Chapter 4: Satellite

The next morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Cang Luo saw a brilliant flash of light and turned toward its source, but felt something deeply strange.

It felt as if his entire body were spinning—turning his head had taken over ten seconds.

“The sun! Is that the sun?”

Having turned, Cang Luo saw a sun—and not as seen from Earth, but as seen from deep space, its surface faintly visible with flames erupting and burning.

Cang Luo instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes, fearing the sun’s glare would burn him, but found he could not move his arm.

“My hand—where is my hand?”

Cang Luo looked down to see his body, but saw nothing.

His torso, legs, feet—all gone!

“This must be a dream. I remember the excruciating pain after swallowing the Zhiyuan Pill—my brain must have shut me down to protect my body.”

Cang Luo shook his nonexistent body, then caught sight, at the edge of his vision, of something like a blue-black glass panel.

These panels were made of dozens of smaller glass pieces fitted together—he felt he’d seen them before.

Cang Luo frowned, staring hard at the blue-black glass, and as he stared, the panel moved—slightly flipping over.

Because the glass reflected light, the flip had just aligned its angle to show the sun.

Looking at the sun reflected in the glass, Cang Luo suddenly understood and exclaimed: “Holy shit—this is a solar panel?”

Cang Luo stared at the solar panels and the deep void of space, realizing this impossible perspective could only mean one thing.

“Could I be dreaming that I’m possessing a satellite?”

After thinking it over, Cang Luo concluded this was the only possibility—this strange viewpoint must be from a satellite’s camera.

“Hah! This satellite’s even a surveillance satellite! I wonder what other functions it has.”

The moment Cang Luo thought of this, an image suddenly appeared in his mind.

No—it wasn’t a memory. Not quite. It was more like an instinctive knowing.

Like how humans instinctively know their hands can move.

This instinct told Cang Luo the satellite had a weapons system capable of firing a laser cannon.

Thinking it, he acted—he directed this instinct, just like in the movies where people control mechanical arms with thought.

Cang Luo clearly heard the mechanical clunking—like a telescoping barrel extending.

Where’s the trigger? Probably also controlled by thought.

Gazing at the empty void of space, Cang Luo mentally issued the firing command!

Zzzt!

The laser cannon fired instantly, emitting a sound like an electromagnetic explosion.

The image trembled slightly, then Cang Luo saw a hundred-meter-long, deep-blue laser beam shoot out from the edge of his vision.

This laser, about ten centimeters in diameter, remained visible in space for five full seconds before gradually fading.

“Why do I feel dizzy? My vision’s blurring—like I just woke up, drained of energy. Did firing the laser cause this?”

Cang Luo shook his nonexistent head, trying to clear his thoughts.

But he forgot—he was a satellite now. Shaking his head meant shaking the satellite.

The satellite spun wildly under his mindless command, and the sensation of weightlessness was nauseating.

The spinning satellite made the entire universe seem to sway; his dizziness, already present, grew worse.

Cang Luo quickly issued a command to halt the spin—and the satellite obeyed, its view slowly stabilizing.

Suddenly, a blue planet appeared in Cang Luo’s field of view.

Cang Luo initially thought it was Earth—but when he saw it had nine moons, he immediately dismissed that idea.

Moreover, this planet had one other major difference from Earth.

Its landmass consisted of only one continent—for now.

Because Cang Luo couldn’t move the satellite, only rotate it in place, he couldn’t see if the planet’s far side held other landmasses.

But even this single continent was slightly larger than Earth’s total land area.

The continent’s overall shape resembled an irregular inverted triangle, dotted with countless islands, and filled with inland seas and lakes.

“I wonder if the satellite’s camera can adjust its zoom?”

The moment this thought arose, Cang Luo saw the continent magnifying before him—like using Google Earth.

“Now this is interesting. Let’s see how far it can zoom—if I can get close enough to read a person’s face, that’d be perfect.”

Heh heh! A perfect peeping tool!

As the image zoomed in, Cang Luo spotted an island on the continent’s eastern edge resembling a certain island nation on Earth.

It was made of four connected islands—with over 95% similarity.

“Coincidence?”

While pondering, Cang Luo saw below this island-like nation another island that filled him with shock and familiarity.

“That’s Baodao Wanwan?!”

Cang Luo gasped, rubbing his nonexistent eyes.

He examined the island top to bottom, and confirmed it matched Earth’s Hua Xia Baodao with 99% similarity.

“Could this also be coincidence?”

To resolve his confusion, Cang Luo adjusted the satellite’s view to scan other regions of the continent, seeking the reason for this phenomenon.

The more he looked, the greater his confusion grew.

Cang Luo realized this entire continent was a fusion of Earth’s six continents—excluding Antarctica.

North and South America lay on the left side, connected to Greenland, Eurasia, and Africa—but with a massive C-shaped inland sea separating them.

Australia was squeezed between Africa and Asia—the three landmasses fused tightly, with only narrow rivers between them.

Cang Luo also found Southeast Asia’s island chain in the continent’s southeast, though its structure had changed drastically—he stared a long time before recognizing it.

“What the hell is going on? This dream is too bizarre.”

Unable to find answers, Cang Luo continued adjusting the satellite’s zoom.

As the zoom intensified, Cang Luo felt as if he were flying through the air, entering the atmosphere, piercing the clouds...

He sensed a strange instinct pulling and drawing him toward a specific location—the same spot that had once been Hua Xia on Earth.

Zooming further, Cang Luo saw another familiar object—but this time, not a continent or island, but a structure.

“The Great Wall. This planet has a Great Wall too.”

Cang Luo rejoiced, making the satellite’s solar panels dance in his mind.

The Great Wall was one of Hua Xia’s cultural symbols—built by Qin Shi Huang to defend against invaders, a source of pride for all Hua Xia people.

But the Great Wall on this continent stood in a different location—vastly different.

Here, the Great Wall encircled the entire continent’s edge, keeping the islands outside its walls.

Cang Luo didn’t understand—walls were built to repel enemies. What kind of enemy required protecting the whole continent?

Moreover, soldiers armed with spears, swords, and other weapons patrolled the wall.

As the image swept rapidly across the wall, the soldiers’ armor changed color at regular intervals—seven colors total.

“Does this continent have only seven nations?”

Cang Luo continued moving his view, naturally drawn toward the place pulling at him.

Along the way, he saw forests, deserts, cities, pedestrians in ancient robes, and giant beasts sprinting—all laid bare before him.

The place pulling him grew ever closer...

Suddenly, Cang Luo spotted a town he recognized.

Cang Luo cried out: “Xuantian Gate? Then this planet is Yuanwu Continent?”

Cang Luo remembered seeing this place when Xuan Hong had flown him through the sky—the exact same building layout, the same youths in blue and white robes training on the square.

“Is this not a dream? Am I truly possessing a satellite, watching Yuanwu Continent? Is this satellite my golden key?”

Suddenly, Cang Luo noticed a middle-aged man in blue-green martial attire.

The man held aloft a five-foot-long heavy sword, muttering something under his breath.

But Cang Luo couldn’t hear him—the satellite had no audio capture—but its camera was astonishingly sharp, clear enough to see the engravings on the man’s sword.

The man moved—fire-red qi, three meters long and half a meter wide, erupted from his hands and raced along the blade.

The qi-laden sword slashed toward the largest of three massive boulders before him.

Instantly, the two-meter-diameter boulder exploded, shards flying everywhere.

Before it ended, the same qi split into two more blades, striking the left and right boulders and shattering them too.

“Sssss!”

Cang Luo gasped, stunned.

What kind of Earth-based close-combat weapon could match this power?

Tanks? Armored vehicles?

If I learned this, wouldn’t I be invincible back on Earth?

Wouldn’t I be a superhero?

Wait—didn’t Sect Master Xuan Hong say that swallowing the Zhiyuan Pill would make one a martial cultivator?

Cang Luo drifted into daydreams...

At that moment, Cang Luo thought he heard someone singing—a popular song he knew well.

Strange? The satellite can’t pick up sound, can it?

Cang Luo couldn’t understand it, but the singing grew louder and louder...