The True Talisman incident, the Fire Crow incident, the cave beneath the Wilderness... even the matter of buying a house in Chonggang Town.
In each event in the Tianyuan Realm, An Jing had connections, however faint, with the ancient immortal ruins beneath Xuanye City.
Whether it was An Jing’s choice to ’explore downward’ in the cave initially, or his decision to ’hunt Fire Crows’ upon learning they were being hunted in the Wilderness, he would come to know about it from other angles and relate it to the ancient immortal ruins.
Not to mention the time when An Jing had to rely on the Black Market to escape the pursuit of the Heaven’s Will Demon Sect and the Heavenly Demon, suppose he had missed the cleanup at the Xuanye City Black Market and not got involved in the True Talisman incident, he would most likely have chosen to buy property in Chonggang Town anyway in the Tianyuan Realm.
Because that was where the houses were cheapest.
From this perspective, the warehouse bought by An Jing was also abandoned by Shouyang Mountain, a subsidiary under their flag, where they had also pulled out personnel who weren’t assigned relevant duties in advance.
And the Guardian True Person of Chonggang Town was part of the corporate body from Shouyang Mountain, which was at the core of the True Talisman incident; by staying here, An Jing was greatly likely to get involved.
Even, setting aside all other factors, even if An Jing had settled in some other town, the eruption of spiritual light and the existence of the ancient immortal ruins in Chonggang Town today would have made An Jing reassess the cave under the Wilderness.
"Would my Heavenly Mandate be effective in the Tianyuan Realm as well?"
An Jing frowned in thought, although he had considered this before, he hadn’t thought deeply about it, but now it seemed, analyzing from the perspective that the Great Void Magical Instrument could work in both realms, it was likely that the commonality of the Heavenly Ways in both realms extended to sharing the Heavenly Mandate: "What if the Tianyuan Realm also has a Seven Fiend Tribulation? Wouldn’t my presence here affect its course?"
"First, it must exist,"
Subdue Evil analyzed rationally, "Heavenly Mandates appear to exist in every world, but this isn’t necessarily true—a general world might not be able to give rise to a Heavenly Mandate, even a Divine Mandate is difficult, and a Strange Mandate would be the limit."
"In fact, the fate of a Strange Mandate has already reached the level of being ordained by Heaven Star; in a normal minor world, it wouldn’t be excessive to call it a Heavenly Mandate."
"Then, Embracing the Void has five types of Heavenly Mandate..." An Jing was astonished. "Doesn’t that mean..."
"Embracing the Void is very special, very powerful indeed."
Though he had lost his memory, forgetting many things, Subdue Evil was still confident, "The Tianyuan Realm having multiple Primordial Spirit Inheritances is already considered powerful, but how can it compare to Embracing the Void, where the number may exceed a hundred?"
"In my view, regardless of whether the Heavenly Way of the TianyuanRealm has the capacity to create a Heavenly Mandate or not, even if it does, it would absolutely ing your otherworldly Heavenly Mandate to cut off its own karma and mitigate disasters and sort out domestic affairs for itself."
—Impressive, am I such a sought-after commodity? Is the Heavenly Way of Embracing the Void using me to leech off the Spirit Qi of the Tianyuan Realm, and the Heavenly Way of the Tianyuan Realm using me to leech off the Heavenly Mandate of the Embracing the Void?
Although An Jing strangely felt a thrill being coveted by others, considering he was indeed being fought over by the Heaven’s Will Demon Sect, Da Chen, and several other probably terrible organizations, he suddenly found the matter unappealing. "One world filled with inert Demonic Qi permeating everything, another world ruined by Demonic Qi... serving as the Heavenly Mandate in these two worlds would be far too dangerous."
"If I wasn’t so talented, so decisively cautious in my actions, how could I have successfully gathered the ’True Talisman’ and ’Secret Path’ clues, instead of being inexplicably lured to the ancient immortal ruins and probably killed by the mysterious restrictive formations inside!"
"Indeed," Subdue Evil agreed. "But on the flip side, if you didn’t have the capability to handle these issues, then what right would you have to be the Heavenly Mandate?"
"If you weren’t endowed with a strong mind and will to deal with these events, you wouldn’t become the Heavenly Mandate either."
"Fate and chance, fate is granted by Heaven, the chance is made by oneself; I believe, as of now, there is no one better suited to handle these matters in both worlds than you."
"Indeed," An Jing did not shy away from admitting, with a rightful self-assurance that marked his character; he never denied his own talents, nor was he ever careless: "It seems, I ought to find an opportunity to explore the original cave as well."
"With my current power, it’s still somewhat dangerous; let’s wait a while, until my Divine Abnormality is perfect, or even after Martial Meridian," he decided as he made plans. An Jing was absolutely not one to reduce his preparation just to save time, a lesson frequently impressed upon him by his mother, Shen Mubai.
"Where are we going next?"
Huo Qing, who was still observing, recalled the previous coordinated patterns of the Protective Great Formation of Seventeen Towns. Now, regaining his focus, he looked towards the direction of Chonggang Town with a very nuanced expression, "The warehouse... we probably won’t be able to return there for a short time. Our warehouse should be fine, it just needs some maintenance, but the news of the Ancient Immortal Ruins will definitely spread, and the area will be under martial law for a while."
"An Jing, if we are lucky, we could potentially make a huge profit... The real estate prices in Chonggang Town are definitely going to increase!"
"Won’t Xuanye City reclaim the property?"
An Jing raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised, while Huo Qing shook his head, "The higher-ups generally don’t reap small gains , and I’m talking about if we’re lucky—if we’re not, then there’s nothing to discuss."
"But if we are lucky, the warehouse we bought with thousands of Good Deeds could potentially see its land value skyrocket by ten times!"
An Jing was startled internally, he did some calculations, and suddenly realized that if real estate prices truly increased that much, the money he’d make from this venture would surpass what he earned from his extensive efforts in trading between two realms!
However, An Jing quickly calmed down, "Indeed, if the Ancient Immortal Ruins are really disclosed, then as the only ’public entrance’... that place will definitely become a frontier exploration base."
"Compared to the land at the frontier base, the tens of thousands of Good Deeds are minor; we just need to open a store there, and we will definitely make a steady profit!"
"Even if Xuanye City wants to reclaim it, we could still make a fortune in Good Deeds."
This was Iron Hand’s perspective after An Jing and Huo Qing returned to Iron Hand’s recycling hut, Iron Hand sighed with relief, "Thank Heaven and Earth, you two are safe, that’s the biggest profit."
Facing Iron Hand, who was most likely a member of the Guiyi Army, An Jing could express some concerns that were hard to explain clearly to Huo Qing.
"Are you saying, you’re worried this is all a conspiracy by Shouyang Mountain Group against Luofu Group?"
Iron Hand showed a peculiar expression on hearing this guess, he started to laugh, "Ah, you don’t have a chip... Here, let me show you the news now."
He raised his hand, summoning a Crystal Mirror from a cluttered sofa, which automatically turned on, and then played.
[Breaking News! A mysterious ancient city from before the tribulation suddenly appears under Chonggang Town? The Golden Crow raid had a deeper purpose!]
[Chonggang Town old miner interview: People who work underground year-round know, there’s a great mystery and terror beneath Xuanye City]
[Mengshan True Person refuses interview: This is an internal affair of Xuanye City, please consult Xuanye City officials]
Series of videos clearly prearranged and articles most likely written several days in advance.
Seeing the first few video titles, An Jing laughed and shook his head, "Such a smooth propaganda campaign? There definitely was forethought."
Confirming this, An Jing no longer needed to continue guessing or doubting, feeling a lot more settled, "Luofu has definitely been exploring in secret for many years, Shouyang Mountain merely wants to pick the fruits... No matter whether the True Talisman is key or not, I’m not in a hurry to get involved."
"Let’s wait. The criteria in Tianyuan Realm are too high; I’ll focus on developing myself first."
Thinking this, An Jing decided to stick to his own pace, "Let’s go to the Special City to buy some stuff first."