Chapter 404: Chapter 403: Suspicion of Evil Beasts, Stacked Spaces

Dark clouds rolled menacingly overhead, and Li Jing advanced to meet them head-on. In the blink of an eye, he was upon them.

As he was about to make contact with the clouds, one after another, phantoms that almost entirely blended with the grey-brown colour of the cloud appeared before his eyes.

Upon seeing these phantoms, Li Jing paused and furrowed his brow.

An innumerable number of phantoms were concealed within the clouds, each topped with a health bar.

It was a sight that thrilled him.

However, the form of the phantoms within the clouds was somewhat intriguing.

An uncountable number of phantoms, all in distorted human forms.

It was nothing unusual.

Apparitions appearing as abstract human forms were common.

These entities were not necessarily living beings, but would adapt to their environment.

In a world populated by human beings, their appearance in human form was expected.

However, catching sight of these silhouettes, whose faces were obscured, with only a pair of fiery eyes visible, Li Jing felt a boundless sense of anguish and desolation.

These Alien Species, silently screaming, seemed desperate for liberation.

The appearance of such entities was often associated with negative emotions, which, itself, was common.

However, those negative emotions would typically be anger, fear, and the like.

Li Jing halted upon sensing the anomaly, but the cloud, filled with countless phantoms, did not.

Immediately, he was swallowed up by the cloud.

The next second, the phantoms melded with the cloud clamoured over each other, eager to reach him first.

Upon seeing this, a look of slight disapproval passed across Li Jing’s face.

Without hesitation, he transformed into a golden thunderbolt.

Gold - the colour of Yang Thunder.

Confronted with the Yang Thunder, the phantoms that were on the brink of reaching Li Jing were vaporized in an instant.

Simultaneously, affected by the Thunderbolt, the cloud, a manifestation of a mass of Ghostly Evil Beasts, changed into roiling thunderclouds discharging scorching Yang Thunder.

In a split second, countless Ghostly Evil Beasts were vaporized as if swept away by a tidal wave.

Not only could Li Jing control the Five Thunders at will, but he had also mastered the Thunderbolt, which could influence natural phenomena.

As a Seventh Realm practitioner, he had command of the rules of Thunder Punishment.

To the Ghostly Evil Beasts, he was a predator.

The large group that swept in was simply an offering.

The sky, previously oppressive due to the cloud cover, quietly returned to tranquility. Countless Ghostly Evil Beasts were annihilated by the thunderclouds in an instant.

"Experience +28964256."

"Level up, 114. Spiritual Power Intensity +228, Skill Points +2."

"Level up, 115. Spiritual Power Intensity +230, Skill Points +2."

"Level up, 116. Spiritual Power Intensity +232, Skill Points +2."

"Level up, 117. Spiritual Power Intensity +234, Skill Points +2."

Five prompts appeared before Li Jing’s eyes in succession.

Although gaining experience was thrilling, there was something sour about it.

Leveling up was exhilarating as well.

However, unlike before, he did not leap with joy.

He looked down in silence.

Below, one green orb after another, shrouded in a hazy aura, either fell onto or were half-buried in the snow.

The orbs were remnants "exploded" out of the Ghostly Evil Beasts after they were vaporized by the Yang Thunder. Clearly, these orbs were the Dark Pearls that the Da Xia Dynasty and the powers of the Eastern Continent Earth Realm were fighting for.

Under normal circumstances, the emergence of a multitude of valuable treasures from slain monsters would have delighted Li Jing to no end.

But the items present now...

For some reason, upon seeing the Ghostly Evil Beasts, Li Jing immediately thought of the Da Xia people who had transformed into Alien Species by practicing the Sky Demon Great Method.

It was no wonder that he made the connection.

The Beast Tide mentioned by the people of Da Xia was not a literal tide of beasts.

The Ghostly Evil Beasts were not beasts.

At least not in Li Jing’s view.

There was not much of a difference between the Ghostly Evil Beasts and the Da Xia people who had practiced the Sky Demon Great Method.

Of course, there were differences.

The Da Xia people who transformed into Alien Species retained their consciousness.

The black mist form they transformed into did not have as light a colour and could appear in the form of mist.

The two could not be linked solely based on similar characteristics.

But one point tied them closely together.

Practicing the Sky Demon Great Method was inseparable from the Dark Pearls produced by the Ghostly Evil Beasts.

With these connections in mind, Li Jing naturally thought of more possibilities.

However, the likely truth behind these facts was too cruel for him to ponder.

...

From behind, Liu Sisi held Ya’er in her arms and watched as Jiang Yini saw Li Jing confront the oncoming cloud and resolve the situation in an instant. The two grown women and child were dumbfounded.

Ya’er’s golden eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

What...

What had just happened?

How could everything have ended so abruptly?

How could the numerous Ghostly Evil Beasts have been exterminated in an instant?

Gazing at the distant figure of Li Jing hovering in the sky, Ya’er’s heart pounded with shock and her eyes filled with little stars.

For the golden-eyed cat and other creatures living in the Northern Polar Region, the Ghostly Evil Beasts were undeniably the biggest threat they had to face in this world.

Heaven only knows how many unique species of the Northern Polar Region have lost their lives to the Ghostly Evil Beasts, or even been driven to extinction.

However, in the face of Li Jing, the Ghostly Evil Beasts appeared to be no problem at all.

No.

It was not an illusion.

The Ghostly Evil Beasts were not the problem!

"Let’s go take a look."

Liu Sisi turned her head.

"Alright."

Jiang Yini responded, flying forward together with her.

...

In a short while, the two adults and one child reached a certain person’s side.

Li Jing turned his head when he noticed their approach.

Seeing their arrival, he smiled warmly.

"All settled."

Their eyes blinked at this statement, and Jiang Yini smiled nonchalantly.

"That was quick."

Li Jing responded with a slight pull at the corner of his mouth.

The resolution indeed occurred swiftly.

He had anticipated this.

Group of Ghostly Evil Beasts that affected the heavenly phenomenon of cloudy skies were simply giving him experience, he didn’t even need to use any special measures for an easy kill.

Regardless of their strength, or their uncanny characteristics.

Under Yang Thunder, these creatures of dark nature couldn’t pose any threat.

But Jiang Yini’s words clearly held an undertone of taunt towards him.

Liu Sisi was never a simple personality.

Reflecting on the days before her relationship with Li Jing was established, she often used to speak without filters, almost saying anything.

Now, hearing Jiang Yini’s comment "quite fast", she silently glanced over.

She knew better than anyone how fast Li Jing was.

If he was truly fast, would she have so much trouble each time?

These, of course, she couldn’t tell Jiang Yini.

Pretending not to have heard Jiang Yini’s teasing, Liu Sisi turned her attention to Li Jing’s somewhat gloomy expression.

"Husband, did you discover something?"

"Yes."

Li Jing nodded, explaining his feelings and thoughts after seeing the Ghostly Evil Beasts appearing in the form of twisted human figures.

Both Liu Sisi and Jiang Yini were quick thinkers.

Hearing Li Jing’s words, they didn’t wait for him to express his suspicions and associations before they started guessing and associating themselves.

Like Li Jing, both women found it hard to believe what was possibly happening.

Compared to the two, Ya’er was much more innocent.

She herself was not a human of the present world, but a native Spirit Beast from the Northern Polar Region.

To her, Ghostly Evil Beasts were a common occurrence in her life.

Seeing all her parents showing indescribable looks, the little girl was completely confused.

At this point, Liu Sisi looked down.

"Ya’er, do you know where the Ghostly Evil Beasts come from?"

"No."

Ya’er shook her head vigorously, responding.

"The Northern Polar Region has always been full of Ghostly Evil Beasts, they’re everywhere. Only after every Beast Tide every hundred years, their number would drastically decrease. As time goes by, the number of Ghostly Evil Beasts would increase slowly again, forming a new Beast Tide every hundred years."

At these words, Liu Sisi fell silent.

Neither did Li Jing nor Jiang Yini break the silence.

They all had their suspicions and guesses.

At this moment, the cruel truth behind the beast tide every hundred years could almost be openly seen before their eyes.

The so-called Ghostly Evil Beasts.

They might possibly be Da Xia people who lost sanity or underwent accidents that made them lose their humanity and bodies while practicing Sky Demon Great Method.

However, at present, a conclusion could not be drawn yet.

Firstly, they needed to understand one thing.

Why Ghostly Evil Beasts would gather or appear in the Northern Polar Region, but not other parts of the Eastern Continent.

With a sigh, Li Jing said,

"Let’s not worry about other things for now, there are many Dark Pearls scattered on the ground, maybe we can use them in the future. Later, we need to go back to the entrance of the Secret Realm to confirm the duration of the Secret Realm Passage. In the meantime, we can provide some samples to the Research Institute for analysis."

Listening to Li Jing’s words, both Liu Sisi and Jiang Yini agreed and nodded separately.

Thus, the three of them split up and collected the Dark Pearls on the ground, with Ya’er also assisting.

There were truly a large number of Dark Pearls on the ground.

After all, this was a swarm of Ghostly Evil Beasts who nearly gave him thirty million experience points.

There were many powerful individuals in the swarm, but most of them had around two thousand health bars.

It took nearly half an hour for Li Jing and the rest to collect the majority of the visible Dark Pearls.

Upon a quick count, they had collected tens of thousands of them.

These Dark Pearls differed in shape, size and quality.

On the surface, they didn’t differ much from ordinary spiritual objects.

At first glance, Dark Pearls seemed to be crystals of dark power similar to the occasionally dropped crystals by powerful and strange beings, which are crystalline spiritual objects of a dark nature.

However, nobody dared to use it when held in hand.

For confirmation, Li Jing specifically asked Liu Sisi if her Spirit Weapon needed it.

All three of her Spirit Weapons were of dark nature.

They had been fed various Spirit Weapon-nurturing materials, but they had not reached the stage of requiring heavenly treasures, and were still in the stage of attribute purification.

If Dark Pearls had any value in nurturing Spirit Weapons, the Spirit Weapons would certainly not be picky.

The eventual answer was,

Dark Pearls had no value in nurturing Spirit Weapons and couldn’t be absorbed.

If it can’t be used as a material for cultivating Spirit Weapons, then it essentially can’t be considered as a spiritual material.

Theoretically,

All spiritual materials can be used to nourish Spirit Weapons.

The difference only lies in the efficiency and cost of nurturing.

Finally, Li Jing kept everything. All the Dark Pearls were piled up in a corner of his Little Universe.

Once everything was settled, the three of them tacitly didn’t discuss what was the matter behind the Dark Pearls and flew to the snow mountain where they were before.

At this point, dust from the part of the mountain that Li Jing had shattered was still swirling around, but most of it had settled.

Behind the thin smoke and dust, there was no spatial passage as expected.

Upon seeing no visible spatial passage, Li Jing frowned slightly.

Could his prediction have been wrong?

It couldn’t be!

If his prediction was wrong, where did the rocks and snow swallowed during the collapse and avalanche go?

Looking over now.

The mountain he had crushed with his foot had entirely caved in without showing any sight of the forest Ya’er had mentioned, which was quite unreasonable.

Just as he was puzzled, Jiang Yini spoke up.

"There’s no passage rift, it seems this is a layered space."

Li Jing was slightly startled upon hearing this.

He knew the concept of layered space, he had just not thought of it right away.

Essentially, layered space is similar in nature to a secret realm.

Except, its entrance and exit do not require a spatial passage, as the existence of layered space coincides fully with the world.

As long as one knows where they can enter, they can do so anytime, anywhere.

Layered space is usually quite narrow.

Instead of being similar to a secret realm space, it might be more appropriate to say that it is a subspace with a stable existence and a unique ecosystem.

Layered spaces are extremely rare.

Compared to the frequent appearance of secret realm spaces on Blue Star, they can be considered extremely unusual.

Thinking that it might indeed be a layered space, Li Jing glanced at Ya’er, who was looking at the broken mountain with a puzzled expression, and said.

"Let’s go down and take a look."

As he spoke, he was the first to descend.

Seeing this, Jiang Yini and Liu Sisi followed suit.

After landing, Li Jing walked a few steps in the direction he remembered Ya’er had burrowed into the snow.

About seven steps in, the scenery before his eyes suddenly changed.

In the blink of an eye.

The collapsed snow mountain ceased to exist.

In its place, there was a lush, vast forest.

Facing the sight before him, Li Jing raised an eyebrow.

Indeed, it was a layered space.

Liu Sisi and Jiang Yini who followed were both taken aback.

Compared to the harsh environment of the northern polar region outside, this place could almost be described as a greenhouse. The comfort level of the environment was off the charts.

Looking up.

The lush forest seemed endless.

In the green fields among the trees, lots of peculiar creatures could be seen.

Given their lively and active demeanor, it was clear they were indigenous spiritual beasts of this area.

While the trio were observing the environment within the layered space, Ya’er squirmed out of Liu Sisi’s embrace and jumped out, desperately digging in the snow and broken stones.

Seeing the little guy act like this, Li Jing and the others couldn’t help but laugh.

These snow and broken stones were clearly not part of the layered space but what had fallen previously.

Ya’er was hurriedly digging soil.

Most likely, the snow and rocks that had fallen in had buried the place where she picked the Heart-quenching Fruit.

Sure enough.

After Ya’er quickly dug a hole and crawled inside, she came out listlessly carrying a squashed Heart-quenching Fruit in her mouth.

Perhaps because she lived in the food-scarce northern polar region, the little one had an unusual persistence for "delicious food".

Despite the squashed Heart-quenching Fruit, she didn’t give up.

She set it down on the ground and wriggled back into the hole.

Seeing Ya’er’s persistence, Li Jing didn’t stop her and turned to Liu Sisi and Jiang Yini.

"You two stay here and watch Ya’er, I’m going to take a look around in the sky and try to determine how large this layered space is."

As he spoke, he rose into the air, taking control of the sky.

As soon as he reached the sky, Li Jing was immediately drawn to a palace partially hidden behind a mountain in the depths of the forest.

The existence of a palace in the layered space was unexpected.

Looking carefully.

The magnificent palace, its visible portion built of golden bricks, was grand and imposing. It seemed to resemble an immortal palace from a distance.

Looking around.

The layered space was not very large.

The forest that seemed endless from the ground was easy to see its black boundary from high above.

That black border was chaos; the barrier formed around various spaces, inaccessible.

Chaotic border, both storage space and Li Jing’s Little Universe had them.

Theoretically, all secret realm spaces and even the Big World where the present world is located also have a chaotic border. However, whether in the secret realm or the Big World, people have no chance to explore the border.

Lingering in the sky for a while to estimate, Li Jing confirmed that this layered space was roughly the size of North City in Jianghai City.

Compared to his Little Universe, this place was vast.

In the known layered spaces of the present world, it is probably of average size.

After assessing the size of the layered space, Li Jing moved like a thunderbolt and swiftly travelled through the entire layered space.

The ecosystem of the entire layered space was very good.

There were quite a few spiritual beasts wandering around.

Their grades were not high, but they formed a complete ecological chain.

There were herbivores, and there were carnivores.

There were those that lived in groups, and there were those that lived alone.

In the streams that traversed the entire layered space, numerous species of fish were living, most of which had evolved into spiritual beasts.

After walking around and confirming that there was nothing here that could pose a threat, just some spiritual beasts living here, Li Jing looked down from above the palace half-hidden behind the mountain.

At this glance, the resplendent palace instantly came into his full view.

The palace was well preserved.

The golden bricks used to construct it were clearly not ordinary. They were extremely eye-catching and showed no signs of age.

How long this palace had existed, Li Jing did not know.

But it must have been quite some time.

At least from the style alone.

The architectural style of the palace was much older than that of the Da Xia’s architecture.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Jing descended.

Just as he was about to get close to the palace, he was startled to find himself transported some distance away.

?

Li Jing slowly typed out a question mark.

He did anticipate that there might be array forbidden restrictions in the palace.

A palace hiddently nested in overlapping spaces, built so splendidly and preserved so perfectly, he didn’t need to think twice to know that it must belong to someone, most likely with some protective measures.

Li Jing originally thought that his thick skin and tough flesh were not afraid of such restrictions.

Typically, the restrictions in such places are mostly intended to prevent disturbances, not so much as killer arrays.

He descended in order to trigger the restrictions and see if the owner was around.

Who would have thought that he would be teleported out directly?

If it were earlier, Li Jing wouldn’t have thought much of it.

However, now facing restrictions involving space teleportation, he can’t help but think of Shi Miaoying, the National Master of the Da Xia.

It couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence, could it?

Li Jing’s face looked strange.

Looking at himself being teleported out by the restrictions and that there is no sign of the owner in the palace, he raised his hand to activate the Heavenly Eye.

Following this, Li Jing’s facial expression became even more peculiar.

Under the gaze of the Heavenly Eye, he quickly saw something akin to an array layout similar to that on Canglong Mountain based on the Big Dipper.

The overall layout was basically the same, but not without differences.

The array in this place, although the seven-star layout seems to be in a similar position, actually deviates considerably.

Moreover, the seven stars, which are highly congested with Spiritual Qi, are extremely bright with no distinction between light and darkness. The layout of the seven stars forms a line, and the Qi flowing through them is much more delicate compared to that on Canglong Mountain.

A quick glance suggests a fact.

The array here is more sophisticated than the one on Canglong Mountain.

All seven stars are Array Eyes, complementing each other to form a more stable and powerful spatial restriction.

With these observations, Li Jing denied his guess that this place belongs to Shi Miaoying, the Da Xia’s National Master.

Shi Miaoying definitely has a connection with this place, but this palace most likely does not belong to her.

Her array achievements are indeed high.

But the array layout here is clearly more sophisticated.

If Shi Miaoying had the ability, why did she not arrange the array on Canglong Mountain in this way?

Furthermore, from Li Jing’s observation.

The array restrictions in the palace, although all seven are Array Eyes, none of them have the radiance of the Spirit Spring Eye even in terms of the degree of Qi congestion, let alone when all seven are combined.

Obviously, these Array Eyes do not have the high value of the Spirit Spring Eye, but are some relatively common objects.

The key is the method of arranging the array.

Having understood all this, Li Jing brought out the Linglong Tower with a wave of his hand.

Linglong shared his thoughts.

Being drawn out of the tower, it manifested its true body and floated in his hand.

Li Jing didn’t hesitate, he threw the Linglong Tower out of his hand.

At the same time.

The Linglong Tower grew to a huge size of two thousand feet, and then fell down heavily.

Li Jing couldn’t even break the restrictions on Canglong Mountain, so of course, he couldn’t break the ones here.

If he wanted to get into the palace, he could only use the "old method".

Passersby, don’t miss out.

This palace is so well built, it’s only natural to take it away, isn’t it?

Compared to Canglong Mountain, the palace is much smaller.

The whole building is only about twice the size of the loft hidden at the top of Canglong Mountain.

Li Jing let the Linglong Tower enlarge to the extreme in order to cover a large area not because he couldn’t control it.

But after a preliminary observation, many high-quality Spirit Plants with excellent colors are growing in the overlapping spaces, most of them are obviously mature.

These treasures seem to grow naturally, scattered around the forest.

But where could high-quality spiritual objects grow in such concentration in the limited Earth Realm, precisely near the palace?

Clearly, these have been planted by the palace owner.

To improve the environment and to be prepared.

The Heart-quenching Fruit that Ya’er ate could also be one of the fruits planted by him.

It is just that the Heart-quenching Fruit is of limited use, so it was planted away from the palace.

Should these be spared?

Stealing a palace and stealing a field of high-quality Spirit plants both count as royalties, so why not be thorough?

There are only a few ornamental Spirit Plants planted in Li Jing’s Little Universe, and it would be great to get a bunch of high-quality Spirit plants, plus to have a forest too, wouldn’t it?

As the Linglong Tower covered the palace, Li Jing promptly came forward and put his hand on the tower.

...

At the entrance to the overlapping space.

Liu Sisi and Jiang Yini were watching Ya’er digging the soil.

They suddenly saw a pagoda emitting a golden light far away, and both were taken aback.

The Linglong Tower, they obviously recognized it.

Why had Li Jing brought out this precious artifact?

Could it be there are enemies?

Looking at each other, both women used the Sky Control technique and took to the air.

Just as they ascended, the Linglong Tower disappeared.

This sudden turn of events caused both ladies to be stupefied once again.

They didn’t see any enemies, but they saw a barren patch of forest in the distance.

Jiang Yini couldn’t be more familiar with Li Jing’s character.

This time, Liu Sisi followed Li Jing to the Secret Realm and had a preliminary understanding of a side of her husband that she didn’t know about.

It was clear that someone had stuffed something that didn’t belong to him into his Little Universe. Jiang Yini twitched her mouth corners and sighed sincerely at Liu Sisi.

"Your man really is capable. He steals wherever he goes."

Liu Sisi was speechless, she managed to keep a straight face and said,

"At least in the present world, he is quite law-abiding."

Facing this response, Jiang Yini was tempted to scoff, but also felt powerless to deny it.

Li Jing is indeed observant of a lot of rules.

It’s just that he is exceptional at finding loopholes...