Chapter 676 - 675: Western Infiltration, Finally Seeing the Dragon Bone

More than two hours later.

On a remote highway in the mountainous region of Hua Xia’s heartland.

Bai Lu was driving fast under the dark night, while Li Jing sat bored in the passenger seat.

During their return from the Outer Sea, Bai Lu had already explained to him.

It could directly peep into the part of the Dragon Bone, which was about twenty thousand meters underground. In the vicinity, there was not only an entire military region, but also the highest-level controlled area within a few hundreds of kilometers.

Therefore, after returning to the mainland, they needed to drive for about two hours in the mountains.

The destination was the highest-level controlled area in Hua Xia. Of course, Li Jing could not say that he had to come by Sky Control.

Rules.

They must be respected.

Not to mention, he was originally a Hua Xia person.

Even if he wasn’t, when he came to someone else’s territory, he must respect the local customs and rules.

This has nothing to do with strength.

It is out of respect for the rules and the host.

Staring out at the night scene, Li Jing looked calm on the surface but his heart was filled with doubts.

Previously at the Zero Mechanism overseas base, he had made such a big fuss mainly to show off his muscles and not to give a sufficient benefit, so that he could smoothly peep into the Dragon Bone afterwards.

At the same time, he was probing.

However, he was not probing the Zero Mechanism, but this world.

The power he used to expand space at that time was at the peak level of Thirteen Realms.

Afterwards, the supreme authority of the peak of Thirteen Realms was used.

Rightly so.

Even though the rules of Heavenly Punishment would be ineffective on him, if he used the power far exceeding the upper limit of the rules of this world, the Heavenly Path would somehow react.

For example, start rejecting him.

Under the corresponding situation, even the Will of Heaven could not change it, even if it intentionally wanted to "shield" him.

When he confronted Cang Tian in the Ghostly Returning Ruins of the Immortal Realm, Li Jing nearly got expelled because he used the maximum power that the Immortal Realm could bear.

However, the situation that should have occurred did not happen.

Not only did it not happen.

The fact told Li Jing that the big world where Earth is located has the ability to bear the power at the peak of Thirteen Realms or even higher. When he used the corresponding power, the surrounding space did not even show a sign of collapse, let alone being shaken.

This...

What the hell is going on?

Li Jing was full of doubts in his heart.

At the same time, he was baffled.

Obviously knowing that he was coming, and even "arranging" him through Li Xi, the Will of Heaven didn’t show any other movements, did it find it inconvenient to show up or what?

Reasonably speaking.

The Will of Heaven in the world where Earth exists obviously has a clear connection with his Heavenly Path Sister, otherwise, it could not have quietly protected Li Xi, this little girl, before he arrived.

Under such circumstances.

If there was something it needed from him, it could have clearly told him.

Even if it couldn’t show up, it could also convey through other means, couldn’t it?

While there were thoughts, Bai Lu spoke.

"Senior, we are almost there."

"Hmm."

Li Jing responded, with a bland smile.

"In private, you can call me Li Jing. You don’t have to keep calling me senior. Even though the time flow in the other world is very different from Earth, and I have spent more than a hundred years there, if it comes to actual age, I’m much younger than you."

"..."

Bai Lu.

She understood the reason.

After a short time together, she also understood.

Li Jing was easy-going and had no airs.

He was not like the old timers in Earth’s cultivation circle who emphasized respect for the accomplished.

So, did Li Jing have to be so straightforward?

In all fairness.

She’s a woman, isn’t she?

Doesn’t it seem inappropriate to discuss age with a woman of a few hundred years old?

Having driven together for over two hours, they chatted sporadically along the way, getting to know each other much better than before.

With her hands tightly gripping the steering wheel and a pout on her lips, Bai Lu spoke up.

"I fear it’s not appropriate for me to call you by your first name given your high cultivation level. How about... I call you, Brother Li?"

"Whatever makes you happy."

Li Jing responded nonchalantly, as he looked at a fortress-style building hidden in the forest at the end of the road, shrouded under the night sky.

"Rather than that, why would there be a believer of the faith system and a cultivator within the highest-level controlled area of Hua Xia? And their realms are not low too. Are they here to help prospect dragon bones from the west?"

?

Bai Lu sent a question mark, cocking her head with a puzzled frown.

"A cultivator from the faith system?"

Seeing her expression, Li Jing raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Looks like they’re not here at your request?"

Before he could finish, Bai Lu slammed hard on the brakes.

The SUV skidded to a stop in the middle of the road.

"Brother Li, are you sure there are faith system cultivators in the controlled region?"

Bai Lu looked serious.

Li Jing, who had just enjoyed a thrust from the sudden braking, nodded silently even though he had become saintly in the flesh. "I’m familiar with the faith system, I deal with it regularly in another world. There are definitely people in the fortress ahead. Five in total, two from the Seventh Realm and three from the sixth."

"Seventh Realm!? sixth Realm!?"

Bai Lu’s eyes widened, speaking earnestly.

"It appears that the fortress was infiltrated by western forces at some point. Brother Li, could you help us capture them? Earth is not like the other worlds you’ve been to. There are few cultivators, hence most of us have little interaction between different systems. We don’t even know each other’s power traits. Unless we have fought before, we won’t be able to notice another cultivator deliberately hiding their true force."

Before Li Jing could respond, Bai Lu floored the accelerator again, providing him another strong pushback.

Unable to suppress a smile, Li Jing leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

Indeed, some things are the same everywhere.

Despite Hua Xia having clandestine cooperation with various major nations to promote Earth’s spiritual Qi recovery, there are inevitably some unscrupulous partners who are unsatisfied with the status quo of the cooperative relationship.

Soon.

Bai Lu drove to the entrance of the fortress building complex.

Rolling down the window, she showed a big red ID to the guard, and was allowed to enter.

Then.

Under Li Jing’s speechless gaze and the astonished eyes of the guards, she floored the gas and sped through the gate, before screaming and crashing into a military Humvee parked by the roadside inside the gate.

As a result of excessive speed, the airbags inflated immediately.

It hit Bai Lu in the face.

Li Jing reacted quickly and used his Wind Thunder Domain to block the inflating airbag from hitting his face.

He quietly pushed open the car door and deflated the tough airbag that was pressing Bai Lu into her seat.

"Excuse me for asking, but do you even have a driver’s license?"

Bai Lu blushed at his words.

"I don’t usually drive."

At this, Li Jing could only shake his head in disbelief.

If she avoided the direct question, did that mean she didn’t have one?

And she had the audacity to keep stomping on the gas pedal?

Classic reckless driver yet self-amusing?

Thinking back to the more than two hours he spent in the car with Bai Lu, Li Jing couldn’t help but feel relieved.

It was fortunate that the entire area was under the highest level of control and there were no other cars on the mountain road at night, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to complete the journey safely.

Shaking his head, Li Jing got out of the car and motioned to the approaching guards that everything was fine.

Bai Lu also got out of the car and met the approaching guards.

"Please take care of this car."

After saying this, she turned to look at Li Jing with a stern face.

"Brother Li, we..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing said,

"It’s tough being a sentinel, especially since they’re just ordinary people. You take care of this car, and I’ll handle the infiltrators."

With that, he turned into a shadow that disappeared into the night.

Abandoned by Li Jing, Bai Lu’s tense face fell, but she had no other choice. She turned to the sentinel, whose color drained upon mention of the infiltrators, and spoke softly.

"Don’t worry, Brother Li will handle everything. You can report this to the higher-ups while I take care of this car."

...

As Bai Lu was speaking to the sentinel, Li Jing, thanks to the rules of the shadows, had stealthily entered the underground fortress and quickly located the first cultivator in the faith system in a laboratory.

This person had pure Eastern lineage.

At first glance, he was indistinguishable from Hua Xia people.

But a closer look revealed slight differences.

Mixed blood perhaps?

Shifting into Silent Shadow mode and stepping out of his shadow state, Li Jing squinted at the man dressed as a researcher, working on a computer.

Beyond his lineage.

Li Jing was more interested in the faith power within this man.

He was familiar with the Faith System practitioners.

Possessing the Supreme Godhood.

Granted him the ability to easily and keenly perceive faith power.

As a former Earth person.

Li Jing was well aware.

On Earth, there’s no supreme faith, with numerous and diverse religious sects.

The man in front of him had faith power that was easy to recognize. Unlike the common route of Holiness, his faith power was purely the power of lightning.

It was apparent.

This man worshipped a Thunder God.

The Thunder God.

There are two fairly famous mythological systems on Earth that feature a Thunder God.

They’re from Northern Europe.

And Olympus.

There were also some "niche" ones that featured a Thunder God.

As for which exactly this man’s faith belonged to, Li Jing couldn’t be sure.

But he wasn’t too inclined to think about it either.

Considering Abigail’s ongoing operations in the west, it wouldn’t take long for her - a professional - to figure out which faiths on Earth had gods behind them.

With a light lift of his hand, Li Jing carefully delivered a chop to the man’s neck.

Quite neat indeed.

The man slumped to the floor unconsciously, a heavy thud startling the other researchers around.

After knocking the man out, Li Jing didn’t bother with taking the man away and left quietly, transforming into a shadow.

There were many people in the lab.

If he attempted to carry the man out, the researchers would probably set off an alarm right away, creating a commotion that would not bode well.

After leaving the lab, it didn’t take Li Jing long to find his second target.

This person was also masquerading as a researcher.

The faith power within him was flame.

After delivering a swift smack to the back of his head, knocking him out, Li Jing didn’t linger and left to find the third person.

The faith power within this person wasn’t noteworthy - it was pure Holy Power.

With a casual slap knocking them over like before, Li Jing moved on to find the fourth person.

This person also had pure Holy Power within him.

Knocked over.

Li Jing subsequently found the last faith system practitioner in a restroom near the bottom of the fortress, close to the location of the Dragon Bone.

This man.

He was from the Seventh Realm.

He had Eastern features but was acting not as a researcher but as a member of the security team.

Li Jing found him while he was merrily urinating.

Without a second thought, Li Jing, who had quietly knocked out four people before, raised his hand and smacked him.

Without surprises.

The man was knocked out by the slap and collapsed onto the toilet, his head dunked in.

Having swiftly taken care of the five men, Li Jing turned to leave for Bai Lu. However, the next moment a loud ’boom’ echoed, shattering the entire restroom and turning the man he had knocked out into dust.

At the same time.

An alarm blared throughout the underground space.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Li Jing was momentarily stunned before his brows furrowed.

Just a moment ago.

A foreign will had tried to attack him, activating his Wind Thunder Domain.

The opponent was not weak.

But that was compared to Earth cultivators.

In front of Li Jing, a mere strand of will was nothing.

In fact.

The opponent was shattered by his Wind Thunder Domain even before they could detect Li Jing’s presence.

But that was not the point.

The point was that the incident clearly indicated one thing.

It wasn’t merely the Western faith sects that were interested in the Hua Xia Dragon Vein, but a Western God had directly intervened. Its will had even possessed one of the infiltrators in the fortress.

Looking down at the pile of charred flesh that had been torn into pieces and electrocuted by his violent Wind Thunder Domain, Li Jing moved and, using powerful divine intuition, locked onto Bai Lu who was above ground. He then sent her a message.

"There has been a slight mishap. I accidentally killed one, and the other four have been knocked out. There’s an alarm going off in the fortress. You should report it to prevent a larger disturbance that could get out of hand."

After sending the message to Bai Lu, Li Jing transformed into a shadow and headed downward.

The alarm had been set off.

An upheaval in such a vast underground space was inevitable.

Not to mention the considerable noise caused by the explosion.

Considering it was the highest security zone, the entire underground space must have some response mechanism in place.

By the time the commotion subsided, who knew how long it would have been.

A curfew might even be imposed.

With such considerations, it was better for him to go underground and see for himself, or else he might not be able to see the Dragon Bone for quite a while.

...

Because of the alarm, all the researchers were evacuating urgently, with fully armed soldiers guarding every passage in the underground space.

However, they posed no obstruction to Li Jing.

Before long.

He had reached the deepest part of the underground space, where the Dragon Bone was located.

Just like how Song Lijun had shown him on the slides.

The enormity of the Dragon Bone was beyond imagination.

The deepest part of the controlled underground area was a vast natural cavern, and the Dragon Bone that filled the space was just a piece of the vertebrae...

Standing nearby, Li Jing was greatly awed.

He had no choice.

This...

Was just too damn big!

Just this piece of a vertebra, at a glance, the diameter must be in the kilometers.

Having looked at the railway tracks laid beside the Dragon Bone, Li Jing moved and transformed into a shadow, gliding along the tracks.

The further he went, the more astounded Li Jing became.

All he could see along the way was a vertebra, getting bigger at every step...

About three to five minutes later.

Li Jing reached the end of the track.

At this point, he had crossed the whole of Hua Xia.

Or, to be more precise.

The distance he had traversed could cross Hua Xia multiple times.

The underground cavern was winding and not linear.

Along the way, Li Jing confirmed that the entire underground cavern was not naturally occurring in the traditional sense, but was the huge rib cage on either side of the Dragon Bone’s spine.