Chapter 446

409. Chapter 408: Cross-Dimensional Exchange

Li Yi spent the entire day monitoring information from the Golden Academy and browsing the academy's marketplace. Indeed, as Di Di Zhuan had said, many changes had occurred recently; because the Sixth World was temporarily in a cooperative phase, the marketplace now offered numerous items from the Sixth World, such as gene serums, liquid metal battle suits, combat energy weapons, and even Thunder Fighters and artificial intelligences for sale.

However, the artificial intelligences in the marketplace were third-generation, inferior in performance to Lan Ji, who was fourth-generation; due to her modifications, her computational power surpassed that of ordinary fourth-gen AIs, but according to what he knew, the best in the Sixth World were sixth-generation AIs.

Yet he didn't care about any of that—he cared only about when the cross-dimensional machine would be developed and put up for sale.

Holding the means of cross-dimensional travel in his own hands was better than relying on others everywhere.

"This is ridiculous—now a single cross-dimensional trip costs 200,000 points, and a round trip requires 400,000. The price has doubled."

Li Yi immediately felt the Golden Academy was a ruthless merchant upon seeing the current cost of a cross-dimensional trip.

With his current resources, he couldn't afford the fee to cross dimensions through the Golden Academy.

The more cost-effective way to cross dimensions was to cooperate with others—he possessed two oddities: the incomplete coin and the Seven-Colored Stone; if he added the incomplete oddity held by Di Di Zhuan, opening a cross-dimensional gate wouldn't be difficult, but incomplete oddities could only open three gates before potentially breaking—they were consumables.

Only complete oddities could be reused without risk of damage or energy depletion.

"So now, oddities are the key to survival."

Li Yi realized at this moment what the most precious resource in this era truly was.

Once cross-dimensional machines began to be sold and mass-produced, the value of complete oddities would rise further; in fact, the future would be the age of oddities—without them, you couldn't cross dimensions repeatedly, your cultivation and resource acquisition would slow to a crawl, and eventually you'd be completely drowned by this era.

"If I'd known this earlier, I should've taken the risk and acquired more Seven-Colored Stones."

Li Yi now deeply regretted why the Fly-Eye Needle had pierced only one hole instead of several—if he'd pierced more, he could've used the Seven-Colored Stones he held to gain the means to cross dimensions.

"Little Li, just now I sensed something—a familiar aura has appeared in the Golden Academy. If I'm not mistaken, that must be my physical body, preserved after death and brought here." Suddenly, the lingering consciousness within the coin revived and issued a warning.

"You sensed your body?" Li Yi immediately frowned.

But then a memory from a year ago surfaced in his mind—he had once been a laborer in Tianchang City, risking his life in the danger zone for a few ten thousand taels, and had obtained the incomplete coin, beginning his cultivation path; yet he hadn't been the only one to gain a stroke of fortune that day—two others had too.

One was Wang Hu, the other Wei Li.

Later, fearing Ning Wu's revenge, these two fled Tianchang City and vanished without a trace.

Even now, he still remembered them clearly.

"I recall it was Wang Hu who took the remains from that ancient tomb. Could Wang Hu have come to the Golden Academy too?" Li Yi muttered to himself.

Yet this possibility was very high.

After all, Wang Hu, having gained his stroke of fortune, would surely have embarked on the cultivation path, and nearly all cultivators with potential eventually came to the Golden Academy—like Pi Daochang and Gu Gu Mengping from Dachang City; though their potential was weak, they'd secured special slots and were admitted directly.

"What use is your body? It's been dead for many years."

Li Yi added: "Even if I used the Life Cradle to grow you a new body, without your soul, just a lingering fragment of consciousness can't revive you."

"My body still holds a lingering consciousness too, but that's not the point—the other half of the incomplete coin may have fallen into Wang Hu's hands. Don't you want to recover that missing half and reassemble a complete oddity?" the lingering consciousness in the coin said.

"Not interested," Li Yi flatly refused.

Though he didn't know what the consciousness was plotting, he sensed it wouldn't be good.

The lingering consciousness continued: "You're not interested, but others are. My other fragment will surely send Wang Hu to seize your half of the coin. If someone else completes the set, you'll miss a great opportunity—you must already sense this incomplete coin isn't ordinary."

Li Yi's expression shifted slightly.

He knew the coin held secrets, but because it was incomplete, he'd never pursued it—after all, the world was vast; who knew where the other half had vanished? It might even be lost in another world, so he'd Lande to waste time digging. But if the other half appeared on its own, he'd genuinely be intrigued.

"We'll deal with this later—if the other half comes to me, it'll save me trouble. But I won't go harass someone just because you suspect them."

Saying this, he ignored the coin and pulled out the Seven-Colored Stone.

As soon as the Seven-Colored Stone appeared, seven-colored light flooded the cultivation chamber, and abundant cosmic energy surged instantly; Li Yi, immersed within it, felt every cell in his body rejoicing.

The energy field this thing generated was far stronger than the coin's.

Li Yi formed a hand seal, closed his eyes, and practiced the White Bone Contemplation cultivation technique.

The abundant energy flowed into his body, making him feel himself evolving rapidly; even his divine bloodline within was nourished and began to grow stronger.

"Since opening my tenth acupoint, my physical potential has increased noticeably, and my demand for cosmic energy has grown—but my soul's growth is still too slow. It needs time to transform. Unfortunately, I lack a specialized method to cultivate the soul, or I wouldn't be stuck at the Soul Realm. I'll have to focus my energy on opening more acupoints."

After a night of cultivation, Li Yi's strength showed no significant progress—once reaching the Soul Realm, breakthroughs slowed drastically, requiring time to settle and mature.

He just didn't know how much peaceful time the Golden Academy still had left for everyone to cultivate.

In the morning, Li Yi was hungry.

His needs no longer satisfied by nutrient paste—he needed to eat extraordinary creatures. Fortunately, he'd stored meat; he took some out, lit a fire beside his cultivation chamber, heated it, and devoured it in large bites.

This was the meat of a Spirit Power Realm extraordinary creature.

Its flesh contained abundant blood essence and cosmic energy; eating such a creature's meat was like consuming a supreme elixir—extremely nourishing.

Yet as Li Yi ate breakfast, he noticed cultivators from nearby chambers gradually emerging, all heading in the same direction, as if something had happened.

"Di Di Zhuan, what's going on?" Li Yi called out to a familiar face stepping out of a nearby chamber.

Di Di Zhuan replied: "Li Yi, you're still eating roasted meat? Just now, a group claiming to be from the Xuan Immortal Continent arrived at the Golden Academy. They wish to exchange and spar with our top cultivators. Many are already rushing over to watch—want to come?"

"Xuan Immortal Continent?" Li Yi's eyelid twitched at the name.

In this Heaven's Collapse incident, the Xuan Immortal Continent was the aggressor that invaded Earth—if not for Yang Wei, his own Tianchang City would've been wiped out. He had no affection for that world—it was an enemy, not an ally.

"They say they're here to exchange, but what's the point? Just blast them all to ashes." Li Yi said.

"They claim it's an exchange, but in truth, they're probing our strength—testing the power and potential of Earth's cultivators. The Golden Academy is currently at a disadvantage; if we start a war rashly, it could trigger a two-world conflict, worsening our situation—we desperately need time to grow," Di Di Zhuan said. "Come along. Learn about their cultivation methods and combat styles—it'll benefit us."

"Makes sense. I'll go see the spectacle too."

Li Yi tossed the remaining roasted meat to Shan Yi beside him, told Shan Yi not to wander off, then set off with Di Di Zhuan.

As cultivators from Chamber C gradually emerged, the crowd grew sizable—dozens at least, all formidable, mostly Soul Realm, with a few Spirit Power Realm experts.

Cultivators from Chambers A and B joined too.

Direct contact with cultivators from another world was rare, so everyone was curious.

"Li Yi."

Someone in the crowd seemed to be calling him.

Li Yi turned immediately and saw a woman in plain robes, slender and graceful.

She lowered her eyes, her jet-black hair flowing like a bodhisattva descending from heaven—impossible to ignore.

"What do you want?" he replied.

He recognized her—he didn't know her name, but he remembered her; she'd entered the Golden Academy with him, her origins unknown, suspected to be connected to the White Bone Murals.

Yet she said nothing, merely lowered her head and vanished swiftly, like a ghost.

Li Yi was baffled and didn't bother thinking about it.

He followed the crowd forward, soon arriving before a magnificent golden building.

This was the Golden Hall.

The Golden Academy used it to receive important guests; major events also gathered students here.

"So there really are cultivators crossing dimensions? Are those the people from the Xuan Immortal Continent?" everyone looked upward.

A crystal-clear vessel, carved as if from jade, floated in midair—massive as an island, shimmering with radiant light, exuding divine aura; around it, numerous cultivators flew on swords or walked through the air, their power extraordinary.

Beside the vessel stood ancient-dressed women, fair-skinned and beautiful, gazing down slightly at the crowd; their expressions were cold, their eyes filled with indifference—as if celestial goddesses looking down on mortals with contempt.

"Beautiful women! Their skin is as white and tender as tofu—do cultivators come with built-in beauty treatments?" someone had an odd focus, noting the female cultivators' looks.

"We evolutionists are the same—after our bodies transform, flaws vanish, and we're beautiful too," a female evolutionist sniffed in displeasure.

"But their aura is better, and their ancient robes reveal just enough—truly captivating," the man continued, then grew angry: "But those goddesses—what's that look? Are they staring at monkeys or trash? Damn it, does cultivation make you superior? A bunch of uncultured fools."

Clearly,

In the eyes of these cultivators, everyone in the Golden Academy were natives—they saw themselves as superior.

Meanwhile, the cultivators on the vessel were also observing them.

"This is clearly a newly awakened cultivation world—still can't fly even at this level? In the Xuan Immortal Continent, Qi Refining cultivators ride swords through the air," a woman in a pink silk dress chuckled softly, shaking her head.

"And their bloodlines are impure—eye colors vary, like colored-eyed barbarians. Their clothing is bizarre too—look, someone's even wearing iron and leather armor like a mortal soldier," a man with a celestial sword remarked.

"It's because they lack depth and heritage—only mimic others, ending up with a grotesque mess. What's there to fear in a world like this? We should just imprint slave marks on them and make them serve us," a Daoist priest holding a fly whisk said, squinting.

First chapter for now—I'll post another tonight. These days I'm trying to adjust my schedule and update times.