Teach Me Magic

Chapter 3: Teach Me Magic

The old man looked like a wandering vagrant from another world, yet his whole body radiated wisdom and friendliness. If not for his patched shoes and robe, Cheng Yun would never have associated him with a vagrant.

After Kun Zhen introduced himself again in greater detail, Cheng Yun began sizing him up anew.

He looked very old. His hair was completely white, and his pupils were slightly cloudy with age. His face was kind, yet he had surprisingly few wrinkles. He wore only a simple cloth robe, with what looked like four or five patches just on the front. In his hand was a magic staff about a meter and eighty centimeters long, as thick as a baby's arm. It was quite eye-catching, because a crystal ball the size of an apple was embedded in its tip.

Other than that, there didn't seem to be anything special about him.

Yet Cheng Yun felt that everything about him was special—especially the fact that he had walked out of a glowing object, made Cheng Yun understand his unknown language, and told him that he came from another world and was a spellcaster.

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

"Hm?" Kun Zhen didn't answer him. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and examined him. After a long while, he sighed helplessly. "You really are a lucky person!"

"Huh?"

"I sensed the appearance of a spacetime node. It was very close to my world, so I came over to take a look." Kun Zhen smiled as he spoke. Then he extended his hand and opened it. Lying in his palm was a miniature bar of hotel-customized soap, with four square, bold characters written on it—

Anju Hotel.

"May I ask if this token came from here?" Kun Zhen asked.

"No!" Cheng Yun flatly denied it.

"Oh."

"You said you only came over to take a look?"

"Yes."

"Then please go back." Cheng Yun's mind was in chaos.

"I think you need my help." Kun Zhen didn't take offense at his attitude. He simply smiled.

"You're mistaken. I don't need it."

"You have many questions that need my answers."

"No need, thank you."

"..." Kun Zhen froze for a moment. Then he shook his head helplessly before turning around and pointing at the glowing object. "Don't you want to know what that is? Don't you want to know what kind of place this is?"

"Thank you, but you should still go back."

"It already exists. I'm merely the first person to come here, but I won't be the last. You should consider yourself lucky—or at least relatively lucky. The first person you encountered was me, rather than someone else." Kun Zhen said, "It's a transit station. From now on, people will come here continuously. Some may be weak compared to you, while others may possess the ability to destroy your world. What you don't know is whether all of them will have good tempers."

"Uh..." Cheng Yun was somewhat stunned. Then he said, "But I'm not a superhero. I can't take responsibility for something this huge. At worst, I'll close the door and give up this warehouse, all right?"

Kun Zhen shook his head again and calmly gazed at him. "Some people will have no choice but to stay here for a while. Perhaps some can go without food or water, but others won't be able to endure hunger and thirst. If you close the door, some people will starve to death here."

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

"Yes, I understand what you mean. I'm not a saint either, but I've decided to help you here." Kun Zhen spoke calmly, giving him a slight smile. "If you could easily decide whether a person unrelated to you should live or die, I think most people would let that person live."

"However, this isn't easy. The risks I'm taking are too great," Cheng Yun instinctively argued.

"They aren't as great as you imagine. It's only because you know nothing right now that you don't understand how to control those people," Kun Zhen said. "But it doesn't matter. I can teach you."

Before Cheng Yun could speak, he continued, "Perhaps this matter truly isn't as easy as I made it sound, but you won't gain nothing from it either. It can bring you a wealth of things, far beyond your imagination—even beyond mine."

"Hm?"

"You're tempted." Kun Zhen sounded certain.

"I'm not." Cheng Yun denied it outright, then sat down cross-legged. "Come on, Old Mage. Let's talk it over slowly."

Kun Zhen smiled and sat down without any concern for decorum. Then he began explaining at length. "This is a spacetime node. It can also be called a spacetime relay point, roughly equivalent to a transit station connecting various universes. It exists in every world, but it doesn't necessarily awaken. Here, 'awakening' means becoming a transit station. Most spacetime nodes remain asleep. Our world has one as well. I once found it and stayed beside it for ten years, so I gained some understanding of it."

"But unfortunately, the one in our world remained 'asleep' the entire time. When it changed locations again, I lost track of it."

Cheng Yun listened with a blank expression. He wasn't a protagonist whose intelligence had been forcibly reduced by some system. No matter how hard he tried to understand this strange thing using his existing knowledge, he remained completely incapable of comprehending it.

Fortunately, accepting something and understanding it were two different matters.

Kun Zhen continued, "Almost no one knows the principle behind its existence or how it was born. Considering the vastness of the universe, its lifespan, and its unpredictability, almost no one can find it in the endless river of time. Almost no one can remain beside it until it awakens. More often than not, it remains asleep until the world withers away. The odds of someone being beside it when it awakens are even lower. I spent ten years studying it and trying to activate it, but as you can see, I failed."

"Becoming one with it is an extremely unlikely event, and you were incredibly lucky to encounter it through such a coincidence, formed by the endless universe and the boundless passage of time."

Cheng Yun couldn't help tugging at the corner of his mouth. "So I became one with it?"

"Yes. It probably required an impossibly harsh coincidence."

"But what use is that?"

"I've now arrived here. From now on, if I want to leave this place and return to my original world or continue onward to another destination, I'll need your help." Kun Zhen smiled at him politely. "At the same time, when other people travel through spacetime in nearby worlds, if the distance is too great or their own abilities are insufficient, they'll need to borrow this world's spacetime node as a transit point. At that time, they'll need your help as well."

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

"They won't be able to leave," Kun Zhen said. "Perhaps someone will be trapped in the node space until they die. Or perhaps someone will spend the rest of their long life finding a way to enter your world from the node space. When that happens, you may have trouble."

"Uh, you're threatening me." Cheng Yun looked down on this change from persuasion to intimidation. "Besides, what does that have to do with you?"

"I'm telling you the facts." Kun Zhen looked at him calmly. "I've seen other activated spacetime nodes, but I've only ever seen one that merged with a living creature. In theory, you'll have a lifespan equal to that of the spacetime node. Then, through contact with countless worlds, as long as you're willing, that much time will be enough for you to reach a height infinitely close to divinity in the broadest sense. So in truth, your lifespan may well exceed that of this universe."

"This isn't only your responsibility. It's also your opportunity." Kun Zhen withdrew his gaze. "I've tried to reach this opportunity countless times, but I never managed to touch it."

"..." Cheng Yun fell silent. All of this sounded far too exaggerated.

His mind began filling in possibilities. If what the old man said was true, would he turn his attention to Cheng Yun? Since he hadn't obtained an awakened spacetime node himself, would he try to seize Cheng Yun's? If that was the case, then perhaps Cheng Yun should just give it to him.

"Then I might as well give this thing to you. Do you know how to transfer it?"

"..." Kun Zhen was utterly speechless.

Cheng Yun finally understood that this thing couldn't be transferred, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. At least, it reduced the possibility of the Old Mage killing him for his possessions.

After that, the Old Mage began explaining spacetime nodes to Cheng Yun, but most of it was theoretical knowledge—the results of his past research—and he had no practical evidence to support it.

The Old Mage seemed like an incredibly impressive person. His patched magic robe was probably his ultimate tool for putting on airs, but he admitted that he would need to conduct further research before he could understand many things. If Cheng Yun was willing to cooperate with his research, he would share the results with him.

According to the Old Mage, although he had arrived here, he couldn't leave on his own. The spacetime node had merged with Cheng Yun, effectively gaining consciousness, which was beyond his expectations. Now, Cheng Yun, the consciousness of the spacetime node, needed to learn how to operate it before he could send the Old Mage back. However, the Old Mage wasn't in a hurry to leave. His purpose in coming here was to continue studying the spacetime node and seek greater wisdom. Things were even better this way. At least the spacetime node could cooperate with him actively.

Thus, Cheng Yun became the Old Mage's research subject.

The Old Mage hadn't actually crossed worlds through magic. Instead, he had relied on a scroll made from a strange material. That scroll was now floating above Cheng Yun's head, clearly illuminated by the ghostly blue light. Cheng Yun simply hadn't looked up earlier, so he hadn't noticed it.

After arriving in this space, however, the Old Mage seemed to have temporarily lost the scroll. He demonstrated it for Cheng Yun on the spot—he floated upward and reached out to grab the scroll, but it abruptly vanished and then appeared somewhere else. Cheng Yun, on the other hand, could grasp the scroll effortlessly with one hand.

The Old Mage used the term "game rules" to describe this phenomenon, because he didn't understand its principles either.

The two of them studied it for two hours but failed to figure out how Cheng Yun should operate the spacetime node. However, with just a few words, the Old Mage overturned Cheng Yun's established understanding of the world.

For example, this space actually had no ground at all. It was only because Cheng Yun was accustomed to standing on the ground that the space had constructed one based on his perception. Once the Old Mage convinced him of this fact, the "ground" vanished with a boom, and Cheng Yun began falling. It took him quite some effort to stand again. In truth, as far as he was concerned, this space didn't need to be bound by "space" at all. As long as he wished, he could appear anywhere.

Only then did Cheng Yun realize that he had truly merged with this space. He also gradually understood that this might be an unshakable fact.

After playing around for quite a while, he checked the time on his phone and said to the Old Mage, "We've been at this for so long that we're tired. Let's go outside and talk."

The phone showed that it was already evening. If time flowed at the same rate in this space and the outside world, Cheng Yan should be calling him soon to report her results.

As it turned out, time flowed at different rates in the two spaces. When he left the space, his phone showed 9:36 p.m. After returning to Earth and connecting to the network, the time immediately synchronized to 9:39 p.m.

In any case, the difference was only a little.

As he stepped through the door, the Old Mage turned back and narrowed his eyes at it. "It seems the spacetime node has formed a very interesting union with this place."

Cheng Yun didn't reply. Instead, he headed downstairs. "Lord Mage, come down and have a glass of water."

The Old Mage followed him down.

He reached out and rubbed the metal handrail, tested the softness of the carpet with his feet, then glanced at the rooms on the second floor. As he pondered, strange light flickered in his eyes.

It was as though nothing could escape his notice.

When he sat on the small sofa on the first floor, he drank warm water from a paper cup while continuing to examine everything within his sight.

The streetlights and food stalls outside, the dark city, the noisy cars occasionally passing by, the Internet café beside the hotel, the computer at the counter, the ceiling lamp overhead, the water dispenser...

His wisdom was beyond anything Cheng Yun could imagine.

Soon, he placed the paper cup on the transparent coffee table and said, "I can tell that yours is a material civilization. It seems to be at a relatively early stage, though judging from what I've observed, its development is fairly balanced."

Cheng Yun tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Still calling it relatively primitive? Take a look at your own patched clothes before you start bragging!

He asked, "What about your world?"

"Our world?" The Old Mage pursed his lips slightly, looking very distinguished. "In your terms, we might be called a mystical civilization, a magic civilization, or a sorcery civilization. Perhaps an energy civilization or a supernatural civilization. I don't know how to describe it either. In our world..."

Ring, ring, ring...

A ringing phone interrupted him.

"Sorry, I'll answer this first." Cheng Yun promptly pulled out his phone and answered Cheng Yan's call.

"I checked the score." Cheng Yan's cool voice came through.

"How many points?" Cheng Yun immediately asked.

"669."

"That's great! Amazing, amazing!" Cheng Yun shouted excitedly, unable to hide his delight. "With that score, getting into Tsinghua or Peking University definitely won't be a problem. Last year's provincial liberal arts top scorer only had a little over 660, right?"

"It's all right," Cheng Yan said flatly. She instinctively felt that she might very well be this year's provincial liberal arts top scorer, but actually... she leaned more toward science. It was just that Professor Cheng's influence had made her rather fond of history.

"Then there's definitely no problem. Have you decided whether you're going to Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"No." Cheng Yan spoke indifferently. "I'm going to post about it on my Moments and Qzone. I'll hang up for now."

"Uh..."

A busy tone came from the phone.

Cheng Yun lowered his phone and looked awkwardly at the Old Mage. After a long pause, he said, "Sorry you had to see that. My sister's still young, and she's at the tail end of her rebellious phase. She doesn't really know how to behave."

"Most people are like that at her age." The Old Mage smiled kindly.

"Where were we?" Cheng Yun asked sheepishly. "Please continue."

"In our world, there are people who possess extraordinary abilities. They're roughly similar to your scientists, doctors, philosophers, and so on." The Old Mage didn't mind being interrupted earlier and continued, his tone unchanged. "I searched through many words in your language. Perhaps we should use terms like mage, wizard, or spellcaster to describe people like us..."

At that point, Cheng Yun's eyes suddenly widened as he stared at him. "You... You're speaking Chinese now?!"

He had only just finished making that phone call, and the Old Mage had already learned Chinese. Could it be that mages from his world didn't have to suffer through the torment of language exams?

"Yes." The Old Mage nodded. "I've just acquired your world's language."

"Where did you acquire it? Don't tell me it came from my mind..." Cheng Yun suddenly froze. "Wait, you said our world's language? Not our country's language?"

"Yes. I acquired this world's languages from this world." Strange light flickered in the Old Mage's eyes as he confirmed Cheng Yun's question. "Those of your country, those of other countries, modern ones, ancient ones, those still in use, and those that have already been lost..."

"..." Cheng Yun stared in shock. "Lord Mage, please teach me your magic!"

I beg all readers who keep book lists to add this book to one. I'll definitely bring a little fox to your door to thank you, great benefactors!

And please give it a five-star rating...

Sob!