Demonic King of the Metropolis - Chapter 72 - The Appearance of the Old Man! Part 2

“Where am I?”

Muttering to himself, his voice was not loud, but it suddenly echoed in the dim gray space.

“Am I dead?” No one answered Tang Jie’s question. After a moment, he let out a bitter smile, looked around, and after confirming there was no one else there, he shook his head, feeling helpless.

“I’m still young! I don’t want to die yet!” After what felt like an eternity, Tang Jie could no longer tolerate the heavy silence and shouted to the sky.

“You’re not dead.”

Right after Tang Jie shouted, a formless voice floated through the grayness.

Hearing this, Tang Jie immediately stopped shouting and looked up at the sky, asking, “Who are you? Can you tell me where this place is?”

“This is your sea of consciousness!” the formless voice replied again, devoid of any emotion.

“Sea of consciousness?” Tang Jie was taken aback, furrowing his brows as he asked, “What is the sea of consciousness? Also, didn’t I die?!”

“You did not die. The forced use of heaven and earth spiritual energy in your body caused it to be unable to bear the load. You are currently just unconscious.”

“I’m not dead?” Upon hearing this, Tang Jie was overjoyed, but then he suddenly remembered that Chen Nan was still lurking and glaring at him, and panic seized him. He shouted to the sky, “What do I need to do to get out? I’m not dead now, but who knows what will happen later? Hurry up and let me out!”

But this time, there was no response. Just when Tang Jie was in a state of urgency, he saw a white radiance breaking through the dark gray firmament, enveloping him and pulling him upwards.

“Hey, hey… What’s going on? Where are you taking me? I need to get out! If I don’t get out soon, I’ll die!”

The white radiance ignored Tang Jie, a powerful force binding him tightly as he continued to rise toward the void.

Just as the white radiance was about to take Tang Jie out of the gray space, a dark and gloomy sky suddenly stirred, with thunderous clouds converging from all directions toward Tang Jie’s location.

The overwhelming energy left Tang Jie feeling alarmed. Watching the thunder crashing, he realized he couldn’t move under such immense pressure.

However, this seemingly overwhelming energy appeared to be utterly powerless against the white radiance. The dark gray clouds could not block its advance, helplessly watching as Tang Jie vanished from the dim gray space.

After Tang Jie left, the formless voice echoed again, “Sigh… What a pity for this kid. He could barely enter the sea of consciousness and left without comprehending anything.”

Of course, Tang Jie couldn’t hear this. Once the white radiance took him out of the gray sky, a dazzling light made it difficult for him to open his eyes. Suddenly, he felt darkness closing in, and when he slowly opened his eyes again, he found that he could control his body once more.

After gently moving his limbs and confirming that he had full control, he sat up and looked around, realizing that Chen Nan had seemingly vanished.

Looking at his own body, Tang Jie noticed that the injuries he sustained during the battle with Chen Nan had completely healed. This sudden change left him somewhat astonished.

“What’s going on?”

“Where’s Chen Nan?” Tang Jie spoke to himself, but no one could answer his questions.

“Did he change his mind about killing me?” Tang Jie recalled the last sound he heard before he collapsed-the sinister laughter of Chen Nan.

“Impossible!” He shook his head, immediately dismissing that thought. He couldn’t believe that someone with such overwhelming momentum would change their mind after defeating him.

Sitting on the ground and contemplating for a while, Tang Jie still couldn’t make sense of what had happened. Then there was that strange scene he was just in; the formless voice mentioned he was in the sea of consciousness? What exactly was that?

Today’s events had brought Tang Jie an overwhelming amount of shock and confusion. First, there was Chen Nan’s sudden appearance, then his own inability to withstand a blow, followed by the gray space, and lastly, the formless voice talking about the sea of consciousness. What on earth was going on?

“Damn it!” After thinking for a long time, Tang Jie couldn’t come up with a coherent explanation and could only mutter a curse before jumping to his feet.

However, once he steadied himself, Tang Jie realized something was wrong. The heaven and earth spiritual energy within him seemed to have changed.

“My strength has regressed? Damn it!” After carefully checking his physical condition, Tang Jie tragically discovered that his strength had indeed decreased after the confrontation with Chen Nan.

He had fallen from having stepped into the Heaven-Man Realm back down to the Innate Realm. This sudden change left Tang Jie feeling utterly despondent.

Once Tang Jie confirmed that his strength had regressed, he surprisingly felt quite at ease. He knew that he could still cultivate and regain his lost power. Through this experience, he vaguely understood that breaking through at too fast a pace could lead to an unstable foundation, which might cause him to be at a disadvantage when facing other masters of the same level.

Tang Jie’s realm was actually quite similar to Chen Nan’s; both were masters in the Heaven-Man Realm. The only difference was that Chen Nan had been in this realm for many years, while Tang Jie had only recently reached it.

Even so, based on normal logic, Tang Jie should have at least had the strength to fight back. However, due to his rapid advancement, his realm didn’t match his strength, which caught him off guard against Chen Nan.

“Steady and deliberate is the way to go,” he realized. After coming to this understanding, Tang Jie felt a wave of clarity wash over him. With a carefree smile, he turned and left.

Upon returning to G City, Tang Jie made a phone call to Uncle Zhao to pick him up. This time he had returned alone, as Wang Qianya had already gone back to G City by herself after the ancient martial arts tournament concluded.

“Tang, what happened to you?” When Uncle Zhao arrived and saw Tang Jie covered in blood and in tattered clothes, his expression changed, and he asked with concern.

“It’s nothing, just ran into some trouble, but I’ve already taken care of it,” Tang Jie replied, smiling slightly as he explained after getting into the car.

“That’s good to hear!” Uncle Zhao said, not pressing further, and then asked, “Are you heading home now?”

“Uh… Is Miss Chen at home?” Instead of answering, Tang Jie asked a question.

“At this hour, Miss is at school,” Uncle Zhao replied without a second thought.

“Good, let’s head back then!” Tang Jie breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Chen Shuran wasn’t at home and said slowly.

“You brat, are you worried that Miss will laugh at you for looking so disheveled?” Uncle Zhao was quite perceptive and, after glancing at Tang Jie, smirked as he spoke.

Feeling embarrassed, Tang Jie scratched his head and said, “That’s not it.”

“Haha…” Uncle Zhao chuckled heartily before easing into the drive and steering the car away.

On the way back, Tang Jie sat quietly in the passenger seat. After a while, he couldn’t help but feel a bit fatigued. Following the intense battle with Chen Nan, no matter how well his body was, he inevitably felt tired. Gradually, he leaned back in his seat and fell asleep.

Uncle Zhao, noticing this, didn’t disturb him. Instead, he adjusted the car’s air conditioning slightly and continued to drive quietly.

It wasn’t until they arrived outside Chen Shuran’s house that Uncle Zhao gently shook Tang Jie awake. “Tang, wake up, we’re here.”

At the moment Uncle Zhao touched him, Tang Jie, who had been sleeping with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide, turning to look at Uncle Zhao with a wary expression.

“Tang.” The fierce look in Tang Jie’s eyes startled Uncle Zhao, making him feel a chill run down his spine, as he stuttered slightly while looking at Tang Jie.

“Oh, it’s you, Uncle Zhao!” Once he recognized Uncle Zhao, Tang Jie’s fierce demeanor disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced by the groggy expression of someone just waking up.

“Right!” Seeing Tang Jie switch so quickly, Uncle Zhao let out a wry smile. “Go upstairs and rest well. You’ve looked exhausted these past few days.”

“Yeah, thanks, Uncle Zhao!” This time, Tang Jie didn’t say much. After all, he really was tired. Anyone who had just gone through such a harrowing battle would be worn out.

Upon returning to Chen Shuran’s home, Tang Jie didn’t see her anywhere. He went to his room and grabbed a fresh set of clothes. After taking a shower, he changed out of his bloodstained clothes.

“Poof!”

With his right hand extended, an invisible wave of heaven and earth spiritual energy appeared in his palm. A faint, dull sound echoed as he gently waved his hand, directing the spiritual energy from his palm to cover the bloodstained clothes on the floor.

Three seconds later, the bloodied garments began to vanish at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, the clothes had completely disappeared.

“Done!” After finishing, Tang Jie smiled slightly, clapped his hands, and then turned back to his room. He looked at the soft bed and, with a yell, jumped onto it. Before long, the room was filled with the sounds of his snoring.

……….