July in Hang City, the blazing sun burned like fire.
Braving the rolling heat, Zhang Hong forcefully strode forward with heavy steps, rushing into the gates of the International Exhibition Center with lightning-fast momentum that brooked no delay.
The air conditioning that hit him head-on gave his whole body a start, involuntarily bringing a refreshing smile to his face.
Standing six feet tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, Zhang Hong—known throughout the jianghu as the Flesh Mountain Demon King—burst in so suddenly that he startled the security guards at the checkpoint, causing their expressions to turn instantly vigilant.
Before the other party could make a move, however, Zhang Hong immediately smiled ingratiatingly and handed over his identification card.
The uncle security guard carefully checked the card, and after making sure it wasn't a fake, he waved him through with a hint of annoyance.
The 17th Daxia Anime Expo was being held at the International Exhibition Center over these few days. Because the organizers deliberately controlled the number of people entering the venue, tickets were exceptionally tight, leading certain otaku who failed to snap up tickets to desperately forge documents in an attempt to muddle through.
The uncle security guard had caught quite a few of them with his own hands, all of whom were combat-level-five losers claiming to be Acers.
Zhang Hong, who looked very much like an Acer and in fact was an Acer club member, smoothly passed the security checkpoint. The spacious main exhibition hall was right before his eyes, and he grabbed the SLR camera hanging around his chest, excitedly wanting to roar out loud.
Little sisters, this Demon King has arrived!
Bang!
Having just charged forward a few steps, Zhang Hong's vision suddenly went dark, and he felt as if he had crashed into a solid wall. He felt terrible!
Under the recoil generated by the impact, he staggered back a few steps, barely managing to avoid falling to the ground.
The next moment, Zhang Hong saw clearly the culprit who had caused him to hit a wall.
That was a tall man, even taller than the one-meter-eighty Zhang Hong.
He wore a set of dark brown leather armor, the surface of which was densely covered with deep and shallow scars, as well as dark red spots suspected to be bloodstains, looking as if he had just been through a fierce battle.
The leather armor was encircled by a belt of the same texture, with a sheathed dagger and a silver flask tied to his left and right waists respectively, and underneath he wore long pants and leather boots stained with mud.
Zhang Hong, whose joy had turned to sorrow, was very annoyed, but seeing the other's attire and getup made him feel surprised.
He had seen too many domestic cosplays, but he had never seen such a special mercenary adventurer COS. Although the equipment was very crude and not dazzling or gorgeous at all, it gave an incomparably strong sense of reality.
The problem was, how had this person suddenly appeared? Just a moment ago there clearly hadn't been anyone in front of him!
Right as Zhang Hong was sizing up the other party, the other party seemed to notice, turning around to meet his gaze.
The fat all over Zhang Hong's body involuntarily trembled, his pent-up anger instantly melting away.
This tall man was around thirty years old. His hair was cropped very short, standing up like dense steel needles, with a broad forehead, a high bridge of the nose, bright and spirited eyes, and a resolute face. Although not extremely handsome, he possessed the utmost masculine charm.
Destroying all effeminate pretty boys, wouldn't such a man not even need to spend money to pick up girls?
Zhang Hong, weighed down by his own flesh, thought with extreme inferiority.
Then he heard the man say, "Hello."
Zhang Hong was stunned.
The man's voice was quite deep, and strangely enough, the two words were spoken with great difficulty, as if he hadn't spoken for a very, very long time.
He scratched his head and stammered, "H-Hello, I-I'm Zhang Hong, an intern reporter for Xinman—Zhang as in bow and long, Jiang as in river, Hong as in river bird. Sorry for bumping into you just now. M-May I ask which character you are COSplaying?"
The corners of the man's mouth twitched, as if mocking himself: "My name is Zuo Yi—Zuo as in left and right, Yi as in perseverance."
This time the man's words were much more fluent.
"Uh, Mr. Zuo, hello..."
Zhang Hong was practically about to scratch his scalp raw. He was awed by the invisible aura exuding from the other man and felt immense pressure. Without realizing it, his body grew stiff, his tongue lost its nimbleness, and his usual cleverness vanished completely, making him excruciatingly constrained.
Zuo Yi smiled, his gaze leaving Zhang Hong and sweeping across the International Exhibition Center hall.
The main hall was extremely lively. COSERs dressed in bizarre costumes strolled among the crowd, posing and basking in the gaze of the spectators and the flashes of cameras. Elves, fairies, orcs, monsters, Iron Men, crossdressers...
It made the place appear quite magical.
His gaze finally settled on a banner hanging down from the dome of the exhibition hall: 2019 Daxia International Anime Expo!
2019, Daxia!
A trace of unbelievable expression flashed in Zuo Yi's eyes.
The memories of the past few days remained vivid in his mind, making him doubt the reality of what he saw before him.
Three days ago, after wandering in Sadeya World for many years, Zuo Yi returned to the starting point where he had first transmigrated to Sadeya—Thorn Town on the edge of Black Mountain Forest. As a result, he happened to run into the invading Abyss Demon Legion.
To cover the villagers' evacuation, he guarded the outpost fortress alone, engaging in a fierce and bloody battle with countless demons, breaking through in the midst of battle to ascend to the Saint Rank, and finally fighting a decisive battle outside Thorn Town against Sol, the Lord of the Ninth Abyss and commander of the Demon Legion.
Relying on the Sanctum Power condensed from the faith of the Eight Virtues, Zuo Yi severely injured Sol—who held the title of Flesh Mountain Demon King—but he himself was hit by the "Grand Banishment" cast by Sol at the cost of burning his final life force, and was subsequently forcibly dragged into the spatial turbulence.
Yet now, he was standing right here!
Was it an illusion?
Zuo Yi instantly dismissed the thought.
Even in the high-dimensional Sadeya World, when he was still of Legendary Tier, Edith—hailed as the strongest Mind Wizard—had exhausted all means and failed to break through his Iron Wall Will.
Not to mention that the current Zuo Yi had become a Saint Knight.
An illusion? It didn't exist!
Since it wasn't an illusion, it meant he had truly returned. Thirty years after transmigrating to Sadeya World, he had returned to his homeland, back to the world that bore and raised him, the world that truly belonged to him!
At this moment, Zuo Yi longed to roar with laughter.
For how many years had he once thought he would never be able to return to this world that he dreamed of day and night, never expecting that in the end he would actually be sent back at the cost of his strongest enemy's life?
Sol was simply a Northeasterner from the abyss!
What made Zuo Yi feel somewhat incredible was that he had actually only been gone for three years.
Although in the multiverse, time differed among different plane worlds, the tenfold difference between high-dimensional Sadeya and low-dimensional Blue Star was mind-boggling.
Zuo Yi didn't dwell on this issue. The multiverse with its countless planes possessed endless mysteries; saints could not understand even one over ten-millionth of them in a lifetime, and ordinary people thinking too much about it was pure self-torture.
What he wanted most right now was to go home!
"Reporter Zhang..."
Zuo Yi withdrew his gaze, suppressing the excitement and agitation in his heart, and said to Zhang Hong, who was still standing before him, "Can I borrow your phone to make a call?"
When he first transmigrated to Sadeya World, Zuo Yi had carried quite a few things with him—a backpack, a phone, a wallet, a passport, an ID card, and so on. By now, those items belonging to Blue Star World had long since vanished into nothingness.
Yet Zuo Yi still felt extremely fortunate; a mere three years would not cause him to feel much of a disconnect from Blue Star World.
"Oh, oh, sure."
Zhang Hong snapped out of his daze, hurriedly pulled out his phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and handed it to Zuo Yi.
Zuo Yi said "Thank you" and took it.
This phone was not much different from the one he used back then, and the system was also familiar to Zuo Yi. He entered a number and dialed it.
"The number you have dialed is powered off..."
The voice coming from the phone made Zuo Yi somewhat disappointed. He had originally wanted to contact a friend living in the urban area of Hang City to come pick him up, but he hadn't expected this guy to actually be turned off.
Never mind. Zuo Yi returned the phone to Zhang Hong: "Thanks."
With that, he strode toward the entrance and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Hong, left behind in the spot, foolishly clutched the phone, feeling as if he had experienced a dream, so unreal.
Walking out of the International Exhibition Center, the blazing sunlight shone on Zuo Yi's face, making him narrow his eyes slightly.
Zuo Yi's home was not in downtown Hang City; he had always lived in Riverside Town on the opposite bank of the Qiantang River, a journey of more than ten kilometers from here.
At his walking pace, walking home was very simple. If he wasn't afraid of shocking the world by being discovered, flying straight back was something that could be accomplished in a matter of seconds.
Zuo Yi adopted neither approach, however, instead finding a jewelry store near the exhibition center.
The International Exhibition Center was located in the most prosperous area of downtown Hang City, and the surrounding commercial facilities were very well developed. The storefront of this jewelry store was decorated quite lavishly. The two pretty receptionists at the door saw Zuo Yi in his otherworldly attire, but instead of showing any disgust or aversion, they bowed in unison and said, "Welcome to Gold Jade Fortune Jewelry!"
One of the receptionists asked politely, "Sir, how may we help you?"
Zuo Yi inquired, "Do you recycle gold here?"
New book uploaded, seeking recommendations and collections, thank you everyone!!
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