The Strange Gate

"Ever since that blood moon ten years ago, everything changed. Overnight, countless people turned into zombies..."

Inside a makeshift shelter at the foot of the mountain, Ye Xiu silently watched the ruined city loom indistinctly through the hazy rain outside. Beside him, a bearded uncle who seemed not to have found anyone to talk to in a long time continued rambling to himself.

"But thankfully, killing zombies and obtaining crystal cores can awaken supernatural abilities. My luck's rotten, though. I still haven't awakened anything, so I can only eke out this miserable existence in the mountains."

Ye Xiu continued listening in silence, but when he heard that crystal cores could awaken supernatural abilities, his brow twitched.

"What do crystal cores look like?"

"Uh, I've never seen one. But I heard they're round and found inside zombies' heads. The lowest-grade ones are grayish-white, while some high-grade ones seem to be black..."

"Soul Pearls!" Ye Xiu's eyes lit up.

"What?" The uncle jumped in fright. "What Soul Pearls?"

"Nothing." Ye Xiu calmed himself and impatiently pressed on, "Then are there many zombies with crystal cores?"

"Loads. Almost every zombie has a crystal core. Of Blue Star's ten billion people, more than half turned into zombies, not to mention all those strange zombie animals. What do you think?"

"That's wonderful!"

Ye Xiu clenched his fists in excitement.

Seeing his reaction, the uncle's face grew more solemn.

"Kid, don't think that's a good thing. Back then in Jianghai City, so many ability users joined forces to defend the city, and didn't they still capsize in the end? If you ask me, we should stay put and run whenever we encounter a zombie horde. That's the hard truth."

As soon as the uncle finished speaking, Ye Xiu felt his heart hammering in his chest.

Jianghai City—wasn't that where he had lived before?

His parents had died when he was young, and he and his younger sister had depended on each other as they grew up. After an accident separated them, his greatest wish had been to find her.

"Uncle, do you have any news from over there?"

The uncle waved his hand. "That was all a year ago. After the zombie horde, the city fell. The various ability users scattered and established new shelters. I specifically hid in these mountains for safety."

Seeing the look on Ye Xiu's face, the uncle understood.

"Kid, did you get separated from family or friends over there? If you ask me, it's already not easy to keep yourself alive in this world. Ordinary people shouldn't think too much..."

Ye Xiu rose with a smile and walked outside. "Thanks for the advice."

Seeing Ye Xiu heading out, the uncle quickly got up from behind him to stop him.

But when he caught up, he saw nothing but empty space before him, and stood there dumbfounded.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Where was he? Where did such a large living person go?

Ye Xiu's figure gradually faded away, while in a cave somewhere far away, Ye Xiu's cross-legged body gradually solidified until he finally opened his eyes.

He did not rise immediately, instead pondering carefully.

A year ago, his soul had transmigrated into the body of a Yin Harmony Sect registered disciple with the same name.

The memories he had fused with told him that this was a vast, boundless world. The known lands explored by cultivators were called Great Xia!

Yes, this world had cultivators. Great powers could move mountains, fill seas, seize stars, and pluck the moon!

But Ye Xiu had not been so fortunate. The Yin Harmony Sect he belonged to was a demonic sect reviled by everyone in the cultivation world. In other words, Ye Xiu was now a demonic cultivator.

Even if Ye Xiu had been unwilling, what could he do? This was a demonic sect. If he dared defect, his fate would be worse than death.

Fortunately, since he had been chosen as a disciple of a demonic sect, his aptitude was fairly decent. After cultivating for a year, he had finally reached the first level of Qi Refinement today.

And at the very instant he broke through to the first level of Qi Refinement, as he guided spiritual energy through a circulation and reached depths of his consciousness sea he had never accessed before, he discovered to his astonishment that a gigantic gate stood within his dantian and consciousness sea!

The moment Ye Xiu's divine sense approached it, he was instantly sucked into the giant gate.

When he woke again, Ye Xiu was already amid a concrete-and-steel urban jungle.

For a moment, Ye Xiu felt a trace of delight.

Had he transmigrated back to Blue Star?

Yet the surrounding buildings were in ruins, and towering trees had even grown from the middle of the roads. The apocalyptic sight doused him with a bucket of cold water.

Especially when he saw hordes of zombies moving in groups, his heart turned ice-cold.

He had only just succeeded in Qi Refinement and had not learned any cultivation arts yet. He could handle a few zombies, but with hundreds or thousands of zombies surging toward him, all he could do was flee.

Fortunately, a first-level Qi Refiner was no longer an ordinary person. He easily escaped the zombie horde and found that survivor at the foot of the mountain.

What followed was the information he had gathered from that surviving uncle.

This world was undoubtedly Blue Star. Ye Xiu had found plenty of evidence in the uncle's shelter to confirm it. The uncle had even collected quite a few study materials from Island Nation teachers, using solar panels to play them for a little comfort.

Ye Xiu had actually experienced the blood moon ten years ago as well. At the time, he had been observing the stars through an astronomical telescope, only for his consciousness to collapse in an instant. When he opened his eyes again, he had already transmigrated to Great Xia.

Recalling the uncle's final words, Ye Xiu secretly clenched his fists.

"The great change happened ten years ago... but I clearly only arrived here a year ago. That means time in Great Xia and Blue Star isn't synchronized. One day here is ten days over there!"

The tenfold difference in the flow of time gave Ye Xiu a greater sense of urgency, but he was equally confident that he could find his younger sister in that apocalypse.

Because of the Soul Pearls hidden within the zombies of that world!

These were treasures that cultivators of Great Xia dreamed of obtaining.

Soul Pearls, containing the two energies of life and death, could vastly increase a cultivator's cultivation speed.

But Soul Pearls were exceedingly difficult to obtain. Only those who remained in the half-living, half-dead state of a living corpse for long periods could possibly nurture one. To obtain Soul Pearls quickly, some cultivators kidnapped mortals and forcibly refined them into corpses to produce Soul Pearls. It was because of this that such cultivators earned the name demonic cultivators.

As a demonic cultivator, one would be reviled by all. Yet if he did not become one, his cultivation speed would struggle to keep pace with the tenfold flow of time.

Fortunately, that problem had now been solved as easily as a blade through bamboo.

The hundreds of millions of zombies in that world were all the foundation of Ye Xiu's cultivation!

A sharp gleam flashed in Ye Xiu's eyes.

Little sister, wait for me. Before long, your brother will find you!

Clenching his fists, Ye Xiu strode toward the door...

The residence of the Yin Harmony Sect outer sect's senior brother.

Ye Xiu cupped his hands in salute toward Fang Qiong, the outer sect's senior brother, who sat cross-legged atop a lotus platform in cultivation.

Fang Qiong waved his hand. "Since you have successfully drawn qi into your body, you may receive outer sect disciple status. Go find yourself a residence in the outer mountains. From now on, you need not squeeze in with the registered disciples."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Fang Qiong's attitude remained cool and noncommittal. "Now that you have entered the sect, the sect will naturally provide you with a cultivation art and a magical treasure. I have..."

"I choose the Burning Soul Art!"

"Oh?" The senior brother was not angered at being interrupted. "Though this Burning Soul Art has the highest potential ceiling, cultivating it requires a great quantity of Soul Pearls. Without them, its speed is even inferior to other cultivation arts. Have you thought this through?"

"This is the one!" Ye Xiu answered decisively.

"As you wish."

The senior brother's tone remained indifferent. With a casual gesture, several streaks of rosy light flew from his sleeve. "Outer sect disciples may receive one magical artifact."

Ye Xiu was in no rush to choose. Instead, he asked, "May I ask, Senior Brother, which magical artifact kills people the fastest and most efficiently?"

"Hmm?" The senior brother raised a brow and snorted at the seemingly harmless Ye Xiu. "What a murderous nature!"

Ye Xiu remained silent.

Instead, the senior brother laughed. "You intend to massacre mortals to obtain Soul Pearls? That suits my taste. In that case, I shall grant you this Soul-Reaping Thorn."

With a casual wave of his hand, a magical treasure about a foot long, pointed at both ends, flew into Ye Xiu's grasp.

It felt solid in his hand, yet icy to the bone.

"Driven by the Burning Soul Art, the Soul-Reaping Thorn can divide into a hundred. One strike can extinguish thousands of mortals!"

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Ye Xiu's heart surged with excitement. This was exactly what he needed!

Watching Ye Xiu's excited expression, a cold smile suddenly surfaced on the senior brother's face.

"Don't thank me just yet. Although the Soul-Reaping Thorn is linked to the Burning Soul Art, it is still a mid-grade spirit artifact. This thing will not be so easy to take!"