That night, Wu Dong Yi sat on his seat at the dinner table while reading some scrolls. Since he was now going to live there, he would need to learn about the history of the world.
From what he learned, the nation he is in is called Ying nation. It has been ruled over by the Bing family for hundreds of years. The only remaining member of the royal family now is Bing Yi Jian, which is part of the reason why she is the empress with her young age.
The Ying nation is neighbored by other nations which are the Yuan, Ding, Meng, Wu, Yang, Jin and Diao. The largest of the eight nations is Jin, which is located in the center between the other seven nations.
It is the most prosperous as well as holding the greatest military might of the nations. Apparently, in the past, there were hundreds of nations. Over time due to war and conflict, they have now become only eight states which are the combined might from all the scattered nations of the past.
The continent he was on that held the nations is many times larger than Earth. Earth's diameter is 12,742 km, the continent is five times larger than the Earth! Though, it seems that everyone is of Asian descent and speaks mandarin as the common tongue.
If one were to travel outside of the eight states, they would venture into a land that has been unexplored by the nations. Lands that may be home to mountain people, other races or even magical beasts.
Races such as elves, dwarves, dragons, demons and alike all exist in this world. Rather than being eight large nations, it is more like eight strongholds that house humanity within, keeping them safe.
In the past, one man tried to unify all the eight states into one nation. Of course, he had failed on his quest, though he was incredibly close to succeeding. Since then, many have tried to do the same but haven't even gotten close to that man's achievement.
The name of that man is recorded in history within all eight nations of the continent. After reading briefly over that information, he put down the scroll and recalled everything in his mind.
Ever since he was born, Wu Dong Yi had a photographic memory. He remembers everything he hears, sees, touches, smells, and tastes after one time. He has never forgotten anything since the day he was born.
Naturally, with such an advantage, he has always had perfect grades throughout his entire lifetime. Not only was he gifted with a great memory, but he was also born with a good brain that understood things quickly.
He was also gifted in sports and martial arts alike, as well as the arts. The only flaw about him is that his looks could only be considered as above average back on Earth.
Opening his eyes, Wu Dong Yi opened another scroll that briefly brushed the path of cultivation.
He had learned that the cultivation in this world is pretty much the same as in novels he has read. From the Body Tempering realm to the Qi Condensation realm. After that, is the Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Ying Yuan Transformation, Earth Immortal, Heaven Immortal, and finally Immortal God realm.
Rumors say that upon reaching the Immortal God realm, one would automatically ascend to Heaven and be able to meet with the Jade Emperor who rules the Three Realms.
"It seems the Jade Emperor exists in this world, I had thought that it was only a fictional story from Earth since there is a similar story here, then he just might exist? But what happens after that? Is it possible to ascend higher than the three realms and head to the three upper realms?" Wu Dong Yi thought.
Naturally the Three Realms he was talking about includes, Heaven, Hell and the Earth, which in this case is the land of mortals.
As he was about to read another scroll, he heard a voice from the bed nearby. "Come."
Wu Dong Yi put the scroll down and looked at Bing Yi Jian who called him over. He stood up and finished his tea before heading to her bed with a scroll in his hand.
Sitting down, he leaned against the bed and opened the scroll to finish it off. Bing Yi Jian didn't say anything and watched him read beside him. When he finished he put the scroll away and looked to his left.
"..."
"..."
He took his wig off too, while the two had nothing to say to each other.
"Let us sleep." Bing Yi Jian said, as she lied down under the blanket and closed his eyes. Wu Dong Yi nodded quietly as he too did the same and faced his back to her face. He closed his eyes as he slowly began to fall asleep until the next morning.
***********
When he woke up, Wu Dong Yi noticed that he was alone. On the bed, he got up slowly and fixed his clothes.
He wore his wig before looking at the dinner table, noticing something that looked like a food tent, covering some dishes on the table.
He fixed the bed, before sitting down and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
"Despite being an empress, she is quite considerate." he thought. When he finished, he headed to the kitchen with the dishes in hand and left them there before going back to his room.
It was early in the morning, he started working out and sweated more than he usually would thanks to his clothes and wig. The strange feeling he felt when he first made eye contact with Bing Yi Jian disappeared.
Since he didn't feel it anymore then she most likely didn't feel it either. After working out, he began to read some more. This lasted until noon when Bing Yi Jian and her maid came back to the room.
Wu Dong Yi learned that the maid's name is Yang Xinyue. He was glad since it was quite awkward when talking to her since he didn't know her name.
After lunch, Bing Yi Jian headed out again, leaving Wu Dong Yi by himself in their room. He continued reading scrolls every day and working out for over a month inside the room. At night, he would go to bed next to Bing Yi Jian, but no progress in their relationship was made during that time.
********
After a month, his hair had grown longer. He had no facial hair so he had no need to shave. For some reason, he didn't have arm or leg hair either, the only place that had hair was on his head, eyebrows, lashes and down 'there'.
He no longer needed to wear a wig and tied up his hair that was slightly shorter than shoulder length.
During the one month, not much happened. Now, it was nearly time for the royal wedding to be held between Bing Yi Jian and himself. The Prime Minister had long made an announcement to the entire world, invitations were sent all over the eight states.
Within the Ying nation, the citizens were rowdy. All of a sudden, the empress would be wed to an unknown man. In fact, no one but the ministers, guards, kitchen staff, the few eunuchs and soldiers that had seen him, Yang Xinyue and Bing Yi Jian knew him.
Though, the kitchen staff and eunuchs didn't know that the man they had seen multiple times coming in and out of the kitchen was actually the soon to be husband of their empress.
In the courtroom, Bing Yi Jian could be seen sitting on her throne. Yang Xinyue was standing beside her, while the ministers had all assembled in court.
"Your majesty, the royal wedding will be held this month. Invitations have been sent to the other nations, while the news has caused a large ruckus throughout the state." the Prime Minister spoke.
"Good, with an auspicious date, the wedding must be grand." Bing Yi Jian replied.
"Your majesty, if I may ask." a minister cuffed his hands and spoke.
"You may speak."
"Thank you, your majesty, I would like to ask where is the prince consort as of this moment? Should he not be here, beside your majesty?" the minister asked.
"He is not attending today, Zhao Hai, prepare another seat to be placed beside my own immediately." Bing Yi Jian told the minister.
"Yes, your majesty," he replied as he stood back into the group of ministers.
In the past, there had been two chairs for the Emperor and the Queen. When Bing Yi Jian took over the throne, she had gotten rid of them and had only her own seat there as a replacement.
Now that she is getting married, she will naturally get another seat to be placed next to her own in the future.
"Is that all for today's meeting?" Bing Yi Jian asked.
"Your majesty, there is another matter to discuss." the Prime minister spoke on behalf of another minister.
"Speak."
"Yes, your majesty. The state of Ding, who are our neighbors, will soon be attacking the state of Yang. They have requested for us their allies to send them reinforcements along the border of Gongyang Castle." he said.
"Send over 20,000 of our cavalry, that should be enough for them."
"Yes, your majesty."
"Anything else?"
"Your majesty, I have received news from my grandson. He will be taking some time from the border in order to return and attend your royal wedding." a man in a general's armor said.
"Brother Zhong is returning? I see, send some troops to welcome his return." Bing Yi Jian replied.
"Yes, your majesty." the old general nodded.
"Today's meeting will end here. I will be preparing for the wedding, deal with matters yourself in the time until the wedding." Bing Yi Jian got up from her seat.
Every minister and general bowed in unison. "Yes, your majesty." as they waited for her to leave. Once she had left the room, the ministers began to talk amongst themselves.
*************
In his room, Wu Dong Yi had been reading while the court was in session. With nothing to do, he had the idea of turning on his laptop since it still had battery along with his smartphone.
Turning on his laptop, he entered his password before the Windows 10 UI appeared.
"It's been a while since I've seen this sight." he thought.
Checking his battery, he could see that it still had 67% remaining. He opened up a game that he hadn't played in a while and began playing it.
After a while, he heard the door open. He closed his laptop and put it away and got up to greet her.
Though it was a greeting, it was rather simple. He simply nodded when he saw her in which she too nodded.
Sitting down on the dinner table, Bing Yi Jian spoke. "Are you interested in cultivating?"
Wu Dong Yi nodded, the reason why he joined his club in the first place was that he enjoyed reading such novels of cultivation. During the month, he had told her stories from those novels such as 'B*ttle Through the Heavens', 'D*ulu* Dalu' and many more stories that he enjoyed.
"Then come with me after lunch," she replied.
Hearing that, he nodded and knew that she agreed to teach him.
After lunch, Yang Xinyue led the way. He didn't know where they were going, but it was obvious that it had something to do with cultivation. It was most likely a library filled with cultivation manuals or martial arts and the like.
When they arrived, Wu Dong Yi looked around. The building was exactly the same on the outside as any other building around the palace. The only difference is that there is an old wooden plate with unreadable characters on the side of the door.
The group of three entered the building as the door opened up. In front of him, he could only see an empty courtyard.
"An array?" he thought.
Taking a few steps, he felt a strange sensation as the scenery around him changed completely. The open courtyard had now turned into a massive space that looked like the galaxy through a satellite telescope.
Stars were moving while things were floating up and down with different colored lights.
Stepping forward, he followed behind his wife and their maid without saying anything. Since he was young, his imagination was quite good. When he read novels, he could quite literally, imagine a scene in his head, seeing such a scenery he was unfazed.
"Step forward, you can take whatever you want." Bing Yi Jian told him.
He nodded as he took three steps forward. Suddenly, a staircase appeared that lead upward, there was no door on the other side, it seemed as though it led to nothing.
Step!
Taking a step, he then took another one.
Step! Step!
After three steps, he took another one. From what he could see, there are a total of 81 steps ahead. He landed on the ninth step and felt a strange sensation throughout his entire body.
"Hmm, what's that feeling? It's quite strange. I have read a novel where the main character would take a staircase which proved his potential and talents to others, could it be that this staircase is such a test?" he thought.
After another nine steps, on the eighteenth step, he felt the sensation again.
By the time he had reached the halfway point, the sensation only grew stronger.
************
"Your majesty, it seems the prince consort is talented in the martial path. He has yet to be fazed after getting to the halfway point, which many could not do." Yang Xinyue spoke.
"Indeed, it is quite surprising. It might be possible that he is more talented than even I am." Bing Yi Jian replied.
The two young women had been speaking to each other. If one were to look at them, they would notice that their mouths aren't moving in the slightest.
That meant that their cultivation was of a high level, enabling them to speak to others using their own will.
As for Wu Dong Yi, he didn't know what the women were talking about. He only knew one thing. That he would need to climb to the top. At this point, he had already reached the forty-ninth step.
Only now, did he begin to feel something other than the strange sensation. He felt slightly pressured when he took the fiftieth step, which increased further when he took the fifty-first and the fifty-second.
The pressure rose, which confirmed his earlier thoughts.
"Since this is a test, let's see how far I can go."