Chapter 645: Return

Ten days passed quickly.

During this time, Li Yi could clearly feel that the incense belief power within him was growing daily, but unfortunately, he could not fully harness this power in the short term and could only waste it for now.

However, Xiang Xiangzi benefited greatly—within these ten short days, her body formed from the Seven-Colored Stone had become fully under her control, and with the aid of incense power, her primordial spirit was about to restore to its peak.

Seeing this, Li Yi could finally rest easy.

So at noon that day, he planned to open the interdimensional gate and leave this world to return to Earth.

Upon hearing this news, Li Jiye, as his father, immediately dropped everything and came to Wuji Palace to see Li Yi off.

"Xiao Yi, are you leaving today? The big picture is settled—you should enjoy yourself in this world for a while. I even thought of finding you a few beautiful wives and concubines here so you could establish a lineage."

Li Jiye said: "You know how terrible the marriage market on Earth is—bride price demands are enormous, and starting a family is incredibly difficult."

"What do you think of the Golden Iris Guards? Any you like? If so, you can take them as wives or concubines."

Clearly, having been emperor in this world for years, Li Jiye had fully adapted to it—his views had changed so much that he now wanted Li Yi to take concubines.

But Li Yi refused: "Let's forget about that. I still need to focus on my cultivation—I don't want distractions. Earth is currently undergoing the Heaven's Tilt event; dangers arise endlessly. If I don't strengthen my power quickly, I'll be dead when danger comes."

"When I return across dimensions this time, Father, do you have anything for me to handle?"

Li Jiye thought for a moment and said: "Nothing urgent. I've been away from Earth for so long that most people think I'm dead—and that's actually good. It saves me a lot of trouble. But if you ever meet Uncle Biao, tell him I'm still alive—that I'm now emperor in this incense-deification world. If he wants to come, Xiao Yi, please bring him here."

"After all, when I crossed over originally, I promised him that if I ever became successful, I'd never forget him."

"Alright, I'll remember that," Li Yi nodded.

Li Jiye added: "Your mother's matter can wait—don't rush to World 36. That world is extremely dangerous. Wait until I'm ready here. I've been rapidly advancing by combining incense power with cultivation methods. I won't take long to reach Tribulation Crossing and become a powerful incense cultivator."

"I know how dangerous that world is—I won't act rashly. But the cultivation scripture I gave you only goes up to Tribulation Crossing. I'll try to find a chance to obtain the next stage," Li Yi said.

The Ninefold Ascension to Immortality Scripture was a cultivation technique from the Xuan Immortal Continent. He remembered having previously asked Elder Cang'er to seek the next part. By now, Elder Cang'er should have been deep within the Xuan Immortal World for some time—had he made any progress?

"If you get a chance to obtain the scripture, great. If not, forget it. The Xuan Immortal Continent is powerful—fighting them isn't wise. Your safety matters most. Right now, on Earth, to be blunt, everyone's life hangs by a thread. For us father and son to meet like this across dimensions is already a miracle."

Li Jiye sighed.

Though he hadn't returned to Earth to see for himself, he could deduce much from Li Yi's fragmented words.

So he didn't advise Li Yi to stay on Earth—he should find a chance to bring everyone across to this incense world.

This world's cultivation isn't complete, but it allows incense deification, and its spiritual energy is still abundant. Here, one can cultivate in peace and attain the Dao. The entire realm is now under control—it can provide everyone with a prosperous, stable life.

"I understand your meaning, Father. After handling the remaining matters, I'll stay here long-term," Li Yi said.

He had long planned to cultivate deeply in this world.

Once he one day achieves the Three Flowers Converging on the Crown and the Five Qi Aligning toward the Origin through incense power, he can cross dimensions to travel without being constrained by others.

"That's a good mindset," Li Jiye said, deeply pleased.

Li Yi carried a maturity beyond his years. Though he sometimes acted impulsively, greater steadiness was always beneficial.

The two chatted in Wuji Palace for an hour.

Time was nearly up. Li Yi then took the interdimensional device from his Five Elements Bracelet.

Though the Seven-Colored Stone had been given to Xiang Xiangzi to form her new body, he still possessed other strange artifacts—Dragon Scale and the World Heart Gem were two complete ones, and he also had three incomplete ones.

A finger like white jade, a broken branch, and a knife coin.

One of these artifacts had dimmed due to prior interdimensional use—it would likely break after one more use. But it didn't matter; he remembered the Golden Academy planned to give Wu the Daoist a complete artifact.

If he could obtain it on this return, he'd have three complete artifacts again, and future crossings would no longer be limited.

He placed the dimmed artifact into the interdimensional device, along with Dragon Scale and the World Heart Gem.

Three artifacts supplied power.

In mere moments, terrifying energy converged—this energy, the moment it appeared, triggered an energy storm capable of easily killing any cultivator lacking sufficient strength.

"Using the high energy of strange artifacts to forcibly open a wormhole—is this Earth's new interdimensional method?" Li Jiye, watching, exclaimed in awe.

Earth's technology had reached this level.

Li Yi said: "The hardest part of crossing is the intense energy. Currently, only complete artifacts can meet the requirement—and preferably three, because one complete artifact powering a crossing will lie dormant for three months. Only with sufficient quantity, sharing the load, can you avoid disruption."

As he spoke, a brilliant beam of energy shot forth, striking the sky.

The violent energy warped space, opening a wormhole—a gateway to another dimension slowly formed before them.

At first, the other end of the gate was endless darkness, like a link to a cold universe. But soon, as the device auto-adjusted and locked Earth's coordinates, the darkness was replaced by light.

Thick, polluted cosmic energy now spread from Earth's side—danger and opportunity coexisted; ruined cities intertwined with primal forests, revealing a unique, brand-new world.

"The interdimensional gate won't last long. Father, Immortal Xiang, I'll take my leave," Li Yi said. Seeing the gate open, he wasted no time—shut down the device and stored it back in his Five Elements Bracelet.

Then, auspicious clouds appeared beneath his feet—he vanished from the spot, shooting through the gate to appear somewhere on Earth.

Immortal Xiang Xiangzi waved goodbye.

Li Jiye, however, stared at that familiar yet alien corner of Earth, a surge of longing rising in his chest—he wanted to cross back, to see how Tianchang City had fared, to check if his old relatives and friends still lived.

After all, Earth was his home.

But reason held him back.

He should return—but not now. Many tasks awaited him here, many great achievements still to accomplish. When he was truly ready, he would cross over.

!

Soon after.

With the energy supply cut off, the interdimensional gate swiftly closed.

Li Jiye turned his gaze away and bowed to Xiang Xiangzi: "From now on, Immortal, please temporarily assume the position of State Tutor, receive incense devotion, and assist me in achieving greatness."

Xiang Xiangzi replied calmly: "I recognize only Taiyi. Unless it's a matter of cosmic importance, Your Majesty, do not disturb me in Wuji Palace. But I promised Taiyi I'd guard the capital—should a major event occur within the capital, I may intervene. Outside the capital, it is not my duty."

She was a Three Flowers cultivator, having cultivated for centuries—she cared nothing for whether Li Jiye was Li Yi's father.

If she worried about every person and obligation, she wouldn't be a cultivator at all.

"That's sufficient," Li Jiye said, nodding slightly.

With a Three Flowers expert guarding the capital, he could now free himself to pursue many matters.

"Your Majesty, please," Xiang Xiangzi gestured—she was dismissing him outright.

To an outsider, one might think she was the emperor here.

Li Jiye smiled at this, found nothing amiss, bowed respectfully again, and departed.

Cultivators truly were peculiar.

To Xiao Yi, they were warm and obedient; to others, cold and aloof.

In truth, Xiang Xiangzi's attitude was already mild—Wu the Daoist and the Bald Daoist suffered far worse: she routinely beat them, kicked them across the room at the slightest provocation, and they couldn't fight back, forced to endure her abuse helplessly.

Meanwhile.

Back on Earth, Li Yi immediately felt his incense power draining like water without a source, visibly fading.

After leaving the incense-deification world, incense belief power could not last long—it would eventually vanish entirely.

But from the rate of its decay, Li Yi believed it would still last for a short while.

"Lan Ji," Li Yi said, pulling out his phone.

As long as Earth had signal, the AI Lan Ji could connect instantly.

"Master, I'm here," Lan Ji's voice came from the phone soon after.

"Confirm my current location," Li Yi said, hearing the familiar voice and finally relaxing.

"Current location: Tianqing City, two hundred kilometers outside the danger zone," Lan Ji quickly determined his position via satellite.

"Is the deviation always this large?" Li Yi remembered departing from the Golden Academy—he'd returned two hundred kilometers from Tianqing City.

Next time, he might not even be in the country.

But there was no help for it—spatial positioning always had some deviation. At least he hadn't been sent underground.

Without further thought, auspicious clouds formed beneath his feet—he rose into the air, confirmed his location, and decided to return to the Golden Academy.

(End of Chapter)