Chapter 278 - 277: Questions Answered, Ambush

After communicating with Serlina, Li Jing returned to the canyon ruins.

On his way to the Central Palace, he saw countless giant beasts roaming around, attempting to locate the intruders.

Compared to those he saw when he first sneaked in, the number of giant beasts has increased several times.

The overall level of these giant beasts has also risen.

The giant beasts that predominantly existed in the Three Realm have disappeared, seemingly ordered to hide.

With the invaders coming, their lower-ranked, overly large bodies would not even constitute cannon fodder, becoming pure live targets.

The Ghost Clan, seems quite humane.

At least, the giant beasts searching around are from the Four Realm and above.

The closer they were to the Central Palace, the higher the level of giant beasts they were.

Near the Central Palace, there were giant beasts of the Fifth Boundary everywhere, each towering two to three hundred meters in height.

These big fellows obviously used to dwell in various palaces and just emerged at the news of the invaders.

This phenomenon made Li Jing curious.

Everything else could be put aside for now.

Throughout his journey, he saw numerous giant beasts, but he didn’t see many members of the Ghost Clan.

Why is it so rare to see pure-blooded members of the Ghost Clan, which is so prosperous and strong?

It’s worth mentioning that...

All of the Ghost Clan members Li Jing met along the way were at least from the Fifth Boundary, and most of them were males.

The gender ratio is seriously unbalanced, with males outnumbering females by more than ten to one!

Such severe imbalance is, without a doubt, fundamentally affecting the reproduction of the Ghost Clan.

Seeing this, Li Jing couldn’t help but speculate.

Including the Ghost Clan and the Giants, it seems the various hybrid species produced by the descendants of the Ancient Gods are not born out of their will, but rather due to a serious gender imbalance within each tribe.

Most males simply could not find a mate of their own kind and had to resort to inter-species marriages to maintain the continuity of their race, resulting in extreme confusion in the lineage of the entire descendants of the Ancient Gods.

At the same time, it also led to females having a special and much higher status within the tribe than males.

This situation of having far more males than females...

It makes sense that the status of female tribespeople would increase proportionally, making the whole population lean towards a matriarchy.

After all, to truly preserve pure blood, there must be a pure-blooded mother.

If they also have to consider factors such as incest, the situation will be even more severe...

Returning to the front of the Central Palace, Li Jing found that Quan Chang was standing in front of the palace’s main door, with no intentions of leaving.

Obviously, she is standing here not to control the overall situation, but to guard the palace behind her.

Landing and stopping, Li Jing was about to speak, when Quan Chang’s gaze turned to him, pre-emptively communicating to him via telepathy.

"The intruder has left no trace so far. The ability to hide is unheard of for me. I suspect that the God-Human Race has bred a new tribe during the sealing period, and there has been a mutation in their racial talents. Among the thousands of branches of my clan, only the progeny of the God-Human Race, whose bloodline is closest to the Father God and the Mother God, could potentially mutate."

Greeting with such a mouthful, Li Jing was briefly taken aback.

The God-Human Race evidently refers to the race of the giant women.

Their bloodlines can mutate?

This trait is truly unique!

What’s bizarre is—

Quan Chang, unaware of the alien species hidden in the Ghost Clan Holy City, is a mutated bloodline, a complete unknown to the Ghost Clan.

This...

It seems quite complicated!

"Things have become quite a mess."

Quan Chang transmitted via telepathy, saying.

"We, the Ghost Clan, are the last guardians of the descendants of the Ancient Gods. The Holy City is a safeguard, maintaining the spatial coordinates allowing all living spaces, including the sealed space, to return. This ensures that even if the original entrances to these spaces are destroyed, all tribes can return to this world when the Chongyuan Holy Realm is restored to accommodate all descendants."

"..."

Li Jing.

Quan Chang’s words revealed the biggest secret of the Ghost Clan.

This, however, blew his mind.

The entire Ghost Clan Holy City serves as a secured spatial coordinate?

Doesn’t this mean that any location within the Ghost Clan Holy City could potentially be a passage to the sealed space?

The situation is worse than he had imagined.

He originally speculated

that the key to open other passages to the sealed space was within the Ghost Clan Holy City.

However, he never imagined that the entire Ghost Clan Holy City was the "key"...

Nothing could prevent the arrival of the inevitable, and the sealed sinners would certainly return, there was no doubt about it.

The problem now, however, was that the Ghost Clan could not even prepare for war or take precautions.

Because they simply did not know where the entrance to the passage would open.

Although it would take some time for the passage to stabilize after it opened,

the aliens in the sealed space could still invade on a large scale. The only risk was being thrown into a different space.

Like the spatial passage Li Jing first discovered, before the passage stabilized, the bird people had sent out a Sixth Realm Giant Ape to "scout the road".

Considering the various factors, Li Jing couldn’t help but worry.

His original intention was to "hold on" to the thigh of the Ghost Clan, intending to gain some experience.

However, now he feels the situation is less reliable...

It was worth questioning whether the Ghost Clan, who couldn’t even prepare for battle, could withstand the enemy’s first large-scale assault.

No wonder Quan Chang appeared to face a formidable enemy and looked as if she had eaten a shit sandwich when she learned that sinners were at work.

Perhaps, she wasn’t confident either.

Massaging his eyebrows, Li Jing asked,

"How did you discover the invasion of the Holy City?"

"There is a bloodline sensing between us descendants of the Ancient Gods. The strength of the sensing depends on how close the bloodlines are."

Quan Chang conveyed the voice of telepathy, saying,

"The bloodline of the intruder is extremely distant from our Ghost Clan, and the sensing is vague. I only realized it after meditating in silence. How long they have been here is uncertain, and I can’t pinpoint their location. At present, our Ghost Clan’s 200,000 soldiers have searched the entire Holy City to no avail, which shows their excellent hiding abilities. I’m afraid we can only wait until the storm comes."

Hearing this, Li Jing couldn’t help but shudder.

He was aware of the strength of the Ghost Clan.

But he had no idea the Ghost Clan had a whopping 200,000 soldiers...

There are 200,000 troops here, and yet Quan Chang is still so cautious about the incoming sinners. How strong must the sinners be in their entirety?

As she thought about this, Quan Chang looked over, her thoughts conveying to him.

"Everything that needed to be said has been said, you can still leave now."

Leave?

Li Jing shook his head, replying.

"I said I would stay and assist the Ghost Clan, and I won’t leave until matters are settled."

Quan Chang nodded slightly at hearing this, conveying her thoughts to him once more.

"Can you tell me the reason why you insist on staying?"

Before Li Jing could respond, she transmitted her thoughts once again.

"Don’t use meaningless excuses based on interests to fob me off. Perhaps the Human Race of the Big World and my Ghost Clan share a common interest against the sinners, but it wouldn’t relate too significantly to you personally."

Quan Chang had doubts about him insisting on staying, which didn’t surprise Li Jing much.

Even though she held a special position for being a female, she was still a power holder of the Ghost Clan and her intellect was not lacking.

In response to her question, Li Jing calmly replied.

"I previously entered a sealed space and met a goddess in a similar central palace location, she took a liking to me and wanted to reproduce with me. I beat her up and then stole a staff from her."

Upon hearing his matter-of-fact recounting, Quan Chang frowned.

"Did you meet the high priest of the God-Human Race?"

"How should I know? I just had a fight with her, that’s all."

Li Jing shrugged, adding,

"All I knew was that she occupied a very special position and was from the Seventh Realm. Also, I saw two murals in the palace, one depicting your Ancient God’s Descendants, and the other depicting a scene of cataclysmic thunderbolt."

"That should be the high priestess, no doubt about it."

Quan Chang’s thoughts conveyed, adding,

"Our Ancient God’s Descendants have passed down a total of twelve holy maps until now, all of which are in the hands of the God-Human Race. The twelve holy maps possess special powers and meanings, documenting the history of our tribe. The holy maps bear the print of the Father God and the Mother God, only those of the God-Human Race with the closest blood ties are qualified to hold them."

As she spoke, she looked at him with a peculiar expression on her face.

"You just said you stole a staff from the high priestess of the God-Human Race, can you show it to me?"

"This... "

Li Jing hesitated.

He was not a fool.

Quan Chang specifically mentioned wanting to see the staff, her face was slightly subtle, suggesting that the staff was not simply a damaged Taoist weapon.

How could he easily take it out? What if someone saw it and wanted to take it away?

As if knowing what Li Jing was thinking, Quan Chang transmitted her thoughts again.

"Don’t worry, there’s something I just want to confirm. Regardless of whether the staff you stole is what I think it is, I won’t demand it from you. That item is not meant for us, the Ghost Clan, to possess. Even if you were willing to give it, I wouldn’t be interested."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing fell silent for a moment, and then waved his hand to bring out the Unnamed.

The moment the Unnamed was in his hand, his arm groaned as if it was about to break, and "thud" it fell to the ground, smashing the floor in front of the great hall.

This thing was too heavy. Li Jing couldn’t move it without entering the state of God’s Hidden Truth.

When Quan Chang saw the Unnamed, her face was incredibly expressive.

After examining the Unnamed closely, her face was radiant as if she had been rejuvenated and she waved her hand.

"Put it away, this is indeed the broken Divine Weapon left by the Goddess when she fell in the god war. Now that it’s in your hands, you must be cautious, the High Priest of the God-Human tribe will not let you go. The significance of this divine weapon to the God-Human tribe lies not only in its power but also in its being a symbol of the High Priest’s superiority over all descendants of the Ancient God. If it is known that they lost it, it would not only shake the High Priest’s position, but the entire God-Human tribe will be affected."

Upon learning that this unknown thing was related to the entire status of the God-Human tribe, Li Jing’s corner of the eye twitched a bit.

According to Quan Chang’s words.

If this unknown thing was in his hands, not only would the God-Human woman be anxious with him, but the entire God-Human tribe would also be on edge...

This stick was a bit too hot to handle.

But he wouldn’t consider giving it away.

Having put the unknown thing away, Li Jing spoke up.

"Earlier you said you could answer my questions..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Quan Chang transmitted her thought voice.

"I can answer three questions for you."

Li Jing frowned.

Three questions?

Was this enough?

He harbored numerous queries about the descendants of the Ancient God.

But considering it was nice for someone to be able to respond, Li Jing suppressed his emotions and pondered for a moment before asking.

"Why were the sinners, with the God-Human tribe being the main culprits, sealed?"

"They had the absurd idea of sacrificing half of the pure-blood descendant tribes to strengthen their own bloodline power. Before this, they had disrupted the normal reproduction of all the descendants of the Ancient God for their own selfish desire. They prepared for this step of sacrificing the pure-blood tribes for tens of thousands of years."

Quan Chang responded with her thought voice, narrating.

"You have seen many members of various tribes, including the God-Human tribe, and you must have noticed that females are extremely rare among us, the descendants of Ancient God. Maintaining the continuation of our species is very difficult. The reason is that the bloodline of the Godfather is too strong, suppressing the bloodline of the Goddess."

"For nearly ten thousand years, only half of the females in each tribe could bear offspring for their own tribe, and the rest were reduced to reproductive tools for the God-Human tribe. During this period, all the tribes were kept in the dark. For tens of thousands of years, every female would view being able to be with the God-Human tribe as a honor."

"The bloodline of the God-Human tribe is the closest to the Godfather and Goddess. Mating with them not only produces powerful offspring, but also diversifies the branches of the descendants of the Ancient God. This is what all tribes would like to see. The diversity brought about by each tribe is not only beneficial for the overall strength of the descendants of the Ancient God, but also provides more choices for reproduction."

After slowly saying this, Quan Chang’s face darkened, and she continued with a bit of sorrow in her thought voice.

"No one expected that the God-Human tribe was intending to ’create’ more pure-blood descendant tribes for sacrifice. Afterwards, a horrific war broke out among the descendants of the Ancient God, and they paid a heavy price to seal the God-Human tribe. So when the Cataclysm of Extermination, which comes every one hundred thousand years, arrived, we were so weakened from the civil war that we had no power to resist and had to sleep or escape to another survival space."

Quan Chang’s response was incredibly sincere.

Li Jing only asked one question, and she explained everything from start to finish crystal clear.

Having learned about this, Li Jing was genuinely astonished.

This God-Human tribe, their minds are quite dark!

The number of females within each tribe of the descendants of the Ancient God was pitifully scarce, and half of them were used for reproduction by the God-Human tribe.

No wonder there are so few legitimate members of the Ghost Clan...

This situation is not only affecting the Ghost Clan, but it affects all descendants of the Ancient God.

Their population is quite diverse yet weak, and the original population is continuously declining.

The God-Human tribe planned for ten thousand years, but in the end, their attempt to sacrifice half of the descendants of the Ancient God was overturned and they were sealed, which could be regarded as a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own feet.

Quan Chang’s mention of the recurrent Cataclysm of Extermination every hundred thousand years made Li Jing somewhat intrigued.

From her tone, it seemed that the Cataclysm of Extermination is a "regular event" the Big Secret Realm must endure every hundred thousand years.

The descendants of the Ancient God used to be able to resist it by pooling the power of the tribes, but due to their substantial injuries from the civil war, they had no choice but to sleep or flee. This resulted in the complete destruction of the Chongyuan Holy Realm, and after a reshuffle, it has become what it is now.

About this matter, Li Jing intended to ask for clarification.

But with only three chances to ask questions, he didn’t want to waste it on this relatively insignificant issue.

Whether for him personally or the present world people, it doesn’t really matter why the Big Secret Realm was destroyed. They will be leaving soon anyway.

In comparison, asking about the Ancient God’s Descendants seems more reliable.

After pondering for a while, Li Jing spoke up again.

"In the sealing space, I saw tribes other than the God-Human Race. How many tribes in total have been sealed as sinners?"

"The tribes you saw are only part of the accomplices, not the entire ethnic group."

Quan Chang transmitted the thoughts, saying.

"Only the God-Human Tribe was truly sealed as sinners. The rest were just scum trying to benefit from standing on the God-Human Tribe’s side during the war. Excluding the God-Human Tribe, every remaining tribe of the Ancient God’s Descendants is scattered around the survival spaces in the Chongyuan Holy Realm, awaiting the day of return."

In response to this, Li Jing was surprised.

So, only the God-Human Tribe and its accomplices were sealed, not the other tribes?

Once this mystery was solved, his mind suddenly became clear.

"One last question, how long has it been since the God-Human Tribe has been sealed?"

"I’m not sure."

Quan Chang responded.

"..."

Li Jing.

If Quan Chang doesn’t know how long the God-Human Tribe has been sealed, it means she doesn’t know how long she has been sleeping.

This is a bit fatal.

Originally, Li Jing wanted to use this to confirm how long the God-Human Tribe has been sealed for cultivation life nourishment, and try to estimate how much power has been condensed in the sealing space.

Now it’s completely unknown.

Just when he was in a dilemma, Quan Chang transmitted her thoughts again.

"Three questions have passed, I have a request."

?

Li Jing.

Quan Chang looked his way, her face serious as she transmitted her thoughts.

"You are able to defeat the high priest of the God-Human Race, and with such terrifying indiscriminate means, it seems I underestimated you before. With this strength, you undoubtedly make an excellent partner for reproduction. I still haven’t..."

Before she finished her sentence, Li Jing interrupted, twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry, I have no interest in cross-species relationships."

Quan Chang was not as reckless as the God-Human female, and she nodded with some regret at Li Jing’s refusal.

Seeing this, Li Jing remained expressionless on the surface, but he was secretly relieved.

Compared to the God-Human Race, the Ghost Clan is relatively normal.

But the entire race of Ancient God’s Descendants is toxic!

Whenever they encounter powerful and potential beings, they want to create a new species...

Thankfully, the Ghost Clan is a relatively rational type. Otherwise, his plan of running away would probably be impossible, and he might even be forcefully kept as a breeding "tool".

As he was thinking about what to say, a light descended nearby, and the Ghost Clan youth who had found Li Jing earlier appeared.

He greeted the two of them, looked at Li Jing, and spoke in a strange syllable.

Quan Chang responded in the same strange syllable.

This made Li Jing uncomfortable.

It’s all like an encrypted communication among friends. Who are they preventing from overhearing?

Right when he was annoyed that he couldn’t understand their conversation, Quan Chang looked over after talking to the youth.

"I will go into the inner hall to awaken Ancestor Lao and communicate with him. We will try to get reinforcements from other tribes. Quan Huai will stand guard here, and you should not move around here."

Li Jing was slightly taken aback.

Reinforcements are good news.

So, what is Ancestor Lao?

From the sound of it, it must be an old monster, the true top powerhouse among the Ghost Clan.

The Eighth Realm?

Li Jing speculated and became slightly uneasy.

How could he not be disturbed when the Eighth Realm suddenly came into the conversation?

If the Ghost Clan has an Eighth Realm, it means the God-Human Tribe also has one.

He had no interest in getting involved in a conflict where the Eighth Realm was involved.

Especially since the Eighth Realm means a lot to the God-Human Tribe. If he got their attention, he might die without knowing how he died.

After speaking with him, Quan Chang turned and walked straight into the palace.

The massive palace gate then closed automatically.

Quan Huai took over from Quan Chang to guard the palace gate, sparing Li Jing a glance and transmitted his thoughts.

"What should I call you?"

"Li Jing."

Li Jing responded instinctively.

Quan Huai nodded and spoke.

"Your combat style is interesting. If I hadn’t happened to pass by and see you lying there, I might have even overlooked your existence."

Li Jing replied with a smile at his relatively friendly words.

"It’s just a little trick."

As he was about to take advantage of the situation and get familiar with Quan Huai, the latter suddenly transmitted his thoughts again.

"My bloodline sense tells me that the intruder has remained in the Holy City for some time. It seems that he has found the location to open the spatial passage and seems to be waiting for something. The sinner might attack at any time. Since you want to stay and help my Ghost Clan, you should make some preparations while there is still time."

"Ah, this..."

Li Jing was awkward.

Quan Huai was quite friendly, and his words had good intentions.

The issue was that he had nothing to prepare for.

To be exact, he didn’t need to.

For the sake of gaining experience, he was always ready.

As he was wondering how to respond, Li Jing suddenly spotted a health bar sprinting towards him from around the corner of a nearby palace building.

???

Li Jing.

The rapidly approaching health bar had a value reaching 9162.

It was definitely a Seventh Realm.

But that wasn’t the focus.

The critical point here is,

Li Jing could see the health bar, but he couldn’t see what was staring at the health bar.

It was as if an invisible person was rushing straight at him...

This...

Clearly, this must be the infiltrator!

Going straight in without leaving a trace, the hiding skills were impeccable!

If it weren’t for Li Jing’s ability to see the health bar, he wouldn’t have noticed anything at all.

Under such circumstances, it was hard to blame Li Jing for being baffled.

The entire Ghost Clan army of two hundred thousand searched the ground for the infiltrator but couldn’t find him, yet he miraculously appeared right in front of him and even targeted him directly.

What’s going on?

Like finding something after many futile attempts?

Seeing that the health bar suddenly appeared right in front of him, Li Jing didn’t have time to wonder whether the attacker targeted him because of Quan Chang’s words or because he knew that the nameless were on him. He decisively glared back.

No choice.

The health bar moved incredibly fast, there was no time to react.

The owner of the health bar didn’t expect to be spotted and stopped abruptly when spotted.

With this halt, Li Jing quickly found the window of opportunity to react.

With a wave of his hand,

The Qingfeng Sword emerged.

The Immortal Items unleashed their imposing presence.

An overwhelming, inexplicable pressure descended on the entire palace complex.

The next second, a bluish wind blade tore through space and swept across in an instant.

"Splat!"

Blood splattered everywhere.

An arm covered in dense black scales with sharp claws flew out.

Following that, a silhouette resembling a snake-person covered in black scales hastily retreated, clutching at its nearly severed shoulder wound.

Everything happened in an instant.

Not having recovered from the conversation, Quan Chang was taken by surprise.

Li Jing wasn’t any faster. He simply raised his hand, swung the sword, and with a cheerful ring of the Flying Sword Blue Edge, he launched an attack.

"Splat!"

"Experience+9162."

And with that, the snake-like alien lost his life.

The strength of the Flying Sword Blue Edge is beyond doubt.

As an Immortal Item, it could easily slaughter the seventh realm monster.

But to kill instantly, this was unexpected.

Seems a bit weak...

Just as he was thinking this, the body of the killed alien, under the inertia, slammed into a distant palace and got stuck on the wall.

Immediately after, a black rift opened from the center, swallowing the corpse and the entire imposing palace in its path.

???

Li Jing.

At this moment, Quan Chang finally reacted and a mental message suddenly rang in his ear.

"It’s a Space Blood Sacrifice! We’re in trouble! Retreat quickly!"

Upon hearing ’retreat’, Li Jing instinctively wanted to back off.

But then he realized something wasn’t right.

The Space Blood Sacrifice was clearly a method to open a spatial passage.

The dark rift in front of him was obviously such a passage.

The sinners were coming, why should he retreat?

Wasn’t it better for him to prepare a powerful attack to welcome the vanguard?

Suddenly stopping, Li Jing raised his hand and launched the Flying Sword Blue Edge.

Ten Thousand Remnants Absolute Shadow!

"Whoosh!"

The Flying Sword Blue Edge shot out into the sky, spawning thirty thousand sword shadows.

?

Li Jing.

Why are there so many sword shadows?

The maximum limit for the Ten Thousand Remnants Absolute Shadow is ten thousand, regardless of how much his cultivation level increases, it won’t change.

What changes is the power of the sword shadows.

But then he realized,

That he had triggered a magic skill critical hit...

Perfect timing!

It was currently the night time.

These newcomers...

Without any hesitation, Li Jing commanded with a thought.

Heavenly Sword!

All thirty thousand sword shadows grew to over two hundred meters in length.

This move, stunned Quan Chang who had just pulled out a large blade and was standing guard in front of the central palace.

This human...

Was extraordinarily insolent...

At the same time, several dozens of gigantic figures spanning a hundred meters high crossed space. They stepped out from the black rift, howling to the sky.

Then, they saw the thirty thousand terrifyingly large Heavenly Sword shadows in the sky, emanating the intimidating aura of Immortal Items.

The howling abruptly stopped.