Chapter 720: Circumstances

Ye Lingchen remained in low spirits during their journey back. Everyone was silent, with some carrying their wounded comrades on their backs while others covered their wounds.

Chen Qi sighed slightly when he saw that. “This is the sixth insurrection from the Void Realm and the situation has exceeded our initial projection. The manpower we prepared was supposed to be sufficient, but it ended up being a lot worse than we expected. There were even three Grade-A+ creatures that appeared! We have to keep defending, even if it means sacrificing everyone!”

Ye Lingchen asked weakly, “Is fighting the only thing we can do? Aren’t there any weapons we can use?”

“There are! Anything with an explosive power that is higher than that of an atomic bomb can seal off the entrance!” Chen Qi responded. “But it’ll be at a cost of sacrificing the entire Capital, and even if this gate is blown up, others will continue to appear and pop up in the future. It’s too high a price to pay if we use this method, and the returns are very small.”

“Why do the creatures of the Void Realm kill everyone they see? Was it like this at the beginning?” Ye Lingchen asked.

Chen Qi smiled bitterly. “It was the same at the beginning. These creatures seem to have a strong hatred toward humans and show no intentions of negotiating with us. No one knows why, but maybe it’s because they’re a different race.”

“Deputy Director Chen, why didn’t Director Xiang take part in the fight?” Ye Lingchen frowned and asked.

Xiang Guocheng was a peak level Innate Stage warrior. If he was present, he would be the strongest person in the battlefield and could easily deal with Grade-A+ creatures. By his strength alone, he could turn the tables around, yet all he did was stay inside the Martial Arts Pavilion?

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to, but he can’t.” Chen Qi sighed, then said, “In fact, Hell’s Gate has been expanding, but it’s likely that there are some restrictions that prevented it from being opened fully. In fact, all the creatures that came out of the gates in the beginning were Grade-C creatures, and even then, it was a limited number. It only reached its current scale after six insurrections.

“We feel that this may be a kind of protection given to us by the laws of heavens, shielding us weaklings and giving us time to develop ourselves little by little.

“If there is no external influence, Hell’s Gate will expand at its own pace. However, once there is a force outside Hell’s Gate that is higher than its limit, the balance will be broken and the Hell’s Gate will expand ahead of time!”

Ye Lingchen then said, “Are you saying that creatures with the same peak level Innate Stage as Director Xiang would come out if Director Xiang makes an appearance here?”

“That’s right.” Chen Qi nodded helplessly. “We don’t know how many strong creatures there are in the Void Realm, but we can be sure that they certainly do not lack any peak-level Innate Stage warriors. Our progress on Earth is still very much behind, and we’re definitely not a match for those stronger ones from the Void Realm.”

Ye Lingchen took a deep breath.

Things were far trickier than he thought. The Void Realm’s power left one feeling slightly hopeless, since the tip of the iceberg was already very hard to resist, especially when they had no idea how big that iceberg actually was.

“Then… Have we entered the Void Realm before?” Ye Lingchen continued to ask.

“Of course we have. The elixirs and spirit stones that could be exchanged in the merits department are obtained from the Void Realm,” Chen Qi explained. “Outside of these six insurrections, no Void Realm creature will be guarding the entrance and humans can sneak into the Void Realm. It goes without saying that it was extremely risky with a one-in-ten chance of survival!”

Without a map and support, death was certain if one was discovered by a Void Realm creature and did not have enough strength to go against it.

However, Chen Qi continued, “But even if the danger is great, the rewards are very rich too. The treasures in the Void Realm are really amazing, with treasures littered almost everywhere, especially those spirit stones, and even spirit stone mines. It’s a pity that these things are still so far from our reach.”

Spirit stone mines…

Ye Lingchen gasped.

He had an excellent understanding of the role of spirit stones. They were a tool for cultivation, and it was a rather spectacular phenomenon for it to appear in the spirit stone mines. Ye Lingchen suddenly felt that he was a very destitute person.

It was unsurprising that the Warrior’s Department was unable to provide any good things. They really were poor. What wealth could one make by catching thieves? It was not even enough to provide for a warriors’ cultivation.

Ye Lingchen sighed. The bottom line was that earth remained weak and had to make up for that at the cost of human lives.

It was too difficult.

The Void Realm was mysterious and enigmatic. If not for the limits preventing Hell’s Gates from opening, Earth would have been swallowed up long ago.

“You need to hurry up and let people practice martial arts!” Ye Lingchen said. “The creatures in the Void Realm are at least Grade-C, and ordinary people are too weak. It’s only when everyone learns martial arts together that we stand a chance of fighting against them!”

At that point, the spiritual energy on Earth had increased because of the emergence of the Void Realm, thus making it relatively easier to cultivate martial arts.

Chen Qi smiled bitterly and shook his head. “That’s a possibility we’ve considered before, and we’ve already started to promote martial arts, but… if you want the whole nation to start learning, it can’t be done in three or five years.”

Ye Lingchen knew that martial arts began making a comeback in society many years ago and many began advocating its practice. The effect was there, but it was limited.

“Earth’s people don’t practice martial arts because they lack a sense of urgency,” Ye Lingchen thumbed his nose and muttered. “Is there any way to make a proper announcement about the existence of Hell’s Gate?”

Qin Baichuan shook his head and said, “Little Friend Ye, you’re too naïve. We’re now in peaceful times, and it will be chaotic if the public found out about this crisis on our planet. By then, the trouble both domestically and abroad will be much worse”

Lin Tianxiong added, “Even if the whole nation starts learning martial arts, will you be willing to let your own family go to the battlefield once you know that it’s going to be dangerous? Will everyone who is willing to learn martial arts be equally as willing to fight? Don’t forget the saying that ‘the poor continue their studies while the rich learn martial arts’. How can we support the education of so many martial artists when we lack the resources?”

Ye Lingchen frowned. It appeared that change could only come by subtle means in such a situation.

Nevertheless… The results were still too slow!

Since Hell’s Gates were acting up at a higher rate than before and continued expanding exponentially, humans would face a slow but sure death if things continued as it was.

“The state’s support for martial arts is still too low.” Ye Lingchen’s mind was constantly thinking about countermeasures. “We have a large population in China and there are many people talented in martial arts. I wonder how many martial arts geniuses have been buried throughout the years. We can’t continue to let these geniuses be buried. Only sifting for talents from the masses can martial arts reach its peak.”

Ye Lingchen thought of Dong Miaomiao. Her physique had traces of the Wood Spirit Constitution and she would likely be better than most ordinary people if she practiced martial arts. Unfortunately, she never did have the chance to dabble in martial arts.

To bury a genius was to ruin Earth’s future.

“Guardian Ye, do you have any ideas?” Chen Qi asked.

Ye Lingchen rubbed his chin. He had his ideas and could set it in motion because he had an island that was fully equipped to train warriors. Aside from that, he was also able to conduct in-depth research on state-of-the-art technology that could be used against the void. On top of that, formations, pharmaceuticals, and the likes were also on the agenda, but the specific details had to be sorted out…