The box was opened.
A seven-colored, diamond-shaped crystal floated out of it. After a slight tremor, it expanded.
Before long, it had formed a massive diamond-shaped gate.
The gate was ten meters tall and seven meters wide.
It stood silently above the podium.
"Everyone, come forward in order. If you're hesitant, you can leave the line and stand to the side."
Without saying anything more, they began arranging everyone.
Starting with Senior Class One, the students stepped forward and headed toward the podium.
As Class One, their average grades were undoubtedly the best in the school. Almost nobody left the line. Even those at the front paused briefly when they reached the enormous gate, then stepped through.
One, two, three.
As if they had vanished, they crossed the threshold and disappeared from sight.
One row, then another, then another.
By the time they reached the sports field, almost no students had left the line.
In fact, anyone who had made it to the start of their second year without dropping out had generally already made up their mind.
And by their final year, that resolve had long since been set.
"Old Li, Old Yang, see you in seven days."
At last, it was Senior Class Ten's turn.
Wang Meng, who was at the front, suddenly stepped back. Smiling, he said, "You'd better become Raiders."
"Will do!"
Li Su nodded, as did Yang Kai behind him.
Then Wang Meng disappeared.
Now standing before the diamond-shaped gate, Li Su drew a quiet breath. To be honest, he had waited for this day far too long.
There was a hint of nervousness in his eyes, but anticipation outweighed it. He took one step forward and entered.
What kind of world would appear before him???
In an instant, his body vanished.
Coming to his senses, Li Su couldn't help glancing behind him.
There was nothing behind him. He was no longer on the sports field.
How incredible. So this was what it meant to travel directly between spaces.
Floating before him were three enormous bubbles, each representing a different world.
Li Su stared wide-eyed at the three bubbles. He had been in this world for a long time and had heard about World Fragments countless times, but coming face-to-face with one still left him awestruck.
Each bubble contained an immense world, with the borders between its various countries plainly visible.
How had anyone done this?
And what were these worlds made of?
What kind of earth-shaking power could turn the wuxia novels of his previous life into worlds?
In an instant, countless thoughts surfaced in Li Su's mind.
But soon, the worlds inside the bubbles drew his attention.
Was this the Southern Song?
And that one, the Northern Song?
And this one... the Sui and Tang period!
From the worlds' appearances and the borders of the countries within them, Li Su quickly formed a rough idea of their eras.
After all, these three periods were easy to tell apart.
The Northern Song was bordered by the Liao Kingdom, Western Xia, and Jin Kingdom, while the Southern Song also bordered the Mongol Empire—that is, the Yuan Dynasty.
As for the Sui and Tang, that was even easier to recognize. The Turkic Khaganate dominated the north, while the Central Plains were divided.
He didn't know what was happening inside them, but judging by their appearances, two of these three worlds were likely from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Legend of the Condor Heroes, or Return of the Condor Heroes.
Jin Da hadn't written any books set in the Sui and Tang period.
As for the end of the Sui, the only book he could think of was Twin of Brothers. He just didn't know if that was the one.
There was plenty of time to choose a world before entering a World Fragment. Li Su had no intention of rushing in. He would analyze things first.
However...
Li Su was a little surprised to find that these worlds weren't just flat regions showing the Central Plains. They were globes, with almost everything beyond the Central Plains shrouded in black.
Was it because the novels hadn't covered those places?
After thinking it over, Li Su quickly focused his attention on the three worlds.
While studying the knowledge this world had about World Fragments, he had also been trying to recall the details of the wuxia novels.
Of the eras, the one in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils was undoubtedly the best.
Legend of the Condor Heroes came next, with Return of the Condor Heroes after that. Twin of Brothers was undoubtedly the most troublesome.
Some might ask:
Why?
The reason was simple.
The Northern Song period in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils was a time of peace, with virtually no major wars.
As mentioned earlier, Murong Fu had failed to restore his kingdom mainly because there had been no opportunity—no time of great upheaval.
That was why his father, Murong Bo, had stirred up so much trouble in the martial world. Unfortunately, the man had terrible judgment and chose an utterly insignificant person as his target.
Xiao Feng's father, Xiao Yuanshan, was the Liao Kingdom's chief instructor.
Were you kidding me?
You thought killing an instructor could make the Northern Song and the Liao Kingdom go to war? Whoever came up with that had a brain full of shit. No question about it.
Anyone with even a little understanding of culture wouldn't have been stupid enough to think that way.
The Song dynasty of that era valued civil officials above all else. The Liao Kingdom, though powerful, greatly admired Song culture. Scholars from the Song who went there could generally secure government posts. That alone showed what the atmosphere was like.
Of course, unlike the Northern Song, the Liao Kingdom didn't favor civil officials over military ones.
But no matter how high-ranking a general was, he wasn't so important that the Liao Kingdom would start a war with the Northern Song over a mere chief instructor. That was wishful thinking.
Uh, he'd gone off topic.
Back to the point.
In short, aside from the Liao Kingdom's invasion of the Northern Song at the end, the Northern Song heartland was, in fact, peaceful.
There were virtually no major wars. For Li Su, who currently had no power at all, it was the best time to develop.
The Sui and Tang period, on the other hand, was a time of great upheaval.
The Southern Song was already anything but peaceful in Legend of the Condor Heroes, and things were even worse by Return of the Condor Heroes. The Southern Song was not far from its fall.
Even more terrifyingly, Return of the Condor Heroes led directly into Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, which took place after the Song had fallen and the Yuan Dynasty had unified the realm.
That made the two stories very easy to confuse.
One of the things he had learned was that those two worlds were easy to mix up. If you weren't careful, you might enter Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre instead of Return of the Condor Heroes.
Choose wrong, and it would be all too easy to die.
So the Southern Song was likely a minefield. He'd PASS on it.
What about the Sui and Tang?
Li Su yearned for that world. It had so many exceptional figures, like the Evil King, Heavenly Blade, and Wanwan. But he'd better forget it. He didn't think he had the survival skills to stay alive there.
The best world available to him was undoubtedly the Northern Song of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.
Not only was the country stable, but the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Northern Dark Divine Skill, and other top-tier techniques were all there. Even the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic could be found.
Li Su took a deep breath. He couldn't choose whose body he would inhabit, only the location where he would appear.
Still, nine out of ten people he ended up inhabiting would be orphans and paupers.
After figuring out where Mount Song was, Li Su drew a breath and reached out to press his hand against it.
In the next instant, his body shuddered, and he vanished from that space.