Chapter 419: Chapter 418 Original Fortune, Evolution of the Heavenly Path
The sudden turn of events took the ethereal phantom by surprise, who had guarded the Qingyuan Fairy Palace as a solitary spirit for a hundred thousand years.
For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.
Then, he realized a problem.
He was no longer a living person and thus incapable of hallucination.
So...
Where was the Immortal Palace?
What happened to the vast expanse of their Immortal Palace?
Without a doubt, the answer lay with Li Jing, who reshaped the landscape with a single touch.
Mouthing wordlessly, the young phantom was at a loss for words.
As a remnant soul, he couldn’t fathom Li Jing and had virtually no power to exert.
After all, he was like a candle in the wind over the course of a hundred thousand years - a slight mishap could extinguish it.
Confronted with Li Jing, he didn’t dare to show the slightest defiance.
Turning back to the matter at hand.
He found it hard to believe what Li Jing had done
With Li Jing’s power, it would have been easy to annihilate the Qingyuan Fairy Palace guarded only by his spirit. But to forcibly take over such a vast patch of the Earth Realm...
Was that something a human could do?
It was an inhuman task in the first place, and secondly, to take over such a vast piece of Earth Realm, you need to have a place for it.
Furthermore.
It required a powerful divine consciousness to cover the entire Qingyuan Fairy Palace, locking onto every brick, tile, grass, and tree.
A thousand words turned into a sigh at his lips, the young phantom looked up at the sky, his face full of worry, and murmured under his breath.
"Ancestors above, I have failed to protect the foundation of Qingyuan."
After whispering thus, the phantom glanced at Jiang Yini, who was meditating and absorbing spiritual objects, and Smoke Eye at Li Jing’s side. He appeared to have a burden lifted off his shoulders.
"But at least, the legacy of our Qingyuan Fairy Palace has continuity. After a hundred thousand years, my mission is finally complete..."
Li Jing had effortlessly taken over the Qingyuan Fairy Palace.
It wasn’t as big as it appeared, roughly equivalent to three to five city blocks.
At the moment, whether in fleshly body strength or Primordial Spirit strength, Li Jing had exceeded normal level. An ordinary Eighth Realm cultivator couldn’t compare with him, so covering the entire Earth Realm with divine consciousness wasn’t a problem.
Listening to the young phantom’s emotion-filled lamentation, Li Jing looked up and thought that he was quite the drama queen.
But then, when he looked up.
He saw the young phantom fading rapidly, the Health Bar above his head showed a value of 12001 and the Essence Source value of 85231 shrinking rapidly, and it was not a mere reduction in Health Points or Essence Source.
Could this be...
A sign of impending death!
Damn!
How could this happen!
He wouldn’t care much about an experience of twelve thousand, but Eighty thousand plus Heavenly and Earthly Essence - he did care about it!
Without any hesitation, Li Jing’s eyes shot lightning as the Sun Thunder appeared in his palm.
"It seems, you are about to pass on as your wish has been fulfilled. Since we are predestined, let me help you on your way."
Saying so solemnly, Li Jing, his eyes glowing, prepared to strike.
The young phantom might have lost his memory, but he wasn’t stupid.
Not only was he not stupid, his will to live was incredibly strong.
Seeing Li Jing claiming to "help" him, the young phantom didn’t waste time on sentiment and spoke decisively.
"Senior! I think I can still be saved!"
Upon hearing him, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile wryly. He reluctantly had to hold back.
If he could, he definitely would kill this phantom with a single strike and advance to the Ninth Realm straight away.
But favors could make people indebted.
Moreover, it didn’t seem that the young phantom was going to die as he had initially presumed. He couldn’t just strike.
Seeing him staying his hand, the young phantom heaved a sigh of relief and quickly asserted.
"My current state is only because you have taken away the Qingyuan Fairy Palace. My soul, no longer connected to the palace and lost its object of attachment. My remaining time is indeed short. I beg you, bring me to the place where the Fairy Palace is. At least give me a chance to witness the true continuation of the Palace’s legacy."
Li Jing’s brow lifted enlighteningly upon hearing this.
So, his remnant soul was attached to the main body of the Qingyuan Fairy Palace, which was why the sudden signs of disappearance emerged.
For crying out loud...
One should voice such things before the pants come off, right?
Feeling speechless, Li Jing had an idea. He summoned the Linglong Tower and enveloped the young phantom.
Then, he gently touched the side of the tower and sent it into the Little Universe realm.
The young phantom was just a remnant soul without a physical body, so the only way to capture him was through the Linglong Tower.
He had several questions about Qingyuan Fairy Palace, so he thought to keep him alive for later.
After all, having an extra or one less person in his small universe did not make much difference, he might as well consider him as a "reserve radish" for cultivation.
After capturing the young phantom, Li Jing confirmed through introspection.
Upon doing this, he was left stunned.
In the small universe and within the Fairy Palace, the young phantom’s Health Bar had actually risen to 13499, and the displayed Essence Source quantity also reached 397842.
This...
What was going on?
Was his cultivation stock increasing in value?
Li Jing was a bit confused.
A Health Bar of 13499 suggested that the phantom had reached the Late Ninth Realm and was one step away from moving to the Tenth Realm.
An Essence Source figure of 397842 far exceeded the Heavenly Demon Avatar that he had killed.
This was obviously not because the phantom had strengthened after changing environments, but because something in the Little Universe affected him and let his remnant soul regain some degree of health.
The cultivation... was growing too fast.
Was his cultivation path even more robust in life that his weakened state showed such a degree of development? How could the Qingyuan Fairy Palace and his status fall so easily?
Utterly astonished, Li Jing glanced at Jiang Yini, who was still meditating, and gave an instruction to Smoke Eye at his side.
"Smoke Eye, can I trouble you to guard Yini here? I’ll go check out the Little Universe realm."
"Understood."
Smoke Eye nodded obediently.
After receiving a response, Li Jing entered the Little Universe with a thought.
...
In the Little Universe, Li Jing placed the Qingyuan Fairy Palace next to the Earth Realm, which had been "arranged" before stepping into the Eighth Realm.
It took up a considerable amount of space and brought some color to the originally barren expanded universe.
At this moment, the phantom figure of the young man close to the Heritage Stele was somewhat in disbelief.
He had not anticipated such an unexpected event upon entering the Little Universe.
Not only had his condition stabilized, but he, who had previously been expected to survive only another two or three years at most, had astonishingly recovered to the point where he could now survive for tens of thousands of years. Although he was not at his peak, he was far stronger than when he was on the brink of extinction.
Setting everything else aside, he was now able to truly exert the strength of a late-stage Ninth Realm Strong one.
Moreover, he had an indistinct feeling.
As long as he could survive in the Little Universe, his strength would continue to recover and there was a possibility that he could restore his remnant soul and resurrect through an object!
This...
It was an incredible turn of fate!
While he was marveling at his luck, the young phantom turned his head due to a sudden intuition.
Just at that moment, Li Jing appeared beside him.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and they both were taken aback.
With his strength restored, the young phantom recognized Li Jing’s connection with this universe upon seeing him again.
Li Jing was the creator of this universe.
Li Jing on the other hand, was surprised that the young phantom could predict where he would appear.
Was this the true power of the late Ninth Realm?
After staring at each other for a while, the young phantom saluted respectfully.
"Master."
...
Li Jing.
This address of "Master" was unexpected and made him speechless.
He had seen those who take advantage of a situation, but never one who took advantage even without an advantage given.
Despite being speechless, Li Jing reluctantly accepted this situation.
He had no intention of giving up what was his. The Qingyuan Fairy Palace was his, and the phantom figure of the young man who had attached himself to it was rightfully his property.
After closely examining the young phantom, Li Jing asked,
"What’s going on with you?"
"Well..."
The young phantom hesitated and then asked back,
"Master, can I confirm something first, am I the first remnant soul to enter this universe?"
"If we’re talking about remnant souls, you’re for sure the first one."
Li Jing responded instinctively, then added,
"In fact, you are the only remnant soul I’ve ever seen so far."
Before he had finished, the young phantom revealed a look of surprise.
"That’s it!"
After saying this, he explained,
"This universe hasn’t yet become a true world, everything is still evolving naturally. As the first remnant soul to settle in this universe, I’ve obtained some Original Fortune."
Original Fortune?
Li Jing blinked.
The Consonance Heart hadn’t grown since its inception due to the lack of high-level Divinity blood but he knew the Little Universe was naturally evolving.
However, the speed of this natural evolution was so slow that it was practically non-existent, and he held no expectations of it. He had never heard of the "Original Fortune" that the young phantom mentioned.
Frowning slightly, Li Jing queried,
"You seem to be very familiar with the evolution of the universe, what is this Original Fortune...?"
"Master, you’ve only just started creating this universe, and you don’t know about Original Fortune?"
The young phantom was surprised.
Faced with another question, Li Jing’s face turned black,
"If I knew, why would I ask you all these questions?"
Noticing Li Jing’s changing expression, the young phantom immediately conceded and explained with a wry smile,
"The Original Fortune is complicated to explain, and I don’t even know how to express it properly. For now, Master, you can think of it this way. Before this universe completes its natural evolution, all ’firsts’ that are not produced by this universe will receive a gift from the unformed Will of Heaven."
...
Li Jing,
Although the young phantom’s explanation provided him with some sort of answer, he was still somewhat confused.
Seeing Li Jing still puzzled, the young phantom thought for a while and tried to simplify it.
"Let’s put it this way, for the unformed Will of Heaven, everything is extremely unfamiliar, including itself, this universe has to explore its own way of evolution. At this time, if foreign objects enter, they can provide a reference and greatly speed up its evolution."
"Take me as an example, this universe hasn’t any remnant souls. No matter who dies here, they won’t leave a remnant soul behind before the unformed Will of Heaven evolves a rule that allows a remnant soul to exist. My existence provides a reference for the unformed Will of Heaven, and it won’t be long before this universe will have a rule where a dead yield can leave a remnant soul."
After expressing these view points, the young phantom continued.
"This greatly benefits the unformed Will of Heaven, hence it has given a gift."
After hearing the young phantom’s explanation, Li Jing had a better understanding.
The so-called Original Fortune was essentially just some special benefits for ’firsts’ that could speed up the evolution of this universe.
The general idea.
It was just like when he obtained some novel items and sent them to the Longyu Research Institute, he would receive a huge Merit or reward.
After a moment of silence, Li Jing looked up.
"So, in the future when this universe develops a complete Will of Heaven, will it... "
Guessing what Li Jing was about to ask, the young phantom interrupted by shaking his head before he could finish.
"No, because you are its creator."
?
Li Jing was confused.
Create the Will of Heaven?
When had he ever done such a thing, and since when was he capable of doing that?
"You wish to inquire?" the young phantom asked.
"This matter involves many taboos and isn’t convenient to elaborate on. What I can tell you is that throughout ancient and modern times, there have been many who have the means to create a space, but enabling a space to form a self-contained universe isn’t something simple artifacts or methods can accomplish."
As he spoke, he cast a distant glance at where the Consonance Heart sprouted, then continued.
"I do not know the exact conditions that must be met during this process. However, since the world you have created already shows signs of natural evolution, it seems you’ve met these conditions. Here, unless you cease to exist or leave, the Will of Heaven is your personal will. However, until it fully manifests, you likely won’t perceive much of it."
Although Li Jing was still somewhat confused after the young phantom explained, he roughly made sense of it in his own way.
The Will of Heaven could be understood as a program.
This world was his creation, so he had control over how the program was designed.
If he wasn’t around or ceased to exist, the Will of Heaven would still follow the preset program after its completion.
At this stage, the Little Universe, naturally evolving itself, had yet to form its Will of Heaven, since it was undergoing a process of self-advancement or "programming".
Once the program finished writing, it would manifest.
With this understanding, he decided not to worry about it.
He wasn’t worried about anything else; his concern was whether the independent Will of Heaven within the Little Universe would hinder him.
This was something he could not tolerate.
What seemed somewhat intriguing to him was this:
After the young phantom entered the Little Universe, he immediately understood that the Consonance Heart was the key element that allowed a distinct universe to manifest in this place. Still, he claimed that to truly form a universe required fulfilling some conditions, rather than merely relying on external objects or methods.
This was slightly thought-provoking.
As for when the Little Universe started showing signs of natural evolution, Li Jing honestly hadn’t paid much attention.
However, in terms of meeting certain conditions, Li Jing had some guesses.
Among them...
It might be related to Administrator Privileges.
To be precise...
It was related to the Qi of the Heavenly Path.
After a brief silence, Li Jing lifted his eyes.
"According to what you just said, everything that enters this universe as ’the first’ will receive Original Fortune?"
"Yes, it doesn’t matter whether they are Dead Objects or living beings."
The young phantom responded, then added.
"Of course, the prerequisite is that they are the ’first’ before this universe has evolved, and they need to be unique enough. Take life as an example, life is a basic rule, without it, there would be no basis for all other evolutions. Ordinary creatures that come here won’t receive Original Fortune, but Spiritual Beasts and Monsters could. Given that you have raised several Spiritual Beasts, one of them must have received this fortune."
Spiritual Beast?
Li Jing frowned.
If it comes to the first Spiritual Beast that entered the Little Universe, it was undoubtedly Ya’er.
As for the first Monster, it was Yulian.
So...
Did both of them receive Original Fortune?
How come he never noticed?
As if knowing the doubt in Li Jing’s heart, the young phantom spoke.
"Original Fortune can come in many benefits, many of which are latent and even the beneficiaries themselves may not feel them. Furthermore, these boons must be manifested in this place."
"Is that so?"
Li Jing blinked, decided to stop thinking, and said.
"Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. After all this talking, I still don’t know your name."
"Longxu."
The young phantom bowed his hands.
"Li Jing."
Li Jing nodded and introduced himself, then continues.
"Since you’ve pledged allegiance to me, remember to contribute when I need you."
"Of course, I will fulfill whatever orders Master gives me."
Longxu, with a completely serious demeanor, bowed and nodded.
Li Jing looked at his submissive behavior and couldn’t help but smile wryly. Then he said:
"I have a question to confirm, you mentioned earlier that the Western Church that destroyed the Qingyuan Fairy Palace a hundred thousand years ago, what’s their background? I come from the Big World. In the culture I’ve been exposed to, the Western Church refers to a Buddhist-Taoist sect from a certain mythology. I don’t suppose such things exist in the Heavenly Saint Land."
"Master, you’re from the Big World?"
Longxu was taken aback before he continued firmly.
"The Western Church I’m referring to is not a Buddhist or Taoist sect. Before the great calamity, the Buddhist-Taoist sects indeed flourished. However, my reference to the Western Church specifically points to a God-believing sect originating from west of the continent."
Li Jing raised his brows at this.
"So, the Western Church you’re referring to is the Supreme Church?"
"No."
Longxu denied, saying,
"Although I can’t remember the name of that sect, it’s definitely not the Supreme Church. What I can tell you is that if you encounter them, it’s best to stay away. Those scoundrels have connections with the people of the Upper Three Realms. Moreover, unlike us who follow the Orthodox Immortality Path and are limited from descending to the lower world after ascension, they can descend directly by paying a certain price."
Li Jing was silent.
The rest didn’t really matter.
The main thing was he found that the more he asked Longxu, the more questions he had.
This guy knows quite a lot...
Upper Three Realms.
Ascension.
Damn it, that’s a lot of information.
After a moment of silence, Li Jing did not ask more.
The key point was, what Longxu said might not all be correct.
Despite everything...
This guy was just a strong man from a hundred thousand years ago in the Heavenly Saint Land...
He had never even been to the Big World!
If he encountered the Heavenly Demon earlier and knew about the Outer Realm Sky before going to the Big World,
Li Jing might have pondered about ascending to become a celestial and going to the Immortal Realm or something.
As he saw it now.
Although he didn’t know what the so-called Upper Three Realms were, these Upper Three Realms were likely just a part of the Big World, merely without any direct connection to Blue Star, like the Outer Realm Sky.
"You can stay here on your own, I’ll find you when I need you."
Leaving Longxu with these words, Li Jing moved away from the Little Universe with a thought.
...
In the place where the Qingyuan Fairy Palace originally existed, Jiang Yini was still in meditation, digesting her experiences.
Smoke Eye was watching over her.
Upon seeing Li Jing emerge, her eyes lit up.
"Master."
Seeing this, Li Jing smiled.
He understood why Smoke Eye, who was usually not very enthusiastic towards him, was acting so passionately now.
He waved his hand and sent Smoke Eye into the Little Universe, then summoned Linglong and Qingfeng in turn, sending them to the Little Universe as well.
Since Smoke Eye was able to comprehend Qingyuan’s Mysterious Skill and even control the rules, Linglong and Qingfeng could possibly do the same. Letting them meditate in front of the Heritage Stele in the Qingyuan Fairy Palace might bring unexpected surprises.
In any case, these three would not affect his connection with the Origin or their usage inside the Little Universe. Without reaching the Ninth Realm, he couldn’t improve their abilities through nurturing.
After sending off his three Spirit Weapons, Li Jing looked at the meditating Jiang Yini, sat cross-legged, and patiently waited.
...
In the blink of an eye, it was the afternoon of the following day.
Jiang Yini took a deep breath after meditating for nearly a whole day and slowly opened her eyes.
Upon seeing this, Li Jing also let out a sigh of relief.
Joining her to keep guard in this desolate underground location for a full day was not easy for him either.
Over here.
Seeing Li Jing by her side, Jiang Yini smiled warmly.
The next second, the smile on her lips froze.
She was underground, alright.
She was absorbed in her meditation, and Li Jing had no reason to disrupt her by moving her location.
So...
Where had such a large Qingyuan Fairy Palace disappeared to?
Around her, everything was bare.
There was nothing left.
As she glanced around, Jiang Yini speechlessly looked at Li Jing.
"Where’s the Fairy Palace?"
"In the Little Universe, along with Longxu."
Li Jing revealed a grin.
Jiang Yini’s mouth twitched involuntarily upon hearing his answer.
Although she had an easy guess about his actions, the reality was still...
Remaining silent, she asked.
"Longxu is...?"
"That remnant soul we encountered."
Li Jing responded before standing up and saying,
"Now that you’re awake, it’s time for us to leave. It’s been one whole day, we should go back and see the situation in Da Xia Imperial City."
Hearing that a whole day had passed, Jiang Yini nodded and stood up. Then, she hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"The inheritance of the Qingyuan Fairy Palace is indeed extraordinary. Just a little insight allowed me, a beginner in the Six Realm, to reach the mid-stage of the Six Realm. You’ve collected the Fairy Palace, and you must have gained some benefits. What are you planning to do next?"
Indeed, Li Jing had gained benefits.
However, Jiang Yini’s words were not just about the wine, but another hidden meaning.
Of course, Li Jing was well aware of this.
After thinking for a moment, he responded.
"I have no intention of handing over the Qingyuan Fairy Palace. First, it will expose too many things about me and bring unnecessary trouble. Second, this kind of inheritance is not part of the system of the Orthodox Immortality Path we are familiar with, and should not be widely circulated. I believe you wouldn’t want to see the future of Longyu filled with wandering remnant souls like Longxu."
With that said, Li Jing added.
"We have both benefited, and it’s essential for the inheritance of the Fairy Palace to continue. How about this, when we return to the real world, you can select a group of trustworthy and clean-background members from the Jianghai Management Bureau every so often, and I’ll let them enter the Little Universe for epiphany. How much they can comprehend is up to them."
Jiang Yini didn’t expect Li Jing to give the Qingyuan Fairy Palace to the country.
She was a thoughtful person.
She also had the same concerns as Li Jing.
Only small-scale dissemination is suitable for such inheritance. Who has the opportunity to comprehend needs to be controlled, otherwise, chaos is likely to occur.
Knowing that Li Jing had the same thoughts as her, and that he had plans to favor the Jianghai Management Bureau in the future, Jiang Yini nodded in satisfaction and replied,
"Will it be...problematic for you to let people enter the Little Universe?"
"Not a problem, I’ll make some arrangements then, no one will know."
Li Jing smiled.
Upon hearing his reply, Jiang Yini’s eyes twinkled and she bit her lip.
"Alright, as long as you have a plan. Also... earlier, I only understood some basics, and didn’t get to the truth of Qingyuan’s Mysterious Skill..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing cocked his head.
"What’s the matter? Are you afraid I’ll run away?"
"Hey! That’s not what I meant!"
Jiang Yini pursed her lips and said,
"According to our original plan, aren’t you planning to go to the West Continent for a look? With the issue of Xia Qianqian, I might not have time to accompany you."
"How busy can this matter make you? Also, aren’t Qi Chen and the others there?"
Li Jing grinned and said,
"You’re always wanting to do things yourself, the benefits of the Jianghai Management Bureau should be ours. There’s no point in worrying too much, right? Since it’s a rare secret realm, and our plan is to explore it well, let’s do just that."
Hearing his words, Jiang Yini thought it made some sense.
This secret realm adventure, although merely freeloaded off Li Jing, brought too many benefits.
A duck that arrived at her mouth can’t escape.
Rather than staying behind and worrying about many things, she might as well follow Li Jing.
After thinking it over, she muttered,
"The opening of this secret realm lasts quite a long time, we don’t need to leave in a hurry. Give me two days to make some arrangements, alright?"
"No problem."
Li Jing responded before continuing,
"Sisi has not completed her breakthrough yet. Personally, I want to wait until she wakes up before leaving. Before that, arrange for the scanning model and hand over the original texts to Shi Miaoxue. This way, she can help Xia Qianqian with peace of mind."
...
