Yang Jian’s warning filled Ye Zichen with curiosity towards the Outside, the place that terrified even the emperors.
Just what kind of place was the Outside, that it would shatter his worldview?
When Ye Zichen met Yang Jian’s gaze, he saw his friend’s seriousness, as well as a hint of worry.
Ye Zichen didn’t press for answers. He knew that it was just as Yang Jian had said: once he got there, he’d naturally understand.
Yang Jian’s divine power circled around Ye Zichen, protecting him as they made their way to a space with a black hole far bigger than the others. From the look of things, once they passed through it, they’d arrive at the so-called “Outside.”
Yang Jian paused, then pounded Ye Zichen on the shoulder. “You have to mentally prepare yourself.”
They passed through.
Ye Zichen had been wondering just why Yang Jian’s expression was so grave, but when they really passed through the black hole, Ye Zichen heard the familiar sound of car horns and traffic.
When he opened his eyes…
“.....” He was astonished. His eyes widened, and his arms trembled.
Before him was a stretch of towering skyscrapers. The taller, corporate buildings even had familiar LED screens playing movie previews.
Countless pedestrians walked by and, perhaps because of Yang Jian’s strange get-up, many looked at them in surprise.
This was the Outside?
The place he was standing was obviously Bing Cheng, the city he’d lived in for the first twenty years of his life. This was the busiest, most flourishing street with the heaviest foot traffic in the entire city.
Even the street signs were exactly the same!
There was absolutely no way he was mistaken. This was the Modern Realm!
Was he back?
Ye Zichen couldn’t hide his shock. He took in his familiar surroundings, like a pilgrim returning home after years away.
He was a full-on sky supreme, a powerful expert, yet his eyes reddened with unshed tears. His lips quivered, but he said nothing. He simply closed his eyes and took in the sound of car horns. They’d irritated him for decades, but after he left home, he’d missed them for a century.
“Hey!” Someone gently patted him on the shoulder. Ye Zichen opened his eyes and saw a pretty girl in a crop-top and short shorts smiling at him curiously.
Jing Wan.
Wasn’t this girl the blogger who’d invited him to join her League of Legends team?
“Are you cosplaying?”
This familiar, yet modern word caught Ye Zichen off guard. A moment later, he realized that he was still clad in clothes typical of the Divine Mountains. In the Modern World, his robes belonged to the ancient era.
Yang Jian’s Hawaiian shirt and shorts were a bit exaggerated, but they were nowhere near as out of place.
Fortunately, the Modern Realm had all sorts of people in it. His antiquated dress was out of place, but it seemed people just took him for a cosplayer. However, it seemed that Jing Wan didn’t recognize him.
“Why are your eyes so red? Did someone insult your cosplay? Toughen up! I quite like your outfit, and it suits you, too,” said Jing Wan with a smile.
“Thanks.” Ye Zichen nodded.
“Can you give me your contact information?” Jing Wan pulled out a cell phone covered in stickers of cartoon characters and waggled it.
Ye Zichen instinctively furrowed his brows. She noticed and laughed, “If it’s inconvenient, forget about it. But honestly, I’m generally not the type to ask a guy’s number so lightly. There’s just something about you...I don’t know quite how to put it. Anyway, this is my contact information. I’d love it if you’d add me. You’re really cool!”
She stuffed a slip of paper into Ye Zichen’s pocket, then waved goodbye.
Ye Zichen took out the card and saw it had her social media handle and phone number on it. He took out his phone. Back then, he’d had Jing Wang’s number. He compared them, and….
They were the same!
This was the Modern Realm!
Ye Zichen put the card into his pocket, then shot Yang Jian a complicated look. Although he didn’t say anything, Ye Zichen’s gaze was enough to express his turbulent emotions and confusion.
What exactly was going on?
Why was the Outside the Modern Realm he’d once lived in?
What was going on?
Hadn’t the demons’ invasion frozen his former home in ice? Why wasn’t this place frozen? Had it been unsealed? Why hadn’t he, or any of the others from the Modern Realm, found out about it, then?
“It’s not what you think,” sighed Yang Jian.
“What do you mean? Isn’t this the Modern Realm? The place I used to live…”
At that moment, Ye Zichen’s divine awareness suddenly told him that Jing Wan was about to face a car accident. It didn’t matter whether she remembered him or not. Since they’d reunited, he had to stop this accident from happening.
But before he could do anything….
He saw her perform a perfect reverse somersault, jumping several meters into the air and landing smoothly on the ground. Afterward, she left as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The driver didn’t so much as slow down. He just kept going, full steam ahead.
“What’s going on now?”
Was she actually a martial artist?
No!
An ordinary mortal martial artist might be stronger than an ordinary person, but there was no way they could leap so many meters into the air. That was just too shocking!
Before Ye Zichen could digest what he’d seen, he saw a group of people flying overhead.
They were flying!
He rubbed his eyes, then looked again.
There really were several men and women flying overhead, and quite a few of them at that. Ye Zichen reached out with his divine awareness and discovered that within a hundred square miles, there were thousands of people flying.
His eyes widened. He turned to look at Yang Jian in hopes of getting a logical explanation.
Yang Jian took in his shock and sighed. “I told you to mentally prepare yourself before we got here.”
“If you wanted me to prepare myself, you ought to have told me where this was. Why did the Modern Realm wind up like this? Why can all those people fly? Are they all cultivators? Just what happened here after I left? Tell me, what’s going on!” Ye Zichen was somewhat worked up.
“You might not believe me when I saw this, but this isn’t your Modern World,” said Yang Jian.
“That’s not possible!” Ye Zichen refused to believe it. “I know that girl, the one who gave me her number. Her name is Pu Jingwan, and she’s a famous streamer. She once invited me to join her league of legends team. And her number! It’s the exact one she gave me all those years ago….”
“Then tell me, why are there so many cultivators here?”
It was just one simple sentence, but it shut Ye Zichen right up.
Yang Jian patted him on the shoulder. He obviously understood Ye Zichen’s feelings. When he’d first come here, he reacted in much the same way.
But this wasn’t the Modern Realm after all!