Volume 1, Chapter 278 – World

Shi Lan pulled up the panel of the All-Heavens Samsara System and entered the All-Heavens Traversal module.

From the memory fragments of the Guiyun Sword Sovereign she had seen before, it was clear that the Lingyang Realm was sealed off by a powerful barrier. Unless one’s cultivation reached the Emperor level, there was simply no way to leave.

That barrier was likely the reason why more than half of the All-Heavens Samsara System’s functions had been rendered useless.

And because of the arrival of the Illusory Star Domain, perhaps a breach had now been opened in that barrier.

Looking at the traversal panel before her, Shi Lan hesitated for a moment, then pressed the traversal icon.

“All-Heavens Traversal function activated…”

“Selecting low-grade world…”

“Selection complete…”

“Traversal initiating…”

“Initiation failed…”

“Host’s current cultivation has exceeded the carrying limit of low-grade worlds. Physical entry is impossible. Would you like to enable soul-body traversal?”

Hearing the system’s prompts, Shi Lan could not help frowning. Low-grade worlds were even weaker than she had imagined. They actually could not even contain her anymore.

“Enable!”

Having come this far, Shi Lan naturally was not about to stop. After checking over everything and confirming that the secret chamber would not suddenly be opened, she chose to proceed without hesitation.

“Soul-body traversal initiating…”

A wave of dizziness surged up from the depths of her soul, as if an invisible pair of hands had seized her spirit and was dragging it into a bottomless abyss.

[Host soul abnormal…]

The system’s prompt cut off halfway through. Shi Lan forced herself to remain conscious and shut down the self-protection program of the Empress-raising System.

The instant the self-protection program stopped, Shi Lan felt as though something had been torn out of her soul. Then boundless darkness swept down upon her, instantly stealing her consciousness.

Inside the secret chamber, Shi Lan stood rooted in place, her eyelids half-open and her gaze frozen, as if her entire person had been locked in place in an instant. Only deep within her pupils burned a thread of dim blue fire…

…

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…

“Traversal complete…”

“Selecting host identity…”

“Selection complete…”

The system’s prompt awakened Shi Lan’s hazy consciousness. She felt as if she were soaking in warm water, weak all over. She had never experienced such frailty before. It was as if she did not even have the strength to lift a single finger.

Shi Lan quickly understood the reason for it. Her soul was too weak…

Though it was much stronger than that of an ordinary person, once separated from the body, it still left her unable to move an inch.

After taking some time to adjust, Shi Lan suddenly sensed that something was off. With great effort, she turned her head and saw a faint point of light.

“What is this…?”

“Because soul-body traversal requires borrowing the body of a living being from the native world, the existence of the original owner’s soul will affect the host’s control over the body. Would you like to erase the original owner’s soul?”

“Borrowing a body?”

Shi Lan frowned, then immediately rejected the system’s suggestion without the slightest hesitation.

To destroy someone’s soul and seize their body for no reason at all was something she simply could not do.

“Is there another way?”

“The host may reside within the original body as a parasite. Without harming the original owner’s soul, the host may seal it for 12 hours each day. During that period, the host may control the body.”

Shi Lan looked at the system’s explanation, and her brows suddenly drew together.

“Who are you?”

With Samsara, the system’s backend, already asleep, then who was controlling the system now?

An artificial intelligence?

Or some other unknown existence…

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That question received no response at all, like a stone sinking into the sea.

“Do you choose parasitic residence?”

After a long pause, the system’s voice rang out again, as if urging her on.

Shi Lan had no choice but to take it one step at a time.

…

Whoosh—

In the middle of the night, the girl lying in bed suddenly threw her eyes wide open, flung off the blanket, and sprang upright.

Perhaps it was a side effect from her soul having only just entered the body, but Shi Lan felt only that her heart was pounding like a drum and her chest was almost about to burst apart. Only after a long while did it slowly settle down.

Beep—beep—

A long horn sounded from outside. Shi Lan’s pupils shrank. She leapt off the bed, rushed to the window, and yanked the curtains open in one pull.

Outside the transparent glass window was a blaze of nightlife and color. Neon lights of every shade spilled into Shi Lan’s eyes, churning the dead-still lake of her heart into stormy waves.

Pressing herself against the window, Shi Lan looked at the world before her almost greedily.

Everything before her looked astonishingly like that homeland she had nearly forgotten.

Bzzz…

A few light vibrations came from behind her. Reluctantly, Shi Lan pulled back her gaze and turned toward the source of the sound. She went back to the bed, pulled up the blanket, and saw the phone screen glowing faintly in the dark room.

2:34…

Face recognition unlocked the phone. Shi Lan awkwardly swiped at the screen, staring without blinking.

After a long while, Shi Lan tossed the phone aside, disappointment in her eyes.

In the end, it was only a somewhat similar world…

Though the level of technology was about the same, this world was still quite different from the one in her memory. On this planet there were only three countries: Great Xia, Shuiyun, and Nanhao. The place she was currently in was Nanhao.

All three of those countries had existed for thousands of years. Throughout that time, wars great and small had never ceased, yet all three had endured and stood in a tripartite balance. In the last hundred years, because weapons had become increasingly destructive, warfare had actually become rarer instead. There were only small-scale frictions now, and most of the conflict was just verbal sparring.

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The body she was currently using was called Ning An, a third-year high school student, an only child, with both parents alive and a well-off family background.

An ordinary world, an ordinary background, an ordinary person.

A world like this clearly had no way of bringing her any real gains.

Shi Lan opened the window and sat leaning against the sill. It should be summer now, and the slow night breeze did not feel cold.

As she looked at the world outside, Shi Lan gradually drifted into thought.

Swish—

A black shadow flashed past from the rooftop of the building opposite. Several white shadows clung to it like maggots on a carcass, sticking tightly behind it before vanishing after only a few movements.

Shi Lan narrowed her eyes slightly. If she had not seen wrongly, those should have been several people.

The speed and strength with which they leapt across roofs and ran over walls was not something ordinary people could possess. Clearly, this world also had supernatural powers.

Perhaps… she still had something to gain here…

Shi Lan stepped down from the window and shut it firmly.

She wanted to make contact with the supernatural powers of this world. Before that, she needed to make some preparations. At the very least, she needed enough strength to protect herself.

Shi Lan tried to assume the opening stance of the Vajra Divine Fist. Before she had even unfolded half of the first movement, a tearing pain shot through her elbow and arm.

Bang—

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself through a few movements, then collapsed weakly onto the bed, speechless.

This body was even weaker than when she had first arrived in the Lingyang Realm.

After all, the Lingyang Realm had abundant spiritual qi. Even without cultivating the martial path, the mortals there, after being nourished by spiritual qi over long years, had physiques far superior to the people here.

This is as far as I can go for now…

…

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“Mom!”

A shrill cry shattered the quiet of the morning, jolting awake the nearby residents and setting off a burst of barking dogs.

“What happened?!”

A beautiful woman nearing forty pushed open the door. When she saw Ning An lying on the bed in an awkward posture, she hurried forward in alarm.

“Everything hurts…”

Ning An lay face-down on the bed, her body arched awkwardly, her face deathly pale. She only felt as if a truck had run over her. Every muscle and bone in her body seemed to be wailing, and the pain had covered her in cold sweat.

“Hold on, I’ll call an ambulance!”

Seeing her daughter in such a miserable state, Qin Yinhua was momentarily flustered as well.

…

…

Inside the hospital room.

“It’s nothing serious. Just muscle soreness. She probably overexerted herself.”

The emergency doctor stared at the report in his hand for a while, glanced at Ning An lying on the bed not far away, and shook his head slightly.

“That’s good…”

Qin Yinhua let out a breath of relief.

“But she still needs to be careful. This level of exercise is too much strain for her. Physical training also needs moderation. If it leads to rhabdomyolysis, that’ll be troublesome.”

After offering a few reminders, the doctor left carrying the medical chart.

Ning An watched the doctor’s departing back. Suddenly, her mind grew a little hazy, and a few somewhat unfamiliar memory fragments flashed through it. But when she tried to think carefully, she could not recall them.

She usually liked reading horror novels, and in her current bizarre situation, she could not help but let her mind wander.

This couldn’t be some kind of ghost-riding-the-bed thing… could it…?