Chapter 295 - 294: Crossing the Catastrophe, the Great Evacuation

Li Jing gazed up at the clouds of Tribulation in the sky, and with a sense of foreboding, he descended to the ground and put away the Flying Sword Blue Edge.

And it was at the very moment he withdrew hissword...

A booming sound suddenly erupted in the high sky.

An incredibly appalling thunderbolt abruptly burst forth from the tribulation clouds.

Before Li Jing could figure out what was happening, he felt his sight darken and almost fell forward.

With much effort, he stabilized his body, violently shook his somewhat muddled head, and looked up with a frown.

This bolt of Tribulation Thunder didn’t land directly on him, instead, it struck his Primordial Spirit.

It was unmistakably a Soul-refining Tribulation.

As a human cultivator, encountering a Soul-refining Tribulation instead of a Thunder Tribulation was, frankly speaking, as rare as hitting the lottery.

However, his situation was, after all, quite unusual.

It wasn’t surprising that he was experiencing a Soul-refining Tribulation.

The issue was, the intensity of this Soul-refining Tribulation was way too high...

His Primordial Spirit was so strong, yet merely enduring one strike nearly knocked him out.

Fainting during a Soul-refining Tribulation was as good as being doomed.

Being an orthodox Immortal Path cultivator who primarily relied on the strength of his Primordial Spirit, backed by Limit-breakthrough Skills like Silent Shadow which greatly boosted his Primordial Spirit, his Primordial Soul Strength was far superior to that of ordinary people.

If even he could barely handle it, ordinary people, if they were to encounter it, would probably die on contact.

If a monster encountered it, it would probably just drop dead on the spot!

After being hit by that tribulation, Li Jing couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he hadn’t gotten too involved with Bai Yu.

It was abundantly clear.

He had bad luck and had encountered an extraordinarily difficult Heavenly Tribulation...

On the other hand, his luck also turned to be exceptionally good.

The blow from the Soul-refining Tribulation, that he barely withstood just now, caused his already explosively growing Primordial Spirit, as a result of stepping into the Seventh Realm, to surge significantly.

Boom!

Another explosion resounded in the high sky.

The Tribulation Thunder swirled again.

Li Jing grunted, and he fell down emitting a curl of green smoke all over his body.

This thunderbolt left him a bit dazed.

The rest didn’t matter.

The key point was that this second thunderbolt was not a Soul-refining Tribulation, but a Thunder Tribulation that directly struck his physical body.

After being hit by a Soul-refining Tribulation, he instinctively immersed himself and stabilized his Primordial Spirit.

His physical defense couldn’t be said to be completely let open, but he had not used his own Spiritual Power to fortify it, it was merely his pure physical strength that was there.

Yet the second one was Thunder Tribulation...

Was this a joke?

Could Heavenly Tribulation take a mixed form?

He had never heard of such a thing before!

Li Jing tried to force himself off the ground while enduring the pain, but to no avail.

A burning sensation spread all over his body, making him extremely uncomfortable.

The residual force of the Thunder Tribulation that directly struck his body was wreaking havoc within him.

It felt as if all the muscle tissues in his body were dissolving, then they were constantly reassembling through the self-healing abilities brought about by his powerful body, only to be dissolved again by the residual force of the Thunder Tribulation.

In the meantime, it was barely maintained at an intricate balance point.

His body hadn’t completely collapsed, but it was on the brink of shattering.

Finding himself unable to stand, Li Jing silently mobilized his internal Spiritual Power to fortify his body, his face not looking good.

In doing so, he finally was feeling a bit better.

The residual force of the Thunder Tribulation was gradually dissipating.

With the fortification of Spiritual Power, his physical self-healing abilities increased by more than a notch, restoring his health at a rate faster than his muscle tissues were dissolving, ensuring his gradual recovery.

Given enough time, he could fully recover in no time.

However, obviously he wouldn’t have much time when the Heavenly Tribulation was about to strike.

Just as he thought.

Before he could recover, there was another thunderous boom in the sky.

Li Jing immediately rolled his eyes.

The Spiritual Power he had just mobilized to strengthen his body dissipated instantly.

This one, was a Soul-refining Tribulation.

The intensity was far stronger than the previous Spirit-refining Tribulation, nearly causing him to pass out.

But nearly, means it didn’t happen.

However, Li Jing had a bad feeling.

His Heavenly Tribulation, was behaving very differently.

It was unusually strong for a Spirit Tribulation, yet it wasn’t surprising.

He had already weathered two, and with each trial, his Primordial Spirit’s strength had grown significantly.

If another one came, he was sure he could withstand it.

But the Thunder Tribulation...

His mind, as a result of the Spirit-refining Tribulation, was in a state of confusion, making it nearly impossible to use his spiritual power to bolster his physical body.

This was bad.

"Boom!"

Another thundering sound.

The Tribulation Thunder rolled on.

Li Jing was sprawled on the ground, twitching all over. The pain was making his head spin, and he couldn’t help but want to curse.

As expected, this one was the Thunder Tribulation.

Its power was even greater than the previous one.

Right now, Li Jing could even clearly smell the scent of cooked meat rising from his own body.

This was...

He was cooked!

What made him even more uncomfortable was...

The Tribulation Thunder, which acted directly on his physical body, was like a mischievous little demon, its power remaining within him and causing chaos.

Unfortunately, he was quite fond of this little demon.

The power of the Tribulation Thunder caused destruction in his body, but at the same time, it was also converted into nutrients and integrated into his body, significantly boosting the power of his physical body.

This couldn’t go on!

Though his physical strength had increased dramatically after the two Thunder Tribulations, he couldn’t concentrate enough energy to use the spiritual power to bolster his physical body due to the disoriented state of his Primordial Spirit. He was completely relying on his physical body to withstand this.

It wouldn’t matter if he could endure it.

The problem was, he couldn’t!

Heavenly Tribulation would only get stronger.

Even if his physical body was strengthening at the speed of a rocket under the nourishment of the Tribulation Thunder’s power, without any chance to recover, he wouldn’t be able to survive it.

He needed to rely on his spiritual power for support.

You know, there have only been two Thunder Tribulation so far.

What to do?

Should he use his Flying Sword Blue Edge to cut down the looming Tribulation Thunder?

It could work.

But if he didn’t endure the baptism of the Tribulation Thunder, then he would only be crossing the tribulation in name.

With gritted teeth, Li Jing bit his tongue and sacrificed some of his own Essence Blood to momentarily clear his mind. Then he focused his mind.

"Whooosh."

The Wind King Mysterious Clothing automatically appeared.

Boom!

Another thundering sound.

The newly manifested Wind King Mysterious Clothing was instantly destroyed, but it effectively reduced the damage he sustained from the Tribulation Thunder.

"Damn!"

Li Jing, sprawled on the ground, spasmed again.

This Heavenly Tribulation was really messing with him!

Just now they were coming alternately, why did it suddenly unleash two consecutive Thunder Tribulations?

In order to deal with the next Spirit-refining Tribulation, he had focused his mind on his Primordial Spirit.

Having put on the Wind King Mysterious Clothing, his internal spiritual power was in a completely collapsed state, without any attempt to reinforce his physical body.

After all, only by maintaining a clear mind could he actively use spiritual power to reinforce his physical body.

Just as he focused, his mind was made muddled by the Spirit-refining Tribulation, leaving him no chance to adjust before the next Thunder Tribulation.

This was a vicious cycle.

Breaking this cycle was the key to changing the situation.

However, it was as if the heavens knew what he was planning and sent two consecutive Thunder Tribulations. The tribulations virtually scattered his internal spiritual power, disrupting the rhythm he was trying to establish by sacrificing his Essence Blood.

Now, mobilizing it was out of the question, even trying to gather it was a difficult task.

Can we play the game properly now?

He scolded as he needed to.

Li Jing did not miss the fleeting opportunity.

Sacrificing his Essence Blood, his consciousness regained its clarity.

The double Thunder Tribulation, gave him a sufficient break.

Spiritual Power bolstering the body?

He didn’t care for it!

He had a better choice!

Without any hesitation, Li Jing gritted his teeth, turned over to face the sky, and forced up his almost numb hands to form interlaced handprints.

As long as the spiritual power in his body was not completely scattered, it would not affect the construction of magic skill’s spell formation.

He just had to force all the scattered spiritual power back in!

The next moment, the world changed its color.

The power of the heavens and the earth, was stirred.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

Boom!

Another tribulation thunder rolled.

Li Jing’s primordial spirit was battered again, his consciousness turbid.

Soul-refining Tribulation.

Focusing his mind on the handprints, his Primordial Spirit didn’t receive much protection.

This hit almost knocked him senseless.

His head was buzzing.

Fortunately, after enduring the two Soul-refining Tribulations, the strength of his Primordial Spirit had greatly increased.

He withstood the third Soul-refining Tribulation.

At the same time, at the last moment, he managed to form the last handprint with muscle memory.

Endless power of the heaven and earth rushed into his body, abundant spiritual Qi was transformed into spiritual power of the same origin, forcibly merging the scattered spiritual power in his body with his flesh.

God’s Hidden Truth!

Li Jing’s shattered body, instantaneously regenerated.

Boundless strength, welled up inside him.

The power of Thunder Tribulation, that was just recently like a pesky little demon grinding his body, could no longer destroy his flesh.

With God’s Hidden Truth, this extreme body strengthening forbidden skill, Li Jing felt light all over.

However, he didn’t let his guard down.

In his turbid consciousness, he concentrated all his mental focus on the Primordial Spirit.

By using God’s Hidden Truth, he had put everything into his body.

Not only could he no longer use magic skills, but the auxiliary magic that were always in operation would cease as well.

His Primordial Spirit, was equivalent to being completely emptied.

Assistance from auxiliary magic is usually permanent.

But these auxiliary magic themselves possess defensiveness against the spiritual level, depending on the operation of corresponding mental methods.

Existence of defense and hard resistance are two different concepts.

Without maintaining the protection over his spirit, a stronger Soul-refining Tribulation could potentially break him.

"Boom!"

A thunderous sound.

The tribulation thunder rumbled.

A large amount of the power of the tribulation thunder filled his body, without causing much sensation to Li Jing.

This, was a Thunder Tribulation.

This tribulation was not Soul-refining Tribulation, giving Li Jing another chance to catch his breath. He quickly sat up to concentrate more mental focus.

At the same time.

High in the sky, there was another thunderous sound.

Li Jing’s spirit shook.

Soul-refining Tribulation.

With his spirit fortified, he barely held on.

"Boom!"

Another blast, his mind muddled again.

Soul-refining Tribulation.

"Boom!"

This time it’s Thunder Tribulation, he has a bit of breathing space.

...

Unsure how much time has passed, the sky gradually clears.

Li Jing sits cross-legged on the ground, slowly opening his eyes.

Above the sky, the tribulation clouds had already dispersed.

How long the Heavenly Tribulation lasted, he has no clear concept.

All he knows is that his primordial spirit was constantly on the verge of collapsing in the intermitted soul-refining tribulation.

Given that the effect of God’s Hidden Truth was still at work, it should not have been half an hour.

Half an hour, that is the limit that the full-level God’s Hidden Truth can sustain.

Of course.

The premise is that he himself does not perform "intense movement".

Passively being struck certainly wouldn’t be considered "intense movement", so the consumption is relatively low.

This Heavenly Tribulation was much harder than he had imagined.

Mainly because the intensity was too high.

A singular Heavenly Tribulation would not be too hard for him to resist.

Mixed Heavenly Tribulation.

The complementary Soul-refining Tribulation and Thunder Tribulation also had randomness, he didn’t even know which part of himself to protect.

One side falling would affect the other side.

Lucky for him, he was a cheater.

If it were anyone else, even a heavenly genius would have died.

The death rate surpassing 50% during tribulation, that wasn’t said for fun.

Under Heavenly Jealousy, all living beings are equal.

This wave, Li Jing had a real taste of it.

The difficulty of this might be higher than him soloing against an Eighth Realm.

Letting out a long sigh, Li Jing voluntarily dismisses God’s Hidden Truth, stands up, and wobbles a bit.

God’s Hidden Truth burns potential during its duration, which for him, with his Great Body Refining, isn’t a big deal; the consumption is completely bearable.

But after burning for nearly half an hour, he was unavoidably a bit weak.

Steadying his body, he brushed off a layer of black ash from his chest and reached up to pat his head.

Well.

Smooth as silk.

He was bald.

But it wasn’t a big problem.

With a thought, Li Jing focused the strong spiritual power within his body on his scalp, and a head of hair quickly grew out.

Due to the effect of the immortal spirit, the growth of the hair wasn’t stopped in time.

Although Li Jing withdrew his hand after the hair grew out, the army cut that he had envisioned changed to waist-length hair in one go.

Speechlessly touching the long hair behind his waist, Li Jing frowned.

He had perfectly controlled the power of the Seventh Realm since the moment he advanced, thanks to the Spirit Control Skill.

However, the existence of the Immortal Spirit is both loved and hated.

The Immortal Spirit is a part of his power and is not difficult to control in essence, but the nature of it is too special.

Immortal Spirit acts like a catalyst, amplifying the final effect of power.

When there is only a small amount of Immortal Spirit inside the body, the effect is not significant.

It’s really different when you have your own Immortal Spirit and the concentration reaches the Seventh Realm standard.

Li Jing can control how much Immortal Spirit is injected just like controlling Spiritual Power.

But he couldn’t determine to what extent it would catalyze the effect of Spiritual Power after injecting the Immortal Spirit.

Many factors come into play during this process.

The purity of the Immortal Spirit, how much Spiritual Power it can catalyze, and other factors such as the environment’s spiritual qi all have an impact.

This will take some time to get used to.

Taking out his Flying Sword Blue Edge and cutting off his long hair, he managed to control it back to its original standard. Li Jing then put on a set of clean clothes and began to sense his own state.

The ultra-high-intensity Heavenly Tribulation allowed him to gain a lot.

This time the gains were only in his primordial spirit and flesh body, not affecting the Immortal Spirit and Spiritual Power in his body.

Being able to have a tremendous growth of both the primordial spirit and flesh body after a breakthrough in realm can be considered an unexpected joy.

Raising his hand and gently clenching it into a fist, Li Jing’s mouth curled into a smile.

Having experienced such an intense Heavenly Tribulation, his physical body was now outpacing the average Seventh Realm monster, and his Primordial Soul Strength also significantly exceeded that of the average Seventh Realm cultivator.

After all, normally both monsters and human cultivators would only face Heavenly Tribulations geared towards their own weaknesses, thus only having to strengthen those specific vulnerabilities.

In these two aspects, he did not have any notable weaknesses.

This time, he had encountered a Mixed Heavenly Tribulation, undergoing a baptism from both ends.

If the High Priest Shenmin of the God-Human Race were to seek him out now, Li Jing had full confidence that he could defeat him purely with his physical body.

As for Bai Yu, it’s hard to say.

Without having truly had a head-on collision, and only perceiving tentatively, Li Jing merely had the concept that this woman was very strong, without any grasp of how powerful she truly was.

After slightly sensing his own body, Li Jing reinserted the Blue Edge Flying Sword, activated Silent Shadow, and turned into a thunderbolt, retreating.

With the Primordial Soul of the Seventh Realm, having repeatedly been washed by the intense Soul-refining Tribulation, the Silent Shadow could now cause interference in the Seventh Realm, and even if they made progress on the spiritual level it might not be possible for them to detect him.

With the support of the Seventh Realm cultivation level, the speed at which he traveled in the form of a thunderbolt was much faster too.

Sword Controlling.

That was not necessary.

He was not in a hurry to return.

Returning to the entrance of the Secret Realm simply meant to participate in the organized evacuation.

It was fine to stroll around outside and adapt to the breath of Immortals.

...

The distance that Li Jing chased Bai Yu was very long.

Travelling all the way leisurely by using the thundering movement, it took him more than half an hour to barely return to the ruins where the seal space was located.

Despite the disappearance of the human line of defense, the passage to the seal space was still not open.

Li Jing suspended himself in the air to take a look before heading in the direction of the secret realm’s entrance.

As for Shenmin, he should not be expecting him anymore.

Compared with the broken unnamed Taoist tool that fell into his hands, Shenmin probably had many other things to deal with at this point, such as plotting the return of the God-Human Race.

Not long after, Li Jing returned to the vicinity of the entrance of the secret realm.

The orderly evacuation of the human line of defense was ongoing.

When he arrived near the entrance of the secret realm, he saw that all the factions were dismantling their encampments in a bustling manner. Some factions simply gathered some important supplies for a rough finish and were already assembling and counting their personnel.

Ignoring the situation of other factions, Li Jing went directly to the Longyu base camp.

Compared to the urgency of other factions seeking withdrawal, the atmosphere here at Longyu’s camp was incredibly stable.

Although they were not slow in dismantling their camp, they did the work in a leisurely manner.

It was not surprising, really.

In the calculations of the God-Human Race, those who would ultimately be victimized would be the Western Union and some Eastern fence-sitters led by the Daohe Alliance. Longyu, from beginning to end, did not suffer much damage, and even acquired a guest like Quan Chang.

The Heavenly Kings Group was efficient in gathering materials.

After all, they hadn’t set up their camp for very long.

At that time, there were considerations for how soon they might have to leave. Some more complicated defensive works and unnecessary items were never utilized.

When Li Jing returned to the Heavenly Kings Group’s camp, the whole place had already been thoroughly dismantled.

The ten thousand members of the Heavenly Kings Group and those from the research institute were assembled on the open ground with the leaders of each group and team taking the headcount.

Using his connection to Linglong, the Spirit Weapon, Li Jing easily found Chen Yuran and Quan Chang.

At this moment, Chen Yuran was listening to reports from several of her subordinates by the campfire.

Quan Chang stood beside her, engrossed in something on a tablet.

Linglong sat next to Quan Chang, kicking her short legs in boredom.

Upon her master’s return, the Spirit Weapon Linglong was the first to notice.

She turned around and jumped up before Li Jing could even land his feet, transforming into a streak of golden light speeding into his body without a word.

Linglong was well aware of Li Jing’s promotion.

As the Second Origin, she could be seen as part of Li Jing.

When her master became stronger, she too could become stronger as his Spirit Weapon.

The premise was that she had to return to the position of the Second Origin and let herself merge into Li Jing’s Spiritual Power circuit, otherwise the level of Spiritual Power in her body would remain at the level it was at when they were separated.

Once Linglong left, Quan Chang immediately noticed something and looked up.

Li Jing timely deactivated the Silent Shadow.

Seeing Li Jing in her line of sight, Quan Chang was slightly startled.

Even though she had already demoted herself, she did not perceive anything amiss and smiled softly, standing up and speaking in accented Common Language.

"You’re back?"

Returning Quan Chang’s clumsy greeting with a nod and smile, Li Jing said as he walked up to her.

"I have something to tell you."

While speaking, he nodded to Chen Yuran, who had noticed his return and looked in his direction, then proceeded to tell Quan Chang about Bai Yu.

Hearing that an exception like Bai Yu, who had been exempt from the seal since the beginning, had appeared among the winged people following the God-Human Race, Quan Chang was extremely surprised. Apparently, the existence of someone like Bai Yu was rare among the descendants of the Ancient God.

After a little thought, she asked in a quiet voice.

"Do you think this Bai Yu is reliable?"

"It’s just about mutual use, why talk about reliability?"

Li Jing shook his head, saying.

"This woman is ambitious, as long as the Ghost Clan promises to give a certain level of support, she can become a thorn in the side of the God-Human Race. As an alien species among the Winged, you don’t need to worry about how much turmoil she can stir up if she loses the support of the Ghost Clan. For your descendants, nothing is more important than the bloodline inheritance, and she has been greatly hindered because she can’t inherit the clan’s bloodline. What she can get, she can only get with the support of the Ghost Clan."

Having said that, he added.

"She has a rebellious heart, which is undoubtedly a good thing for the Ghost Clan. After all, you Ghost Clans need time for cultivation and life nourishment, and must strive for a breather. How to use Bai Yu and what to give her, it’s up to your Ghost Clan to manipulate."

Hearing his words, Quan Chang nodded thoughtfully, got up and said.

"I’ll contact Ancestor Lao and ask her to pass on the matter to my successor."

Having said that, she put away the tablet and turned to leave.

At this moment, Chen Yuran, having finished her business, came over.

Greeting Li Jing, she said with a light smile.

"We should withdraw in half an hour."

Li Jing was slightly startled at his words, looking separately in the direction of the Seizing Dragon Group and the Bailang Group.

Both camps are in the process of packing up.

The other exploration teams belonging to Longyu’s management bureau should not be much slower than this one.

He looked back, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Half an hour, isn’t it a bit too tight?"

"It is tight, but there’s nothing we can do."

Chen Yuran said, explaining.

"Not long after Director Jiang asked Linglong to pass you a message, the Supreme Church ran away, leaving a mess without waiting for the Western Alliance. They may even have returned to the West by now. After them, a group of small countries also ran away ahead of time, leaving their allies behind. At present, the human line in the Big Secret Realm is in chaos, although not collapsed, but it is almost disintegrated. If the God-Human Race springs out at this time, it will cause unimaginable losses."

Having said that, she continued.

"The opinion from above is, we Longyu have Quan Chang and are easily targeted by God-Human Race, so it is necessary to run a little faster. If it weren’t for keeping in step with the progress of allies like God Kingdom and taking on the responsibilities that a superpower should, I think they would have ordered an emergency evacuation a long time ago."

Hearing this from Chen Yuran, Li Jing looked strange.

He hadn’t expected the Supreme Church to run away so early.

But it makes sense.

The Supreme Church has suffered such heavy losses and gotten nothing, they can’t bear anymore.

The church itself is not a national power, there’s no international relation to maintain, it doesn’t burden them to run away.

No one will blame them for being unrighteous, selling out their teammates.

Without letting the topic continue, Li Jing asked.

"Where did Yulian and Jiu Li go? Why don’t I see her?"

"Director Jiang borrowed them to ensure a safe environment for the withdrawal work at the Seizing Dragon Group and Bailang Group."

Chen Yuran responded, saying.

"Chief Qi gave an order earlier, we Jianghai Management Bureau do not need to stay this time during the big withdrawal, we can directly take Quan Chang and return to the country. The matter of cooperating with other forces to seal the entrance of the Secret Realm will be handled by the teams of the other twenty-four city management bureaus."

"Okay, I got it."

Li Jing nodded.

Not needing to stay is a good thing.

When the entrance of the Secret Realm will close is still an unknown.

Maintaining a blockade at sea will take some time.

Non-native beings of the Big World who reach above the Seventh Realm cannot go to the Present World, no matter how capable the God-Human Race is, they can’t create any big mess, there’s nothing to anticipate.

If he could go back sooner, Li Jing, of course, hoped to go back sooner.

...

Half an hour passed quickly.

Including Longyu and the Northern Major League, human forces in the present world all contracted.

The big withdrawal began.

In no time, millions, almost tens of millions, of exploration teams from various forces have withdrawn.

Li Jing, as the highest officer of the Heavenly King Group, stayed with Qi Chen and other management persons to ensure the rear. He only left the Secret Realm after Longyu’s personnel had fully withdrawn.

Quan Chang was with him.

Chen Yuran and others left ahead of time with the team of the Jianghai Management Bureau.

Back in the present world, Li Jing greedily took a deep breath.

Having spent a full month in the Big Secret Realm, the air of the present world seemed extraordinarily fresh.

Just as he was about to talk about taking Quan Chang and the Heavenly King Group, the quiet and clear night sky over the open sea was suddenly shrouded in darkness, reaching the point where he couldn’t see his hand in front of him.

???

Li Jing looked up in bewilderment.

All around, only the densely dark clouds could be seen.

What’s...

What’s happening?

Is someone crossing the Tribulation?

But this doesn’t look like the Tribulation clouds...

At this time, the ships of various powers in the nearby sea areas had already been supporting their exploration teams, starting to organize defenses and block the entrance to the secret realm.

This sudden change caught everyone off guard, with everyone on high alert.

However, just like Li Jing, they didn’t understand what was happening in front of them.

If someone were to cross the Tribulation, there should be a heavenly might descending.

At this moment, they didn’t feel any heavenly might.

Just as everyone was at a loss, Quan Chang leaned closer to Li Jing and whispered.

"This is a Heavenly Punishment. Be careful, an Ancient God’s Descendant of the Kun Yuan Realm or above may have emerged."

Upon hearing the words "Heavenly Punishment", Li Jing was slightly taken aback, his gaze sweeping the surroundings before his face turned grim.

With just one glance, he saw countless fleets bobbing on the sea and countless exploration team members controlling the sky above.

Oh boy, that’s a lot of people!

He didn’t understand what was going on.

But at least within his field of view, he saw no health bars.

The Heavenly Punishment that repels non-native beings of the Big World had been triggered. If an Ancient God’s Descendant of above the Seventh Realm had emerged, they should’ve just come out and not gone far.

Now, wait a minute.

If the Heavenly Punishment existed, why would the Ancient God’s Descendant be so irrational?

This Heavenly Punishment...

Something occurred to him.

As a traverser, it seemed that he didn’t count as a native living being of the Big World...

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he immediately felt an overwhelmingly destructive will descending upon him.

For just an instant, Li Jing felt like he had been cast into an ice cellar.

This will contained a substantial Heavenly Might.

The strength far exceeded the Heavenly Might that he could summon when unleashing his World Thunder Punishment at full power.

Just by feeling it, he felt like all the Spiritual Power in his body had frozen solid and he couldn’t summon it at all.

Even the two Immortal Items inside him had fallen silent.

The Unnamed Taoist Tool seemed unaffected.

However, whether the heavily damaged Unnamed was affected or not didn’t matter.

Fuck!

This doesn’t look good!

Li Jing had a bad feeling about this.

Just then, a "?" appeared in his mind.

This question mark wasn’t his.

It was from the destructive will that had fallen upon him...

This "?" that was almost akin to direct dialogue with him revealed a sense of anthropomorphic confusion.

Faced with this situation, Li Jing was stumped.

He hadn’t expected the Heavenly Punishment to react to him.

What he hadn’t expected even more was that the destructive will that initiated the Heavenly Punishment could "communicate" with him in this manner.

Could it be, does Heaven really exist?

Somewhat in a daze, Li Jing put out a "?" in his mind.

???

The destructive will put out three question marks as if it hadn’t expected someone could respond to it.

At this point, Li Jing didn’t know how to respond.

He had tried to formulate sentences in his mind, but the other party didn’t seem to notice them. It seemed that it could only perceive a simple question mark.

However, considering that he couldn’t even move a bit and felt frozen in midair, unable to run even if he wanted to, Li Jing quietly sent back three question marks in his mind.

???

Upon receiving this response, the destructive will seemed anthropomorphically surprised, and then silently retreated.

With that, the sky cleared up.

As the destructive will vanished, Li Jing no longer felt affected.

Regaining control of his spiritual power and Immortal Items, he couldn’t help breaking out in a cold sweat, baffled.

Did it let me go, or was I recognized as a native living being?

Before he could taste the experience, Quan Chang, who had been on guard as if facing a formidable foe, stared at the dissipation of the dark clouds in the sky and let out a sigh of relief.

"It’s over. It seems that the Heavenly Punishment has wiped out the boundary-breaking descendants of the ancient gods."

"..."

Li Jing.

He knew better than anyone else.

The Heavenly Punishment was meant for him, not for the descendants of the ancient gods.

But he couldn’t speak these words.

Quietly keeping his possible encounter with the Will of Heaven to himself, Li Jing whispered with a sense of relief after surviving the tribulation.

"Let’s go. We should retreat to Jianghai."

As he spoke, he made a gesture to Qi Chen and the others who were taking charge of the rear guard with him, and headed for the Heavenly King Group’s fleet with Quan Chang.

Seeing this, Qi Chen made no move.

Jiang Yini, Ji Youyu, and Tongyan, who were accompanying them, exchanged glances and followed Li Jing to the fleet of the Heavenly King Group without Qi Chen and his senior team.

Soon, they all stood on the flagship of the Heavenly King Group’s fleet.

On the flagship, Chen Yuran, Yulian, and Jiu Li had already been waiting at the bow of the ship.

They were all looking up at the sky with puzzled expressions on their faces.

Jiang Yini and others who had come with Li Jing and Quan Chang were also full of questions about what had just happened.

Just as Jiang Yini landed, she turned to ask:

"Miss Quan, you are well-informed, do you know what just happened?"

"Heavenly Punishment."

Quan Chang replied, explaining the principle that non-native life forms of the Big World crossing the Seventh Realm would be subjected to the rejection of the Will of Heaven.

After hearing her explanation, everyone had different expressions on their faces.

The term "Heavenly Punishment" was unheard of by everyone present.

Even Ji Youyu and his disciples, who were members of the sect, had never heard of it.

Just like Li Jing when he first heard about it, no one present believed that the Will of Heaven truly existed.

But if the Will of Heaven didn’t exist, there was no way to explain what just happened...

Even though the overpowering intention for destruction only affected Li Jing, everyone present felt a grave danger to some extent.

Quan Chang gave an explanation to everyone, speaking indifferently.

"We were lucky, the Heavenly Punishment did not manifest in a physical form, otherwise, none of us here would have been lucky enough to escape."

She added,

"According to the manifestation of the Heavenly Punishment, the boundary-breaker was silently obliterated by the Heavenly Punishment. No one can escape the Heavenly Punishment unless they flee before the Will of Heaven descends."

"..."

Li Jing.

Others looked at each other upon hearing this. Ji Youyu walked up to her and said,

"Miss Quan, now that we’re back in the real world and have plenty of time, we should discuss something before going back to Longyu. Can you please tell us more about the Heavenly Punishment?"

"Well..."

Quan Chang hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth.

"There’s not much to say about the Heavenly Punishment. I’m only aware of its existence. According to the information left by the goddess, it seems to be a mechanism unique to the Big World."

Ji Youyu nodded at her words.

On the surface, she just nodded, but her face was filled with curiosity.

"This isn’t a place to discuss it. Let’s find a place to sit and chat in the cabin."

As she spoke, she grabbed Quan Chang by the arm and headed straight for the cabin.

Jiang Yini and Tongyan followed her.

So did. Yulian and Jiu Li.

Chen Yuran turned her head and saw that Li Jing’s expression was indecipherable. She walked over to him and asked,

"I’ll be here, do you want to follow us and listen?"

"I’ll pass."

Li Jing coughed and replied,

"I learned about the Heavenly Punishment from Quan Chang’s account a long time ago, and I had no idea it really existed. Knowing more about it doesn’t make much sense to me since the Heavenly Punishment won’t fall on my head."

After saying this, he smiled slightly.

"Commander, it’s time for you to give the order. It’s time for us to go home."

Chen Yuran was taken aback by his words. She gave him a plaintive look, then pressed her communication headset and said,

"All ships of the Heavenly King Group, listen to my command..."

...