Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Wilderness, Talent Evolution
"Just let him die. He’s beyond saving."
"He still has a pulse. We can still try to save him."
"Our Qi is almost depleted. What if the aberrant beasts catch up? Save him? You want us all to get killed for his sake?"
"His pulse is incredibly weak. The chances of him waking up are slim. Abandoning him is the best option!"
"Brother Yu saved my life. There’s no way I’m leaving him in the wasteland. If you’re going to leave, then go!"
"Then good luck to you. We’re leaving!"
...
A clamor of voices echoed by his ear, and Chen Yu’s mind drifted. He tried to open his eyes but felt he didn’t have an ounce of strength.
"Brother Yu, I still have a little Qi left. I won’t let you die."
A young man’s voice sounded again. Immediately, Chen Yu felt a warm current surge into his body. With it came a sliver of strength, and he slowly opened his eyes.
The sky was a dark red, as if stained with blood. Smoke and dust filled the air.
That’s when he noticed a short-haired young man standing beside him.
He wore a tattered, hole-ridden shirt and jeans. With his disheveled hair and grimy face, he looked like a fugitive.
Their gazes met and seemed to freeze in place.
"Where... is this?"
The unfamiliar surroundings left Chen Yu stunned.
"Brother Yu, you’re finally awake! This is great!" The long-faced young man looked at Chen Yu, his face beaming with joy as he grabbed his shoulders.
"Haha, I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t die, Brother Yu."
The long-faced young man said with a radiant smile.
"Who are you?" Chen Yu finally managed to say.
Hearing this, the long-faced young man’s expression immediately froze.
He pointed a finger at his own nose, staring at Chen Yu in disbelief. "Brother Yu, are you okay? You don’t recognize me?"
’Oh no, did he fry his brain?’
As he spoke, the long-faced young man reached out and felt Chen Yu’s forehead.
Chen Yu: "..."
He was about to speak when suddenly, a torrent of information flooded his mind, inserting itself forcefully and surging rapidly.
Chen Yu’s head lolled to the side, and he passed out again.
"..."
Seeing Chen Yu pass out, the long-faced young man’s expression changed instantly. He immediately started slapping Chen Yu’s face.
"Brother Yu, wake up! Wake up! Don’t scare me! I’m out of Qi!"
He frantically slapped Chen Yu’s cheeks. The pain roused the unconscious Chen Yu, and he quickly came to.
"Thank goodness, you pulled through." A look of joy crossed the long-faced young man’s face as he saw Chen Yu awake again.
But Chen Yu’s expression was numb and bewildered.
After a few seconds, the light returned to his eyes.
Looking at the long-faced young man before him, Chen Yu subconsciously blurted out, "Xiangzi!"
Hearing his name, the long-faced young man instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Brother Yu, you scared me to death! I really thought you’d lost your memory."
Chen Yu remained silent, but a storm was raging in his heart.
As the torrent of information settled in his mind, Chen Yu quickly came to understand his situation.
He had... transmigrated!
This was a world called the Ancestor Star, a world where most of the land had become a wasteland.
Monsters roamed rampant across the wasteland!
And these terrifying monsters were called aberrant beasts!
Humanity’s greatest enemy!
The aberrant beasts had first appeared over a thousand years ago, an event that marked the beginning of what was known as the Age of Cataclysm!
This world was completely different from the Earth he knew.
The terrifying aberrant beasts were like monsters from mythology brought to life.
Conventional human firearms were useless against them. Even nuclear weapons couldn’t harm the more powerful aberrant beasts; in fact, the radiation would only cause them to undergo further Evolution!
However, as terrifying as the aberrant beasts were, humanity had powerful Extraordinaries who could grow stronger through cultivation.
They were the main force in the fight against the beasts, and the world had entered an age where cultivation was practiced by all.
The Ancestor Star was only one of humanity’s worlds. From his new memories, he learned that humans inhabited nine worlds in total. The Ancestor Star, one of these "Nine Realms," was the cradle of human civilization.
Today, the Ancestral Star World’s resources were nearly depleted, and most of its population had already migrated to the other worlds.
While the Ancestor Star’s resources were drying up, the other eight realms were new worlds teeming with them. Aberrant beasts existed in those worlds too, but of all the Nine Realms, the situation on the Ancestor Star was by far the most dire.
The other eight realms were paradises that many dreamed of reaching.
But it was extremely difficult for an ordinary person to leave the Ancestor Star.
Spots were limited!
A certain number of spots opened up each year, and only the chosen few were given the chance to leave the Ancestor Star.
The long-faced young man before him was named Ma Xiang, his best friend.
As for their current situation, they were on the run, trying to reach the next safe zone!
The safe zone they previously lived in had been attacked by a horde of aberrant beasts and utterly destroyed, resulting in massive casualties.
They had managed to escape by sheer luck. It wasn’t just the two of them, either; a few others had been with them.
But he had been injured along the way and fallen into a deep coma. Everyone except Ma Xiang had abandoned him and left.
Thankfully, Ma Xiang had infused him with a bit of Qi, which is what allowed him to wake up.
On the wastelands of the Ancestor Star, where monsters roamed free, only the designated safe zones offered any guarantee of safety.
The larger the safe zone, the safer it was.
The well-established safe zones were no different from modern cities.
Though the Ancestor Star had been all but abandoned by humanity’s leadership, there were still those who held their ground.
’What a hellish start...’
Chen Yu winced inwardly.
’I’ve transmigrated, but my situation is still dangerous. Out here in the wasteland, it’s easy to run into aberrant beasts. The outlook is grim.’
’So my life as a rich heir is over just like that. If I could, I’d try to go back.’
Still, he resisted the urge to just smash his head against a wall and end it all.
"Brother Yu, how are you feeling?" Ma Xiang asked, looking at Chen Yu.
Chen Yu replied numbly, "I’m fine. Not dead yet."
"Brother Yu, drink some water and get some rest. We should be safe here for a bit. I need to recover my Qi."
Ma Xiang said, pulling a water skin from his waist and handing it over. Chen Yu took it and drank a mouthful. The water instantly soothed his dry, cracked lips, and he felt much better as it went down.
Ma Xiang sat down cross-legged beside him, forming a strange hand seal. It looked like a Taoist School meditation technique. Faintly, wisps of air could be seen flowing in and out of his body.
Primordial Breath Skill!
This was a cultivation technique jointly established by the Five Great Federations of humanity.
It was also the most fundamental cultivation technique.
One cultivated by absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to improve oneself.
While Ma Xiang focused on cultivating to restore his energy, Chen Yu surveyed their surroundings.
They were in a clearing within a patch of woods. In the distance, a vast expanse of wasteland stretched out.
’Why couldn’t I have transmigrated to a stable world... Damn my luck.’
Chen Yu sighed inwardly as he gazed up at the dark red sky.
’Of all the nine worlds, I just had to end up in the worst one.’
’And as a fugitive, no less!’
’Just piling on the misery!’
As Chen Yu gazed at the sky, he thought he saw a translucent interface flicker into existence.
?
’What the hell?’
He rubbed his eyes, but the translucent interface didn’t disappear. Instead, it sharpened into perfect clarity.
Name: Chen Yu!
Talent: Limitless Physique — Rank Zero (Each time the physique undergoes Evolution, you may randomly acquire a Skill) [Unique Talent]!
Skill: None!
Source of Life: 1 Point! (Can be used for Talent or Skill Evolution/Upgrades!)
’This is... my system?!’
After a moment of stunned silence, a jolt went through Chen Yu as he stared at the interface.
As a veteran novel reader, he was all too familiar with plot devices like transmigration and "systems."
This interface had to be his system.
The interface was simple and easy to understand at a glance.
’A unique talent, Limitless Physique!’
’My body can evolve continuously, and with each Evolution, I can randomly get a new Skill.’
’Evolving the talent requires Source of Life, but it can be used to evolve Skills, too.’
’I don’t have any Skills right now, so the only thing I can evolve is the talent.’
’How do I evolve it?’
As Chen Yu looked at the interface, the thought formed in his mind. The instant it did, a prompt appeared before him.
[Consume one point of Source of Life to evolve the Limitless Physique talent?!]
Chen Yu blinked, looking at the prompt that had appeared.
’Yes.’
The thought formed in his mind.
In the next instant, a faint light flashed across the interface. At the same time, his body seemed to undergo a change, a vibrating sensation spreading from within.
