Chapter 60: Seeking Help
“Jiang… Jiang Li, sir… H-How did you do that?”
Ming Zhong asked nervously, utterly shaken. At first, when he saw Tianyin and Jiang Li suddenly appear in their world, he thought they might be aliens with advanced spatial technology.
Who would have expected that Jiang Li could simply rely on his physical body to leap free from the gravitational pull that had trapped them for over a thousand years?!
At the very least, with his eyesight, he couldn’t detect any signs of technological use.
“What’s so special about that? I can do it too.” Seeing how everyone was looking at Jiang Li with admiration, Tianyin felt displeased and wanted to prove that it could also break free from gravity.
Then, it realized—it had no legs.
It could fly, but it couldn’t jump.
“Drink more hot water, and you can be as strong as me,” Jiang Li said with a smile.
“R-Really?” Ming Zhong didn’t realize Jiang Li was joking and immediately thought about issuing an order for everyone to start drinking hot water.
“Not really.” Seeing that the man took his words seriously, Jiang Li felt a little bad about the joke and explained, “It’s the result of cultivation.”
“Cultivation?” Ming Zhong was taken aback. The word sounded ancient to him. It conjured up images of people standing under waterfalls or sticking their hands into heated sand.
Those people looked strong, but a single bullet could take them down.
In an era where even mechas and artillery struggled against ferocious beasts, those so-called “cultivators” had long been buried in the dust of history, only to be found in old digital archives.
Jiang Li spread his hands, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy into his palm to form a glowing cyan orb. To make it clearer for Ming Zhong, he even absorbed spiritual energy through all seven orifices of his body.
“Absorbing spiritual energy and making it your own—this is cultivation.” Jiang Li kept his explanation simple, leaving out concepts like comprehending the Heavenly Dao or achieving a complete state of mind, which he figured Ming Zhong wouldn’t understand.
“Beast energy?!” Ming Zhong cried out in shock. “So humans can actually absorb beast energy?!”
“This is called spiritual energy,” Yin-Yang Tianyin corrected, feeling that “beast energy” was an unpleasant term.
Ming Zhong knew that ferocious beasts grew stronger through some unknown energy, which scientists had termed “beast energy.”
They theorized that since this energy could enhance beasts, it should also be able to strengthen humans. However, despite countless experiments, they had never found a way to absorb it. The only success was discovering that it was an excellent energy source for mechas.
“What about spiritual roots? Haven’t you discovered spiritual roots?” Hearing Ming Zhong’s explanation, Yin-Yang Tianyin couldn’t help but ask. Even as an Immortal Artifact, it knew that while demon beasts relied on bloodline inheritance for cultivation, humans depended on spiritual roots.
“What are spiritual roots?”
“You can’t find them through experiments.” Jiang Li shook his head slightly and stepped forward. Placing his hand on Ming Zhong’s head, he guided him in searching for his spiritual root while explaining, “To perceive the mysteries of heaven as a mere mortal, to gaze within oneself, and to grasp the moment when the inner and outer worlds connect in a flash of enlightenment—that is how one finds the key to cultivation: the spiritual root.”
Jiang Li was describing the original method used in the Nine Provinces to discover spiritual roots. Of course, nowadays, there was a much simpler way—just using a spiritual root stone could determine the quality of a child’s spiritual root by the age of twelve.
“So this is a spiritual root?” Ming Zhong’s eyes widened as an unprecedented change occurred within his body. He felt a surge of power flowing into his limbs and bones, as if every cell had been waiting for this moment, frantically absorbing the newfound energy.
“Dual spiritual roots? Decent aptitude.” Jiang Li gave a casual compliment.
Ming Zhong’s body suddenly felt lighter, and he stepped into the first level of the Qi Refining Stage, officially becoming a cultivator. He could tell that he was at least twice as strong as before.
This was terrifying. He had only absorbed a little bit of spiritual energy, yet his body had undergone such an earth-shattering transformation.
However, he still couldn’t imagine how someone could rely on spiritual energy alone to break free from gravity.
Even ferocious beasts evolved using spiritual energy, but none had ever flown off the continent.
Jiang Li must be stronger than all the beasts combined!
“Jiang Li, sir, how many people in your world can break free from gravity like you?”
Jiang Li thought for a moment. He counted himself, Immortal Elder Changcun, and Mortal World Celestial Hongchen. Crossing the Tribulation Stage cultivators didn’t need to be foolish enough to rely on their physical bodies since they had plenty of other methods.
“Seven or eight.”
Ming Zhong was stunned. He had assumed Jiang Li was the only one.
Jiang Li then gave Ming Zhong a brief introduction to the Nine Provinces World. Ming Zhong was so shocked that he was speechless for a long time, struggling to process the overwhelming information.
His lips trembled. “So… you’re not from another planet but from another world… The Nine Provinces… The Immortal Realm… Cultivators… Immortal Artifacts…”
Only after learning about the cultivation system did he truly grasp the enormity of Jiang Li’s power—and the vast chasm between their world and the Nine Provinces.
The ferocious beasts that had forced humanity to abandon emotions and focus solely on technological advancement? In the Nine Provinces, any one of the Nine Great Dynasties or Six Great Sects could wipe them out effortlessly.
The gap was too massive.
“On behalf of all humankind, I beg you, Jiang Li, sir, and Tianyin, sir, to help us eradicate the ferocious beasts!” Ming Zhong bowed deeply to Jiang Li and Yin-Yang Tianyin.
“What do we need him for? I can handle it alone!” Yin-Yang Tianyin declared confidently. It genuinely sympathized with this world’s humans.
If it had to choose between humans and demon beasts, it would side with humans without question.
“Logically speaking, it’s only right to pay the ferocious beasts a visit,” Jiang Li said. After Ming Zhong’s explanation of the world’s situation, he could tell there was no way a Dao Ancestor-level threat could exist among the humans. It was highly likely that the Dao Ancestor was trapped on the beasts’ side.
“Then let me take you there?” Ming Zhong was overjoyed. He knew full well that Jiang Li was one of the strongest beings from the Nine Provinces—a Mahayana Stage cultivator. With him involved, the ferocious beasts were nothing more than paper tigers.
Ming Zhong pointed to a hovering car parked by the roadside.
“Too slow.”
To Jiang Li and Yin-Yang Tianyin, this world’s transportation was unbearably sluggish. So, they simply wrapped Ming Zhong in spiritual energy and flew him toward the ferocious beasts’ domain.
Ming Zhong had thought his hover car was fast, reaching speeds of 2,000 kilometers per hour and capable of reaching the frontlines in less than two days.
But as he was carried through the air, he realized that, compared to them, his hover car was as slow as a crawling turtle.
The closer they got to the frontlines, the more Ming Zhong could feel the intense pressure humanity faced from the ferocious beasts. The army was constantly training, and the roar of artillery never ceased—whether from combat drills or weapons testing.
The architecture of the cities gradually shifted from soft designs to a more rigid, fortress-like style, built from materials even stronger than reinforced concrete. The cities on the absolute frontlines were constructed as full-scale military fortresses. Jiang Li suspected that if he picked up one of the skyscrapers, the entire city would come with it.
Every action the humans took, every structure they built, was for one purpose—resisting the ferocious beasts.
Beyond the frontlines, three towering walls could be seen, constructed from the most durable materials available, mixed with the bones of fallen beasts. Mechas, artillery, and supplies were continuously transported from underground factories.
No civilians were here—only soldiers, always on standby for battle.
From behind the walls, soldiers operated remote-controlled mechas, engaging in combat with the beasts. Meanwhile, precision-guided missiles, drones, and automated artillery provided continuous support.