Oh Crap! I Arrived a Step Late, My Alternate Self in This World Just Kicked the Bucket a Second Ago

"The magic guy has done it! Hahaha!"

Inside the Mirror Dimension, Richard looked at the diamond-shaped portal floating in his palm, rotating at a steady speed, and threw his head back in laughter.

At that moment, he was disheveled, covered in stubble, pale, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his spirits alone were exceptionally elated.

After closed-door cultivation lasting a full seven days, he finally completed the modification of the cross-dimensional spell!

The Lingshu World-Passage Technique was created!

Finished with his laughter, Richard carefully dismissed the small diamond-shaped portal in his palm.

It was not his fault for being this cautious; the truth was that the composition structure of this seemingly small portal was exceptionally complex, and internally it also contained all the divine power from his peak period. A slight misstep could cause the portal structure to become unstable and trigger an explosion.

As for the power of the explosion, it could probably destroy a major portion of Kamar-Taj!

The diamond-shaped portal dissolved into a final bit of white light, and just as Richard breathed a sigh of relief, a wave of stench suddenly assailed his nostrils.

Blech~

He involuntarily lowered his head to sniff his own body...

Blech~

"Blech, why do I smell so awful?!"

Richard covered his nose, donning a mask of agony on his face.

He hurriedly raised his Sling Ring, making a circle to open a portal leading to his dormitory.

Stepping into the dormitory in one stride, he headed straight for the washroom.

Half an hour later, Richard had scrubbed his entire body thoroughly and happened to shave his beard as well. Only then did he sit before the desk wrapped in a bath towel, turn on the computer, and send an email to Christine.

Before his closed-door cultivation, he had given Christine a heads-up in advance, using the excuse of following his master to practice in the deep mountains and old forests for a period of time, and even saying that the signal in the mountains was poor and he might be uncontactable then.

Now that he had successfully emerged from seclusion, naturally he needed to quickly report that he was safe so as to avoid worrying Christine.

Considering that the time for transmigrating to a parallel world was right within these few days, Richard indicated in the email that he was only temporarily coming out to procure food, and after finishing would still have to go back and continue his cultivation.

Finally, he urged Christine to take care of herself, eat meals on time every day, and be extremely careful of Stephen Strange, bluntly saying that the kid was no good guy.

After sending the email, Richard changed into a new set of clothes and went to pay a visit to The Ancient One.

Still that same grand hall, and seeing Richard walk in looking full of vigor, The Ancient One stood up in surprise.

"Sorcerer Richard, has your cross-dimensional spell been modified?!"

Richard clasped his hands together, first giving a bow to The Ancient One, and only then smiled and nodded.

"It's modified. Thanks to the Venerable's help, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for me to succeed this quickly."

The Ancient One waved her hand. "Without me, you still could have completed it just the same."

"Perhaps," Richard said with a smile, "but the exact time of success wouldn't be certain—maybe a month, or perhaps a year..."

The Ancient One nodded and suddenly asked, "When do you plan to set off?"

"Uh..." Mentioning this, Richard also felt somewhat at a loss for a moment.

To be honest, although the Lingshu World-Passage Technique had already been modified, his heart still felt somewhat apprehensive.

Yet the trip to the parallel world brooked no delay!

Because according to his calculations, the third dream-entry of his alternate selves was very likely to happen within these past few days.

Already knowing that this kind of dream-fusion possessed massive drawbacks, naturally Richard did not want to go through it again.

"Tonight!" Richard said with a very resolute tone.

The Ancient One nodded silently. She was unaware of why Richard so urgently wanted to head to the parallel world, but as an experienced senior, she still needed to impart a few words of lessons learned.

"Sorcerer Richard, upon reaching the parallel world, try not to draw too much attention."

"Every world has organizations similar to Kamar-Taj. Once outsiders stir up major incidents, there is a high probability they will face expulsion."

"Many thanks for the Venerable's teachings!" Richard clasped his hands together and bowed once more.

Night.

Richard stood deep within a desert in Africa.

With the Sling Ring slipped onto his finger, a hooded battle-mage coat on his body, and the Wand of Watoomb tucked at his waist, he stood ready.

He closed his eyes to gather his focus, pointing the middle and index fingers of his right hand at the center of his brow.

Taking the true self as anchor, search all mirrors!

Silently reciting the incantation in his heart, Richard's true-self spirituality began to spread outward sequentially by a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.

This was one of the auxiliary spells of the Lingshu World-Passage Technique created by Richard.

Taking the life-origin concept of the Huangdi Neijing, it darkly chimed with the "true-self spiritual coordinate."

He named it the "Myriad Worlds Resonance Ritual."

Very quickly, an obscure spiritual fluctuation was captured by his perceptive tentacles probing into the dimensional rift.

"Found one!"

Richard opened his eyes in pleasant surprise, terrified that this weak spiritual fluctuation would vanish in the next second, and his hands rapidly formed one hand seal after another.

"Taking the true self as anchor, and all selves as mirrors; the Lingshu opens and closes, all realms travel together!"

"Spirit Path World-Expansion Channel, open!"

Richard's body temperature rapidly rose, and his entire body began to flash with a crystalline white halo, followed by a diamond-shaped portal slowly expanding before him.

"Haha, it worked!"

Richard looked ecstatically at the person-height diamond-shaped portal. The hand seals in his hands did not stop, fluttering up and down as they continued to weave out one hand seal after another.

"Tracing back to the root and source, Rainbow Bridgeway! Origin Rainbow Bridge, go!"

As soon as his voice fell, a pillar of white light suddenly shot out from within the diamond-shaped portal, enveloping his entire body.

The next second, the beam of light shrank back, and Richard vanished.

Cape Town, South Africa.

Inside a certain narrow alleyway, a flash of white light streaked past.

A moment later, Richard walked out of the alley.

Looking at the endless stream of people on the street, Richard thought to himself.

It worked!

There are Black people everywhere; the location should be in Africa.

Could his alternate self in this world be a Black person?!

Richard furrowed his brow slightly.

He closed his eyes to sense: a dozen or so kilometers away, there was a very distinct spiritual fluctuation.

Richard pulled up his hood and retreated into the alley.

The Cape Town port docks.

A topless young man was stumbling as he ran for his life.

Bang! Bang!

Turning back to fire two shots at the pursuers, the man continued running forward.

Clang, clatter~

A bullet fired by the man ricocheted off the outer wall of a container, grazed the head of a pursuer, and knocked off his military cap.

"Dog shit! That bastard almost blew a hole in my head!"

"Damn it, chase him down and waste him!"

The young man never dreamed that the two shots he fired casually, while achieving the effect of blocking the enemies, would also rouse their ferocity.

Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!

The pursuers rushed out from the containers, and immediately two people knelt on one knee, continuously and precisely shooting rapid fire at the fleeing young man.

"Urgh, ah!"

The young man let out a miserable cry, several blooms of blood spurting from his back, and his legs went weak directly, causing him to drop to his knees on the ground.

"I, I..."

He propped himself up on the ground with a handgun, lowering his head to look at the several bullet holes piercing his chest, fresh blood along with saliva dripping from his mouth onto the ground.

"I, am, un, re, signed!"

"Ah!!!"

The man wore a ferocious expression, carrying unwillingness to the core of his heart as he let out a roar, raised his handgun, and turned around to fire shots at the pursuers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The one who chased the fastest never imagined that this fellow could still mount a counterattack.

The final three bullets fired by the man all struck his chest.

That unlucky bastard collapsed face-first to the ground, clean and crisp, without uttering a single sound.

The pursuers were directly frightened into a panic.

"Raymond is dead! Raymond is dead!"

"He still has bullets! Quick, shoot!"

Bang bang bang bang bang!

A barrage of bullets fired by the pursuers struck the man's body, causing his frame to vibrate continuously.

Puff~

The man spewed a large mouthful of fresh blood, his eyes wide open as he slowly collapsed onto the ground.

Simultaneously, a portal flickering with gold-red sparks opened above a container not far away.

Richard walked out of the portal with a deeply furrowed brow.

"I arrived a step late; my alternate self in this world is dead!"