Chapter 139: Leaving Earth

Another morning arrived, and Kongxu and the others gathered another 140 lower-grade spirit crystals early on, once again visiting Ye Feng’s apartment. Ye Feng casually purchased an antique-looking small wooden box from the Void Realm, placed the 10 middle-grade spirit crystals inside it, then took it out from the bedroom and handed it to Kongxu and the others. Kongxu opened the wooden box handed to him, and the others gathered around to look at the spirit crystals inside. Unlike the lower-grade spirit crystals, the middle-grade ones had a faint blue tint. Those ten thumb-sized, light-blue rhombic crystals made even highly experienced monks who had practiced for thousands of years unable to take their eyes off them.

“They’re truly middle-grade spirit crystals…” The wrinkles at Kongxu’s eyes bloomed like chrysanthemums in late autumn, shining brightly.

Ye Feng wasn’t in a hurry; he simply stood aside patiently. He could fully understand Kongxu and the others’ reaction—after all, having middle-grade spirit crystals meant that leaving Earth was no longer a luxury but a reality that could be achieved.

After a long while, Kongxu finally calmed down from his excitement and placed the collected lower-grade spirit crystals on the coffee table. He looked up at Ye Feng and said, “Young friend Ye Feng, these are the remaining 140 lower-grade spirit crystals. Can we take these middle-grade spirit crystals now?”

“No problem, the deal is done!” Ye Feng nodded in satisfaction. “When do you plan to activate the teleportation array?”

“We’ll activate it three days from now to leave! During these three days, in addition to handling our own affairs, we also need to inform the entire cultivation community so that all powerful cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage who want to leave can gather at the teleportation array in three days. The teleportation array can accommodate up to ten people at a time. If nothing goes wrong, we can leave in two batches. We’re not sure how long the middle-grade spirit crystals can sustain the array, but one thing is certain: the more frequently it’s used, the faster they’ll be depleted! Transporting one person and transporting ten people requires roughly the same amount of energy. We’ll try to send as many people as possible each time to reduce the number of transfers!” Elder Kongxu said to Ye Feng, “Ye Feng, you and Long Tian should be coming, right?”

“I should go. If I don’t leave, Pei Hong won’t be able to leave either. As for Long Tian, I’ll check with him. He said before that he wanted to stay on Earth.” Ye Feng glanced at the room where Long Tian was. By now, Long Tian must have heard everything they were saying. He just thought it was enough to have him handle things and didn’t want to get out of bed.

After seeing off people like Kongxu, Ye Feng stored all the lower-grade spirit crystals on the coffee table in the Void Realm, converting them into second-tier domain values. This raised his second-tier domain value to 237,984 points, which was a decent gain.
Long Tian finally came out of his room. “Are those old folks all gone?”
“You don’t have to be so rude!” Ye Feng laughed.
“The youngest of them is already in their hundreds. If not old folks, then what?” Long Tian replied irritably. “They’ll leave in three days. Do you plan to go with them, or stay a few more days before leaving on your own?”
“If we’re leaving, let’s go together. After all, we don’t know how long the medium-grade spirit crystals will last! You heard what Master Kongxu said just now—it’s best to travel in groups of ten.” Ye Feng plopped down on the sofa, picked up the remote, and turned on the TV. “Are you really determined to stay?”
“We’ve already discussed this. I won’t change my mind. But you leaving so suddenly…” Long Tian hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I think you should tell those extraordinary women right now. Don’t wait until it’s time to leave—who knows what might happen! Telling them now at least gives them time to prepare.”
“Uh, I forgot about that… It’s hard to imagine how Sister Zhenzhu will react…” Ye Feng broke out in sweat just thinking about it.
Nervously, Ye Feng approached the women’s door but hesitated for a long time before pressing the bell.
“What are you afraid of? You’re leaving in three days anyway!” Long Tian said, leaning against the apartment door and smiling at Ye Feng. “Can Zhenzhu eat you?”
Ye Feng took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed the bell. “If I’m going to die, let it be!”
It was Zhuge Ling’er, dressed in pajamas, who opened the door. Seeing Ye Feng standing there, she blushed slightly and pulled her pajamas up. This gesture left Ye Feng speechless. Soon after, the sound of the door closing came from nearby—Long Tian had quickly shut it.
“Do you need something?” Zhuge Ling’er asked curiously, sticking her head out. She glanced at Ye Feng’s apartment and, seeing no one else, spoke to him.
“Uh, have you all gotten up?” Ye Feng asked awkwardly.
“Sister Yue is meditating in her room, Sister Kelly is making breakfast, Sister Zhenzhu is taking a shower, and I just got up,” Zhuge Ling’er replied truthfully.
“Alright, I have something to tell you all!” Ye Feng said as he pushed open the door.

“I’ll go call them to the living room!” Zhuge Ling’er said as she ran off, but ended up returning to her own room.
Ye Feng sat obediently on the sofa in the living room, not daring to wander around for fear of seeing something he shouldn’t.
After a while, Zhuge Ling’er finally came out of her room, dressed in casual clothes, with her hair neatly combed, not as messy as before. She then knocked on Long Yue’s door. “Sis Yue, Ye Feng is waiting for us in the living room.”
After that, she ran to the kitchen and called out to Kelly, “Sis Kelly, Ye Feng is here!”
Finally, she knocked on the bathroom door. “Sis Zhenzhu…”
“I know, I’m coming right out, just wait a moment!” Zhenzhu called from inside.
Only then did Zhuge Ling’er return to the living room and sit down with Ye Feng.
Ye Feng glanced around. “Girls’ living spaces are really different—much cleaner than ours!”
“Of course! We clean every day! Brother Long Tian said that where you guys are, sometimes you don’t clean even once a month…” Zhuge Ling’er said proudly.
Before long, Long Yue finally came out of her room, wearing a women’s blazer that gave her a striking appearance. She nodded politely at Ye Feng and sat down next to Zhuge Ling’er.
Then Kelly, dressed in a chef’s uniform, came out carrying a plate of sliced bread that was still steaming…
A little over a minute later, the bathroom door finally opened, and everyone eagerly looked over. The moment Zhenzhu appeared, everyone in the living room was stunned, and Ye Feng’s face turned red as he lowered his head.
“Sis Zhenzhu, I thought you heard me say Ye Feng is here…” Zhuge Ling’er said, speechless, looking at the naked Zhenzhu.
“I only heard you knocking, thinking you wanted to use the bathroom…” Zhenzhu stuck out her tongue, grabbed a large bath towel from the bathroom to cover herself, then said to Ye Feng, “You pervert! Coming early in the morning to spy on your sister taking a bath?”
“It was you who rushed out…” Ye Feng muttered softly.
“What did you say?” Zhenzhu leaned closer to him and asked quietly.
“Nothing, nothing…” Ye Feng quickly waved his hands.
“Just now Ling’er said you wanted to talk to us about something?” Long Yue finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence.
“Yes, I’m here to tell you that I’ll be leaving in three days. I don’t know when I’ll see you all next time.” Ye Feng then remembered the serious matter at hand.

“Leave? Where to?” Zhuge Ling’er asked with curiosity.
“There’s a teleportation array in the Bermuda region, left by past powerhouses. It leads to an actual cultivation planet. In three days, Wudao and the others will activate that array to send those at the Yuan Ying stage who wish to leave Earth,” Ye Feng explained.
“So, big brother will also go?” Long Yue was shocked upon hearing this.
“Brother Long said he’ll stay and wait for you and uncle to reach the Yuan Ying stage before leaving with you,” Ye Feng shook his head.
“Can’t we leave until we reach the Yuan Ying stage? You haven’t reached it either, right?” Pearl finally stopped her teasing smile.
“If you haven’t reached the Yuan Ying stage, your body can’t withstand the pressure during teleportation. Forcing it will kill you. I also just reached the Yuan Ying stage recently…” Ye Feng explained.
“So, it means we can only see you again after we reach the Yuan Ying stage and arrive at another planet through that teleportation array?” Long Yue pressed further.
“That’s right.” Seeing that the girls weren’t going crazy as he had expected, Ye Feng felt a little more at ease. “Kelly, I originally planned to stay and take you with me once you reached the Yuan Ying stage. I also talked to Pei Hong, asking him to wait for me there, but he insisted on leaving with me…”
“It’s not your duty to take care of me. I’m an adult… Ye Feng, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” Kelly tried to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes, but they still fell uncontrollably…
“I’d better stay! I’ll find a way to get Pei Hong and the others to leave together!” Ye Feng reached out and wiped the tears from Kelly’s cheeks. “I’ll leave with you then.”
“It’s okay. One day, I’ll learn to take care of myself. You’ve already helped me enough… Thank you…” Kelly’s voice was still choked with sobs.
“Sis Kelly, stop crying. If you keep crying, I’ll cry too…” Zhuge Ling’er’s eyes also filled with tears.
“Why do we have to leave so suddenly?” Long Yue’s gaze held a hint of sadness. “We never heard about this before.”
“There’s no choice. Wudao and the others have waited for hundreds of years for this day, so of course they’re eager to leave,” Ye Feng said helplessly with a smile. “Besides, that teleportation array is powered by mid-grade spirit crystals, and it can only be used a limited number of times. We have to send as many people as possible each time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t need to join them in leaving and could stay longer before leaving on my own.”

“A man should go out and explore more!” Pearl wasn’t furious as Ye Feng had imagined; instead, she remained extremely calm, smiling at him. “You go and make a name for yourself first. By the time your sister reaches the Yuan Ying stage, we’ll have face there too.”
“What are your plans?” Ye Feng asked, looking at Long Yue and the others.
“I plan to go to Emei to meet my grandmother whom I’ve never met before, and then stay there to cultivate until I reach the Yuan Ying stage,” Pearl said, clearly having made plans in advance. “Is Kelly going with me? There are many girls there!”
“Sure!” Kelly managed to dry her tears and nodded at Pearl.
Ye Feng thought to himself that this was even better. After all, Long Tian wasn’t a patient person. It would be better to leave Kelly in Pearl’s care.
“Ling Er and I will definitely go back to our own homes. Her parents must be going crazy right now! If we don’t send her back soon, they’ll come to the Long family and accuse us of kidnapping their daughter,” Long Yue said, covering her mouth and laughing.
Zhuge Ling Er’s sobbing wouldn’t stop, no matter how much Kelly tried to comfort her. Pearl and Long Yue also came over when they saw this.
Ye Feng helplessly left the girls’ apartment…
In the afternoon, Ye Feng and Long Tian were happily watching an American drama when the doorbell rang again.
Long Tian curiously glanced toward the door. “Who could that be?”
Ye Feng instantly appeared at the door and opened it to find Pearl and the others standing there. Little Zhuge Ling Er was still in tears.
“Why is she crying again?” Ye Feng said helplessly.
“She hasn’t stopped crying at all…” Pearl replied irritably.
“It’s my fault…” Kelly said shyly.
“It’s not your fault. She’s not like this before—she’s never cried like this,” Long Yue said to comfort her.
“Maybe we should take her to the hospital!” Ye Feng also felt at a loss.
At that moment, Long Tian came over too. “What’s wrong with Ling Er?”
As soon as he spoke, Zhuge Ling Er cried even harder.
Long Yue glared at Long Tian before turning to the two of them, “We just came back from the hospital. The doctors couldn’t find any problems, and the psychologists were helpless too. I plan to send her back to the Zhuge family. Her parents are very skilled in medicine; they should be able to cure her!”
“Send her back? Don’t forget, her parents are also very good at scolding people…” Long Tian rubbed his nose.

“There’s nothing we can do. We can’t just let her cry like this forever! It’s already been going on for over five hours.” Long Yue rolled her eyes at Long Tian.
“Alright then, you go ahead!” Long Tian acted heartless.
“We came to say goodbye. After seeing Ling’er off, we won’t be coming back. I’ll return to the Long family. Pearl and Kelly will head straight to Emei,” Long Yue added.
“What? You’re all leaving too?” Long Tian looked shocked.
“We originally planned to wait until we saw Ye Feng off, but with Ling’er in this state, it’s better not to!” Pearl glanced at Ye Feng and shook her head helplessly. “Anyway, once Ling’er leaves, we might as well part ways and cultivate to the Yuan Ying stage sooner to leave Earth.”
“That makes sense!” Long Tian then remembered that he hadn’t wanted those girls to stay here in the first place.
“Sell that house too. We’ve packed our things; it’s unlikely we’ll come back to live here!” Long Yue said to Long Tian, “You’re idle anyway.”
Being evaluated like that by his own sister left Long Tian speechless, while the other two girls snickered in the background.
“I’ll drive you to the airport! Have you bought the tickets?” Ye Feng offered.
“I’ll go too!” Long Tian wanted to join in.
“We can’t fit!” Long Yue and Pearl said in unison.
“That’s not fair…” Long Tian protested softly.
…
“What’s wrong with her?” A middle-aged man took Zhuge Ling’er from Long Yue and the others, looking at Long Yue with confusion.
“She’s been crying since just after 7 a.m. We’ve been to the hospital, but they couldn’t figure out what’s wrong, so we brought her back to you, Uncle, to get her treated,” Long Yue said with an awkward smile.
“Since 7 a.m.? It’s already past 5 p.m. You mean it’s been ten hours? Did she stop crying at any point?” The middle-aged man was surprised.
“No, she didn’t stop, that’s why…” Long Yue’s smile became even more awkward.
“Oh, I see. You sit here for a while. I’ll take her for a check-up first!” The middle-aged man nodded at Long Yue.
“Oh, okay!” Long Yue obediently agreed.
After the middle-aged man took Zhuge Ling’er away into the hall, Long Yue pulled Pearl and Kelly toward the door.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you say to sit for a while?” Pearl looked at Long Yue in confusion.

“We can’t sit here; we must leave as soon as possible!” Long Yue whispered. “Zhuge Ling’er’s parents are terrifying! We have to get out of here before they find us!”
“Okay then…” Pearl had no choice but to agree after hearing Long Yue’s words.
The three girls went to the local airport and parted ways again. Long Yue boarded a flight back to City S, while Pearl and Kelly took a flight to City E.
Back at the Long family home, Long Yue saw Lu Zhan still waiting for her. During her disappearance, he had searched for her without success and decided to wait at the Long family home.
“Where were you?” Lu Zhan asked worriedly.
“I went to look for my brother…” Long Yue couldn’t meet his intense gaze.
“I went too, but Long Tian seems to not be in City H. I stayed there for three days and still couldn’t find him,” Lu Zhan said calmly. “Did you find him?”
“Yes, he was in Canada during that time!” Long Yue raised her head and nodded with a smile. “Brother Lu, I… I don’t plan to keep pretending anymore. It’s too exhausting. I don’t want to lie to my father or brother anymore… They’re my family. As for those elders, let them say whatever they want! I’ve decided to tell them the truth—that we’re just ordinary friends, always have been… I’m really grateful that you agreed to pretend to be my boyfriend…”
“Okay, but don’t tell them you deceived them. Say we broke up!” Lu Zhan still smiled at Long Yue. “A white lie will make them feel better.”
“Mm, thank you!” Long Yue couldn’t bear to look into his intense eyes.
“Can I hug you one last time?” Lu Zhan’s request caught Long Yue off guard.
“Mm!” As a smart woman, how could Long Yue not know that Lu Zhan liked her? She just hadn’t felt the same.
When Lu Zhan pulled her into his arms, Long Yue slowly closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Brother Lu…”
“Don’t say sorry. Thank you for giving me such a long trial period… It’s a pity I didn’t perform well enough…” Lu Zhan inhaled her faint scent one last time. His face was filled with a smile, but tears traced paths down his cheeks…
…
“Are you Xin’er’s daughter?” A woman who seemed to be in her early thirties looked at Pearl. She resembled Pearl somewhat. At that moment, she was staring at Pearl in shock.

“Are you my grandmother?” Pearl identified her identity the moment she saw the woman.
“Mm, Xiao Mu told me about you when she returned. She said Xin Er had died and that she had a daughter. But I still want to know what really happened to Xin Er. Can you tell me? And how have you gotten by all these years…” the woman asked cautiously.
“She’s dead, and my father is dead too. But the person who killed them has already been punished!” Pearl forced a smile. “Our story is long. I’ll tell you it slowly sometime. This is my friend, Kelly, an American. We hope to become disciples of Emei and stay there to practice.”
“There’s no major problem with that. I’ll arrange it for you. Although I resigned as the head master after Xin Er left, now as an elder, it’s just a matter of giving my approval. Besides, your skills are already good enough to pass the tests.” The woman nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, Grandma!” Pearl’s voice remained sweet.
…
“Who exactly bullied you? Dad will go find him and make him pay!” A middle-aged man stood in front of Zhuge Ling Er, pretending to be angry.
“It’s obvious—she fell in love with a boy and got dumped…” a woman in her early thirties said matter-of-factly. “Otherwise, why would she cry so sadly?”
Zhuge Ling Er’s crying grew even louder.
“Damn it, our Ling Er is so beautiful, smart, and cute. Which boy wouldn’t be attracted to her? How could she get dumped?” The middle-aged man immediately gave the woman a look, trying to get her to say something nice.
“Come on, tell mom why you’re crying.” The woman shook her head and sighed before stepping forward to wipe away Zhuge Ling Er’s tears.
“I… I feel bad… inside…” Zhuge Ling Er finally managed to speak through sobs.
“Why do you feel bad?” the woman pressed further.
“I… don’t know… I just feel bad…” Zhuge Ling Er continued to sob.
“Did some boy bully you?” The middle-aged man’s expression darkened.
“No… he’s leaving… he’ll never come back… thinking about that… makes me feel bad…” Zhuge Ling Er finally managed to explain why she couldn’t stop crying.
“Who’s leaving?” the woman asked, puzzled.

“Ye… Ye Feng… He’s leaving… Earth… I’ll never see him again…” Zhuge Ling’er cried even harder upon saying this.
The woman pulled her husband aside and whispered, “This girl seems to have fallen in love with that young man named Ye Feng.”
“Today, Taoist Kongxu sent word that the cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage will gather in three days to leave Earth. Could that Ye Feng also be one of them?” The middle-aged man frowned. “If so, it seems Ling’er has no chance…”
“What should we do then?” The woman was at a loss.
“Let that Ye Feng leave. Over time, Ling’er will naturally forget him. It’s better to end it quickly than suffer longer!” The middle-aged man sighed helplessly.
“Mm, getting her to fall in love with another man is the best way to make her forget this one. Let’s arrange more blind dates for her!” The woman nodded.
“You take care of it. At least don’t let her see that man in the next few days.” The middle-aged man glanced helplessly at his daughter. “Sigh, why did she have to fall for someone as unattainable as a Yuan Ying stage cultivator?”
…
Three days later, in a primeval forest in the Bermuda region, nearly twenty people gathered bustlingly—almost all of them Yuan Ying stage cultivators from Earth.
“Today, we leave this place that gave us birth to explore a new world—one we’ve longed for, a world where we can start anew…” Kongxu began an inspiring speech, partly to wait for those who might still arrive and partly to boost everyone’s morale and energize the atmosphere.
After the speech, he placed four medium-grade spirit crystals into the transmission array at the designated slots. The once lifeless array began to emit a faint white light, and the once indecipherable symbols on it started flowing like water along the edges of the circular array, spiraling toward the center.
After about three minutes, the symbols reached the center of the array, where a stone pillar about the thickness of a bowl slowly rose. At the top of the pillar was something resembling a dial, with pointers and markings.
Ye Feng and the others looked at the symbols on the dial. There were several rows of vertical Chinese characters, and the pointer pointed to the first one—Origin Star!

Kongxu was the first to step up, then called for the others to follow. Ye Feng wasn’t in any hurry and waited patiently for the second group. When Kongxu pressed the protrusion in the center of the stone disc, the first group disappeared under a burst of white light. Finally, Ye Feng turned to Wudao beside him and asked, “Can the position of that pointer be changed?”
“Yes, but the energy provided by mid-grade spirit crystals can only take us to the first station—Origin Star! The pointer can be moved forward, but not backward, otherwise we’ll get lost during transmission due to insufficient energy. We might end up on a star or in a black hole—anyway, the consequences would be severe,” Wudao explained patiently.
“It seems this thing isn’t very safe either!” Ye Feng stuck out his tongue at Long Tian beside him.
“Don’t worry. Since it’s pointing at Origin Star, we’ll definitely be sent there. If the energy runs out, the stone pillar will retract automatically, and the teleportation array will become unusable!” Wudao shook his head and smiled.
“Alright, then let’s go too!” Ye Feng nodded in relief.
“Hmm, the remaining eight of us, let’s go together! Long Tian, are you sure you won’t come?” Wudao invited Long Tian again.
“No, I’ll wait until my dad and the others reach the Yuan Ying stage before joining them!” Long Tian stuffed his hands casually into his pockets and shook his head at the people standing on the teleportation array.
“Then we’re off! See you at Origin Star!” Wudao nodded at Long Tian and pressed firmly the protrusion button in the center of the stone disc. A flash of white light appeared, and Long Tian was suddenly left alone…
Volume 2: The World of Cultivation
One grain of sand, one world—new worlds bring unique experiences to everyone!