In this world, the current density of spiritual energy was sufficient for Qin Jingzhou to send out his divine sense and leave anchors at several key spatial junctions.
So regardless of whether it was an Evil god approaching and descending, or a visitor from the Spiritual Realm suddenly tearing open a spatial rift to arrive, he would be fully aware of it. He would even see it with perfect clarity, such as when the ancestor who had returned from Taiyi Sect tossed out a few words and swallowed the entire sect in a single gulp. Qin Jingzhou also meticulously took note of everything that happened.
Ling Jing couldn't "see from such a high vantage point" like he could. Only after everyone from the Taiyi Sect was wiped out, and only after that ancestor returned to the spatial rift, did she finally sense what had happened... She immediately hugged Qin Jingzhou's arm. "We've got a situation!"
Qin Jingzhou raised his hand and lightly tapped between Ling Jing's brows, transmitting everything that had just happened directly, point to point, into her sea of consciousness.
Ling Jing's eyes widened. "Wow! It's like a full holographic projection! I feel like I'm actually there!" She stared carefully at the figure outside the spatial rift, constantly twisting between the real and the illusory, before asking, "What cultivation stage is this guy?"
Qin Jingzhou responded in a second. "Spirit Severing."
After this world underwent spiritual energy revival and stabilized, the highest it could accommodate was the Divine Transformation Stage. For cultivators to advance any further, they needed to travel to a higher energy world—the Spiritual Realm.
Incidentally, the stages after Divine Transformation, in ascending order, were: Spirit Severing, Unity, Great Ascension, and Tribulation Crossing.
Ling Jing immediately looked crestfallen, her lips pouting. "Ah, even after I break through, I still wouldn't be able to beat him... I wanted to show off my skills."
Qin Jingzhou hugged his adorable girlfriend and said something fair. "Your age and your cultivation stage, even in the Spiritual Realm, would make you a dazzling prodigy." As he spoke, he kissed his girlfriend. "Don't belittle yourself."
Ling Jing laughed. "I've got a dad-type boyfriend."
Qin Jingzhou couldn't help but laugh. Then, slightly helpless, he added, "Sorry, it's an occupational hazard. If you feel anything's off or uncomfortable, just let me know and I'll adjust immediately."
Ling Jing hooked her arms around his neck. "I'm talking about the good kind of 'dad-type.' You never micromanage or get bossy—actually, I like it a lot. Wait, I remember now," she grew more excited as she spoke, "you only care about my studies and treating illnesses."
Qin Jingzhou admitted it cheerfully. "I really don’t push you on anything else."
The two chatted, laughed, hugged, and got close for a while before once again standing shoulder to shoulder, discussing and thinking things over. How could they lower the usage requirements for the combat gloves and high-load exoskeletons? And how could they quickly find substitutes to produce an entire batch of low-quality gene optimization serum?
While they had Zhang Jiamin, Zhang Qingxing, plus the cheap son-in-law Little Ross help with testing and data collection, the news of Taiyi Sect being completely wiped out shocked the entire planet, both extraordinaries and ordinary people alike.
With Taiyi Sect as a negative example, the other sects that had also managed to reach their ascended elders immediately cut off contact out of fear.
Even so, they were still extremely uneasy. They all knew that these powerful big bosses who seized bodies had no fondness for them, but when confronted with a matter of life and death, they quickly adopted the right attitude and sought out outer sect disciples with official backgrounds in their sects.
By the way, since Taiyi Sect had open cooperation with the officials, the Hua Country officials had only assigned two staff members to the sect.
With a bit of cunning, Taiyi Sect didn't want the officials to know about contacting their ascended elders. Thus, when disaster struck, these two staff members just happened to be working in another righteous sect that was on friendly terms with Taiyi Sect and narrowly escaped.
As a result, these disciples with official backgrounds and the staff members each contacted their superiors. After several video conferences, they reached a consensus: with spiritual energy reviving to this level, all living beings on the planet had become entries on the menu for those powerful entities from beyond the world.
The mature Evil god and the high-tier cultivator from the Spiritual Realm were just the vanguard. Even weaker hunters would soon catch the scent and swarm in.
What was everyone supposed to do in the face of this situation?
That night, Chief Li came to see Qin Jingzhou and got straight to the point. "Big Boss, save us!"
Qin Jingzhou told him, "Let's talk in person."
The next morning, Chief Li, his superior, other key national officials, the heads of the most influential sects and extraordinary factions from both East and West all arrived ahead of time, waiting respectfully at his doorstep.
At exactly ten o’clock, the housekeeper, following Qin Jingzhou’s instructions, permitted these big names to enter one by one.
The main living room was big, but there weren't enough chairs. None of the esteemed guests dared complain. They stood, introduced themselves in turn, and then Chief Li took a step forward to succinctly explain the situation.
Honestly, their own ascended elders were totally unreliable. The elders' first act upon return was to opportunistically devour every living thing in the sect for a boost. The destruction was so swift, they didn’t even have time to resist or call for help. This truly shocked all the extraordinary forces and governments to the core.
At this point, whether they were officials or leaders of extraordinary forces, even those with deep grudges against Taiyi Sect could not gloat. Instead, they were deeply worried, afraid that one day they might suffer the exact same sudden fate as Taiyi Sect.
Chief Li took a moment, then asked, "Are you... the guardian?"
Qin Jingzhou smiled and did not answer.
But the people present, and even Zhang Jiamin’s group, saw it as tacit approval.
Because he had always treated ordinary people quite well, and everyone vividly remembered how he handled the mature Evil god not long ago.
The extraordinaries from these big factions didn’t even need to communicate through communicators. A sect's grand elder stepped forward to perform a profound bow, and the rest followed suit, bowing down in unison.
As a sea of heads bowed before him, Ling Jing asked Qin Jingzhou, "So now they're coming to ask you to lay down the rules for them?"
Qin Jingzhou stood up. "Someone is coming."
Ling Jing immediately understood. "Before you set the rules, you have to establish your authority."
Qin Jingzhou waved his hand, directly wrapping everyone present in a bundle and transporting them to one of the weakest points in the spatial fabric.
In reality, there were already countless hunters waiting outside this world, just biding their time to feast.
The Taiyi Sect’s Spirit Severing cultivator who had devoured every living thing in the sect was actually still in place. With no one from the world contacting him, he lost his anchor and was thinking of directly breaking through the boundary by force.
Meanwhile, the elders contacted by the demonic sects were luckier. They had stumbled upon a weak point in the boundary and were about to "break through the door."
Qin Jingzhou’s targets this time were these two cultivators at the Spirit Severing stage.
He brought the large group and teleported them directly in front of the Spirit Severing demonic cultivator. This demonic cultivator had struggled a great deal, with half his body already wedged into the world, when he suddenly caught sight of Qin Jingzhou.
Instantly, he realized something was amiss.
He could sense the cultivation of everyone present and saw that the highest was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, which was nothing to him. Only the one standing closest—who appeared to be just an ordinary person—was an exception.
But a true ordinary person would have been utterly paralyzed with terror from the aura he inadvertently released. If the Nascent Soul-stage female cultivator at the front hadn’t fought desperately to protect them, the rest would have suffered complete mental collapse, reduced either to catatonia or madness.
So the demonic cultivator’s expression grew a lot more serious.
He simply stared at the boyfriend, unmoving. Completely spent from shielding so many people, Ling Jing was the first to speak. "Are all demonic cultivators this cautious?"
Qin Jingzhou smiled and turned to ask, "Do you want to keep... bearing the pressure a bit longer?"
The demonic cultivator spoke with actions rather than words—he turned tail and ran.
His divine escape technique was so swift that even Qin Jingzhou hadn't expected it. He hurried after him, tearing through the spatial fabric as if it were paper. In an instant, both of them vanished from everyone’s sight and senses, the ripped space in front of them still rippling, sending out wave after wave.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out from within the rift. "Ah! My head!"
Everyone present suffered a stab of pain in their own divine sense from the scream, blood oozing from their mouths and eyes, as a single collective thought flashed through their minds: ...That’s it! That’s the feeling!