Otherworld Collision Theory

On the two-hundred-square-meter island surrounded by vast white mist, a young man in his early twenties was staring at the ordinary-looking Small Tree before him and grinning foolishly.

Lin Li gazed lovingly at the Azure Fruit growing on the Miracle Small Tree, his thoughts wandering as he chuckled stupidly.

"Forget it, forget it. Becoming an investigator or whatever—there's no point thinking about that sort of thing.

That's a law-enforcement organization with many Cultivators whose cultivation was unfathomably deep. If I really became an investigator and went to work in a place like that every day, I might expose the secrets of the Mysterious Small Island by accident.

Besides, the enviable benefits an investigator could obtain were indeed very tempting to me right now.

But given enough time, with the Miracle Small Tree on the Mysterious Small Island and the miraculous fruit it grew, I'll definitely become an incredibly powerful Cultivator. By then, what I gain will be far better than those benefits.

How did that saying go? You have to take the long view. Don't pick up sesame seeds and throw away the watermelon just for a little short-term gain."

Standing before the ordinary-looking Miracle Small Tree, Lin Li pulled his wandering thoughts back.

Before leaving, he took one last look at the small, exquisite Azure Fruit growing on the Miracle Small Tree and muttered to himself.

"Baby, just wait. Once I finish lunch, I'll drive straight to the wilderness."

The moment he finished speaking, Lin Li's thoughts stirred, and he immediately vanished from the island.

After July began, summer noon grew increasingly sweltering.

White clouds drifted across the azure sky, fluffy as cotton candy.

Some of the clouds were linked together in clusters, resembling silver-white waves churning in the sea, while others overlapped in layers like delicious cakes in a bakery.

"Cicada, cicada..."

The fiercer the afternoon sunlight and the higher the temperature, the happier the cicadas, those summer spirits, became. They seemed to possess inexhaustible energy as they told the world of their joy.

"Rumble..."

A silver van appeared on the road outside the suburbs, driven by a young man in his early twenties.

"Having a vehicle really is convenient. This trip saved me quite a bit of time."

Driving the silver van he had rented, Lin Li sped toward the wilderness outside the city.

Traffic had been somewhat congested while he was in the urban district. But once he left the bustling city, entered the suburbs, and then passed beyond them, the traffic became smoother and smoother.

Especially as he drew closer to Chenghua Avenue, he encountered fewer and fewer vehicles.

This was normal. After so many years of propaganda and education by the authorities, the residents living in the cities and towns—

whether toddlers just three or four years old or elderly people in their seventies or eighties—all knew that exotic beasts often appeared in the wilderness and that they should not risk entering it without reason.

This parallel world, known as Blue Star, had originally followed the same course of historical development as Earth.

If not for spiritual energy suddenly appearing in this world over a century ago, causing humanity to awaken its spirituality and giving rise to Cultivators, with some Cultivators even awakening all sorts of supernatural abilities—

then according to the normal course of historical development, this world might have been another world with history and technology exactly like Earth's.

As for why spiritual energy had suddenly appeared in this world over a century ago, the authorities of every country were currently conducting extensive research into it.

According to some rumors circulating online, after researching for so many years why spiritual energy had suddenly appeared in this world, the authorities of various countries had already made some progress. However, they had not disclosed the results to the public.

One piece of inside information claimed that the reason spiritual energy had appeared on Blue Star over a century ago was that Blue Star had collided with a world in another dimension.

That otherworld possessed spiritual energy. After Blue Star collided with it, it was affected by that spiritual-energy-filled world, causing spiritual energy to gradually appear on Blue Star as well.

This was the "Otherworld Collision Theory" circulating online.

Lin Li had always treated such rumors circulating online as little stories, merely enjoying them for amusement. He had never taken them seriously.

He was just an ordinary person. Why spiritual energy, such a wondrous thing, had appeared in this world was not something he needed to worry about. Living his present life well was what mattered most.

"Cicada, cicada..."

The farther he drove toward the wilderness, the louder the cicadas' cries became from the roadside trees lining both sides of the highway.

Under Lin Li's driving, the silver van soon reached Chenghua Avenue and sped toward the wilderness.

After passing Chenghua Avenue, walking to the wilderness would take about half an hour. By car, however, it would take only a few minutes.

"Creeeak..."

The wilderness lay ahead. Lin Li slowed down and parked by the roadside, beneath the shade of a roadside tree with luxuriant branches and leaves.

Before entering the wilderness, he still had to change his outfit.

With a thought, the camouflage uniform he had placed on the Mysterious Small Island beforehand appeared in Lin Li's hands.

After changing clothes, Lin Li opened the door and got out.

"Whoosh..."

A gust of wind suddenly rose, sending a wave of heat sweeping over him. Accustomed to the coolness produced by the air conditioner inside the vehicle, Lin Li immediately felt stiflingly hot.

Of course, this heat could not stop Lin Li's resolve to enter the wilderness and hunt exotic beasts.

The moment he thought of the Azure Fruit grown by the Miracle Small Tree on the Mysterious Small Island, he felt strength surge through his entire body.

"Come on! I'll try to hunt five Rabbit Exotic Beasts like the one before sunset."

Lin Li encouraged himself, then his thoughts stirred. The Spirit Artifact Longsword worth 499,999 yuan instantly appeared in his hand.

Holding the Spirit Artifact Longsword, Lin Li stepped out from beneath the tree's shade and walked toward the wilderness not far away.

He took one step from the solid, level road onto the wilderness overgrown with weeds. From that moment on, Lin Li had left human society behind and entered the wilderness, fraught with danger and haunted by all kinds of exotic beasts.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

Waves of heat occasionally swept across the wilderness, stirring the waist-high weeds into bursts of sound.

Although Lin Li had already entered the wilderness once to hunt exotic beasts, he was still somewhat nervous upon entering it again.

Although he now had a way to save his life by entering the Mysterious Small Island, that required him not to be ambushed and instantly killed by an exotic beast appearing out of nowhere.

Of course, even if he was not killed instantly, if an ambush by an exotic beast left him gravely wounded and on the verge of death, then even if he remained conscious and entered the Mysterious Small Island with a single thought, he would probably still be unable to escape death.