Chapter 49: Home

In the ruins of Yunxi County, a few bricks shifted as if pushed by some unseen force.

Li Zhen emerged from his daze to find himself back in the world of immortals, gazing at the familiar surroundings of Yunxi County.

However, the streets had clearly witnessed a fierce battle, leaving much of the area in utter disrepair.

The destructive power of clashes between cultivators in the mid to late stages of Qi Refinement was truly astonishing. This was especially true when considering the involvement of the Foundation Establishment stage county chief.

Li Zhen materialized in the exact same spot where he had been teleported away from earlier.

The sunlight at this hour was not yet strong, and his position was conveniently shielded from view by a wall, leaving him enveloped in a patch of shadows.

He activated his identity bracelet to check the time: it was exactly 7:00 AM.

Within his identity bracelet, he discovered a long list of unread messages.

Most were from his parents, nearly one every ten minutes.

Dad, Mom, I’m perfectly fine, just about to be home! Li Zhen quickly sent a message back to reassure his worried parents.

The rising sun had not yet fully ascended, casting long shadows across the land. This was perfect timing for Li Zhen, allowing him to utilize his Invisible Jade for stealthy travel.

The need to stealthily depart stemmed from the fact that firefighters and medical personnel were scattered throughout the street. If discovered, explaining his presence there could be quite challenging.

As he left the core area of Yunxi County, he noticed that more than half of his spiritual energy had been depleted.

He found a location without surveillance to become visible again before walking towards home.

“Zhen’er, where are you? Let your father come get you!” Mrs. Li sent a message.

“I’ll be home in ten minutes!” Li Zhen responded, feeling his mother’s concern.

At that moment, he saw messages from the school announcing temporary suspension of classes, with resumption pending notification. The school also asked students to report their safety.

Teacher Zhang, separately, sent a message to Li Zhen asking if he was alright. Not receiving a reply from Li Zhen, Teacher Zhang sent six consecutive messages.

Li Zhen, after some thought, also replied to Teacher Zhang.

Upon entering the house, Li Zhen saw both Mother and Father Li waiting in the living room, which brought him a sense of relief.

He had been worried that they might have gotten hurt in the incident, but it was clear that no such mishap had occurred.

“Mom, Dad, I’m back!” Li Zhen exclaimed with a grin.

“Didn’t you get my message? It’s not like we weren’t worried sick about you!” Mrs. Li chided, pulling Li Zhen close for a thorough once-over.

“The school told us to leave, but halfway home, something knocked me out. I just woke up not too long ago!” Li Zhen had rehearsed this explanation on his way.

“Knocked you out? How’s your head?” Mrs. Li asked with concern.

“I’m fine, just famished!” Li Zhen shook his head and replied.

“I’ve got some spirit rice congee ready for you. Dig in!” Father Li said, placing a bowl on the table.

Li Zhen was indeed famished. He hadn’t eaten much in that other world, so he quickly polished off the spirit rice congee.

Mother Li, watching him finish the congee, then produced a spirit rice cake from the side.

Li Zhen took the rice cake. This must be from the secret underground reserve, he thought. These rice cakes are handy; I should stock some in the Dragon Heart Space too.

“Dad, do you have any more information about what happened yesterday?” Li Zhen asked, now that he was properly fed.

“The news said it was the Demon-Worship Cult’s plot,” Li Father revealed what he knew. “Some people also said it was for the Nine Heavens Group’s annual auction. The group suffered heavy losses; they can’t even hold the auction anymore!”

For a commercial power like the Nine Heavens Group, the failure of the auction could be seen as a significant blow to its reputation.

However, with the involvement of the Demon-Worship Cult, even the Nine Heavens Group had little ability to retaliate.

“The city’s defense array was damaged even worse,” Li Father continued. “It’ll likely take at least three months to repair!”

From Li Father’s position, his understanding of Yunxi County’s true situation was limited.

The actual extent of Yunxi County’s losses were simply unimaginable.

Firstly, in terms of personnel, roughly more than half of the department staff members were sacrificed.

Secondly, various schools and some units were attacked, resulting in injuries and deaths among many cultivators.

It was precisely these heavy losses that left Yunxi County’s core area still uncleaned even after a night.

Within the County Mansion, the County Chief sat face-to-face with another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Brother Wu, many thanks for rushing to our aid!” The county chief bowed respectfully to the Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Brother Zhao, I haven’t done anything at all; you had already resolved the trouble by the time I arrived!” Wu Zhenxiu shook his head with a smile.

Though he said this, inwardly he felt extremely pleased.

Even if he hadn’t done anything concrete, simply showing up had earned him a debt of gratitude from the other party.

“I truly envy your Jinle County,” the other said. “It’s flourishing and secure under your leadership. As for me, I’ve got it rough. I’m afraid our rating this year won’t even reach a passing score!”

As the county chief of Yunxi County, he would bear the brunt of responsibility for such a major incident.

This incident could significantly impact his development. Without a high score, he wouldn’t be able to obtain more precious resources, especially those needed for breaking through to the next cultivation realm.

“The incident in Yunxi County was orchestrated by the Demon-Worship Cult. Since you’ve eradicated their cultists, I imagine the evaluators will show some leniency in your rating,” Wu Zhenxiu said, offering some comfort. He continued, “Jinle County may look idyllic, but being close to the spatial rift means that while we’ve escaped trouble so far, should anything happen, it would be a monumental headache!”

County Chief Zhao had no inclination to speak further. He and Wu Zhenxiu were prefects assigned to their counties at the same time.

Yunxi County’s conditions were far inferior to those of Jinle County. Being near the space rift was indeed troublesome, but it brought substantial benefits as well.

The space rift had its own guarding military force. This army wouldn’t interfere in local matters, but it ensured Jinle County’s security.

Moreover, cultivators from other regions needed to pass through the space rift to hunt beasts in the Monster Kingdom, which had led to the development of a monster-based industry chain in Jinle County.

As a result, achieving good evaluation scores in such Jinle County was incredibly easy.

The two were close friends who had attended the same university. Now serving as county chiefs in different counties, they rarely met and discussed various matters when they did.

“The Nine Heavens Group was involved?” Wu Zhenxiu asked, surprised.

“If not for the Nine Heavens Group using contracts to tie up my hands, preventing me from acting, how could Yunxi have suffered such massive losses!” Zhao Chunyi said through gritted teeth.

“We should get in touch with some of our Wanghai University alumni about this,” Wu Zhenxiu said indignantly. “Even though the Nine Heavens Group is powerful, Wanghai University isn’t intimidated by them!”

Both he and County Chief Zhao were graduates of Wanghai University, one of the top seven schools in the Xian Nation. Even as ordinary graduates, the mere fact that they were connected to Wanghai University gave them influence that no power would dare ignore.

“Let’s see what the Nine Heavens Group’s stance is first!” County Chief Zhao hesitated before saying.

He hadn’t yet completely broken ties with the Nine Heavens Group, and if he were to leverage his Wanghai University connections, it would make resolving the conflict with the Nine Heavens Group much harder.

Meanwhile, Li Zhen first went to a cultivation room for an hour to restore the spiritual energy in his body.

After returning to his bedroom, he began considering how to use his ability to travel between the two worlds to his advantage.

Despite appearing to have plenty of spirit stones, he actually didn’t have nearly enough. He was thinking of developing himself simultaneously in both the Xian Nation and the other world. In the Xian Nation, he needed to attend school, and at least every few days, he’d need to visit the other world to keep a low profile.

A single trip between realms required eighteen spirit stones. To maintain frequent travel, he needed a steady income of spirit stones.

Earning spirit stones was impossible in the Xian Nation.

In his world, selling magical artifacts no longer provided spirit stones. Although his Dragon Heart Space contained many magical artifacts, the old Treasure Pavilion shopkeeper’s ambush led him to suspect that there might be something special about the Xian Nation’s artifacts.

As for killing people and seizing their treasures, this was not a sustainable strategy.

Not every cultivator he encountered would be as wealthy as the old shopkeeper, and Li Zhen knew well that even with his martial fighter armor, he wasn’t invincible.

After all, he was merely a minor cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining. Facing late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, he couldn’t guarantee his safety.

“Mei Yun, inform my parents that I’ll be entering seclusion!” Li Zhen commanded his intelligent housekeeper.

Although his bedroom lacked an array for protection, if he said he was entering seclusion, his parents wouldn’t disturb him, provided it wasn’t for an overly long period. Disturbing a cultivator during seclusion could cause them great harm.