The Wind and Clouds Rise in the World

I arrived in Winter Arrival City at dawn. Although I went through a bunch of messy things like buying stuff, taking a black car, fighting Rui Feng, and getting discovered, it had only been a few hours. It was now lunchtime.

I put my hooded windbreaker back on to eat. Lunch was at the Winter Arrival Hotel. The restaurant here was also ridiculously fancy, but I was gradually becoming numb to it. What surprised me a little was that Si Nan Ying didn't insist on eating with me for lunch. Instead, she was sitting with a rather stern-looking elder. The elder was grumbling at Si Nan Ying in a low voice, his mustache bristling, while Si Nan Ying just sat beside him, looking dejected and saying nothing. This elder must be "Elder Hong." To be able to scold the second young lady like this, it seems his status in the clan is quite high.

I thought the food here would be a mix of Chinese and Western, but I didn't expect it to be typical Chinese cuisine. It tasted fresh and delicious, a bit like Min cuisine. Since I didn't have to pay, I didn't hold back and ate until I was stuffed. My experiences over the past few days have made me realize that while absorbing Spiritual Energy can restore vitality and strengthen the body, it cannot eliminate the feeling of hunger, not even alleviate it. It seems impossible to just meditate without eating or drinking like the protagonists in cultivation novels. I just wonder if there's such a thing as "bigu" in this world. Usually, in novels, cultivators can live without eating or drinking once they reach a certain level, just absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. Can this world be like that too? Speaking of which, I don't even know what kind of cultivation system exists in this world...

"I'm so sorry! That was very rude of me!"

I had intended to find an opportunity to apologize to Si Nan Ying properly, but I didn't expect her to approach me first, accompanied by a deep bow. To be able to apologize like this as the daughter of a prominent family, I couldn't help but gain a little more appreciation for the Si Nan Family.

"It's all my fault for not knocking before I-- jerk--"

Ah, I bit my tongue.

Looking at her covering her mouth and wearing a crestfallen expression, I felt my heart melt. The awkwardness from before had completely vanished. I pretended to be angry, crossing my arms, and asked, "Do you truly regret it?" She nodded frantically. I put on an evil smile, "Then, how will you express your sincerity...?" "Express... sincerity?"

She froze for a moment, then suddenly shielded her chest with both hands as if she had encountered a pervert.

"Even if it's an apology, I won't sell my body, okay!"

"Who wants that! I want to go to the library and ask you for directions!"

"This is it, the largest library in Winter Arrival City. Well, it's only the largest in this industrial city. If you really like books, you should go to the Imperial Capital Grand Library. That's where the real abundance of books is!"

I looked at the rows of bookshelves in front of me. This library wasn't really big, not even half the size of my university library. However, it was enough to understand this world.

"Then I'll be going. Unlike my sister, I can't stand being in a place full of books where you can't talk loudly! Goodbye~"

I watched the slender figure with purple hair disappear into the distance. Si Nan Ying, this pure and enthusiastic girl has helped me so much. I, Liu, will definitely repay her one day... if I get the chance.

Alright, time to get down to business!

This world, just like my original world, has the concept of planets and the universe. The inhabitants of this world call the planet they live on "Spirit Star," just like our Earth. Spirit Star is a planet in a large galaxy, but the specific situation of this galaxy is unclear, perhaps due to the limited astronomical development of this Spirit Star.

Spirit Star has three satellites, which are the three moons I saw when I woke up. They are named directly after their colors: Gold Moon, Silver Moon, and Orange Moon. Gold Moon is the largest, Silver Moon is second, and Orange Moon is the smallest. After a simple calculation, the surface area of Spirit Star is about four times that of Earth, with oceans covering about sixty percent. According to incomplete statistics, the total population of Spirit Star is about eight billion people, with a significantly lower population density than Earth.

The proportion of oceans and the total population, being available in the data, indicates that the inhabitants of Spirit Star have conducted a relatively comprehensive survey of the planet and have a certain awareness of population management. They are not simple.

The human settlements on Spirit Star are divided into five major regions: East Emperor Continent, West Saint Continent, South Spirit Continent, North Realm Continent, and Central Sea Islands, occupying the east, west, south, north, and center respectively. Of course, besides these five major regions, there are many smaller settlements. Each region is filled with powerful nations. My current location is in Tianyuan Kingdom on the East Emperor Continent. Tianyuan Kingdom is a leading power on the entire East Emperor Continent, covering a vast area with a large population.

Tianyuan Kingdom also has a complex history. A thousand years ago, it was two large nations. The war between those two nations lasted for several centuries. In the end, the two countries miraculously merged, becoming indistinguishable from each other. A thousand years ago, the two nations officially announced their merger, thus giving birth to Tianyuan Kingdom.

Currently, the military and political power of Tianyuan Kingdom is held by two super-families: the Si Nan Family and the Cleon Family. The predecessors of these two great families were the royal families of the two nations a thousand years ago. Today, the Emperor and Prime Minister of Tianyuan Kingdom are chosen from these two great families. The Emperor of Tianyuan Kingdom is not hereditary. The Emperor and the Prime Minister, who assists and restrains the Emperor, are both appointed from the most prestigious individuals of the two great families. However, for the past thousand years, the Cleon Family has been at a disadvantage in their struggle with the Si Nan Family. Most emperors throughout history have come from the Si Nan Family, the key reason being the Si Nan Family's detection Supernatural Ability.

The deadliest weapons in the world are not nuclear bombs or AK47s, but intelligence. Knowledge means death. The Si Nan Family's superior detection abilities have made them the largest intelligence agency on the East Emperor Continent. By manipulating intelligence, they can mobilize vast resources at any time and detect enemy movements in advance! It is said that the strongest head of the Si Nan Family in history could extend their detection range to cover the entire Tianyuan Kingdom! In this regard, Si Nan Ying, as the second young lady of the family, completely lacking detection Supernatural Ability, can be considered an anomaly.

After finishing my research on the general situation of Tianyuan Kingdom, it was time to look into the Supernatural Ability, which I was most concerned about.

There are a vast number of ability users on Spirit Star, from the imperial palace and sacred temples to street markets and alleys; ability users are everywhere. Spiritual Energy exists on Spirit Star, and ability users can absorb Spiritual Energy from nature and use it in a certain form. This "certain form" is the manifestation of that person's Supernatural Ability. It's like how, despite absorbing the same nutrients, different types of trees bear different fruits. Although using the same fuel—Spiritual Energy—different people exhibit different Supernatural Abilities. Spirit Star has yet to establish an accurate classification system for Supernatural Abilities because the types of abilities are simply too numerous, and some people have hybrid abilities. Perfect classification is almost impossible.

What surprised me is that Spirit Star does not have a clear cultivation system, or rather, the development of power in this world does not have realm divisions. Things like Supreme Realm, Archmage Realm, Dou Zun, Dou Sheng do not exist. Ability users' power improvement has no "barriers between realms," nor is there any talk of opening meridians or acupoints. As they continuously use their abilities, they naturally strengthen. There are no cultivation techniques or secret manuals for absorbing Spiritual Energy; to speed up Spiritual Energy absorption, one can only practice repeatedly.

There are three factors that determine the strength of an ability user. The first is the ability itself. Although the strength of abilities is not absolute, manipulating celestial phenomena is ultimately more impressive than controlling the length of nose hair.

The second is training. Diligent and effective training is the simplest way to become stronger. Ability users become stronger through repeated tempering, whether it's physical training or practicing their abilities.

The third is talent. The initial strength of an ability user is determined by their ability and training, but as they progress, talent becomes increasingly important because talent determines the height an ability user can reach. Some ability users can summon heavenly lightning from birth and can still only summon that one bolt of lightning after forty to fifty years; while some ability users can only move a large stone at first, but can push over an entire mountain after forty to fifty years. Talent is a gift from heaven and cannot be determined by oneself. This means that almost all ability users have a limit to how strong they can become, and it's difficult to progress further once they reach that limit, which is also the cruel aspect of it.

Generally, there is no discernible pattern to who has what ability, but there are special cases where abilities are inherited through bloodlines, such as in the Si Nan Family, where the heads of the family have always possessed powerful detection Supernatural Abilities. Once an ability awakens, it accompanies the ability user for life. Encountering a powerful ability is a lifelong blessing; conversely, if one is unlucky and encounters a bizarre ability like their leg hair growing a meter longer every morning, they'll be stuck with it forever.

Although there are no cultivation realm divisions, for convenience, ability users are divided into levels, much like professional titles. There is a universal testing system throughout Spirit Star used to test and evaluate the strength of ability users. This test is abbreviated as "Universal Test" and is something every ability user must participate in. Just like in many web novels, there are many academies for ability users on Spirit Star. These academies often have strong financial resources, material wealth, and extensive connections. The most famous among all academies is the Central United Academy on the Central Sea Islands, abbreviated as Central United Academy. It was jointly founded by several countries in the Central Sea Islands and possesses the largest number of students and the most formidable teaching staff.