Emperor of The Cosmos

Humans relied on intelligence to stay at the top of the food chain. They had invented ways to acquire stronger power and eventually evolved into the planetary overlords they were now.

Although the fire god bird king had intelligence, it was much more inferior compared to human elites like Jiang Li. Just like the ancient times, when a wild beast fell into a trap set up by the hunter, it would be very hard for it to escape again. But now, taming it wasn’t easy either.

It was a pity if the fire god bird king died in the dimension. It was so graceful and was on par with secondary mecha. If he could tame it, Jiang Li would get many conveniences on Emperor Planet. Immediately, he seeped his thought into the dimension and formed an illusion in front of the fire god bird king. At the same time, a spiritual wave seeped into the bird king’s head.

“You have been imprisoned by me now, but I won’t hurt you, how about we be friends?”

Jiang Li was a secondary hypnotist and had the ability to communicate with all living things that had emotions.

“Human, you’re willing to let me go? You’re not going to tame me? Unfortunately, your power is too weak. I will not be tamed by you.” the fire god bird king sent out a contemptuous spiritual wave. Compared to a normal fire god bird, it was much more intelligent.

Some animals didn’t have intelligence and were hard to communicate with even with spiritual communication. They could only understand simple good and bad will. These types of animal were hard to enlighten and couldn’t cultivate. Centipedes, scorpions and mosquitoes, for example, would be worthless even if Jiang Li had enlightened them through their dreams and taught them Crystal Contemplation.

“I’m not taming you, I’m just being friends with you.” Jiang Li lured; he knew what was best to say right now: “With your intelligence, you probably know how strong humanity is.”

“Heng! Of course humans are strong, especially you foreign demons. You’ve never done a good thing ever since your arrival to our planet. You rob and kill everywhere, ruining the environment. I don’t know how many fire god birds you have captured already. Be friends? I wonder how you can even think of that! If I can come out, the first man I will destroy is you.”

The fire god bird king was very cruel and straightforward in its words. “I can teach you cultivation and make you stronger. Don’t you want to get stronger?” Jiang Li enticed again.

“Cultivation is to live freely. If I wanted to cultivate, I would have gone to the Da Qian Academy to learn cultivation ages ago. But I only want to be flying freely in the sky and not be bound; I’m not like normal fire god birds. I’m the bird king!” The fire god bird king raised its supercilious head and appeared as though it would rather die than conform.

“Da Qian Academy?” Jiang Li was curious. The information from his computer said that on Emperor Planet, there was the feudalistic dynasty of Da Qian. It had an Academy that was the centre of the dynasty’s talent. It focused on opposing the students of Astral University. He didn’t think that this fire god bird king had seen the students of Da Qian Academy.

“I won’t even go with the original cultivators of Da Qian Academy, why would I go with you foreign demons?” The fire god bird king closed its eyes: “Don’t say anymore, I’d rather starve to death.”

“Never mind, since you don’t wish to, I won’t coerce you.” Jiang Li understood the bird king’s temper. He thought before talking again: “I can let you go but after you leave you must not attack me again. We won’t attack each other, how about it?”

“Foreign demon, what tricks are you playing at?” The fire god bird king was fazed, not expecting Jiang Li to let it go.

“I’m not playing any tricks but gambling instead. If you go back on your words and attack me after you leave, I would be in immediate danger.” Jiang Li projected his image in front of the bird king with a face of solemnity and genuine sincerity.

“Foreign demon, you insult me!” The fire god bird king was furious: “How noble is the king? How can I do something so low! I swear, if you let me out, I won’t attack you in any way.”

“Okay, then we have an agreement.” Jiang Li slowly opened his dimension. The fresh air from outside gushed in. the fire god bird king did not expect Jiang Li to really let him go. It hesitated for a bit and hurried to fly up, rushing back into the open space again.

The bird king, having escaped from death, was very delighted. It slowly descended from the sky and looked at Jiang Li in confusion: “You are not the same as the other foreign demons. You’re not cruel at all. Why is this?”

The bird king was very tall, up to 8 meters. If it spewed fire down, there was no way Jiang Li could live, but he trusted his own spiritual judgement. It was also a type of spiritual cultivation to let the fire god bird king go and talk to it face to face without being scared. This was a type of judgement and curious that transcended the fear of death.

“Nothing, I don’t want a great living thing like you to starve to death. That would be a profanity against the heavens and Earth. Since you long for freedom, I will give you freedom.” Jiang Li was very indifferent: “Us Earthling humans have indeed invaded and expanded our empire on this planet but it is also for our survival and growth, just like how you hunt for other animals. Our sides are different and there is no right or wrong. However, every human has their own belief. My belief is different than others. If it was someone else, he would rather let you starve to death than let you go. But I didn’t want to so I could only let you go.”

“What was that trap you used to capture?” The fire god bird king inclined its head sideways. It was very curious: “This is a great power. You can create pocket dimensions?”

A pocket dimension was the bird king’s understanding of another dimension. It must have learnt this world from the students of Da Qian Academy.

“This is a secret, our technology.” Jiang Li blinked and lied.

“Human, we will meet again.” The bird king flapped its wings and flew into the sky. Before it left, it seemed to have thought of something: “By the way, there are a lot of students from Da Qian Academy operating around here. They hunt you foreign demons and will not be merciful. You be careful.”

After it finished talking, the bird king disappeared into the night.

Jiang Li sat cross legged once again, absorbing the spirit chi to sustain himself. He had expended a lot of energy just then trying to capture the bird king.

“The bird king didn’t attack me. My spiritual judgement was accurate. Looks like it has improved a level.” After Jiang Li released the bird king, he felt his spirit becoming rounder and smoother. There was not a speck of dust on his spirit and it could accurately predict changes in the future, and even certiain hunches.

He knew that his cultivation was reaching a new stage. Perhaps, in a short whikle, he would have the opportunity to break through to greater stasis. He was still lesser stasis now. There was a long path from lesser stasis to major stasis. He was gradually creating a method for him to cultivate his heart.

Actually, releasing the bird king just then was extremely dangerous. It was a life and death gamble. But, his judgment wasn’t wrong and instead tit gained him the trust of the bird king. After they gained trust of each other through their communication, this was the beginning of a cultivation: the start of helping of living things with emotions.

“If all the living things in the world could trust each other and be spiritually connected like we were, what kind of a great universe would that be?” Jiang Li suddenly seemed to have grasped his Dao.

Everyone who cultivated had his own Dao. Wang Kurong had a Dao, Hong Heiyu had a Dao, even Chu Shan had his own Dao. Jiang Li was a bit ambiguous so even though he entered lesser stasis, there was still the potential of regression. But now, his Dao had a start.

“One day, I hope that all living things in the world can be spiritually connected and not be doubtful of each other. All yin guo can be solved.” Jiang Li continued to comprehend his Dao.

[TL Note: yin guo 因果: cause and effect, karma]

If all living things could really trust each other and know each other, then the yin guo between them can all be solved. The universe would then welcome a flourishing age.

“Killing was yin, being killed was guo. The entanglement of yin guo would result in the spirit being chained. One could attain great freedom by severing those chains.” Jiang Li was enlightened once again and his spirit was becoming stronger and stronger. After grasping his own Dao, he seemed to have a target of what he was fighting for. In the depth of his spirit, he was no longer confused.

A person who didn’t have a Dao did not know how to progress. Those who had their own Dao only had to fight bravely to attain it. Although it was hard, there was still hope. The so called burning lantern was to light a lantern to illuminate the path. Jiang Li’s heart seemed to have a bright lantern and he wouldn’t be confused about his cultivation anymore.

This enlightenment resulted in immediate greater stasis. The so called lesser stasis was to search for your own Dao. Greater stasis was when you found your own Dao and wouldn’t be confused in your heart anymore. Therefore, his body shook as he entered greater stasis. His spirit changed and his body started throbbing. His brain cells started operating crazily.

His thought flickered spreading outwards, and his spiritual power increased a level that instant. Jiang Li knew this was the state of greater stasis. Once he stopped foot in it, his will power would become ten times stronger. His heart towards Dao was absolute and could not be destroyed. Therefore, his spiritual power was much stronger than before.

If before, Jiang Li could hypnotise 3000 people each day, and now, he could hypnotise 10000 people each day.

And, the spiritual power of greater stasis could see into the microscopic world, allowing better control of the internal secretion system. This allowed one to maximally utilize his potential while also greatly enhancing the body’s ability to absorb nutrition.

Before, Jiang Li’s body was like a small pond. After entering greater stasis, his body had transformed into a river. Now, he only had to continue absorbing spiritual energy.

“Finally, I am within the realm of greater stasis.” There were no ripples in his heart. He put the opaque stone in his mouth: “This way, the speed at which I absorb spirit chi is sure to multiply.”

As expected, once he entered fetal respiration, he immediately felt his spirit being connected to the clouds and below the earth. Countless spirit chi flowed like a tidal wave. The cells in his body were like eddies, devouring all the spirit chi. An anomaly was created.

The spirit chi formed a tornado, enveloping Jiang Li inside and making him disobey the laws of physics, levitating in mid air. Under the effect of fetal respiration, the strong spirit chi started to crystallize in his body making his cells starting to form crystals. Jiang Li’s body was changed once again. His life form evolved a great deal due to the changes that had occurred to his cells on the effect of spirit chi.

Before, the total amount of spirit chi he could absorb was equivalent to 5 grams of spirit stone. But now, the spirit chi he could absorb was more than 50 grams. The sea of spirit chi resulted in a qualitative change. The spirit chi continued to gather in his body resulting in a huge leap in his life force.

After 1 hour, it went from 2.7 to 2.8… After 2 hours, it went from 2.8 to 2.9…. Finally, after 3 hours, it went from 2.9 to 3.

In only 3 hours, his life force had increased drastically. Any student from Astral University who saw this would be shocked. Jiang Li was levitated by the spirit chi in air, continuously spinning. At the same time, a few people appeared on a distant peak on a mountain. They were all wearing ancient clothes, similar to those worn in the feudalistic ages. Each one of them were tall figures appearing like ancient scholars.

There were approximately 7 people consisting of men and women.

“Xia shi xiong, have we neared the domain of the foreign demons?” A graceful girl wearing ancient clothes asked using the language spoke on Emperor Planet.

“Indeed, this is within the range of activity of the foreign demons, who emerge frequently to hunt. We need to be careful. If we see foreign demons, we must kill them immediately. Leave no survivors!” The Xia surnamed person was obviously the leader.

“Yes!” The remaining 6 people replied in unison.

TL note: shi xiong, senior fellow apprentice, referring to male.

ED Carolin Cao