Manifestation

Grand Ruins Realm.

Black Dragon Mountain.

Ancient trees towered into the sky, their gnarled branches and huge leaves overlapping like a canopy, filtering the sunlight into flecks of gold.

Hundreds-foot-tall tree ferns and cycads were covered in scales, while hanging moss draped down like long beards. Fallen giant trees were blanketed in moss, their fungi pale and luminous.

The surroundings were deathly still. A faint clear light flashed, and a figure burst in.

"Did I... transmigrate again?" Jiang Ran quickly surveyed his surroundings, still somewhat dazed.

When he had first opened his eyes and discovered that he had transmigrated to Pingjiang City, it had not actually been that hard to accept.

No matter how brutal the so-called immortal cultivation college entrance exam was, Pingjiang City was still a modern city. It had many similarities to Blue Star from his previous life, so basic survival definitely would not have been a problem.

But now...

Jiang Ran looked around. Everywhere he looked stood absurdly tall giant trees, and the air was filled with a primal, untamed aura.

"Where the hell did I end up?"

Clearly, this was no ordinary forest, much less Blue Star from his previous life.

No equipment, no food, no supplies—people could die in a primeval forest like this!

Jiang Ran had some wilderness survival experience, but even so, he did not think he could survive long-term in such a primitive environment.

He had to get back.

A speck of pale violet light appeared before him.

Jiang Ran reached out and grasped the violet light. A piece of jade fell into his palm.

The Heavenly Unity Jade Pendant. This was the jade that had brought him here.

Within the pendant was a chaotic space, with a doorway standing in its center. At the moment, it was still illusory.

The moment his gaze touched it, understanding arose in his heart.

"I can go back, but not yet."

The Heavenly Unity Jade Pendant was truly rather miraculous. It could travel back and forth between the times of two worlds, essentially serving as a gate between worlds.

Unfortunately, that doorway was still insubstantial and needed seven more days to condense into form.

Put simply, he needed a seven-day cooldown before he could transmigrate again.

"This is a little troublesome..." Jiang Ran frowned slightly.

Being able to return was absolutely a good thing, but how he was supposed to survive the next seven days was a major problem.

He needed to find water, build a temporary shelter, and preferably find something edible as well.

For a full seven days, it would be nearly impossible to hold on through hunger alone.

"The Heavenly Unity Jade Pendant seems to have other wondrous effects, but unfortunately, there's no way to figure them out right now."

Once he made up his mind, Jiang Ran immediately sprang into action, cautiously moving through the forest.

This was an entirely new world, and no one knew what conditions it held. Though he had cultivation, Qi Refinement Level One was simply too weak. As a bottom-ranking underachiever at Pingjiang No. 1 High School, he truly had little combat ability.

Things went fairly smoothly. After walking for more than half an hour, aside from the thick trees and difficult paths in the mountains, he had encountered no other danger.

After he crossed a slope, the soil ahead visibly became more damp.

"Where two mountains enclose a ravine, there must be water at the bottom."

Jiang Ran crouched down and pinched up a clump of dark moss, delight appearing on his face.

Just as he had expected, a faint trickling sound gradually came from ahead. After walking several hundred more steps, he finally saw a clear, emerald Square Lake.

"Great!"

Water meant life. Where there was water, there was hope.

As long as he solved the problem of drinking water, he could endure seven days even if he had to chew bark. At worst, he could lie in a hospital once he got back to Pingjiang.

Jiang Ran did not lower his guard and approached slowly.

There were no wild beasts by the lake. The surroundings were peaceful and quiet, even... too quiet.

That wasn't right. Such a fine ecological environment should definitely be able to support quite a few animals.

Though his throat was already so dry it felt like it was smoking, Jiang Ran still did not rashly go over to collect water.

Better to play it safe. Who knew whether there was danger in the water?

He hid behind a rock and waited for a long while, until several deer-like beasts strolled to the lake's edge to drink.

Everything was normal. No demons or water monsters leaped out of Square Lake.

"These deer are enormous. They're almost as big as cows." Jiang Ran glanced sideways in amazement, and the tension in his heart eased slightly.

At least for now, this world did not seem overly dangerous. At most, the trees were bigger and the beasts were more robust.

Yeah, it must have been because the oxygen concentration was too high...

Just then, the deer drinking water suddenly froze as one. Their ears flicked rapidly, as if they had sensed some danger approaching.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp..." they cried uneasily.

Suddenly, a streak of fire tore across the sky.

Within crimson flames, a huge ferocious beast with a white forehead and green eyes pounced down.

—A tiger. It was a tiger!

The deer scattered like startled birds, fleeing for their lives. But the tiger was unbelievably fast, biting down on one deer's neck almost instantly.

As it charged, flames surged beneath it, making it seem almost sacred.

"Fuck!" Jiang Ran was stunned.

You called that a tiger? What kind of joke was this?

Who had ever seen a tiger with flames coming out from under its paws? Not to mention this tiger was at least three or four times larger than any tiger he remembered. It was practically a small mountain.

Without another word, he quietly turned around and hurriedly started running.

If he did not run now, then when would he?

So the earlier calm had only been an illusion. His failure to encounter danger had really just been dumb luck.

A tiger that ran like the wind with flames beneath its paws... had already revealed how terrifying this world was.

In just a few bounds, several deer fell one after another. The giant tiger swallowed a deer the size of a small calf in just a few bites.

Jiang Ran's stamina was limited. As he ran, he saw the carnage behind him, and his heart went half-cold.

The valley was open. With the giant tiger's field of vision, it could take in the entire area at a glance. If he could not quickly escape Square Lake's range, he was afraid he would die here today.

Of course, what he feared came true.

The giant tiger was just one step away from catching the last deer when the creature nimbly leaped up onto a giant tree and climbed upward along its trunk.

A deer that could climb trees was no longer the point.

The point was that when the ferocious tiger saw the deer climb the tree, it only looked up once and did not continue its pursuit.

After circling the tree roots twice and shaking its head... it turned and changed direction.

This...

Could tigers not climb trees? Or did it simply refuse to?

Jiang Ran felt that everything in this world was utterly absurd, but there was no time to investigate.

Without looking back, he could feel a wave of scorching wind surging behind him.

He was done for. Had that beast really set its sights on him?

"Big bro, don't do this! How much meat can a skinny guy like me even have?"

Jiang Ran could not worry about anything else. He gathered all his strength and sprinted wildly.

If he could do it over, he would definitely study hard and cultivate hard. In his next life, he would never be an underachiever again!

No...

At that critical moment, he suddenly leaped up.

A tree. Climbing a tree was his only chance at survival!

Jiang Ran took three steps in two, shooting several meters upward almost instantly.

When he looked back again...

Sure enough, the giant tiger stopped at the base of the trunk. It roared and paced about restlessly, but in the end, it still did not choose to climb the tree.

It was as though the space above the trunk was some kind of taboo to it.

"I made it!" Jiang Ran collapsed onto a branch of the giant tree and let out a long breath. He had gambled correctly. The giant tiger truly could not climb trees.

Whatever the reason, at least his life had been saved for now.

The giant tiger was unwilling to climb trees, perhaps because there truly was some taboo or hidden danger. Jiang Ran had no intention of staying for long either.

Once the giant tiger went far away, he would find a good opportunity to climb down.

But just as Jiang Ran turned over, he realized that he could not move his legs.

Alarm bells rang in his mind. He immediately knew that he had encountered danger once again.

He suddenly exerted force, but his legs did not budge in the slightest.

Looking carefully, he discovered that thick vines had somehow tightly bound both his legs.

"Get lost!"

Before he could shake off the vines, the branch directly in front of him suddenly moved.

Hiss... hiss...

Dead wood came alive, transforming into a cold triangular head.

What branch? That was clearly a snake's head. What had wrapped around his legs were not vines, but the body of a huge snake!

Jiang Ran felt like he was about to explode. Danger came one after another, while his transmigration cooldown still had a full seven days left. There was simply no way for him to escape.

He was already in a desperate situation, with no way to break free.

"Fuck it!"

Jiang Ran formed hand seals with both hands, and wisps of water vapor rapidly gathered.

He had no choice. He was only at Qi Refinement Level One and only knew one Water Ball Technique. He could only risk trying it.

Snakes feared fire. If he knew a Fireball Technique instead, perhaps he might still have a chance at survival.

Unfortunately, he only knew the Water Ball Technique. His chances of living today were slim.

—Splash!

The Water Ball Technique took shape.

Jiang Ran had not held out much hope, but he suddenly widened his eyes.

This Water Ball Technique seemed a little different.

With the spell proficiency of an underachiever like him, the Water Ball Technique he condensed was normally only the size of a knuckle, and its power was extremely limited.

But now, the huge snake in front of him actually loosened its coils.

What surfaced in those triangular snake eyes seemed to be... fear?

How could a snake be afraid of water?

With the arrow already on the string, Jiang Ran had no choice but to fire. He shoved forward with all his strength, and the Water Ball Technique shot out with a howl.

An even more exaggerated sight appeared.

The Water Ball Technique grew with the wind, rapidly expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye after leaving his hand.

Within two breaths, it had swelled into a massive water ball larger than a human head.

—Crash...

The water ball burst, unleashing unprecedented power as the current completely engulfed the huge snake.

"This world is really insane..."

Jiang Ran stared dumbfoundedly, unable to believe that this was a spell he had cast with his own hands.