Chapter 652 - 651: Decision, Warm Up

The appearance of the health bar was an anomaly unique to Li Jing’s perception.

But the changes brought about by this appearance were also perceptible to the Saint and Ye Mengyao.

Ye Mengyao’s body stiffened as she looked forward with astonishment and disbelief.

The Saint, however, merely furrowed her brows and spoke in a low voice.

"The time is almost upon us, you have at most seven more days."

"Seven days?!"

Ye Mengyao’s eyes widened in shock, before she looked at someone with a sense of being at a loss.

Seeing this, Li Jing gestured for her to calm down, then set his eyes on the increasingly clear health bar above the wooden coffin.

The appearance of the health bar didn’t provide a definite value, instead displaying ’???’.

The Essence Source displayed behind was more comprehensive, showing 1256932494.

In the past.

Upon seeing such figures, Li Jing would have undoubtedly turned around and left.

Especially when health bar displays ’???’ it implies that this was beyond his capabilities.

But now.

Things have changed since then.

At present.

He’s no longer being restricted by his realm.

Although his power still remains within its corresponding realms, he isn’t limited to just one method of enhancing himself in a short period of time.

A health bar showing three question marks, does not necessarily mean he can’t kill!

After all.

Whatever is incubating in the wooden coffin is showing its health bar now.

If it dares to display its health bar, he dares to challenge it.

A health bar without a definite value doesn’t necessarily mean the opponent has a much higher level.

Just like the situation at this moment.

Ignoring the health bar which displays ’???’ the essence source of 1.2 billion is just slightly stronger than the Void Dead Puppet that Li Jing encountered in the God Demon Forbidden Area previously.

With such strength.

It’s certain to be enough to destroy the Immortal Realm after its birth.

But for it to make Li Jing retreat, far from sufficient.

After a little thought, Li Jing turned his head.

"Mengyao, I am giving you two hours. Try to gather as much collective wish power as you can muster at this stage, then give this coffin a major blow."

???

Ye Mengyao.

What was Li Jing implying?

The being in the wooden coffin has not even emerged, yet he’s asking her to strike it.

Once this blow goes down.

Leaving aside whether it could hurt the entity inside the coffin, it might even hasten its emergence.

The Saint had already said.

There would be less than seven days left.

With time remaining, isn’t Li Jing considering a different approach?

Just as she wanted to speak, Li Jing gestured for her to stop.

"Do as I say, your job ends after you strike it, leave the rest to me."

Faced with these words, Ye Mengyao was slightly puzzled.

Even though Li Jing’s statement seemed casual, it appeared inexplicably convincing nonetheless.

Gazing at Li Jing, Ye Mengyao bit her lip, nodded in agreement, sat cross-legged, and slowly closed her eyes.

Things have come to such a state.

This definitely wasn’t the same girl as before.

The moment she sank into meditation, collective gold wish power streams visible to the naked eye converged from all directions.

Perhaps sensing the threat brought by the gathering of such large amounts of collective wish power, the wooden coffin, which would only exude apprehension-inducing divine power with each beat, began to emit increasingly potent intimidating pressure.

Even a casual observer could see.

This coffin, which had not fully awakened yet, was attempting to defend itself by trying to intimidate and drive off Ye Mengyao.

Upon sensing this, the Saint glanced curiously at Ye Mengyao and then turned her head and said,

"Indeed, you have picked up a treasure. In merely two and a half years, this little girl has grown enough to pose a threat to the will of the old world’s Master."

Before anyone could respond, she became serious.

"The will of the old world’s Master has not fully awakened yet. From here on you don’t really have idle time to think about other methods, are you sure you want to proceed this way? Have you carefully considered this? If you provoke it and cause it to emerge early, with your current strength, it’s more than likely you won’t be able to handle it."

"How can I know if I can handle it or not unless I try?"

Li Jing replied coolly, stating,

"As you’ve also mentioned, it has not fully awakened yet, and it needs time to awake its dormant will and power. If it emerges prematurely, it will be incomplete. The time is limited and I don’t necessarily have a better solution, so instead of waiting for it to emerge according to the plan, why not try to deal with an incomplete entity."

Hearing Li Jing verbalizing his thoughts like this, the Saint felt there was some truth in his words, she bit her lip lightly and nodded in agreement.

"I’m sorry, I can’t recover quick enough to help you."

"No issue, I am not quite used to relying on others for help anyway."

Li Jing laughed cordially.

The Saint was speechless, then chuckled lightly in mock annoyance.

"Do you know how many people have dreamt about relying on me but couldn’t get such a chance?"

Li Jing burst out laughing then quipped.

"Actually, relying on the Human Saint would amount to immense pressure, wouldn’t it?"

The Saint smiled, genteelly untangled herself from Li Jing’s arm, and managed to stand up. She them bade her farewell.

"Now that I am awake, I should be leaving. I hope you can make it through this. If we meet again, I promise to..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing interjected abruptly.

"If you’re leaving, just leave already. Don’t hang around here making promises, I am still young and do not wish to die."

"..."

The Saint choked back a laugh, gave a huff of exasperation and vanished there and then.

Seeing this, Li Jing was taken aback, he looked around.

She truly is a Saint!

Even weakened and barely awake, he could not detect how she left...

While he was still amazed, the Saint’s ethereal voice echoed in his ears.

"Zhu Qing, my name."

Receiving this voice message, Li Jing smiled faintly and exhaled deeply.

Before the Saint woke up and after, he always acted as if she was no one special.

But that...

It was just an act.

In reality, he was just like everyone else.

He... he was still a human, after all.

Zhu Qing was the Human Saint.

She represented not only the pinnacle of the humanity but also the destiny, belief, and continuation of the human race.

Any human, upon seeing her, would inevitably wish to kneel in reverence and would not hold any malicious intentions. No exceptions.

Even the heinous ones who coveted the Saint Position, could only plot in secret and would unavoidably be affected by the sanctity when they encountered her in person.

Li Jing’s calmness was all an act.

Facing the Saint, he felt immense pressure.

He even held her in his arms just now.

His arm still held her lingering scent.

The burden he bore was beyond imagination.

This was why he previously made such a haste to pass his spiritual stone to Zhu Qing.

Although it was majorly for the sake of his disciple, he also had a slight personal motive. He didn’t want Zhu Qing to see him as any common human.

It was not to say Li Jing had other thoughts...

Just like what he had said...

Living on the Saint’s support, not everyone could bear that pressure.

Mainly, there was once, a hundred years ago, Zhu Qing helped him in a life-threatening crisis, the only time he truly faced the risk of falling.

If they had to coexist in the future, he would prefer to do so as friends, instead of as a common human.

His gaze returned to the Cang Tian’s Coffin, Li Jing contemplated and then activated his spiritual connection.

The next second...

...Nangong Qingshan holding a teacup appeared by his side.

Nangong Qingshan, abruptly summoned from the Little Universe, was taken aback, but soon felt something, and looked at Cang Tian’s Coffin in surprise.

Ye Mengyao had been in the Little Universe for so long.

The Immortal Realm was on the brink of an apocalypse, and Li Jing was trying to solve this problem by finding the root cause. Most of the influential figures in Chen Tang City knew this, including Nangong Qingshan, who supposedly was just temporarily staying in the Little Universe.

After giving Cang Tian’s Coffin, which was emanating a heavy pressure, a deep look, Nangong Qingshan turned his eyes to Li Jing.

"Master Li, is there anything I can assist you with?"

"Yes."

Li Jing nodded and said.

"Mengyao needs two hours to gather her strength. Could I trouble you to help me warm up?"

"Warm up?"

Nangong Qingshan was taken aback, then said incredulously.

"Do you... want me to spar with you, Master Li?"

"Yes."

Li Jing replied with a smile.

Getting a confirmed response, Nangong Qingshan looked more bewildered. He scrutinized Li Jing up and down.

"Master Li, this puts me in a difficult position. I am just at the peak of the Fourteenth Realm. Given your current level..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Jing shook his head.

"We are old friends, Nangong Qingshan my senior, there’s no need to hide anything. No matter how worse it gets, you are evolved from a branch of the Wood of Origin, it’s not excessive to say that you are half of the unique Origin itself. I didn’t know it before, but now I understand. Realm, to people of our level, it doesn’t mean anything."

Faced with such words, Nangong Qingshan was rendered speechless and offered no rebuttal.

After a slight hesitation, he spoke.

"Restoring the lost rules of the Immortal Realm still needs time, this old man cannot use full force, otherwise it will invoke Heavenly Punishment."

"Don’t worry, I will bear the Heavenly Punishment for you."

Li Jing smiled and said.

"Rule restrictions, similarly, I am also restrained to Half-Step Return to Origin. Senior Nangong, you don’t need to go all out, you just need to give me certain pressure in close combat."

Nangong Qingshan has been living in the Little Universe for more than a hundred years.

Because of the existence of little Ling Ling and Xiaocai, he received quite a few benefits, so living in the Little Universe was quite comfortable.

Aside from that.

The disciples of the Immortal Music Palace who came into the Little Universe for training in Sky City from time to time were all a delight to the eye.

People get old.

They always need to see something pleasing.

Trees get old too.

For the past hundred years, Li Jing has not bothered him at all.

Although Nangong Qingshan didn’t know why Li Jing wanted him to create pressure, he complied once the request was made and didn’t refuse.

With a slight bow, Nangong Qingshan said.

"If that is the case, then I will take the liberty."

Li Jing nodded, stomping his foot against the ground to take advantage of the momentum and fly up into the sky.

Seeing this, Nangong Qingshan gave a glance to Ye Mengyao, who was gathering the power of the masses’ will, took out a branch and put it down to protect the remaining less than ten meters of the floating land beneath him.

Then, with a swift move, he caught up with Li Jing, who had already flown up into the sky.

"Master Li, pardon me!"

With a booming shout, Nangong Qingshan, who usually had a benign appearance, raised his hand and slapped him.

This seemingly simple palm had torn space apart, causing a void to appear.

Seeing this, Li Jing did not dare to slack off.

The missing rules of the Immortal Realm were still only showing signs of gradual recovery.

Even though he had broken free from the bondage of the realm, the strength he could exert in the Immortal Realm was only that of Half-Step Return to Origin.

However, because he possessed six Origins simultaneously, he was not heavily dependent on external spiritual qi, and unlike the inhabitants of the Ancient Fairyland, was not affected by the environmental spiritual qi problem, preventing full strength.

If he were facing a common foe, he wouldn’t need to be so serious.

However, Nangong Qingshan was different.

Although he was not an Origin, the impact of his long stay in the Immortal Realm was also minimal.

After all, his existence was somewhat peculiar.

Being able to be called half an Origin, in fact, he had reached the level that Li Jing is at now since the start of his transformation into a demon.

Realm.

For him, it meant nothing.

Unlike Li Jing.

Although Nangong Qingshan is not a true Origin, he has lived for an unimaginably long time.

In that long time, even if he doesn’t do anything, the accumulation of power is undoubtedly beyond imagination.

Unbound by realm, he is truly stronger than what is seen.

With a thought, Li Jing converted all the Chaos Qi in his body into Blood Qi, and threw a punch directly at him.

"Boom!"

With a loud noise.

The fist and palm collided.

Space shattered.

Li Jing and Nangong Qingshan were thrown back at extreme speeds, then they both forcefully steadied themselves in the distant sky.

"Senior Nangong Qingshan, trouble you to exert more force! There’s no need to worry about Heavenly Punishment!"

With an electric gaze, Li Jing shouted, and then there was an explosion of Blood Qi around him that seemed to pierce the sky.

Seeing this, Nangong Qingshan’s pupils contracted.

How terrifying was it for Li Jing, who had achieved sainthood through his physical body, to unleash all the Blood Qi transformed from the Chaos Qi?

Even if his Blood Qi was thrown into the Upper Three Realms, perhaps only those of the Three God Emperors’ level could handle it.

Saint Emperor?

Not qualified!

It must be known.

Li Jing is currently in a state of restraint due to the missing rules.

Once he entered the Upper Three Realms, constraints would be lifted.

The Blood Qi that he could unleash, whether in quantity or strength, would multiply by hundreds or even thousands of times!

This kid...

How did he cultivate?

It was only a hundred years ago that he would come to meet with this old man from time to time to watch the beauties. How did he made such progress...?

Just as Li Jing was about to explode, Nangong Qingshan no longer held back.

No more holding back.

He could not meet the expectations of putting Li Jing under pressure, let alone avoid getting pummeled.

Raising his hand and lightly tapping his forehead, Nangong Qingshan’s body trembled and his aura rose several levels in an instant.

At the same time.

A tangible terrifying heavenly might instantly formed in the high heavens.

The power he used.

Exceeded the limit that this rule-lacking heaven and earth could allow.

The Heavenly Punishment was coming.

It was coming.

However, just as the Heavenly Punishment was about to take shape, Li Jing threw a punch towards the sky.

"Boom!"

A loud noise echoed as his blood qi blasted into the high heavens, then transformed into Chaos qi and then solidified into the Power of Thunder Punishment, eventually turning into the Heavenly Punishment that shattered the high heavens.

In an instant.

The clouds of impending Heavenly Punishment were scattered by the force.

The next second.

Even darker clouds quickly gathered.

But this time, the clouds were not aimed at Nangong Qingshan but Li Jing.

The terrifying, extreme fear of Heavenly Might made Nangong Qingshan’s scalp tingle.

Besides Li Jing, no one could shatter the impending Heavenly Punishment.

Otherwise, they could only watch as the Heavenly Punishment fell.

If they could resist it, great, if not, they would be utterly destroyed.

There was no power in this world that could withstand Heavenly Punishment.

But this.

Was not the main point.

The main point was that Li Jing’s action of wrecking Heavenly Punishment was an unprecedented act of defying the heavens.

Heavenly Path’s fury was inevitable.

Nangong Qingshan had not thought about this beforehand.

At this moment, he regretted it tremendously.

If he had known Li Jing’s technique, he would never have agreed.

Without a second thought, he immediately turned his head to assist Li Jing in confronting the soon-to-arrive furious Heavenly Punishment.

Just as he turned his head, the dark clouds that were spiraling around someone’s head suddenly seemed to freeze as if there was a problem within, and then the clouds began to flicker and swiftly moved southwards at an unimaginable speed.

?

Nangong Qingshan.

What was going on?

Did the clouds about to form Heavenly Punishment run away?

Although the true Heavenly Punishment was not seen often, Nangong Qingshan had a long life span and thus seen it quite a few times.

But in a situation like this, he had never seen it and did not understand it at all.

Instead of saying that the clouds that were about to form Heavenly Punishment ran away, it seemed like they had another target.

While Nangong Qingshan was puzzled, Li Jing blinked at the escaping clouds.

He.

Was not afraid of Heavenly Punishment.

However, the situation was slightly out of his expectation.

He didn’t expect...

After two and a half years, the buggy Heavenly Punishment due to his existence, hasn’t been fixed yet.

Otherwise, even if he defied the Heavenly Path, the rules of the Heavenly Punishment should not react to him.

This time not only was there a strong reaction, but the clouds that were about to form the Heavenly Punishment even flew south, clearly going after Xiaoyao Zi!

Heavenly Punishment caused by defying the Heavenly Path.

Its power was not small.

Could Xiaoyao Zi withstand it?

Li Jing frowned slightly, but then threw the question at the back of his mind.

The elder sister of Heavenly Path once said.

Xiaoyao Zi wouldn’t be that easy to get killed.

"Elder Qingshan, let us continue."

"Huh?"

Nangong Qingshan was brought back to his senses. He subconsciously looked in the direction where Heavenly Punishment was heading, then turned back and nodded.

"Okay."