Not long after heaven and earth first opened.
A primordial wilderness where chaos had yet to clear.
I hit the ground, pain shooting through my knees. My body felt pinned down, and even moving was difficult. The air carried a pungent smell that made breathing hard. The sky above was gray and murky, with neither sun nor moon. The ground was split with countless cracks, some still belching black smoke. The wind was fierce, pelting my face with gravel and clods of dirt until it burned.
I was Ye Chen, in my early twenties. I had originally worked in the city, living an ordinary life. That night, after working overtime, I was walking home along the street when my vision suddenly went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I was here.
I was still wearing that gray coat, my pants covered in mud. I had to dig my fingers into the cracks between the rocks to keep the wind from blowing me away. The instant I had landed, it felt as though every bone in my body was about to fall apart. A hundredfold gravity bore down on me, nearly forcing me to my knees. My limbs were trembling now, cold sweat running from my forehead into my eyes, stinging painfully.
A flying shard of stone had cut open my left arm, and the blood had already dried into a scab. I did not dare touch it, afraid it would upset my balance. I lay prone, pressing myself as close to the ground as possible. A howling filled my ears, like countless wild beasts roaring. Something flowing through the air was wrong. It was neither wind nor air current, but an invisible pressure that crashed over me wave after wave.
I gritted my teeth and held on, while my mind raced.
This was not Earth.
There were no signal towers, no buildings, no roads.
There were not even any plants. Only bare rocks and fissures.
The oxygen was thin. My heartbeat quickened, and my lungs felt as though they were being squeezed shut.
I tried to stand, but the moment I raised a leg, a force knocked me over. On my second attempt, I grabbed a protruding rock with my right hand and slowly pushed myself upward. But before I could straighten up, a gust swept across me and slammed me back to the ground. My mouth struck a rock, filling it with the taste of blood.
I could not keep forcing myself.
I had to steady myself.
I lay flat, spreading my arms wide and digging my fingers into the cracks in the rock. I spread my legs and pressed them against the ground. Bit by bit, I adjusted my posture and lowered my center of gravity. The wind whipped my hair wildly about, covering my vision, but I ignored it. As long as I did not move, I would not be easily swept away.
I was breathing too fast, and my head spun. I forced myself to slow down, inhaling one breath at a time, holding it for half a second before exhaling. After repeating this seven times, my heartbeat settled slightly. My mind cleared somewhat.
I could not stay in this place for long.
But for now, I could not move.
Cultivation? None. Spiritual energy? I could not sense any.
My body was the same as before, nothing more than that of an ordinary person.
Here, that meant facing the storm barehanded.
My vision began to blur. My ears buzzed. My strength was draining too quickly. I knew that if this continued, I would not last even two hours. I would dehydrate, suffocate, or be torn apart by the turbulent currents. No one would save me, and no one even knew I was here.
I thought of my parents, my friends, and the blind date I had yet to go on.
I laughed.
How absurd.
I had not dated before thirty, only to transmigrate to a place like this and wait to die?
My eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
My grip weakened as well.
My knuckles went numb, and I could no longer hold onto the rock.
The wind grew even stronger, making the entire slab of rock tremble.
Just as my consciousness was about to fade—
"Ding! The Question-Answering System has bound itself to the host."
The voice appeared directly in my mind, clear, cold, and utterly emotionless.
I jolted, nearly letting go.
It was not an illusion.
The voice sounded again.
The same message.
"This system will issue questions according to the course of development in the Primordial World. Correct answers will earn rewards; incorrect answers will result in punishment. The first question has not yet been issued."
Primordial World?
System?
Questions?
I froze for several seconds before suddenly realizing something.
A chance to survive!
Just moments ago, I had thought I was finished. Now my mind immediately cleared. I no longer dwelled on useless emotions and focused instead, asking in my mind, "Are you real?"
There was no response.
I asked again, "Can you hear me?"
"Host communication confirmed," the voice rang out once more. "System functioning normally."
I drew a deep breath.
It was real.
Not a dream.
Nor a dying hallucination.
I was still alive.
And I had something to rely on.
Though I did not know exactly how this system worked, if it said correct answers earned rewards, that meant I had a chance to grow stronger. As long as I could increase my strength, I could survive. I could leave this place.
But I could not act rashly.
What if the first question was difficult?
What would the punishment be if I answered incorrectly?
Would it damage my cultivation? Cost me my life?
I did not dare gamble.
But I had no choice but to gamble.
The winds outside grew fiercer. A stone the size of a washbasin crashed down from the sky five paces away and shattered into several pieces. Fragments struck my legs, leaving a burning pain. The ground shook, and I could barely keep hold of the rock.
There was not much time left.
I silently recited in my heart:
Since I was here, I could not simply wait to die for nothing.
No matter what lay ahead, I had to give it a try.
Steadying my mind, I asked the system again, "When will the next question be issued?"
"It will be issued shortly."
As those two words fell, the air around me seemed to go still for an instant.
I did not back down.
Nor did I hesitate.
I sat cross-legged, leaning my back against a massive rock. I placed my hands on my knees and lifted my head, staring at the dim gray sky ahead. My wound was still bleeding, my clothes soaked through, and I was a complete mess. Yet my gaze did not waver.
Come on.
Let me see just how difficult this world is.
The wind howled past my ears, stirring the disheveled hair across my forehead. A bolt of lightning struck in the distance, illuminating the cracked earth. I remained seated where I was, my back straight.
The voice in my mind rang out once more—
"The first question has been issued."