Recalling His Past Life, Gaining a Fortuitous Opportunity, and Accidentally Traversing Worlds

The next morning arrived in the blink of an eye. Gazing at the rising sun, Zhuang Xingyu stretched lazily and sank into thought. He recalled what had happened before he transmigrated:

In his past life, he had been born in the Nine Provinces of Blue Star, a planet without spiritual energy—or rather, one where spiritual energy had already dispersed. Technological civilization reigned supreme there.

He had also been called Zhuang Xingyu in his past life. What was strange was that he looked exactly the same in both lives.

Zhuang Xingyu had grown up in Tomato Orphanage. Later, he discovered that its treatment was worse than that of Air Cushion Orphanage, so he ran off to Air Cushion Orphanage instead.

Then, with the help of the Nine Provinces Governor's Mansion, he successfully finished elementary school, middle school, and high school. Later, he got into an ordinary Four-Non University, majoring in one of those hopeless fields. With student aid and part-time jobs, he managed to graduate smoothly.

Zhuang Xingyu possessed the bloodlines of five clans: the Moonlight Clan, the Office Worker Clan, the Sleep-Deprived Clan, the No-Balance Clan, and the Single Nobility. His status was truly exalted!

Although he did not make much money after graduation, Zhuang Xingyu had never harbored any grand ambitions. All he wanted was enough to eat and drink. Living freely on his own, he was quite satisfied with life.

Since he was all alone, if anyone dared bully Zhuang Xingyu, he dared confront them head-on. Thus, no one dared provoke him. As the saying went: the soft feared the hard, the hard feared the ruthless, and the ruthless feared those who feared no death.

His greatest hobby was browsing street stalls, looking without buying and enjoying himself. After all, with that spare cash, he might as well stuff something into his mouth.

But on his twenty-sixth birthday, as usual, he had finished visiting the Shenyang Avenue Blade Bro Ruins and was heading home when an accident occurred!

"Young man, come here, come here. Come over here—I want to discuss something with you," said a strange old man walking alongside Zhuang Xingyu. He suddenly took a large step forward and stretched out an arm to block Zhuang Xingyu, who had been walking with his head lowered.

The old man's long hair covered half his face. His eyes were like deep lakewater, bright and clear, filled with wisdom and profound depth. He looked like an enlightened master, but his outfit utterly ruined that impression.

The old man wore a Patchwork Robe, with a horsetail whisk tucked at his waist. In his left hand was a copy of the "Bible," while his right held an old-fashioned bamboo scroll. The words "Analects of Wrestling" could vaguely be seen on it. He was also muttering, "Has he come or not? Has Tathagata come or not..."

From afar, he looked filthy, but upon closer inspection, Zhuang Xingyu found that the old man's clothes were actually quite clean, just somewhat tattered. Combined with the things in his hands, he was simply bizarre beyond description.

"No, I didn't! I didn't steal the Captain's offering of Ice Black Tea—I only borrowed it!" Zhuang Xingyu jolted in fright, as though he had been caught stealing.

This drew the gaze of a pretty young woman by the roadside. Her Carslan Big Eyes blinked brightly, her face full of curiosity.

Zhuang Xingyu only glanced at her before turning away and ignoring her. Hmph, women would only slow down my progress toward lying flat.

Meanwhile—

"What are you talking about, stealing or not stealing? That's not what I meant," the old man replied.

"Then, Grandpa, what do you need? Is there anything I can help you with?" Zhuang Xingyu hurriedly asked politely. Mainly because there was a camera beside them; otherwise, he would have run long ago. After all, he had no idea who this person was. What if he was trying to scam him?

"Aiya, child, you actually possess three forbidden constitutions: the Reincarnation Dao Body, the Karma Dao Body, and the Eternal Immortal Body! And you have bright eyes, pearly teeth, a face fair as jade, the grace of a jade tree in the wind, and an elegant, dashing bearing. Your talent is extraordinary—you are truly a peerless, monstrous genius!

Though your pearl is currently buried beneath dust, it will not be long before the dust is swept away and its light shines forth, illuminating countless mountains and rivers! Born for the Dao and arrived in response to calamity, you are destined to be crowned emperor in the future, with boundless prospects ahead! I have two treasures here, and today I shall give them to you. I hope you will carry them forward and make them flourish!"

As he spoke, he seemingly performed a magic trick and pulled two objects from his robes: a broken bead and a stone tube. He forcibly stuffed them into Zhuang Xingyu's arms.

"You old bastard... ah, no, Grandpa, I don't have any money! I'm not buying anything, and I'm not giving alms either. Go find someone else!" Zhuang Xingyu said in panic, hurriedly backing away and trying to shove the items back into the old man's hands. Yet no matter what he did, he could not move them. The objects remained in his hands.

This is bad. I've run into a "master." Looks like I can't even add an egg to my instant noodles tonight! Zhuang Xingyu thought nervously.

Zhuang Xingyu had seen this sort of thing plenty of times. When he was young, many fake nuns would go to people's homes carrying several thumb-sized Buddha statues. One look was enough to tell they were cheap plastic junk mass-produced on an assembly line. Bought wholesale, they cost less than ten cents each.

Then the fake nuns would claim they were collecting alms or building temples, asking people for donations. They demanded at least twenty yuan. If someone refused, they would cling to them like a stubborn plaster, drawing a crowd of onlookers. Those who were thin-skinned or in a hurry would be forced to pay.

Just as Zhuang Xingyu was considering what to do, he suddenly discovered that the items in his hands had turned into a streak of light and burrowed into his lower abdomen, vanishing without a trace. Along with that light, the old man disappeared as well.

The surrounding pedestrians, including the young woman, seemed as if their brains had bugged out. They froze for a moment, then resumed what they had been doing, as though the scene from moments ago had never happened.

Suddenly, he faintly heard a voice by his ear: "Kid, I'll be waiting for you at the end of the Great Dao!"

(Later, Zhuang Xingyu spent his entire life trying to understand the meaning of those words. He never stopped searching for that old man either, traveling through countless heavens and worlds without finding him. Only when Zhuang Xingyu reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao did he learn who that old man was and understand that the meaning of those words was actually: "..." Of course, that was a story for later.)

The people around him clearly had not heard those words.

Zhuang Xingyu was terrified and had no idea what to do. This matter clearly could not be viewed through ordinary reasoning. If he reported it to the Nine Provinces Governorate Inspection Office, what would he even say? He had no evidence, and the camera beside him probably had not captured anything. No one would believe him!

Even if it really had captured something, they would surely be curious about how those objects had burrowed into Zhuang Xingyu's lower abdomen. He might even be captured by foreign enemies and dissected for research.

Most importantly, Zhuang Xingyu did not feel any discomfort. On the contrary, he felt more energetic than ever. Since he had not harmed anyone, nothing had happened to him, and there was no evidence, the Nine Provinces Governorate Inspection Office generally would not intervene. They might even think he had gone mad. It would be terrible if he were sent to a mental hospital.

Could it have been a hallucination? But I haven't even been working overtime lately! That shouldn't be possible!

Thus, he walked while thinking. When he reached an old street with no people and no cameras, Zhuang Xingyu was suddenly enveloped in a mass of purple light and fainted. The purple radiance tore through the void and vanished.

Oh no, I haven't deleted my phone's browsing history yet! That was Zhuang Xingyu's final thought.

Who knew how much time had passed? Zhuang Xingyu woke up once more. And that led to the events of the previous chapter.