Chapter 453 - 452

Naturally, the eyes of everyone from the Heavenly Path sect fell on Li Jing.

As for Chen Yuran, she definitely wouldn’t have made it here on her own.

Not to mention entering the space within the Chaotic Border, but with her abilities, she might even have trouble navigating the Star Secret Realm by herself.

The fact she appeared here meant she obviously had a powerful helper.

As everyone examined Li Jing, his attention wasn’t on any of them.

He looked at the blue tower, as his eyes turned golden.

The Eye of True Vision was used.

To his surprise, Li Jing discovered that the tower was a Taoist Item.

It simultaneously involved the rules of space, time, and gravity.

However, this wasn’t the main point.

The critical point was that half of the tower’s body existed in the Star Secret Realm, even though it was located in an independent space.

This...

How is this possible?

Obviously, the rules of space were at work here, that much was clear.

But Li Jing, who also controlled the rules of space and had a deeper understanding of it from his maxed-out Reverse Space ability, could not comprehend this at all.

This technique was far beyond his knowledge.

Of course, this was a minor problem.

At this moment, he was absolutely certain that he who deceived the heavens, trying to replace the Heavenly Path of the Star Secret Realm, was slumbering within the tower.

The Underground Palace, acting as an overlapping space, perfectly coincided with the Star Secret Realm.

It can be considered as a part of the Star Secret Realm.

However, this separate space they were in right now, was not.

This was something Li Jing noticed upon his arrival.

However, the mere presence of the Tower of Taoists allowed the one inside to maintain contact with the Star Secret Realm.

What a skill!

Li Jing couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Whether the Palace being an overlapping space would affect his thieving of the Heavenly Path, he wasn’t sure.

What he was certain about was that opening an independent space outside of the overlapping space within the Chaotic Border would make it exceedingly difficult for anyone to disturb the person inside.

Moving his gaze, Li Jing turned to look at Chen Yuran.

"Yuran, stay with the seniors of our sect. I will deal with the problem here."

Chen Yuran was always quick-witted.

Before they entered, Li Jing had already mentioned the coincidental possibility of such a situation.

Understanding his intentions now, Chen Yuran nodded in compliance after uttering a sound of agreement.

Upon receiving her response, Li Jing stepped forward.

The members of the Heavenly Path sect had been scrutinizing Li Jing, wondering about his identity and strength, were taken aback when they saw him approach the tower with a resolute stride.

One of the elderly-looking men called out to him.

"Sir, please halt! This tower is no ordinary object. It is not safe to approach it!"

The Heavenly Path sect is known for its kindness and assistance to its members.

Li Jing’s earlier conversation with Chen Yuran which addressed them as seniors had reached their ears.

For this reason, the old man issued a warning.

Li Jing, upon hearing this, paused his steps and nodded to show he understood, but continued moving forward nonetheless.

Those present from the sect were undoubtedly the elite and powerful ones.

They were all practitioners from the Eighth Realm or above.

Furthermore, half of them had already reached the Ninth Realm.

This group...

Was nothing short of formidable.

No wonder the Heavenly Path sect could blatantly defy both the righteous and demon sects within the Star Secret Realm.

Top-level sects like the Canglan Holy Land simply couldn’t hold a candle to the sect alone.

Their founder had only reached the peak of the Ninth Realm.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Path sect had no fewer than ten peak-practitioners!

Putting this aside.

The fact that the top experts of the sect did not enter the tower upon arriving in this independent space, choosing to remain outside instead, made it evident that approaching the tower was not that simple.

When they noticed that Li Jing ignored their advice and kept moving forward, they exchanged looks, but said nothing more.

They had already warned him, but he didn’t listen. What else could they do?

They could only wait until Li Jing tasted failure and finally acknowledged the power of the tower.

Meanwhile...

As Li Jing gradually got closer to the tower, he quickly realized something was off.

The closer he got to the tower, the more unstable the space surrounding him became, tearing at his body as if it would shred him into pieces at any second.

Moreover...

His sense of time sped up by many folds.

Each step he took felt like several years had passed.

This wasn’t a simple feeling.

On his body, the traces of age were evident.

Li Jing’s clean-shaven face was swiftly growing a beard. In the time it took for him to take two steps, he had turned into a whiskered old man, and his once short hair was now waist-length.

Alongside this...

His body was also under the influence of a gravitational force, hundreds of times more intense than usual.

This force increased as he took each step forward.

It was clear...

The rules of time, space, and gravity were all influencing him.

Li Jing’s pace gradually slowed down.

Seeing this, Chen Yuran on the side couldn’t help but worry for him.

She was unclear about what Li Jing was experiencing.

However, based on the rapid growth of his beard and hair, she easily deduced that time was speeding up.

Looking again at Li Jing’s slowing pace, Chen Yuran was sure that he was encountering difficulties.

However, she remained relatively calm.

She had faith in Li Jing.

The members of the Heavenly Path sect, watching as Li Jing continued to press forward despite obviously falling within the influence of the tower, were taken aback by his audacity.

The menacing power of the Tower of Taoists, they all had already felt it.

No one among them could withstand the simultaneous effects of the three Power of Rules.

Take the rule of time for example.

The acceleration of time flow was permanent.

Not only did it affect their bodies, but it also consumed their lifespan.

Just getting a little closer meant spending decades in a single step.

If they wanted to get directly next to the tower, who knew how fast the speed of time would become.

This alone was enough to make them stop in their tracks.

The Eighth and Ninth Realm theoretically had a lifespan that could reach tens of thousands of years.

But what was the lifespan of tens of thousands of years compared to the eerie effect of this time rule?

They might not even get close to the tower and all of them would age and die as time passed.

Of course.

If they really were to approach the tower, they did not have that capability.

Aside from the rules of time, there were also the rules of space and gravity at play.

No average person could withstand the simultaneous effects of time, space, and gravity.

At present, Li Jing has already gone further than any of them.

Including the ancestral master of the Tianyi Taoist school who was present...

Seeing Li Jing who had genuinely experienced the power of the tower still moving forward, showing no intention of turning back, a woman with a fire lotus in the middle of her eyebrows from the Taoist school stepped beside Chen Yuran.

"Yuran, who is this young man? How are you with him?"

Chen Yuran was caught off guard by her inquiry and then replied in a soft voice, her pretty face blushing.

"He...He is my boyfriend."

The woman who questioned Chen Yuran was more than just a senior from the Taoist school to her.

The woman’s name was Bai Huameng.

She is the master of Chen Jing, with a cultivation level at the Nine Realms Peak.

At the same time, she was also a Taoist elder.

She personally received Chen Yuran at the entrance of the Star Secret Realm and escorted her to the Tianyi Taoist school when she entered the secret realm half a year ago.

Although they had little contact after coming to the Taoist school, she was a genuine elder being the master of Yuran’s father.

On this side.

Bai Huameng was taken aback by Chen Yuran’s response, her eyes wide in shock.

"He is your Taoist Boyfriend?"

Over a hundred strong Taoist practitioners widened their eyes as well.

The one inside was Chen Yuran’s Taoist Boyfriend?

This...

Are you serious?

In the Taoist school, Chen Yuran was a fourth-generation named disciple.

This was because her status was rather special.

Otherwise, with her level of cultivation, she could only become a fifth-generation disciple at most...

Who would have expected.

Such a disciple who was only special in her status, had a Taoist boyfriend who could suppress all those present?

Looking at Li Jing, who was now extremely close to the tower, and watching his stiff movements and even his beard had grown long enough to drag on the ground, Bai Huameng did not have time to think further and quickly grabbed Chen Yuran.

"Yuran, quickly call him back! He can’t continue! Otherwise, he might..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing stopped walking, took out Flying Sword Blue Edge, and "swish", cut off his beard. Then he swung his sword again to cut off the hair at the back of his head, which had grown to the point of almost becoming a carpet.

After that, his steps were light and swift as he approached the tower.

This scene dumbfounded everyone present.

It was obvious that Li Jing’s progress had just been halted.

How did he suddenly lurch forward?

Then the flying sword in his hand...

Seemed to be a Level Ten Immortal Tool?

This person...

Where did he come from?

All the people from the Taoist school were stunned.

Chen Yuran, upon seeing this, showed a relieved expression. However, she was unhappy with a certain someone who was clearly under no pressure but walked so slowly, which made her worry.

On Li Jing’s side, he indeed had no pressure.

The Power of Rules of Space twisted and tore at his body, distorting the space around him.

But to him, this wasn’t a problem at all.

After all, he was a man who had mastered the rules of space.

Although his ability to control the rules of space was not very strong for now, he had no difficulty in preserving himself in a twisted space, let alone, he has the spatial cognition brought by Reverse Space.

When it came to the rules of gravity.

What could mere gravity do to a man who could overpower a strong monster from the Ninth Realm with his physical body?

At this time, the gravity on Li Jing’s body amounted to ten thousand times the gravity of the present world.

But for him, it was still a breeze.

Needless to say.

Having a strong physical body, made him unrestrained.

And then to the rules of time.

This was indeed rather difficult.

Having traveled such a distance, Li Jing may as well have crossed over eight thousand years, so that he, who was once confirmed to be twenty-four years old by some means of peering into the age of bones, was now an old monster nearing ten thousand years old.

Such changes naturally were not just physical.

Simultaneously, also disappearing was Li Jing’s lifespan.

As for the lifespan...

He really did not care about it.

Ordinary people in the Ninth Realm had a lifespan of up to tens of thousands of years.

In Li Jing’s case, it was not calculated like this.

Because he not only followed the Orthodox Immortality Path, but also took the route to refine the body.

The lifespan increase brought about by the body refining was incomparable to the Orthodox Immortality Path.

Remember.

Monsters, after the initial stage of becoming a monster, can live up to one to two hundred years once they step into the One Realm, while they typically only live about ten years.

The higher their level of cultivation, the more outrageous their lifespan.

As for how much lifespan Li Jing had now, he didn’t even know himself.

Solely from the current point of view.

Despite eight thousand years having passed, he doesn’t feel the slightest bit aged.

Moreover, in reality,

The lifespan he lost during these eight thousand years has been completely replenished after he took this step, even overflowing to an extreme extent.

He slowed down his pace for a reason.

Li Jing was always on the path of Body Refining.

Because he had Linglong Tower as the origin for body refining, his refining was fully automatic, he didn’t need to worry about it at all.

However, since starting with body refining, Li Jing had never trained to the limit of the corresponding cultivation level for body refining.

Every time his physical strength increased, it was because of killing monsters and reaching the threshold of the boundary, causing a rise in the level of body refining due to the boundary improvement.

You can understand it like this;

Li Jing leveling up by killing monsters is essentially a boost to the boundary of the Orthodox Immortality Path.

The improvement in his body refining process was due to his personal Orthodox Immortality Path influencing the Linglong Tower, which forcefully elevated his level of body refining.

Therefore, even though Li Jing’s physical body has long surpassed that of a Great Demon at the same realm, he has not actually reached the refining limit in the corresponding realm.

It’s not that he didn’t want to train, but he just didn’t have enough time.

Body refining is essentially a slower path to cultivation, even if Li Jing is fully automatic, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s faster than normal.

Monsters are slow to cultivate, not because they lack talent, but because this path is difficult to traverse.

In a sense, Li Jing’s physical strength isn’t actually derived from body refining.

Half of it is forcefully enhanced by the boundary, the other half is tempered by Heavenly Tribulation.

In reality, he doesn’t have much achievements in body refining.

Due to this, Li Jing’s upper limit in body refining is astonishingly high.

The critical factor is his too rapid progression of his boundary.

Before he had a chance to refine, his boundary rose, causing a continuous increase in his refining limit.

Think of the process of a monster’s body refining breakthrough as filling up a water bottle.

For Li Jing, just as he started filling the bottle, he advanced his boundary, replacing it with a larger bucket, then replaced it with an even larger container before he even had a chance to fill it.

This is a vicious cycle.

Indeed his body is strong, but it is far from his own limit.

But now, this is an opportunity to change everything.

The rule of time has shifted his personal flow of time.

This...

F***, it’s too good to be true!

Li Jing’s body refining is fully automated.

With time constantly passing, the circular motion of body refining in his body never halted.

Eight thousand years have successfully brought him to the accumulated limit possible in the Ninth Realm.

This wave, it’s extremely comforting.

If before, Li Jing was confident he could face an Immortal Tool head on,

Now, he is confident that he can tear an Immortal Tool apart with his bare hands.

Though he’s unsure if he can tear a Level Ten Immortal Tool, but he reckons if a Level Ten Immortal Tool were to strike him, he wouldn’t feel much.

What does it mean to encounter an opportunity?

This is what it means to encounter an opportunity!

Having achieved completion in his body refining cultivation, Li Jing stepped closer to the tower without any further delay, reaching out to touch the tower, which was filled with an ancient aura.

The Taoist masters, seeing him effortlessly approach the tower and even touch its entrance, showed shocked expressions, and there was an air of anticipation among them.

The Taoist Origin Fruit that they eagerly desired was growing at the base of the tower.

Just as they were filled with anticipation for Li Jing to push the tower’s entrance open, he and the tower suddenly disappeared without a trace.

At the moment of their disappearance,

They faintly heard an enraged roar.

"Impudent! Dare...."

Before the roar could finish, Li Jing and the tower had already disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Instantly, the Taoist masters were all taken aback.

Where did he go?

Where’s the tower?

Their vision hadn’t shifted for a moment, yet both the person and the tower vanished right before their eyes.

Seeing that Li Jing managed to successfully take the tower into the Little Universe, Chen Yuran heaved a sigh of relief.

Once inside the Little Universe, there should be no problems.

Seeing the Taoist elders turn their gaze to herself after the tower and Li Jing disappeared, Chen Yuran responded with a smile, preparing to explain to everyone.

But before she could open her mouth, this independent space suddenly became extremely unstable, and collapsing indications started to manifest above everyone’s head.

Such sudden changes surprised everyone, causing their faces to fall.

"Not good! The stability of this space seems to depend on the presence of that tower, now the tower is gone, the space is going to collapse!"

A middle-aged man in the crowd spoke up, and then turned to an older man.

"Ancestor!"

The old man shook his head indicating there’s no way out, then shifted his gaze over.

Understanding the situation, Bai Huameng looked at Chen Yuran and said,

"Yuran, do you know where your Taoist Companion took the tower? We need him to return now."

Caught by surprise due to the sudden change, Chen Yuran was slightly taken aback after hearing this, and then said,

"Now is not the time, we need to deal with the Deceiving the Heavens entity inside the tower. If we return here, that kind of existence is not something Li Jing or we can deal with."

???

The crowd collectively blinked in confusion.

Deceiving the Heavens.

Most of them were hearing these words for the first time.

Just by hearing it, they knew that this term doesn’t bode well.

The crowd of Taoist masters and only a few others who heard the term "Deceiving the Heavens" were stunned, their faces first full of jittery shock, followed by indescribable astonishment.

Bai Huameng was also one of the few who had heard of the Deceiving the Heavens.

The few people who barely knew what was going on exchanged a glance before Bai Huameng looked at the Taoist master,

"Master, amongst us, only you possess spatial abilities. Can you stabilize it for some time until Yuran’s Taoist companion returns?"

"I will do my best."

The Taoist master nodded, and about to enact a magic formula.

However, before he could do anything further, a golden tower-shaped pendant shot out from Chen Yuran’s pocket, then "hummed" and transformed into a giant five-thousand feet high tower, and covered the area below.

Consequently, the space that was showing signs of collapse stabilised.

???

The crowd.

Seeing this, Chen Yuran was also slightly taken aback.

She was considering asking Linglong or Smoke Eye if they had a way to contact Li Jing, but why had Linglong appeared on her own?

At this moment, Smoke Eye’s voice echoed in her ears.

Linglong has already mastered the rules of space to a certain extent without the master’s knowledge. The little girl was originally planning to give him a surprise after completely mastering it. Now, she can save the day temporarily."

Upon hearing these words, Chen Yuran’s face brightened with joy.

Just as she was about to speak, the Spirit Weapon Linglong appeared beside her.

"Sister Yuran, I’m unsure how long I can hold on."

While speaking, Linglong looked at the people from Heaven’s Taoist School, who were staring at her in surprise.

"If you have any means, prepare them quickly. The master can’t attend to us right now. When he finally can, he will take us away."

The crowd exchanged glances upon hearing this.

With Linglong Tower appearing, its reputation as an immortal item could no longer be hidden.

It’s a level ten Immortal Tool.

It was disguised as an accessory and carried in the pocket of their four-generation outer door disciple.

Linglong just addressed Li Jing as her master and indicated that he had the power to lead them away.

Who exactly is this man...?

He not only possessed a level ten Immortal Tool flying sword but also a pagoda of the same level!

What’s more, this pagoda even had the ability to stabilize space.

Including some of the more discerning individuals present, including the ancestor of the Taoist School, they captured signs that the rules of space were currently at work.

Is this supposed to be within the capabilities of a Spirit Weapon?

Someone from their own four generations of disciples outside the gate...

Is he going to ascend to heaven?

Having such a Taoist companion, so what if Chen Yuran is only at the Fifth Boundary?

Amidst their astonishment, everyone began preparing their own measures.

Among those present, only the founder of the Taoist School had mastered decent space techniques, but the others were not idle either. They all had ways to protect themselves, lacking only time to set up and rehearse.

Now with Linglong Tower holding on, it was the perfect opportunity for them to take action.

...

Meanwhile.

In the Little Universe.

Li Jing had carved out a separate space at the edge of the Little Universe to place the Tower of Taoists.

The existence inside the tower had awakened.

He was furious.

There was no doubt about that.

After plotting for tens of thousands of years and being on the verge of replacing the Will of Heaven in the Star Secret Realm to rule a part of heaven and earth, who could expect someone like Li Jing to ruin his plans?

However, he seemed aware of his own plight, hiding in the Taoist item without showing himself, and using the rules of space controlled by the Taoist item to keep the Taoist item itself separate from the Little Universe.

At this point, to tell the truth, Li Jing was in a bit of a predicament.

This guy’s Taoist item was impressive.

Once in the Little Universe, it could still remain independent.

This made it impossible for him to wield the "authority" of the Creator.

If he had the time, he wouldn’t mind wearing this guy down.

But right now, he didn’t have much time.

Though after they entered different spaces and even though he had connections with Linglong and Smoke Eye through his Lifebound Magic Instrument, they could not maintain contact with him. But when he took away the pagoda, he detected that the independent space was stable because of the existence of the tower.

Now what?

Should he just ignore the tower for now?

That probably wasn’t a good idea.

The guy in the tower is not to be underestimated; he couldn’t give him too much time.

Should he take out the Nameless to defeat him?

Not a good idea either.

If it were Taoist item against Taoist item, Nameless might not lose, which is quite impressive.

But his own cultivation level was far from being able to compete with that of the guy in the tower.

To defeat him, he needed to force him out of the tower first.

Just as he was worrying about this, a streak of light swiftly approached and landed on Li Jing’s shoulder.

Ling Ling was quite capable.

And after gaining the Original Fortune, she was practically on par with Wina, possessing a dual status. Within the Little Universe, she was already the Spirit of Origin of this place.

Li Jing had brought back a significant item, and she was the first to notice.

Seeing the Tower of Taoists isolated outside the Little Universe, Ling Ling was slightly taken aback, then cried out in surprise.

"Li Jing, have you really found the Deceiving the Heavens from the Star Secret Realm?"

"Let’s not talk about that now, do you have the ability to force him out of this Taoist pagoda?"

Li Jing turned his head and asked.

Upon hearing his words, Ling Ling blinked a couple of times and chuckled.

"Isn’t this simple? Don’t you have a Taoist item in your hand that can directly strike against the rules?"

As she spoke, she said cheerfully,

"With a Taoist item that controls the rules of space for protection, even an ordinary Creator may not be able to deal with him. But bumping into you, one could say he’s really unlucky. Just take out the Nameless and defeat him."

A smile curled at the corner of Li Jing’s mouth upon hearing her words.

He understood the logic.

From any perspective, for the Deceiving the Heavens to run into him was incredibly unfortunate.

The problem was that, given the current situation, he didn’t have a high enough level to stand against someone in a direct conflict!

At this moment, Ling Ling suddenly jumped up and took a bite at his cheek.

???!!

Li Jing.

Seeing this, Ling Ling giggled.

"You got a bargain. Don’t pick fights with me casually in the future."

She joked and then she sucked over a drop of blood through the air.

The Symbiotic Contract was completed.

Following that, Ling Ling’s figure started to fade.

Simultaneously, boundless vitality bubbled forth from within Li Jing.

At the same time.

The title of ’Administrator’ in Li Jing’s status panel changed to ’Primitive God’.

The level displayed behind it became ’???’.