Jiang He called Dumbo, Trumbo, the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers, and the Nine Wise Rock Monkeys to him and asked, “Did you buy the things I told you to?”


  “Don’t worry, Master, it’s all settled!”


  Dumbo snickered smugly while scratching its head. “We’ve cleared out most supermarkets across six city bases, even going overseas to clear out several countries. We also contacted some factories for some custom-made items, and we have every type of snack and beverage. Also, we also bought some cars, airplanes, as well as some necessary consumables.”


  “.……”


  Jiang He appeared shocked and exclaimed, “Did you lot buy spirit stones with the hundred million bucks I gave each of you?”


  “Yes, Master!”


  Trumbo stood on its rear legs, adjusting its reading glasses with its pudgy round paws, shaking its head as it spoke seriously, “Master, I’ve recently studied sixty-eight Xuanhuan and cultivation novels, and noticed a lot of stuff we could use for reference.”


  “For example, the celestial battlefield is definitely a world of cultivators. There definitely wouldn’t be any spicy potato strips, potato chips, cola or chicken legs. That is why we bought the stuff in bulk, since there might be fairy maidens or shut-in immortals at the celestial battlefield who would take a liking to that stuff. When that happens, they’ll just have to trade it with us for hundred over immortal crystals and two immortal items, and we’ll recoup whatever we spent.”


  “As for the airplanes and sports car……”


  “I learned that the major cities in the celestial battlefield are warring cities. Each are thousands or even dozen thousands of kilometers wide, and since flight is banned, having a sports car instead of walking is not bad. Some immortals just might take a liking for this technological stuff too.”


  It actually sounded……reasonable?

  Even so, Jiang He was speechless and scolded the cat, “I have mountain piles of immortal crystals. Do I even have to earn them? Anyway, forget it. Just bring the stuff along and consider it giving out some of Earth’s stuff to the immortals of the celestial battlefield.”


  “Dumbo, go tell Boa Hancock and Sora to get in the Farm. We’ll be going soon.”


  After giving out his instructions, Jiang He left his farm and made small-talk with Wang Hou, asking with a smile, “Have you settled all your arrangements at the Martial Arts Department, Minister Wang?”


  Wang Hou said, “Well, the western gods have been wiped out, and of all the immortal sects, demonic sects, and daemonic cultivators, only the Jiu Hua Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords remain. The untitled cultivators have either been killed or banished, whereas no elite has stepped out of the remaining grotto-heavens, so they are no cause for concern. Moreover, we’ve had an agreement, and some of the grotto-heavens have had some backup measures left by superior beings hidden within, and it would hold out even if a Grand Luo attacks Earth.”


  “Moreover, the introduction and development of the new martial cultivation system has matured. I might be nothing and a mere salaryman at 30, but providence allowed me to become a martial artist at 31, and I had to protect myself, my loved ones, and the country when the Revival of Qi came and the Ferals rampaged. Now, the Hua Nation is prospering and the Ferals are nothing to fear, which is time for me to rest and chase after the pinnacle of martial arts.”


  Jiang He felt a little embarrassed at those words.

  What the hell.

  We were just having small talk, and you somehow had to go there?

  And you even sound so high and mighty.

  He naturally could not lose out—looking up at the skies with a forty-five-degree angle, he sighed lengthily and said, “Oh, I’m nothing compared to you, Minister Wang. I’ve just trained for around a year and a half…… eh?”


  “Where are you going, Minister Wang?”


  Wang Hou had already noticed that things were going wrong, and so promptly took to the skies, saying, “I’m going to collect the Star Map, so I’ll be going on ahead, Jiang He. I’ll be waiting for you in outer space.”


  Whoosh!

  He rushed out of the atmosphere in a flash.

  Wang Hou only breathed a sigh of relief after flying outside the atmosphere, a look of smugness flashing over his face.

  Showing off in my face?

  No way!

  Would I not know what you’re like after knowing you for so long?

  On the other hand, Jiang He looked utterly annoyed.

  Damn it!

  It was horrible to have his bragging interrupted halfway.

  Meanwhile, Boa and Sora had already packed up to enter the farm. Jiang He extended his hand and grasp, and his Farm shrunk with a rumble, turning into a dot of light that tunneled between his brows.

  He flew outside the mansion area in Lingzhou City and called Wang Siyu. She was already fully prepared and soon stepped out.

  Wang Siyu’s brother, Wang Sizhen, was with her.

  He was quite strong now, and his construction company tend to rub shoulders with leaders of city bases, even nations. Eventually, it cultivated an extraordinary aura in him.

  Still, he appeared a little careful when he met Jiang He and said, “I’m counting on you to watch over my sister, Jiang He. The furthest she has ever left home was to attend university, and now she’s travelling through the universe to the celestial battlefield untold billion light years away……”


  After some small talk, they bade each other farewell.

  Jiang He was a little emotional.

  With his ever-strengthening cultivation, he could clearly feel a rift slowly growing between himself and his friends.

  The only exception was perhaps Li Fei.

  “Wait, where’s Li Fei?”


  Jiang He asked Wang Siyu as they headed outside Lingzhou City on foot, and she shook her head. “I’m not sure. It was a month ago since I last met him—didn’t you give him some of your resources too? His superpower has now reached SS-class and he’s known as the strongest man of the Hua Nation, as well as gained some accomplishment in martial arts as a full-fledged Blank-tier. I heard that he and his father had bought out a nearby abandoned town to breed livestock, even hiring some martial artists to help him shepherd the livestock, as well as professors who research crossbreeding between Feral and animals……”


  “By the way, he caught a Black Scale Horse from Xijiang last time, and he was saying he would cultivate a new thoroughbred that could run thousands of miles each day.”


  That stuff was beyond Jiang He’s scope of knowledge, though it sounded interesting.

  He extended his immortal will, casually releasing it, and found Li Fei eighty kilometers away from Lingzhou City.

  The abandoned town was actually quite large, though most of it collapsed after Feral rampage. There were engineers there reconstructing the rundown town as well.

  Goats and cow were everywhere around the town.

  Some of them were clearly mutated: larger and possessing strong auras.

  Meanwhile, Li Fei was riding a handsome mare covered in black scales, sprinting along the road.

  “Two Dog!”


  Jiang He called out from the distance before descending, and Li Fei stopped his horse, laughing, “What’s up, Jiang He? Could you be visiting my racecourse? Come, come, let me introduce you to my mount—it’s Big Black, a rank-eight Feral which I had spent great effort to tame. I would groom it well so that it becomes a Feral Emperor and gains the ability to fly……”


  Jiang He was dumbstruck.

  You could fly yourself!

  On the other hand, Two Dog Li rambled away, describing some of his ideas and recent research. Jiang He was interested at first, but soon become impatient and casually threw him a wind-element Greater God divinity.

  “Alright, stop showing off. I’m leaving Earth for a while, and here’s a wind-element Greater God divinity—have Big Black sacrifice a blood drop to invoke it and it might even become a Greater God.”


  “A Greater God?”


  “It’s equal to a Golden Immortal!”


  “Woah!”


  Li Fei promptly jumped up and hugged the Greater God divinity while shoving Big Black to a corner with his foot, barking, “You’re just an animal—why would you need this treasure? I should be the one cultivating with this thing!”


  Jiang He quietly took out an Overdeity divinity then.

  Li Fei called out, “Papa!”


  Jiang He was dumbstruck.

  Nonetheless, Jiang He’s mood improved a lot after talking with Li Fei, who could not help getting excited upon learning that Jiang He was heading to the celestial battlefield. “After you go there, Jiang He, could you try getting your hands on some divine beast like dragons or phoenixes? Their blood or essence works too, since I’ve been mainly researching on this front lately, and I’m convinced that Big Black could be modified biologically if it was fused with some divine beast blood essence. When that happens, it would become a black dragon horse or black phoenix horse.”


  Jiang He flatly said, “Of course, what would most likely happen is Big Black blowing up with a drop of blood……”


  ***

  After saying goodbye to Li Fei, Jiang He took Wang Siyu and went to outer space.

  Wang Hou was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, a green light shining over his head.

  Jiang He focused his eyes and saw that the green light was the Star Map, inside of which comic bodies swirled and exuded a frightening presence.

  Whoosh!

  Wang Hou promptly put away the Star Map upon spotting Jiang He’s arrival and laughed, “Shall we be on our way, Brother Jiang He?”


  Jiang He laughed out loud and said, “Let’s go together!”


  Wang Siyu was dumbstruck.

  She muttered softly, “Why does that sound so foreboding……”


  ***

  Wang Siyu was initially curious about the birth of the universe even as she journeyed alongside Jiang He, and would stop to admire any curious cosmic sights…… but soon became bored after half a month.

  The universe was bleak and ice-cold. They would rarely run into living beings for days. The population of any living planets they passed by also tended to come in weird shapes and sizes, as well as were wary toward outsiders.

  Of course, this is because Jiang He did not use teleport. Otherwise, he would have reached the celestial battlefield in half a month even if he had to carry along Wang Hou and Wang Siyu.

  For Jiang He……

  There was no need to rush since this was the first time everyone had come out here.

  Journeying further to see more would broaden their horizons, as well as aid their cultivation and enlightenment.

  They were times when they would stop for days to study certain cosmic wonders or infiltrate living planets to see the sights.

  Soon, another three months had passed.

  Thunderclouds were rolling up in the skies, and gem radiance shone all over Wang Siyu’s body as she rushed into the clouds.

  Wang Hou sighed emotionally. “It has been four months since we started travelling, and we’ve only managed to cross two systems and we are still incredibly far from the celestial battlefield…… it’s almost winter on Earth soon, isn’t it?”


  “Almost.”


  Jiang He did the math and said, “it’s almost the end of November.

  Boom-crack!

  Thunderbolts flickered up in the skies.

  Wang Siyu was bracing her thunderbolt retribution, and would soon ascend as an immortal.

  Jiang He had implemented some measures to muffle out all motions, and since the most powerful being on that planet was merely Convergence-tier, no one noticed anything unusual.

  After her ascension, Wang Siyu’s aura became even more ethereal.

  Jiang He then suggested that they stay in the planet for days and left after Wang Siyu stabilized her cultivation. Soon, she secluded herself, Wang Hou meditated on Martial Dao while Jiang He darted inside his Farm in a flash……

  ***

  At the same time, in the depths of the distant universe, the borderless Blood Sea was churning endlessly.

  A blood-hued palace hovered above, with many Sura elites within appearing delighted.

  An elder was on all fours, his tears overflowing as he exclaimed, “It has been years…… our patriarch is finally reviving……”