Chapter 308

Xiao Qidi was both amused and exasperated, "How could it be that fast? The Dongyi region is huge; it doesn't just include the countless islands in the East Sea, but also the Dongyi tribes along the East Sea coast. We must first subdue the many Dongyi tribes along the East Sea coast before we can march into the sea and reach the islands."

Xiong Lie said anxiously, "Then just attack directly!"

Xiao Qidi said:

"The many Dongyi tribes living along the coast of Xuan Guo's east have, since ancient times, had some contact with the Huaxia Zhong Yuan region, experiencing wars and conflicts as well as mutual aid and integration; by now they can actually be considered part of the Huaxia nation. Since they are fellow Huaxia people, we cannot treat them as enemies, so we naturally cannot launch a direct attack. Recently I have received much news that most of the Dongyi tribes along the East Sea coast wish to voluntarily join our country, and I have already sent people to handle these matters. I estimate that in about three months, the entire East Sea coastal region will formally become part of our Xuan Guo. At that time, we will be able to send troops to conquer that overseas island nation."

Xiong Lie scratched his head and said, "Uncle Xiao Qidi, you really can tell them apart clearly."

Xiao Qidi earnestly told him, "Who are our own people, who are the true enemies, of course we must distinguish them clearly; moreover, with the historical materials given by Ning Jinli, we can take the precious experience of over two thousand years as a reference, sharpen our eyes, and use different means to respond."

Xiong Lie nodded, "I understand, Uncle Xiao Qidi."

"These days you always find time to come over and help me sort through the materials; thank you for your hard work. Go rest now, I also need to go talk with the research experts." Xiao Qidi patted Xiong Lie on the shoulder.

"Yes, Uncle Xiao Qidi, you should rest more after you're done busy; I'm heading off now."

"Go on, go on."

After Xiong Lie left, Xiao Qidi returned to his study, wrote down his idea of using the Tian Xuan Heart Method combined with biology to increase lifespan into a letter, and at dawn had someone send it out.

——

Time flew, and more than a month passed again.

Ning Jinli had been in seclusion for two months, undisturbed by the outside world, and with ample energy supply, she not only restored her power but even achieved further improvement.

This meant she had regained the ability to open the spacetime portal.

Not only could she perform instantaneous spatial movement within her own world, but she could also, as before, open channels to different times and spaces in parallel worlds.

However, even though she could open the spacetime portal, she could not sense Xiao Qidi.

Previously she could rely on sensing to link the other side of the spacetime portal to the vicinity of Xiao Qidi's location, equivalent to having precise spacetime coordinates.

Now she has lost the spacetime positioning coordinates of that world.

If she rashly opened a cross-time-and-space channel, even she wouldn't know where it would lead.

After discussion with the members of the "Repair Plan" team, Ning Jinli decided to make an attempt; even if it led to another spacetime, she had the ability to protect herself and could also provide valuable information for the team's related research.

The first attempt was made on the isolated island where she was in seclusion.

"Ning Jinli, according to current spacetime theory, there are countless parallel worlds, and you will traverse randomly, not only entering different parallel worlds but also different time periods within those parallel worlds; you may encounter various situations and dangers beyond our comprehension, so you must be careful." Shangguan Ying reminded Ning Jinli before she began her action.

"Mm, I will." Ning Jinli nodded while putting on her specially made combat uniform.

Shangguan Ying smiled faintly, with deep meaning, and said: "Even if I know you'll be fine no matter what, I still worry that you might get hurt."

Ning Jinli blinked and said: "Thank you, Elder Sister Ying, for your trust and care."

"This is not just trust and care; there's also..." Shangguan Ying seemed to touch upon some memory, but quickly detached from it, and after speaking halfway she changed her tone: "Alright, I'll stop being long-winded, lest I annoy you."

"Come on, all departments pay attention." She adjusted her earpiece, "In three minutes, Ning Jinli will open the spacetime portal and undergo the transit."

Soon, Ning Jinli was fully equipped, wearing top-tier combat protective gear and also carrying weapons and recording equipment.

She looked as if she had stepped out of a sci-fi movie.

When the time came, she circulated her power and opened a Time-Space Gate.

With her current power, the entrance of the spacetime portal could already be seen by others besides her, and the Time-Space Gate had turned into a golden, flowing light.

"So beautiful..." Shangguan Ying gazed, somewhat entranced.

"Elder Sister Ying, colleagues, I'm going through." Ning Jinli greeted, stepped into the golden flowing light vortex, and her figure quickly vanished.

Ning Jinli was full of anticipation, hoping that the world she entered this time would exactly be the one she had longed for.

But the next second, the towering ferns around her and the silhouettes of gigantic reptilian creatures in the distance told her that this was entirely another parallel world.

On Shangguan Ying's side, through real-time transmitted data and video, she could see just as clearly.

"Ning Jinli, don't go too far, otherwise the signal link will break." Shangguan Ying reminded while quickly recording on the computer, assigning the explored world the designation number 2.

"Okay." Ning Jinli replied, and slowly began to explore the surroundings.

Although this was not the world she sought, she still needed to gather as much information as possible to determine exactly what era this world was in.

As various information kept being transmitted back, analysts quickly determined that she was in the late Cretaceous period on Earth of World 2.

"So those gigantic reptiles are actually dinosaurs?" Ning Jinli exclaimed in surprise, "They differ quite a lot from the reconstructions we made based on fossils."

No sooner had she spoken than the sky grew brighter and brighter.

Originally it was daytime, but now it had become so bright that ordinary people could hardly keep their eyes open.

The experts on Shangguan Ying's side quickly adjusted the returned video footage, and after high-tech analysis, they discovered to their astonishment that an asteroid had already reached the edge of the atmosphere.

It was precisely because the asteroid was rubbing against the atmosphere that this unusual scene occurred.

Everyone was astonished to discover that Ning Jinli had happened to enter the exact time period in World 2 when the asteroid was about to strike Earth, causing a mass extinction of species.

This was also one of the five major mass extinction events in Earth's ancient history.

It was precisely this heaven-shattering, earth-destroying disaster that led to the complete extinction of non-avian dinosaurs on Earth.

Ning Jinli could even personally witness the descent of that world-ending asteroid.

"Ning Jinli! Come back quickly!" Shangguan Ying shouted, "Our analysis shows that there is less than a minute left before that planet strikes the ground!"

Such a destructive impact could, within ten minutes, turn almost the entire Earth into a sea of fire.

Ning Jinli dared not linger; she turned and ran, passing through the Time-Space Gate back to this side, and immediately closed the portal.

Although the duration of this exploration was brief, it also counts as having, from another world, witnessed a major event that occurred in the main world over sixty million years ago.

More importantly, it allowed this side to successfully record the spacetime coordinates of a parallel universe world for the first time.

Fifteen years ago, limited by scientific and technological constraints, Ning Jinli's first entry into a parallel world could not have its spacetime coordinates recorded; now it is finally no longer a problem.

"Again!" Ning Jinli, without catching her breath, rolled up her sleeves and continued exploring.

Once all departments were ready, she opened another Time-Space Gate and stepped in without hesitation.

Before her appeared a river.

By the riverbank, weeds grew thickly; on one side was a forest, on the other side a road that ran close to the riverbank with a sharp turn, and in the distance high-rise buildings could be faintly seen.

A familiar feeling surged over her instantly.

Ning Jinli was stunned.

This seemed to be Xinghan City.

"No, that's not right—I opened a parallel world channel, not a spatial jump in the main world—how… did I end up in the suburbs of Xinghan City all at once?"

"Jinli, this is indeed another world," Shangguan Ying's voice came from the communicator earpiece, "but this world corresponds to our main world twenty-five years ago!"

After the reminder, Ning Jinli came to her senses.

Indeed, the urban area of Xinghan City in the main world has expanded several times over; the suburbs from years ago have been completely transformed, and a large park has been built beside that river—it's no longer this undeveloped state.

Bang!

A sudden collision sound rang out.

Following it came the sharp screech of brakes.

Ning Jinli looked toward the sound; at a bend a hundred meters away on the road, a sedan shot off the pavement and plunged into the rushing river over ten meters deep.

At the same time, another car with a dented front bumper barely managed to stop at the roadside.

Ning Jinli's head buzzed.

Wasn't the car that just plunged into the river exactly the one her parents used to drive when she was a child?

And wasn't the scene just now exactly the moment when her parents were chased and their car was rammed into the river back then?

Even though she hadn't witnessed it herself, she already knew what had happened back then.

Moreover, the time and place matched perfectly!

Without hesitation, Ning Jinli sprang forward, leapt into the river, and swam toward where the car had sunk.

In the river, the car trailed a string of bubbles as it slowly sank.

Because the impact was too great, the windows shattered, the body deformed, causing water to rush in rapidly; the two people inside were trapped and unable to move.

As the distance closed, Ning Jinli finally saw clearly—it was indeed her father Ning Shan and her mother Ye Zhiqiu.

No, to be precise, they were the father and mother of another version of her in this world.

Ning Jinli strained to chase the sinking car; when she reached the window, she found that Ning Shan and Ye Zhiqiu had already fallen unconscious.

This situation differed from what her parents had described in the main world.

Ning Jinli remembered her parents saying that after they fell into the river, a white light had flashed around them almost instantly, and the next second they had transmigrated.

If they had been unconscious at the time, they wouldn't have seen the white light and wouldn't have been conscious during the transmigration.

Moreover, this time the car had been in the river for over ten seconds, yet nothing abnormal had appeared around it.

Ning Jinli instantly realized that the Ning Shan and Ye Zhiqiu of this parallel world would not experience transmigration—perhaps this world simply had no spacetime channel like the main world's.

Therefore, if we don't pull them out of the river, the couple will surely die; then in this parallel world, I will forever lose my parents.

Thinking this, Ning Jinli immediately wrenched open the car door with her bare hands, cut the couple's seat belts, and brought the unconscious pair to the shore.

She then placed her palms on each of their abdomens and pressed lightly.

Pfft!

The couple simultaneously spat out water and began coughing violently.

While they were still dazed, Ning Jinli turned and ran toward the highway bend, where an assassin was about to drive away from the scene.

The assassin only saw the car plunge into the river, didn't notice that the two inside had been quietly rescued by Ning Jinli to the shore, assumed his mission was complete, and kept trying to restart the car.

The engine was somewhat damaged; it took considerable effort to get it firing again.

He then floored the accelerator.

Bang!

Just as the car started moving, a huge impact force suddenly surged toward it.

The assassin dazedly turned his head and saw a tall figure standing in front of the car's hood—somehow she had managed to stop the vehicle dead in its tracks.

"Who the hell are you?!" the assassin shouted, both startled and angry.

Ning Jinli pulled her right hand from the middle of the dented car hood, walked to the car door, smashed the window with a single punch, grabbed the assassin's throat, and hauled him out, throwing him to the ground.

The motion was clean and swift, done in one fluid motion.

The assassin was so frightened he wet his pants, exclaiming he'd seen a ghost.

Ning Jinli couldn't be bothered with his nonsense; she kicked him unconscious, broke both his legs, and quickly hid in the nearby woods.

Not long after, Ning Shan and Ye Zhiqiu regained their strength.

The couple exchanged a glance, looked around, their faces full of disbelief.

Then they spotted the unconscious assassin and promptly called the police.

Ning Jinli silently watched; when the police arrived at the scene, she also saw another version of herself from this world rushing over to embrace her parents in tears, and only then did she slip away quietly.

"Parallel World No. 3, logged." Shangguan Ying said, "Jinli, you saved the parents and yourself in another world."

Ning Jinli took a deep breath, "Continue, next world."

The preliminary exploration isn't about deeply understanding parallel worlds, but about recording, and more about trying, through constant searching, to eventually find Parallel World No. 1.

Only then can she meet Xiao Qidi and bring back that batch of top-tier scientific personnel from fifteen years ago.

Although it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, it's already the only viable method.

After one day, the team had logged 103 parallel world numbers, but as many as 98 of those parallel universes' Earths had become dead stars, with no signs of life.

This means that among countless parallel worlds, the vast majority are unable to sustain any life at all.

"Jinli, let's stop here for today," Shangguan Ying said softly.

Having just returned from Parallel World No. 103, Ning Jinli's face had turned pale, and she was drenched in cold sweat.

Even though her cultivation had reached an unbelievable level, each activation of a parallel spacetime channel is a significant drain, let alone having opened it over a hundred times in succession.

"I… I can still go on," Ning Jinli gritted her teeth, struggled to keep her balance, disregarded Shangguan Ying's advice, and once again mobilized her Internal Strength to continue searching.

But the next second, she groaned and spat out fresh blood, her vision went dark, and she collapsed uncontrollably toward the ground.

Shangguan Ying reacted swiftly, quickly embracing her.

The medical team that had been on standby beside them all along swiftly took over, sending the comatose Ning Jinli to the nearby clinic.

Shangguan Ying gazed through the clinic's glass window at Ning Jinli lying on the hospital bed, her eyes filled with helplessness and heartache.

"General Shangguan," a subordinate approached her, "the destructive operations of the Advent Assembly are becoming increasingly frequent; besides the Saint Pu Empire and our Huaxia Guo territory, as many as two hundred regions have already suffered armed attacks by that organization, many vital global transport routes have been damaged, and many countries are successively requesting our support."

"And also..."