According to the understanding of the cultivators and Extraordinaries present, whether it was a Golden Core facing a Nascent Soul, or a Nascent Soul facing a Divine Transformation Stage, even if they felt daunted, with only one major realm difference it shouldn't result in running away the moment things turned tense. Especially considering that the one who'd half crossed over into this world… was a fiend cultivator.
The crowd, still shocked, inevitably exchanged glances, feelings too mixed to describe. Just how formidable was their guardian, really?
Ling Jing, who had spanned two whole realms and continued to resist the pressure, was, at this moment, gaining quite a bit of insight and was gathering her thoughts when her boyfriend, Qin Jingzhou, once again tore open space and strolled back in, as relaxed as ever.
Before Ling Jing could speak, she was already smiling. “He got away?”
Qin Jingzhou said helplessly, “He burned his blood essence, snatched up his head, and ran straight for the Spiritual Realm. All I wanted was to drag him over and ask a few questions.”
Ling Jing broke into hearty laughter. “I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but you relapsed into your old ways and smacked his head off. Of course he’d risk everything to run for his life! By the way—” she paused, now curious, “he has a sect behind him, right? Are we… fishing again?”
For his girlfriend, Qin Jingzhou answered everything. “This world will eventually be able to accommodate Divine Transformation cultivators, and its structure is stable, with plenty of life and a good balance. For many sects in the Spiritual Realm, that's a precious treasure.”
“Got it!” Ling Jing laughed out loud. “Even if they can't get it all, each one will want a share of the cake!”
“Exactly,” Qin Jingzhou replied, smiling.
The crowd, just beginning to feel a bit pleased at Qin Jingzhou chasing away the would-be “hunter” with a single slap, now all began to feel worried and even despondent.
It was a somewhat different story for the ordinary people with official backgrounds, who couldn’t help but feel elated inside: You cultivators and Extraordinaries have always looked down on us, treated us like ants! The ones you rely on aren’t any different toward you!
Neither Qin Jingzhou nor Ling Jing cared what anyone thought, and instead led the group to their next destination: the former site of the Taiyi Sect.
In fact, calling it a “former site” wasn’t entirely accurate, since except for the utter disappearance of every living thing, nothing else about the Taiyi Sect had changed at all.
When Qin Jingzhou’s group arrived at the Taiyi Sect’s secret ground, not only the cultivators and Extraordinaries who’d transported with him but even ordinary folks like Chief Li could sense the space ahead of the secret ground surging like the tides.
Yet, the ascendant from the Taiyi Sect wasn’t as powerful as the fiend cultivator from moments before. Even after replenishing himself with his own descendants… he’d worked awfully hard but still hadn’t managed to pierce this spatial barrier.
Qin Jingzhou waited for a while, wanting to see if this guy could put on a show. In the end, he waited half an hour.
In his eyes, the other party was like a headless fly, dashing in all directions, able to scent his goal but not even finding the rim of the serving bowl.
Qin Jingzhou was losing patience. He reached through space, grabbed for the man’s neck, and tried to drag him into this world.
He hadn’t actually wanted to catch the fiend cultivator from earlier, but this former Taiyi Sect Void Refining cultivator was different… This one could easily give the people of this world a crash course on the basics of the Spiritual Realm, letting them gain a more accurate understanding of their own true status and power.
Still, just to be safe, Qin Jingzhou sent out his divine sense to scan the guy carefully. Although the man’s cultivation technique had gone awry and he seemed rather weak, he was still solidly at the Void Refining stage. Even with his strength restricted in this world, unleashing Divine Transformation might would be effortless. In other words, aside from Qin Jingzhou himself, no one could deal with this guy.
So, he drew his longsword. With one hand gripping the man’s collar, and the other brandishing the sword, he slashed down neatly, slicing the man perfectly in two. He then swiftly executed two hand seals, sealing off the man’s sea of consciousness and Nascent Soul. Afterwards, he tossed the upper half to Chief Li, while the lower half was skewered with a flying sword and pinned firmly in front of the Taiyi Sect’s secret ground.
Qin Jingzhou’s actions were straightforward enough that even an ordinary person like Chief Li could understand them.
Still, Chief Li, knowing the big boss was always friendly and helpful, cautiously asked, “Did you just… lock both his engines?”
Qin Jingzhou smiled and nodded. “Exactly. If you have questions, just ask.” As he spoke, he raised his hand and tapped lightly at the brow of the mournful figure. “He can’t lie.”
Ling Jing picked up the conversation with a bright smile. “But he can stay silent, or pick and choose which truths to tell.”
Chief Li and his colleagues wasted no time grabbing hold of this Void Refining cultivator who had devoured the entire Taiyi Sect. Not a trace of fear showed in any of their faces. “Don’t worry, you two!”
Qin Jingzhou trusted in their ability to handle matters. Even if the cultivators and Extraordinaries present entertained their own little ideas, this “engine-locked” guy could teach them a lesson in manners.
With that, he took Ling Jing’s hand, gathered up their "cheap children" and “son-in-law,” and soared away into the sky.
The two remained out of sight for a full hour before the cultivators and Extraordinaries dared gather around, eyes fixed on the half-bodied, silent Void Refining cultivator from Taiyi Sect.
That night, as Qin Jingzhou was answering questions and resolving doubts for the rather enlightened Ling Jing, he received a call from Chief Li, who sounded absolutely gleeful.
No matter how weak the man Qin Jingzhou had caught was, he still wasn’t someone the local freshly-advanced Nascent Soul cultivators and Extraordinaries could handle.
To put it simply, even if he stood there motionless and the Nascent Soul cultivators tried everything against him, they wouldn’t so much as harm a hair on his head. Nine times out of ten, their attacks would rebound, likely killing or seriously injuring those who struck.
Throughout the night, the man managed to cripple four Nascent Souls.
Chief Li had said so himself: “Heh, I told them not to tempt fate!”
Qin Jingzhou reminded him, “You’d better get as much information out of him as you can. It’s in your best interest. You don’t have that much time. My existence is to deter those hunters, to make them follow the rules.”
Chief Li immediately took on a serious tone. “Understood.”
Most cultivators and Extraordinaries had their own inheritances. Even if those teachings were rife with mistakes, it was more than ordinary people knew.
The officials, like Chief Li, could tell the cultivators and Extraordinaries had their own ideas, and weren’t truly allied with them. Whether the outside “hunters” ate Extraordinaries or plain humans made no difference to them; they believed that, in any case, the guardian would step in to clean up the mess, especially since both Void Refining “hunters” thus far had not lasted a single exchange against the big boss.
Therefore, each nation’s authorities quickly united in resolve—to cling tightly to the big boss’s coattails.
But then the big boss suddenly warned, “Don’t think about lying flat and waiting to be carried.” Chief Li immediately understood: the big boss wasn't objecting to carrying them, but forbidding them from doing nothing while expecting a free ride.
After ending the call, Chief Li listened once more to the recording, then went straight to his superiors.
It was now 3 in the morning, and relevant departments and even the elders were still up, busily dealing with all sorts of business in their offices.
If you’ll excuse a tangent: sticking to a diet of Evil God hatchlings worked wonders.
No, they didn’t actually return to their youth, but looking and feeling decades younger was entirely possible. Even pulling twenty-hour workdays for a full week straight, their bodies coped perfectly well. Sure, they felt tired, but they knew they could keep going.
Of course, being able to keep going didn’t mean they actually enjoyed it all that much.
So when Chief Li knocked and entered the meeting room, the leaders were all just remarking, “Cultivation is truly competition within competition. When you think about it, it's maybe not as desirable as it sounds,” and “So achieving Dao means total freedom, able to do whatever you want… Just look at today, and you’ll realize we’ve been kidding ourselves.”
Chief Li walked in, greeted everyone, and hurriedly relayed Qin Jingzhou’s message. The leaders understood instantly, not the least bit surprised.
Chief Li’s boss was particularly blunt. “If we really let those hunters succeed, being beasts of burden would be the least of it. We’d get turned into bonus meals every now and then, too.”
Another leader added, “Earlier, I joked that at best we’d be facing a xuanhuan-style colonization. Turns out, they came to be slave masters!”
After a quick internal meeting, they decided to pay another visit to the half-bodied Void Refining cultivator.
Now, that Taiyi Sect guy only injured four Nascent Souls using realm backlash, not by his own skill. When he was questioned again, he replied bluntly, “Yes, during spiritual energy revival, this world is indeed a treasure for cultivators from the Spiritual Realm—but only to those at the Void Refining stage.”
That’s because those above the Void Refining level—Fusion, Mahayana, and the legendary Tribulation Transcenders—were already caught in the gaze of the Spiritual Realm's Heavenly Dao. They absolutely would not taint themselves with so much karma for a handful of “scraps.”
If the living beings of this world could maintain their independence and self-awareness amid the hunts of the Void Refining cultivators, they would earn the recognition of the Spiritual Realm’s Heavenly Dao and the Mahayana cultivators undergoing tribulation.
Once recognized, this world would automatically become a member of the Spiritual Realm Alliance. The Void Refining would no longer be allowed to hunt at will; instead, they would have to negotiate proper employment.
Then the man gave a half-smile, half-smirk. “If fate dictates this is my tribulation, so be it. I just don't get how you lot have the luck to attract a Mahayana expert… Back then, how did I… Never mind, as the saying goes, all of fate’s gifts are marked with their price. Have you thought about the cost you’ll have to pay?”
Chief Li’s superior merely smiled. “We’re already prepared to pay tuition. No matter how high it is, tuition is tuition.”
The man said nothing more.
He was, inwardly, somewhat moved.
Meanwhile, the fiend cultivator who’d been smacked and driven out by Qin Jingzhou after much suffering finally returned to the Spiritual Realm…
After setting his head straight, he immediately ran to his partner to complain—this fiend cultivator didn’t have any stellar background himself, but his partner came from generations of orthodox cultivators, a family that had produced Tribulation Transcenders.
The fiend cultivator carefully showed off the wound on his neck. After hearing the story, his partner dragged him to see the sect leader.
If the fiend cultivator had just been bullied outside, some words of consolation would have sufficed. But since he discovered traces of a suspected Mahayana expert, his partner had no choice but to report it.
Their family’s old ancestor wanted to ascend, and was just waiting for some rogue Mahayana cultivator to “help out.”