Chapter 2: Chapter Two: Faster Than a Movie Opening

... fucking hell!

After a dizzying whirl, when Gu Zhao opened his eyes again, he no longer saw his own balcony or the girl from the opposite building who occasionally opened her window to do yoga.

The sunlight was still warm, but the air carried a salty dampness, and the forest echoed with the chirping of insects and birds.

The green trees still cast thick shade, and a few farmhouses stood nearby, faint voices of people drifting in the distance.

Beneath his feet was a rough, gritty sensation; Gu Zhao looked down and realized he was standing barefoot on coarse earth, still wearing his light, comfortable home clothes.

As his gaze lifted, he knew—he had been transported.

Although there were farmhouses and voices nearby, nowhere on Blue Planet could the sun be as large as a millstone!

Gu Zhao was stunned; instinctively, he reached for the Five Thunder Talisman on his chest—but his hand met empty air.

“Where’s my talisman?!” Gu Zhao’s eyes bulged in horror.

He looked down and saw only a solitary red string swaying in the wind; the Five Thunder Talisman, once tied to it, had vanished.

That talisman was the very cause of his transmigration—how could it suddenly disappear?

“Could this be a one-way ticket?!”

Gu Zhao’s pupils dilated, cold sweat broke out, his head spun, then dulled—as if his brain had been filled with wet cement.

But the next instant, he “saw” the Five Thunder Talisman.

A black-and-red talisman, half the size of his palm, floated in the void of his consciousness, surrounded by flickering purple lightning and faint, echoing thunderclaps reverberating deep within his mind.

The Five Thunder Talisman!

Gu Zhao stared, dumbfounded—the Five Thunder Talisman had somehow moved into his mind!

Around the talisman, lightning crackled, and a small object resembling a seed circled it in flight.

The moment Gu Zhao “saw” the talisman, bolts of lightning suddenly shot from it, striking from crown to chest.

As the lightning surged through his body, Gu Zhao felt a tingling numbness, then as if a portal had opened in his chest—a breath of energy burst forth, rapidly swelling as it merged with the lightning.

Without explanation, Gu Zhao knew this energy was his primordial qi—the result of a decade of Daoist cultivation since childhood.

In an instant...

Spirit stirred, qi filled his body, essence, energy, and spirit surged; his body, grounded in primordial qi, greedily absorbed some substance from the surrounding air, and soon, magical energy brimming with spiritual essence began filling his parched meridians and dantian.

Gu Zhao stood frozen—this transformation was too shocking; he couldn’t find words to describe how he felt.

One moment he was in his cozy three-bedroom apartment, preparing for a nap; the next, he was nearly naked in a foreign countryside.

One moment he feared he was on a one-way journey; the next, his cheat skill appeared and granted him power.

Even movies don’t start this fast!

Gu Zhao, feeling the Five Thunder Talisman in his mind, the primordial qi in his chest, and the magical energy slowly filling his dantian and meridians, was utterly dazed.

“Who am I?”

“Where am I?”

“What should I do?”

After a moment of stunned confusion, Gu Zhao finally snapped back to reality.

His first instinct was to look inward again, focusing entirely on sensing the Five Thunder Talisman.

The talisman emitted a faint pull, yet also carried a sense of exhaustion.

Gu Zhao sensed that the talisman could transport him back—but it had been weakened for a long time; now suddenly activated, it needed time to recover before it could transport him again.

“Phew—” Gu Zhao exhaled deeply, “as long as I can go back!”

Though he’d suddenly gained the magical power he’d always dreamed of, if he couldn’t return...

As a minor rich kid living in a peaceful country with abundant material comforts, rich entertainment, a harmonious family, good health, and a future full of comfortable days ahead...

Sudden transmigration? No one could handle it!

“But... if I can travel between both worlds...”

Gu Zhao’s eyes brightened; as a modern youth constantly immersed in the internet, he recalled several novels he’d read about dual-world travel.

“Boss, there’s another person here!”

As he began fantasizing about the future, a hoarse voice pulled him back to reality.

Gu Zhao looked up to see two men in coarse hemp clothing, eyes gleaming with malice, wielding swords and spears, advancing toward him.

“What’s going on?” Gu Zhao jumped back in alarm.

The two men sized him up; the one on the left frowned, “Skin so smooth and tender—are you from the village?”

The one on the right sneered, “Who cares if he’s from the village? This kid’s so fair and clean—perfect to take back to the mountain and have some fun.”

Gu Zhao: ???

Transmigrating into a world resembling ancient times made sense—but “smooth skin,” “fair and clean,” and “take back to the mountain for fun”? What the hell?

I’m fucking—

As a gleaming long blade slashed before his eyes, Gu Zhao, still unaccustomed to his new strength, panicked and scrambled backward, dodging past a house—and then he understood the source of the distant commotion.

In the small open space at the village entrance, over a hundred people had gathered.

Villagers, old and young, huddled together in fear, surrounded by a dozen armed men holding cold weapons, while another dozen ransacked nearby homes.

Gu Zhao was the one they’d missed.

After cornering him at the village square, the two men laughed heartily, didn’t press further, and instead moved on to break into other houses.

Gu Zhao stood alone, watching as both villagers and bandits turned their gazes toward him.

Gu Zhao, heart pounding, stared at the towering man surrounded by bandits at the center.

He was nearly two meters tall, built like a steel tower—dark-skinned, broad-shouldered, with thick eyebrows and a wild beard; in his left hand he held a nine-ring saber, effortlessly light, embodying the fearsome aura of a mountain lord.

Yet the bandit chief barely glanced at Gu Zhao before turning his attention elsewhere.

Clearly, he wasn’t into Gu Zhao’s type—he was focused on his real target.

Before him stood a slender woman dressed in a green robe.

From the side, Gu Zhao saw her expression calm, showing no fear.

The bandit chief stared at her like prey, grinning lewdly, “What perfect timing—you’ve come here to rest? Clearly fate has brought us together.”

He reached out to stroke her chin, “Why not come back to the mountain with me? Be my queen?”

The woman turned her head away, snorting in disgust, “You’re too ugly.”