In the Universe Ocean of one of the Three Thousand Dimensions, a World Beast King was devouring the Primordial Universe in a frenzy. Aside from the Primordial Universe, every other Miniature Universe and Holy Land Universe in the Universe Ocean had long since been devoured. As the World Beast King continued its feast, the Primordial Universe steadily shrank, on the verge of destruction...
Suddenly, a figure hundreds of millions of light-years tall appeared. With a faint, almost inaudible sigh, it extended a finger and gave a gentle tap. Before the World Beast King could react, its entire body disintegrated layer by layer, from the outside in. The churning chaotic currents swept away the dust, and in the end, nothing remained.
Looking at the Primordial Universe, now in utter ruin, it sighed again. "Since even the Origin Will is gone, and the laws of time have all been devoured, there's no need to save it... Hmm, why not create an opportunity and see which lucky little fellow gets this great fortune..."
It raised both hands, and an incomparably profound ripple emanated from them. Beginning with the membrane wall, it peeled away the ruined Primordial Universe layer by layer, until only its core remained. It cupped the core in its hands and brought them together slightly. Under the influence of an utterly terrifying force, the core gradually contracted, eventually becoming as small as a mustard seed.
Looking at the core resting in its palm, it smiled faintly and blew on it gently...
"Congyang..."
"Congyang, Congyang, wake up..."
An anxious voice reached his hazy consciousness. Yin Congyang felt as if his head were splitting. His thoughts were still stuck on the moment he had been swinging his axe to cut down a dead tree. The instant his axe fell, brilliant light burst forth and filled his vision. Then he lost consciousness.
As the chaos in his mind began to ease, a sudden, intense pain from deep within his body made him pass out again.
His consciousness slowly returned. Yin Congyang struggled to open his eyes. A snow-white ceiling came into view, and soft light filtered through the sheer curtains behind the window.
Lying in bed, he laboriously turned his head a little. A young man in his twenties was seated on a chair beside the bed, leaning against its edge. His steady breathing suggested he was sleeping soundly.
"Where am I? How did chopping down a tree land me in bed..."
Yin Congyang was the heir to a lumberjack family on Earth. Yes, you read that right—a lumberjack family. His ancestors had been lumberjacks for generations, and they had passed down a set of techniques called the Thirty-Six Heaven-Opening Axes, supposedly capable of making its practitioner invincible. Yin Congyang had practiced them for nearly twenty years. He had never tested whether they could make him invincible, but they were certainly good for chopping wood. Every move had become instinct, etched deep into his mind.
Suddenly, his mind gave a buzz. Memories that didn't belong to him surged up from its depths. Words like "monsters," "martial artists," "Limit Dojo," and "Thunder Dojo" left him stunned. I'd just read Swallowed Star up to Luo Feng returning from the Outer-Domain Battlefield. I hadn't even finished the rest. How did I end up in Swallowed Star?
He couldn't help wanting to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming. As he moved his arm slightly, it made a faint sound. The young man on the chair jolted to his feet as though he'd heard a thunderclap. A look of alarm crossed his face, and he assumed a defensive stance. Then he seemed to realize where he was. After glancing at Yin Congyang, his alarm turned to delight, and he cried, "Congyang, you're awake?"
The young man hurried around the chair, took a few quick steps, and pulled open the door. "Captain! Captain, come quick! Congyang's awake..." A rush of footsteps sounded outside, and several people crowded into the room, filling the small space. They all started talking to Yin Congyang at once.
Yin Congyang watched helplessly as they fired off one question after another. From the final moments of the memories that had suddenly appeared, he knew his former self's team had been hunting monsters in the wilderness.
The team captain, Li Hesong, an Advanced Warrior, had led five team members on a hunt in County 0316 for about a week. On their way back, they encountered two Red-Eyed Dogs, Advanced Beast Soldiers, traveling together. Captain Li Hesong engaged one on his own, while the five other team members held off the second.
Only two of the five were Intermediate Warriors. The other three, including Yin Congyang, were Primary Warriors, and they struggled desperately against an Advanced Beast Soldier like the Red-Eyed Dog. One of the Primary Warriors, Yu Xiaopeng—the young man who had been keeping watch beside the bed—was careless and got clipped by the tip of the Red-Eyed Dog's tail. The dog twisted around, ready to bite through his throat. Yin Congyang slammed into it from the side, and the axe in his hand caught in its huge, fang-filled mouth. But he couldn't dodge in time. A paw struck him in the chest, rupturing his heart, and then Yin Congyang from Earth transmigrated into his body.
It seemed that after killing one Red-Eyed Dog, the captain had rushed over and killed or driven off the other, then brought Yin Congyang back to the martial artist Supply Base.
Yu Xiaopeng was deeply grateful to Yin Congyang for risking his life to save him, so he had stayed by his bedside. After the life-or-death crisis, exhaustion had caught up with him, and he'd soon fallen asleep leaning forward. In his dream, he was still locked in a desperate struggle with the Red-Eyed Dog when he heard a sound from the bed. Startled awake, he had reacted in alarm.
County 0316 lay near Southwest Base City. Its landscape was covered in hills and crossed by numerous waterways, and the surrounding wilderness was teeming with monsters. The Base City and its satellite towns faced great pressure defending themselves, so Primary and Intermediate Warriors were usually led by an Advanced Warrior or Primary Warlord in teams that went into the Wilderness Zone to hunt monsters. Of course, the valuable materials harvested from the monsters also brought in a handsome income.
"Thanks to Congyang, our team didn't lose anyone this time. Xiaopeng only got a minor injury... But you, Congyang—you took a paw to the chest. I think you stopped breathing. When I saw you, I thought you were..." Li Hesong said, still shaken.
Yin Congyang grinned. "We're teammates, after all..."
"You're right. We're teammates, partners who share life and death." Li Hesong spoke solemnly.
"Captain, what happened to our team after that..." Yin Congyang hesitated, but curiosity got the better of him, and he asked.
"We were really lucky this time." A trace of lingering fear crossed Li Hesong's face. "When we ran into those two Red-Eyed Dogs, I sent out a request for help through my watch. After you were injured, a passing team of martial artists received it and came to our aid. Their captain was a Primary Warlord. He took care of both Red-Eyed Dogs. Otherwise, it's hard to say how things would've turned out... But they'd just set out from the base, so they probably won't be back for ten days or half a month."
The other team members asked how Yin Congyang was feeling and showed concern for his injuries. After thanking them, he used his exhaustion from the injury as an excuse and finally managed to get them to leave him in peace.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His chest still ached faintly, but, strangely, the wound had nearly healed. His original body didn't seem to have this kind of healing ability. Could it be a result of transmigrating?
Come to think of it, what had he hit with his axe before transmigrating? Now that he'd calmed down, he needed to look into it. As he focused his mind, he sensed something different in the area of his Dantian, but the feeling was hazy and indistinct.
Thinking of his loving parents, brothers, and sisters in his previous life made his heart ache for no reason. Thankfully, he had many siblings. His parents might not be too heartbroken to lose just one of them—though he knew that was probably just wishful thinking. But was being unable to return to one's original world not an unwritten rule shared by countless transmigration novels?
Compared with his previous life, Yin Congyang's life in Swallowed Star had been far more miserable. During the Great Nirvana, both his parents had been orphans. His father, a Primary Warlord, had died at the hands of a monster in the wilderness more than three years ago, leaving no remains. His mother had been depressed ever since, and her grief had turned into illness. Not long after her son passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment, she too had passed away.
After burying his parents' memorial clothes together, Yin Congyang had joined Li Hesong's martial artist team through the Limit Dojo and begun his life in the wilderness.
His former self's weapon had been a short-handled axe. With guidance from his father and instructors at the dojo, his fundamentals were solid, but the Mountain-Suppressing Axe Technique and Guidance Technique he'd purchased were merely average.
After lying still for more than two hours, he felt his strength returning and got out of bed. Seeing the short-handled Mountain-Suppressing Axe on the table, he couldn't help feeling an itch to try it—he used to wield an axe countless times a day.
The room was spacious enough, so he picked up the Mountain-Suppressing Axe and weighed it in his hand. It felt comfortable enough.
After thinking back over his memories, he decided to give it a try. He went through the Mountain-Suppressing Axe Technique one move at a time. When he finished the final move, he naturally shifted into the Thirty-Six Heaven-Opening Axes he'd practiced for twenty years. The familiar feeling returned, and his mind gradually sank into the movements. The modest amount of Gene Force in his body began to stir, and the flashing axe sent sharp whooshes of air reverberating through the room.
"Bang~~"
The door suddenly swung open, and Yu Xiaopeng peeked inside, looking shocked. "Congyang, you're still recovering from your injury! Do you really have to push yourself so hard?"
Yin Congyang casually spun his axe and looked toward Yu Xiaopeng. "Brother Peng, my injury isn't that serious. Look, it's mostly healed. I had a new insight into my axe technique while fighting for my life earlier. If I don't practice it now, I'm afraid I'll forget it."
Yu Xiaopeng stepped forward and carefully examined the wound on Yin Congyang's chest. It had indeed scabbed over, just as he'd said, and Yin Congyang had shown no sign of discomfort while swinging his axe just now. Yu Xiaopeng finally relaxed, though his voice carried a hint of envy and gratitude. "No wonder the captain says you're so talented. You passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment at twenty, and you've been a martial artist for less than three months but are already close to Intermediate Warrior... Oh, I still haven't had a chance to thank you. If you hadn't done that, I would've..."
"Brother Peng, we're teammates who've entrusted our lives to each other. It was only natural. I'm sure you'd have done the same if our places had been switched!" Yin Congyang cut him off. "Besides, I'm fine, aren't I?"
"Whatever the case, Congyang, I owe you one. If you ever need anything from me, just say the word. If I turn you down, I'm a damn fool!"
"Okay, okay, Brother Peng, I'll remember. By the way, do we have anything to eat? I'm starving."
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I'd have almost forgotten. I came to see if you could get up. If you couldn't, I was going to bring you some food." Yu Xiaopeng put an arm around Yin Congyang's shoulders, his voice cheerful. "Come on, let's go eat. You have no idea—after you got hurt saving me, none of the others felt like eating..."
The two of them went together to the restaurant in the Supply Base. Though it was past mealtime, there were still quite a few people inside.
Li Hesong and the other team members were already waiting for them at the restaurant entrance. Seeing Yin Congyang walk over briskly, they all breathed a sigh of relief and greeted the two of them with delight, inviting them inside to eat.
Once inside, the captain paid for the meals. They quickly picked up their food, gathered around a table, and began eating.
As he ate, Yu Xiaopeng told the other team members about Yin Congyang. "You guys have no idea. I hadn't even reached the room yet when I heard the whooshing of an axe coming from inside..."
Suddenly, a solemn, mournful voice came from the liquid-crystal screen on the wall. "...Tonight, I'm overwhelmed by pain and sorrow. This is a disaster for all of humanity. We fight for our survival..."
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