Chapter 288 - 287: Alien Species Cause Trouble, Soul Branding

"Bare hands?"

Li Jing’s eyebrows knitted together tightly.

As Jiu Li said.

Once the faith system takes action, the manifestation of Holy Power is inevitable.

When it comes to offense and defense, the faith system is more comprehensive than the magic system.

While possessing both powerful long-range methods and close-combat capabilities, unlike the magic system that despite some emphasis, it still has two heavily specialized branches: law and combat law.

What is consistent with the magic system is that the faith system itself is very fragile.

Their Holy Power, does not bless the flesh.

Just like combat laws that acquire close-combat capabilities through battle magic, they rely on Holy Arts for blessings.

It makes no sense for a believer to harm an Orthodox Immortalist by bare hands.

Even if there are two realms of difference, the flesh of the Orthodox Immortal Path with the blessing of Spiritual Qi completely overwhelms the Faith System.

But all these are not the main point.

The point is.

Joseph didn’t use Holy Power, and after he injured Mu Yun, Jiu Li made a move...

An ominous premonition emerged in Li Jing’s mind.

Without thinking too much about it, he moved to Joseph, who was unconscious at a close distance.

The five members of the church who were besieged by the Falcon Squad all changed their faces, but no one dared to speak up.

The five individuals who walked with Joseph were all at the Fifth Boundary.

Aside from the severely wounded Mu Yun, the Falcon Squad members are basically at the Three Realm, and the Four Realm in the team of 500 people are few.

If they were willing, they could easily break free.

But they dare not act rashly.

Let alone doing it on Longyu’s territory, in front of them were Jiu Li and Li Jing.

Li Jing looked none too pleased when he arrived.

Joseph lay on the ground, his face as white as paper, without a sound.

This isn’t unconsciousness?

It’s clear that he’s dead!

Jiu Li killed him!

This has become troublesome...

Jiu Li followed when she saw Li Jing move.

Immediately afterwards, she also noticed something wrong.

Disbelievingly looking at Joseph, who had already gone cold, Jiu Li quickly glanced at the five church members besieged by the Falcon Squad and lowered her voice.

"This... how is he dead? He was still breathing just now..."

Li Jing didn’t know when Joseph died.

When he arrived, his attention was fully on Mu Yun, and only after Yulian took him away did he pay attention to this side.

But Jiu Li said that Joseph was still breathing earlier, he probably didn’t die long ago.

This matter is tricky to deal with.

Joseph was the first to hurt someone, it’s true, but his death at the hands of Jiu Li in Longyu’s camp is a big problem.

On one hand, Joseph has a not-so-simple identity as a bishop of the church.

On the other hand, Mu Yun was only seriously injured. If they had just taken the person down and held the church accountable, it would have been fine, but killing had certainly crossed the line.

In this, the relationship between the church and Longyu is implicated.

Although the two parties are not on friendly terms, they coexist peacefully on the surface.

Joseph’s death, is quite unreasonable.

Yet at this juncture in which Quan Chang visits Longyu on friendly terms, the Supreme Church will certainly make a big fuss out of this even though they understand its unreasonableness.

That’s how power politics works.

Human life is as light as a feather, the important thing is benefit.

Li Jing had a headache as he glanced at Joseph, who was already a corpse.

If it was the upper stratum of the White Hawks, it might not be so troublesome.

The White Hawks, as a superpower, are domineering and desire to become the world’s big brother, but they are not unreasonable.

If confronting Longyu, they would weigh whether it’s worth it.

The church is otherwise.

The existence of the church is different from that of the country’s power.

In their eyes, there are no national interests, only their own interests.

The burden of confronting Longyu that they will bear, they will not consider at all.

Because the ones who will suffer are the believers.

And their believers are the citizens of various powers...

They don’t care about the cause of Joseph’s death, just focusing on the excuse his death gives them to put pressure on Longyu.

From the beginning, various powers interacted with the God-Human Race in order to obtain benefits, whereas the church sought only to leverage the "God" in "Descendants of Ancient God" in an attempt to change the influence of the church, which is proof enough of much.

Letting out a light sigh, Li Jing gave an appeasing glance to the slightly panicked Jiu Li who had realized the seriousness of the matter, and then looked down inspecting.

On the ground, there was a cave-in on Joseph’s chest.

This was obviously hit by Jiu Li.

But that alone, was not enough to kill.

Unless Joseph didn’t want to live, didn’t self-heal with Holy Power, or he couldn’t mobilize the Holy Power in his body.

Apart from the cave-in on the chest, one of Joseph’s arms is abnormally twisted.

The degree wasn’t severe, but it’s clear that it’s broken.

This should be the result of him injuring Mu Yun without Holy Power and being affected by the involuntary protective reaction of Spiritual Qi in Mu Yun’s body.

From the attack on Mu Yun to being attacked by Jiu Li, Joseph never used Holy Power throughout.

Did he not want to live, and was dead set on seeking death?

That definitely wasn’t the case.

Considering this, the conclusion becomes clear.

Joseph couldn’t mobilize the Holy Power in his body, or he didn’t know how to mobilize it.

Combined with the fact that Joseph attacked Mu Yun without saying two words after bringing his men over, it can be basically concluded that he is no longer the "original".

This, Li Jing had experience with.

After all, during the period of inspection and case handling, he had encountered similar situations several times.

Only a not "original" Joseph would not know how to use Holy Power, and would do something as stupid as attacking a level 1 combat-readiness member of the Heavenly King Group on Longyu’s territory.

At this point, Li Jing felt somewhat elated.

Without having to ponder too much, he was certain that this matter had nothing to do with the God-Human Race who had closed the Forbidden Space.

They had not gone silent.

It’s good that they’re not silent!

Suppressing the elation in his heart, Li Jing sorted out his thoughts.

The aim of the God-Human Race in this wave is obviously to exacerbate the internal conflict within the Human Race camp.

Compared with various powers, the church, whose way of handling affairs is completely different from that of a national-level power, is undoubtedly the weakest link that is most easily exploited.

Their influence is not insignificant.

In the entire Western World camp, only a few small powers do not have believers of the Supreme Church.

The rest of the powers all have believers in the faith system.

Then came the problem.

Li Jing had just met Joseph not long ago, and it hasn’t even been half an hour until now.

Joseph seemed quite normal at that time, so what had suddenly gone wrong with him?

Did he fall victim to some poisonous scheme within this half an hour?

Unlikely.

After the case with Quan Chang, Joseph must have been pondering how to persuade and unite other powers to exert pressure on Longyu, so that the church had a fair and aboveboard involvement.

During this period, he was busy with various "operations", which would not give others an opportunity to exploit.

Besides, this fellow is a Six Realm creature; he isn’t so easy to be taken down.

Based on this reasoning, Li Jing came to a conclusion.

Joseph had been problematic for a long time.

But before any incident occurred, he still remained himself.

He was an inside line that the God-Human Race had planted within the Supreme Church and could activate at any time.

The arrival of Quan Chang, the High Priest of the Ghost Clan, gave the God-Human Race an opportunity, and they activated the inside line.

This situation, like Joseph’s case, could not be the only one.

There isn’t such a coincidence in the world.

A high-ranking member of the church, who was controlled by the God-Human Race through some means, happened to encounter Quan Chang who had run to the entrance of the Secret Realm. It was most likely a wide spread network.

Thinking about how the God-Human Race had secretly taken away a lot of people from the Western World camp in the Forbidden Space, and even a Six Realm creature had mysteriously disappeared, Li Jing speculated that Joseph fell into a trap in the Forbidden Space.

Although the frontline formed by the Present World Forces has the banner of the church, essentially they are just hanging a banner.

A very simple fact.

The Supreme Church is not a national construct, they have neither nuclear weapons nor missiles, not even cannon.

How could the Supreme Church, which is always researching how to suck the blood of believers, possess such products of the technology tree?

Even if they wanted to, no one would allow them to possess these items.

The front line of the ruin where the Forbidden Space is located has nothing to do with the Supreme Church, and their personnel had already retreated early on.

Joseph himself, most likely, had entered the Forbidden Space.

In addition to him.

There must still be others within the Supreme Church who were affected, perhaps even the high-ranking members of other forces who had entered the Forbidden Space were affected, but they were unaware of it.

This is good news.

If this situation is tossed towards the Supreme Church, they should be preoccupied with it and not have the time to oppose Longyu.

Even other forces will rush to conduct self-examination.

A high-ranking member being manipulated by others, who can withstand this?

If not handled properly, all parties might be disintegrated from within.

Arranging his thoughts, Li Jing raised his hand and pressed on the communication earpiece to connect to Jiang Yini.

A light "beep" signaled the connection was made.

Upon receiving the call, Jiang Yini initiated the conversation.

"Li Jing, can’t this be discussed later? You know I’m busy..."

Before she could finish, Li Jing cut her off.

"We are in trouble, a Six Realm bishop from the Supreme Church has died in the Heavenly King Group."

"..."

Jiang Yini.

Although not face to face, Li Jing could probably imagine her current expression, who was presumably having a pleasant chat with Quan Chang and Ji Youyu.

After a while, Jiang Yini woodenly inquired.

"How did he die? Did you kill him?"

"Ajiu did it, but there’s a catch."

Li Jing responded, stating the current situation and his speculations.

Jiu Li, standing aside, was initially extremely tense.

She understood just how serious the situation would be, having unintentionally caused the death of a high-ranking member of the church from the Six Realm.

Listened to Li Jing explaining his speculation, and confirming that Joseph’s death was not her fault, she subtly heaved a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yini in the earpiece, after hearing Li Jing’s description, fell silent for a while, and then said.

"Wait for me, Commissioner Ji, Quan Chang and I will be right there. Temporarily control the others from the church, don’t let them leave."

"Alright, I’ll wait for you."

Li Jing responded.

At this moment, Yulian, who had been sending Mu Yun to the Research Institute, came flying back.

Upon landing in front of Li Jing and Jiu Li, Yulian was just about to say something when she suddenly furrowed her brow and looked puzzled.

As a fox demon, Yulian and Jiu Li have extremely keen senses.

It’s just that on a daily basis, they, like other monsters, would largely limit their senses to avoid being bothered by various factors due to their overly keen senses.

Their senses are limited, so they aren’t very sensitive.

Nevertheless, even then, as great demons, both were much more sensitive than humans.

Joseph, who was close at hand, was obviously lifeless, but she hadn’t noticed until now.

This...

How did he die?

When did he die?

Yulian was baffled, and looked at Jiu Li in astonishment.

Knowing that she was not to blame, Jiu Li had relaxed a lot.

Meeting her gaze, Jiu Li shrugged.

"Don’t look at me, this man’s death does have something to do with me, but I can’t be said to have killed him."

Yulian frowned and turned to look at Li Jing, throwing him a questioning glance.

Seeing this, Li Jing nodded and said after.

"The details will be explained later, Jiu Li knows some of the situation, you can ask her. The current situation is delicate, so I’m going to trouble the two of you to patrol around the campsite. We are not fishing anymore. Before this matter gets resolved, don’t let any oddballs come near the Heavenly King Group’s camp."

"Understood."

Yulian answered.

Although she was still confused, she would listen to whatever Li Jing arranged.

Up until this day, Yulian has developed some sort of blind trust in one person.

Jiu Li also responded with an "alright", and then both women left together.

Having instructed the two women to patrol around, Li Jing looked at the Falcon Squad near by, their swords drawn, and the church members surrounded.

"The person is already dead, disperse. Falcon Squad, continue to patrol, and the people of the church stay."

Suddenly hearing this, the five hundred members of the Falcon Squad turned their heads in a daze, and the five members of the Supreme Church who were trapped in the middle were also stunned.

Dead?

This...

No one touched Joseph...

Li Jing and Jiu Li just went to check, and they were watching.

The two of them didn’t touch Joseph, how could a perfectly healthy person be dead?

The five hundred members of the Falcon Squad looked at each other and chose to follow Li Jing’s instructions.

Although they didn’t know what was going on, since the person who hurt their captain was already dead, they didn’t have anything to pursue.

What’s to pursue when the person is dead?

The death of a senior member of the church would be a big fuss, and they understood that.

They had to proceed with their own duties and wait for the higher-ups to handle the matter. They must not create more chaos.

The members of the Falcon Squad disbanded and continued their patrols in small teams as originally planned.

The five from the Supreme Church were left on the spot, looking at each other.

They were still confused.

Out of nowhere, Joseph was dead...

Li Jing left the five and walked up, saying.

"I want to confirm one thing, had Joseph previously entered the Forbidden Space with a team from the Supreme Church?"

Facing someone’s relatively relaxed voice, the five looked at each other, and one of the women spoke.

"The Bishop has entered the Forbidden Space. He only returned recently."

Getting this confirmation, Li Jing raised his eyebrows and said.

"You should understand that it is not easy for someone from the Six Realm to die, and his attack on the Heavenly King Group is also very unreasonable. Joseph was indeed killed by one of my Heavenly King Group members, but he had been subject to the God-Human Race’s means from the start, controlling his life and death and even his will."

At this moment, the five from the Church were still in disbelief about Joseph’s death and hadn’t had time to consider the rest.

Hearing Li Jing’s words, the expressions of the five changed.

The reason, they understood.

This matter, from the time Joseph suddenly attacked Mu Yun, was not quite right.

Li Jing directly admitting that Joseph was killed by his Heavenly King Group was very generous.

But the idea that Joseph was controlled by the God-Human Race, to tell the truth, they found hard to accept.

Li Jing didn’t expect them to accept it either.

Words alone are not enough basis. He can’t overturn the mysterious death of a Six Realm bishop just on his word alone.

Even if everything he says is true, without substantial evidence, not only will the five direct witnesses here not believe it, but other members of the Church would also not believe it.

"You wait here for a while. Our person in charge from Longyu will arrive soon, as well as a guest from Ghost Clan. There are many details to be confirmed about this matter, and how to handle it needs to be thoroughly discussed."

Nonchalantly, Li Jing had a feeling and turned his head to look at the distant sky.

At the same time, three rays of light shot towards them and landed nearby.

The light converged, revealing Quan Chang, Jiang Yini, and Ji Youyu.

Jiang Yini, after landing, glanced at Joseph’s body, then looked at Quan Chang.

"Miss Quan, I’m counting on you."

"Give me some time."

Quan Chang nodded and walked forward to examine the body.

Seeing this, Li Jing also walked over.

Clearly, Jiang Yini had told Quan Chang about the situation and her speculations when she arrived.

Quan Chang needs to check and confirm, indicating that the God-Human Race has a way to control the will of others without anyone knowing.

The five from the Church were left on the spot, they wanted to go over but dared not approach.

Joseph, a Six Realm, died mysteriously. They, being only Fifth Boundary, wouldn’t dare approach recklessly.

What if, as Li Jing said, Joseph’s body still harbored some unpredictable means of trickery? If they got caught, they would be done for.

Everyone only has one life and must cherish it.

Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu’s faces were not looking good at this point.

The negotiation with Quan Chang was interrupted as soon as it started, and that was nothing.

Quan Chang is here, and she’s looking forward to going to the Present World.

This matter can’t be avoided, it has to benefit Longyu directly.

What’s missing is just getting the terms of both sides agreed upon.

The current problem is what really bothers them...

One of them is arguably one of the highest leaders of this secret realm exploration, and the other is a senior official of the Management Bureau.

Regardless of whether the matter is as Li Jing speculated, both of them can’t avoid getting involved.

After all, Qi Chen, the highest leader of the Management Bureau in the true sense, is currently on the front line, and he can’t take care of anything that happens at the rear.

Since Qi Chen can’t take care of the rear, someone has to step up.

If Quan Chang confirms that Joseph is being controlled by the God-Human Race, it can be determined that there are other people in the Western World Alliance who have been targeted and have entered the Forbidden Space.

Some of them are on the front line, and some are in the rear.

This is not good.

If Joseph is not controlled by the God-Human Race and was simply killed by Jiu Li for being too weak, the situation is even worse.

In short, no matter what, both have to lose their hair over it.

Of course, Li Jing wouldn’t have any burdens here.

The benefit of not being a senior leader lies in this.

Even if the situation is contrary to his speculation, the worst he would get is the reputation of his subordinate creating a mess. The ones who need to fret over it are still Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu.

After a while, Quan Chang stood up and looked at the three of them - Li Jing.

"This person has been imprinted with a soul mark."

Soul mark?

Li Jing and the others were taken aback.

Soul, this term exists in the present world.

But this is just a term, without a clear concept.

In the modern world where they practice cultivation scientifically.

Things that cannot be explained by science and immortal learning are purely illusory.

In a way, the Primordial Spirit that continues to grow in the path of cultivation can be understood as the soul.

However, clearly, what Quan Chang referred to was not the Primordial Spirit they understood.

The Primordial Spirit is something only found in the Eastern Orthodox Immortal Path.

The Western Magic System does not have it, and neither does the Faith System. What they cultivate is not the Primordial Spirit, but the Spiritual Power.

Understanding soul imprint as mind control?

That’s not possible.

Previously, when Yulian was assisting Li Jing in raiding the White Hawk Exploration Team led by the Church’s Saintess, Lena, she had explained to him.

The faith system has strong resistance to mind control methods.

Believing in an unproven god to gain power is self-hypnosis in itself.

Before they were spiritually controlled by others, they had already controlled themselves spiritually.

Confronting mind control, a faith system is like a pyramid scheme encountering a cult.

A small sorcerer meets a grand one.

Without some skill, you can’t really deal with it.

Li Jing doesn’t think the methods of the God-Human Race could outrank Yulian, who specializes in charm.

After all, Joseph started to act strange only after he came to Heavenly King Group.

If it were Yulian who took action and Joseph was affected, he would be eaten clean.

After a brief silence, Li Jing asked.

"Was this the work of the God-Human Race?"

"No."

Quan Chang shook her head.

Li Jing frowned.

Not the God-Human Race?

Did I guess wrong?

While he was thinking, Quan Chang whispered.

"The God-Human Race does have the ability to brand the soul, but they’ve suffered from this method and regard it as a taboo. The one who branded the man’s soul should be the Winged Tribe who also possess this power."

At these words, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile.

This woman, she speaks with such a heavy gasp.

So it was the Winged Tribe’s doing, but isn’t it still related to God-Humans?

The authentic Winged Tribe has already returned to the Chongyuan Holy Realm, so the ones who did this can only be the uncouth crowd of the Winged Tribe from the sealed space.

While he was silently complaining, Ji Youyu spoke.

"Since we’re certain it has something to do with the God-Human Race, we should report this. However, there’s something unreasonable about this. I can understand it if the God-Human Race wants to cause internal strife amongst the humans, and Miss Quan’s arrival is indeed an opportunity. But they were found out as soon as they acted, and their plan completely..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Yini spoke.

"Commissioner Ji, you’re overthinking this."

Then, she began her analysis.

"First, you have to understand that the faith system is unique. Even if the God-Humans and their Winged servants know quite a bit about the present world camp, they never would have thought that a faith system without holy power and holy arts could be this fragile. Secondly, they wouldn’t have known that the Heavenly King Group, which is merely a regular exploration team, has such strong top fighters. Thirdly and most importantly, they don’t know why Miss Quan, a former Ghost Clan High Priest, has come, and they don’t know that we in Longyu are willing to trust her as an alien species."

After jabbering for a while, Jiang Yini glanced at the five people from the Church standing not far away, and said calmly.

"Besides Longyu, even if Miss Quan were willing to examine the corpse, others might not necessarily believe what she says. This is not only intended to cause our present world human camp to fall into chaos but also to create divisions between the Ghost Clan and our present world human camp."

Hearing Jiang Yini’s narrative, Ji Youyu wore a thoughtful expression, then gently nodded her head.

Li Jing, standing aside, cast an inadvertent glance over.

Ji Youyu is extraordinarily intelligent and her analytical capabilities are not bad.

But as a member of a sect that has long withdrawn from the world, her leadership abilities are still lacking compared to the established leaders.

She has a lot of ideas, but she also tends to overcomplicate simple matters.

After Jiang Yini explained to Ji Youyu, she thought for a moment and said,

"When this matter is publicly announced, Commissioner Ji and Commissioner Tong will take the lead. I am just a local director and my rank is not high enough to interact with the true higher-ups of the various powers."

"Alright."

Ji Youyu responded, "I will inform Tong Yan of the situation later and ask her to personally visit the church, and I’ll reach out to the other forces."

While speaking, her gaze turned towards Quan Chang.

"Miss Quan, could you explain in more detail the control of the soul branding?"

"Soul branding is different from conventional control methods, and those who have been marked will not be aware of it themselves. Furthermore, before the soul branding is activated, there is no difference from being normal and bystanders cannot perceive any signs."

Quan Chang responded, explaining the way.

"Once the soul branding is activated, the original owner’s soul will be erased in a fundamental sense, temporarily becoming a puppet with multiple levels of battle power. The increase in battle power seems inapplicable to your human race as you depend on all sorts of mysterious magic skills in combat, and your physical bodies are pitifully weak. The increase in battle power as a puppet is far less than manipulating mysterious magic skills."

Having said that, she added further.

"Then there’s a very important point. To make the person who has been soul-branded effective and to control others, you need to be in the same space."

Upon hearing this, both Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu were taken aback, and their expressions became serious.

Li Jing’s eyes lit up.

What Quan Chang was implying was very clear.

The activation of the branding wasn’t controlled by the Winged Person who had bound Joseph staying in the Chongyuan Holy Realm, instead of hiding in the sealed space.

How intriguing!

Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu were not like Li Jing, who was solely focused on gaining experience.

Knowing that there were alien species in the Big Secret Realm, they could not take it lightly in any case.

Winged people, when did they come out?

And how many came out?

The Western alliance has been guarding the entrance to the sealed space from beginning to end, and after forming a unified front with the Eastern alliance, anything that came out of the entrance was obliterated.

She took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

"Director Jiang, I authorize you to take command of the defensive line at the base. Ms. Quan is known to the winged people at my Longyu base. They don’t know why she came but will surely try to sabotage it, even attempting to kill her. We need to be prepared."

Having spoken, she continued.

"Communicating with various parties, I will be responsible along with Tongyan. I must let Qi Chen, who is on the front line, know about the winged people hiding outside the sealed space, so he can inform the other factions."

"Understood."

Jiang Yini replied, then turned to look at Quan Chang.

"Ms. Quan, we’ll have to discuss our items of business later. Please stay with Li Jing before the incident is resolved. He will ensure your safety."

"Okay."

Quan Chang nodded, smiling wryly.

Having been the High Priest of the Ghost Clan, she clearly understood the importance of urgency.

That Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu were so cautious wasn’t unreasonable.

And now she had brought down her cultivation level, her self-protection ability against the winged people was limited.

In consideration of her own life, staying with Li Jing was undoubtedly the right choice.

After meeting with the leaders Jiang Yini and Ji Youyu, and seeing other people from the human camp, Quan Chang had got the idea.

The strength of the people of the Big World was beyond doubt now.

But their strength was not from individuals.

Li Jing, couldn’t be taken as a reference.

Even after lowering her cultivation level, she hasn’t met anyone who would make her feel threatened up until now.

In terms of the current situation.

Looking at the entire human line, Li Jing might be the only person capable of protecting her completely.

Seeing himself being given the task of protecting Quan Chang, Li Jing was somewhat reluctant.

He wanted to leave to "happily" play with the winged people...

But it concerned Quan Chang’s safety, even if Director Jiang would like to listen to him, he really couldn’t express his opinion.

...