Protector of the Mortal Realm, Chen Yi

Seeing the Earth Spirit floating before him, the Myriad Soul Banner’s heart began to stir again.

“Ohhh—the Earth Spirit!”

Chen Yi shot him a glance.

“What are you planning to do?”

The Myriad Soul Banner immediately reined in its villainous expression.

“I want to hold its shoes.”

After the Earth Spirit appeared, Hua Wuyan explained the matter of the inheritance, then began casting a spell to sever the connection between herself and the Earth Spirit.

Next, the Earth Spirit passed a cultivation technique on to Chen Yi.

Calling it a cultivation technique was not entirely accurate, because it did not cultivate anything in particular. It was merely a route for circulating immortal energy. After completing one major cycle of circulation, the practitioner could establish communication with the Earth Spirit.

The Earth Spirit could not speak. From beginning to end, it communicated with Chen Yi through consciousness.

It told Chen Yi that this method was not something everyone could learn.

Some people could spend their entire lives without mastering it. In that case, they had no choice but to pass the method on to someone else.

If that person could not learn it either, it would be passed down to the next generation.

That was why, over the past thirty thousand years, there had been only five Guardians.

The gaps between them existed because no one had ever managed to master the method.

“I’ve learned it.”

His “proficiency” had come into play.

Chen Yi’s single sentence left both the Earth Spirit and Hua Wuyan dumbfounded.

“You’ve already mastered it? It took me several decades to learn it back then. This method requires an absurdly precise circulation of true qi. Even someone with extraordinary talent would need to repeatedly hone and practice it. How could you possibly have mastered it already?”

Chen Yi proved it with his actions.

The moment Chen Yi circulated the method, an invisible connection formed between him and the Earth Spirit.

At that moment, Chen Yi entered a strange state.

He felt as if he could hear the thoughts of everyone across the entire human world!

Some were praying for their families to reunite.

Some were praying for favorable weather and bountiful harvests.

Others were praying for their loved ones to recover from illness.

Apart from human voices, Chen Yi felt that he could even sense the consciousness of animals and plants.

Since they possessed no intelligence, they could not form any concrete expressions. All that remained were streams of consciousness such as thirst, hunger, excitement, and the like.

This was not the “Mind Reading” trait at work. This was simply the state in which the Earth Spirit existed every day—sharing the joys and sorrows of every living creature in this world!

The Guardian could be regarded as the Earth Spirit’s representative walking among humanity.

Seeing that Chen Yi had officially become a Guardian, Hua Wuyan said with relief, “All right. I can finally set down this responsibility and live the life an old man ought to live… Oh, right. I only told you about the benefits of being a Guardian just now. I forgot to tell you about the responsibilities and obligations.”

Seeing the nervous look on Chen Yi’s face, Hua Wuyan smiled.

“Don’t worry. There’s basically nothing you need to do. Anything that requires you to step in and resolve will be a major matter concerning the entire world. Of course, if you wish to do more for all living beings, that is entirely up to you.”

Hua Wuyan explained everything one point at a time, while Chen Yi committed it all to memory with his “Never Forget” ability.

Compared with the obligations, the authority of a Guardian seemed truly insignificant.

After finishing, Hua Wuyan teased him.

“Martial God Chen, are you regretting your decision?”

Chen Yi replied calmly, “Regretting it? How could I? A true man keeps his word. Since I agreed to take on this responsibility, I will naturally perform my duties faithfully.”

Chen Yi had already decided to send a clone to handle the job. He himself would merely act as a mouthpiece.

“Then, busy man, you should go deal with the four Five-Element Artifacts in your possession. Oh, and there’s one more thing.”

Chen Yi had already been preparing to slip away, but he stumbled and came back.

“Please, go on.”

“Aren’t there various problems with our Five-Element Artifacts?”

“There are indeed.”

“If your moral standards aren’t too high, there is a way to repair them completely.”

“My standards have always been flexible. If it’s for the sake of the human world, I can lower them a little further.”

“Didn’t you say you planned to hide these artifacts in other planes?

“When the time comes, you can use your identity as a Guardian to lure out the Earth Spirits of those other planes.

“Then have those Earth Spirits restore our Five-Element Artifacts for you.

“This will consume the Earth Spirits’ spirituality and, to a certain extent, affect the reproduction and cultivation of the local life-forms.

“But if you only leave one artifact there, the impact won’t be too great.”

The artifacts of the human world all had more or less serious problems.

If they were nourished by the Earth Spirit of the human world, it simply would not be able to support them.

As for traveling to other planes, ordinary Guardians did not possess the ability to come and go as they pleased.

If Chen Yi sent the artifacts over and could not retrieve them, the consequences would be disastrous.

That was why only Chen Yi could make use of this method.

There was just one problem.

“Are all Earth Spirits really this easy to trick?”

Hua Wuyan answered with only one word.

“Hm?”

Chen Yi understood.

That response meant: What kind of question is that? Is this your first day knowing the Earth Spirits?

“Senior Hua, now that you no longer bear the burden of being a Guardian, why don’t you take the Ascension Road next year and seek your fortune in the Material Realm?”

Hua Wuyan waved his hand.

“No. I like this land. I can’t leave her.”

Chen Yi did not force the matter and bid Hua Wuyan farewell.

After that, Chen Yi headed south, flying out over the continent and across the Southern Sea. He continued until he reached a desolate region where there were no traces of humanity and the ocean stretched endlessly in every direction.

He intended to open a breach leading to another plane here.

Now that he had become a Guardian, this would be much easier.

Chen Yi took out the Sun and Moon Tower.

The Sun and Moon Tower’s spirit still spoke in that same coquettish tone.

“May I ask where we’re going now, new Guardian~?”

Chen Yi shuddered, goosebumps rising all over his body.

“We’re going to find you a good place to recuperate.”

“I don’t have any injuries anymore~”

“During all those years the Great Demon confined you in the forbidden land, he was using you to stabilize his soul. At the same time, he was helping you neutralize your ‘demonic nature.’”

“What demonic nature? I don’t understand what you mean~”

When the Great Demon set foot on the Ascension Road and left the human world, he had sent Chen Yi a message through consciousness.

He told Chen Yi that the Sun and Moon Tower had once been persecuted in the past.

It might have been the work of the Ancient Desolate survivors, or it might have been the work of the hidden hand. It no longer mattered who was responsible. In any case, both sides wanted to harm the Five-Element Artifacts.

The spirit of the Sun and Moon Tower had been replaced with the spirit of an evil object.

It was like stuffing the spirit of the Myriad Soul Banner into the Nine Provinces Cauldron.

The evil spirit that had replaced the Sun and Moon Tower was extremely similar to the tower itself. It had been specially created to fit the Sun and Moon Tower and could adapt to it almost perfectly.

Through many years of effort, the Great Demon had completely suppressed the evil spirit’s demonic nature and neutralized a large portion of it.

Now that the Great Demon was gone, the evil spirit within the Sun and Moon Tower had lost its suppression and might return to its original form.

“What? I’m a bad person? No, no, I don’t want to be! I want to be a good person~”

“That’s why we’re going to find you a ‘successor’—someone to take you off our hands. We’ll use an Earth Spirit to nourish your spirituality and extinguish your demonic nature.”

Chen Yi began destroying the world barrier.

It was very simple. All he needed was power that exceeded the Void Realm’s upper limit.

With a single punch from his “Lightspeed Fist,” the surrounding spacetime collapsed like a landslide. Spatial turbulence surged toward him, while fragments of time from other planes flickered in and out amid the chaos.

“Earth Spirit, lend me your strength!”