Chapter 60 - 60: Request for Help
“Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang Li… How… How did you manage to do that?”
Ming Zhong asked anxiously, he was genuinely startled. Initially, he thought that Tian Yin and Jiang Li, who suddenly appeared in their world, were extraterrestrials with advanced spatial technology.
Who would have expected that they could break free from the gravitational shackles that had plagued them for thousands of years with their physical bodies alone!
At least to his eyes, he didn’t notice them using technology.
“That’s not a big deal. I can do it too.” Seeing Jiang Li getting admired, Tian Yin felt a bit upset and also wanted to prove that he could escape the gravity field.
Then he realized he didn’t have legs and could only fly, not jump.
“Drink plenty of hot water, and you too, can become as strong as me,” Jiang Li said with a smile.
“Re…really?” Ming Zhong didn’t realize that Jiang Li was joking and was considering issuing an order for everyone to drink hot water once he got back.
“No, not really.” Seeing that Ming Zhong took his words seriously, Jiang Li felt awkward continuing the joke. “It’s the result of cultivation.”
“Cultivation?” In Ming Zhong’s perception, cultivation was an ancient term. It usually meant a group of people standing under a waterfall or thrusting their hands into heated sand.
Those people seemed very strong, but a single bullet could bring them down.
When finding it challenging to confront beasts using mecha and artillery, these people were long lost to the dustbin of history. They could only be found in light-computer libraries.
Jiang Li spread his hands, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy into his palm, forming a cyan light ball. He purposely absorbed spiritual energy from his seven openings to make Ming Zhong see clearly.
“Absorb the spiritual energy, make it your own, that’s cultivation,” Jiang Li explained in simplified form, omitting the notions of comprehending the Heavenly Dao and completing one’s state of mind that Ming Zhong might not understand.
“Beast energy!” Ming Zhong exclaimed, “So human beings really can absorb beast energy!”
“It’s called spiritual energy,” the Yin Yang Heaven Seal corrected.
Hard to listen.
Ming Zhong knew that beasts became stronger through some unknown energy, which the scientists called beast energy.
The scientists believed that this energy could enhance the beasts, so it should also be able to strengthen humans, but after extensive experiments, they still couldn’t find a way to absorb it. They did discover it could be a premium energy source for mechas.
“What about spiritual roots? You didn’t find them?” After listening to Ming
Zhong’s account, the Yin Yang Heaven Seal could not help asking. Even as an Immortal Artifact, it knew that beasts cultivate by their bloodline, while humans cultivate through their spiritual roots.
“What is a spiritual root?”
“Spiritual roots cannot be found through experimentation,” Jiang Li gently shook his head, taking a step forward. While guiding Ming Zhong to find his spiritual root by placing his hand on Ming Zhong’s head, he explained, “To comprehend the mysteries of the universe with a mortal body, to introspect oneself, where internal and external scenes intersect, there shines the spiritual light of a thought, which can find the key to cultivation in the human body the spiritual root.”
Jiang Li was talking about the original method of finding a spiritual root in the Nine Provinces. Now, of course, it was not so complicated, a piece of spiritual root jade could test the quality of a twelve-year-old child’s spiritual root.
“This is a spiritual root?” Ming Zhong’s eyes widened as his body underwent unprecedented changes. He felt a force flowing to his limbs and body parts, with every cell, as if having been waiting for a long time, fervently absorbing this energy.
“A double spiritual root? Your talent is acceptable,” Jiang Li commented indifferently.
Ming Zhong felt lighter as he entered the first layer of Qi cultivation, formally becoming a cultivator. He felt that at least he was twice as strong as before.
This was simply terrifying. He had only just absorbed some spiritual energy, and yet his body underwent such drastic changes. Yet, Ming Zhong still couldn’t imagine that someone could break free from the gravitational shackles merely by absorbing spiritual energy.
Beasts also evolved by absorbing spiritual energy, but he had never seen any that could fly off the mainland.
Mr. Jiang Li must surely be far stronger than all the beasts!
“Mr. Jiang Li, how many people in your place can break free from gravity?”
Jiang Li thought for a moment. Counting himself as one, Changcun Xianweng and Red Dust Fairy as two, Tribulation Crossing Cultivators didn’t need to use their physical bodies stupidly; they could break away from gravity by other means.
“Seven or eight.”
Ming Zhong was astounded; he had thought there was only Jiang Li.
Jiang Li briefly described the world of the Nine Provinces to Ming Zhong. Ming Zhong was so astonished he was rendered speechless for quite a while, unable to process such a large amount of information.
His lips trembling, he said, “So you’re not from another planet, but from another world… The Nine Provinces… Immortal Realm… Cultivators… Immortal Artifacts…”
By understanding the cultivation system, he truly felt Jiang Li’s power and the colossal gap between their world and the Nine Provinces.
Beasts, which force humans to abandon their emotions and focus on developing technology, could be dealt with by just any of the nine emperors or six sects in the Nine Provinces.
The gap was simply too wide.
“On behalf of all humanity, I implore Mr. Jiang Li and Mr. Tian Yin to help us deal with the beasts!” Ming Zhong bowed to Jiang Li and the Yin Yang Heaven
“Why bother asking him for help, just leave it to me!” The Yin Yang Heaven Seal was full of confidence, expressing great sympathy for the human race of this world.
If choosing between humans and beasts, it would undoubtedly choose to side with humans.
“In terms of sentiments and logic, we should take a trip to where the beasts are,” Jiang Li said. After Ming Zhong’s explanation of this world, Jiang Li realized that there was likely no existence threatening the Dao Ancestor on the human side. The Dao Ancestor was probably trapped on the beasts’ side.
“Shall I take you two there?” Ming Zhong was overjoyed, knowing that the man in front of him was the pinnacle of the Nine Provinces, a person of the Mahayana Realm. With him making a move, the beasts were nothing more than straggling dogs and had no threat.
Ming Zhong pointed to the hovering car parked on the roadside.
“Too slow.”
In Jiang Li and the Yin Yang Heaven Seal’s eyes, the transportation tools of this world were too slow, so they wrapped Ming Zhong in spiritual energy and brought him towards the beasts’ side.
Ming Zhong thought his hover car was fast enough, covering two thousand kilometers per hour and able to reach the front line in less than two days.
But when he was carried to fly, he realized that compared to them, the hovering car was as slow as a tortoise.
The closer they flew toward the frontline, the more he could feel the pressing threat humans faced from the beasts. The army was continually drilling; the rumble of artillery fire never ceased, either they were practicing or testing new weapons.
The style of the cities gradually softened and became more rugged, leaning towards being built into military fortresses, made from materials even more robust than steel and concrete. When they reached the frontier city, buildings and ground were as one, making Jiang Li suspect that if he lifts one building, he would have to lift the whole city at the same time.
Every action of mankind in this world, every part they constructed, was in resistance against the beasts.
After passing the most advanced city, they could see three high walls made of the sturdiest material known to mankind mixed with bones of beasts, besieged by mechas, shells, and other supplies, constantly being transported from underground forts.
There were no civilians performing production work here, just soldiers who were always ready for war and those who were already fighting.
Soldiers operated remote-control mecha behind the high walls, fighting with the beasts, and automated shells and drones calculated meticulously beforehand were being launched to provide support..