Chapter 162 - 161: Destruction, Evacuation from Secret Realm

With his cultivation level reaching the Fifth Boundary, Li Jing was able to pilot the Linglong Tower using the Escaping Light magic skill at a speed more than twice the speed before.

It only took him fifteen minutes to return to the ground entrance.

Upon entering the narrow passage made by the earth magic skill, he saw Director Jiang Yini and Deputy Director Wang Chong waiting below the entrance.

They were both in a very terrible condition.

Wang Chong was bare-chested with horrifying wounds all over his body and his breathing was erratic.

Jiang Yini was comparatively better off.

Apart from being covered in dust and having some torn clothing, she didn’t seem to have any significant external injuries.

Seeing Li Jing’s Escaping Light entering the narrow passage on the western side, they both looked over, and their expressions relaxed. However, they seemed somewhat surprised.

There was still almost an hour left from the agreed-three-hours deadline.

The battle plan was set for three hours mainly because they took into consideration that one would have to travel to the two sides with a late Four Realm cultivation level.

As a result, both of them spent a considerable amount of time at the eastern and northern ends.

Only when they couldn’t hold on any longer did they throw nuclear bombs and retreat back to the ground entrance.

Li Jing’s return was much earlier than expected.

It seemed that his operation on the southern and western sides had gone very smoothly?

When Li Jing entered the passage and saw Jiang Yini and Wang Chong from afar, he roughly understood.

Although the conditions on the eastern and northern sides were not exactly ideal, the matters were dealt with.

The situation he worried about did not happen.

Controlling the tower to meet them, Li Jing revealed himself.

"Director Jiang, Deputy Director Wang, I have successfully completed the tasks on the southern and western sides."

"You’ve worked hard."

Jiang Yini managed a smile and her eyes fell on Li Jing’s bare chest, which was covered in blood.

"Counselor Lee, how are your injuries? Are they serious?"

"Not a big problem, just experienced a bit of pressure on the western side."

Li Jing replied, looking at Wang Chong.

"Deputy Director Wang, you..."

"I’m fine, just some minor injuries."

Wang Chong smiled, then regretfully said.

"It’s a pity that Director Jiang and I couldn’t snatch the throne back. We managed to detonate the nuclear bomb and destroy the deep cave."

"It’s good that everyone is safe. We already have five thrones for research. There’s no need for more."

Jiang Yini joined in and said,

"Everyone has completed the setup in the shallow tunnel of the underground cavern ten minutes ago and everyone has been evacuated. We need to leave as well. We can discuss other things after we get out."

After speaking, she looked back and added,

"The lizard men on the east and north sides are very strong. Wang Chong and I have come across no less than ten of them with Fifth Boundary cultivation levels, but there are no signs of Parasite Insects. The unseen power of the lizard men is currently an unknown factor. The longer we wait, the more things might change. Let’s evacuate from the Secret Realm and trigger the setup to avoid being blocked."

"Understood."

Li Jing nodded.

...

Without delaying underground, the three of them immediately headed for the exit of the Secret Realm.

On their way back,

Li Jing didn’t reveal his cultivation level’s Escaping Light speed.

Stepping into the fifth realm and reaching such a high level of superiority, he had to hide it, otherwise, it could easily cause suspicions.

Piloting the Linglong Tower, the speed at the fourth realm level was already fast enough.

Jiang Yini and Wang Chong didn’t suffer much damage this time, but they had consumed a lot. Their speed was not particularly fast either.

Approximately forty-five minutes later, the three of them arrived near the entrance of the Secret Realm.

The station at the entrance to the Secret Realm was completely empty by then.

All personnel and materials have been evacuated.

Upon reaching the underground Secret Realm entrance, Jiang Yini came to a halt.

Li Jing and Wang Chong followed suit and halted as well.

Jiang Yini turned and pulled out a remote control looking device and gently pressed it.

"Let’s go!"

Just spit out one word, she turned herself into an Escaping Light and rushed into the Secret Realm entrance.

Seeing this, Wang Chong immediately followed.

Li Jing didn’t dare to delay either and quickly followed suit.

Just in the moment he entered the Secret Realm, a thunderous rumbling sound rang in his ears as if it was the end of the world.

The horrifying scene as if it was the end of the world unfolded before his eyes.

Inside the Secret Realm, the ground shook and mountains moved.

The earth was torn into pieces in many places.

Hot lava spewed out, melting and swallowing everything around it.

At the same time,

the sky completely darkened and thunderstorms came.

Countless raging thunders struck the ground recklessly, ravaging the shattered earth.

...

The current Secret Realm entrance.

Jiang Yini was the first to burst out from below the sea surface.

Li Jing and Wang Chong followed closely behind her and broke through the sea surface.

Seeing that they had come out, Jiang Yini relieved herself and headed for the coastline.

As Li Jing followed Wang Chong, he glanced around.

At this moment, the area around the Secret Realm entrance was heavily guarded by countless Management Bureau personnel.

Apart from Zhou Tian’s Great Formation, another huge hidden killing array had appeared, covering the entire sea area around the Secret Realm entrance.

This huge killing array was making Li Jing feel insignificant.

Even though he had reached the Fifth Boundary and was at such a superior level, he still felt a shudder facing the untriggered large killing array.

The array was so majestic even when it was not activated...

What kind of power would it possess once triggered?

Upon landing on the beach, Li Jing couldn’t help but look back twice.

Jiang Yini landed and gave instructions to Wang Chong.

"Old Wang, take care of the task here, you’ve worked hard. The Defunct passage won’t disappear until about four days later. We need to make sure nothing comes out from inside."

"Understood."

Wang Chong responded and said,

"I’ll go and recuperate first. Director, you go about your business."

Saying that, he glanced at Li Jing unintentionally and walked away.

As soon as Wang Chong left, Jiang Yini looked over with a smile at the corner of her mouth.

"The work is basically done now. Do you want to have dinner together?"

"Dinner?"

Li Jing was taken aback and looked back strangely.

Having a meal, he didn’t mind.

Having had interaction with Jiang Yini, he knew he couldn’t avoid this matter.

The culture of dining together.

Whether it was before or after Li Jing’s arrival, he truly believed in it.

If in doubt, have a meal.

But Jiang Yini’s invitation immediately after coming out of the Secret Realm was a bit unexpected for Li Jing.

The key thing was that Deputy Director Wang was sent away, and this meal would be eaten alone by two people.

One on one...

Li Jing’s intuition told him,

he might be in trouble if he had this meal.

After a slight hesitation, Li Jing said,

"Sister Yini, how about we skip today? My girlfriend is waiting for me at home. I need to get back."

Jiang Yini was rejected and her eyebrows furrowed a bit.

For the first time in her life, she invited someone only to be rejected.

Furthermore, hearing that Li’s girlfriend was waiting for him at home, her brows furrowed even more.

She had been keeping an eye on Li Jing and naturally knew about the rumors about him and Chen Jing’s daughter. However, rumors were just that, rumors.

Chen Yuran, Jiang Yini knew.

She didn’t think that Chen Yuran with such a personality would really be involved with Li Jing.

At this moment, Li Jing’s words made Jiang Yini somewhat concerned.

Li Jing claimed to have a girlfriend.

In other words...

He and Chen Yuran have really taken that step?

That cunning Chen Jing, he moved so fast!

Smiling subtly, Jiang Yini said.

"Since Counselor Li, you have a loved one waiting for you at home, let’s wait until next time. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Having said that, she continued.

"Your merit account and position will be arranged for you when I go back to the bureau, and someone will deliver your credentials and such to you tomorrow."

"Alright."

Li Jing nodded, thought for a while, and said.

"Since it’s about calculating merits, could Sister Yini also help me add the two Thrones I acquired personally into the calculations? It would save some trouble."

"Sure, I’ll handle that."

Jiang Yini responded, saying.

"The Thrones are still at the Research Institute, their specific value in term of merits will have to be determined after the Research Institute verifies their composition and potential research values. It might take a few days."

"Alright."

Li Jing responded, and with a wave of his hand, he pulled out a large stone coffin from his storage space.

"Thud!"

The coffin landed, causing half of the beach to shake a little.

Just as Jiang Yini was about to speak, she was taken aback by the absurdly large coffin that suddenly appeared.

The unfamiliar writings on the body and lid of the coffin made her look surprised and bewildered.

"What is this...?"

"The coffin of the ancestors from the so-called Saint clan of Lizard Men in the south. They claim it belonged to a holy king or something, there are two skeletons inside, one big and one small."

As Li Jing said this, he slapped open the heavy lid of the coffin, revealing the skeletons within.

Upon seeing the two huge skeletons, Jiang Yini was somewhat stunned.

The coffin was extraordinary, that much she could tell at a glance.

The two skeletons buried within it also exuded a shocking majesty, suggesting that both were formidable entities in their lifetime.

This coffin...

Could arguably be the most significant discovery since the identification of the 107th Small Secret Realm.

With her strategy of nuclear annihilation in place, Jiang Yini had not expected any further discoveries from the Secret Realm.

But who would have thought that Li Jing would suddenly produce such a thing...

Examining the skeletons in the coffin, she then looked at the unfamiliar inscriptions on the lid. Jiang Yini took a deep breath and turned to Li Jing.

"When did you find this coffin?"

"An accidental discovery on the way to drop the nuclear bomb."

Li Jing explained the circumstances in which he found the coffin.

After hearing his explanation, Jiang Yini exclaimed her excitement with three "wonderful", saying.

"This merits a huge recognition for you!"

Before her voice had faded, Li Jing unabashedly spoke up.

"Sister Yini, I want to exchange this stone coffin for money, not merit points."

?

Jiang Yini slowly typed up a question mark.

The stone coffin itself was extraordinary.

The lid was inscribed with characters from an alien civilization, and inside were two skeletons with a staggering presence.

Its overall value was much higher than that of the Thrones.

Yet, Li Jing was actually telling her that he wanted money, not merit points.

Why did he need the money?

He was already in the late stages of the Four Realm, could he still be short of money?

Looking at Li Jing with curiosity, Jiang Yini said.

"I can’t promise you this, calculating the merit points on the basis of discoveries is the Bureau’s..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing calmly interrupted.

"I am not a member of the Bureau yet."

"..."

Jiang Yini.

She felt that Li Jing was deliberately making things difficult for her.

Such a valuable item being demanded to be exchanged for money – wasn’t this making things hard for her?

And from what Li Jing implied, it seemed like he wouldn’t give up the coffin without getting paid.

Jiang Yini was bound to concede.

After all, Li Jing was right. He was not a member of the Management Bureau yet, just an outsourced staff member.

He can handle his gains as he pleased.

Now, the problem arises.

As the Director of the Management Bureau, where would she get so much cash?

She glanced at him with a twitching corner of her mouth. Jiang Yini said,

"The Management Bureau has always used Merit Points as a reward. We don’t have a lot of cash reserves. If you need money, you can exchange Merit Points for spiritual objects and sell them in the market."

"Too much trouble."

Li Jing shook his head and said,

"Moreover, in terms of prices, the spiritual objects exchanged for Merit Points of the Management Bureau are not affected by market fluctuations. If I want to exchange spiritual objects for money, I must understand the market trends, else I may lose money."

Having said that, Li Jing continued.

"Sister Yini, I’m not trying to trouble you on purpose. It’s just that I’m currently in urgent need of cash. Given your connections and status, raising funds shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t need much, just give me five hundred million, and this stone coffin is yours."

"..."

Jiang Yini was speechless.

Five hundred million.... even the Inspection Bureau might not be able to afford it all at once.

However, Li Jing’s appetite wasn’t that big.

Five hundred million, converted to Merit Points, is only fifty thousand merit points.

If this stone coffin is converted into Merit Points, it’s probably worth more.

Of course.

To calculate accurately, they would have to let the Research Institute see how much they can gain, which would take a considerable amount of time.

It would be straightforward to determine the value of the stone coffin itself.

Once the material is identified, it can be converted according to the value of the spiritual objects.

But the text and the bones inside it have their value in the field of scientific research.

By in-depth research on the text and bones, they might be able to understand the culture of the Lizard Men, and possibly discover new technologies.

If discoveries are made in these two areas, the significance would be extraordinary.

After weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Yini murmured,

"You’ve really put me in a difficult position. Give me your Immortal Message number, and I’ll try to raise five hundred million in cash and transfer it to your account before midnight."

"Agreed."

Li Jing smiled, took out a small object from his storage space, and gave her his Immortal Message number.

Jiang Yini took out her phone, added Li Jing as a friend, waved her hand and moved the entire stone coffin into her storage space then squinted at him.

"Since you discovered the holy tomb of the Saint clan, your gains must not be limited to this stone coffin. There must be burial objects at the very least. Don’t hide them, show me."

After saying that, she added threateningly,

"Items related to alien civilization culture should not flow into the market, and you can’t withhold them for yourself. You better be honest, don’t make things difficult for me."

"Cough."

Li Jing coughed.

He hadn’t originally intended to bring out the Golden Stele.

But Jiang Yini was more sensitive than he thought.

Silently, he pulled out the Gold Stele stored in his storage space. Li Jing said,

"The only burial object is this, and it’s of the same gold attribute as my spirit weapon. However, the spirit weapon told me that this stele has already been refined into a weapon."

Jiang Yini said nothing, with a distraught expression on her face.

She was just trying to frighten Li Jing, just in case.

She didn’t expect to really scare something out...

Considering everything, she realized now.

Li Jing, who looked harmless with his thick brows and big eyes, was not an honest person.

If she needed to use him in the future, she needed to be more cautious.

Jiang Yini, scowling, grabbed the stele from Li Jing. As soon as she held it, she felt a strong surge of the gold element.

Looking at the peculiar inscriptions on the stele, she looked up blankly.

"This has to be confiscated. I will settle some part of the Merit Points as soon as possible. If the Research Institute makes additional discoveries through the stele later, I will give you more at that time."

"Okay, I have to leave now."

Li Jing spoke and soared into the air.

Watching him leave, Jiang Yini exhaled deeply, then also soared into the air.

...