Chapter 390: Chapter 389: Da Xia, Non-humans Everywhere

After saying goodbye to Jiang Yini, Li Jing arrived at where Jiu Li was having a meeting outside the tent.

He didn’t go in to disturb the meeting, but instead stood outside using his Primordial Spirit perception to locate Liu Sisi and conveyed a message to her.

"Sisi, come out."

Soon, Liu Sisi walked out of the tent.

Meeting with Li Jing, she asked in confusion.

"What’s wrong? Do you need something from me?"

"Yini asked us two to enter the Secret Realm first and make contact with the people from the Da Xia Dynasty."

Li Jing answered.

Upon hearing this, Liu Sisi hesitated and queried.

"Now?"

"Yes."

Li Jing replied while turning to look at the venue of the Secret Realm Passage. Then he turned back and pulled out a Spirit Soldier, suggesting.

"If you have no other affairs, we should go now."

"Okay."

Liu Sisi nodded and stretched out her small hand.

Li Jing held it and ascended into space with her by command of the spirit tool.

Then, they headed straight for the Secret Realm Passage which was half-open in mid-air.

At this time, a large number of personnel from the Northern God Country were guarding the periphery of the Secret Realm Passage.

Not only were there cannon fortifications, but also an attack formation was pointed at the Secret Realm Passage.

Li Jing’s arrival with Liu Sisi in control of the Spirit Soldier quickly attracted the attention of the personnel from the God Country.

A few members of the Special Situations Bureau ascended into the air, blocking their way.

"Please halt."

The seemingly leading Special Situations Bureau member spoke up, announcing.

"The Secret Realm is currently restricted from entry and exit. Non-Northern God Country personnel are prohibited from entering until the superiors lift the ban. Please understand."

Due to his active assistance in the Chongyuan Holy Realm in the Northern God Country, Li Jing was quite famous in the Special Situations Bureau, but not many people really knew him, only those who had participated in the exploration of the Secret Realm.

These present hadn’t participated in the exploration of the Chongyuan Holy Realm, so it was natural that they didn’t recognize him.

However, seeing that Li Jing and Liu Sisi were dressed in Jianghai Management Bureau’s uniforms, they spoke quite politely.

The friendly relationship between Longyu and the Northern God Country had been maintained for hundreds of years.

Usually when meeting each other, courtesy and politeness were the norm.

Currently, this obstruction was not due to anything else, but just because there were orders from the upper level.

Meeting this obstruction and learning that the other party had command, Li Jing naturally couldn’t say he wanted to break in by force.

With Liu Sisi in his hold, he paused in mid-air and smiled as he spoke.

"So now, only the personnel from the God Country can go in?"

Upon hearing this sentence, the lead Special Situations Bureau member paused, glanced at the White Hawk’s camp set up near the entrance of the Secret Realm Passage, and lowered his voice slightly.

"Don’t get me wrong, the ban is not particularly targeting Longyu. It’s just that the White Hawk people are keeping a close eye on us and want to send people in. If they see..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Jing raised his hand.

"No need to explain, we understand. I didn’t ask about this with any other meanings."

As he spoke, he took out the Special Situations Bureau’s badge.

"Can I go in with this?"

?

The several Special Situations Bureau personnel opposite him were all confused.

Why does this person from the Jianghai Management Bureau have their Special Situations Bureau’s badge?

By the looks of the badge, he wasn’t of a low rank...

Now that they saw it, they had to address him as their superior.

While the crowd was still confused, Liu Sisi blinked twice and also took out a temporary badge.

This time, the Special Situations Bureau personnel who were responsible for guarding the entrance of the Secret Realm Passage were stunned.

The two Longyu.

One held a high-ranking badge from the Special Situations Bureau and the other had a temporary badge.

The relevant, high-ranking badge Li Jing had was one thing, but the Special Situations Bureau wouldn’t just hand out temporary badges casually.

Typically, temporary badges would only be issued to those who had made significant contributions to the Special Situations Bureau, in order to facilitate them to participate in some of the tasks led by the Special Situations Bureau.

Faced with the badges in the hands of Li Jing and Liu Sisi, the Special Situations Bureau personnel glanced at each other. Finally, the leading person stepped aside.

"Please proceed. I will report this matter to the higher-ups later."

"Understood."

Li Jing nodded with a smile, and the spirit tool he was controlling transformed into a streak of lightning taking Liu Sisi along and shot straight into the Secret Realm Passage.

As soon as they entered, someone ascended from the camp of White Hawks and came in front of the Special Situations Bureau personnel who were still hovering in the air.

"Excuse me, but those two from Longyu who just..."

The fact that the White Hawk people would come over was something they anticipated.

They were originally given the order to restrict the actions of the White Hawk people and therefore they also indirectly prohibited entry and exit for the Longyu people. This was mainly not to give the White Hawk people an excuse.

If Li Jing and Liu Sisi entered, and the White Hawk people didn’t jump out immediately, then are they really the White Hawk?

Seizing every opportunity was their forte.

It’s not just about finding a gap.

Even if there wasn’t a gap, if they could find an excuse, they would jump out.

Greeting the person from White Hawk, several of the present Special Situations Bureau personnel didn’t give him a warm welcome.

The leading person snorted coldly.

"Are you blind? Those two who just left were members of our God Country’s Special Situations Bureau, not from Longyu Management Bureau."

Upon being rebutted at first sight, the person from White Hawk frowned, discontentedly saying.

"Brother, that’s not right. I came over precisely because I saw they were wearing Longyu Management Bureau’s uniforms..."

While he was partway through his explanation, one of the female Special Situations Bureau personnel rolled her eyes.

"Just because they’re wearing Longyu Management Bureau’s uniforms, they must be Longyu people? It’s just an outfit, what’s wrong with changing it? When our God Country’s Special Situations Bureau handles matters, is it open for your White Hawk’s Sky Shield Bureau to point fingers?"

Once again rebuffed, the man from the White Hawk looked annoyed.

However, faced with the members of the Special Situations Bureau who wielded power in numbers, he had little to say.

They were adamant that the two Longyu individuals who had just entered were from the God Country’s Special Situations Bureau, what could he do?

All he could do was report to his superiors...

...

Meanwhile.

Inside the Big Secret Realm, Li Jing and Liu Sisi crossed the Spatial Passage and arrived in the Secret Realm Space.

As they entered, they didn’t get a chance to observe their surroundings before spotting a camp below the entrance to the Secret Realm. It was occupied by a large number of soldiers dressed in armor.

Unlike modern-day military camps in the real world, the camp and the soldiers’ armor had an old-fashioned design.

At first glance, an unsuspecting person might think it was the set of a historical drama.

Liu Sisi looked curiously at the scene.

Li Jing, however, furrowed his brows.

Orville had mentioned that the Da Xia Dynasty was not a modern society.

He had informed everyone that the so-called Da Xia Dynasty was similar to Longyu from ancient times - a feudal state.

Having been informed earlier, Li Jing wasn’t surprised.

However, the scene laid out before him was something he couldn’t ignore.

He looked down and saw countless soldiers clad in armor, each with a health bar above their heads.

The health bars above the soldiers’ heads were of different lengths.

Most hovered around 3000, about the level of the Three Realm.

Some health bars were longer, exceeding 4500, and the wearers wore uniquely styled armor, suggesting they were high-ranking officers.

But the question was...

Why did these people have health bars?

Could it be because they lived within the Secret Realm?

Li Jing didn’t think so.

Although this was the first time he had seen humans living in a Secret Realm, his intuition told him that these beings below were not human.

But they were not monsters either.

If they were not human and they were not monsters, then they must either be an Alien Species similar to humans or simply Alien Species wearing human skins!

Or possibly, they could have been transformed from humans into Alien Species...

Li Jing hadn’t expected this turn of events.

Who would have thought that the first thing they would encounter after entering a supposed human dynasty would be this kind of scene?

Liu Sisi, always perceptive, quickly noticed something was off from Li Jing’s expression.

Just as she was about to ask, some people from the camp below noticed their arrival. A four-fingered python-clad official and a few sky controlling guards flew over.

Seeing people approach, Liu Sisi whispered.

"Husband, someone is coming."

"Hmm."

Li Jing responded, quietly suppressing his surprise and doubts upon realizing that the Da Xia Dynasty wasn’t a human dynasty at all.

Meanwhile.

The four-fingered python-robed officer and some guards approached. He offered a pleasant smile and saluted Li Jing and Liu Sisi, saying.

"I am Da Xia’s envoy, Zhou Yi, I welcome the two esteemed guests from the Big World."

As he spoke, he examined the two, smiling.

"You two don’t seem to be from Northern God Country or the White Hawk Empire, could it be that you are from Longyu, who shares some history with our Da Xia?"

The fact that the other party knew about Longyu was somewhat surprising to Li Jing.

But on second thought, he understood.

The God Country’s side had probably dealt with the Da Xia Dynasty very cautiously and wouldn’t have said too much.

Especially since those who had contact with the Da Xia Dynasty were only part of the initial exploration team, not decision-makers.

They couldn’t have revealed much information.

But this time, the White Hawk was here.

Most likely, they sold every piece of information they could sell.

Zhou Yi, the envoy standing before him, not only knew that someone from Longyu might be coming but he also seemed to have recognized them as "relatives"!

If this wasn’t because the White Hawk had been talkative about Da Xia Dynasty’s resemblance to Longyu’s ancient dynasty, Li Jing would have been shocked.

"We are indeed from Longyu."

Li Jing replied indifferently. Adhering to the principle of treating people courteously, he respectfully saluted Zhou Yi as Zhou Yi had done before.

"I am Li Jing from Chen Tang City, and this is my wife, Yin Suzhi."

???

Liu Sisi.

This move had completely dumbfounded her.

Li Jing from Chen Tang City?

Yin Suzhi?

What the heck is this all about?

Has her man gone mad?

However, being clever as she was, Liu Sisi quickly realized that Li Jing intended to conceal his identity and was also trying to probe the other party.

If this Da Xia Dynasty truly had a connection with the history of Longyu’s ancient dynasty.

Hearing the five characters "Li Jing from Chen Tang City", they should have had some reaction.

As the saying goes, the wife follows her husband.

Liu Sisi went with the flow. Emulating the manners displayed in historical dramas, she performed a ladylike salute.

"I’m Yin Suzhi, greetings to Envoy Zhou."

With Li Jing and Liu Sisi playing along, Zhou Yi didn’t detect anything amiss and didn’t react to the names "Li Jing" and "Yin Suzhi".

Upon their introductions, Zhou Yi smiled and said,

"So it is Mr. Li and Madam Yin, it is a pleasure."

After exchanging formalities, he asked,

"The two of you have come to Heavenly Saint Land representing Longyu, I presume..."

Before he could finish, Li Jing interrupted him.

"We two are not representing Longyu. The official representatives of Longyu to contact the Da Xia Dynasty will arrive later."

Li Jing clearly wanted to avoid further interaction with Zhou Yi, but Liu Sisi and he concealed their suspicions, instead cooperating by saying,

"Zhou, the envoy does not need to worry about us, we came in just to take a look around."

On the other hand,

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows at their words, then chuckled and said,

"Was it a misunderstanding on my part? Guests are always welcome, whether or not you represent Longyu. The Da Xia Dynasty will welcome you."

With that, he stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture.

"How about this, you both come with me to the camp below for a while, let me introduce our Da Xia Imperial City to you, for your convenience..."

Before Zhou Yi could finish, Li Jing waved his hand.

"There is no need, my wife and I can explore on our own, no need to trouble Zhou, the envoy."

As he spoke, he didn’t give Zhou Yi another chance to engage, and taking Liu Sisi’s hand, he activated his Spirit Soldier, turning them into a bolt of lightning under the cover of Silent Shadow.

With the effects of Silent Shadow, Zhou Yi instantly lost track of them.

Confronted with this situation, he was momentarily stunned.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected Li Jing to be so dismissive.

One of the guards behind him spoke up quietly.

"Sir Zhou, should we send someone to find the two and seed out them covertly?"

"There’s no need."

Zhou Yi waved his hand and said,

"You’ve just seen, Li Jing’s cultivation level is profound and almost impossible to trace, these two are not on the same level as the people from the Big World we’ve encountered before. Ordinary people can’t keep up with them, it’s better to let them be, lest we bungle matters and disrupt the big affairs of the dynasty."

"Understood."

The guard responded respectfully.

...

Li Jing and Liu Sisi left, and instead of heading for the nearby Da Xia Imperial City, they walked towards the distance.

Having seen the map provided by the Da Xia Dynasty, he knew that not too far from the imperial city was a wealthy small town named Liaoping.

Before long, Li Jing brought Liu Sisi to the vicinity of Liaoping Town.

Instead of going directly into the town, Li Jing chose to land in a dense forest outside of the town.

When they landed,

Seeing that they were in the wild, Liu Sisi couldn’t help expressing her confusion.

"Honey, didn’t we come here to contact the people of the Da Xia Dynasty? Why have you suddenly changed your mind?"

"Something is off about this Da Xia Dynasty, we should be cautious."

Li Jing spoke in a low voice, adding,

"Including that so-called Zhou Yi, there wasn’t a single normal human being in that entire camp, nor did they resemble monsters, they might be some kind of Alien Species."

"Not humans?"

Liu Sisi was surprised and asked,

"So, this Da Xia Dynasty isn’t really a kingdom of people after all?"

Li Jing has the ability to identify monsters, the specifics of which Liu Sisi is not privy to.

However, she naturally would believe what her husband tells her.

Li Jing responded to Liu Sisi’s questions by shaking his head.

"I cannot be sure at the moment. We’ll only know more once we investigate further."

With that, he continued,

"At the moment, we can confirm that this Da Xia Dynasty only somewhat resembles an ancient dynasty from our Longyu, but there isn’t essentially any deep connection."

Upon hearing this, Liu Sisi snickered,

"Speaking of this, I just didn’t react in time, so are we still going to pretend to be the King and Queen Li?"

Seeing his wife’s amusement, Li Jing could only laugh and cry.

This had been his intention earlier.

Not that he was keen on perpetuating his old façade as King Li, but it was the most direct method to probe the situation at hand.

"Now that we’ve circumvented Zhou Yi and the army of the Da Xia Dynasty, it wouldn’t make much sense to keep up the pretense. Moreover, parading around with that identity will make it easier for them to track our movements."

After casually uttering this, Li Jing took out Linglong and pressed it against Liu Sisi, saying,

"You stay here with Linglong for now, I’m going to do a round in Liaoping Town and bring back a couple of Da Xia-style outfits. Since the entire Eastern Continent is under Da Xia Dynasty’s influence, it’s better for us to fit in to facilitate our movements. We can take a detour to the Imperial City later."

"Okay, I’ll wait for you to come back."

Liu Sisi obediently said, and casually pinched the cheek of Linglong, who she hadn’t played with in a while.

Upon encountering this lady, there was nothing Linglong could do but surrender to her whim.

Who asked her to be her mistress, after all?

...

After instructing Liu Sisi to wait in the forest, Li Jing alone reached Liaoping Town under the cover of Silent Shadow.

Liaoping Town, located close to the Da Xia Imperial City, was very affluent.

Compared to the cities of the present world with populations in the millions, this town wasn’t particularly populous.

An estimate would put its populace at around one million.

Using Silent Shadow to walk through the streets of Liaoping Town, Li Jing’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

There were quite a few people here, their heads marked with Health Bars, but not everyone had them.

And then there was something he could easily observe.

The majority of the people with Health Bars were dressed in splendid and luxurious clothing, appearing wealthy and strutting about arrogantly.

While those without Health Bars were dressed in ordinary clothes, many of them looking emaciated.

Occasionally, he could see someone without a Health Bar, dressed better than the average person, but nowhere near as ostentatious as the ones in luxurious clothing.

No matter what they were wearing.

Those without health bars, upon seeing those with health bars, chose to give a wide berth.

As if a single piece of clothing alone symbolized the imbalance in their respective social status.

After leisurely strolling around Liaoping Town, Li Jing chose to walk into a rather modest clothing store on the side of the street.

Along the way, he had seen quite a few clothing stores.

This one was not particularly large, selling only ordinary clothes, and business seemed somewhat slow.

Li Jing’s reason for choosing this store was simple.

The proprietor of this clothing store didn’t have a health bar over her head.

Li Jing wasn’t particular about the clothing.

As long as it was wearable and in line with the local customs, it was fine.

Obviously, the lady was a human being, and he wanted to try to understand the real Da Xia Dynasty.

He entered the clothing store.

Seeing that there were no other customers in the shop, Li Jing glanced back at the street, a thought flashed through his mind and he put on his green robe.

As the Wind King Mysterious Clothing was put on, the Silent Shadow was automatically dispelled.

The Wind King Mysterious Clothing was styled like an ancient robe, allowing him to appear in a fairly fitting image for the Da Xia Dynasty.

Due to the slow business in the store, the proprietress was idly playing with an abacus.

Upon seeing a young man in an extravagant robe suddenly appear in the shop, she was slightly startled. After examining the robe Li Jing was wearing, she visibly relaxed, stood up and smiled.

"What do you need, sir?" she asked.

Li Jing, having noticed the subtle changes in the woman’s demeanor, smiled and replied.

"A set of robes and a dress, with a slightly better material."

Rarely getting a customer, especially asking for higher quality clothing, the proprietress was very enthusiastic.

"Please, sir, come this way."

After saying that, she led Li Jing to a counter where the fabrics were of a higher quality, and explained, "Our shop is small and we don’t have many ready-made clothes. Take a look and see if there’s anything that fits. If needed, we can make them custom for you."

"Alright."

Li Jing nodded, quickly browsed through the ready-made clothes on the counter and made his choice.

A man shopping.

Those who know, know.

If it looks decent and is usable, it’s good enough.

No need to be picky.

"I’ll take these two," said Li Jing.

Seeing how promptly he made the decision, the proprietress peeked at his choices and said,

"Sir, you don’t seem to be a local resident, and you have an extraordinary quality about you. I will give you a discount for this set of robe and dress, charging you only two taels of silver."

"I don’t have silver," Li Jing smiled.

???

The proprietress.

"Do you see this as enough?"

Li Jing waved his hand, producing a piece of Spirit Crystal.

He always carried a readily available Spirit Crystal, although he rarely had the chance to use it.

Upon seeing Li Jing produce a Spirit Crystal, the woman’s face changed, and she quickly glanced out the shop door.

"Sir, please hide this thing quickly! It would be a big problem if someone sees it!"

Raised his eyebrows at her words, Li Jing put away the Spirit Crystal.

"How so?"

As for this Spirit Crystal, he had no intention of giving it to her from the start.

From what he had seen so far,

If it really fell into her hands, not only might it harm her, but she probably would also have no channels to deal with it.

Ever since he arrived in Liaoping Town and noticed people without health bars, he had been observing them. These people without health bars were the real common people.

Forget about cultivation, they didn’t even have Spiritual Qi in their bodies.

There wasn’t much difference between them and him when he had just traversed...

The reason he brought out the Spirit Crystal was mainly because he wanted to test the waters.

Seeing that he seemed utterly clueless, the woman looked nervous, hurriedly grabbed the selected robe and dress, and stuffed them into his hands.

"I don’t know anything, just take the clothes, sir," she said.

Without waiting for Li Jing’s response, she went straight into the back room of the shop.

Seeing her reaction, Li Jing furrowed his brows.

The Da Xia Dynasty had a problem—at least it seemed that way.

It seemed a bit difficult to start from ordinary people.

Li Jing didn’t know what the circulating Spiritual Stone in this world looked like.

But it would definitely look different from the man-made and cut Spirit Crystal.

This proprietor, not being a cultivator, should not be able to feel the Spiritual Qi in the crystal. In her eyes, the Spirit Crystal should just be a stone with a peculiar material, yet she was able to spot the issue right away and became nervous because of it.

It seemed that the alien species controlling the Da Xia Dynasty had set down many "rules".

Some of which were restrictions targeted at ordinary people.

Upon pondering for a moment, Li Jing went over to a loom nearby, picked up a pair of scissors placed on it. With a flash of electricity under his hand, the scissors were reforged by him.

As the material was only ordinary iron, the scissors merely became sharpe and more durable, not even reaching the rank of Mortal Tool.

However, after being reforged by him, the scissors would display some peculiarities.

Placing down the scissors as payment, Li Jing turned and left.

...