I Became the Substitute

Sigh, we're back in the real world now, why are you still being so paranoid?

After making a self-deprecating remark, Yin Yunze casually prepared to turn on his phone.

But as soon as Yin Yunze pressed the button, he realized that at least five days had passed.

What surprised Yin Yunze even more was that the screen of his phone, which hadn't been charged for several days, suddenly lit up.

Then, Yin Yunze was immediately drawn to the time displayed on it.

"This date, the next day?"

The time displayed on the phone was the day after Yin Yunze performed the temple-building ceremony.

I walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Outside, everything was white; the snow from yesterday had only just begun to melt.

"So, it really is the second day? In other words, the change after this upgrade is that the flow rates between the two worlds have changed?"

"If we go by the last time I heard from Xuan'er, it seems I stayed there for five days?"

"So, the time flow rate between the two worlds is currently five to one? Could it be that in the future, one day in heaven will be equivalent to one year on earth?"

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and his gaze inadvertently swept over the blurry reflection on the window, and Yin Yunze felt a strange sensation once again.

After scanning the area again and finding nothing amiss, Yin Yunze simply stopped paying attention to this strange sense of unease.

Upon discovering the issue with the flow of time, Yin Yunze's first reaction was to return to that world to verify it.

As soon as this thought crossed Yin Yun's mind, she remembered his severely injured state.

"City God, Heavenly Wheel Sect! I will never let you get away with this!"

The thought of his hard-won body being ruined like that fueled Yin Yunze's anger.

Frustrated, Yin Yunze pulled out his phone and searched for a while, only to find that face unlock was not working. He then tried fingerprint unlocking, but that didn't work either.

"What the hell?! I just bought this phone less than two months ago!"

In the end, Yin Yunze managed to unlock the phone by manually entering the password.

Although only one day had passed in the real world, there were still some things waiting for Yin Yunze to deal with.

While dealing with tasks on his phone, Yin Yunze changed into some rather loose-fitting clothes.

"How did I lose so much weight after just one night's sleep? And my pants won't pull up anymore because of the tail! Did this happen before?"

Yin Yunze felt that something was off about him after waking up.

But no matter how much he thought about it, Yin Yunze couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Shaking his head, no longer letting these emotions affect him, Yin Yunze went into the bathroom to begin his daily routine.

Although Yin Yunze's bathroom wasn't small, it still felt cramped after cramming in nine tails; Yin Yunze tails would rub against the wall whenever he turned around.

Was it ever this crowded before?

After brushing his teeth and wiping his face with some confusion, Yin Yunze looked in the mirror at the fox-eared girl with white fur, green eyes, and nine large white tails swaying in her white fur and long men's down jacket. He nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed, I'm the cutest girl in the world!"

Yin Yunze casually praised himself in a somewhat narcissistic way, which left him completely stunned on the spot.

Wait a minute, am I the kind of narcissistic person who would compliment my own looks?

"And besides! Why the hell would I call myself 'old lady'?! I'm a man!"

Looking closely at the equally shocked green-eyed fox-eared girl in the mirror, even now, Yin Yunze couldn't see anything wrong.

Although there was a slight, inexplicable sense of incongruity, Yin Yunze's mind was telling Yin Yunze, "This is her!"

Looking at the fox-eared girl in the mirror, whose eyes were wide with astonishment, Yin Yunze slowly lowered his head and saw the towering mound blocking his view.

Silently reaching out, Yin Yunze felt nothing.

After this sneak attack without a chicken, Yin Yunze was completely dumbfounded!

"What the hell is going on?! It's one thing for that world to become Green Hill Yi Yun, but why is reality also like this—"

As Yin Yunze asked a question from the depths of his soul, the Power of Incense Offerings that had been accumulating over the past few days began to surge slightly, and Yin Yunze gained a sudden realization.

"How could you fucking do this?!"

To summarize the information provided by this insight, it is this: Yin Yunze has become a stand-in!

When thousands of believers firmly believed that Green Hill Yi Yun was a real deity, and pooled their prayers to bring her into being, she was born from nothingness.

Within the realm of mystery, the version of Yin Yunze — the God of Frost and Snow, the Innate Holy Spirit, and the Nine-Tailed White Fox —automatically ascended to become the dominant figure in the concept of Yin Yunze.

If Yin Yunze's true form is also some kind of deity or cultivator, then he could, to some extent, resist or become immune to this shift in dominant definition.

Unfortunately, in the real world, Yin Yunze is just an ordinary person.

In this shift in the definition of the mysterious realm, Yin Yunze's mortal body had absolutely no influence on the God of Frost and Snow.

A single ordinary mortal is far too insignificant compared to the mysterious power of a god.

Even the true form of Yin Yunze, a deity, was as insignificant as an ant trying to shake a tree in the face of the power of thousands of people's wishes.

In a sense, this was also the first time Yin Yunze had experienced the meaning of incense being poisonous.

Because of the thoughts of all living beings, things have been twisted into what they are now.

It was precisely because of this shift in the dominant definition that the closure of the Great Gate of Incense this time locked Yin Yunze's consciousness in that other world.

Because within the realm of mystery, the Innate Holy Spirit is now Yin Yunze's true form.

The physical body in the real world is reduced to an existence similar to a clone or a substitute.

After Yin Yunze was trapped in that world, he also accepted the image of Green Hill Yi Yun.

The original body in the real world, due to the influence of the incense offerings of all living beings, and because this mortal body is far inferior to that of Innate Holy Spirit, has begun to evolve in a similar way. This is also why Yin Yunze discovered that a portion of the Power of Incense Offerings has been drawn away by the Great Gate of Incense.

Actually, it wasn't that the incense was drawn away from the Great Gate of Incense, but rather that the incense itself automatically came into the body in this world.

Unbeknownst to Yin Yunze, the incense offerings from her followers were spontaneously transforming her body!

However, unlike the Innate Holy Spirit of that world, Yin Yunze in the real world, even after being modified, only has the body of an ordinary person.

Yin Yunze's physical body does not possess the Ice and Snow Tail, nor does it possess the Authority over Frost and Snow.

It can be said that, apart from looking like someone else, Yin Yunze's body is just an ordinary body.

Although he gained fox ears and a fox tail, although his strength and speed were increased, and although Yin Yunze could freely switch between human form, beast girl form, and Nine-Tailed White Fox form----

Okay, upon closer reflection, Yin Yunze realized that being able to transform into a three-meter-tall white fox was indeed within the realm of superpowers.

However, aside from the physical enhancement, Yin Yunze still cannot use the skills transformed from Power of Incense Offerings in this world.

After getting used to his new body for a while, Yin Yunze put away his fox ears and tail, which were getting in the way.

After getting dressed again, he stared intently at the white-haired, green-eyed girl in the mirror.

However, no matter how Yin Yunze viewed it, her consciousness was telling Yin Yunze that this was her original appearance.

Even so, Yin Yunze still remembers what he looked like as a man.

But recalling that face, Yin Yunze felt a sense of unease, like, "Who are you? I don't recognize you at all!"

This is also what makes Yin Yunze feel most helpless.

This conceptual shift not only changed Yin Yunze's body, but more importantly, it changed his cognition.

Even though he had just become a Nine-Tailed Fox girl who shouldn't exist in the real world, Yin Yunze didn't feel anything was wrong at all; he just felt that something was off.

It's not that Yin Yunze now considers himself a girl; it has nothing to do with gender. Whether consciously or subconsciously, Yin Yunze still identifies as male.

But here's the strange part: Yin Yunze believes that being male and having the body of a white-haired, green-eyed, Nine-Tailed Fox girl don't conflict at all!

Even though Yin Yunze had realized this, she still felt that her body should be in the state of this Nine-Tailed Fox -eared girl.

Yin Yunze's current self-perception is that he is a fox-eared girl, but a boy!

Therefore, it was only after subconsciously using the self-reference "old lady" because of the woman's body that Yin Yunze realized something was wrong.

Otherwise, Yin Yunze might have to go out with this appearance and be surrounded by a crowd before he would realize that something was wrong!

Playing female characters is harmful!

After losing his male body, Yin Yunze was filled with deep regret. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have played the female character!

If Yin Yunze knew he had built-in plastic surgery effects, he would have sculpted a super handsome guy!

"Incense is poisonous!"

For the first time, Yin Yunze truly experienced the meaning of "incense is poisonous."

"No, this can't be left like this!"

Since the problem originated in that world, Yin Yunze disregarded everything else and prepared to return to that world to take a look.

With a thought, Yin Yunze prepared to activate the Great Gate of Incense.

This time, however, as Yin Yunze activated the Great Gate of Incense, Yin Yunze discovered that the Great Gate of Incense was no longer just in his mind.

As Yin Yunze thought about entering that world through the Great Gate of Incense, a wisp of incense transformed into a stream of light in front of Yin Yunze.

The Great Gate of Incense truly appeared before Yin Yunze.

Of course, while it was described as an outline, the Great Gate of Incense actually appeared instantly with a thought from Yin Yunze.

Looking at the now exceptionally ornate Great Gate of Incense in front of him, Yin Yunze was momentarily stunned, and a thought popped into his head.

"Does that mean I can get there?"

Thinking this, Yin Yunze reached out and touched the Great Gate of Incense.

The tactile sensation, both real and surreal, made Yin Yunze feel somewhat nervous.

With a gentle push, the Great Gate of Incense opened in front of Yin Yunze.

The first thing that caught Yin Yunze's eye was a scene that was very familiar to him.

It was a temple structure that cost hundreds of thousands to build, but it was Dao Field.

A huge Nine-Tailed White Fox was lying in the Dao Field with its eyes closed.

Without much hesitation, Yin Yunze stepped into this world.

As Yin Yunze stepped into this world, the Great Gate of Incense immediately turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared from the spot.

Yin Yunze was shocked by this situation. Could it be that he had been locked up again?

However, Yin Yunze sensed that she could still open the Great Gate of Incense at any time.

He then opened another Great Gate of Incense on it, and seeing the scene leading to the real bedroom, Yin Yunze finally felt relieved.

Once she felt relieved, Yin Yunze realized that she had gained full access to the Dao Field. Furthermore, the previously sluggish Power of Incense Offerings in the real world began to become active again.

Although this physical body is conceptually defined as an avatar, it still allows Yin Yunze to obtain abilities other than divine authority. The Yin Yunze in his physical form is still the master of this temple and Dao Field.

The Dao Field, which relies mainly on the Power of Incense Offerings for its maintenance, will naturally be under Yin Yunze's control.

At this moment, apart from Yin Yunze and the Nine-Tailed White Fox in front of him, there was no one else in the Dao Field.

And because the Dao Field itself has soundproofing, everything is quiet.

Looking at the Nine-Tailed White Fox in front of her, which appeared to be unharmed but whose body was still entangled with countless mysterious Mystic Lightning, making it difficult for her to recover, Yin Yunze could clearly feel that her two divine authority wielded quietly within the Nine-Tailed White Fox's body.

However, at this moment, Yin Yunze's attention was no longer on this divine authority.

"Wow, it's huge! I didn't know they could be this big!"

Previously, because it was from a first-person perspective, Yin Yunze didn't feel anything.

From an observer's third-person perspective, the sight of this Nine-Tailed White Fox, which was almost as tall as Yin Yunze even when it was just lying down, was quite astonishing.

Walking up to the Nine-Tailed White Fox, Yin Yunze resisted the urge to reach out and hook its chin, and instead used his hand to pry open its tightly closed eyes.

As Yin Yunze rummaged around, and his eyelids twitched, a green eye appeared in front of Yin Yunze.

At the same time, the Nine-Tailed White Fox spoke up, "Tell me, are you sick in the head?"

"Is there a problem with wanting to poke a big fox?" Yin Yunze replied matter-of-factly.

"But I am you!" Unable to move, the Nine-Tailed White Fox said helplessly, "Besides, you even deliberately separated a part of your consciousness to come in, are you just bored!"

"You know you're me, so what's wrong with me touching me? If there's no reaction, what's the difference between this and playing with an inflatable toy—playing with a plush toy!"

Looking at the Nine-Tailed White Fox, Yin Yunze retorted, "Besides, we're currently one consciousness controlling two bodies! Don't you find it boring to be asking and answering your own questions like this?"

"So, you're that slow to react?" The Nine-Tailed White Fox rolled her eyes and said helplessly, "Didn't you notice that even though you're controlling both bodies simultaneously, the way your consciousness behaves changes after entering each body?"

Otherwise, do you think I'm so free that I like talking to myself? It's because I've discovered that although it's the same consciousness operating simultaneously, there are still differences. For example, you seem to have become childish—"