Chapter 655 - 654: World Changes, Bad News from Blue Star

The broken old world that had its world core taken away quickly perished, completely dissipating.

Just to be safe, Li Jing did not hastily leave.

Seeing the old world perish without any untoward incident or any treasures dropping out, he turned his head and entered the Little Universe.

At this time within the Little Universe.

Ye Mengyao was waiting anxiously.

In contrast, Nangong Qingshan was remarkably calm, as stable as an old dog.

Seeing Li Jing returning unharmed,

Ye Mengyao’s face brightened at first, and then she frowned.

Although this was what she was expecting to see.

However, not much time had passed from start to finish.

Li Jing had already returned, Cang Tian...

Nangong Qingshan was somewhat surprised as well.

He, too, didn’t expect it to be this fast.

But upon a closer look at Li Jing, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

Clearly, Nangong Qingshan noticed the slight changes in Li Jing after he became the Keeper of the Big World, and Li Jing smiled wryly.

Nangong Qingshan was a wise man.

Glancing surreptitiously at Ye Mengyao beside him, he didn’t expose the situation, but just laughed and bowed with his fist in hand.

"I congratulate Master Li on his victorious return."

"It was mere luck."

Li Jing chuckled and casually patted Ye Mengyao’s head, who wanted to say something but held back, seemingly having many questions and things to say.

"Cang Tian is dead. We don’t know when Huang Tian will show up, but that probably won’t have anything to do with you anymore."

?

Ye Mengyao.

"After Cang Tian dies, Huang Tian should succeed him," was a famous line in one of Earth’s four famous classics.

There was no such thing in Blue Star culture.

Therefore, although Ye Mengyao had a good understanding of the Blue Star culture, she was confused for a moment.

One Cang Tian died, and there was still a Huang Tian?

However, hearing Li Jing’s joking tone, she knew that everything was really over, and even the powerful Cang Tian had been brutally suppressed.

Looking at Li Jing’s calm face, Ye Mengyao couldn’t help but feel a pang in her nose.

Seeing her cheap disciple looking at her with teary eyes, Li Jing smiled and spoke gently.

"What are your plans next, Mengyao? Are you going to stay in Chen Tang City, or...?"

Facing such a question, Ye Mengyao faltered, then bit her lip and spoke.

"Master, I... I want to go home first."

"Alright."

Li Jing nodded, saying:

"In that case, why don’t you bring over all your family and friends."

Hearing him say so, Ye Mengyao felt moved.

She was born into an ordinary lower-class family.

The people she could come into contact with were just like that.

Compared to her relatives and friends who were the lowest of the low in the Immortal Realm, being able to bring all of them to Chen Tang City meant that no matter what they would get here, it would be far better than struggling for survival in the chaotic Immortal Realm.

Only those who have lived at the bottom understand how difficult it is for the little people to survive in a place like the Immortal Realm.

Rubbing the sour corner of her eyes, Ye Mengyao spoke.

"Master, can I really bring all of my family and friends over?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

Li Jing tilted his head.

Ye Mengyao blinked a few times at his words, not saying anything.

Seeing this, Li Jing also blinked, then remembered an incident, coughed, and turned his head.

"Elder Nangong, please accompany Mengyao on her trip to ensure her safety."

"Of course."

Nangong Qingshan nodded.

Before the words fell, Ye Mengyao spoke.

"Master, I’m just going home, there’s no need to trouble Elder Nangong. Besides, I’m not the little Three Realm chicken from back then. Now..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a slew of figures with boundless and almost uncontrollable auras passed through the passageway from the Little Universe to Chen Tang City without pausing they used Sky Control to fly towards the distance.

???

Ye Mengyao.

Li Jing was not surprised to see this.

This time, not only had the missing rules of the Immortal Realm been completed, but the whole Big World had also been nourished by the world core of the old world and had become truly complete.

The impact of this period was huge.

Not only the Immortal Realm, but the whole Big World would undergo an upheaval.

Nangong Qingshan was not surprised either.

The Little Universe was based around Li Jing.

As long as he was in the Big World, the Little Universe was with the Big World.

Therefore, whatever changes the Big World underwent, Nangong Qingshan could easily feel.

He himself was a cultivator with a high cultivation level and a long life span.

He was very sensitive to certain changes.

He had already sensed that there was going to be a change in the Immortal Realm before Li Jing returned.

While Ye Mengyao was still looking confused, her three martial aunts, Liu Sisi, Chen Yuran and Yulian, entered the Little Universe with the crowd.

Seeing Li Jing, the three stopped.

Liu Sisi smiled charmingly.

Yulian also smiled gently and spoke.

"You’re done with everything?"

"Hmm, just finished."

Li Jing smiled.

"So, all this is your doing?"

Chen Yuran asked in a strange voice.

"I wouldn’t say that all of it, it’s just a small part."

Li Jing laughed and said:

"I’ll elaborate on the details later, for now, you three just relax and go through your tribulations."

The three nodded at his words.

The cultivation level of the three of them had long broken through the limit of the Immortal Realm, but due to the lack of rules, they were restricted to the Half-Step Return to Origin, and could not trigger the heavenly tribulations to truly enter the Return to Origin stage.

When the rules were restored, the qi within them began to spiral out of control.

Heavenly calamity.

It was about to descend.

Besides the three of them.

At this moment, many of the people who were endlessly entering Chen Tang City from the Little Universe were those who were genuinely stepping into the Return to Origin Realm.

However, among them, there were more.

Those were people who originaly stuck at the respective realm verge, and are about to achieve a breakthrough.

The absence of Immortal Realm rules seems to affect only the practitioners at the peak of the Thirteenth Realm venturing into the Fourteenth Realm, but in reality, the impact goes far deeper.

The absence of rules led to the inability for the purity of the Immortal aura in the heaven and earth to support the cultivators, and the whole Immortal Realm was affected, not just a small fraction of the people.

However, for those who are not peak cultivators, the impact they face is relatively minor.

Just as Yulian and Chen Yuran were about to fly away, Liu Sisi suddenly spoke up.

"Husband, this time, it will take Yuran, Ayu, and me at least a year to cross the calamity. While we’re doing that, don’t just sit around alone in Chen Tang City. Try to resolve the issue with Yini."

?

Li Jing typed out a question mark.

Jiang Yini?

Does she... have a problem?

Before he could figure it out, Yulian nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Indeed, Yini’s issue needs to be resolved. More than 100 years have passed in the blink of an eye. Things can’t go on like this."

???

Li Jing.

He found himself completely unable to understand Yulian’s words.

Seeing his baffled face, Chen Yuran clicked her tongue.

"What Sisi and Ayu mean is, find an opportunity to deal with your aunt-in-law."

???

Li Jing was astounded.

"She has been with you in the Immortal Realm for more than a hundred years, cultivating day and night to catch up with you. Nowadays, we can hardly get a chance to see her."

Liu Sisi spoke up in a disappointed tone.

"You can’t possibly think that she came to the Immortal Realm just to be the city lord of Sky City, do you?"

Li Jing was silent.

Liu Sisi spoke up again.

"At the very least, take her out for a walk. She can’t keep going on like this."

Without waiting for his response, she continued.

"You’ll have to figure it out on your own. I can’t hold back anymore."

Having said that, she rose into the air and flew away in an instant.

Yulian followed her afterwards and went to cross the calamity as well.

Seeing the two of them leaving, Chen Yuran did not linger either, after leaving a word, she also flies away.

Li Jing silently watched the three of them leave.

There was never anything between him and Jiang Yini.

However, when Liu Sisi suddenly spoke up, he could not ignore it.

He didn’t have any particular feelings for Jiang Yini and always considered her a friend.

More than a hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye. Due to her "addiction" to cultivation, they didn’t have much contact. Even if he initially had any feelings, he had now none.

But he had to think about it.

What was Jiang Yini’s motive for ascending to the Immortal Realm with him...

He had not been aware of this. The key point was that Liu Sisi had suddenly mentioned it.

Looking back at the past.

Jiang Yini had no need to leave her family and ascend to the Immortal Realm with him...

Today, Sky City is not much utilized, basically empty.

After a hundred years of rapid development outside Chen Tang City, what was outside was even better than what was inside Sky City.

Hiss.

Rubbing his temple, Li Jing felt a headache coming on.

If Jiang Yini really had feelings for him as Liu Sisi said, it would be a bit dismissive of him not to recognize it, especially after a hundred years had passed without him realizing it.

What should I do?

Talk to Jiang Yini?

Clearly not.

She’d been waiting for a hundred years, and she was still trying to catch up with him.

He couldn’t just dismiss her with a word...

Moreover, although Liu Sisi’s suggestion was sudden, the opinions of the three women in his household were surprisingly uniform. If he didn’t handle it properly, it wouldn’t end well.

Just as he was feeling troubled, Ye Mengyao, a spectator on the side, spoke up with a curious expression on her face.

"Master, who is Yini? Considering what the three masters have said... Am I going to have another master mother?"

Li Jing’s mouth twitched at her words.

"It’s grown-up stuff. You don’t need to worry about it."

Leaving this sentence behind, he stepped towards Chen Tang City.

Ye Mengyao, unable to get a proper answer, naturally could not be pleased. She scampered about, intending to follow him, but Nangong Qingshan stopped her.

"Every household has a problem that’s hard to discuss. Our sect leader is troubled right now. You should stop bothering him. Be careful, or he might spank you."

Hearing these words, Ye Mengyao frowned.

Would he... spanking her?

Of course, he wouldn’t want to!

After giving it some thought, however, she realized that she didn’t know Li Jing all that well.

Compared to her,

Nangong Qingshan would definitely know more about him.

Would...

He really have the heart to do that?

After thinking it over, Ye Mengyao decided to play it safe to avoid any misfortune.

...

Chen Tang City.

Just as Li Jing was stepping out of the spatial passage, he bumped into Zhaixing Zi, who was rushing over.

Meeting him, Li Jing thought he was also eager to cross the calamity and stepped aside. Unexpectedly, the latter stopped and exclaimed happily.

"Sect Leader! Someone from Blue Star has ascended!"

At the news, Li Jing faltered before asking.

"How many of them have come up?"

"Over a thousand people!"

Zhaixing Zi was ecstatic.

The day he had been waiting for wasn’t just the hundred years since he joined Chen Tang City, but a full three thousand years.

Finally!

There were people ascending from the Blue Star!

Although Donghua Immortal Palace could no longer claim to be the leader of the Eastern Immortal Domain, and its fate was now determined by his current master, he was still the immortal official in charge of the Blue Star Ascension Platform.

And over the past hundred years...

He had been virtually idle.

Because his task given by Li Jing was to guard the Blue Star Ascension Platform well.

After waiting so many years.

He could finally stand up, how could he not be happy?

On the other hand.

Li Jing was slightly surprised to hear that over a thousand people had ascended from the Blue Star at once.

It seemed.

The completion of the Big World also had a significant impact on the Blue Star.

Over the past hundred years.

He had always felt that someone from the Blue Star would ascend at any time, but it wasn’t so.

Cases like Liu Shi, who received a large number of God Patterns before he ascended, could be ignored. They either had a family to guard or had to guard Longyu and wouldn’t simply ascend at will.

But besides Liu Shi and a few others, there were plenty of potential Ninth Realm strong ones on the Blue Star.

Like those Hidden World Sects.

Each of them had a group of Ninth Realm bigwigs in the background.

The fact that not a single person ascended over such a long time was very unreasonable.

Li Jing once speculated.

It might be that something was still lacking, preventing the Ninth Realm beings on the Blue Star from opening up the Ascending Path.

Now.

The problem seemed to be non-existent.

Lost in thought, Zhaixing Zi spoke eagerly.

"Master, I’ve already sent all the ascendants to tour Chen Tang City guided by the ’Welcoming Disciples’ of the Immortal Music Palace. Among them is a fox demon who claims to be Jiu Li, saying that she knows you. I thought this name might be your alias, so I arranged her in the VIP room."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing raised his eyebrows in wonder.

"Brother Jiu has ascended!?"

Before Zhaixing Zi could respond, he disappeared from the spot with a swift move of his feet.

Seeing Li Jing leave without a word, Zhaixing Zi scratched his head, decided not to disturb him.

Looking at Li Jing’s reaction, it was a sure thing that he knew Jiu Li.

Although Jiu Li had just ascended as a mere Tenth Realm being, she was also a beautiful and seductive fox demon. Who knows what might have happened between them?

It would be impolite for him to intrude their reunion, wouldn’t it?

...

Sky City.

The guest room of Chen Tang City headquarters.

As Li Jing hurriedly arrived, he saw Jiu Li with her pink hair attentively studying a landscape painting on the well with inherent spiritual rhyme.

Seeing the familiar face, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Jiu Bro."

Jiu Li was slightly startled when she heard the voice, and then turned around.

Seeing Li Jing in front of her, she revealed a blooming smile.

"Xiaolizi, you haven’t changed a bit in over a hundred years."

Li Jing chuckled and said as he walked in.

"Naturally, there wouldn’t be any noticeable changes on the surface, after all there’s no reason we’d age with our cultivation level."

Jiu Li shrugged, uncertain, and suddenly transformed into a muscular man, arms wide open, bellowing.

"Haven’t seen you in so many years, how about a hug?"

"..."

Li Jing.

A hug.

That’s easy.

But her intentionally turning into a muscular man was unreasonable.

Quietly stepping backwards, Li Jing said.

"I’m okay with a hug, but you need to change back first."

"Wouldn’t that be giving you an advantage for nothing?"

The masculine looking Jiu Li chuckled.

Despite her words, she changed back to her original form, smiling and beckoning.

"Come."

"..."

Li Jing.

He realized suddenly.

When Jiu Li turned back to her original form, he found himself hesitant to make a move.

The key here was.

Liu Sisi just mentioned Jiang Yini’s issue to him, which made him a bit sensitive now.

This hug, he was afraid it would lead to complications.

Seeing no movement from him for a while, Jiu Li tilted her head in confusion.

"What’s the matter, you’re looking at me as if I’m a ferocious beast?"

"Ah, well..."

Li Jing coughed, thought about it and gave her a firm hug.

Jiu Li was naturally very open-minded.

After the hug, she smiled and pulled Li Jing to sit down.

"Although I’m new to the Immortal Realm and don’t understand the situation, it seems you’re doing quite well here."

"Just so-so, manageable."

Li Jing responded with a smile, saying.

"It’s a bit unfortunate for Jiu Bro to arrive at this time, but it was inevitable. Ayu and the others have just left for a tribulation due to some changes and it may take about a year to finish."

Upon hearing this, Jiu Li frowned slightly.

"So, it’s not just the Blue Star that has changed?"

"It’s a long story."

Li Jing smiled and said.

"The changes have already happened, so there’s no point in saying more."

Jiu Li was generally a carefree person.

Seeing that Li Jing didn’t intend on going into detail, she didn’t dwell on the topic.

Her curiosity lead her to question with wide blinking eyes.

"Given the excellent cultivation environment in the Immortal Realm, Ayu and the others should be advancing quite quickly, right? You just mentioned that it will take about a year for them to transition this time, what kind of cultivation level is that?"

"Hmm, they are trying to break through to the Return to Origin stage of the Fourteenth Realm."

Li Jing responded.

"The...Fourteenth Realm!?"

Jiu Li’s eyes widened.

Clearly, she didn’t expect that in just a hundred years, Liu Sisi and the others would surpass her by a whole four realms.

The environment of the Immortal Realm is indeed better than Blue Star.

It was visibly noticeable.

But this seems a bit extreme!

As insightful as Jiu Li was, she quickly realized it had something to do with Li Jing.

"What kind of divine medicine did you give them? In just a hundred short years, they’ve attained such a level!?"

Jiu Li blurted out, then grabbed Li Jing.

"Could you give me some too?"

Li Jing was taken aback.

Divine medicine, doesn’t exist.

As the subject is Jiu Li.

He can indeed help her to rapidly advance like a rocket.

After all, she, like Yulian, is a fox demon, possessing certain special "gifts".

But, this certainly isn’t right, is it?

Seeing Jiu Li looking at him with an awkward expression, Li Jing opened his mouth wordlessly and whispered,

"The path they took, you can’t follow."

Jiu Li frowned at his words.

"Why?"

"It’s not easy to explain in detail."

Li Jing was serious.

Receiving such a vague answer, Jiu Li pursed her lips.

Just as she was about to say something, Li Jing decided to change the subject.

"Let’s not talk about this for now, how have things been on Blue Star in the past hundred years?"

Jiu Li was not the type to nag incessantly.

In the meantime, she also knew.

If Li Jing had something promising for rapid advancement, she would surely not be left out once she arrived at the Immortal Realm.

Grumbling as she twisted her body, she began to explain.

"Blue Star has developed very quickly over the past century. The level of scientific and immortal civilization is not much different from what I saw in Chen Tang City. In the past hundred years, Longyu has also risen rapidly to become the world’s number one powerhouse. However, in the face of this change, the world is bound to undergo drastic changes, and it’s hard to know what will happen."

As she talked, she gave a sly smile.

"Presumably you don’t care about this, your father-in-law and mother-in-law along with one more person, now occupy three of the Guardian God seats in Longyu, they are quite a sight."

Hearing that Chen Jing, Jiang Jingxian, and Liu Shi had become Guardian Gods of Longyu, Li Jing was taken by surprise.

Chen Jing and Jiang Jingxian are understandable.

But Liu Shi...

She is not typically part of the system according to the usual rules being from a family descendent.

Now that he had news of his three elders, Li Jing couldn’t help but ask.

"When are they planning on ascending?"

"I don’t know."

Jiu Li shrugged.

"However, given the drastic changes happening on Blue Star, it is unlikely that they will choose to ascend in the near future."

Without waiting for Li Jing to speak, she continued.

"To be honest, this batch of ascendants, including myself, didn’t have any true intentions of ascending. The situation changed too abruptly and we were caught off guard."

Li Jing was dumbstruck.

This, he quite understood.

In a society like Blue Star’s, people with the ability to reach the step of ascension are all people with concerns.

The drastic change of Blue Star. How many people can feel secure about ascending?

Even if they wanted to ascend, they would wait until the situation stabilized and they had secured their respective positions for their descendants, forces, or countries.

Exhaling lightly, Li Jing asked,

"So, my parents-in-law didn’t ask you to bring any messages when you ascended this time?"

"I am not their daughter-in-law or living with them, the Ascending Path suddenly opened up for me and I didn’t even have time to meet them, how would I have any messages from them?"

Jiu Li rolled her eyes as she spoke, then glanced around with a hesitant look.

?

Seeing this, Li Jing threw out a question mark.

Just as he was about to ask what was going on, Jiu Li looked at him.

"However, I do have some bad news."

Bad news?

Li Jing frowned.

"What happened?"

Jiu Li pursed her lips and whispered.

"Jiang Liao... has passed away."

???

Li Jing.

"What happened!?"

"Don’t get too worked up now."

Jiu Li raised her hand and said,

"Jiang Liao was not murdered. It was an old affliction he brought upon himself. You should know about his wife’s situation, he did a lot of foolish things back then, tried numerous underhanded methods to have her resurrected in secrecy, which resulted in irreparable damage to his own foundation."

"He struggled to maintain his position as the head of the Management Bureau for so many years. When you and Jiang Yini ascended, he already knew he didn’t have much time left. The God Pattern you gave him ended up in the hands of his children, he didn’t use it himself."

After letting out these two pieces of information, Jiu Li continued,

"Approximately thirty years after you ascended, he passed away."

Li Jing fell silent.