Chapter 57: Departure
“You really gained insights into the Dao of Space?” Bai Hongtu asked. He knew all too well how terrible Jiang Li’s talent in spatial techniques was.
“Just so-so. I can go to other worlds, at least,” Jiang Li said indifferently, as if stating something trivial.
Bai Hongtu had no doubts—Jiang Li wouldn’t joke about something like this.
“Take this.” Bai Hongtu handed him a Remote Communication Talisman, though its design was a bit different.
“What’s this?”
“The one you used before was something I crafted when I was at the Soul Formation Stage. This new Remote Communication Talisman was made after I broke through to the Tribulation Stage. In theory, it should work across worlds, but it hasn’t been tested yet. Try it out when you reach another world.”
“Good stuff.” Jiang Li’s eyes lit up. He accepted Bai Hongtu’s goodwill without hesitation and put the talisman away.
The crowd visibly relaxed. Since the Human Sovereign could travel to other worlds to find the Immortal Artifacts, the chances of bringing them back were practically ninety-nine percent.
They also knew that before the Stairway to Immortality disappeared, the Celestial Realm had been connected to countless worlds. Among them, the Nine Provinces World was the strongest. Other worlds might not even have a single Ascendant, whereas the Nine Provinces produced one every few hundred years. The gap between them was clear.
No one worried about Jiang Li’s safety. Instead, they were more concerned that Jiang Li might accidentally destroy those other worlds while retrieving the Immortal Artifacts.
After all, other worlds weren’t as stable as the Nine Provinces.
“Let’s set up the Nine Provinces’ Barrier Formation first. I don’t want any Outer World Demons attacking while I’m away.”
“But the Immortal Artifacts ran away. Who will serve as the formation’s core?” Bai Hongtu frowned. The best choice was naturally the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal, followed by other Immortal Artifacts.
With no Immortal Artifacts available, even Dao Artifacts weren’t qualified to act as the formation’s core.
Jiang Li took out the Desolate Heaven Halberd. “Use this. It can serve as the core and also protect you all if Outer World Demons invade.”
The moment the halberd appeared, everyone could feel the overwhelming killing intent it radiated. Who knew how many Outer World Demons had perished under this weapon? Instantly, they felt a deep sense of reverence.
The Desolate Heaven Halberd, which had been napping, froze for a moment before realizing Jiang Li was about to leave it behind. It wailed in protest. “Brother Jiang, you can’t do this to me! If you leave me in the Nine Provinces, who will charge into battle for you?”
Everyone was stunned. This thing had sentience?
Previously, when all the spirit treasures were in turmoil, the Desolate Heaven Halberd had remained silent, leading everyone to believe that the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal hadn’t successfully awakened its intelligence.
Jiang Li, having interacted with it for only a short while, could already tell that this weapon just wanted to sleep inside a storage ring and avoid work.
“Then how about we switch? I’ll stay in the Nine Provinces, and you go search for the Immortal Artifacts?”
“No, no, no! I think being the formation’s core suits me just fine!” The Desolate Heaven Halberd rejected the idea immediately.
What a joke! It was just a poor External War Armament—aside from being tough, it had no special abilities. How was it supposed to compete with those fancy, overpowered Immortal Artifacts?
Several days later, the invisible Barrier Formation slowly took shape. It stretched across the four corners of the Nine Provinces and converged above the Human Sovereign Hall at the center.
At that moment, although ordinary cultivators couldn’t see the formation, they felt a strange sense of security, soothing their hearts.
Bai Hongtu, however, frowned and muttered, “As expected, no karmic virtue descended.”
…
After ensuring the Nine Provinces’ safety, Jiang Li was finally at ease to depart.
The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal was the most critical, so naturally, he would search for it first.
Jiang Li had the system establish a teleportation channel, attempting to let Bai Hongtu and other Tribulation Stage cultivators cross over to another world.
However, neither Bai Hongtu nor the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru could see the channel. Jiang Li then had them try stepping into it, but they remained in the same place, utterly confused.
Jiang Li sighed. As expected, the system’s spatial transmission was beyond his current comprehension.
Stepping through the portal, he arrived in an unknown world.
“Hm? The spiritual energy here is actually this rich?” Jiang Li was slightly surprised. The density of spiritual energy here was just slightly lower than that of the Nine Provinces—something incredibly rare.
Unlike the monotonous gray world he had visited before, this world was full of vitality. Spreading out his divine sense, he scanned a small area and immediately felt both a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity.
The familiarity came from the fact that this was a human-dominated technological era. The unfamiliarity came from the sheer advancement of technology—floating cars, artificial intelligence, mechas, quantum processors…
Maybe before heading back, he could bring some local specialties with him, Jiang Li mused casually.
But that wasn’t important right now. His first priority was finding the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal.
The moment Jiang Li landed on the rooftop of a skyscraper, his Remote Communication Talisman started vibrating.
He didn’t even need to guess—it had to be Bai Hongtu.
Putting on a grumpy expression, Jiang Li answered the call.
“Jiang… Jiang Li, did you arrive safely in the other world?”
To his surprise, it was the Holy Maiden Jingxin contacting him.
Jiang Li immediately swapped his annoyed expression for a gentle smile. “Yeah, I’m safe. This place is pretty interesting.”
“See? I told you, he only shows a bad attitude when talking to me,” Bai Hongtu’s voice chimed in. He peeked over her shoulder and, through the Remote Communication Talisman, caught sight of the world behind Jiang Li. His eyes widened in amazement. “This is the other world? That metal box moves without any spiritual energy fluctuations!”
“And those towering buildings—do the people here love heights?”
“What a pity we can’t go there. I’d love to take a stroll in that world.”
“This place looks perfect for spreading our Confucian teachings.”
“Human Sovereign Jiang, are you here to search for the Dragon Pearls of our Dragon Palace?”
“Nonsense! Obviously, he’s here to find the Other Mountain Stone from our Penglai Immortal Island!”
“That ten-meter-tall metal humanoid… it looks a lot like our Dharma Sect’s Dharma Bodies, but it doesn’t seem as sturdy as ours.”
“What do you mean it looks like your Dharma Bodies? I think it resembles our Buddhist Sect’s Sixteen-Foot Golden Body!”
It wasn’t just Bai Hongtu—sect leaders from other major factions had also crowded around, stretching their necks to get a glimpse of the new world. Even the usually low-profile Dharma Sect had joined the conversation.
Jiang Li felt that, among all these people, only the Holy Maiden Jingxin was genuinely concerned about his safety.
Looking at these overly eager sect leaders, Jiang Li felt like he was leading a senior citizens’ tour group through an alternate world. The constant chatter was giving him a headache.
Though he appreciated them keeping him from feeling lonely, Jiang Li ultimately decided to shut off the Remote Communication Talisman.
The world suddenly fell silent.
The new talisman worked well—Bai Hongtu could no longer connect to him directly.
For now, Jiang Li had no idea how big this world was, but from what he had seen so far, it was at least as large as an entire province of the Nine Provinces.
And just like the Nine Provinces, this world was a flat continent.
From ancient records, Jiang Li knew that inhabited worlds came in two types—one with numerous planets separated by vast distances, and another consisting of a single flat landmass, at least a hundred times larger than a typical planet.
If he wanted to find the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal here, he had to be prepared for a long search.
Then, as soon as he looked up, he saw the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal flying around aimlessly in the sky, wailing as it flailed about.