Teach Me Magic

Chapter 3: Teach Me Magic!

The old man, who looked like a vagrant from another world, exuded wisdom and friendliness. If not for his patched shoes and robe, Cheng Yun would never have mistaken him for a beggar.

After Kun Zhen introduced himself again in more detail, Cheng Yun began to re-examine him.

He looked very old, his hair completely white, his pupils slightly clouded with age, and his face kind with few wrinkles. He wore a simple cloth robe, with an estimated four or five patches on the front alone. He leaned on a staff about 1.8 meters long, as thick as a baby's arm, which was quite eye-catching because a crystal ball the size of an apple was embedded at its top.

Other than that, there seemed to be nothing special.

But Cheng Yun felt that everything about him was special, especially since he had emerged from a glowing light, made Cheng Yun understand his unknown language, and told him that he was a spellcaster from another world.

"My name is Cheng Yun," Cheng Yun said quickly. "Esteemed spellcaster, may I ask what brings you here?"

"Hmm?" Kun Zhen didn't answer him, but narrowed his eyes slightly, observing him. After a long while, he sighed helplessly, "You are truly a lucky person!"

"Ah?"

"I sensed the appearance of a spacetime node, very close to my world, so I came to take a look." Kun Zhen said with a smile, then extended his hand, palm up. On his palm lay a miniature hotel-customized soap, with four square characters written on it—

Anju Hotel.

"Excuse me, did this token flow out from here?" Kun Zhen asked.

"No!" Cheng Yun flatly denied.

"Oh."

"You said you just came to take a look?"

"Yes."

"Then please go back." Cheng Yun's mind was a mess.

"I think you need my help." Kun Zhen, unbothered by his attitude, smiled.

"You're mistaken, I don't."

"You have many questions that I need to answer for you."

"No, thank you."

"..." Kun Zhen paused, then shook his head helplessly before turning to point at the glowing light again. "Don't you want to know what that is? Don't you want to know what this place is?"

"Thank you, please go back."

"It already exists. I am just the first to arrive, but I won't be the last. You should consider yourself lucky, at least relatively lucky, that you met me first, not someone else," Kun Zhen said. "This is a transit station. People will come here continuously. Some may be very weak compared to you, and some may have the power to destroy your world. But what you don't know is whether they all have good temperaments."

"Uh..." Cheng Yun was somewhat stunned, then he said, "But I'm not a superhero, I can't be responsible for something so big. At worst, I can just close the door, I don't want this warehouse, okay!"

Kun Zhen shook his head again, gazing at him calmly. "Some people will have to stay here for a while. Perhaps some can endure hunger and thirst, but others cannot. If you close the door, people will starve to death here."

"I don't know them, and I'm not a saint."

"Yes, I understand what you mean. I'm not a saint either, but I've decided to help you here." Kun Zhen said very calmly, smiling slightly at him. "If you can easily decide the life and death of someone unrelated to you, I think most people would let that person live."

"However, this is not easy, and the risk I'm taking is too great," Cheng Yun retorted subconsciously.

"It's not as great as you imagine. It's just that you know nothing now, so you don't know how to control those people," Kun Zhen said. "But it's okay, I can teach you."

Before Cheng Yun could speak, he added, "Perhaps this matter is indeed not as easy as I said, but you are not without gain. It can bring you abundant things, beyond your imagination, and even beyond mine."

"Hmm?"

"You're tempted," Kun Zhen stated confidently.

"I'm not," Cheng Yun flatly denied, then sat down cross-legged. "Come, old man, let's talk slowly."

Kun Zhen smiled and sat down without ceremony, then began to speak eloquently. "This is a spacetime node, also called a spacetime junction. It's roughly equivalent to a transit station connecting various universes. It exists in every world, but it doesn't necessarily awaken. Awakening here refers to becoming a 'transit station.' Most spacetime nodes are dormant. Our world also has one. I found it once and stayed by its side for ten years, so I have some understanding of it."

"But unfortunately, the one in our world remained 'dormant.' When it changed its location again, I lost it."

Cheng Yun listened, completely bewildered. He wasn't a protagonist who had his intelligence forcibly lowered by some system. He couldn't comprehend such strange things, no matter how he tried to understand them with his existing knowledge.

Fortunately, acceptance and understanding were two different things.

Kun Zhen continued, "Almost no one knows the principle of its existence, how it was born. Given the vastness of the universe, its lifespan, and its uncertainty, it's almost impossible for anyone to find it in the long river of time. The people who can guard it until it awakens are also almost non-existent. More often than not, it remains dormant until the world is exhausted. The probability of someone being nearby when it awakens is even lower. I spent ten years researching it, trying to activate it, but as you can see, I didn't succeed."

"Becoming one with it is a very low probability. And you are so fortunate to encounter it in such a coincidence constructed by the endless universe and the vastness of time."

Cheng Yun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. "So I've become one with it?"

"Yes, this likely requires an incredibly rare coincidence."

"But what's the use of that?"

"Now that I have arrived in this place, from now on, if I want to leave here, return to my original world, or continue to a certain destination, I will need your help," Kun Zhen smiled at him politely. "At the same time, when other people are traveling through spacetime in nearby worlds, if the distance is too far or their own abilities are insufficient, they will need to borrow this world's spacetime node as a transit. At that time, I will need your help."

"What if... I don't help?" Cheng Yun asked again.

"They will be unable to leave," Kun Zhen said. "Perhaps some will be trapped in the node space until they die, or perhaps some will find a way to enter your world from the node space in their long remaining life. At that time, you might have trouble."

"Uh, you're trying to scare me." Cheng Yun disdained this method of persuasion turning into intimidation. "Besides, this has nothing to do with you, right?"

"I am telling you the facts," Kun Zhen looked at him calmly. "I have seen other activated spacetime nodes, but I have only seen a spacetime node fused with a living being once. Theoretically, you will have a lifespan equal to that of the spacetime node. Then, in contact with the endless worlds, as long as you are willing, such a long time is enough for you to reach a height infinitely close to a god in the general sense. So in fact, your lifespan may be longer than this universe."

"This is not only your responsibility, but also your opportunity," Kun Zhen withdrew his gaze. "How many times have I wanted to grasp this opportunity, but failed to do so."

"..." Cheng Yun fell silent. These words sounded too exaggerated.

His mind began to conjure scenarios: If this old man was telling the truth, would he target him? If he didn't get the 'Awakening' spacetime node, would he try to steal his? If that was the case, then he... might as well just give it to him.

"Then I'll just give this thing to you. Do you know how to transfer it?"

"..." Kun Zhen was speechless.

Cheng Yun finally understood that this thing couldn't be transferred, which relieved him. At least it lowered the possibility of the Old Mage trying to rob him and murder him.

Afterward, the Old Mage began to explain spacetime nodes to Cheng Yun, but it was mostly theoretical knowledge, his past research findings without practical support.

It seemed the Old Mage was an incredibly powerful person. His patched robe was likely his signature accessory, but he admitted that he needed to research many things before he could understand them. If Cheng Yun was willing to cooperate with his research, he would share the results.

According to the Old Mage, he had come here but couldn't leave on his own. This was because the spacetime node had fused with Cheng Yun, essentially gaining consciousness, which was beyond his expectations. Now, he needed Cheng Yun, the consciousness of the spacetime node, to learn how to operate it before he could send him back. However, he wasn't in a hurry to leave. His purpose for coming here was to research spacetime nodes and find more wisdom. This situation was even better, as the spacetime node could actively cooperate with him.

Cheng Yun had thus become the Old Mage's research subject.

The Old Mage hadn't actually crossed dimensions using magic, but rather relied on a scroll made of strange material. That scroll was now floating above Cheng Yun's head, clearly illuminated by a faint blue light. Cheng Yun just hadn't looked up before, so he hadn't noticed it.

But after arriving in this space, the Old Mage seemed to have temporarily lost the scroll. He demonstrated it on the spot to Cheng Yun: he floated up and reached out to grab the scroll, but it abruptly disappeared and reappeared elsewhere. However, Cheng Yun could grab the scroll with just a reach.

The Old Mage used the term 'game rules' to describe this phenomenon, as he couldn't understand the principle behind it yet.

The two of them studied for two hours but couldn't figure out how Cheng Yun should operate the spacetime node. However, the Old Mage overturned Cheng Yun's established perceptions in just a few sentences.

For example, this space didn't actually have a ground. It was just that Cheng Yun was accustomed to standing on the ground, so the space had conjured a ground based on his perception. When the Old Mage made him believe this fact, the 'ground' suddenly vanished, and he began to fall. It took him considerable effort to stand upright again. In reality, this space was not bound by 'space' for him at all; he could appear anywhere he wished.

It was then that Cheng Yun realized he had truly become one with this space. He also gradually recognized that this might be an unshakeable reality.

After a long while, feeling he had played enough, he checked the time on his mobile phone and said to the Old Mage, "I'm tired after all this time. Let's go out and talk."

The time on his mobile phone already indicated it was evening. If the time flow in this space was the same as the outside world, Cheng Yan would be calling him soon to report her results.

It turned out there was a difference in the time flow between the two spaces. When he walked out of the space, his phone showed 9:36 PM. After returning to Earth and connecting to the network, his phone's time immediately synchronized to 9:39 PM.

It was only a difference of a few minutes, one way or another.

Stepping out, the Old Mage looked back at the door with narrowed eyes and said, "It seems the spacetime node and this place have formed a very interesting combination."

Cheng Yun didn't reply but walked downstairs. "Master Mage, come down for a glass of water."

The Old Mage followed him down.

He ran his hand over the metal handrail, felt the softness of the carpet with his feet, and then glanced at the rooms on the second floor, lost in thought, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.

Everything seemed to have no secrets from him.

When he sat on the small sofa on the first floor, drinking warm water from a paper cup, he continued to observe everything within his sight.

The streetlights and food stalls outside, the dark city, the occasional noisy cars passing by, the internet cafe across the street, the computers on the counter, the chandelier overhead, the water dispenser...

His wisdom was beyond Cheng Yun's imagination.

Soon, he placed the paper cup on the transparent coffee table and said, "I can see you have a material civilization, seemingly in a rather early stage. From my current observations, your development is quite balanced."

Cheng Yun twitched the corner of his mouth.

Rather early stage? Look at your patched clothes before you start boasting!

He asked, "What about your world?"

"Our world!" The Old Mage pursed his lips slightly, looking very dignified. "In your words, perhaps we could be called a mystical civilization, a magical civilization, a sorcery civilization, or an energy civilization, a supernatural civilization. I don't know how to describe it. In our world..."

Ding-a-ling...

A ringing interrupted his words.

"Sorry, I need to take a call." Cheng Yun promptly took out his mobile phone and answered the call from Cheng Yan.

"I've found the scores," Cheng Yan's cool voice came through.

"What's the score?" Cheng Yun immediately asked.

"669."

"That's great! Amazing, amazing!" Cheng Yun shouted excitedly, his face beaming with joy. "With this score, getting into Tsinghua or Peking University is definitely no problem. Last year's top scorer in the liberal arts stream only got over six hundred and sixty, right!"

"It's alright," Cheng Yan said faintly. She had a hunch she might be this year's provincial top scorer in liberal arts, but actually... she was more inclined towards science, though she liked history influenced by Professor Cheng.

"Then that should be fine too. Have you decided yet, Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"No," Cheng Yan said faintly. "I'll post something on my Moments and status updates, then I'll hang up."

"Uh..."

The sound of a busy signal came from the phone.

Cheng Yun put down his phone and looked at the Old Mage with some embarrassment. After a long pause, he said, "You must think less of me. My sister is still young and in the rebellious phase, not very sensible."

"Most people are like that at that age," the Old Mage smiled gently.

"Where were we just now?" Cheng Yun said sheepishly. "Please continue, venerable sir."

"In our world, there are people who possess wondrous abilities. They are roughly equivalent to your scientists, doctors, philosophers, and so on," the Old Mage continued, unbothered by the interruption, his tone as usual. "I've searched for many words in your world's language, and perhaps terms like mage, wizard, or spellcaster should be used to describe our kind..."

At this point, Cheng Yun's eyes widened suddenly, and he stared at him, "You... you're speaking Chinese now!!"

Just after he had made the phone call, this Old Mage had learned Chinese? Did mages in that world not have to suffer through the College English Test Band 4 and 6?

"Yes," the Old Mage nodded. "I have just acquired your world's language."

"Where did you get it? It wasn't from my brain..." Cheng Yun suddenly froze. "Wait, the language of our world? Not the language of our country?"

"Yes, I obtained the language of this world from this world." The Old Mage's eyes flickered with a strange light as he confirmed his question. "Your country's, other countries', modern, ancient, still in use, already lost..."

"..." Cheng Yun was shocked. "Great Mage, please teach me your magic!!"

I beg all the esteemed readers with book lists to add this book to your lists. I will definitely bring a little fox to your door to thank you, great lords!

Also, please give it a five-star review...

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