Chapter 121 - 120: Return

Chapter 121: Chapter 120: Return

A year can feel both long and short.

For the native Cultivators, time could be described as a period of unprecedented change.

Their realms advanced at lightning speed, changing by the day. Those at the Harmonization Realm sprouted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, appearing in droves as if they were free.

Now, the average member of the Wenda Alliance was at the Void Refinement Realm. Anyone below the Divinity Transformation Realm wasn’t even qualified to cross the Wenda Alliance’s threshold.

The Sect Leaders of the Upper Three Sects, like Mao Xiu, had their Nascent Souls nurtured by Li Ye. They grew to be even taller than living people, so vivid and lifelike they were indistinguishable from the Golden Boys who attend Bodhisattvas.

This would have been utterly impossible in the past.

Yet, this golden age of cultivation was single-handedly ushered in by Li Ye, and in less than a year.

These days, a Cultivator would be too ashamed to go out without wearing a watch.

...

Loose Immortals established Sects and built temples, gathering incense offerings in the Mortal World.

The cultivation world no longer distinguished between good and evil; everyone had joined the Wenda Alliance.

All the higher-ups in the Wenda Alliance racked their brains to launch projects in the Mortal World—projects in agriculture, industry, education... They were trying to gather Wish Power from every possible angle.

The entire world was a scene of great prosperity.

Statues of Li Ye were erected in cities of all sizes, across every nation.

At the Wenda Alliance branches, clay statues of Li Ye’s Golden Body had even displaced the ancestral founders of the various sects, enjoying the incense offerings of Cultivators day and night.

The murals on the branch walls recorded the epic stories of Li Ye spreading his teachings, the founding of the Wenda Alliance, the Ancestral Master vanquishing demons and saving the world, and more...

From Cultivators to mortals, everyone was grateful to Li Ye from the bottom of their hearts.

After all, Li Ye had truly saved this world.

If not for him, everyone in the cultivation world would have likely become a slave to the Ninth Elder.

How else could it be like this, with the average person at the Void Refinement Realm? They no longer had to spend vast amounts of time in secluded cultivation and could instead focus their energy on researching how to achieve Ascension.

...

But for Li Ye, time was passing a little too quickly.

In the remaining seven or eight months, aside from occasionally helping Cultivators improve their Skill Level, he spent most of his time tinkering with his watch, trying to activate a fourth Derived Skill.

But whether it was due to the lack of life-or-death crises or because the limit for each Monster Derived Skill was three, he failed to acquire a new one by the time he was recalled by the Demon Hunting Bureau.

Still, those seven or eight months were not a waste.

He had committed all the auxiliary arts of this cultivation world to memory—talismans, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Arrays, Combat Skills, and so on. While he couldn’t fully integrate them all, he had more than enough theoretical knowledge to put into practice at any time.

Having read so many Secret Manuals, Li Ye had also come up with some things of his own.

He practiced a Daoist Sect Cultivation Technique. To use techniques from the Sword Sect or the Buddhist Sect, he had to rely on Demon Qi for a forced conversion.

But the source of Demon Qi was the demon itself.

Once he returned the demon, if he wanted to continue using Sword Sect and Buddhist Sect techniques, he would have to consume the Demon Qi stored by his Derived Skills.

This was not a situation Li Ye wanted to see.

So, relying on the powerful regenerative ability of Demon Qi, he brute-forced the creation of a new Cultivation Technique. Drawing inspiration from the principle of simulators on Earth, he constructed a small, virtual meridian system within his body.

Using this virtual system, he successfully converted Daoist Spiritual Power into Sword Qi and Buddhist Power...

This way, even without using Demon Qi, he could still simulate the Sword Sect’s Ten Thousand Swords Spell and the Buddhist Sect’s Protective Golden Body.

It was quite a significant innovation on his part.

...

In his spare time, Li Ye delved deep into the history of the various Sects.

The Buddhist Sect’s Cultivation Techniques were passed down from Amitabha Buddha, the Sword Sect’s from Zhou Qingyun of Mount Emei, and the Daoist Sect’s from Daoist Monarch Changran...

The Demon Sect’s techniques were from the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, and the Ghost Sect’s from the Celestial Nether Ancestor.

The Demon Realm’s Cultivation Technique lineage was also quite famous, said to be from the Nine-Headed Demon Venerable. From fragmented descriptions in ancient texts, Li Ye felt that this so-called Nine-Headed Celestial Venerable sounded a lot like the Nine-Headed Insect that escaped from Sun Wukong and Erlang God...

Li Ye didn’t know the origins of people like Daoist Monarch Changran, but the few he did recognize were major figures.

Even if their legacies were incomplete, they were orthodox. If he could ever complete them, it would be another great fortune.

’As a Time Traveler, anything is possible.’

「A year passed in a flash.」

Li Ye was someone who saw things through to the end, and that included his lies.

On the day of his return, he gathered the higher-ups of the Wenda Alliance. He hung Storage Pouches on every available spot on his body and publicly demonstrated his "Ascension."

The last thing he saw was the crazed and excited expressions on the faces of the Wenda Alliance leaders.

...

He returned to the same glass enclosure as last time; the procedure was also identical.

What was different was Li Ye’s own cultivation level.

Last time he returned, Li Ye had sensed seven or eight people blocking his escape routes. This time, he keenly felt at least three layers of people monitoring his every move.

However, Li Ye didn’t make any rash moves and still went through the process step by step.

...

"Welcome back again, my hero." Yang Feng came forward and gave Li Ye a big hug, his attitude even more enthusiastic than last time. "Want to grab a bite first and rest for a few days?"

"No need. I’m full of energy right now," Li Ye said with a smile, declining the offer.

The last time he came back, he had turned in his Team Emblem, and the Demon Qi supporting him vanished, leaving him feeling utterly exhausted.

Now, Li Ye was at the peak of the Harmonization Realm. Even with the Demon Qi stripped from his body, he was still brimming with energy.

However, back on Earth, Li Ye keenly sensed something.

The Spiritual Qi on Earth was indeed scarce, not even comparable to the Spiritual Qi in the Mortal World of the last dimension.

With such thin Spiritual Qi, it was practically impossible to cultivate to the Harmonization Realm; even reaching the Nascent Soul Realm would be a struggle.

But his senses were sharp enough to notice that the Spiritual Qi on Earth seemed a little denser than when he had left.

’A Spiritual Qi revival brought by Demon Qi?’

"Li Ye, you seem much stronger than last time." Since Li Ye didn’t need to rest, Yang Feng didn’t insist. He looked him up and down and asked with a smile, "Did you enter a cultivation world this time?"

"A not-so-complete cultivation world!"

Li Ye wasn’t surprised that Yang Feng could guess which world he had traveled to.

After all, he was still in his old attire, with the Sword Sect’s Sword Box on his back!

When he returned, he had covered his body in Storage Pouches, each one filled with treasures.

Li Ye was the Alliance Leader of the Wenda Alliance, respected by the entire world. Every Sect was willing to offer him everything they had.

Storage Pouches were also excellent tools for transporting goods. Since he had dealt with the Demon Qi, he probably wouldn’t be returning to that world in this lifetime, so he had to loot what he could.

Unfortunately, the temporal turbulence was too intense. Of the hundreds of Storage Pouches, only two remained.

Thankfully, the Sword Sect’s Sword Box wasn’t lost.

But the most useful Eight Gates Locking Talismans were gone; not a single talisman was left.

Li Ye opened the Sword Box. The dense cluster of flying swords was still inside. The Sword Box must be considered a single item.

Yang Feng’s heart raced as he eyed the flying swords in the Sword Box. "Li Ye, what’s your realm now? Golden Core? Or Nascent Soul?"

"You have that much faith in me?" Li Ye closed the Sword Box and gave Yang Feng a sly look as he retorted.

Yang Feng reluctantly tore his gaze away from the Sword Box, collected himself, and looked at Li Ye with a smile. "I believe you’re someone who can create miracles. No Time Traveler has ever packed up an entire world’s worth of Secret Manuals on their first trip."

"At the Demon Hunting Bureau, you’re already a legend. Your story has become a model to inspire every new Time Traveler."

"Alright," Li Ye said, shaking his head with a smile. "In that case, you’re still underestimating me."

"..." Yang Feng was stunned. "So, don’t tell me you’ve reached Divinity Transformation?"

"To be precise, Harmonization," Li Ye said, raising his eyebrows smugly, perfectly embodying the arrogance of a young man who’d found success early.

’The most important thing for a Time Traveler is their Derived Skills. Besides, the master of the Demon Suppression Tower might be silently watching every one of us from behind the scenes. So, there’s really no need to hide my cultivation level. I need to use my excellence to secure more benefits for myself.’

Yang Feng’s eyes suddenly widened, his expression frozen.

Li Ye watched him with a grin.

After a long moment, Yang Feng finally came to his senses and stammered, "Harmonization?"

"That’s right, Harmonization." Li Ye formed a sword seal. The Sword Box he had just closed flew open, and countless flying swords soared out, circling and dancing in the tall, spacious room.

But as soon as the flying swords took to the air, a piercing alarm blared.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Several figures appeared simultaneously.

As they appeared, an incredibly strong gravitational force pressed down on Li Ye.

He instinctively circulated his Spiritual Power to fight against the immense gravity, but it felt like a mountain had been dropped on him. ℯ

A moment later, Li Ye’s face turned beet red, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his bones began to make a CREAKING sound.

The flying swords in mid-air began to fall, one after another...

Damn it!

’Is this a gravity-related Derived Skill?’

Li Ye immediately shot a pleading look at Yang Feng.

’Sure enough, even at the peak of the Harmonization Realm, I can’t just run wild on Earth. No wonder there are so many demons on Earth, yet the Demon Hunters can still maintain the balance. Guarding a pile of demons gives them too much of an advantage.’

...

Yang Feng urgently made a hand signal.

The figures who had appeared glanced at Li Ye, then vanished again.

The gravity crushing Li Ye suddenly lightened. He gasped for breath, circulating the Spiritual Power in his body to heal his injuries. Shaken, he said, "Director Yang, what was that all about? I didn’t die in the Otherworld, but I almost died at the hands of my own people."

Yang Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "This is the Return Room. It has the tightest security. Who told you to suddenly unleash so many flying swords without any warning? You’re lucky they didn’t go for the kill."

"If a returning Time Traveler is corrupted by Demon Qi, this place ensures they can be suppressed immediately. No one can bear the consequences of the damage a rampaging Time Traveler could cause."

"I was just trying to give you a surprise," Li Ye said, frustrated. "I thought I had already passed the inspection!"

"Are your injuries serious?" Yang Feng asked.

"You’re underestimating someone at the Harmonization Realm," Li Ye said with a dismissive laugh. "They’re just minor injuries. I’ll recover in minutes."

"Let’s go. To the testing grounds," Yang Feng said excitedly. "On the way, don’t say a word."

"Okay."

The Demon Hunting Bureau had given him a real show of force to put him in his place. Li Ye reined in his pride and followed Yang Feng toward the testing grounds.

’My strength is still too weak after all. Forget the master of the Demon Suppression Tower, even the humble Demon Hunting Bureau can easily put me in my place!’

...

The testing grounds were at least the size of twenty soccer fields and also an enclosed space. Yang Feng had cleared it in advance, so now only the two of them were there.

"Alright, you can show off your abilities now," Yang Feng said with a smile and a gesture. "See those targets hanging in the air?"

"Attack them with your full power. Don’t worry about damaging the testing grounds. In a moment, mobile drones will also appear. They’re your targets, too..."