Gathering and Exchange

During the gathering, Yao Lao awakened. After Xiao Yan explained things to him, Yao Chen finally realized that his disciple had encountered such an immense fortuitous opportunity.

However, Xiao Yan did not tell Yao Chen about the book Battle Through the Heavens. He only told him about the chat group.

Xiao Yan's greatest gain from this trip was exchanging alchemy knowledge and information on medicinal herbs from different worlds with Ye Fan and Han Li.

Yao Chen's alchemy knowledge still surpassed everyone else's by quite a bit, and he gave these promising youngsters some extra lessons.

Everyone more or less knew each other's backgrounds by now. Han Li did not hide anything either, taking out the Little Green Bottle and using it to cultivate quite a few spiritual plants on this mountain for Su Lin. After Ye Fan, Xiao Yan, and Yao Chen saw how formidable it was, they hurriedly brought out all sorts of spiritual plants and immortal herbs from their own collections.

Aside from Su Lin and Shirou Emiya, the two struggling students who found studying rather painful, Yao Chen did not forget that they lacked foundations. He also made time to teach them the basics separately.

Shirou Emiya, meanwhile, shared the little magecraft knowledge he possessed with everyone. They were all very interested in this method of extracting so-called ether elements, and they also examined Shirou Emiya's innate aptitude.

"I told you, this guy's quite suited to swordsmanship."

"Isn't that obvious? In another style, he'd be called someone born with a sword bone, though there are still some major differences."

Under everyone's guidance, Shirou Emiya trained his Projection while attempting some introductory cultivation. On the fifteenth day, he finally touched upon the threshold of entry.

"..."

In truth, Ye Fan and Han Li had already begun considering how to sell counterfeit goods in their own worlds.

Shirou Emiya's ability to project weapons was very interesting. Once he reached a certain level of cultivation, he could disguise himself and go sell fakes to his enemies or the Primordial Royal Clan.

And that day would not be too far off. Based on Shirou Emiya's future trajectory, he could share his abilities with his future self and grow rapidly. With diligent cultivation afterward, perhaps within a few decades, they could establish an entire industry.

This was a reliable source of income.

Ninety days passed in the blink of an eye. There was no scheming or intrigue. Everyone helped one another and exchanged knowledge and abilities, using their own opportunities and strengths to assist the others. These days had been harmonious and joyful, creating an excellent atmosphere.

"The cultivation system within Water Mirror Peak is very similar to that of my world, but vastly different from Brother Ye's world." Han Li's voice came from nearby. He held a jade tablet in his hand, examining the information within.

"Moreover, I seem to feel that from Foundation Establishment onward, everything becomes different." Han Li looked somewhat incredulous. "More..."

Han Li seemed to be searching for a way to describe it.

Ye Fan added, "Perfect."

"Yes, exactly. Perfect."

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Han Li would never have believed that the Foundation Establishment techniques of his world were completely different from this technique. This was another path, similar yet distinct.

It was as though he had been walking along a country trail before, while what lay before him now was a broad, smooth road.

"The inheritance within Water Mirror Peak poses no problem up to the Mahayana Realm, but as for the method of breaking through to immortality..."

"But the key lies precisely in that step of breaking through." Ye Fan spoke up. "It is an incomplete, flawed method."

"It is far too extreme." Han Li gave his assessment.

"Perhaps they only thought of forging another path because there was no road left to walk," Ye Fan guessed.

"Is there a way to complete it?" Su Lin sat in a wooden chair, refilling tea for himself and the two people beside him.

"There is no way at present." Han Li shook his head with a bitter smile. "Brother Su, perhaps my future self and Ye Fan could accomplish it."

"But right now..."

"One at Core Formation, one at Dao Palace." Ye Fan pointed at Han Li, then himself. "Big shot, the two of us are rookies right now, not as strong as we were in the later stages of the book."

Su Lin nodded at that. Perhaps they could help him correct the technique in a few hundred years, but that was far too long.

Sufficient strength was the material foundation for enjoying a laid-back life.

He could cultivate it for now, then switch to another technique later if he found a better method.

"Besides the method of becoming immortal, it also has inherent side effects." Ye Fan said solemnly. "I don't know where you got this inheritance, but cultivating to the point where you no longer have even a trace of desire would be far too boring."

"Preserve heavenly principles and extinguish human desires is not inherently wrong, but personally, I think this technique's effect goes too far." Han Li agreed with Xiao Yan's words. "At most, cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage. After that, it would be better to switch to another technique."

Even so, Han Li would probably return and use this technique as a reference while cultivating it himself. Unlike the techniques of their world, it did not require abolishing one's cultivation and starting over. It was compatible and could be cultivated alongside them.

I owe him an ever greater favor. Han Li thought.

"I understand. Thank you." Seeing the two of them say this, Su Lin thanked them.

But if he could cultivate it, he would certainly continue. Nascent Soul was still a long way off.

This [Heavenly Oblivion] technique truly was a top-tier cultivation method, and it was quite efficient as well. There was no need to directly exchange for techniques from the system.

The system's techniques could be learned instantly and even came with cultivation, but the higher one went, the more expensive they became. For example, a complete Grand Unity Astral Scripture cost 5,000 points just to begin, and 500,000 to cultivate to the Mahayana Realm. Although that included the cultivation itself, it dared charge 20 million from Human Immortal to Heavenly Immortal. How many worlds would he have to visit to earn that?

There was a pattern to the system's items. Things whose great power belonged to oneself were expensive, while ordinary items or time-limited items were cheaper.

"By the way, Brother Ye, did you feel it?" Han Li asked Ye Fan.

"Yes, I felt it." Ye Fan nodded.

"Feel what? Could you not speak in riddles?" Su Lin asked curiously.

"It is not that we are speaking in riddles. This world belongs to Brother Su, so Brother Su likely cannot sense it." Han Li smiled. "Our cultivation speed is gradually slowing down."

Su Lin asked belatedly, "Rejection?!"

Ye Fan calmly picked up a spiritual fruit he had brought from the fruit platter and took a bite. "I think it is more like a restriction—the chat group's restriction on us."

Ye Fan and Han Li exchanged a smile.

Su Lin had never had an intuitive sense of this restriction from the chat group. But it made sense. The point in time when they returned did not change. If they went to another world to cultivate for several hundred years, then returned and instantly left their opponents far behind...

"Then it is about time to say goodbye."

Han Li stood and cupped his hands.

"Cultivation is truly fascinating. I can only return to city life next time I come."

Half an hour later, they gathered beside a pavilion by Water Mirror Lake and bid one another farewell.

"There is still plenty of time ahead. Everyone, come visit again in a few days." Su Lin saw them off with a smile.

This gathering had lasted quite a while. Everyone had stayed in his world for three months.

There was more than one World-Breaking Talisman, and one was given out every month. The only issue was that they did not know when this cultivation restriction would be lifted.

As agreed, they would take turns coming once a month to test how long this restriction lasted.

After all, they had planted quite a few spiritual plants and medicinal herbs here. They could harvest some when they came over. They found this place safe and convenient, so they had reclaimed quite a few medicinal fields.

With Han Li's Little Green Bottle added to the mix, the spiritual energy density of Water Mirror Peak had risen several levels in no time.

If ordinary people came to live here for a while, they would likely gain years of life and become exceptionally healthy.

As though he had suddenly remembered something, Xiao Yan asked Shirou Emiya beside him, "Have you figured out the question I asked you last month?"

"Huh?" Shirou Emiya scratched his head blankly. "Which question was that?"

"Which female lead are you choosing?" Xiao Yan sighed in exasperation. "Are you taking them all, or choosing one?"

Good grief. Su Lin could only call it good grief.

Amid everyone's teasing laughter,

Shirou Emiya's face turned bright red as he stammered that Sakura was a junior schoolmate, Rin was a good friend, Saber was a good partner, and those things belonged to parallel worlds. How could events from parallel worlds count as female leads?

As he spoke, he hurriedly opened a portal, preparing to take his leave.

Xiao Yan added at that moment, "I get it. It's that little girl called Illya, right?"

Shirou Emiya, with one foot already through the portal, was so startled that he stumbled and fell into his own bedroom.

"Shirou, what happened?" Saber from next door asked after hearing the commotion.

"Nothing..."

That was not legal.

Ye Fan shot Xiao Yan a teasing look. This guy only knew how to bully honest people.

"Alright, alright. Hurry back to the Misty Cloud Sect and fulfill that three-year agreement with your old flame's disciple, hahaha." Ye Fan laughed as he opened a portal and slipped away. He was not giving Xiao Yan time to expose his embarrassing past.

Yao Lao felt that his disciple was a little embarrassing. He smacked Xiao Yan on the head and returned to the ring.

"Let's go, disciple."

After Han Li nodded in farewell, he did not linger either and returned to his own world.

He was going to look for that person's reincarnation. Back then, he had only thought she looked somewhat familiar. Who would have thought...

The vast Water Mirror Peak was left with only Su Lin.

Su Lin exhaled a cloud of white mist.

Under the sunlight, a few white clouds drifted across Aether.

Not long after the lively scene dispersed, Water Mirror Peak became shrouded in clouds and mist once more.

Su Lin took out his phone. "Hello, Dad."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I found a job. I'm doing alright."

"Huh? What job?"

"Uh..."

"Growing agricultural products, yeah. On a large scale."

At first, there had only been odd people and strange incidents, or photos and videos that looked as though they had been edited with Photoshop.

Inside a venue in Magic City, a cosplayer wearing Emperor Armor and another dressed in a Kamen Rider Decade suit clashed swords, drawing the attention of people attending the convention.

"Where are the security guards? What are they doing?"

Unable to watch any longer, someone prepared to find security to maintain order. Although the two were putting on a spectacular fight, the more they fought, the more something seemed off.

What if they injured a beautiful cosplayer passing by?

But before long, someone noticed something was wrong.

The Emperor Armor began glowing with golden light, while flames ignited on Decade's sword.

Then, as they fought, the two smashed through the venue's glass and continued battling in Aether.

"They're actually doing it for real?"

A photographer's DSLR fell to the ground.

Night in Apricot City

On the final Line 3 subway train, several college students had caught this train, preparing to return to school after ending their gathering for the day.

They chatted and laughed. Aside from them, there were quite a few corporate employees rushing to catch the last train.

Unlike the students' laughter, most people only wanted to get home quickly and end their exhausting day.

At that moment, a man in ancient robes appeared at the connection between subway cars.

He had an imposing bearing and carried what looked like a model ancient sword on his back.

The swaying subway did not affect his balance. He merely stood some distance away, his eyes fixed tightly on a man in branded hooded clothing by the door to the next car.

Just as someone raised a phone to film the two of them,

"Qingyuan Road, arriving..."

Before the announcement inside the car had even finished playing,

The hooded man in a black mask darted out through the door at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch.

The ancient-robed man, however, unhurriedly rose into Aether and pursued him outside.

All sorts of incidents like these had occurred in cities large and small across the country over the past few months.

Meanwhile, Su Lin had spent these past few months living like a complete slacker.

Every now and then, he used Historical Projection to manufacture topics that sparked heated discussion and attention.

That was right. Everything mentioned above had been caused by Su Lin.

After careful consideration, he spent a large portion of his remaining points to exchange for a ring.

[Veil of Cause]: Conceals heavenly secrets and karmic causality. If it encounters someone capable of seeing through illusion and tracing cause and effect, this item will shatter to erase all karmic traces left since the day it was worn. Conceal the cause, and the effect cannot be seen. Without cause, where could there be effect? All effects seen are causes.

Combined with Historical Projection, would it not be a waste not to fleece Earth for all it was worth?

Although he could cultivate immortality, there was no reason not to stockpile land and accumulate grain.

During the day, he ate and drank, played games, watched dramas and anime, and chatted in the group.

Every so often, he cultivated for a few days, then vacationed in other worlds for a few months. Ah, what a wonderful life that was.

He ate delicacies and fine cuisine from other worlds and drank foreign spiritual springs and fine beverages.

After dinner, he wandered around, scouted locations, and designed scripts for stirring up trouble.

Sometimes, he even became an agent of justice, punishing criminals.

Yes, the Batmans chasing fugitives across the country lately, Spider-Men appearing to save people, Li Xiaoyao wielding his sword to wipe out criminal gangs, Sun Wukong beating down cults, and Armor Hero capturing human traffickers were all him.

Though he was merely a small Qi Refining Stage cultivator, that did not stop him from freeloading with Historical Projection.

He could also exchange for some one-time-use props to play around with.

Su Lin's true consciousness took control of one of his Historical Projections and hovered invisibly over Aether above the city, overlooking the scenery.

Ignoring gravity, he stood at a ninety-degree angle on the outer glass curtain wall of an office building.

When he first overlooked the city, it had given him the feeling of gazing down upon all living beings.

Yet the same view now gave him a different feeling. He looked at the sesame-seed-sized vehicles below and the crowds like tiny black dots.

The bustle of the mortal world, the many forms of life.

A year ago, he had still been working a 996 schedule, envying other people's comfortable lives while struggling onward himself.

The piercing honking below interrupted Su Lin's memories. Alright, it was time for a superhero to make another appearance.

A certain brand of car, whose brakes frequently malfunctioned, was about to charge into pedestrians on the crosswalk. Then came a thunderous boom from Aether.

Thunder crashed down upon the concrete road, sending chunks of stone flying.

A muscular man wearing a Marvel's Thor cartoon mask struck the car flying at the instant he landed. In movements too quick for the naked eye to follow, he used his abilities to slice open the roof and drag a family of three and their dog out of the vehicle.

After setting them down, beneath everyone's astonished gazes, he pressed two fingers together, touched them to his forehead in greeting, then leaped into the air.

"Honey, am I seeing things?"

"You're not seeing things. I'm the one hallucinating."

I tested positive right after signing the contract... Feeling awful.

(End of Chapter)