Loneliness

In the Overworld of My World, Chen Ming was passing the time by mining, taking a moment to upgrade his gear and craft a Diamond Sword, though the quality wasn't great—only reaching the Good tier.

The attack bonus only reached nine, much like that legendary Gold Sword, as both only provided base attack power.

Chen Ming took a quick trip to the Nether to set up a Brewing Stand, and while he was at it, he built a Dirt House.

[Building Blocks Mod loaded successfully]

Chen Ming looked at the notifications popping up in the chat screen, then looked at this Dirt House. What else was there to say, brother? He abandoned the dirt shack immediately.

He selected a massive palace building block, right-clicked, and a palace covering over a hundred thousand square meters appeared before his eyes.

"Now we're talking!"

Chen Ming activated his Martial Soul Avatar and flew up, surveying the palace that now belonged to him, while various decoration mods were added to the mix.

"This is my first time living in a palace; I have to film a short video, right?"

Chen Ming rubbed his hands together, took out his phone to snap a few photos and videos, and posted them to a short-video platform.

Caption: I think I got lost in my own house, someone come pick me up.

Chen Ming wandered around the palace for a long time before finding the bedroom—or rather, the imperial bedchamber—and threw himself onto the massive bed. It was incredibly soft and felt very comfortable to lie on.

"This is what you call living! But it's a bit lonely living in such a huge castle all by myself. Can I get some little companions or something? Go... tame a wolf? A cat, or maybe a horse!"

Chen Ming sprang up with a kip-up, then flew out of the palace. Fearing he might get lost, he crafted a map.

[Minimap Mod loaded successfully!]

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Chen Ming marked a teleport point and flew off rapidly, soon finding a few horses on the plains.

He took one look and set his sights on a white horse with a coat of pure white fur, immediately vaulting onto its back.

A moment later, Chen Ming was bucked off. He immediately climbed back on, only to be bucked off again. Mount! Dismount, mount! Dismount...

"Last chance... if you don't submit now, prepare to die!"

Chen Ming pulled out his Gold Sword and held it against the white horse's neck, threatening it viciously, but the white horse just continued to graze calmly.

However, after Chen Ming mounted it one last time, the taming process was completed, and another mod finished loading.

[Pixelmon (Douluo Version) Mod loaded successfully!]

Hearing this, Chen Ming sat on the white horse and read through the mod introduction. He quickly understood: it was just about capturing soul beast companions and then raising them.

Take the white horse he was currently sitting on, for example; it could be tamed by him. It was just a ten-year white horse, but hey, it had submitted to him, hadn't it?

Chen Ming immediately took out the Poké Ball gifted by the mod, dismounted, and captured it.

He could carry six companions at a time when he went out, and they could even help him fight, though he would have to capture those himself.

Furthermore, the companions' strength was tied to Chen Ming's own; for instance, since Chen Ming could currently withstand a thousand-year soul ring, his companions could be leveled up to a thousand years at most by using the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Chen Ming decided to give it a try immediately, tapped the map, and headed to the Spirit Ascension Platform location.

It was a very simple device that could increase the age of soul rings and Pokémon.

Chen Ming placed the little white horse inside and consumed some energy. This energy could be converted from loot.

Things like iron, copper, gold, or diamonds would work, or even soul bones from My World; all sorts of items could be converted into energy, and he wasn't lacking in those.

Under Chen Ming's control, the white horse's stats instantly increased, its age rising to a hundred years, and it even awakened a wind attribute. It seemed he could also help unlock his Pokémon's latent talents.

"A hundred years is enough for now. If it's not, I'll just upgrade it later."

Chen Ming put away the Poké Ball. Even if his Pokémon were defeated, he could revive them using a Revival Device. Let's just say, that's how the code for the My World mod was written.

Soon, Chen Ming returned to the palace in the Overworld, equipped the white horse with a saddle and Iron Horse Armor—mostly because he hadn't found any diamond horse armor yet.

[Riding Skill +2+2+2+2+4+2+5]

Chen Ming held the reins, galloping through the palace, while his riding Skill continued to improve. Although it felt strange riding a pixelated horse, as long as he brought it out of My World, it would transform into a magnificent white steed.

It was a white horse with a hundred-year soul beast cultivation, and its wind-attribute talent meant it could accelerate, run faster, and even use wind elements to blow away projectiles.

Most importantly, because it was a game mount, he didn't have to feed it or play the role of a pooper-scooper. It was just too cool!

Just as Chen Ming was galloping, the sky darkened. Because some areas in the palace, like the gardens, lacked light, monsters began to spawn.

Chen Ming became interested immediately. He raised his hand, and the Silver Dragon Spear appeared in his grip. He also swapped into a set of light blue armor and charged toward a hundred-year Zombie in front of him.

"Watch as my spear strikes like a dragon!"

With one thrust, Chen Ming skewered two zombies like a candied hawthorn. In the logic of My World, the Silver Dragon Spear was a spear, so the faster the movement, the higher the damage.

Since this horse specialized in speed, Chen Ming swung his spear again to toss the two zombies aside, then immediately brandished the weapon to block incoming arrows, charging forward once more to shatter a Skeleton, sending bones flying everywhere.

Chen Ming played wildly like this for several hours. Once he had his fill, he added light sources and then returned Ye Zhaoyu to the inside of the Poké Ball.

Ye Zhaoyu was the name Chen Ming had given his little white horse. He checked the time and returned to the bedchamber to lie down for a while. The chamber was very bright, so he pulled the mosquito net to block out the light.

Turning off the lights was out of the question; if he turned off the lights, monsters would spawn. Lying here all alone, Chen Ming felt a sense of loneliness.

This was the reason he didn't stay here very often; there was no one to keep him company or chat with.

That was why he practiced his spear, his sword, and his forging outside—because here, he had no friends.

Villagers are nothing but profiteers who live in constant fear, Zombies will scratch you, Skeletons will shoot you, and Spiders will bite you.

As it turns out, the gentlest of them all is the Creeper, because once it sees you, it will walk over with firm resolve to give you a hug and explode, how truly gentle, just one explosion.

"Sigh... if only there were someone I could trust to play My World with me, that would be great."

Chen Ming rolled over, lying on his side on the large bed; the surroundings were deathly silent, with no sound at all save for the beating of his own heart.

At this moment, a negative status effect appeared in Chen Ming's status bar:

[Loneliness]

When he saw this status, Chen Ming didn't pay it any mind, acting as if it weren't there at all, and continued lying down.

[Special event triggered! Please head to the inner circle of the Star Dou Forest, the legendary Ancient Auspicious Beast has appeared there!]

Just then, a special message popped up. Chen Ming was stunned for a moment before subconsciously sitting up and murmuring to himself.

"Ancient Auspicious Beast... the Three-Eyed Golden Lion?"

ps: The sixth update for February 22nd, totaling twelve thousand words.