The Protagonists' Chat Group: Beyond the Boundaries — Chapter 345

Chapter 345: Li Qiye Acts, Instant Kill

“You…”

The Immortal Realm Emissary, still reeling from the unexpected power displayed by Yang Qi and Shi Jian’s group, looked towards the source of the new, impossibly ancient voice.

A man appeared before him, seemingly out of nowhere. He looked ordinary, almost plain, yet his presence seemed to warp the very fabric of Maha Hell, making the surrounding devilish qi instinctively recoil.

It was Li Qiye.

The Immortal Realm Emissary couldn’t discern Li Qiye’s realm at all, but the aura emanating from this seemingly ordinary man almost suffocated him, pressing down on his soul with the weight of countless epochs. It was a pressure far exceeding anything he had ever felt, even from the Supreme Mansion Lord.

“Sheep…? What sheep?” the Emissary responded, utterly bewildered and unnerved by the newcomer’s strange question and overwhelming presence.

“Ah… you didn’t see my sheep,” Li Qiye let out a soft, almost melancholic sigh, his eyes holding a depth that seemed to reflect the birth and death of universes.

“Then… what a pity.”

As the word “pity” left his lips, Li Qiye casually swept his hand, as if brushing away a speck of dust.

In that instant, the so-called Immortal Realm Emissary’s consciousness – his thoughts, his memories, his very sense of self – was instantly and completely erased. His powerful Immortal Physique remained, but the being inhabiting it was gone, snuffed out like a candle flame.

“My apologies,” Li Qiye turned to look at Yang Qi, Shi Jian, and the others who had paused their assault, his expression placid. “I saw you all dragging things out for far too long… I couldn’t resist acting.”

Finally, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.

Shi Jian and Yang Qi, who were just preparing for a potentially long and arduous battle against the powerful Emissary: …

Dragging it out? We were just getting started! Shi Jian thought, slightly annoyed but also deeply shocked by Li Qiye’s casual display of absolute power.

“If he’s killed, he’s killed. It’s the same no matter who kills him,” Shi Jian reined in the surging aura around him and replied evenly, masking his surprise.

Yang Qi also retracted his battle stance, the Pure Land of Gods fading slightly. He nodded curtly, his eyes still wary as he assessed Li Qiye.

Li Qiye smiled again, seemingly unconcerned by their reactions. He then gestured, pulling the Immortal Realm Emissary’s now-empty corpse towards him.

He examined it with mild curiosity. “An interesting physique. All internal organs have been replaced with pure energy bodies.”

“A very advanced cultivation technique, refining the body into a vessel of pure energy.”

As Li Qiye spoke, he effortlessly split the Immortal Realm Emissary’s corpse in half with a simple motion. He then sent one half flying towards Yang Qi and the other towards Shi Jian.

The food was practically being fed directly to their mouths.

Shi Jian and Yang Qi didn’t refuse. Such potent, pure energy was exactly what they needed. They readily accepted the offered halves, their internal cultivation techniques roaring to life to absorb the power.

A formidable Immortal Realm Emissary, supremely powerful, an existence that even the Supreme Mansion Lord and other top cultivators of the Taihuang Academy had to kneel before… was so easily suppressed and disposed of by Li Qiye.

Li Qiye’s strength was terrifying beyond comprehension.

To be honest, Shi Jian, despite being a group leader, didn’t really know how strong Li Qiye truly was now. After all, he had transmigrated before finishing Emperor’s Domination. He also didn’t know which specific period Li Qiye was currently in within his incredibly long timeline.

…

Li Qiye’s engagement with the Immortal Realm Emissary was instantaneous, lasting less than a second.

The people of Taihuang Academy, still trapped within the displaced space inside Maha Hell, hadn’t even fully processed the Emissary’s arrival, let alone Li Qiye’s intervention.

By the time they somewhat recovered their senses, a grinning Yang Qi had already appeared before them, his aura suffused with the newly absorbed immortal energy.

The Taihuang Academy Lord’s voice became stammering, his face pale with dread. “Wh-what… what just happened? Where is the Emissary?”

Yang Qi spoke mockingly, his voice dripping with contempt. “Don’t you know what happened? Your so-called Immortal Realm Emissary has already been captured and killed.”

He stepped forward, his shadow falling over the terrified Lord. “You invited him here to deal with me. So, what do you think I’ll do with you now?”

Yang Qi waved his hand dismissively, instantly suppressing the Academy Lord with overwhelming force, sealing his cultivation. His cold gaze then swept over the other trembling Hall Masters and elders.

“Some of you still have some value, so I’m reluctant to kill you outright. I’ll just turn you into slaves, to perform alchemy and artifact refining for my family… my Saint King Academy.”

What Alchemy Hall, what Sword Forging Hall, what Artifact Refining Hall… Yang Qi intended to degrade them all into mindless slaves, tools to be exploited for their blood and sweat, forever bound to his service.

Want to die? How could it be that cheap?

Yang Qi flicked a finger. A ball of pure, condensed Devilish Qi appeared, twisting and solidifying into a thumb-sized, hideously grimacing demonic face.

With another flick, the demonic face split into dozens of smaller copies, which then drilled into the bodies of the various hall masters and key elders.

These powerful individuals instantly let out screams of unimaginable agony, collapsing to the ground, writhing.

“I’ve planted a demonic seed in your Sea of Consciousness,” Yang Qi explained calmly amidst their screams. “It will act up once every day, making you wish for death. It moves according to my will. As long as you sincerely pray to me, begging for my mercy, the demonic seed will not act up.”

His eyes turned cold. “However, if you harbor even a shred of resentment towards me, the demonic seed will torment you until you truly wish for death, but find no release.”

“From today onwards, you will kneel to me. You will be the dogs of my Saint King Academy!”

Yang Qi’s methods were utterly ruthless. He subjugated one group of people with soul-crushing torment, then slaughtered another group deemed useless, directly conquering the entire leadership structure of the Taihuang Academy remnants trapped in hell.

He then declared its renaming: the Saint King Academy.

The other group members – Shi Jian, Fang Han, Xiao Yan, Lin Dong, and Li Qiye – watched in stunned silence.

They watched as those proud, powerful Hall Masters went from defiance and rage to kneeling on the ground, kowtowing so hard they almost broke their heads, chanting words of utter subservience:

“Yes, yes, yes! Master is above all! Whatever Master says, that’s what we are!”

“We are Master’s loyal dogs! Please grant us mercy, Master!”

Yang Qi’s subsequent words were even more explosive, establishing his absolute dominance.

Someone, in their panic, dared to call his name directly. Yang Qi instantly killed him with a thought, turning him into another essence pearl.

“How dare you call my name directly? Remember, you must call me Master. You are all the most lowly, the lowest class of slaves. I now rule this entire Academy remnant. I can kill whoever I want, and whoever I tell you to kill, you will kill. You only have the ability to execute, not to resist.”

He looked down on them, his gaze devoid of any human emotion. “You are not my subjects. You are slaves worse than dogs, without soul, without thought, without freedom.”

Look at these words. What ‘good’ person would say such things?

After this series of brutal actions, the people in the chat group were thoroughly dumbfounded.

In terms of ruthless manipulation and establishing absolute control… Yang Qi was truly the king.

…

After everything was done, and the former Taihuang Academy members were reduced to trembling, obedient slaves, everyone began the Instance settlement.

Taihuang Academy was a boundless expanse of sky, managed by countless experts for millions of years. Every part of it – its libraries, its treasuries, its hidden dimensions – contained infinite cultivation methods, a vast amount of treasures, and many hidden secrets deep within various legacy items.

All these resources were extracted by Yang Qi, cataloged, and then distributed among the participating group members according to their contributions (and Yang Qi’s discretion).

…

“Killing and arson truly make one rich.”

Xiao Yan, Lin Dong, and the others who returned to the Perfect World expressed such sentiments, their spatial rings practically overflowing.

They went to the Saint King World empty-handed.

And they returned with a full load, laden with resources plundered from a top-tier academy.

This was practically a business with no capital investment. Pure profit.

“We should definitely go to other worlds more often when we have time…” Xiao Yan mused aloud, already thinking about whose world to visit next.

Lin Dong nodded eagerly. “Exactly! Group activities like these are the best.”

They seemed to have discovered a new continent, a new way to rapidly accumulate wealth and resources.

Shi Jian rolled his eyes after hearing their words.

“With your current cultivation, you still want to roam the Heavens? It’s good enough if you don’t get beaten up. You two should carefully consider how to quickly break through to the Dominator Realm.”

[Inorin’s Note: The ‘Dominator Realm’ (Zaijing) is the peak realm in both Xiao Yan’s and Lin Dong’s original worlds, equivalent to Dou Di / Ancestral Realm.]

He bluntly struck at their weak spot.

“You two are at least veteran members of the chat group… now you’re practically at the bottom of the pack!”

As soon as he said this, Xiao Yan and Lin Dong instantly became anxious and defensive.

“What are you saying?! What are you saying?!” Xiao Yan retorted indignantly.

“What bottom of the pack! Is it because we’re not strong enough? Achieving Dominator within a hundred years is already invincible, okay?! It’s you cheaters who are too much, not even pretending anymore!” Lin Dong added, equally incensed.

If they thought they could beat Shi Jian, these two would probably have given him a righteous group beating right now.

Shi Jian just smiled without speaking, letting their own insecurity do the work.

The two became even more anxious seeing his calm smile.

“Hmph! We won’t leave seclusion until we break through to Dominator!” they declared simultaneously, making a vow.

After making such a vow, the two also went into seclusion, determined not to be the weakest links.

Watching their departing backs, Shi Jian smiled faintly and also prepared for his own seclusion.

…

Shi Jian took out the half Immortal Physique obtained from the Saint King World’s Emissary, as well as the vast amount of other resources he had gained, and began preparing for his fifth transformation.

How does the combat power of Immortals in the Saint King World compare to True Immortals in the Perfect World? he wondered.

In terms of raw combat power, Shi Jian didn’t know the exact situation or how the different law systems interacted.

However, in terms of pure energy, the Immortal Physique of the Saint King World was undeniably stronger, denser, and purer than the average True Immortal Physique of the Perfect World.

The Immortal Physique of the Saint King World was cultivated from countless advanced universe energies, often refined within a metaphorical ‘Pill Furnace’ (their own body). It was equivalent to cultivating one’s own body as a living medicinal pill. The energy contained within was exceptionally abundant and pure, of extremely high quality.

Coupled with the other treasures and methods he possessed, he was almost ready for his fifth transformation.

He sat motionless, cross-legged in his cultivation chamber. An endless, devouring aura erupted from his body.

The Immortal’s half-body was refined by him, pure energy continuously entering his body. Countless giant elephant particles within him roared and transformed into golden Dragon Elephants.

After devouring and refining the countless energies, he once again formed a cocoon of light and shadow.

But soon, a problem arose.

“Not enough… Even with so many resources, including half an Immortal’s body… it’s still not enough for my fifth transformation?”

Mid-transformation, Shi Jian found that the energy was still insufficient to support the qualitative leap required for his fifth transformation.

However, for such a situation, he was already prepared.

“Power of Faith, open!”

Shi Jian had already unified the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands; he was the sole, undisputed King. Within the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, countless beings prayed to him every day, offering their reverence and belief.

An endless stream of pure Power of Faith converged towards him from across the realms.

Power of Faith. It was also a unique, potent form of energy.

After combining the methods of using Power of Faith from various worlds (like Yang Qi’s techniques), Shi Jian had specially created his own method for utilizing it.

He wanted to use this vast ocean of Power of Faith to complete this transformation.

This idea was feasible. It’s just that the sheer amount of Power of Faith he needed for a single transformation was simply too much.

Even with the faith generated from the Perfect World plus the various Instance Dungeons he had conquered… he estimated he would need at least a hundred years of accumulation to absorb enough Power of Faith to support one transformation.

The time cycle was too long. It was somewhat tasteless, yet a pity to discard entirely.

But now, he was just one step away, and the Power of Faith he had collected earlier could be used right here to bridge the final gap!

He released the dam, allowing an endless stream of pure, golden Power of Faith to flow into him.

This Power of Faith permeated deep into his body, cleansing his blood, refining his soul, and combining with the True Qi of the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength.

After absorbing the endless Power of Faith, his Dominator Domain condensed a brilliant golden light, and a golden miniature figure – a nascent Godhead of Faith – appeared deep within Shi Jian’s Sea of Consciousness.

Before Shi Jian transmigrated, he had read some novels discussing the ‘poison of faith’ theory. At that time, when he read it, he still thought it made a lot of sense.

Now that he had experienced it firsthand, he realized it made sense… but not much.

Faith is the power generated when countless living beings offer sincere prayer. The uses of this power are incredibly broad. It can even influence luck and destiny.

After being believed in by others, the luck of your followers and some other intangible aspects will gather on your body. When the time comes, heaven and earth might even share the same fate with you.

Faith is poisonous? If it’s truly poisonous, why do so many great Divine Ability users scramble for it, building temples and spreading doctrines?

This is a type of cultivation resource. The difference lies solely in whether you know how to use it properly.

Cultivating with Spirit Stones to build your foundation, then releasing spells after achieving success, is vastly different from directly releasing spells using Spirit Stones as fuel. There’s still a huge difference in control and understanding.

Some wild, unsanctioned gods are like that. They don’t know how to truly refine and use the Power of Faith. They directly use it as an external mana bar. After using it up, the Power of Faith is gone, and then they cry out: “Incense is poisonous!”

This… is just incompetence.

Then someone else might ask: Lao Shi, Lao Shi, you have absorbed the Power of Faith of so many people, the myriad states of life, and so many people’s distracting thoughts have also been absorbed by you. What if you are affected by them?

Then Shi Jian would ask you: Faith… faith. Only pure and sincere prayer is truly called faith. Where do distracting thoughts come from in true faith?

And even if distracting thoughts are truly mixed in with faith… if your will and Dao heart cannot handle these mere distracting thoughts, why are you even attempting to walk the path of incense gathering?

Then someone else might ask: Lao Shi, Lao Shi, cultivating with the help of faith is, after all, relying on external power. Relying on external power cannot lead to the peak of the Dao.

Then Shi Jian would ask you: Is cultivating with Spirit Stones not relying on external power? Are Heaven and Earth Treasures not external power? Is breathing the Yuan Qi of the world not relying on external power?

…

With the crucial help of the Immortal Realm Emissary’s essence, the accumulated Power of Faith, and many other resources, Shi Jian finally completed his fifth transformation.

Now, his normal state strength was terrifyingly powerful.

“It’s just a pity this Heavenly Immortal Emissary’s realm wasn’t higher… Only at the Shattered Thought Realm!” Shi Jian sighed with a hint of regret after emerging from his cocoon.

[Inorin’s Note: The ‘Shattered Realm’ (Pòsuì Jìng) is the Immortal Realm in Sage Monarch. It has multiple sub-realms: 1. Shattered Void, 2. Shattered Life, 3. Shattered Thought, 4. Shattered Origin, 5. Shattered Soul, 6. Shattered Will, 7. Shattered Dao, 8. Shattered God, 9. Shattered Future.]

In the Saint King World’s Shattered Realm, the gap between each sub-realm is enormous.

This Heavenly Immortal Emissary was a person of the third sub-realm: Shattered Thought. Shattering one’s own thoughts, allowing thoughts to endlessly regenerate, with each thought potentially evolving into infinite immortal spells. It can be said to be ‘one thought, one world’. Terrifying!

Shi Jian and Yang Qi had been prejudiced back then. In the original work, the Heavenly Immortal Emissary who descended was only at the first sub-realm, Shattered Void (condensing the Immortal Physique and restoring reality).

Yang Qi and Shi Jian were confident they could contend with a Shattered Void Realm expert even before their recent power-ups.

But Shattered Thought… that would probably have been quite a struggle.

At that time, Shi Jian thought the one who descended was the weak Shattered Void expert from the original work. He didn’t know the one Li Qiye killed was actually a Shattered Thought expert!

No wonder Li Qiye, who was supposed to be providing backup support, acted instantly. He likely sensed the true threat.

Shi Jian only discovered this crucial difference when he was refining the Immortal Physique. Otherwise, half a corpse of a mere Shattered Void expert would not have allowed him to complete his fifth transformation.

Above Shattered Thought is Shattered Origin (breaking the Origin Universe into one, merging with the Dao eternally, one’s own aura indistinguishable from the universe’s origin). That is the emperor among Immortals.

If he could devour one of that level… that would be truly awesome.

Sighing, Shi Jian entered the Heavens Instance Dungeon interface again. Regarding the sixth transformation, he already had some ideas.

In the Heavens Instance Dungeon selection screen, Shi Jian looked at the countless swirling stars representing different worlds.

A new, high-priority mission appeared before his eyes.

[Mission Content: Save the Human Race]

[Client: The Collective Will of the Primordial Human Race]

[Mission Rewards: 5,000 Heavenly Dao Power, [Nine Revolutions Reincarnation Heavenly Cultivation Technique], [Ten Thousand Demons Evolution Art]… ]

This was a broad, world-saving mission. The rewards, besides Heavenly Dao Power, also included some other intriguing items.

Based on the cultivation techniques listed, Shi Jian easily identified this world.

After Ascension (Liao Sheng Yi Hou). The world of Feng Yun Wuji.

[Inorin’s Note: After Ascension is a classic Chinese web novel involving gods, demons, and multiple planes of existence. Feng Yun Wuji is its protagonist.]

Shi Jian was relatively familiar with this world. When the chat group underwent its first upgrade, Feng Yun Wuji was among the new member options. It’s just that at that time, the group members chose Luo Feng instead.

Now, Shi Jian could take this opportunity to go to this world himself. There were many good things in this world.

And… countless alien races, including powerful demons and gods. Enough high-level energy to support his sixth transformation.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Jian intercepted the mission and entered the Instance Dungeon world.

As soon as he entered the world, stepping onto solid ground under a blood-red sky…

He immediately heard sharp, piercing shrieks echoing from afar.

Below the distant horizon, a small dark shadow suddenly drifted out. In just a blink of an eye, that small dark shadow stretched into a giant, churning dark tide tens of thousands of kilometers long.

Within the dark tide, countless dark, evil demons flapped leathery wings, their eyes burning with malevolent red light, heading straight towards this place.

“The Demon Race has arrived!” someone immediately shouted loudly from nearby, their voice filled with grim determination.

Shi Jian scanned the surrounding environment – a vast, ancient battlefield littered with colossal bones and broken weapons. A smile instantly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He had arrived at just the right time. It seemed to be… the beginning of the final war?

Is this the Human Race’s Primordial Plane?

Shi Jian looked towards the area where the Human Race powerhouses were gathered. Countless figures sat there, their auras merging into a single entity, like a vast, stormy ocean. The combined aura of countless people linked together in the void, forming a suffocating pressure like mountains collapsing and seas roaring.

These were the Primordial Human Race, the ancient defenders.

“Kill them! Primordial Human Race! Flatten the Human Race! For the great Fourteenth Main God!”

Countless demons roared madly, their voices filled with bloodlust.

Shi Jian’s smile became even more pronounced when he heard these words.

If it were the Main God from the Main God Space (like in Zhttty’s novels), I would turn around and leave immediately.

But you, the Main God from After Ascension… how many true masters do you command?

(Author Note integration below)

(Originally, After Ascension was going to be written as a group Instance Dungeon, but after thinking about it, the protagonist [Shi Jian] is almost strong enough to sweep through it now, so I decided to write it as a single-player small Instance Dungeon instead.)

(Gathering strength for a large, late-stage group Instance Dungeon.)

(Instance Dungeon requirements: The world’s upper limit must be high enough, and the enemies must be able to withstand the abuse from the people in the group…)