A Brand-New World, At Last Taking the First Step

People often unknowingly become immersed in beautiful things, unable to pull themselves free. Just as Wu Chu ultimately could not resist greedily eating this supreme delicacy of heaven and earth, one he had never enjoyed before.

He had originally planned to eat only a little and stop while he was ahead, lest his body be unable to handle such nourishment. Yet under the corrosive influence of that ultimate enjoyment, he unwittingly ate too much.

In this vast world, beside a small valley suffused with floral fragrance, an orange-red bonfire gently swayed in the slightly chilly wind off the lake, like a beauty striking a seductive pose.

Within the firelight, two people—one large, one small—and a little puppy silently fought over a delicacy they had never tasted before, eating at an astonishing speed.

If Little Moon Spirit had not wanted to maintain some semblance of dignity, she probably could have swallowed the entire bear paw in one bite. Even though she feigned restraint, more than half of it ultimately ended up in her stomach.

Overall, although Wu Chu had not eaten much, it was indeed too much for his own appetite. His lower belly was bloated, leaving him rather uncomfortable.

What made him even more uncomfortable was the sensation of being drunk: his head felt heavy, his feet light, his whole body floaty and dizzy. He did not know what exactly was wrong, only wanting to hurry inside and lie down for a while so he would not throw up later.

Those were all heavenly treasures. Wouldn't vomiting them up be a waste?

He was someone who cherished food.

What he did not know was that his face was flushed red, truly making him look drunk. A fine layer of sweat had already covered his forehead, and unbearable heat coursed through his body, as though a wildfire were burning and spreading within him, gradually gaining the potential to sweep across the plains and making his entire body scorching hot.

Seeing this, Yibao's lips twitched. Wu Chu's current state reminded her of a pig that had taken the wrong kind of medicine and needed to vent itself before it could return to normal.

"Will he be all right like this?"

After holding it in for quite a while, Yibao finally asked Little Moon Spirit.

Little Moon Spirit looked at Yibao in confusion. "Yibao has never seen this condition before?"

"I..."

Yibao had originally wanted to say, How could I not know? Isn't this just that... thing? But after thinking it over, she held back. This was not the time for jokes.

"This is clearly the result of excessive spiritual energy in Brother A Chu's body, which he cannot digest all at once! When I swallowed that Purple Jade Spirit-Pattern Apple, I experienced it too! Yibao, do not worry! This little excess of spiritual energy cannot harm Brother A Chu. He only needs some rest."

Yibao gave an acknowledging hum and flew into the house to check on Wu Chu's condition. She intended to record all the basic data related to his state so she could compare and analyze it gradually in the future.

However, these were only basic readings, such as his heartbeat and pulse. If she were asked to test Wu Chu's blood pressure, blood sugar, spiritual energy concentration, mana index, and so on, she could not measure them either—unless she drew his blood for sample analysis.

But clearly, she had neither the tools for such analysis nor any intention of doing so.

At that moment, Wu Chu wore a T-shirt with his arms bare. It was clear that after this period of continual physical improvement and conscious exercise, the lines of his muscles had become extremely distinct, and his arms had grown much thicker. If he had once been a somewhat flabby shut-in, he now had the look of a fit young man.

Yet this handsome, fit young man was now leaning against the headboard with flushed cheeks and narrowed eyes, panting as though he had drunk himself silly. Strands of white vapor escaped from his mouth and nose with each breath, then slowly lingered around his body without dispersing. It looked as though the heat of his body had evaporated the moisture within him.

But in truth, it was spiritual energy so dense that it had taken on a mist-like form.

Though he appeared to be asleep, his mind was actually extremely excited.

His head was somewhat dizzy, but his thoughts were exceptionally active—far too scattered, in fact. With such scattered thoughts, he naturally could not think coherently, and all sorts of scenes flashed through his mind like fleeting images.

After an unknown amount of time, Wu Chu's field of vision suddenly changed... Soon, he realized that this was not something his physical eyes could see, because he knew his eyes were closed. Yet within his mind, certain different images had appeared.

Following those images in search of an answer, a brand-new and unfamiliar world appeared before him. In this strange world, everything was crimson: towering crimson mountains, a surging crimson great river, and within those crimson mountains, winding, multicolored paths as narrow as sheep tracks. Along each of those narrow paths stood node-like checkpoints, seemingly obstructing their continuation...

Following the narrow paths onward, he saw a sea of multicolored mist. Within it, the various colors seemed mixed together, yet also distinctly separated.

Leaving the sea of mist and following the surging crimson great river upstream, he eventually arrived before a pulsating crimson boulder...

At that moment, Wu Chu finally realized what world he was seeing.

Like a curious child who had received a new toy, he kept exploring this novel world. Only after a long time did he remember what he needed to do now.

After searching several times, his vision arrived at a vast white world. It was filled with white mist, and that white mist was dispersing in every direction, as if this world were a sieve.

Of the dispersing mist, only a small portion was absorbed by the surrounding crimson mountains, silently strengthening them. Most of it, however, escaped through the gaps between the mountains.

Looking at all this, Wu Chu let out a quiet sigh. Then, using the most foolish method possible, he pulled the white mist through the tiny gaps between the mountains and into that sea of multicolored mist.

As the white mist was drawn into the sea, the multicolored mist began to churn, wrapping around it and then devouring it.

While devouring it, the multicolored mist extended a tide of fog toward the nearest narrow path, eventually charging into it.

As the fog tide continued its charge, the narrow path gradually widened. When it finally encountered a checkpoint, the fog tide surged like crashing waves, repeatedly battering it.

No one knew how long it battered the checkpoint, but at last, the immovable barrier collapsed beneath the surging fog tide. The fog tide swept forward with soaring momentum into the next stretch of narrow path.

Using the same method, Wu Chu, whom Yibao had helped lie down, gradually began cultivating in the most primitive manner possible.

There was no specific cultivation technique. He simply used his divine sense as the driving force to push the mana within his body, continuously expanding his meridians and using wrapping and devouring in place of refining spiritual energy.

Although the method was overly clumsy and primitive, for Wu Chu, who had previously had no idea how to cultivate, it was already an enormous step forward.