Chapter 119: New World (Chapter 11)

“You look like a ring.” Feng Xue tucked away Liu Yunxi, who had crossed over with him, and sensed with his thoughts that Mo Ying had come too—he let out a breath of relief.

But while he could remain calm, Liu Yunxi certainly could not; this serpent spirit, who had endured several “blurred visions” in an instant, was now dazed, trying to sort through her thoughts as she stared at the surrounding beach, sea, and sunlight, inhaling the salty, damp sea breeze, until she finally couldn’t help asking:

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know either—maybe I overcharged the escape spell and ended up too far away?” Feng Xue offered a half-hearted explanation. Liu Yunxi, hearing this, snapped back:

“The sky’s bright! You probably flew straight to a foreign country! How much energy did you even pump into that spell?”

“Huh? You know about time zones?” Feng Xue raised an eyebrow, surprised. Liu Yunxi immediately replied:

“What’s so new about that? I knew it decades ago! The fox immortal grandmother once told me of a stag demon sage who, with extraordinary speed, chased the moon to absorb its lunar essence, running endlessly around the earth beneath him—and in the western lands, he was even worshipped as the ‘God of Chasing the Moon’…”

“...” Feng Xue had only meant to distract himself, but Liu Yunxi’s words left him speechless. He decided not to respond at all, instead beginning to organize his backpack.

There was no choice: though the Divine Step spell’s air current offered protection, collisions and jolts still carried danger. He pulled out each item from his bag, confirmed they were intact, then stowed them inside the Pot Heaven pouch. Though carrying the Yin Pouch meant he couldn’t reduce weight, at least it made carrying easier, right?

“Not bad—aside from what’s in Ninth Aunt’s Pot Heaven pouch, I’ve lost almost nothing.” After a moment, Feng Xue nodded in satisfaction, lifting the sack that looked like it held a bag of rice, and mentally reviewed the operation.

Though rushing into the unknown—whether a stationary train could trigger the cross-over—seemed reckless, the actual risks weren’t as great as he’d imagined.

He wasn’t truly cornered; he simply wanted to leave. Even if the train’s motionless head failed to trigger the keyword and the cross-over failed, he could just stay behind. He didn’t know any demonic cultivators, nor had any connection to those so-called corpse puppets, Nian Beasts, or evil spirits. Even if they dragged up the Judge, it wouldn’t matter—he had no ties to them. At worst, he’d just pretend to be a master. But he’d never claimed to be a real one! And given his current combat power, calling himself a master wasn’t even a stretch.

As for the gray rat—he wouldn’t fear a fight. If he had to, he’d lock his lifespan, and if his Qi ran low, he’d directly drain his primordial energy. Compared to evil spirits and ghosts, he had no qualms fighting cultivators or spirit immortals. If that gray rat dared suck his primordial energy, it would instantly descend into evil corruption—and then, who was the demonic cultivator? That would be up to him.

As for being crippled by the gray rat? Impossible. Not only did he still have escape spells and other trump cards, but the Xuan cultivators who fought the Nian Beast were nearby. If he drew too much primordial energy, the Nian Beast would surely be drawn here. When the Nian Beast arrived, the Xuan cultivators would come too. Then—who would they fight first? The Nian Beast? Or listen to the gray rat’s one-sided story and ignore the Nian Beast to attack him?

But now it seemed his elaborate calculations were overthought—the golden finger’s effect was far sturdier than he’d imagined. If it said one collision could trigger a cross-over, then one collision was enough. If speed wasn’t specified, then there was no requirement!

“But my first return—was it because this world is the ‘main world,’ and I had to follow the light novel trope of ‘the king’s return’? Or was it because, when I hit the train’s head, I was thinking, ‘I wonder if I’ll return to my original world’? If it’s the latter, then during the second cross-over, didn’t I also think, ‘Please don’t just let me shuttle between these two worlds’?”

Feng Xue was organizing his thoughts, but his body wasn’t idle. Though he dared not extract primordial energy in an unfamiliar place, he still pulled out his phone and began photographing his surroundings.

The long-absent species identification app came online again—but this time, the results were disappointing.

“Identified as coconut—but the leaf shape is clearly wrong.”

“How dare you identify grass leaves as banyan?”

“Damn! Even I know this is moss—but what species is it?!”

After scanning the landing site, Feng Xue covered his head in frustration—there was no way around it; the success rate was far too low.

Of course, Feng Xue understood this was likely because this cross-over wasn’t to an Earth parallel world—these species simply weren’t in the database—but he still couldn’t help feeling exasperated.

He pulled himself together, took out a drone, and began aerial photography. This time, there were no major issues—except:

“What rotten luck? Robinson Crusoe’s island was at least a hundred square kilometers, right? How big is mine? Is it even one square kilometer?”

Okay, that might be exaggerated—but given that Feng Xue had circled the entire island in ten minutes, it was probably no more than two or three square kilometers at most.

Though sparse trees and weeds grew on this tiny island, he hadn’t seen a single animal. Even though he’d only walked along the shore, the vegetation coverage was so thin that, from the southern coast, he could see the northern coast just by raising his viewpoint. Such a small island clearly had no freshwater—worst case, maybe a few seabirds would occasionally land.

Under these conditions, even if he could use rain spells to condense moisture for minimal freshwater, he couldn’t possibly rely solely on fishing for food. Worse, if he wanted to cross over again, he had no large enough vehicle—could he really cut down every tree on the island? He didn’t even have nails or rope!

As for going to sea… given how this place looked, it wasn’t likely to have…

“People!”

Sometimes, karma strikes fast. As Feng Xue circled the island and returned to his starting point, his over-the-shoulder view caught a faint string of numbers.

He’d initially thought it was a fish swimming near the surface—but the six-digit number was impossible to ignore.

Then, raising his monocular telescope, he saw…

A floating corpse.

Well, the person was still alive—just a human-shaped object clinging to a wooden plank, drifting toward Feng Xue’s island.

But Feng Xue felt no joy at this unexpected visitor—he noticed something troubling:

There were no other planks or similar debris nearby. And the beach itself held no trash or refuse.

Moreover, the growth pattern of the island’s trees made it unlikely the sea ever flooded them.

In other words, under normal circumstances, ocean currents shouldn’t carry anything to this shore.

Meaning—the “person” drifting toward him was likely conscious. And was actively moving toward this island using some method.

From any angle, a drowning person who was conscious would never float with his head down. This state was clearly an act.

So the question arises: a castaway who can barely float on the sea yet still has over three hundred years of lifespan—what reason would he have to pretend?

“Could it be some ‘lucky encounter’ from the Hero’s Quest world?”

(End of Chapter)