Starting with the Coiling Dragon Ring

Material Plane, Zhongyuan Continent:

Inside the cathedral of the Radiant Church in Shengyue City, a young man with black hair and black eyes, appearing to be only in his teens, was led by a member of the church clergy into a mysterious grand hall.

"Your Holiness, Mr. Sean has arrived," the clergyman said to the golden-haired man sitting above.

"Oh, the most gifted youth in the 5,000-year history of the Zhongyuan Continent. I have heard of your name for a long time," the golden-haired Pope said with a smile. "Sit."

"Thank you, Your Holiness!" Sean bowed slightly and then sat on a nanmu chair to the side.

Since arriving in this world, this was the first time Sean had come into contact with the legendary Pope.

He was not from this world; he came from Earth. After falling asleep, he woke up as an infant in a forest. He had expected to starve to death or be eaten by some animal, but he was discovered by an explorer from the Church who happened to be passing by and was brought back.

It was also because the people of the Church discovered that his spiritual energy was exceptionally strong, far exceeding that of an ordinary infant, that they brought him back to Shengyue City and named him Sean Walker.

Six years later, Sean underwent testing for spiritual energy and magical affinity, which revealed he possessed 80 times the capacity of a normal person his age and a super-affinity for earth-style magic.

Naturally, the Church began to focus on cultivating Sean. Having transmigrated, Sean understood the importance of strength. In his previous life, it was power and money, but in this Western fantasy world, it was strength; with strength, one had everything.

Now, nine years later, his earth-style magic had already reached the 8th rank.

"Sean, you are only 17 this year, aren't you? To be an 8th-rank mage at such a young age, I must say, you are far more impressive than I was at your age." The Pope smiled and then asked, "You have battle qi in your body; what rank is it?"

"Your Holiness, my warrior rank is only 7th," Sean replied.

In his previous life, he had read many novels about Western fantasy worlds and knew that while mages were powerful, having a weak body would be a fatal flaw.

Therefore, he had also worked hard to learn warrior skills, though his talent in this area was slightly inferior to his magic. Even with the powerful resources of the Church, he had only reached the 7th rank.

"An 8th-rank earth-style mage and a 7th-rank warrior at only 17—Sean, you truly are a genius. With your talent, as long as no major issues arise, reaching the Saint Domain is only a matter of time," the Pope nodded and said.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Holiness," Sean replied politely. He still held a favorable view of the Church; regardless of anything else, they had raised him and cultivated him. Otherwise, he likely would have perished in the forest long ago.

"Are you curious why I called you here today?" Pope Urban asked.

"Yes," Sean nodded.

By virtue of being an 8th-rank mage, he had attained a very high status within the Church, but compared to the Pope, he was still far behind. As far as he knew, even ordinary Saint Domain powerhouses found it difficult to see Pope Urban.

"I had you come here because I want to tell you some things that are very important to you," Urban said.

"Originally, it would be best to tell you these things once you reached the peak of the 9th rank or the Saint Domain. However, our Church may face a certain crisis in the future, and I am not certain what the situation will be, so I need to tell you now."

"The Church will face a crisis?" Sean's expression shifted slightly, and he asked, "Your Holiness, what kind of crisis? Could it be the Darkness Church?"

The Zhongyuan Continent spanned millions of miles. The Radiant Church was the most powerful force, occupying nearly half the area, while the rest was controlled by various other factions, including the Darkness Church, the Water God Sect, the Nature Church, and the Death Temple.

Among them, the Darkness Church was the strongest. In fact, these factions had shown a trend of joining forces to oppose the Radiant Church, though they were still no match.

As far as Sean knew, this confrontation had lasted for tens of thousands of years, and the Radiant Church had always held the advantage.

"You don't need to ask about that. This matter cannot be leaked yet, and telling you would be useless anyway. When the time is right, you will know," Urban shook his head. "I called you here today to tell you the essence of this world."

"The essence?" Sean's heart stirred. He had actually suspected this all along, but because his abilities were low, he had no evidence.

"Our Zhongyuan Continent spans nearly three million miles. For those below the Saint Domain, they might not be able to explore the entire continent in their whole lives. But what they don't know is that the mere Zhongyuan Continent is but a drop in the ocean of our world. The vast and boundless South Sea and East Sea are more than a thousand times the size of the Zhongyuan Continent," Urban paused and said:

"You may know some of this, but what I want to tell you is that the entire world you know is what we call a plane. The one we are on is the Zhongyuan Continent Material Plane, which is just one of many planes between heaven and earth. Above the material planes are the four Highest Planes and the seven Divine Planes."

"..." Sean seemed "shocked" into silence.

However, what Urban did not know was that Sean had suspected long ago that this was the world of the novel he had read in his previous life: the "Coiling Dragon" world. He just hadn't had the evidence to confirm it, because as an 8th-rank mage, he couldn't access such high-level information.

Now, having received confirmation from the Pope, it was finally settled.

And just as he learned that he was indeed in the Coiling Dragon world, a book radiating holy light appeared deep within Sean's soul. On the first page of the book were, naturally, the two characters: "Coiling Dragon."

Is this my cheat code? Sean felt joyful inside. Coming to the Coiling Dragon world, the greatest benefit was that one could achieve immortality upon reaching the Saint Domain. This was far better than those "Great Emperors who shock the universe and suppress the Supremes for ten thousand years" from other stories.

However, if he wanted to thrive in the Coiling Dragon world, he couldn't do it without a cheat. Not to mention Sovereigns and Grand Perfection experts, in reality, those who could become independent Highgods were one in countless trillions.

As a transmigrator, even if his talent for earth-style laws was good, his ultimate achievements were hard to say. Super geniuses of a material plane usually only reached the Saint Domain; whether they could become gods depended on various opportunities.

When the Coiling Dragon book appeared in his mind, it had already bound itself to his soul. Its ability was to materialize ownerless treasures that appeared in text form within the book, provided he reached the level of the book's protagonist, Linley.

Urban continued to explain the basic composition of the world: Demigods, Midgods, Highgods, Sovereigns, and Overgods. However, with his peak Saint Domain understanding of the world, it was merely scratching the surface.

Sean also discovered some errors but did not point them out. For instance, regarding the laws, it was clear that Urban did not know about fusion. Let alone a Saint Domain expert like him, even most gods in the material planes might not be clear on it.

After a while, Urban said, "Sean, once you reach the Saint Domain, becoming a god does not rely on cultivation, but on comprehending the laws of heaven and earth. You cultivate earth-style laws, so delve deeper into the most commonly used magic. As for the rest, I cannot teach you much."

"If the Church can remain safe, you can explore step by step. But if any accidents occur, I hope what I told you today will allow you to avoid some detours in the future."

"Understood, thank you, Your Holiness," Sean bowed and said. In the original work, the Church of the Yulan Plane was the plane's boss, but in his plane, that was not the case—at least, not to him.

"You may return now. Think slowly about how to walk your path in the future," Urban waved his hand and said.

"Then I shall take my leave, Your Holiness," Sean said and retreated.

Afterward, he took a carriage back to his residence without haste. It was a detached courtyard located less than 10 miles from the Church headquarters in Shengyue City. Generally, money couldn't buy such a place; only important members of the Church could live here.

After dismissing everyone, Sean went to his bedroom and activated a surveillance magic array. This had been crafted by a wind-style Saint Mage of the Church; based on the wind-style magic "Wind of Perception," it was reverse-engineered to detect if others were probing him.

Upon entering his secret chamber, Sean quickly used his soul energy to communicate with the Coiling Dragon book in his mind, flipping to Volume 1, Chapter 7: Coiling Dragon Ring (Part 2).

When Sean's soul saw the red-highlighted text "Jet-Black Ring" in the content, he silently thought: Materialize.

Suddenly, in the empty space in front of Sean, a black ring appeared out of thin air and dropped rapidly due to gravity.

Seeing the ring, Sean was filled with excitement. He quickly wrapped it in his soul energy and pulled it toward him. This black ring was exactly the core existence from the original work: the Coiling Dragon Ring.

A soul-defense Sovereign Artifact, albeit a damaged one.