A long, piercing sound came from the sky, as if an airplane was flying overhead.
In modern society, countless airplanes fly by Heavenly Capital, and people are used to it. Only some children are occasionally curious about these flying objects.
Occasionally, I would look up at the sky to look for airplanes.
However, this time, the children who wanted to find the plane were disappointed. After squinting for a long time, they still couldn't find the iron bird that made the sound.
There was no other reason than that the person flying by was Li Xingkong, and the long, piercing sound was the noise caused by his supersonic flight breaking the sound barrier.
After flying over Hedong, Li Xingkong was already quite familiar with the area, having lived there for over a decade and knowing the layout and direction of the land very well.
After only a brief observation of the terrain, Li Xingkong located his home. Then, with a sharp turn, he darted towards his house like Old Eagle spotting its prey.
As Li Xingkong swooped down from the air, he could still see many familiar faces from the village walking on the street, looking like tiny figures from a distance.
When he reached a few hundred meters above the village, Li Xingkong slowed down. If he had rushed to the ground at supersonic speed, he would have been a cannonball. Although he himself would have been unharmed, the impact of the landing would have been considerable.
Although he no longer cares about revealing himself, it's really unnecessary to cause a big commotion in the village for no reason.
Slowing his speed down to the level of a normal bird's flight, Li Xingkong didn't immediately head back. Before entering, Li Xingkong tidied himself up a bit.
I straightened my clothes, which had been battered by the wind, and then gave myself a simple Restoration Technique, like taking a bath.
Finally, he used the Spiritual Qi energy to scan his overall appearance, and only Li Xingkong he felt there was nothing wrong with it did he lightly land at his own doorstep.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, which creaked open halfway, Li Xingkong saw his father shirtless, head down, working in the yard as soon as he stepped inside.
Hearing someone come in, the old man put down his farm tools and was about to stand up to see who it was.
"Dad, I'm home."
Li Xingkong spoke first.
"Oh, why are you back? You didn't even say anything."
Upon hearing Li Xingkong's voice, the old man jumped to his feet, dropped what he was holding, and hurriedly walked towards Li Xingkong, taking off his work jacket as he went and throwing it into the field.
"My dear wife, Xingkong back."
When he came to see Li Xingkong, he didn't forget to call out to Li Xingkong's mother.
"That old man is so irresponsible! The child is at work, how can he come back so suddenly?"
My mother's voice came from inside the house as she walked into the yard. When she came out, her words suddenly stopped, because she also saw Li Xingkong's figure.
"Oh dear, why didn't you say so sooner? I haven't even prepared food for you. Here, have a seat, I'll go get something else."
Mom wiped her hands with her apron and prepared to go out to buy some more groceries.
"No need, Mom, I'm not hungry. Come on, let's go inside."
Li Xingkong stopped the two of them first. He had anticipated this before entering the room; he knew that the old folks would be restless after his return and that he would have to be the one to stop them.
After much persuasion, the parents, who were determined to do something, were finally convinced to stop, and the family of three entered the living room.
"Why are you back? Are you on holiday?"
Once inside, everything was the same as before, with no changes. Although the family had indeed become much wealthier in recent years, the elderly couple had been frugal and thrifty for most of their lives and had not developed any spending habits. As a result, their home was no different from before.
"I guess so. I've pretty much got things sorted out over there."
Li Xingkong chimed in, "I won't be going to the office afterwards."
Upon hearing that Li Xingkong no longer needed to go to his workplace, the elderly couple's expressions immediately changed; they had been overthinking things.
"What happened? Did your company fire you? We need to talk to them about this."
My mom wasn't going to tolerate that; she just started right away.
"No, I've finished my work here. I have other things to do, so I'm moving to another place. I wasn't fired."
"That's good. Jobs are so hard to find these days. Your job is so stable, don't quit so easily."
My dad quickly offered some words of advice, saying that having a job was far more important than having money.
Even if you have more money than you can spend, it's still not as good as having a job and something to do.
This is also the thought of many people in Divine Land. In the city, the richest person in many companies is not the company owner, but the hardworking cleaning lady in the company. You have no idea which cleaning lady owns the building where the company is located.
"Yes, now that your job is so stable, you can find a girl at work to marry. You're not getting any younger, it'll be perfect."
Seeing that Li Xingkong hadn't lost his job, his mother breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject to urging him to get married.
"What I wanted to tell you during this trip back home is also related to work."
Li Xingkong quickly steered the conversation toward what he wanted to say, because if he went along with his mother's ideas, the conversation would never go on.
"What? Aren't you doing a great job?"
"My upcoming work requires me to go on a long trip, and I might not be able to come back for several years."
Li Xingkong considered it for a moment, but he didn't say how far this "distant place" was, since such a distance would seem like a pipe dream to most people.
"A long trip? Are you going abroad again?"
They still remembered Li Xingkong abroad last time. They had also kept in touch a lot while they were in the Prisoner Continent, and they had learned a thing or two about the Prisoner Continent customs there.
In short, the elderly couple nowadays are quite fearful when talking about foreign countries; things are certainly not as peaceful as they imagined.
"Not overseas."
Li Xingkong shook his head. If it were abroad, it would be fine; returning to China would be a piece of cake for him.
"Where is that? The frontier? Or some secret base?"
Seeing that it wasn't abroad, the elderly couple breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's the moon."
Li Xingkong saw no need to hide his destination from his parents, since once he arrived, he would become the open and covert ruler of the moon, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the king of the moon.
The old couple are practically Taishang incarnate, so what's wrong with giving them a piece of our mind?
"The moon is wonderful, it's a place where outstanding people gather..."
My mom just blurted it out, and then trailed off.
"The moon? You mean the moon in the sky?"
As she asked, she pointed to the sky.
"Yes, it's the one you're thinking of, the one in the sky, the one with the Guanghan Palace and Chang'e."
Li Xingkong confirmed this with absolute certainty.
"This... this is a bit too far."
My dad looked troubled, unsure of what to say.
Going to the moon is a truly magnificent undertaking, but for an individual, it's like embarking on an adventure filled with risks and unknowns. To the average person, it's no different from gambling with their life.
"Yes, there's no one there, and you can't farm there. You wouldn't be able to get any of our green beans if you went."
Mom looked around, then held up a handful of green beans and showed them to Li Xingkong.
"This matter is settled. I'm the main person in charge; they can't do without me."
Li Xingkong had considered his parents' hesitation before returning home. After all, they had never done anything risky before, and going to the moon was too fantastical for them.
"Of course, I have the confidence to go."
It's time to show off my skills to my parents. After all, if they don't know how good I am, they'll always be wondering about it.
When a person has something on their mind, their body will break down first, which is somewhat contrary to Li Xingkong's idea. Even if they were to go to the moon, the old couple needed to be at ease and not worry about it.
As for how to demonstrate his skills, Li Xingkong has plenty of options.
He has quite a few spells at his disposal; just one of them would be enough to put the old couple at ease.
"What makes you so confident? Once you're in space, your life won't be in your own hands. There's no oxygen in space, and it's a vacuum. It's incredibly dangerous for you."
My dad clearly knows more about this; after all, he's a man and is very interested in these high-tech things.
Li Xingkong smiled mysteriously, then gently raised his hand, and Dad immediately felt the weight on his body lighten, as if he were about to float away.
"I'm so anxious I feel like I'm about to fly!"
My dad just felt something was strange. He adjusted his posture with a little effort, and his whole body started to float upwards.
"Oh dear, old man, you really flew!"
Mom could see it clearly: Dad, still sitting, floated into the air, his feet half a meter off the Earthly Capital, yet he didn't seem to be struggling at all.
"Holy crap."
Realizing he was really airborne, Dad panicked and started struggling in the air. He had been sitting properly, but with this struggle, he started spinning around in circles.
Li Xingkong naturally wouldn't watch his father flailing around in the air like that, so he quickly went up to support him and adjusted his head and feet to a proper position.
"See? This is my source of confidence."
Li Xingkong laughed even more heartily.