Book 3, Chapter 1: The Real World

Book Three: Arcane Body

A car headed toward Central City.

On both sides of the public road were the endless wilderness and the seemingly never-ending guardrail. Without any clouds covering it, the sun shone on the car, making the metal sparkle.

The public road in the east of Yangzhi City led to two places. One was Farsight Harbor, and the other Central City, which was the path the car was taking.

Few cars drove down this road, because the residents of Central City seldom left. Meanwhile, if anyone outside wanted to go in but didn’t have the proper credentials, they wouldn’t choose this path.

Cheng Zitong drove steadily at a perfect speed. They had left in the morning, and five hours later, they arrived at a checkpoint outside the city. By this point, they were really close to Central City.

Cheng Zitong came to a slow stop and said, “You’ll enter Central City once you pass this checkpoint. This is as far as I can send you, Xiao Chuan. The main campus will pick you up here, so just wait for their representative.”

“Got it,” Chen Chuan said.

He got out of the car and grabbed the Frost King Saber from the backseat before taking his luggage bag out of the trunk. Cheng Zitong also got out. He turned his face skyward and said, “Seriously, why is the sun still so bright?”

Then, he put his sunglasses on.

After that, he walked over and patted Chen Chuan’s shoulder. “Don’t forget to call once you’ve settled down.”

“Okay. I’ll be leaving now, Mr. Cheng,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

Cheng Zitong gave him a wave and said, “Off you go.”

Chen Chuan bowed to him before straightening his back and walking to the checkpoint.

When he arrived in front of the mobile barrier, two constables came forward to check his transit documents. Once they confirmed that he had everything, they moved the barrier away and let him in.

Chen Chuan only heard the car behind him leaving after he stepped through the checkpoint.

At this point, he looked up. The main road led straight ahead, and he could see Central City in the distance.

Buildings of various shades of gray and height towered over the horizon. Flyovers leading to the sea streaked through the air like gray rainbows before disappearing into the fog. Compared to the distant Yangzhi City, this place was like an entirely different world.

Under the vast blue sky, Chen Chuan stood on the only road connecting the two worlds with the Frost King Saber and luggage bag in hand. He was going to face this entirely new world on his own.

Chen Chuan observed the city for a while before setting his luggage bag down. He checked his watch. It was 2 p.m.. According to what Cheng Zitong told him, the person coming to pick him up should arrive soon.

But the procedure of entering and exiting Central City was really complicated, and those without a high standing found it troublesome. That was why his contact might have been delayed. Cheng Zitong had told him to wait patiently. In any case, there was a phone and telegraph set by the checkpoint, along with a simple hostel. He could use them as long as he paid.

Chen Chuan stood quietly while using the Furnace Breathing Technique. When it was almost 3 p.m., he heard a car coming over.

The sound made him look over, and he saw a well-used armored SUV heading toward him. It came to a slow stop around six meters away. Then, a man popped his head out. “Are you Chen Chuan?”

Chen Chuan observed him. The man was in his forties. He wore polarized glasses, had messy hair, rather deep smile lines, a recently trimmed beard, and slightly dry lips.

He was quite different from what Chen Chuan had imagined his contact would be. This man didn’t seem like a martial artist or a lecturer. Was he a faculty staff member?

That made sense. Everyone was busy celebrating the New Year. The lecturers in the main campus didn’t have any ties with him, so there wasn’t any need for them to come forward and welcome him. The ones they could send would be people without high status.

“I am,” he answered.

“Good that you are.” The man didn’t ask to check Chen Chuan’s ID. He just gestured at the back of the SUV with his chin. “Get into the back.”

Chen Chuan went over and got into the backseat. Once he was settled, he noticed that there was an incised line stretching from the man’s ear to the back of his neck. It was a sign that he had an implant. After taking a look, Chen Chuan asked, “How should I refer to you, Sir?”

The man gave a quick wave of dismissal. “Don’t need to be so polite. I’m not a lecturer at Martial Valor University. It’s the New Year, and your university gave me a mission to pick up a student because I’m pretty trustworthy and have been to Yangzhi City a few times. Anyway, all settled?”

The man waited for him to fasten his seatbelt before starting the engine. Then, with smooth motions, he reversed the SUV and headed to Central City.

After a while, he said, “Qi Gao, but you can just call me Lao Qi. Say, have you brought all your documents with you? They’re really strict about their checks in the city. If you don’t have everything, it’ll be difficult for you to enter.”

“I have. Does that mean that you can’t enter the city without documents?” Chen Chuan asked.

“You can, but you have to take the long way and face some risks. I’ll have to go the way you go, since I’m bringing you in, so if we can skip the trouble, I’d prefer that.”

Qi Gao cast a glance at the rearview mirror. “This is your first time in Central City, isn’t it?”

There was no need to lie about this, so Chen Chuan replied honestly. “Yes. It’s my first time.”

Qi Gao gave him a mysterious grin. “There’s a spot before the checkpoint. You’ll need to use your ID to pass through it. You’ll understand it when the time comes.”

In less than half an hour, they got close to the city, but before entering, they stopped next to a silver-gray skyscraper.

There were no longer any guardrails by the road. In their place instead were dome-shaped platforms resembling bare pillar foundations. People could get on them, though Chen Chuan couldn’t see the point of it.

“We’re here. Time for you to get out,” Qi Gao said and grabbed a box before getting out himself.

Chen Chuan looked outside. The place was deserted. No one else was around. The building didn’t look like a checkpoint either. Still, Chen Chuan got out.

Qi Gao set the box on the ground before opening it. With a click, cold air spilled out, revealing ice inside. He grabbed a few cubes and threw them into the distance. At the center of the box was a sealed package, which he opened. Then, he took out the thing inside and threw it in Chen Chuan’s direction.

Chen Chuan caught it and found that it was a mask that would cover the top half of his face. It was very light and seemed to be made of bone. The part where the eyes were had a transparent membrane resembling a piece of glass. Two white worms squirmed around the edges of the mask. They were fixed to the mask.

“Put it on,” Qi Gao instructed.

Chen Chuan put the mask on and could immediately feel it fixing itself on his face. The sides of the mask formed arcs above his ears to secure the mask’s position.

The mask blocked the strong sunlight outside. Even though only the top half of his face was covered, Chen Chuan felt as if he had been separated from the world.

The two worms slowly stretched down and crawled into his ears. They even shrank a little to fit better.

In the meantime, Chen Chuan noticed his second self blurring out, though it was so faint he wouldn’t have realized it was happening if he hadn’t been paying attention. He pondered over this before deciding to stop having his second self absorb the damage.

His vision turned black, then started flickering, and hissing sounds came from around him.

When he looked up again, he saw the city in an entirely different manner. Layers of radiant neon light unfurled, intertwining with ribbons of light that swirled and danced around the originally monotone, gray buildings. They danced and stretched upward, forming a veil of light that reached into the clouds and beyond.

Above the light were large holograms of various people, flickering scenes from the old era and the new era, and visions of reality and the paranormal. They looked as if they had been removed from the stream of time and blended together into this disordered space.

Chen Chuan also heard a cacophony of noise that was a mix of all sorts of languages and fragmented sounds.

Regardless of whether it was the light or the sounds, they crashed into Chen Chuan’s senses all at once. They surrounded him and enveloped him. Everything seemed to want to occupy his attention, but whenever he tried to stop for a moment to process it, a new wave of information swept him away.

“Earth to Chen Chuan. Can you hear me?”

The speaker’s voice seemed to have come from a distant place, yet it was the only coherent and recognizable thing. Chen Chuan turned his head around and saw Qi Gao shouting at him while waving a hand in front of his face. His other hand was beside his own ear patting it.

He was also hunching his shoulders, putting his hands together on one side of his face, and shutting his eyes, as if he was coaxing a child to sleep. It looked quite hilarious, but the message was clear.

Chen Chuan brought his hands up and patted his ears. The worms curled up. The next moment, his vision went dark, and all that he saw disappeared without a trace. The cacophony of sounds also vanished. The world returned to how it originally was.

He slowly removed the mask. When the wind blew past his hair, it brought with it some dust. The area around them was quiet and spacious. The skyscraper in front still stood quietly in its spot. It was as if everything that happened just now was only an illusion.

Qi Gao checked Chen Chuan from head to toe, and surprise flickered in his eyes. “You’re okay? The first time anyone comes into contact with this, they usually can’t stand it. Some even faint. You’re amazing. You’ve been staring at it for so long, yet you’re perfectly fine!”

Chen Chuan lifted the bone mask in his hands and asked, “What’s this, Mr. Qi?”

Qi Gao shrugged and said, “The central government calls it the Realm Pass, but most call it the Yin-Yang Device. There’s also a technical name for it. What was it again...”

Then, his eyes flickered. “Right. The Biofield Link Interface. Other companies have their own names for them, of course. Anyway, there are many ways to refer to it. You saw Central City just now, didn’t you?”

Chen Chuan nodded.

“Well then... welcome to the real world.” Qi Gao spread his arms. His expression was filled with excitement and mania, while his voice became laced with hate and love. He turned toward Central City and sighed. “What you see now are the flaws we refuse to see. What you saw through the mask is the real Central City.”