Netherworld Passage

"A historical branch has been established."

"This historical branch was born of your will and has not affected anything that happened in the past."

"Congratulations."

"You have gained a piece of personal history unknown to anyone else:"

"When you were seven years old,"

"you were playing at home and crawled into a wardrobe, only to stumble into a world filled with mist."

"Your father brought you back."

As those tiny words appeared,

countless images surfaced in Xu Yuan's mind.

He remembered what had happened when he was seven.

In that mist-filled world, his father had found him, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

"Dad, what is this place?"

His seven-year-old self had asked the question.

"You're too young. It wouldn't be right to tell you now," his father had said hesitantly.

"Dad, what if you're not around next time and I fall in again?" he had pressed.

His father had thought for a moment, then sighed and said:

"This technique isn't much use. Nothing's left of this world but ruins. It has no value."

"Its only purpose is to let you stay in the Underworld for a while and avoid danger."

"When you awaken your spiritual power, I'll teach it to you."

"What if you're not with me when I awaken it?" his seven-year-old self had asked.

"I'll call to you through our bloodline and pass the technique on to you," his father had said.

"Remember, this technique is called—"

"Netherworld Passage."

The memory ended there.

Xu Yuan's eyes flew open, and he rose from the floor.

The mystery was solved!

No one would go to such lengths to pass a secret technique to an ordinary high school student.

But his parents would!

The black shadow in his eye must have been the bloodline method his father had activated.

That was how his father had taught him the way into the Underworld!

Xu Yuan took a few breaths and stared silently out the window.

Father...

The word felt so unfamiliar.

But he had to contact him now.

How was he supposed to talk to him?

For an adult, it was hardly a difficult problem.

Especially for a seasoned RPG player like him. If he approached it as "taking part in the story" and tried to feel the fatherly love of a man who cared about his son—

he was, in fact, a little moved.

Xu Yuan took out his phone and called his father.

Ring—ring—

No answer.

Archaeologists like his parents were often impossible to reach once they entered a ruin.

Forget it.

He could ask later.

With nothing else he could do, Xu Yuan gathered his thoughts and went back to his homework.

Eleven thirty at night.

He finally finished all his homework, packed his schoolbag, washed up, and lay down to sleep.

He had far too little spiritual power at the Qi Refining First Layer.

Using Netherworld Passage once to put the dried corpse into the Underworld had exhausted every last bit of it.

Since his mother had fallen ill, the family's savings had steadily dwindled.

He had no pills to replenish his spiritual power.

Better to sleep.

All he could do was wait for a night's rest to restore it little by little.

But before he slept—

Xu Yuan lay in bed, opened the Qi Refiners' Combat Prep Room, and took out his Rare-grade goods voucher.

A corresponding notice immediately appeared in the shop:

"You may refresh the shelves immediately and exchange the voucher for a Rare-grade item."

"Since you have unlocked the 'Rare' grade, here is an explanation of all goods grades, from lowest to highest:"

"Damaged, Common, Excellent, Fine, Rare."

"The highest-grade items in this shop are Rare."

Xu Yuan grew even more interested.

The "Nightwalker" short blade had been pretty useful, and it was only Excellent-grade.

What was he waiting for?

Let's see what you've got!

Xu Yuan said quietly:

"Use the voucher in my hand."

The moment he spoke,

every item in the shop vanished.

Then

a pill appeared on a shelf.

The tag bore its description:

"Marrow-Cleansing Pill."

"Rare-grade pill."

"Effect: Thoroughly remakes your limbs, bones, and meridians, raising your aptitude for cultivation to a new level and making your body worthy of your soul!"

"Cleanse the body and marrow; reconnect the meridians and restore spiritual power."

"Price: Redeem directly."

Good stuff!

For a cultivator, this was the real thing!

Without hesitation, Xu Yuan redeemed the pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

He sat up on the bed, crossed his legs, and waited for the pill's power to slowly spread.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Time flowed slowly by.

Before he knew it, Xu Yuan had entered a strange state of self-forgetfulness.

A close look would have revealed his body trembling faintly, as though it were being washed by some immensely powerful force.

Not until sometime after four in the morning

did his eyes suddenly open.

At once, a layer of black, foul-smelling matter oozed from his skin.

The impurities in his body had been expelled!

Xu Yuan scrambled off the bed, rushed into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and washed himself thoroughly.

He washed his sheets and clothes too.

Then he changed into clean clothes and sat down in the living room.

The sky had yet to lighten.

All was silent.

Xu Yuan sat motionless, yet he could feel spiritual energy pouring into his body from every direction.

It was as though spiritual energy had sifted through every part of him.

Strength brimmed through his body.

He felt as light as a swallow.

His mind was clear and sharp. Even his thoughts moved at a different speed than before.

By comparison, his "former self" seemed like a drunk stumbling through life in a haze.

The Qi Refining Second Layer!

He had reached the Qi Refining Second Layer!

With that level of strength, a high school student could get into virtually any university in the country.

But the few universities at the pinnacle, such as Nine Luminaries and Luofu, required the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Yang Xiaobing had only received an invitation to the special admissions test after she reached the Qi Refining Third Layer.

"What a shame..."

Xu Yuan said the words but went no further.

Esports demanded all kinds of talent: visual reaction speed, hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and multitasking.

Unfortunately, he had no reaction-time testing software or dynamic vision training tools here.

Otherwise, he would have set a record on one of those tests!

If he couldn't test himself, why not practice?

He sat cross-legged on the sofa, his hands rapidly forming spell gestures and seals.

He went from the water and fire spell seals of alchemy to the techniques for controlling artifacts, then the thirty-six methods of talisman crafting, and finally the recitation and use of sword arts.

As Xu Yuan practiced, he reviewed everything he had learned over three years of high school.

He wanted to try Netherworld Passage again.

But the police had broken the formation on his front door, and he had not yet had it replaced. Anyone could simply walk into his home.

If someone caught him, it would be over.

He could only hold back until daylight, when he could find somewhere secluded and continue exploring the technique's secrets.

Before he knew it,

the eastern sky had begun to pale.

It was six thirty in the morning.

His alarm suddenly rang, "waking" Xu Yuan from his absorption in cultivation.

"It's already six thirty..."

Muttering to himself, he stood, shouldered his schoolbag, changed shoes, and went out.

First, he bought steamed buns, side dishes, and rice porridge from a street vendor.

Then he crossed an alley, turned a corner, and reached the hospital.

The hospital was very close to the archaeologists' residential compound. That was especially important.

Otherwise, Xu Yuan would not even have been able to get to school on time.

Knowing the way by heart, he entered the inpatient building, went upstairs, and pushed open the ward door.

"Xiao Yuan, you're here."

A weary woman's voice greeted him.

"Mom." Xu Yuan set breakfast on the bedside cabinet, pulled up a chair, and sat beside the bed.

He looked at the original Xu Yuan's mother.

Zhao Shulan.

She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, yet more than half her hair had already turned gray.

Xu Yuan looked much like her: they both had oval faces, large eyes, and high-bridged noses.

But there was a difference.

Years of illness had left Zhao Shulan frail, her face pale and haggard.

Zhao Shulan had once been an expert in ancient artifacts, but she had been poisoned by an unknown toxin during an expedition into a ruin.

No medicine had helped. All they could do was keep her condition stable.

"Hungry?"

Xu Yuan asked softly.

There were six beds in the ward, and the patients in the others had not yet woken.

"No." Zhao Shulan shook her head. "What about you? Hurry and eat. You still have to get to school."

"There's time. No rush."

Xu Yuan answered, recalling how the original Xu Yuan used to speak.

"How's school been lately? Have your teachers said anything to you?" Zhao Shulan asked.

"Everything's fine. Don't worry," Xu Yuan said with a smile.

"I've been a burden to you," Zhao Shulan sighed. "If you didn't have to take care of me, you wouldn't have to work so hard every day."

"Stop letting your imagination run wild," Xu Yuan cut in. "Oh, right. I mastered Flying Swallow Chain from the Swallow Song Sword Art."

"Really?" Sure enough, Zhao Shulan's attention shifted.

"Of course."

Xu Yuan picked up a disposable chopstick. His hand flashed like lightning, slashing eight streaks of Sword Qi through the air, each as thin as a white line.

Snap.

The disposable chopstick couldn't withstand the force and broke in two.

"Sword Shakes the Eight Wastes."

Zhao Shulan spoke the words in a low voice.

The room fell silent.

Being able to release Sword Qi meant he had mastered spiritual power. He was a Qi Refiner, qualified to enter university for further study.

And he had pushed the hardest sword art taught in high school to its limit!

There was a name for unleashing eight streaks of Sword Qi at once: "Flying Swallow Chain, Sword Shakes the Eight Wastes."

This was the highest realm of the Swallow Song Sword Art, and its limit.

If he could release Sword Qi like that during the college entrance exam, he would earn full marks on the swordsmanship test. Getting into a top university would be a piece of cake.

Zhao Shulan's eyes reddened. She covered her face with both hands and choked out:

"That's wonderful."

"I've been so uneasy lately, afraid something might happen. Who knew my son would make me so proud?"

Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment, then pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. "That's right," he said softly. "Making you proud is what I do."

He waited until Zhao Shulan had calmed down a little, then helped her sit up and brought over the buns and rice porridge.

Zhao Shulan wanted to eat by herself, but he gave her a stern look.

Xu Yuan held the porridge and fed it to her one spoonful at a time. After she finished, he sat with her and talked for a while.

When she grew sleepy,

Xu Yuan tucked the blanket around her, said goodbye, and headed out.

Seven ten.

He had ten minutes before he had to be in class.

Xu Yuan broke into a jog toward Jiangbei No. 5 High School.

Ring, ring, ring—

He reached the classroom just as the bell for study hall rang.

"Have you eaten?"

His best friend, Zhao Afei, handed him a piece of bread.

"Not yet. This bread's good. Where's it from?" Xu Yuan wolfed it down.

"A bakery that just opened by the school's back gate. I thought it was good too," Zhao Afei said.

"Lend me a sip of your soy milk."

Xu Yuan grabbed the soy milk from Zhao Afei's desk and drained it in one go.

"Lend? When exactly are you planning to pay me back?" Zhao Afei said testily.

"I'll teach you alchemy," Xu Yuan said.

"Pah. I should be teaching you," Zhao Afei said.

Xu Yuan had always been good at swordsmanship and physical combat, while Zhao Afei was good at alchemy.

Of course Zhao Afei had to object when Xu Yuan said that.

Their homeroom teacher appeared in the classroom doorway.

The two immediately sat up straight and pretended to study, no longer whispering to each other.

"Everyone, get ready!"

As soon as the homeroom teacher spoke, everyone stopped studying and looked toward the podium.

"At nine this morning,"

"the group battle exam officially begins!"