Chapter 686: Reuniting Old Friends

Fan Zhizhou had always been an ambitious and upright young man.

Although he took many detours, he had now achieved modest success; Li Yi believed his future accomplishments would not be limited to this—so long as his luck held, after a few cross-world leaps, he could become a top-tier powerhouse renowned across Earth.

After all, he was someone who, at barely twenty, had become a Qi-Channeling martial artist in the Four Seas and Eight Zones.

After parting with Fan Zhizhou.

Li Yi couldn't help but begin studying the Law-Form cultivation method he had just acquired.

The moment he looked, he froze.

"This is a cultivation method for refining the spirit, condensing the Primordial Spirit, and strengthening the soul's power," Li Yi said in astonishment: "How is this possible? The path ahead in the Four Seas and Eight Zones is clearly severed—how could they have developed a method with such boundless potential?"

He realized that condensing a Law-Form was essentially condensing the Primordial Spirit.

But because spiritual energy in the Four Seas and Eight Zones was scarce and the path ahead severed, their Law-Forms were neither fish nor fowl—inferior to the spirit-deities of the incense-deity world, and inferior to the Nascent Souls and Soul Transformations of the Xuan Immortal world.

Yet this did not mean the Law-Form cultivation method was useless.

On the contrary, the Law-Form held great potential—it merely required the cultivator to possess a powerful physique and sufficient heavenly and earthly spiritual energy to grow strong; the martial artists of the Four Seas and Eight Zones, limited by both, produced Law-Forms inherently deficient, yet still managed to extend their lives for a thousand years using Soul-Extending Elixirs.

"If I used my Divine Blood body, combined with vast heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, to nurture a Law-Form, it would be immensely powerful—and if I further achieved the Five Qi Convergence, continuously nourishing it with the Five Elements' energy, to what heights would this Law-Form evolve?"

Li Yi's eyes narrowed slightly, then he immediately put away the Law-Form cultivation method.

He could see its potential—Fan Zhizhou must have known too, since the Law-Form cultivation method had surely been acquired by the Four Great Clans—but its ultimate achievement depended on what else one cultivated alongside it.

If Fan Zhizhou cultivated alongside Immortal cultivation, he would condense a Nascent Soul Law-Form and be invincible within his realm.

Li Yi, however, cultivated Daoist methods; when he achieved the Five Qi Convergence, he would form a Primordial Spirit Law-Form—and once that Law-Form bloomed the Three Flowers, it would shake antiquity and outshine all eras.

"The idea sounds good, but dual cultivation is treacherous—such a profound foundation inevitably slows breakthroughs. No wonder Fan Zhizhou had to cross worlds; without sufficient opportunities, he could never sustain the birth of a Nascent Soul Law-Form," Li Yi thought to himself.

He was about to go to the Wildlands—why?

Because only the Wildlands could satisfy the nurturing of his Divine Blood; no other world could.

Only when Divine Blood permeated his entire body could his flesh transform into a Divine Body—then, combined with Long Hu's power, the Zhou Tian acupoints, and the Five Elements' magic power, he would truly become terrifying. But now, he must also add a Primordial Spirit Law-Form.

Soon.

Li Yi arrived at the Investigation Bureau.

But he found the bureau empty—after asking around, he learned it had moved to a new location and abandoned this one.

"I didn't expect the Investigation Bureau had relocated."

He was still officially an External Combat Officer of the Investigation Bureau; though he hadn't returned to the Tianchang City bureau in a long time, his credentials remained active.

He picked up his phone, connected to the AI Lan Ji, and dialed.

"Li Yi? Is that you? You finally reached out—what's up?" Zheng Gong's voice crackled with delight.

It was the first time he'd received a call from Li Yi in so long.

Li Yi said, "Nothing urgent—just came to check on the bureau, and to ask about my master's condition. But it seems the bureau moved—no one's here."

"The bureau relocated to the old wasteland district—no, it's not called that anymore; it's now the Tech District. The bureau's been upgraded—using Tech World Six's technology, they built a high-tech tower here. I'll send you the address—you can come take a look."

Zheng Gong laughed.

Tech World Six's technology had greatly aided the entire Earth.

Li Yi had indeed seen many sci-fi-style buildings, constructed at astonishing speed—changing daily.

"Alright, I'm on my way."

He activated the Cloud-Soaring Technique and flew toward the address Zheng Gong sent.

Indeed.

He saw a sixteen-story building with metallic walls, dripping with sci-fi aesthetics, surrounded by surveillance devices, simulated robots, AIs, and numerous high-energy weapons.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like stepping back into Tech World Six.

"Welcome back, External Combat Officer Li Yi," a flying surveillance drone drifted over, scanning him.

His identity was confirmed swiftly.

"Haha, Li Yi, didn't expect this, did you? You're still an External Combat Officer—if you stayed a few more days, I might even promote you to permanent status and upgrade your clearance," came a laugh as Zheng Gong, clad in liquid-metal combat armor, flew out of the building.

Zheng Gong had now reached the Spiritual Power realm.

This was thanks to the benefits of dual cultivation—his realm advanced rapidly.

But in actual combat power, he was worlds apart from Li Yi; realm only sets the lower limit of strength, not the upper.

If Li Yi took up Immortal cultivation, he'd be nothing but a Qi Refining Stage One novice.

Yet his power could slay Tribulation Crossing experts.

"No thanks—I've other matters to attend to. I won't stay long in Tianchang."

Zheng Gong said, "Fair enough. If you stayed longer, I'd say you should take over as Director. Why not visit my cousin? Zheng Lan's been waiting for you to come back."

"I went home—I didn't see Zheng Lan."

"Of course not—she spends most of her time in the Oddity Cultivation Chamber. She didn't follow the Evolution Method, but chose Gene Method and Immortal cultivation—she's always in seclusion. You rarely see her. Want me to call her out for a gathering?" Zheng Gong teased.

Li Yi understood Zheng Gong's meaning.

He wanted to matchmake him with Zheng Lan.

"Better not—seclusion is more important, and I'm leaving soon," Li Yi declined politely.

Zheng Gong lowered his voice: "Your two junior sisters seem to care about you too—is that why? Don't worry—I won't leak a word. Besides, they're not from Earth; polygamy's acceptable."

"If you're so keen on polygamy, why don't you find your own?" Li Yi said.

"Can't afford the bride price," Zheng Gong spread his hands.

"." Li Yi.

"But you're different—you've got wealth now, no problem. Let me ask my cousin if she's interested," Zheng Gong grinned.

He felt zero guilt about selling out his cousin Zheng Lan.

In truth, he knew well: Earth was plagued by disasters, Heaven-Collapse events occurred frequently, and cross-world crises never ceased—his cousin Zheng Lan's only hope for a good future lay with Li Yi.

The reason was simple: Li Yi was strong enough.

In the future, power belonged to the strong; authority would inevitably shift toward them.

Among all the cultivators Zheng Gong knew, none surpassed Li Yi.

(End of Chapter)