Chapter 271 - 270: Qingfeng’s Transformation, Breath of the Immortal Spirit

Back at the entrance to the Secret Realm, Li Jing landed in front of the only tent left by the Heavenly King Group and put on his communication headset to connect with Jiang Yini.

"Director, I’m back."

Upon receiving the communication, Jiang Yini responded immediately.

"So soon? Didn’t you just leave not too long ago?"

"I didn’t really have a choice."

Li Jing sighed helplessly.

"There are quite a number of Six Realm experts from the Western Alliance, including some proficient in spiritual level techniques. My skills are ineffective against them."

Saying so, Li Jing recounted his encounter with Serlina.

Hearing the details, Jiang Yini expressed surprise.

"This Serlina found you but kept it quiet, she even seems to want to befriend you... does she... have an ulterior motive?"

"As for that, I can’t be certain."

Li Jing responded.

"But that’s how things stand at the moment. Given my current cultivation level, I can’t genuinely deceive and outwit these people. If I force it, it might cause quite a commotion."

"Ok, I understand."

Jiang Yini began.

"Stay there by yourself for now. The chief is about to have a defensive meeting soon. I need to go over there. If there’s a need after that, I’ll come to you."

"Okay."

Li Jing replied.

"By the way, I did manage to obtain some valuable information this time. Although it’s all trivial news, it’s worth something."

Saying so, he relayed all the information he had gathered during his trip.

After carefully listening to the details, Jiang Yini said,

"Your information is indeed of limited value, but at least the intentions of the God Kingdom are now clear. It’s rather intriguing that the Daohe Alliance has let the Rebirth Society’s Great Demon assume key positions. If both sides cooperate so deeply, it cannot be ruled out that the Rebirth Society has already taken root in Daohe, even reaching the top of the Daohe Alliance."

She murmured.

"It doesn’t have much impact on the exploration of the Secret Realm, but it does have a significant impact on international relations. Especially as the Daohe Alliance is our neighbor in Longyu. An international coalition of evil demons taking root in a neighboring country is not a good thing. I need to leave the Secret Realm later and pass the news back home and alert the higher-ups about the situation in the Daohe Alliance."

Listening to Jiang Yini, Li Jing frowned.

He had never thought about the Rebirth Society taking root in the Daohe Alliance.

Would Daohe be foolish enough to let this happen?

Normally, the answer would be no.

What kind of activities does the Rebirth Society undertake?

Illegal experiments, banned drug development, etc., basically all unscrupulous practices.

Apart from monsters, the rest of the organization consists of unscrupulous cultivators who are universally despised.

If a country allies itself with such evil elements, it’s essentially headed towards its demise.

But when thinking about the partnership between the Daohe Alliance and the Rebirth Society, Li Jing could not say for sure whether the Daohe Alliance would be stupid enough to allow the Rebirth Society to take root in its territory.

Regarding this...

Maybe he should keep an eye on it?

Li Jing is not some righteous hero.

But when it comes to demons, he is remarkably enthusiastic.

...

In a blink of an eye, eight days had passed.

During these eight days,

Li Jing had been idle and quite frustrated.

In response to the imminent breakthrough of the alien civilization’s seal, Longyu and the Northern Major League coordinated consistently and orderly, making all kinds of arrangements and dispatching a lot of personnel and strategic materials from the real world.

In this, Li Jing had no role.

Including Jiang Yini, people like Qi Chen hardly ever sought him out.

Despite being in the Secret Realm, Li Jing spent most of his days holed up in his tent, occasionally going out for a stroll.

Such idleness was indeed rare, especially in the Secret Realm.

However, this tranquility was precisely what frustrated Li Jing.

So, could the alien civilization finally break free of the seal?

After a full eight days, there was no sign at all.

Was this some kind of psychological tactic?

If he had known there would be no activity for so long, he would have gone exploring, right?

Long-anticipated storm never arrived, wasn’t this frustrating?

With this going back and forth, more than half a month had already passed.

According to the schedule, the entrance to the Secret Realm would close in less than half a month...

If it wasn’t for his lack of capability, and the sensitive situation, Li Jing really wanted to storm into the channel space directly, confront the alien civilization face-to-face and ask them what the heck is going on. Were they stuck somewhere? Would they like some help?

The most frustrating thing was.

During these days, both the Western Alliance and the Eastern Alliance, led by the Daohe Alliance, were busy making various arrangements.

Deployment of personnel, strategic materials, they didn’t miss a thing.

This gave Li Jing a feeling that the alien civilization seemed to be on the brink of breaking free of the seal.

However, this situation was expected.

The Western Alliance was never an accommodating organization.

Even if they were to assist the alien civilization in breaking free of the seal, they would only do so after they gained enough benefits and prepared their own responsive measures.

Establishing good relations and reaping benefits, only to turn around and stab people in the back is basic behavior.

The hustle and bustle of the Western Unions these days reveals a lot.

And in fact, the forces they’ve mobilized to deal with the situation far outnumber those of Longyu and the Northern Major League, with a huge amount of personnel and materials coming in from the Secret Realm every day.

Furthermore, the million-strong army of the Western Union and the Church has been in the passage space with no intention of withdrawing. No one knows what they’re up to.

From these two points, it’s not hard to see that they are indeed helping the alien civilization break the seal.

At the same time, they are also blatantly "extorting" the alien civilization. They take advantage of the alien civilization’s need for assistance and recklessly test their limits, determined to gain more benefits even at the cost of completely offending them.

Those who understand, understand this traditional technique.

Whether the alien civilization will be outraged by the Western Union’s pitfall, Li Jing doesn’t care.

What he’s worried about is...

Seeing that there’s less than half a month left, the Western Union may not stop halfway. They might wait until the entrance to the Secret Realm is about to close and then release the alien civilization.

At that time, they only need to withdraw from the Secret Realm based on the circumstances, any aggrieved alien civilization won’t be able to catch up with them.

Looking at their actions, they seem to have this idea in mind.

And they can indeed carry out such a thing...

Whether they can assist the alien civilization in breaking the seal ahead of schedule not only depends on the abilities and calculations of the alien civilization, but also on how much "sacrifice" they are willing to make to satisfy them.

Li Jing doesn’t think that the alien civilization will be led by the nose by the Western Union, but waiting like this is truly nerve-wracking.

Caught in such a delicate situation, he can’t do anything about it.

The only thing he can do is wait quietly.

...

That evening.

Li Jing set up a few roasting grills in front of his lonely tent and was preparing a barbecue.

Qi Chen and others hadn’t approached him these days, but Jiang Yini was quite active.

With no movement from the alien civilization for a long time, after the initial few days of meetings, she didn’t have much to do.

With the chief in charge and a special commissioner for alien civilizations from the upper levels, her status as director of the Jianghai Management Bureau was just that of a minor leader.

Higher-level leaders are in charge of the overall situation, her role as a minor leader was just to follow instructions.

After accidentally running into Li Jing eating a meal a few days ago, the director turned into Chen Yuran, coming by punctually at every mealtime to freeload. She justified her freeloading by claiming she was just making routine visits to check on the progress of the Heavenly King Group.

As for this, Li Jing didn’t think much of it.

After all, he had to feed himself anyway. If Jiang Yini wanted to come over and freeload, then let her.

While preparing the barbecue, Li Jing’s thoughts were focused on the progress of nurturing the Flying Sword Blue Edge displayed on his panel.

In eight days, the Flying Sword Blue Edge had advanced two stages in a row to reach Level 10 Spirit weapon, and its current progress had reached 99%.

Just 1% more, and it would become an Immortal Item!

Li Jing’s nurturing efficiency now is truly top-tier.

From Level Eight to Level Nine, the precise nurturing efficiency was over 60% in 24 hours.

From Level Nine to Level Ten, the 24-hour efficiency was about 44%.

After Level Ten, the efficiency fluctuated around 28%.

Crossing the last three stages of the Spirit weapon to achieve the Immortal Item in just eight days could only be described as godspeed.

The last 1% of the progress didn’t keep Li Jing waiting for long.

Just as he was adding spices to a sea fish, a sound prompt rang out next to his ear.

"Nurturing progress of Flying Sword Blue Edge at 100%, quality upgraded, Level One Immortal Item."

Finally, the alert he’d been waiting for. Li Jing felt a jolt of energy.

All these days of idleness, his only hope had been watching his own Spirit weapon grow rapidly, waiting for it to transform into an Immortal Item.

Now, the moment of transformation into an Immortal Item finally arrived.

At the moment of transformation of the Flying Sword Blue Edge, Li Jing distinctly felt that its power had risen several notches compared to when it was at Level Ten of the Spirit Weapon, and its entity had acquired an ethereal aura.

The breath of Immortals, an essential feature of an Immortal Item.

What startled Li Jing was...

Unsure if it was because of the Flying Sword Blue Edge being his Third Origin and could potentially be considered a part of him, its Immortal Breath had actually affected him. His inner Spiritual Power had gained a hint of the Immortal Breath.

This was something supposed to happen after the Seventh Realm.

Those who achieve the Seventh Realm, either humans or alien species, will have Immortal Breath produced within their bodies after overcoming their tribulations, but it will be much weaker compared to that of an Immortal Item.

With the continuous improvement of their cultivation level, the Immortal Breath will gradually strengthen.

The purpose of the Immortal Breath is very pure.

For Immortal Items, it enhances their power.

For humans or aliens, it increases the density of their power.

In some ways, overcoming the tribulation to achieve the Seventh Realm breaks the limits of humans and aliens.

The generation of the Immortal Breath turns them into existences that truly stand apart from ordinary people.

Below the Seventh Realm, power density only changes and transforms when the major realm improves. Cultivation is just for increasing the total amount that can be accommodated in the body.

Overcoming the tribulations to achieve the Seventh Realm, their internal power will strengthen in all aspects with the cultivation process due to the Immortal Breath, no longer limited to just the improvement of total quantity.

The transformation of the Flying Sword Blue Edge that caused him to possess the Immortal Breath ahead of time really surprised Li Jing.

Is that even possible?

After briefly feeling his own condition, Li Jing found that with the emergence of the Immortal Breath within him, his power density had risen more than one level. The change in power density was even three times more than his transformation into the Sixth Realm.

His originally fluid-like Spiritual Power within his body had become extremely viscous.

He was becoming more and more like a monster...

He definitely didn’t compare to a full-fledged Seventh Realm.

After all, when the major realm improves, the change in power brought by the transformation greatly enhances the density, far beyond the changes that a hint of Immortal Breath could bring.

But when compared with the Sixth Realm, there’s probably no one that can truly compare to him now.

Feeling the changes that the Immortal Breath had brought to himself, Li Jing’s eyes sparked with brilliance.

After so many days without any gains, the transformation of the Flying Sword Blue Edge brought him a surprise.

If he were to encounter that giant woman super keen on his body again, even without using God’s Hidden Truth, he, now possessing the Immortal Breath, should have the ability to contend with her.

The giant woman had just barely stepped into the Seventh Realm.

The Immortal Breath in her body was not particularly rich either, she had just experienced a significant realm jump.

With Linglong not by his side, Li Jing only had two Origins.

If he insisted on transcending realms, there would certainly be difficulties.

However, considering the help provided by the transformation of the Flying Sword Blue Edge into an Immortal Item, breaking through her physical defence wouldn’t be too hard and thus reducing her health bar would be achievable.

If he could reduce her health bar, how hard could killing her be?

Feeling vast hunger and impatience, Li Jing glanced towards the direction of the relic and suppressed his swelling desire to wander through the dimensional space and kill random stuff, continuing to prepare his dinner instead.

Given the time, Jiang Yini should be coming to mooch off food any time now.

As expected.

Just as Li Jing placed the seasoned sea fish on the grill, Jiang Yini arrived, flying in.

When she landed and saw someone grilling, Jiang Yini’s eyes lit up.

"What’s with the wind today? You usually eat home-cooked food, why did you decide to make barbecue today?"

"Something happened that made me happy, so I’m celebrating."

Li Jing smiled and directed her to a spot,

"Sit down, the chicken wings and such are done already, the grilled fish will take a while longer."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yini replied with an "oh", and seated herself at the dining table, smacking her lips.

"After eating here for a few days, I think I have gained quite some weight."

"Why don’t you say it’s because you can eat a lot?"

Li Jing responded with a smirk, picked a chicken wing from the grill and passed it to her, then asked,

"Any changes in the west today?"

"Nothing, everything is as usual."

Jiang Yini replied, took the chicken wing and asked,

"What about the Heavenly King Group?"

"They gathered a considerable amount of resources, but most are types they’ve already collected. Additionally, they encountered two Secret Realm native giant beasts guarding resources, which they’ve killed."

Li Jing responded.

"They’ve reached the deepest part of the Big Secret Realm, so in a few days they’ll have to start thinking about returning."

About the progress of the Heavenly King Group’s exploration, Li Jing learnt about it every day through Linglong, which is why Jiang Yini came over to mooch off food.

With Linglong Tower and the protection of the pair of Six Realm Demons, Yulian and Jiu Li, the Heavenly King Group has achieved considerable success during these eight days, collecting a massive amount of resources, so much so that the storage spaces of the accompanying members are filled to the brim and more had to be stored in the Linglong Tower.

During the exploration, as they dived deeper into the Big Secret Realm, they encountered a lot of Secret Realm native giant beasts.

Each of these native giant beasts was guarding a unique resource, which they relied on for growth.

Based on this, the Research Institute concluded.

The special power within the giant beasts is largely acquired through consuming unique resources, cultivation does not enhance their power growth, but merely allows them to compress the internal power, increasing the power density within their bodies.

Worth mentioning is that.

During the eight-day exploration, Chen Yuran, relying on the gathered resources and leading the team to fight giant beasts, advanced to the middle stage of the Fourth Realm.

Compared to cultivating in the real world, practicing in the Secret Realm is indeed more efficient.

With resources in place and opportunities available, and considering the naturally higher density of Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Energy in the Big Secret Realm, as long as one puts in some effort, cultivation level growth is much simpler compared to the real world.

Unfortunately, there was a time constraint, the entire Heavenly King Group had to start returning in a few more days.

After all, the opening of the Big Secret Realm will only last about a month, once the month was over, the entrance of the Secret Realm could become unstable or even close at any time.

If they delve too deep, they might not be able to return in time.

Learning of the Heavenly King Group’s significant gains overnight, Jiang Yini blushed with excitement.

She had no way of knowing about the situation of the Hidden Dragon Group, which had already set off for exploration early in the morning.

What’s certain was that they couldn’t compare to the Heavenly King Group.

The resources gathered by only this one team, the Heavenly King Group, probably surpassed that of the other twenty-four city management bureaus that participated in the exploration.

Once they left the Secret Realm and tallied up the resources, the Jianghai Management Bureau would undoubtedly emerge as the champion, ensuring that their future budget would go through the roof.

Having a massive amount of merit added to the subordinates’ accounts would mean that Jianghai Management Bureau’s permanent power would surge immensely.

The only downside may be that only the ten thousand people in the Heavenly King Group were affected by it.

It’s a pity that the Jianghai Management Bureau only had one Li Jing who couldn’t reach so many people...

Looking sideways at Li Jing, who was grilling the fish, the more Jiang Yini looked, the more satisfied she felt, and she hesitantly asked.

"Li Jing, you’ve already entered the Six Realm. Have you ever thought about advancing to the higher ranks?"

Li Jing looked at her and calmly answered,

"You’ve known me for not just one day, I have no interest in advancing to the higher ranks."

Jiang Yini smiled bitterly.

Li Jing’s attitude truly reassured her like always.

Should it be said that he lacks ambition or that he is purer in his pursuits?

Who wouldn’t want to ascend step by step under normal circumstances?

But he was unwilling.

Even when he was in Fifth Realm, either in the Management Bureau or the Inspection Bureau, he could have been at least a deputy director.

Having a bite from the grilled chicken wing in her hand, Jiang Yini tilted her head.

"What if the higher ranks give you a directive, hoping that you would take a position somewhere?"

With these words, she expressed a hint of sadness.

"After your excursion through the spatial passage and your step into the Sixth Realm, it was impossible to keep it a secret. No one on this side, including Chief Qi and I, has mentioned it, but the higher-ups will find out once the exploration of the secret realm is over."

"So what if they found out? I’m not obliged to follow all of their directives, am I?"

Li Jing shrugged with a smile.

"Don’t forget, I currently have the opportunity to take three hundred thousand people into the secret realm of the God Kingdom under my belt. Nobody would dare defy me."

Jiang Yini was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

The promise from the God Kingdom indeed had a significant influence on Li Jing.

But considering this promise as a chip against the top management was somehow... remarkable.

He had it.

Not just cultivation, but also an astronomical talent.

The higher-ups of Longyu must have good intentions for him and won’t arrange for him to stay where a presence from the Sixth Realm is needed. Conditions should only get better.

This was truly an opportunity to achieve higher ranks and wealth, an opportunity that others could only dream of.

However, he seemed not to care...

But having said that.

Given Li Jing’s lack of "ambition", Jiang Yini felt relieved.

The Jianghai Management Bureau, with Li Jing in it, was under considerable pressure, but it was also because of him that the bureau would continue to grow in the future.

Jiang Yini, who left home to develop independently in Jianghai, didn’t have any grand aspirations. Her only hope was to have more opportunities to confront her father face to face, revealing her own "filial piety", while also reducing the influence her family had on her.

Originally, she did not expect this to happen in the short term.

However, thanks to Li Jing’s appearance, she has had several encounters with her own father.

As long as Li Jing stays in the Jianghai Management Bureau, opportunities will never be scarce in the future.

Moreover, in fact, once this exploration is over and she goes back, she’ll have a big confrontation.

As she was enjoying her chicken wing, Jiang Yini was about to say something when her communicator suddenly went off.

The voice of Qi Chen came from the other end.

"Director Jiang, is Counselor Li with you?"

Caught off guard by the sudden communique, Jiang Yini was slightly taken aback. She glanced at Li Jing, who didn’t have his communicator on, and responded.

"Yes, he’s here. What can Chief Qi assist you with?"

"A mage from White Hawk, named Serlina, has come to our Longyu settlement as a guest. She claims to be a friend of Counselor Li and wishes to see him."

"Serlina?"

Startled, Jiang Yini looked at Li Jing for an explanation.

At the moment, Li Jing had no communicator on him.

He hadn’t needed it for a while and having something stuck in his ear was uncomfortable. Since he wasn’t wandering around, he didn’t bother to wear it.

While Jiang Yini was speaking with Qi Chen, she could hear only one side of the conversation.

Hearing the name ’Serlina’, Li Jing frowned in confusion.

This White Hawk combat mage had mentioned that she might come to visit.

But after so many days passed without any news, he didn’t think much of it.

Serlina could tentatively be counted as one of his friends, but their relationship essentially amounted to mere acquaintances. Li Jing wouldn’t have high expectations of her.

Knowing that Serlina had come, he was slightly surprised.

Meeting Jiang Yini’s inquiring gaze, Li Jing nodded.

No matter if Serlina had come as they had agreed upon, or even if she had discovered any information he was interested in, she was here now so he had to at least meet her.

Seeing Li Jing nod, Jiang Yini promptly replied to Qi Chen.

"Miss Serlina is indeed a friend of Li Jing, Chief Qi, you can send her over. I will be responsible for receiving her."

"Alright, I’ll let her come over herself."

Qi Chen responded.

Once the conversation ended, Jiang Yini looked over with curiosity.

"This Serlina has suddenly come. Do you think she has some news?"

"I’m not sure," Li Jing shrugged it off.

"Regardless, a guest is a guest. We should receive her first."

Before the words had left his mouth, a streak of light shot out from the center of the Longyu settlement, reaching their location in an instant, and a figure emerged.

Following that, the figure of Serlina, clad in a black robe, became visible.

Seeing this, Li Jing raised an eyebrow and looked attentively.

The black robe that Serlina wore was the same style as the one she wore the last time they met, but there was a clear difference in its essence.

The black robe that she was currently wearing was emitting fluctuations of a Level Eight Spirit Tool.

A Level Eight Spirit Tool, something that ordinary experts from the Sixth Realm couldn’t possess.

Could she really be just a lecturer at a school?

As he was deep in thought, Serlina who had now appeared flashed him a sweet smile, and then looked at Jiang Yini who was about to get up after hastily wiping her hands clean.

"Li Jing, I came as promised."

"..."

Li Jing.

"..."

Jiang Yini, who was about to stand up.