Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 442 - 440 Door of Sky Demon (Seeking Monthly Pass)_1

Chapter 442: Chapter 440 Door of Sky Demon (Seeking Monthly Pass)_1

Jing Zi’an and his teammates returned to "Sword South City".

This city, with a population of tens of millions, was named after a Nascent Soul cultivator who had once emerged from within it—Lord Jian Nan.

As soon as he entered the level four Great Array, he felt something was amiss.

But after careful sensing, he detected nothing at all.

’Sigh... I’m becoming increasingly unsuited for magical duels...’

’Perhaps... it really is time to retire?’

Jing Zi’an thought to himself, unaware that Fang Xi, within his Sea of Consciousness, had already elevated his vigilance to the extreme.

Only after fully passing through the security check did he somewhat relax.

As soon as he entered Sword South City, he saw high-rises soaring into the sky, various neon lights, and illusions covering the heavens and earth...

"’Mysterious Immortal Tour’, the dream fantasy first test, start with a gift..."

"DeMa Technology, number one in construction..."

"Phantom Four-Series Flying Sword, for you who aspire to be a swordsman, it’s a must-have..."

"Heavenly Heart Hospital, dedicated to caring for your health, the first choice for prosthetic modifications, place an order now and get a free Spiritual Root test..."

"The third batch of quota examination list for Fang Immortal Taoist Palace is announced..."

...

On the side of the road, a few clusters of youths with slightly extreme hairstyles gathered, some flaunting their mechanical limbs and downloaded martial arts.

’Hmph, vulgar warriors, still using metal prosthetics, don’t they know that bionic limbs are the real deal now?’

Jing Zi’an showed a look of disdain, taking out a yellow-brown flying sword from his subspace bag.

This flying sword was four-square, with a wide blade, very suitable for beginners to ride and fly.

Back when he had just reached Foundation Establishment, he had spent two to three years’ salary, scrimping and saving to buy this ’Thick Soil Sword’ for transportation.

Just as the Phantom Company’s slogan said, a flying sword is a cultivator’s face.

How could a real man leave the house without a personal flying sword?

"Go!"

Jing Zi’an channeled magic power into the Thick Soil Sword, and the Spiritual Instrument instantly glowed brightly, transformed into the size of a door, and steadily landed in front of Jing Zi’an.

On Jing Zi’an’s personal virtual network terminal, the single-lens glasses, rows of data flow emerged:

[Flying Sword serial number confirmed... magic power fluctuation matched!]

[Respectable cultivator Jing Zi’an, please abide by traffic rules when flying with your sword. Irregular sword flight, tears behind bars.]

...

Naturally, there were Space Restrictions within the level four Great Array, but as a noble Core Formation Array Master, Jing Zi’an had long applied for the flying privilege.

The Array Spirit AI recorded his flying sword model and magic power characteristics. If either did not match, rashly flying away would lead to being directly shot down...

Jing Zi’an leapt onto the flying sword, and a layer of yellow-brown light shield immediately emerged, blocking the howling winds.

Whoosh!

He turned into a streak of yellow-brown Sword Light, effortlessly passing over the ’poor district’ filled with steel and concrete structures and towering buildings.

After flying past several such ’assembly areas’, it seemed as though he traversed some invisible ripples, and the area suddenly became rich with spiritual energy.

As far as the eye could see, the ground was green, with birds chirping and flowers fragrant, and several Dongfu were interspersed neatly beside streams and gullies, where humans and nature coexisted harmoniously.

Looking further, this land of Spiritual Veins featured various terrains, including snowfields, grasslands, hills, waterfalls, and much more.

Jing Zi’an carefully bypassed several Mountain Protective Arrays around other people’s Dongfu and stopped in front of his own.

This was a huge area spanning several miles, complete with pavilions, terraces, water gardens, and a full array of antique-styled structures. It wasn’t in vain that he had spent a fortune on it when he had just formed his core, incurring over two hundred years of mortgage!

...

"I’m back."

Jing Zi’an walked into the Dongfu, swept his Divine Consciousness, and found his Taoist Companion ’Lan Fei’ and child ’Jing Yi’.

He married late, at just about three hundred years old, and that’s when he was joyously united with his present wife.

However, many cultivators remain alone throughout their lives, not seeking a Taoist Companion, focused solely on the path of cultivation.

According to the latest statistics from Fang Immortal Taoist Palace, the average first marriage age for Core Formation cultivators has surpassed three hundred years...

"Dad, you’re back?"

Jing Yi inherited more of his mother’s facial features, which gave him a somewhat delicate appearance, and he was currently lying on the couch watching TV.

Next to him, there was a ’Yellow Turban Strongman’ household model, busy mopping the floor.

On the projection screen, a series of three-dimensional figures appeared:

"Taoist Palace News, the Sky Palace Master ’Lord Demon Exterminator’ has today concluded his inspection and morale-boosting visit to the ’Taiyin Line of Defense,’ returning to the Nine States Taoist Palace..."

"Lord Jian Nan has been discharged from the hospital, expressing that the integration with his ’Prosthetic Body’ has gone well, and he is expected to rapidly regain his combat strength... The Sky Blue Academy Master stated that this represents another step forward for the nanobiotechnology of the Nine States..."

...

"Lord Demon Exterminator is coming back? He controls a major national weapon and is a great cultivator... It seems the situation at the front must be good, does this mean that the last counter-attack really hurt the Demon Clan?"

Jing Zi’an casually remarked before asking his son, "Have your Immortal Examination results come out yet?"

"Not yet, but I’m confident that I’ll be admitted to ’Fang Immortal University’... And then there’s a generous scholarship and purchase privileges, maybe even a ’Solidifying Spirit Gel’ for my dear old dad."

Jing Yi said nonchalantly.

’Solidifying Spirit Gel’ is a type of Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Medicine, highly effective for injuries to the Divine Soul and essence.

"You little rascal..." Jing Zi’an scolded with a laugh: "Solidifying Spirit Gel? Many seriously injured cultivators at the Perfect Golden Core stage and even Nascent Soul ancestors are eagerly waiting in line! How could it be your turn, old man? Sigh... As long as you’re admitted to a good university, this old father of yours will have no regrets in this life..."

...

Late at night.

A flash of demon light.

Fang Xi’s Heterodox Nascent Soul appeared directly inside Jing Yi’s bedroom.

’Searching the soul of a Core Formation cultivator leaves too much of a trace, better to target this Qi Refining stage lad... With my current Divine Consciousness, I can ensure that after the soul search, the other party won’t suffer any aftereffects or realize they’ve been searched...’

The tiny infant murmured to himself, approached the snoring Jing Yi, and stared at him with dark eyes, reaching out a small hand...

...

A flood of memories appeared before Fang Xi, and in that moment, he knew Jing Yi better than Jing Yi knew himself.

How many times he wet the bed as a child...

Who his secret crush was...

His dream of graduating from Fang Immortal University, then joining the Sky Palace to become an honorable combat cultivator, maintaining peace in the Nine States...

Most of it was jumbled, useless garbage in the memory.

Fang Xi sifted through it directly, extracting only the information he wanted.

"This world is indeed called the Nine States... It was once a cultivation world similar to the South Wilderness, where Nascent Soul cultivators were extremely rare... The Sect that originally ruled this world was known as ’Immortal Palace’."

"In the Nine States calendar year 11378, the Immortal Palace Master came upon an Exotic Treasure called ’Door of Ten Thousand Worlds,’ which then set the history of the Nine States off on a wild, unpredictable ride..."

"Periodically, the Door of Ten Thousand Worlds would automatically open a passage to different worlds... These worlds included those focused on Martial Arts, technology, other cultivation worlds, and even some devoid of the human race, ruled by Alien Beasts... The Immortal Palace initially gained a lot from this, adding several Nascent Soul cultivators in one go."

"Even ordinary people benefited from this, as those with poor Spiritual Roots and talents could practice martial arts... After conquering several technological worlds, they first acquired technology like steam engines and internal combustion engines, and even electricity and virtual networks... Then, the ’Door of Ten Thousand Worlds’ opened to a cyber side world, taking the development of this world on an even more twisted path..."

Fang Xi recalled the information obtained from the soul search, his face twitching slightly: "This ’Door of Ten Thousand Worlds’ must be a fragment of the Treasures of All Heavens, right? It seems to have been initially exploited?"

"No wonder everything I’ve encountered along the way has been so weird... It’s due to the intermixing and influence of different worlds and civilizations..."

He took a deep breath, remembering the most critical piece of information from the soul search:

’In the Nine States calendar year 15872, the Door of Ten Thousand Worlds opened once more, bringing with it a deep catastrophe, for this time, it connected to the ’Demon Realm’!’

’Fortunately, after several technological breakthroughs, many of the Immortal Palace’s Nascent Souls knew that the Door of Ten Thousand Worlds was unstable, so they placed it in the newly established ’Taiyin Star Research Institute’... When countless ancient demons emerged, thankfully they did not immediately assault the Nine States Mainland... But the human race experienced a brutal retreat.’

’The ruined cities I saw earlier came about in this way.’

’According to the original pattern, the Door of Ten Thousand Worlds would close automatically after a certain period... The Nascent Souls of the Immortal Palace thought the same, so they resisted while waiting for a turnaround...’

’However... unlike other minor worlds, the Demon Realm is different; a Transcendent Demon Lord used a Supreme Treasure to anchor and reinforce the void passage of the Door of Ten Thousand Worlds, which showed no signs of closing for over one hundred years. The Void Passage became ever more stable, gradually allowing even a Transcendent Demon Lord to pass through!’

’That battle was indescribably brutal, and the Immortal Palace Master died in combat... After the war, the Immortal Palace lost its position, and the ’Fang Immortal Taoist Palace’ took over the rule of the Nine States... The ’Fang Immortal Taoist Palace’ is a native force of cultivators mixed with various cyber-technologies, specializing in puppet skills and adept at creating large war weapons. When wielded by late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, they can rival the Power of a Transcendent God. Coupled with the world’s rules suppressing any Transcendent Demon Lord who crosses into this realm, they managed just enough to hold a stalemate...’

’The war has dragged on for more than five hundred years now.’

’The current year is 16399 in the Nine States calendar, under the rule of Fang Immortal Taoist Palace... The highest cultivation in the Nine States is still in the late Nascent Soul stage, with no Transcendent God cultivators appearing...’

’The Demon Clan, calling themselves ’Moon Demons,’ have taken the Taiyin Star where the ’Door of Sky Demon’ is located as their stronghold...’

’The Master of the Fang Immortal Taoist Palace established the ’Taiyin Line of Defense,’ with many Nascent Soul cultivators manning ’Patrol Sky Warships’ to create the defensive system of the Sky Palace...’

’However, the Nine States is not particularly peaceful at the moment... Occasionally, Demons that slip through the net descend upon the world, and even tempt human cultivators to change their practice to Demon Skills or accept Demon Qi transformation, becoming half-demon infiltrators...’