown world." Lin Yue was excited. "Too bad only you're going this time. If I could go with you to see it, that'd be amazing. Honestly, I'm very curious about Cross-Bordering."

Li Yi smiled. "Lin Jie, don't worry—you'll definitely Cross-Border someday too."

He planned to take Lin Jie on a tour of the Four Seas and Eight Zones after returning, and help her systematically train in martial arts to strengthen her power.

"I'll take your good words to heart," Lin Jie laughed.

At that moment, Zhao Lingfu said, "Li Yi, since you're about to Cross-Border, you should prepare thoroughly. After all, you're heading into the unknown—your personal safety is vital."

"True. I need to prepare well in these few days. Also, I can't stop cultivating. I'll see if I can break through to the Spiritual Awareness realm—I already have a sense of it. I feel I'm very close."

"You already have a sense? Your body's evolution speed is truly fast." Lin Yue was astonished. After all, it hadn't been long since Li Yi broke through to Spiritual Perception. Normally, he wouldn't reach Spiritual Awareness for at least half a year.

Li Yi said, "Maybe it's tied to my cultivation value increase. Higher values mean faster evolution. I suggest all of you head to the training base and use the White Bone Contemplation murals to cultivate. If you suddenly break through the illusion, your cultivation value will rise too. Lin Jie, arrange this. When our teammates grow stronger, we'll have more confidence in whatever we do next."

"Alright, I know what to do." Lin Yue nodded, then glanced at the others.

At that moment, Lu Jue, Fang Hang, Cheng Siping, and Zhao Xiaoxiao were all excited. They hadn't expected to benefit from this miraculous artifact. If their cultivation values could truly rise, their chances of becoming Spiritual Awareness experts would be greatly increased. Thinking of this, they felt investing in Li Yi had been the right choice.

But after giving instructions, Li Yi didn't stay in the hall—he returned to his top-floor room to cultivate intensively over the next few days, hoping to boost his strength before the Cross-Border.

Whether breaking through his martial arts realm or evolving his body, both were crucial to him.

He didn't overthink it.

Li Yi quickly formed the Treasure Seal and activated the White Bone Contemplation technique, then sat with closed eyes.

The cosmic energy within the coin was guided into his body. As he absorbed vast amounts of cosmic energy, his body entered another phase of evolution.

"My cultivation value seems to have risen again." After ten days of unconsciousness, Li Yi noticed his body was absorbing cosmic energy faster—and the change was obvious. Even without deliberate testing, he could feel a significant shift in his cultivation value.

"After taking the Soul-Returning Pill, my cultivation value was at least 600%. But now, it's at least 800%. What's going on? Why such a sudden jump?"

Li Yi was puzzled and uneasy.

He knew his cultivation value increased slowly, but such a massive leap was unreasonable.

After much thought, he concluded there was only one possible reason: he had previously broken through to the Qi Channeling realm, unlocking his body's potential. Additionally, after his soul was injured and healed by many Soul-Returning Pills, his soul's strength had changed.

The dual transformation of body and soul had caused his cultivation value to surge.

Though he had now forfeited his martial arts cultivation and regressed to the peak of Blood Refining, his realm was gone—but his body's potential remained.

This discovery thrilled him. He now wondered: if he returned to the Qi Channeling realm, would his body's potential keep increasing?

After all, he had once cultivated six channels. What if he opened nine?

Li Yi believed this possibility was high.

Moreover, his cultivation value had now reached 800%, close to the 1000% needed to enter the Golden Academy. With a little more effort and a slight boost in his martial arts realm, he could enter the Golden Academy on his own.

Suppressing his excitement, Li Yi resumed meditation.

This cultivation session lasted three full days. His gains were substantial: his physical strength had noticeably increased, and his blood qi had once again accumulated to the level of six channels. In another three or four days, his blood qi would be sufficient to open the nine channels and return to the Qi Channeling realm.

"Li Yi, your Cross-Borderer slot is confirmed. The Investigation Bureau will send a helicopter to pick you up at noon three days from now. Prepare for departure." That afternoon, Zhang Lei called with important news.

"Understood," Li Yi replied.

Everything proceeded as planned: an unknown Cross-Border operation would begin in three days.

Li Yi felt both curiosity and excitement.

What kind of world awaited him?

Would he be able to learn cultivation methods from that world?

But knowing he still had three days, he restrained his excitement. After informing Lin Jie and the others, he resumed cultivation.

Yet that night,

something was wrong over Tianchang City. It wasn't thunderstorm season, yet the night sky crackled with continuous lightning. Deafening thunder echoed endlessly, illuminating the heavens as bright as day. This anomaly frightened people and unsettled cultivators.

"Boom!"

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky outside Li Yi's top-floor room, striking a large tree below. Instantly, the tree split in two, then burst into roaring flames.

"What's going on?"

Zheng Lan, inside the HePing Financial Tower, was jolted awake and immediately checked the situation.

After the recent demon-slaying operation, everyone who lived in the tower had returned home. Some cultivators, including Lin Yue, had gone to the training base. The building had reverted to its former emptiness, with only Zheng Lan left to manage it.

"The tree outside was struck by lightning and caught fire."

Zheng Lan saw the situation and wanted to extinguish the fire, but stopped at the door—outside, lightning was striking randomly. She feared stepping out might get her struck dead.

Fortunately, the fire didn't burn long. Soon, it extinguished itself.

Zheng Lan sighed in relief.

Still uneasy, she circled the building, confirming no other abnormalities before relaxing.

But then, as a thunderbolt split the sky, Zheng Lan glimpsed a shadow illuminated by lightning on the ground. Though only a fleeting glimpse, she clearly saw a colossal humanoid figure with wings.

The thing moved swiftly, chasing the lightning, emitting a piercing cry.

"What was that? A Transcendent Being?"

Though not a cultivator, Zheng Lan understood basic knowledge. Realizing this, she took the elevator to inform Li Yi immediately.

A Transcendent Being lingering near the HePing Financial Tower was no good sign.

She reached the top floor, disregarding etiquette, and used her access to open Li Yi's door—then froze. Outside the glass window, the colossal Transcendent Being hovered midair, its massive wings flapping, its bright golden vertical pupils fixed on Li Yi, who sat in deep meditation.

It seemed to be studying him, its gaze filled with curiosity.

Perhaps Zheng Lan's scream startled the Transcendent Being.

With a flap of its wings, the giant figure blurred into a streak of light, chasing the lightning into the clouds—and vanished in an instant.

Li Yi also awoke from his meditation.

"Zheng Lan, what happened?"

Li Yi's eyes snapped open. He had been in deep meditation, and the top floor's soundproofing had shielded him from the noise outside—he'd only been startled by Zheng Lan's scream.

"Li Yi, something's wrong outside tonight. Just now, I saw a Transcendent Being outside the tower." Zheng Lan's eyes flickered with fear.

"Really?" Li Yi frowned and looked out the window.

Indeed.

That night, Tianchang City was abnormal—lightning crisscrossed, shaking the heavens, as if an immense force were tearing the sky apart. This was no normal thunderstorm, for not a drop of rain fell.

This sight reminded Li Yi of the Heaven's Collapse incident ten years ago.

"It's not another Heaven's Collapse. Just a localized catastrophe." Li Yi frowned, gazing into the distance.

Outside Tianchang City, everything was normal—no such anomalies.

"Lin Jie said Earth has entered a region rich in cosmic energy. Intense cosmic energy warps space-time, briefly connecting distant worlds." Li Yi's gaze shifted. Through the lightning, he gazed into the cloud depths—and for a fleeting moment, saw grand ancient architecture.

Gilded and splendid, ancient and solemn.

Like a mirage, yet the vision vanished instantly—as if it had been an illusion. But in that brief moment, he thought he saw something invading Earth: incomprehensible beings in the clouds, chasing lightning, vanishing in a flash.

"The Cross-Border gate has opened. Earth is being invaded again." Li Yi's heart sank.

He now understood what had happened tonight.

Such situations weren't rare. Many Transcendent Beings, Mythical Beings arrived on Earth this way.

Occasionally, miraculous artifacts appeared too—but the probability was low, since artifacts don't move on their own. Most invaders were Transcendent Beings.

"Zheng Lan, the Transcendent Being you saw likely arrived on Earth tonight from another world. It's an unknown species. The HePing Financial Tower is tall, making it an easy target. But don't worry—I'll guard tonight. If anything happens, I'll handle it."

Though his words were calm, he had no real confidence.

That thing dared chase lightning—it was almost certainly beyond Transcendent Being status, reaching Mythical Being level. His current realm was no match.

But he couldn't say this to ordinary people—it would cause panic.

"Should we notify others to evacuate?" Zheng Lan asked nervously.

Li Yi shook his head. "No need. Also, retrieve the surveillance footage—find out what that Transcendent Being looked like."

"Alright, I'll do it now." Zheng Lan nodded and hurried to the surveillance room.

She had overseen the building's entire security system installation and knew every detail.

Soon,

a relatively clear image was sent to Li Yi's phone.

He glanced at it—and his expression changed slightly.

The creature in the image was a humanoid, five to six meters tall, with a pair of massive wings. In its hand, it held a golden weapon—unusual, like a giant metal spike or a golden club, glowing with shifting light.

He searched the image and found a similar Mythical Being.

Legend spoke of the Garuda, which devoured dragons, wielding a demon-subduing mace.

"What the hell? That thing was really a Mythical Being?" Li Yi was stunned, a chill running down his spine.

If it had attacked him, he would have died instantly—with no chance to flee.

He looked out the window again.

He saw no trace of the Garuda—it must have chased the lightning out of Tianchang City. But he knew it remained on Earth: the Cross-Border gate had vanished, and the Garuda could not return to its world. It had no choice but to stay.

This was why many Transcendent and Mythical Beings remained on Earth.

Many times it is not that they wish to remain here, but that the interdimensional gate is unstable, and they cannot return.