Could I Lead My Fellow Clansmen to Conquer Another World?

Li Zhengjun felt the world spin around him. When his vision came back into focus, heaven and earth had changed.

The cramped cave had vanished, replaced by a vast river stretching into the mist.

He snapped back to his senses and immediately reached for the Storage Bag at his waist. He sent his Divine Sense inside and saw that the jade box containing the Purple Mansion spiritual object was safe and sound. Only then did he let out a long breath of relief.

After collecting himself, Li Zhengjun sank his consciousness into the depths of his sea of consciousness.

[Great Sun Golden Crow Nine Luminaries Mysterious Heaven Treasure Mirror]

[Connecting the "Yuyu" and "Great Scarlet" realms, it allows its holder to travel freely between them]

[Holder: Li Zhengjun]

[Cultivation: fourth layer of Fetal Breath / seventh layer of Qi Refinement]

[Clansmen who may be brought along: 0/10]

[Note:]

[1. Accompanying clansmen may not exceed the holder's cultivation realm. Clansmen who enter the other world cannot return.]

[2. Time flows ten times faster in the "Great Scarlet Realm" than in the "Yuyu Realm." Clansmen from either realm who enter the other world retain the lifespans granted by their native heaven and earth.]

[3. The holder is not bound by these restrictions. While in the Great Scarlet Realm, the holder naturally gains ten times the lifespan, and the Dao principles of both realms circulate.]

"So that's how it is. The world where the Purple Mansion Immortal Lineage resides is called the 'Yuyu Realm,' and the one I've come to is called the 'Great Scarlet Realm.'"

Li Zhengjun made a Hand Seal for the Water Avoidance Instruction and confirmed that his Law Power worked. Only then did he consider his present situation.

"This immortal artifact is excellent. Not only can it let me travel between two realms, I can bring my fellow clansmen along too."

As the saying went, one hand alone could not clap. He did not yet know what dangers the "Great Scarlet Realm" held, but if an elite force from the Purple Mansion Immortal Lineage entered this realm with him, the situation would be entirely different.

"It's just that the conditions are rather harsh. Any clansmen who go can never return. Once they set foot in this realm, there's no going back, and they'll also have to bear the consequences of the difference in the flow of time between the two realms."

Fortunately, as the holder, he was exempt from this restriction. In the "Great Scarlet Realm," he naturally enjoyed ten times the lifespan of an ordinary person.

"A tenfold difference in the flow of time means that for every ten days I spend here in the 'Great Scarlet Realm,' only one day passes in the 'Yuyu Realm,' where the Lineage is."

At that thought, the figures of the two Qi Ingestion cultivators in the cave involuntarily surfaced in his mind, and he could not help sighing softly.

"The crisis facing the Lineage in the 'Yuyu Realm' hasn't passed. Those two Qi Ingestion cultivators certainly won't leave so easily; they might still be lying in wait there even now. According to Uncle, the patriarch needs about another day to arrive. I'll have to spend at least ten days here before I can go back."

At that point, a thought suddenly struck him.

"That's right! With time flowing ten times faster, if I cultivate here for ten years, only one year will have passed in the 'Yuyu Realm.' Doesn't that give me a chance to overtake them on the bend?"

The Purple Mansion patriarch in the "Yuyu Realm" did not have much life left-probably only forty or fifty years.

Even if he had a full sixty-year cycle, with the surrounding powers hemming the Li Household in, it would be difficult for them to produce another True Person.

But now Li Zhengjun had an immortal mirror connecting the two realms. By lying low in the "Great Scarlet Realm," he could gain ten times the lifespan for nothing! Ten times the cultivation time!

What was more, he could bring his fellow clansmen here with him. If the Purple Mansion Lineage gave him its full support and opened up territory in the "Great Scarlet Realm," how could he fail to attain the rank of True Person in a few hundred years?

Greatly reassured, Li Zhengjun set those thoughts aside for the moment. He looked around and quietly sensed the ambient spiritual activity.

The river was broad, and water spirit Qi was quite abundant. Though it could not compare with the cultivation grounds of his Lineage in the "Yuyu Realm," it was barely sufficient for breathing exercises and cultivation.

"The spiritual activity here is decent. I wonder if any cultivators practice here."

He was just about to make a Hand Seal and go ashore when he spotted a small boat cutting through the waves on the river in the distance.

Its gray cloth sail was full of wind, and it was moving extremely fast.

Li Zhengjun looked closely and saw three people standing aboard.

Apart from having more vigorous Qi and Blood than ordinary people, none of the three showed any fluctuations of Spiritual Qi. Judging by their muscles, bones, and breathing, however, they were probably martial artists.

All three looked panicked and kept glancing back.

Li Zhengjun looked past them and saw towering waves behind the little boat, as though something were chasing it.

The next moment, a shadow leaped out of the river. It was a demon turtle that had stepped onto the path of cultivation!

"First layer of Fetal Breath-oh, no, in this world it should be called the first layer of Qi Refinement."

Having come to the "Great Scarlet Realm," Li Zhengjun could easily sense both systems of cultivation and tell roughly what realm each side was at.

His brows rose slightly. Far from feeling the slightest fear, he grew somewhat interested and began considering how to capture the demon turtle.

It was not a passing whim. The demon turtle looked like a Demon Beast of the Frozen Water path.

"Uncle said that because the Bright Yang Dao Lineage has declined and spiritual objects are hard to find, the Lineage intends to have its younger disciples switch to the Frozen Water Dao Path. But as far as I remember, there are no demon turtles like this in the 'Yuyu Realm.' If I can capture it alive and bring it back to the Lineage, it'll be ironclad proof that Frozen Water spiritual objects exist in the 'Great Scarlet Realm.' Then I'll have something to use to persuade the True Person."

Only he, Li Zhengjun, could turn around the predicament facing the Purple Mansion Lineage.

As long as the True Person had not grown senile, he would naturally do his utmost to cooperate once he understood the value of traveling between the two realms.

With that thought, Li Zhengjun was about to go forward when a few hurried exchanges drifted over from the boat.

"Brother, isn't that a person over there?"

A girl stood at the bow, her hair tied in two horn-shaped braids. She was about sixteen, and she was the first to spot Li Zhengjun, drawing her companions' attention to him.

The sword-browed man beside her resembled her somewhat; they were probably brother and sister. Hearing her, he hurriedly looked in the direction she pointed and saw a young man standing waist-deep in the river, looking as though the waves might swallow him at any moment.

"It really is! He doesn't seem to have drowned yet!"

Anxious, the girl tugged at her brother's sleeve and said:

"That Jade Wave Turtle is vicious, and it loves eating people! If it sets its sights on him, he'll be doomed. Brother, we can't just stand by and watch someone lose his life because of us!"

At the stern, a short, stout man gave a shout when he heard her and cried out:

"At a time like this, you're still thinking about saving someone? That Jade Wave Turtle is unbelievably fierce. I'm afraid its cultivation has already reached the peak of Grandmaster. We can barely escape with our own lives-where would we find the time to meddle in this?"

Yet he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

It was not that his conscience had stirred, but that he had thought of something else:

My pig brain! I could pretend to save him and lure the Jade Wave Turtle over to that drowning man. If the beast sees prey closer at hand, it might stop chasing us.

The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. He was about to put on an act and say a few polite words to show he was not cold-blooded.

To his surprise, the sword-browed man had already given a cold snort and beaten him to it.

"To see the weak and not save them is against my principles!"

The boat sped toward him, and the girl called out:

"Young master, get aboard, quickly!"

Standing in the river, Li Zhengjun saw it all clearly.

The brother and sister genuinely meant to save him, but the short, stout man at the stern wore a shifty expression, his gaze darting about. He was clearly hatching some devious scheme.

As the boat drew near, the girl leaned halfway out and reached for Li Zhengjun.

Just then, the short, stout man secretly sent a subtle force into the bottom of the boat. The hull lurched, veering several feet off course, and Fang Qing's hand grasped at empty air.

At the same time, the Jade Wave Turtle had caught up.

Spotting Li Zhengjun on his own, it leaped up and lunged at him with its jaws open.

As the beast was about to bite Li Zhengjun, a flicker of secret delight passed through the short, stout martial artist's eyes.

With this drowning man for a meal, the Jade Wave Turtle will be full and won't chase us anymore.

But even as the corners of his mouth were still rising, his body abruptly flew off the boat in a bizarre fashion and smashed straight into the Jade Wave Turtle.

Boom!

The Jade Wave Turtle was stunned by the sudden blow and crashed heavily to one side, sending up a spray several zhang high.

The short, stout martial artist fared even worse. His flesh and blood flew everywhere, and he could not have been more dead.

For that blow, Li Zhengjun had used only a wisp of spiritual power to seize the short, stout man. The force he applied had been light, yet its power was astonishing.

He followed up with two rudimentary Law Techniques included in the Radiant Light Wheel-Nurturing Scripture, one a ray of fire and the other a blade of Qi. In the blink of an eye, he killed the demon turtle on the spot.

"The Demon Beasts of the 'Great Scarlet Realm' are far too weak."

Li Zhengjun withdrew his finger, his expression unruffled, and put the Demon Beast's corpse into his Storage Bag.

Now that his strength had been exposed, he no longer took pains to conceal it.

The two people on the boat were mortals, but even in that moment of danger, they had not forgotten to save him, a "drowning man" they had never met. Clearly, they were pure of heart and upright in character.

People like them were worth getting to know, and he could take the opportunity to ask them about the situation here.

Li Zhengjun was about to greet the two of them openly when he saw that they had already brought the boat close.

The pair respectfully straightened their clothes and headwear, then bowed together in a formal salute befitting their junior status. Their voices carried the excitement and awe of having survived a calamity.

"This junior is Fang Yuan!"

"This junior is Fang Qing!"

"We kowtow in thanks to the immortal for saving our lives!"