Chapter 90: Chapter 4: Ice-Crystallized Void
Two months ago, Su Zhou had decided to obliterate the Ghost Witch Family for indiscriminately cursing ordinary people and travel to an Otherworld to hone his combat skills. Ever since then, he had been making preparations.
There was much to prepare.
First was to try and gather information about that world. This was where the game handbook Shao Shuangyue had given him came in handy. Su Zhou had specifically bought all the games in the Gong Qiyin II series. Although he didn’t have time to play and beat them himself, he could just "cloud game" them on all the major video streaming sites!
Beating the game in record time, criticizing every move, talking a mile a minute, an endless torrent of commentary...
Such was the superiority of a cloud gamer!
On top of that, there were hordes of so-called "Soul Scholars," "Wolf-ologists," and "XX-ologists" who would deeply analyze the games. Some even wrote million-word novels based on their own headcanons. While most of it was a mix of guesswork and forced interpretations, it was better than nothing, and it was exactly what Su Zhou needed.
"’To believe everything in a book is worse than having no book at all. Don’t forget, there’s such a thing as corruption during transmission.’"
This was Yara’s lazy advice. "’Even with information being transmitted across worlds, the creator can’t follow their inspiration completely—after all, they’ve got to make a living. It’s not easy for anyone. Nobody wants to read angsty, grimdark stories that just torture the protagonist.’"
"You’ve got a point." Thinking of this, Su Zhou had to agree. And if that was the case, the situation in some worlds might be even more miserable than depicted in their corresponding works.
But he still played devil’s advocate. "But who’s to say they won’t do the opposite? For example, what if the inspiration came from a world with a perfect, happy-go-lucky ending, but some angsty creator gets the idea and insists on killing off a few main characters, handing out death flags left and right before the finale, cucking the protagonist, and all that other nonsense—that’s not impossible, is it?"
"I’d like to say that not even a Demon would be that petty," Yara was silenced for a moment by his counterargument, but it still nodded with difficulty. "But in truth, people like that really do exist in this world."
In any case, after watching the entire series as a cloud gamer, Su Zhou had a general understanding of the Otherworld behind the Wood Centipede. Aside from *Global Cyber 2068*, which was about a group of mechanized cyborgs on motorcycles who transformed to fight various mechanical destroyer beasts, the vast majority of the other games were set in ancient fantasy settings. They told stories of human Demon Exorcists fighting all sorts of Demons and Evils against grand backdrops, either to fulfill an oath or to save the world.
The two games in which the Wood Centipede had appeared were set in Zhengguo and Fusang, respectively. In the former, it was an additional Monster in the ’Kunlun Tianshan’ DLC, and it was related to the Bronze Divine Tree that connected heaven and earth, the ’Jianmu’.
In the latter, the sixth main installment, ’Undying Benevolent King’, it was a Little Boss guarding the ’Entrance and Exit of the Human, God, and Nether Realms’—that is, before the Fusang Sect. It also had a symbiotic relationship with the subsequent Mid-Boss, the Giant Wood God Guard.
’Jianmu is a Divine Wood that connects Heaven and Earth, a passage for Heaven, Earth, Man, and Gods. And Fusang is a pair of twin Divine Trees that form a gate, the Source of the sun, and the entrance and exit of the Three Realms—both are related to the Opening the Heavens and Earth.’
Su Zhou had put a lot of points into Mysticism, and after eating the Wisdom Fruit, his memory had become even clearer, allowing him to easily recall related descriptions from ancient texts.
He didn’t know if this trip would take him to Zhengguo or Fusang, but it was likely an ancient setting in either case. So, to avoid unnecessary problems, he had to consider ancient-style equipment, common trade goods, and the possibility of having to camp in the remote wilderness for ten to fifteen days without seeing another soul.
He even spent some time teaching himself Japanese and the various dialects of Zhengguo. In theory, with the boost from the Wisdom Fruit, he should be able to manage basic communication.
So, aside from studying at school, his Cultivation of Spiritual Qi, and chatting with professors from various Academies—who would subtly, and sometimes overtly, hint, ’Come to our Academy! We have money and resources, and we’ll take care of everything for you!’—Su Zhou also entrusted Shao Qiming to help him prepare a lot of relevant supplies.
’I have a weapon.’
His Cross Spear, inscribed with Holy Text and possessing a ceremonial feel, was too conspicuous, so its head was wrapped in an unassuming white cloth. He gripped it tightly before slinging it onto the strap on his back.
About to depart, Su Zhou checked his gear one more time.
—Salt, sugar, and spices for trading with ancient people. Some glass beads, pearls, and artificial diamonds and Gemstones. Also, a small amount of real silver.
—A Dark Spirit Crystal, for trading with or getting processed by ancient Transcendents. A small bottle of No. 3 Holy Water; a single sip was equivalent to an Intermediate Healing Technique and could heal internal injuries.
Unfortunately, there were only three sips’ worth. The Shelter Cross was too small, and it was difficult to increase the concentration and potency if he used too much water.
Although Su Zhou himself had powerful Regeneration Power, it was greatly weakened in extremely cold environments. In short, it was always right to bring some along. Besides, this kind of side-effect-free Healing Holy Medicine was bound to be extremely valuable.
—A simple tent for wilderness survival and exploration, a blanket, various survival tools, a small cutting knife, a hammer, pliers, tweezers, a portable heater, a hand-crank charger, and a high-performance flashlight.
A ring of small, easily accessible gadgets also hung from his Combat Belt, such as some diamond-shaped iron blocks that could be used as hidden projectiles or ranged weapons. Having once had his hand chopped off because he was too slow drawing a gun from his pocket, Su Zhou had a vivid memory of the incident. So even if he couldn’t get a firearm, he still prepared these kinds of small trinkets for a quick counterattack.
’Yara said that time doesn’t flow consistently across worlds. The difference between the fastest and slowest could be more than several hundred thousand times—and these two types of worlds, not being in the same temporal coordinate system, are normally unable to observe each other. It’s a "time trap" that even ordinary Deities can fall into.’
’But the Celestial God Scale can ignore this "time trap" and take me across. This way, a single trip to another world probably won’t take up much time in the real world.’
As he thought this, Su Zhou didn’t completely trust Yara. He knew that it was definitely hiding some things from him regarding this matter.
But he also knew that it would never go so far as to harm him. ’That Yara... it’s probably planning to use the Celestial God Scale’s traversing ability to analyze the Seal on its true body, and then break its bonds to regain freedom, right? Anyway, it definitely has some kind of goal. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about the Celestial God Scale, the very thing that sealed it.’
’But so what? At least I’m valuable enough to be used. As for now, I’m just gonna have my fun first, HAHAHAHA!’
’Preparations, complete. Begin. Depart!’
With everything confirmed, Su Zhou let out a spirited laugh, then reached out and touched the sphere of light emanating from the Celestial God Scale on the table. Behind this sphere, a snowy mountain forest was visible. It seemed his gear wouldn’t be useless after all.
An instant later, the man and the snake vanished from the room together.
—Court of Silence: Ancient Void—
In a completely frozen Void, like an Ice Sea, countless brilliant, luminous crystals bloomed with their own dazzling light.
These star-like crystals illuminated one another, their radiances interacting. If they could, they might have revolved around each other in the Void, sending out ripples and stirring up chaotic torrents of space-time.
And every crystal, whether brilliant or dim, was a Boundless world.
But many of the crystals were shattered. Their once-complete structures had been destroyed, with parts stripped away, leaving them in a wretched and miserable state, seemingly on the verge of annihilation at any moment.
However, the completely frozen Void slowed, or rather, paused this destruction, allowing these shattered, star-like crystal worlds to continue to exist.
At this moment, a silver light flared from a vast, Boundless world that sat at the very center of all the crystal worlds and appeared to be the only one that was whole. The edges of this world were covered in countless dense cracks, and the frozen Void had fractured into a web of fissures. The silver light followed these fissures, speeding toward a crystal that was interacting with it through ripples and light.
At the same time, in the distant yonder, a vast, Boundless, and immense fragment shaped like an Ouroboros trembled slightly.
And so, the power of the Torrent of time shifted for a brief instant.
—The Material World—
「Mid-air, inside a certain world.」
As a silver curtain of light suddenly unfurled and then just as suddenly vanished, a figure laden with baggage appeared tens of meters up in the air. He hovered for a moment, but soon began to fall.
"Crap, I forgot about the Teleportation coordinates!"
A rather annoyed exclamation could be heard, but one could also tell there was no surprise or panic in the voice.
’But hey, I’m a Superpower User, anyway.’
BOOM!
Amidst a Gale, a figure plummeted like a stone.
A cloud of dust and snow suddenly erupted from the snow-covered ground.
