Chapter 253 - 252: Reaping Millions, Promoting to Six Realm

The giant beast corps moved in groups, their pace swift and vigorous.

Everywhere they passed, they left devastation in their wake.

Li Jing, maintaining the transformation of the forbidden spell method in his hands, followed behind the giant beast corps. Quickly, he found himself covering a great distance and had an inkling that something was amiss.

The massive beast corps consisted of only a dozen or so bird people leading the way. Depending on their sturdy wings, they flew overhead, while the rest of the beasts thundered across the ground with ground-shaking steps.

However, these giant beasts were not incapable of using a skill known as Sky Control to travel.

The Giant Ape he had encountered before hadn’t shown any signs of using Sky Control.

However, the Giant Worm he had encountered had clearly used Sky Control before.

Did giant beasts have certain restrictions on using Sky Control?

Or did they simply not like to use Sky Control?

Apparently, neither was true.

Observing the giant beast corps that was destroying anything underfoot, Li Jing narrowed his eyes.

He realized that he might have underestimated this army.

At a glance, the giant beast corps seemed chaotic. Yet, they maintained a certain unanimity, and not a single beast lagged behind.

Firstly, it was clear that this army was well-trained.

Secondly, it felt like they were baiting someone... or something.

Looking down again, it was apparent that the large beast corps’ advancement speed was well maintained at the rate of the Four Realm’s Sky Control.

The enormous bodies of the giant beasts didn’t appear clumsy at all when they moved. Supported by their size, their strides were substantial – which checked out.

However, there lies the problem.

The giant beast corps housed a thousand different beasts, each varying in strengths.

While the Three Realm beasts were physically immense, Six Realm beasts were comparatively smaller, their strengths differing significantly as well.

It can be understood that, due to their commanding size, the Three Realm beasts running on the ground can keep pace with the Four Realm’s Sky Control.

But why were the beasts of the Six Realm running just as quickly?

Why were they always following a dozen or so leading bird people?

A more critical factor was that although he was taking his time following them from the rear, the beast corps was moving at a steady pace, just swift enough for him to catch up.

This was strange!

Looking up towards the direction where the beast corps were leading him, Li Jing looked grim.

Initially, he had thought that he could follow the beast corps then wipe them out when they arrived at their lair.

However, it appeared that while he was scheming against the beast corps, they, too, were leading him somewhere as part of their plan.

Damn it!

Once he understood the key point, Li Jing decisively halted in mid-air. The construct of the forbidden handprint spell, which was about to be completed even at a slower speed, was pinched onto the last handprint.

"Boom!"

The thunder exploded in the thickly clouded sky.

The deafening sound of thunder, along with the oppressive presence of the forbidden spell, immediately caused the Beast Corps on the ground to halt in their tracks.

The next second, all the beasts, including the leading bird people, looked upwards, utterly bewildered.

The next moment, the world plunged into complete darkness as an endless twilight descended.

Then, there was no more... ’then’.

None of the beasts, not even one, had a chance to hear the terrifying sound of the thunder exploding from the densely packed Forbidden Lightning Stomp.

Li Jing heard it.

And then he became deaf...

The next second, the world returned to its clarity, the dark clouds dispersed.

With Li Jing’s cultivation level at the Fifth Boundary, a max-level forbidden spell could only be discharged for an instant.

But that moment was enough.

With a buzzing in his ears, Li Jing hovered in the air and looked down at the earth.

The Giant Beast Corps had been annihilated.

Remnants and puddles of blood filled the ruined forest.

The physical force of the Lightning Stomp tore apart all beasts below the Fifth Boundary, leaving only twisted corpses of the Fifth and Sixth Boundary creatures.

Looking around, not even a whisper of life remained.

Seeing all this, Li Jing felt rather heavy-hearted.

This was the first time he’d used a forbidden spell outside of the subspace.

The endless thunder strike had rendered him deaf.

At the same time, it also made him understand why forbidden spells were called forbidden.

The World Thunder Punishment he mastered was intended for all living creatures within its range.

At the moment when the skies filled with thunder, he could clearly see countless thunder strikes descend on every visible spot.

There were countless places where dozens of thunderbolts converged, and there were also places where a single thunderbolt struck the earth.

At that moment, the World Thunder Punishment was like a Cataclysm of Extermination.

All living creatures within the range of the Forbidden Spell were eradicated.

Even an insect was not spared...

Looking at the scene he had created, Li Jing silently pushed aside the heaviness in his heart.

Wiping out all the living creatures within the range of four rivers in one breath felt somewhat... overwhelming.

However, he did not regret it.

The forbidden spell certainly needed to be used.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to resist the beast corps consisting of thousands of giant beasts.

Settling his thoughts, Li Jing put away the Linglong Tower, landed on the ground, found the twisted and ripped body of the lead bird-man, and picked up the roughly formed, giant long blade that was lying nearby.

This long blade was over forty meters long.

He was unsure of the material of the blade, but it was extremely heavy.

Of course, a long blade of over forty meters, even if made of ordinary metal, wouldn’t be light.

However, for Li Jing, this weight was insignificant.

The leading bird people were only at the Fifth Boundary,

Li Jing, whose physical strength was comparable to a Fifth Boundary Big Monster, was definitely not inferior to these bird people.

As he held the gigantic long blade, a prompt appeared in his ears.

"Long blade of unknown Spirit Instrument Level detected. It can be registered as an exclusive equipment. Do you wish to register?"

Upon receiving this prompt, Li Jing was slightly taken aback.

This broken sword is a Spirit Weapon Level?

But thinking about it carefully, he felt it wasn’t all that surprising.

The huge blade was just in the bird person’s hand and got struck by the thunder.

Being able to maintain its integrity under the attack of World Thunder Punishment, it would have shattered to dust long ago if it were a Mortal Tool.

Li Jing flicked the body of the huge blade with his hand, thought for a moment, and tucked it into his storage space.

Subjugate it?

That’s impossible.

Not to mention that the blade is too ugly and doesn’t suit him, since it’s a Spirit Weapon, there must be a weapon spirit in it. It would be too troublesome and dangerous to forcefully subdue this weapon spirit.

Dealing with a Spirit Weapon that has recognized a master is harder than dealing with one that has never recognized a master.

Packing away the giant blade, Li Jing circled the scene again, collecting the weapons of the other bird people scattered on the ground and stuffed them all into his storage space.

As for the spirit weapon that recognized a master, there’s no need to consider selling it.

But he could take it back to exchange for merit.

These spirit weapons forged by Alien Species might be rough, but their crafting method is highly referential. The Management Bureau and the Research Institute would not miss it.

There are many types of Artifact Refinement Skill in use in the world today.

Each one of them is gradually perfected in the development of Immortal Learning, drawing on numerous ancient books, techniques, and special objects produced by Alien Species in various Secret Realms.

After cleaning up the "battlefield", Li Jing quietly waited.

The Giant Beast Corps there are estimated to be in thousands, all of which have exceeded the Three Realm at least.

This wave of experience would be his leap forward.

It should at least be a few million!

Six Realm, here I come!

As for the others, there’s no hope.

Although the center of the divine punishment was moving with the locked target, any creature with a bit of capability would not be so stupid as to stay within the range of the divine punishment and wait for its descent just because they didn’t recognize the forbidden technique.

Those capable have all fled.

The survival instinct of living creatures is not to be underestimated.

Besides the Giant Beast Corps, the victims of this World Thunder Punishment were only some beings that were either lack of intelligence or too weak to escape.

After a while, a prompt sounded in his ear.

"Experience +3149998."

Upon receiving this prompt, Li Jing felt refreshed.

This experience gain is a bit less than expected.

It seems that the Giant Beast Corps just seemed more numerous because of their large size, but their actual number didn’t "meet the standard".

But this quality barely "meets the standard".

Estimating each to be around 3000, there should roughly be a thousand of them.

"Level increased, 65. Spiritual Power Intensity +130, Skill Points +2."

"Level increased, 66. Spiritual Power Intensity +132, Skill Points +2."

"Level increased, 67. Spiritual Power Intensity +134, Skill Points +2."

...

"Level increased, 77. Spiritual Power Intensity +154, Skill Points +2."

"Level increased, 78. Spiritual Power Intensity +156, Skill Points +2."

"Level increased, 79. Spiritual Power Intensity +158, Skill Points +2."

"Level increased, 80. Spiritual Power Intensity +160, Skill Points +2."

The prompt kept ringing in his ears, a total of sixteen times, finally stopping at the 80th level upgrade prompt.

Li Jing stood in place, unable to suppress the smile curling up at the corners of his mouth.

Sixteen levels in one breath!

The small goal of reaching the Six Realm level has been achieved!

Not only has it been achieved, it has been exceeded by five levels.

Indeed, leveling up in the Secret Realm is the most efficient way!

Host: Li Jing

Experience Points: 100124/325861

Level: 80

Skill Points: 32

Spiritual Power Intensity: 6480

Lifebound Magic Instruments: Linglong (Spirit Weapon Level 7, 1%), Qingfeng (Spirit Weapon Level 7, 0%)

Equipment: None

Passive Skills: Momentary Space

Active Skills: Sky Sword Technique (5/5), Sky Eye Technique (5/5)

Limit Breakthrough (passive): Thunder Skill, Divine Origin Unification, Divine Might, Silent Shadow (3/15)

Limit Breakthrough (active): Wind King Mysterious Clothing, Thunder Advance, Spirit Soldier Break

Forbidden Skill: World Thunder Punishment (25/25)

Opening up the panel and seeing the terrifying threshold of 325861 required for the next level upgrade, Li Jing chose to selectively ignore it.

He’s only a beginner in Six Realm. How many Six Realm creatures must he kill to level up again?

heads with 8999 on each, that’s Jiu Li!

This joke is a bit too much.

Looking at the explosively increased Spiritual Power Intensity and sensing the Spiritual Power in his body that had once again undergone a qualitative change due to the increased realm, Li Jing felt contented.

Now that his realm has increased, his instrument nourishing efficiency should also be improved.

Both Qingfeng and Linglong are have reached the Seventh-Level Spirit Instrument level and both are his Lifebound Magic Instruments with double bonus, the efficiency of nourishing the instruments is going to increase, it seems not far to achieve Immortal Items.

Once he has Immortal Items and three Origins.

In the future, even if he encounters the Seventh Realm, he seems to have no need to panic.

With his cultivation level reaching Six Realm, the power of his "Grain Reaper" God Skill, World Thunder Punishment, is probably going to be several times more terrifying!

Stepping into the Six Realm, Li Jing felt a bit complacent.

Looking again at the direction where the original Giant Beast Corps intended to lead him, he felt it necessary to go and see what exactly was there.

If possible, he’d like fire a maxed-out World Thunder Punishment to see if he, now in Six Realm, could actually call down a real Heavenly Tribulation.

Actions speak louder than thoughts, Li Jing immediately rose into the air.

Just as he was about to move forward, he heard the Spirit Weapon Qingfeng’s voice in his mind.

"Master, Miss Yuran has come in."

?

Li Jing slowly typed out a question mark.

Chen Yuran has entered?

Why?

Just as the question arose, the voice of the Spirit Weapon Qingfeng chimed in again.

"Miss Yuran mentioned that the spatial passage has received some kind of impact and is becoming unstable. It might close at any time and insisted you to return immediately."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing’s brow furrowed deeply.

Since the spatial passage was opened, it shouldn’t have started to close so soon.

Although this space was an independent survival space and could not be considered a Small Secret Realm, it still formed a world of its own.

Once the passage was opened, it should last at least one or two days without any problem.

But now it’s only been twenty minutes...

Glancing once more in the direction where the Giant Beast Corps intended to lead him, Li Jing squinted his eyes and responded to Spirit Weapon Qingfeng through their mental link.

"I understand, I’ll return immediately. Ask Yuran to exit first."

After responding, Li Jing transformed into a bolt of lightning and collected the two Sixth Realm bodies on the scene into his storage space. He also grabbed three Fifth Boundary bird people and turned back towards the entrance.

There were a total of seven Sixth Boundary giant beasts in the whole Giant Beast Corps.

Taking all of them was impossible.

The creatures as tall as hundreds of meters were definitely not something ordinary to take away.

Before stepping into the Sixth Realm, Li Jing’s storage space could barely fit one.

After leveling up, it could fit three.

However, these giant beasts were not the key. The bird people who controlled and enslaved them were the crux.

He needed to bring back the bodies of the bird people to the Research Institute for dissection.

After reaching the Sixth Realm, Li Jing’s speed in the Shock Thunder Method was nothing short of terrifying.

He had integrated the escape technique, Shocking Goose, into the Shock Thunder Method. The Limit Breakthrough Skill had the ability to grow independently.

Before the breakthrough, he could unleash a speed equivalent to controlling a Fifth Level Spirit Instrument without burning his essence blood.

With the support of his Sixth Realm cultivation, this speed could even rival his current Sixth-Rank control over the Seventh-Rank Spirit Instrument, the Linglong Tower.

But of course, it couldn’t be compared to the Flying Sword Blue Edge.

Now, to gauge the speed of his own command over the awakened wind-attribute variant Flying Sword Blue Edge, even Li Jing himself didn’t want to imagine.

In just a few dozen seconds, Li Jing returned to the spatial entrance.

At this point, Spirit Weapon Qingfeng and Chen Yuran were waiting at the entrance.

Meeting both of them, Li Jing halted, revealed his figure from the lightning, furrowed his brows to look at Chen Yuran who hadn’t retreated, then glanced at the slightly distorted spatial passage again.

Not having time to think further, he reached out and pulled Chen Yuran over.

"Let’s get out first and talk later."

Having said that, he pulled her into the spatial passage.

Spirit Weapon Qingfeng swiftly followed. As Li Jing was leading Chen Yuran into the passage, it transformed into a sword light and returned to his body.

...

They passed through the passage and returned to the Big Secret Realm.

Li Jing looked back.

The spatial passage, still didn’t show signs of completely closing.

However, what was once a solid passage became increasingly distorted and visibly unstable. It was clear that it wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Shifting his gaze to Chen Yuran, Li Jing was about to open his mouth when she beat him to it.

"Don’t fuss like an old woman. I was right by the entrance and could leave at any time. The passage won’t collapse for now. It’s fine for me to stay and wait for you for a while."

"..."

Li Jing.

Everything else could be put aside.

He was rather upset that Chen Yuran had ignored his advice to exit first.

Travelling through different spaces through a spatial passage was no joke.

If the passage were to close, it would be impossible to return unless the entrance was reopened.

That was why he had asked Chen Yuran to leave first upon receiving the news and had chosen to return right away.

Anything could happen. In case the passage collapses before he returns and Chen Yuran stays in the space behind the passage, wouldn’t they both be doomed?

It was better for one to be in danger than for both, right?

He had intended to talk sense into Chen Yuran seriously, but she had silenced him with one sentence.

If the entrance did close, would Chen Yuran withdraw in time as she claimed?

The answer was undoubtedly no.

This lady had a strong sense of justice.

In certain ways, she was also rather stubborn.

If not, the one who should have gone into the space behind the passage to notify him wouldn’t have been Chen Yuran, but Yulian or Jiu Li, who both had higher cultivation and stronger self-protection abilities.

After all, she couldn’t guarantee that she would be able to find him or contact him as soon as she entered the space behind the passage.

Chen Yuran wouldn’t have dared to enter if she hadn’t arranged for her "final tasks" on the outside.

At this moment, Yulian and Jiu Li weren’t waiting at the exit of the passage, but standing mid-air above the temporary camp not far away, watching over the camp and the situation here.

This already explained a lot.

However, looking at Chen Yuran’s indifferent expression, Li Jing had nothing to say.

Trying to reason with a woman was his mistake.

Shaking his head helplessly, Li Jing casually pulled out Linglong and passed it to Chen Yuran.

???

Linglong, who was joyously enjoying the high-efficiency nurturing from her master’s breakthrough in the world just a second ago.

Seeing this, Chen Yuran didn’t hesitate to snatch Linglong and held it in her arms. Then she turned her head and said,

"Let’s go. This passage could collapse at any time. We shouldn’t linger near it."

"Okay."

Li Jing agreed, taking her away from the passage.

...

At the campsite.

Upon seeing Li Jing and Chen Yuran coming out of the passage, Yulian and Jiu Li breathed a sigh of relief.

Then they watched as he pulled out a child out of nowhere and passed it to Chen Yuran, who happily hugged it. The two of them couldn’t help but show a strange expression on their faces.

They, of course, recognized Linglong.

But this scene felt too familiar.

Poor Linglong.

Since they entered the Secret Realm a day ago, she had been constantly battling her wits against Chen Yuran, but she could never escape from her "claws".

Linglong Tower’s main body was outside, so Linglong couldn’t run to the outside of the tower.

There were members of the Heavenly King Group scattered all across the tower. With just one word from the commander, their locations would be reported in a jiffy. Even if Linglong could teleport anywhere within the tower at will, it’s still no match for over 14,000 snitches.

What’s more, her masters seemed to be spoiling Chen Yuran rotten. It’s as if she was their adopted daughter. All Linglong could do was to diligently act as the Spirit Weapon pillow.

Forget about these unimportant things.

Seeing Li Jing and Chen Yuran arriving via Sky Control, both Yulian and Jiu Li came out to welcome them.

"Li Jing, what does the space beyond the passage look like?"

Jiu Li asked curiously.

"There are giant beasts everywhere inside, and trees and vegetation grow exceptionally large. The overall environment is consistent with the Big Secret Realm."

Li Jing responded.

No sooner had the words been spoken, Chen Yuran furrowed her brows.

"I did see trees inside, and they were indeed extraordinarily large. But, giant beasts..."

"I unleashed a Forbidden Skill as soon as I entered, causing all those who could run to flee and those who couldn’t to die."

Li Jing responded truthfully.

"..."

Chen Yuran.

"..."

Jiu Li.

"..."

Yulian.

He unleashed a Forbidden Skill as soon as he saw them?

This Li Jing...

After a moment of stifled atmosphere, Chen Yuran spoke with a puzzled look on her face.

"You...I don’t recall you learning Forbidden Skills?"

"That’s something I can’t speak of in detail, but I can tell you that I was able to learn the Forbidden Skill thanks to my uncle."

Li Jing smiled lightly.

"My dad?"

Chen Yuran was mildly surprised but nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

With Yulian by his side, who blinked a couple of times, there was no response. Also, Jiu Li was giving a stunned look at a certain person.

As it was about Forbidden Skills, she naturally wouldn’t ask further questions.

There were some things better left unknown.

The more you know, the faster you die.

The news that Li Jing had learned a Forbidden Skill from Chen Jing was quite shocking.

Before coming to Jianghai, Jiu Li hadn’t considered this.

But after arriving in Jianghai, and especially after settling in North City, it was impossible not to take it into account.

The person in charge of the North City Patrol Branch was Chen Jing.

That madman who once turned the entire nation upside down...

And Li Jing was his subordinate.

Then there was Chen Yuran who was essentially his only daughter.

When Jiu Li first found out about all these things, she genuinely wanted to return to her country.

She had been residing in the nation’s capital for a very long time and didn’t have a decent place to live back then.

She had personally experienced the events that had taken place at the time.

If given the choice, she wouldn’t want to stay in a place inhabited by someone as "dangerous" as Chen Jing.

The feeling of one’s life and death hanging in the balance was very annoying.

If she hadn’t learned about Chen Jing’s trip to the nation’s capital on "business," which would potentially put her household in greater danger, she might have actually packed up and left.

Now, after learning that Li Jing was able to learn a Forbidden Skill because of Chen Jing’s influence, how could she not feel disheveled?

So right beside her, there was an extremely "dangerous person"...

Having learned that Li Jing could use Forbidden Skills, Jiu Li finally understood why he was able to kill a Six Realm creature so easily and why he could only control- not kill- the Giant Ape when it arrived.

He wasn’t able to use the Forbidden Skill with the members of the Heavenly King Group right beside them!

Thinking about everything that had happened, Jiu Li couldn’t help but swallowed nervously as her eyes lit up with excitement.

"So you went into the space behind the portal and immediately unleashed a Forbidden Skill? Which means, you killed quite a few giant beasts?"

"Yes."

Li Jing nodded.

Jiu Li’s excitement could only mean that Yulian had already told her about Li Jing’s plan to trade the meat.

Right away, he didn’t hesitate to describe everything he encountered in the space behind the portal and all the loot he obtained.

Upon hearing the details, not just Jiu Li, but even Yulian was thrilled.

As for the rest, they didn’t care.

Knowing that Li Jing had brought back two Six Realm Giant Beasts, they couldn’t help but take notice.

These two shouldn’t have high heat resistance, right?

After listening to Li Jing’s account of his experience, Chen Yuran, with a slight frown, found it strange to say,

"From what you describe, I could infer that the instability of the portal is related to you using the Forbidden Skill, right?"

"I believe so."

Li Jing replied with a wry smile.

"This spatial passage was likely opened by the bird people using some means. They wanted to return to this Big Secret Realm and reclaim their dominance. Yet, I entered and ate their ’bait’, which made them realize that the outside world is too ’dangerous’. So..."

Halfway through, Li Jing shrugged helplessly.

"In short, I went too far. Can’t deny it."

"That wouldn’t necessarily be going too far."

Chen Yuran shook her head.

"The space beyond the portal declared itself a world. God knows how long those bird people have been nurturing and developing there. They surely have powerful individuals. If you played fish and bit the hook, there’s no telling what you might encounter. If it were me, and I had a Forbidden Skill, I’d definitely choose to eat the bait too."

Then she continued to say,

"Discussing what has already happened is meaningless. However, it’s worth investigating why those bird people could actively open and close the portal. We’ve been researching how to manually open a spatial passage all this time, but we haven’t got hold of the end of the thread. If..."

Before Chen Yuran could finish her sentence, Li Jing said,

"Indeed, it’s worth exploring. But it’s meaningless to think too much. The entrance to the Big Secret Realm opened and they happened to open a spatial passage to the Big Secret Realm. It can’t be just a coincidence. Clearly, they can only initiate their technique when there’s a passage connecting the Big Secret Realm to the outside world, otherwise they would have returned a long time ago."

Having said that, Li Jing glanced at Yulian and Jiu Li who were eagerly waiting, and said,

"Yuran, you go ahead and gather the people from the Research Institute. I’ll go outside the camp and bring out the haul from my storage space for the researchers to examine."

"Alright."

Chen Yuran acknowledged.

...