The scenes before Long Yi continued to mercilessly flash by, showing his journey through the cultivation realms. He didn’t progress the fastest, but within the same realm, his strength was undeniable.

It caused the feeling of having wasted his talents to grow, making him lose confidence in his decisions so far. Wallowing in despair, he recalled how poorly he had handled his life.

He didn’t try to connect with his father, nor did he take advantage of the opportunity to study. The only thing he relied on was his heaven-gifted strength. The choices he made were to satisfy his whims rather than long-term planning. He never did anything right.

As pivotal moments of his life flashed across his eyes, the scene of him recklessly abandoning the cultivators he had just joined appeared. The meeting with Li Lang and the adventure into where the fabled demonic cultivators lived.

The thought of his friend made him feel even more inadequate in comparison. He had somehow managed to solve the issue of low aptitude, giving everyone a realistic chance of reaching Foundation Establishment. That wasn’t the end of it, though. Li Lang then continued to create paradigm-changing inventions one after the other.

I wonder how far he would get if he had the same innate advantages that I have.

Longing to be like Li Lang, he inadvertently began recalling their various interactions. The lessons and findings he imparted to him, and the way he thought. It naturally resulted in him wondering what Li Lang would do in his position.

It didn’t last long. He suddenly opened his eyes wide as realization struck him. A look of horror took over, escalating into panic.

That’s right! Li Lang talked about how powerful illusions can sometimes influence your mental state. This heavenly earth almost got me to lose confidence in myself!

Long Yi gritted his teeth as he shook away the memory of the embarrassing showing he just had.

Things started to click in his mind now that he could see through the fog. He was Long Yi, a proud member of Star Gem Academy. He regretted none of his past actions as they were what shaped him.

Without them, he wouldn’t even be sure if he would’ve crossed the threshold into the Foundation Establishment Realm so easily. His successes were what made him. Dwelling on the ‘what if’ scenarios was completely unbecoming of him.

“There is no need for me to be like the others!” he yelled, despite having no control over the body. “I don’t need to have some strong conviction or goals fueled by a tragic past to reach greatness. There is nothing wrong with being carefree. It’s a blessing I won’t give up!”

As if recognizing Long Yi for seeing the light, his surroundings grew brighter in reaction to his realization. Or perhaps it could be due to his stabilizing mental state. Either way, Long Yi soon found everything around him to be too blinding to keep his eyes open. Thankfully, it didn’t persist for long.

When he next opened his eyes, he found himself back in the pitch darkness, where his body was fully visible. Even the colors could be easily differentiated, which didn’t make much sense when there wasn’t any light source. This time, it wasn’t just his body that this strange phenomenon happened to. He quickly noticed the dreaded sludge floating around him in the nothingness, slowly drawing closer.

His eyes narrowed as he tracked its every movement. If he didn’t know that it couldn’t verbally communicate, he would’ve been shouting at it already. Just as he was wondering if he should retreat to keep some distance between them, a flood of knowledge came into his mind through a connection that he hadn’t known was there.

Intent, meaning, and feelings were all conveyed to him.

“You’re called the Voracious Mire? Why are you making peace with me? In fact, why did you attack us in the first place? You let us go when we were in your—umm, home. Why change all of a sudden?”

Without words, the Voracious Mire explained through images and feelings. It showed Long Yi the scene of carnage between the Rolling Tide disciples and the native subterranean Qi beasts, and made him feel its rage and loss.

“I apologize for my fellow humans’ behavior, but they were only worried about us. They don’t mean to deprive you of your sustenance. In fact, I’m sure they’re willing to cooperate with you and provide you with whatever you need.”

A murky emotion hit Long Yi, which he could only approximate to disdain. He didn’t need to fully comprehend the nuances of it to know the heavenly earth’s intentions—it wanted nothing to do with those it had fought. It was only willing to cooperate with Long Yi himself.

“You flatter me. I accept this responsibility and will convey your wishes to my fellow humans. Please guide me to where they are.”

Almost immediately, Long Yi’s surroundings changed. He was back at the tunnel where he had put on a desperate last stand with Han Zemei. Thinking of his protector, he scanned the area and found her laying on the ground beside him. He leaned down to check her pulse, confirming she was just unconscious before carrying her over his back.

The Voracious Mire hovered nearby, impatiently waiting. As soon as he got up, it swiftly floated down the tunnel they came from.

Any Qi beasts in the way deferentially got out of the way when they saw it coming, allowing Long Yi a smooth trip across the tunnels. As he made his way across the large open cavern, he couldn’t help but notice the connection he had with the heavenly earth before him.

Inspecting his spiritual sea, he found nothing, so he no longer bothered with tiptoeing around the issue and asked directly through their special connection. It made the heavenly earth turn back toward him, then flew into his head as if it wasn’t there before reappearing. It clearly demonstrated that it resided within his mind somewhere.

However, he didn’t get a chance to study it further when they arrived at the site of the battlefield, where dozens of Qi beasts lay unmoving. There was also another Voracious Mire floating around, which Long Yi didn’t have a connection to, confirming that the main body was elsewhere.

The three sides, consisting of the humans, heavenly earth, and Qi beast, all turned to the newcomers. Naturally, the human party had the strongest reaction.

“Han Zemei! You must be Long Yi! What are you doing here—never mind, just get behind for now!”

Their shouting awoke the sleeping beauty on Long Yi’s back. She wearily rubbed her eyes as she slowly came to it.

“Han Yun? What are you doing here with everyone?”

Before the Rolling Tide disciples could respond, Long Yi took over the conversation with an overpowering voice.

“Everyone, calm down. The fight is over. The heavenly earth has conveyed its wishes to be left alone, while I conveyed ours, which is to leave. It won’t attack us anymore.”

“What? How could you possibly know that?” the leader of the expedition, Han Yun, asked with a frown. “Unless—You subdued it?!”

Long Yi didn’t waste any time and gave them a straightforward answer and nodded. He then waved his hand around, and the Voracious Mire before him followed along with his movements.

“That is a treasure meant for us, the people of Azure Mist! You—should help us convince the main body to submit to our sect. We’ll listen to whatever demand it has.”

Long Yi blinked blankly at the request. Even though he knew how politically loaded that demand was, so he didn’t dare carelessly answer, nor did he want to think too hard about it. Thankfully, before he could ignore the question and just walk away, someone came to his rescue.

“You should come to me with that kind of request. I am the Headmaster of Star Gem Academy, after all,” Li Lang proclaimed as he parted through the crowd of cultivators. “Before I give you an answer, though, can you tell me why you think this heavenly earth belongs only to Azure Mist? Can you prove it didn’t come from some other province?”

“It doesn’t matter! It was found in our territory, so it’s a resource for the natives like us.”

“In that case, which sect would it go to precisely? Your Rolling Tide Sect, or will it be shared equally among all sects within the province?”

“That—is none of your business. It’s an internal matter for our elder to decide.”

“Hmm, in that case, I should speak with your elders instead. It doesn’t seem you have the power to make any decisions.”

“You!”

Thankfully, before things could escalate, Han Zemei stepped in and held her fellow disciple back, shaking her head at him. The leader of the expedition then scoffed and walked away.

“We’re leaving. Stay close!” he shouted.

The confrontation may have ended, but everyone knew it was just temporary. The battlefield would soon transition to a new stage where they would fight over the spoils.

Li Lang wisely took the time to familiarize himself with Long Yi’s situation as he mentally prepared his negotiation tactics. A heavenly earth was on the line. As much as he wanted to avoid politics, he couldn’t afford to dismiss it this time.