The home of the original body, "Huang Tian," was in Sanhu Gardens, a mid-range residential complex in Xinguang District, Changnan City, Yuzhou.
"Screech!"
The car stopped at the gate of the complex. Huang Tian stepped out, shouldered his pack, and walked in. The complex was not particularly large, but the greenery was well done, and it was fairly quiet. After a short walk he entered a building, took the elevator to the fifth floor, produced his key, and opened the door of 505. There was no one inside.
The furniture was all in good order. It was covered with a film of fine dust, but there was no help for that. The original body had lived at school for a long time and generally came back only for winter and summer break, and a house left empty for long easily gathers dust.
"Whoosh—"
Standing in the room, Huang Tian waved a hand, and an exceedingly gentle wind rose out of empty air. Gentle as it was, it easily swept up every bit of dust in the house. All of it rolled together, kneaded into a ball the way one kneads dough, and dropped together into a trash bag.
Once the room was fresh and clean, he set his backpack on the sofa. He was just about to take out the elixirs he had exchanged for earlier and begin cultivating when his phone suddenly rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was Bai Yuanzhao.
He answered. Bai Yuanzhao's once bright, open voice sounded somewhat gloomy. "Are you home? I had meant to see you back. Sigh—"
"It's nothing. I only just got here." Huang Tian replied.
After that simple exchange, Bai Yuanzhao fell silent, not knowing for the moment what to say. Several seconds later he went on. "I—I don't know what happened. These past days it was as if I'd been possessed. I actually came to believe that woman was my fated—wife. Sigh. What the hell!"
That woman, of course, was Sun Jiajia.
Huang Tian asked, "How are the two of you handling it now?"
"I'm still thinking it over. I suspect she put a gu on me. No—don't laugh yet. The gu I mean isn't the gu arts or the gu insects of Xinan Prefecture. It's—an extraordinary power from the other side of the world!"
Bai Yuanzhao's tone was grave. "Our family can hardly be called immensely rich and noble, but Grandfather does have some reputation in Yuzhou, and he knows things ordinary people do not.
"He once spoke of it to us only vaguely. The world was changing, he said, and powers beyond the mundane were gradually appearing. We were astonished then and pressed him out of curiosity. Grandfather only shook his head and said that he himself was not very clear, but he told us to be extra careful.
"After all, however much money and power one has, so long as one is still a mortal body of flesh, it is hard to protect oneself before the extraordinary.
"This matter is very much like an affair of the extraordinary. That woman must have put a gu on me! That is the only reason I fell for it. Otherwise I would never have ended up with her.
"More importantly, today black spots appeared on her face and on her arms, and yesterday she was still normal. In a single day, so many black spots grew. It's outrageous!
"I suspect someone broke her gu arts, so she suffered a backlash, and only then did the black spots appear on her body! That also explains perfectly why I suddenly came to my senses today!"
Here he hesitated a moment before asking the doubt in his heart. "Huang Tian, the one who broke her gu arts—was it you?"
"Gu arts—you can take it that way." Huang Tian smiled.
Bai Yuanzhao understood. The one who had helped him wake was indeed Huang Tian. But in that "circle" of theirs, means of beguiling the heart and mind were not called gu arts. They went by another name.
He wanted to press and inquire, then felt it was not quite proper. After a moment's thought he asked carefully, "Is this world truly changing so violently?"
Huang Tian answered frankly. "It is. From a year ago, the world has been moving swiftly toward the unknown and the ever-changing. The further time goes, the greater the changes.
"By some people's account, the humans of Canxing are now like climbers on a sheer peak. One misstep, and they fall into a bottomless abyss. Of course, they might also step into the sea of stars, become transhumans, and explore the vast cosmos."
Bai Yuanzhao held his breath. "Exploring the cosmos and all that is too far off. But the world turning dangerous all at once—I won't wake up in bed one day and find the world destroyed in an instant, will I?"
"In theory, that possibility exists, and it is not a small one."
"Then—"
"No need to worry too much. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up." Huang Tian replied.
Bai Yuanzhao was silent for several seconds. The tall ones?
How tall could the tall ones be?
Could they really prop a toppling heaven back up?
He shook his head and only said, "I understand—thank you."
"A small matter. Don't mind it."
The call ended. Huang Tian did not hesitate. He took out all the elixirs, swallowed them, and began to cultivate.
Huang Tian thought, Above Great Ascension lies the True Immortal. Once I enter the realm of immortals, with my means a casual blow will be enough to annihilate Canxing. By then I can be even more unrestrained. For example—
In a flash, more than a month passed.
The world was very peaceful.
At least it had not gone as Bai Yuanzhao feared: waking from a sleep to find human civilization destroyed.
On the contrary, everyone was busy with their own affairs, as if this were an utterly normal world.
In truth, nearly all ordinary people believed this was simply a plain and tedious world—until certain lucky ones, or unlucky ones, happened to obtain an oddity.
"Why is there an extra door in my house?"
Longjiang City, Jiuguang Town. In a three-story building in the town, Xiao Wei stood in the rear hall on the first floor, staring blankly at two back doors.
"Are my eyes playing tricks? But I clearly didn't drink, and I didn't stay up all night!"
Smack!
He slapped himself across the face and sucked in a sharp breath. "That hurts. So I'm not dreaming now, either."
He walked up close and looked the two doors over carefully. "Mm. The one on the left is my house's original door. The one on the right, carved with strange patterns, is the door that just appeared."
He reached out and touched the patterns, thought a moment, set his hand on the handle, and slowly turned it.
Click—
The door opened.
A clear fragrance came in on a warm breeze. Lush flowers and grasses filled his eyes, and tall trees, butterflies whirling in dance, and the soft rustle of insects.
"This—this—" He stared, speechless, because this was not what lay behind his house. It was like another world!
He drew a deep breath, left the door half shut, ran out the front door, and circled around to the back of the building. Only then did he see that there was only one door back there!
"Where is the second door?"
Eyes wide, he looked left and right and could not find a second door anywhere.
Gritting his teeth, he went back around through the front door and into the rear hall. The second door was still there, standing half open, a clear fragrance rushing at him.
"How can this be?" He froze where he stood and sank into a long thought. "Could it be that, just like the protagonist of a novel, I've gotten a protagonist's cheat? The cheat is this door. It can lead to other worlds?"
At the thought he was instantly excited. He ran to the kitchen and came out with a cleaver and a stick as thick as an arm.
Standing at the new door, he scratched his head and hesitated, muttering to himself, "If I go into the world behind the door just like this, won't that be unwise? Not very safe?"
He thought for a good while, then pressed his lips together. "It should be fine, right? I'll just go in and look around for a little while. The moment I sense any danger, I'll come straight back. So long as my luck isn't too bad, I ought to return safe."
He let out a light breath, pulled the new door open, took one step, and entered the new world—
About an hour later he crossed back through the new door and returned safely, his face full of shock and excitement. He threw his head back and laughed. "Hahaha! Heaven is helping me! I really am a Child of Destiny. The world behind the door actually has immortal cultivators, ancient dynasties, immortal cultivation sects, rogue cultivators, immortal cultivation clans, rare and wondrous beasts—
"That I could obtain this door of crossing over means my fortune must be heaven-defying. My aptitude for cultivation is absolutely excellent. Becoming an immortal and a patriarch is only a matter of time!"
He shut the door, then paced back and forth through the house, calculating as he walked. "The most important thing for me now is to figure out how to survive, and grow strong, in an utterly unfamiliar world of immortal cultivation—"
He thought for a long time, brows knotted tight. "No good. It feels like every plan has something wrong with it. What do I do?"
As he thought, a light came into his eyes. He clapped his hands. "Netizens! Two heads are better than one. Netizens are all mad, and madmen think of everything. They can always offer advice that's unexpected and yet perfectly sound. If I just pull their answers together, it'll definitely be much better than my own wild guessing."
No sooner said than done. He took out his phone, opened the Federation's largest forum, and first searched for posts on "what to do if you cross into a world of immortal cultivation." He found only one or two lonely posts, and neither had a single reply.
Copying a ready-made answer was clearly not going to work. He would have to post one himself. After thinking, he wrote and published a new post: "A question for all you big shots. If I cross into an unfamiliar world of immortal cultivation, what do I need to watch out for? How do I step onto the great path of immortal cultivation and live forever? (10 Yue coins for every reply~)"
Yue coins were not money, but they could buy certain items on the forum, such as rename cards, avatar frames, and the like. Ten Yue coins were not actually many, and could not buy much of anything, yet netizens bored out of their minds still replied with keen interest.
"I Am Heaven's Dumpling: First, and most important, keep a low profile! Lie low, and lie low some more. Don't go exposing your methods at the drop of a hat. Safety comes first.
"Second, when you see a beautiful woman, help her in proper measure and form a good bond. The reason is simple. Those very beautiful women are mostly connected to a so-called Child of Destiny. Form a good bond with them, and it's the same as forming one with the protagonist.
"Then, when you meet those young people whose cultivation has been crippled, fair of feature and firm of will, offer a little help, even if it is only a tiny bit. What if that young person is the protagonist?
"Lastly, if you don't care how you look, I suggest you wear gray when you go out and dress up as an old man. That way, far fewer people will have designs on you."
"Heart of Pizza: OP, first tell me. Have you really already crossed over, but you're carrying a phone that can get online across time and space?"
"This Person Is Absolutely Not a Scallop: Bro, you didn't even say whether it's a soul crossing or a body crossing. If it's a soul crossing, look at your family background. If the background is solid, and you're the legitimate son or grandson of some Golden Core or Nascent Soul powerhouse, then cultivate steadily, and just don't be too arrogant. If the background is poor, be even more cautious, and act as the situation allows.
"If it's a body crossing, well, see whether you can get into an immortal cultivation sect. If you really can't get in, then take the next best thing: enter an immortal cultivation clan, or be a rogue cultivator.
"But if it were me, I'd probably go to a mortal dynasty, cook up some inventions, strike it rich, and marry dozens or a hundred wives and concubines. Top courtesans of the pleasure houses, shrews from the countryside, modest refined girls, young ladies of great houses, pretty widows, noble daughters of high gates—damn it, I want every last one of them!!!"
"Pardon the Added Twist: The one upstairs has lost it. A total lech. Nothing but an animal of the lower body (helpless.jpg)
~"
"Big Brother, I Fell Down~: I'll advise the OP on the premise of a body crossing. First, train in martial arts in a mundane dynasty and gain some power to protect yourself. Then do everything you can to obtain an immortal cultivation method, and test whether you yourself can cultivate.
"If you confirm that you have the aptitude, then stay in the mundane dynasty and keep cultivating. You should at least reach the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refinement before entering the world of immortal cultivation, no?
"Also, while you cultivate, get your hands on an Ascension Token if you can. Uh, maybe there is no such thing as an Ascension Token, but see if you can get hold of something like it. That way, even if your aptitude is poor, you can still slip into a sect. Once you're in a sect, the rest takes care of itself—
"I've already thought up five million words of what happens next, but there's a character limit here, so I won't write it (side-eye smile)."
"—"
After reading through dozens, as many as a hundred posts, Xiao Wei felt he had gained quite a lot. He thought it over, then placed orders online for many wilderness survival tools, fine industrial goods, and some blades and bows for self-defense.
Two days later, when everything had arrived, he smiled with full confidence. "This trip, I am sure to reap a great harvest!"
He flung the door open and strode into another world!
At the very moment Xiao Wei stepped into that other world, in a car moving smoothly along the road, Zhou Dongqiang—his face noticeably more mature—looked at the file on Xiao Wei in his hands and asked, "Sister Qing, you're saying this Xiao Wei might really be able to cross over?"
Liu Qingqing nodded. "The possibility isn't small. These days, any absurd oddity can appear. Having someone cross worlds isn't all that outrageous."
"What if he's joking?"
"Maybe. But those wilderness survival supplies, and the blades and bows he bought, really make one suspicious. More importantly, he was also searching online for where to buy guns and ammunition. Tsk."
"Looked at that way, it really is worth suspecting." Zhou Dongqiang nodded.
"Even if we guess wrong, it doesn't matter. At worst we make the trip for nothing. It hardly counts," Liu Qingqing said. "Of course, I personally incline to think he can cross into a world of immortal cultivation. Because for the past month or two, not a single new oddity has appeared in Yuzhou. It's too quiet. Quiet enough to give me the creeps."
Zhou Dongqiang laughed. "And quiet isn't a good thing? Team members in the other jurisdictions are all worried sick over oddity business. How at ease we are by comparison."
Liu Qingqing sighed. "I'm only afraid this is the calm before the storm—"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The words had barely left her when, on the distant horizon, over a hundred streaks of flowing light shot into the sky. The foremost streak halted high in the air and revealed the figure of a black-robed Daoist. He held a long sword, and swept it with a casual hand.
"Rumble!!!"
Sword qi raged in every direction, bitter and fierce. Across the earth, hundreds and thousands of deep gullies split open. Soil rolled up in countless layers. On the streets, cars slammed into one another, and people were hurled sprawling.
"This world—my Black Lotus Sect claims it!"
Chapter 243