Chapter 272: Seeing the Characters Is Like Seeing the Person

Hold this jade tablet as proof of your privileges in the Yingtian Bureau.

You may travel freely within the Chang’an Prefecture borders!

“So you’re an official of the Yingtian Bureau.”

The soldier with the spear carefully verified the information, confirmed its authenticity, and his expression softened. “Verified. Permission granted to enter Chang’an Prefecture.”

He turned around and repeatedly tapped his identity device.

After undergoing multiple layers of verification procedures.

Finally, he stepped aside to let Jiang Jian pass.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Jian bowed in thanks and successfully entered Chang’an Prefecture.

The moment he stepped inside.

The spiritual energy in the heavens and earth instantly thickened.

Chang’an Prefecture was as bustling and prosperous as before, with thriving cultivation scenery.

At first glance, it seemed no change had occurred.

“Summon vehicle service activated. Estimated arrival: one minute!”

A cold mechanical voice echoed.

Not long after.

A brand-new hovering vehicle landed before Jiang Jian, its cabin door swinging open with a thud.

Jiang Jian climbed the boarding ramp and stepped into the hovering vehicle.

The cabin lights flickered, followed by a prompt tone.

“Destination: Yingtian Bureau.”

“Estimated arrival time: two hours and forty minutes.”

The cabin door sealed shut.

The hovering vehicle hummed to life.

With a slight tremor, it shot upward at high speed!

Jiang Jian sat by the window, gazing through the porthole toward the sky behind him.

Outside Chang’an Prefecture.

Beneath the heavens.

The massive Water Star warship had already slipped into the rift in the sky and departed safely.

Of the tens of thousands of squads it had brought, only dozens of airships had barely completed their missions and returned to the warship, barely saving their lives.

Tens of thousands of Water Star beings.

The vast majority had died here!

Meanwhile.

His identity device flashed urgently, with continuous regional communications arriving.

The casualty figures from this heavenly rift had already been compiled.

“Casualties caused by the Baiye Prefecture rift:”

“Earth citizens.”

“Divine Bestowal Realm: 3,210.”

“Surging Spring Realm: 42.”

“Non-citizens: approximately 10,000.”

The message was extremely brief.

Yet within moments,

these casualty figures sparked a massive uproar on the forums!

Countless Earth citizens were furious, their anger boiling over.

Related discussion threads had already surpassed one hundred million posts!

The Water Star beings, organized into squads, did not attack the prefecture’s central districts but instead scattered across surrounding cities, counties, and towns, launching frenzied assaults.

Their primary targets were almost exclusively ordinary civilians!

In these areas, Surging Spring Realm cultivators were already rare.

Most of the civilians were merely Divine Bestowal Realm, neglecting cultivation in daily life, with virtually no resistance capability!

Yet.

These prefectures had clearly been prepared.

Whether it was the subordinate pavilions of the Yuxing Palace or the prefecture’s guard fleet, all had been dispatched in advance, lying in ambush across the continent’s cities and counties.

As soon as the Water Star squads landed, they were annihilated with thunderous force.

Civilian casualties were reduced to the bare minimum!

Even so,

many civilians in remote mountains and wilderness still suffered brutal massacres.

Outside the ambush zones, or in distant areas too slow to be rescued, thousands of ordinary people were easily slaughtered.

“So the surface world had known about the Ba Xia Demon Lord’s intentions all along and prepared extensively in advance.”

Jiang Jian turned his gaze away.

On the surface world, seven rifts had opened.

At each rift, tens of thousands of Water Star beings had scattered and descended!

All these Water Star beings were Surging Spring Realm cultivators!

Had the surface world been truly unprepared,

then,

the death toll from this attack would have skyrocketed to unimaginable levels!

Jiang Jian thought.

His own city, Guangling.

Its population exceeded three million.

Yet Surging Spring Realm cultivators numbered barely a hundred.

These people lived in comfort, with mediocre talent.

If they fought, managing to block even a single strike from a Water Star being would be a miracle.

Just a few Water Star squads landing unprepared would spell a horrific fate for this city—unthinkable.

Jiang Jian reviewed his identity device, recalling the recent regional communications, and understood.

Under the condition that the Nine Layers of Chang’an had sealed the world’s gateways,

the surface world had managed, in a short time, to organize such a massive ambush, even infiltrating every city and county, drastically reducing civilian casualties.

The Yuxing Palace’s central coordination was indispensable.

Soon,

his identity device flashed repeatedly with alerts.

The Earth planetary barrier had completed its self-repair.

All seven heavenly rifts had fully restored to their original state!

The total death toll among Earth citizens had been tallied.

Fewer than thirty thousand citizens from both realms had died.

These were almost entirely ordinary civilians in remote mountains and wilderness, outside the ambush zones.

Cities, counties, and towns suffered the most attacks, yet had nearly zero casualties!

This was because,

within the ambush zones,

not only had the Yuxing Palace’s subordinate pavilions dispatched “cultivators” and “elders,”

but also Nascent Soul beings had been stationed there, rushing to rescue.

In contrast,

near the seven rifts,

non-citizens suffered the heaviest casualties.

Preliminary statistics showed,

their death toll had already exceeded one hundred thousand.

Although the surface world’s response had been flawless, nearly perfectly neutralizing this assault,

everyone understood,

this was merely a probe by the Water Star.

The Water Star beings had been nearly entirely sacrificed as cannon fodder to drain Earth’s strength in the early phase.

More alarming still,

The Water Star side had been willing to sacrifice one hundred thousand cultivators of the Surging Spring Realm in a single vanguard assault, without the slightest hesitation.

On Earth,

such a thing was utterly unimaginable!

In thought.

Jiang Jian sat inside the floating vehicle.

Deep within his spirit, he faintly sensed.

The mission he had taken on had, somehow, grown heavier.

Tianjing, located in the Ninth Realm, was the highest official authority on the surface.

It was also the true central hub of Chang’an Prefecture.

The entire Ninth Realm belonged to Tianjing.

All major decrees and affairs across the seventy surface prefectures originated in Tianjing.

But at this very moment,

most senior officials in Tianjing’s central hub were trapped within the Ninth Realm.

This defense ambush was almost entirely led by the Yu Xing Palace; Tianjing’s role was merely auxiliary support.

The officials from Yu Xing Palace and Tianjing stationed on the surface overlapped to an extreme degree.

Hence their operations proceeded smoothly, without obstruction.

“Yingtian Bureau, Deputy Director Zhang Baimu.”

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze, staring at the wooden box in his hand.

After a moment’s thought, he still did not store it in his storage space.

This wooden box was specially crafted by Shen Xi to contain fragments of the world’s origin.

It contained numerous arrays, their functions unclear.

Jiang Jian could not be certain whether storing it inside would expose his storage space.

Under these circumstances, he had no reason to take such a risk.

Suddenly,

deep within his soul,

the Dizang Scepter, suspended in midair, trembled slightly.

Jiang Jian put away the wooden box and focused his spirit.

This was the Guide Messenger’s hint to him.

The Chosen One of the Seventh Hall was very likely to have ascended to the Hall Master’s seat.

This meant,

the struggle for the Yinshan Wonder was about to officially begin!

Once the Dizang Seat truly opened, no Chosen One could withdraw arbitrarily.

Even if defeated and killed, one could not escape it.

Time passed quickly.

Without realizing it,

the floating vehicle slowed.

It landed atop a massive steel skyscraper—a costly, premium landing field.

Few spacecraft came or went here; it was very quiet.

Jiang Jian did not exit the vehicle. Instead, he sat in his seat, activated his identity device, and entered a citizen ID number.

Yingtian Bureau was too crowded with eyes; he had no intention of going directly.

Instead, using the identity device serial number provided by Shen Xi, he directly connected to Deputy Director Zhang Baimu.

He sent a friend request, but received no response for a long time.

Jiang Jian leaned back in his seat, calm and unruffled, gently closing his eyes to meditate quietly.

Three hours later,

his wristwatch finally began to flash, and a mechanical alert sounded.

“Friend request accepted.”

At the same time,

a voice message arrived from the other end.

“Sorry, positions in Yu Xing Palace are fully filled.”

A deep, resonant male voice came through: “No matter who recommended you, I cannot help.”

Hearing the voice, Jiang Jian’s expression turned strange.

This voice message was a mass broadcast.

That meant,

over the past two days, many people had likely added Zhang Baimu.

As Deputy Director of Yingtian Bureau, he held high rank and power.

Only families with deep connections could obtain his identity device serial number and actively send a request.

Zhang Baimu, in his elevated position, naturally avoided offending anyone.

He accepted every friend request without exception.

Previously,

he had glanced at Jiang Jian’s communication info.

Seeing he was under twenty yet possessed Spring Flow Realm cultivation,

he immediately assumed Jiang Jian was some connection’s protégé, seeking entry into Yu Xing Palace through influence.

Thus, without hesitation, he copied the voice message and sent it en masse to the other new requests.

“This Deputy Director Zhang seems overwhelmed.”

Jiang Jian snapped back to awareness and smiled.

His fingers swept across the holographic screen, typing a message:

“Second Realm, Master of Guanxi Pavilion.”

Less than ten seconds after sending,

Zhang Baimu’s message box flashed urgently—his real-time communication was calling!

The next second,

the call connected.

“Old Shen’s idea actually worked—you really made it out!”

Zhang Baimu tried to remain calm, his voice deep, yet brimming with unmistakable excitement.

Clearly,

although Shen Xi was in the Academy World,

he had long secretly communicated with him via identity device.

Moreover,

as Shen Xi’s sudden insight,

this plan had been formally reported, approved by a Spirit Platform Realm True Lord, and became an official mission!

“Hello, Deputy Director Zhang Baimu.”

Jiang Jian raised his wrist politely. “I’m currently east of Chang’an Prefecture. Can you come over?”

Zhang Baimu steadied himself, his tone solemn: “Student Jiang Jian, please encrypt and send me your surface coordinates. I’ll immediately report mission progress and depart at once!”

The call ended.

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze, staring at Zhang Baimu’s message box, falling silent.

Since this mission had been officially recognized,

even becoming one of many desperate attempts by the surface realm to prematurely break open the world gate,

his coordinates still needed to be “encrypted” before transmission.

This was deeply peculiar.

Since the Ninth Realm had been compressed by space and completely sealed off,

everyone had been powerless.

Only one True Lord from the Moon Realm possessed a secret treasure capable of forcibly shattering the realm gate.

But that treasure had not been activated in a long time.

It required immense resources.

And needed at least a year of cultivation before it could be barely used.

This was precisely the official method the Four Realms of Earth and Moon had been waiting for.

A year is not long.

But in the current moment—amid rapidly shifting wartime conditions—

time was precious, truly a matter of seconds counting.

Precisely because of this,

countless beings from Earth and Moon had exhausted every possible method to open the world gate early.

Yet every single method had failed.

As a result, “prematurely opening the gate” had gradually become a fantasy.

No matter how many methods or tricks were tried, none could shake the realm barrier.

Over time.

Even if new methods were to emerge.

Most officials still held a wait-and-see attitude, refusing to believe it possible.

Shen Xi accidentally realized that Jiang Jian was favored by the Yinshan Wonder, and in a flash of insight, devised the method to transport the world’s primordial essence and locate the boundary coordinates.

Although he had thought of the method.

But since it had never been tested, no one could be certain it would work.

Therefore,

Shen Xi did not disclose this plan to too many people.

Yet in this world, there is no wall that never leaks.

Since not long ago,

when the Spirit Platform Realm True Lord endorsed the method and ordered Shen Xi to begin trials,

many beings in Chang’an Prefecture of the Surface Realm, and even within the Nine Layers of Boundary Realms, began to quietly take notice.

(End of Chapter)