Space Channel

After leaving the school gate, once Sun Xin had gone, Chen Shouyi took the chance to suggest getting ice cream.

Zhang Xiaoyue looked shy but didn't refuse.

She was very pretty. If women were compared to water, some looked like muddy slush, while others seemed like a clear spring.

Without a doubt, Zhang Xiaoyue was the latter.

But Chen Shouyi found that although he felt a flutter of excitement, it wasn't as intense as he'd imagined. The bizarre experiences of the past month had quickly pushed him from a green youth toward maturity.

Since the ice cream shop was on another street and not along the way, on his way home, Chen Shouyi chose a different route. As he passed a roadside Unfinished Building, the Book of Knowledge in his mind suddenly flickered.

At first, Chen Shouyi didn't pay it any mind, but after finishing that day's practice, when he lay down to sleep at night, he couldn't help thinking back to that phenomenon for no clear reason.

Ever since the Book of Knowledge had merged into his body, it had stayed quiet, as if lifeless, never responding unless called upon.

But today, something unexpected had happened.

Dwelling on this strange matter, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Finally, unable to resist, he put on his clothes, got up, opened the door, and slipped out of the house without waking anyone.

He checked the time—it was already half past twelve.

As a small city, Dongning City had little nightlife.

At this hour, there were hardly any people around. The streets were empty, with only an occasional car speeding by.

The Unfinished Building wasn't far from here. After crossing a few streets, Chen Shouyi soon arrived.

He didn't even know why he'd come here; it felt as if some unseen force was driving him forward.

Looking at the building ahead, he gritted his teeth and walked over.

In the past, he would never have gone near such a dark, shadowy corner.

But his strength gave him confidence. As long as there were no experts like Martial Apprentices, even a crowd of ordinary people was no match for him. If he went all out, each strike would be fatal.

There were no streetlights here—it was pitch black.

He picked up an abandoned Wooden Stick from the ground, which bolstered his courage even more.

The Unfinished Building was huge, originally planned as a commercial plaza.

Back then, three years ago, when construction started, it had caused quite a stir in the area.

Unfortunately, only a mess was left behind, and the boss had fled.

Chen Shouyi walked slowly, stepping unevenly. The Book of Knowledge reacted more intensely, flickering repeatedly like a virus-infected screen. And whether it was an illusion or not, he felt his body growing hotter.

It was as if a hot spring was bubbling up with warm water, flowing through his entire body.

The lingering fatigue from that evening's practice seemed to ease, and his steps grew lighter.

Following the vague guidance, he headed straight for the Underground Parking Lot.

It was utterly dark there, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and carefully groped his way forward.

After just over ten seconds, the phone flickered a few times, and the light went out.

Chen Shouyi quickly pressed the buttons a few times, but there was no response.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a faint glow ahead.

"What's that?"

Startled, his heart pounded as he tried to make it out, but the light was so dim and hazy that he couldn't tell what it was.

He tightened his grip on the Wooden Stick and kept walking.

After another twenty or thirty meters, his body suddenly stiffened, and he stopped. The Wooden Stick slipped from his hand, clattering to the ground, the sound echoing through the midnight-quiet parking lot.

But Chen Shouyi stood frozen, as if he hadn't noticed.

His eyes widened as he stared at something several dozen meters ahead.

A small patch of green grass, like a mirage, floated above the ground, glowing faintly.

It was only about a square meter in size, over two meters tall, seamlessly merging with the ground at its base, as if a patch of grass had sprouted from the concrete floor.

"An undiscovered Space Channel!" he thought in shock.

He'd seen Space Channels on TV and the internet—some large, some small—but none compared to seeing one with his own eyes.

"But how did a Space Channel appear here?" He quickly calmed down.

If he remembered correctly, this Unfinished Building had been built three years ago. That meant three years ago, the Space Channel hadn't formed yet, so this one must have appeared very recently.

This implied that, after the space fusion twenty years ago had stalled for two decades, it seemed to be starting again.

He suddenly recalled recent news and the disguised Barbarian in Dongning City: "No wonder there have been more attacks by otherworldly creatures lately."

But right now, he didn't have time to think it over.

He picked up the Wooden Stick and walked step by step toward the channel.

As he approached it, his body grew hotter and hotter, as if flames were baking him from the inside. Under this strange condition, his state seemed to improve, with a force budding inside him, reshaping his body.

Soon, he reached the Space Channel.

Looking at the grass so close at hand, it seemed a single step would take him into the otherworld.

"Should I take a look? If it's dangerous, I'll come right back." Chen Shouyi felt the drastic changes in his own body and couldn't suppress the thought that arose.

He probed the Space Channel with his wooden stick. The stick immediately sank, as if something had grabbed it. He wasn't surprised—the gravity in the otherworld was three times that of Earth.

Soon the stick touched the grass. He noticed no visual distortion from light refraction; what he saw matched perfectly. The otherworld really did seem seamlessly spliced onto the parking lot.

He pulled the stick back out, examined it closely in the faint light—no damage at all.

"Looks like I can go in."

He took a few deep breaths, then tentatively stepped one foot inside.

The next moment, space shifted, and his body lurched downward hard.

Even though Chen Shouyi had mentally prepared for this, he nearly landed on his rear.

If he sat down under this gravity, he'd probably snap his tailbone.

Three times gravity made every part of his body feel weighed down. Breathing became difficult, and even his heart felt strained. Before he could marvel at the crushing gravity, he steadied himself and immediately scanned his surroundings.

Back on Earth, it had been dark, but here it was daytime. He found himself on a mountainside, with a view of the distant sea. As far as he could see, there were no large creatures—only a few faint black dots soaring overhead.

He carefully checked the grass around him. No otherworldly insects in sight.

He finally let out a breath.

Along the odd patch of concrete embedded in the grass, he slowly sat down, wooden stick gripped tight.

Only then did he have a moment to focus on his body. It was growing hotter and hotter, nearly to the point of spontaneous combustion. His skin flushed red, steam rising from every pore.

Strangely, though, as the burning sensation intensified, his body felt lighter and lighter.

When he first entered, he'd felt tight-chested and short of breath. But as time passed, the gravity seemed to ease. His breathing smoothed out, and the pressure in his chest slowly faded.

No doubt about it—this had to be related to the Book of Knowledge.

He immediately summoned the Book of Knowledge.

In this otherworld, the Book of Knowledge seemed even more active. The moment he thought of it, the Status Panel appeared in his mind.

Name: Chen Shouyi

Strength: 11.6 (10) Agility: 11.7 (10) Physique: 12.1 (10) Intelligence: 10.8 (10) Perception: 10.8 (10) Willpower: 11.4 (10)

Knowledge: Chinese Language (Proficient 6); Physics (Skilled 12); Chemistry (Skilled 11); Mathematics (Skilled 9); English (Skilled 6); Computer Science (Beginner 6); Cooking (Beginner 5); Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms (Skilled 8); Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self (Skilled 2); Swordsmanship (Skilled 4); Archery (Not Started)

Talent Ability: Natural Healing

Energy Accumulation: 2.35

Chen Shouyi stared, stunned.

He read it several times, almost thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.

In such a short time, his attributes had undergone astonishing changes.

"No wonder I feel lighter and lighter."

And on top of that, the Status Panel now listed a new talent ability: "Natural Healing."

He suddenly recalled that the Book of Knowledge was supposedly made from the heartwood of the otherworld's World Tree. In Barbarian legends, the World Tree was born at the dawn of the world, possessing the power to support space and balance nature.

Of course, in Chen Shouyi's view, legends were just legends—inevitably mythologized and exaggerated. The truth had to be far more modest.

Even the Deities of the Otherworld, within this world, didn't possess power beyond imagination. Most of the otherworld's civilizations were still in a primitive stage, societies organized around tribes, with nations yet to form.

Their deities were mostly totemic gods, or beastly creatures with divine traits, powerful giants, or some Nature Spirits. They might have abilities that humans found baffling, but they were far from omnipotent.

But even if the legends were exaggerated, and the book was damaged and powerless on Earth, it still seemed to retain some abilities—and had transformed his body.

What's more, the transformation hadn't stopped. It seemed only to have begun. In just a dozen seconds, he noticed his Strength had increased by another 0.1.