Teleportation

The teacher's demonstration was quick. He even passed down the fake Awakening Orb so the students could practice with it.

They still had quite a bit to do. The teachers handed out compressed rations, enough to last them ten days.

The most important thing about awakening was staying alive. As long as the students could find a safe place and return alive, they might successfully awaken.

Even if they failed, surviving was still good. With these compressed rations, they would not have to risk their lives to find food.

As the preparations gradually came to an end, the classroom began to quiet down.

Next came the life-or-death awakening. Once the earlier excitement faded, some students began to grow nervous, fidgeting restlessly and even breaking out in cold sweat.

Seeing this, the homeroom teacher felt uneasy as well. He clapped his hands and said, "All right, future superhumans, don't be nervous. Get your equipment ready. Let's awaken!"

Having come this far, none of the students had any way to back out. The nation had invested enormous resources into them; if they gave up on awakening now, they would go to prison.

The students followed their teacher out of the classroom in a line.

Led by the teacher, they entered a circular area. It was somewhat like a sports field, except it contained nothing but small rooms.

The moment Huo Ling saw this, he knew these were their awakening rooms.

The books described awakening rooms as roughly four-square-meter spaces built with thick concrete walls, with no windows and only a heavy iron door.

Awakening was full of unexpected dangers. Most of the time, those who awakened would be transported to the Spirit Realm, then sent back to Blue Star by it.

During this process, some lucky individuals would leave behind a spatial rift leading to the Spirit Realm when they returned to Blue Star.

These spatial rifts could grow or shrink over time. If an expanding rift led to a relatively safe part of the Spirit Realm, the state would take it over.

An exploration team would then be sent to scout the other side. As long as the danger was manageable, it would become a treasure trove.

Great Xia's large Spirit Realm Bases had all come about this way.

Of course, if the other side was too dangerous, the garrison stationed at the Spirit Awakening Base would use special equipment to destroy the spatial rift and protect Blue Star.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Huo Ling followed the teacher into his own awakening room.

After a staff member locked the heavy door, Huo Ling looked around the awakening room.

An Awakening Orb sat in the center of the floor. Other than that, there was a short knife in the room, meant to help the students survive after reaching the Spirit Realm.

The reason they were given Shortblades rather than other weapons was simple: the Spirit Realm had countless races, most of them far stronger than these students.

A Shortblade was a survival tool. If an enemy could be dealt with using a Shortblade, there was no need for another weapon. If a Shortblade could not handle it, switching weapons would not help them win either.

Firearms could not be used in the Spirit Realm. Because of the Spirit Realm's unique magic, even some basic physical and chemical conditions differed from those on Blue Star. Modern weapons could only be used on Blue Star; in the Spirit Realm, they were no better than fire pokers.

So one Shortblade was enough. These students only needed to hide well. They did not need to think about fighting. Staying alive was the greatest victory.

(In this story's setting, Blue Star's gunpowder firearms cannot be used in the Spirit Realm.)

If they were unlucky enough to encounter a Spirit Realm creature, then no matter what weapon they carried, they would most likely be doomed.

Now it was up to him.

Huo Ling first checked his backpack and equipment, making sure everything was tied down tightly and would not fall off midway.

He tucked the short knife into his belt, then picked up the Awakening Orb from the floor.

Looking at the Awakening Orb, Huo Ling's thoughts drifted. He thought of his parents, his many classmates, and the places where he had once worked part-time.

Taking a deep breath, I can't stay at the bottom forever!

Huo Ling's gaze hardened. He sat on the floor and opened the Awakening Orb's lid.

A strange aura began to spread. With each breath, he drew the Spirit Realm's magic into his body.

All that remained was to wait. Once the Spirit Realm aura had fully infected him, the Spirit Realm would capture him.

Huo Ling found a comfortable position and lay down, one hand still tightly gripping the hilt of his short knife.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps half an hour, perhaps an hour—a spatial rift suddenly opened behind Huo Ling. A massive suction force pulled him straight inside.

Not only that, the tremendous pull swept through the awakening room, sucking every speck of dust from it before finally subsiding.

As he fell into the spatial rift, Huo Ling could not feel time passing. In his memory, it took only a moment of blankness for him to go from Blue Star's awakening room to an unfamiliar place.

The spatial rift spat Huo Ling out like a piece of trash, and he officially arrived in the Spirit Realm.

He bent slightly at the waist and first checked the equipment on his body. Transport from Blue Star to the Spirit Realm was full of accidents.

It was not strange for some people to arrive in the Spirit Realm with only severed limbs and fragments left.

Huo Ling checked his body. Nothing was missing, so he began inspecting the equipment he had brought.

The moment he touched his backpack, his heart sank. A neat gash had been cut across the bottom, and at least half of its contents had vanished.

Touching the backpack, Huo Ling broke out in a cold sweat. That had been close!

If the spatial rift had cut him instead of his backpack, he would probably already be dead beyond saving.

Afterward, Huo Ling began examining his surroundings.

This looked like an abandoned city. Plants had already pierced through the hard road surface, stretching out their branches and leaves.

Even the buildings beside him were covered in all kinds of climbing vines.

Huo Ling drew the short knife from his waist and moved forward with lowered steps.

He did not know whether his arrival had caused any noises he was unaware of, so his top priority was not to remain where he was.

He crept along for several minutes without daring to go too far. Though this was an abandoned city and he had not yet seen any Spirit Realm races, Huo Ling did not let down his guard.

He found a building that was still in relatively good condition and quietly made his way upstairs.

The building stood beside a street, with two rows of similar structures nearby, all twenty to thirty meters tall.

Unfortunately, the city might have been abandoned for too long. He could not find any recognizable signs or writing.

Many room doors in this building had already been opened. Huo Ling looked at one iron door that remained locked.

Though the door was still locked, there was a large hole in its center. The metal had been torn apart there, leaving a savage gap.

Huo Ling quietly moved closer and took a look. The hole was extremely irregular, as though it had been ripped open by some kind of wild beast.

It seemed this place was not very safe either. But compared with the nearby buildings, continuing farther ahead might be even more dangerous.

After considering it carefully, Huo Ling decided to keep climbing.

He made a simple survey of the building. Aside from some rooms whose doors were still tightly shut, he neither heard nor saw any signs of other creatures moving about.

At least for now, it was relatively safe.

On the third floor, Huo Ling found a room with its door open. It also had an iron door, and the main body of the door was still fairly intact.

He slipped quietly into the room and set the remaining half of his backpack on the floor.

He then tried to close the iron door. It had fallen into disrepair over the years, and the slightest movement made a noise, frightening Huo Ling so much that he did not dare shut it any further.

With the short knife in hand, he crept toward the other rooms inside.

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