After experiencing the successful completion of the event, the excitement of obtaining a weapon, the curiosity from learning about the Myriad Heavens Universe, and the shock that he might have to transmigrate once again, Gu Nan finally calmed down.
Getting the Four Element Crossbow was part of Gu Nan's plan, so it wasn't worth feeling emotional about.
As for the Myriad Heavens Universe's peculiar worldview, Gu Nan did remain curious. But what interested him most was the word "reincarnation" that Gu Nian mentioned.
After an "in-depth" exchange with Gu Nian, he finally understood the meaning of the word.
All the worlds in the Myriad Heavens Universe can be collectively referred to as planes, and planes can be divided into three levels: Heaven, Realm, and World. The Langya World where Gu Nan lived belonged to the lowest level.
Cultivators in Heaven- or Realm-level planes can cast a small part of their own will into World-level planes through the method of divine soul projection, thereby traveling between planes. This process was called reincarnation.
Reincarnation was an extremely widespread practice in Heaven- and Realm-level planes. Many resources and inheritance were scattered throughout the small Worlds, so a set of established processes had already been formed around reincarnation.
Not only were there detailed soul projection methods and techniques to retrieve the reincarnator's soul, there were also special methods to extract items from smaller Worlds.
However, people like Gu Nan were more troublesome.
When traveling through small Worlds, reincarnators would often meet talented people that they hoped to bring over to their home worlds, but this "reverse reincarnation" was more troublesome.
The premise of divine soul projection was that the world the reincarnator originated from would have a higher level than the plane they reincarnated into, so if people from lower level planes wanted to go to a bigger map, there was only one way to do this.
"Ascension? Do you want me to cut through the void?"
"Nothing that scary. Ascension is a term left over from the past. In modern terms, it's just like getting a free ride."
...
More than half a month had passed since the farce in Feng City. Gu Nian took Gu Nan to a small town thousands of kilometers away from it.
"This should be the border of Xia Country? Eldest Martial Sister, what are you bringing us here for?"
Bored, Gu Nan laid on a big rock beside them as he watched a little loli asking Gu Nian questions from not far away.
Hearing the little loli's question, Gu Nian smiled and patted her head as she replied, "Little Cabbage, don't worry. You'll know when we enter."
"Oh... Don't touch my head!" At the age of sixteen, she still looked like an elementary school student. Little Cabbage held her head, feeling wronged.
"Tsk tsk, legal loli." Gu Nan sighed.
"What are you talking about? Get down here, we're leaving now!" When Gu Nian's sharp ears heard this, she immediately glared at Gu Nan and yelled.
Gu Nan pouted, but he still obediently came down from the rock.
After half a month of traveling, the three of them had more or less become familiar with each other. Gu Nan knew that although this sister of his looked like an icy goddess, she was actually a very violent woman. She would attack if he disagreed with her. If she could beat someone to death, she would never waste any words.
And Little Cabbage was a junior martial sister Gu Nian knew back when she was studying in the martial arts hall. As for why she took her in, it was very simple—trash like Zhang Qing and Zhang Yuan couldn't even enter Gu Nian's eyes.
Gu Nan didn't know Little Cabbage's real name, but he knew that she was indeed talented.
She just turned 16 this year, yet she was already an Innate Realm expert. Didn't this already explain a lot?
Not to mention the fact that the three of them often sparred against each other on the road. Without using the crossbow, dealing with Little Cabbage wasn't actually much easier than dealing with Gu Nian.
This little loli seemed to have a natural fighting instinct, and her learning ability was also very strong. She never made the same mistake twice, and the same trick would never work twice on her.
'She's practically a beautiful girl version of Saint Seiya…' Gu Nan silently commented.
Of course, no matter how powerful the pretty female Saint Seiya was, she still wasn't his match right now. After all, he was an old hand who had been immersed in virtual reality fighting for many years, and he still carried many tricks.
"The destination is ahead." They finally arrived after half a month's journey, and Gu Nian's mood also seemed to improve. "This is the place people from Langya World use to ascend. All of those ascendants left from here."
"In that case, the only types of people here are either reincarnators like you or people preparing to ascend?" Gu Nan asked with some excitement and quickly checked his Evil God Temple, but nothing happened.
This made Gu Nan a little disappointed. It was such a messy place, yet the Evil God Temple didn't issue any events. And throughout the journey this half month, none of the dungeons reset, which puzzled Gu Nan.
Gu Nian nodded. "That's basically right. There are also some staff recruited from this world... Alright, get in the car."
"Eh?" Gu Nan and the loli were dumbfounded.
This small town was very remote. They hadn't seen modern transportation for several days now.
As Gu Nian's voice fell, a tattered small van drove over. There was no license plate, and its white exterior had the words— "Mingguang Ascension Center, Langya Branch."
Gu Nan immediately became amused. It turned out that in Star Realm, there were even businesses that took care of all services related to people ascending from lower planes?
"Which one of you is a reincarnator? Confirm your identity." The van driver asked as he opened the window, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.
"Gu Nian. Federation number 10XXXXXXXXXX28." Gu Nian expertly reported a bunch of numbers, while the middle-aged man also took out a strange-looking machine and started typing.
Taking advantage of this pause, Gu Nian turned around and explained, "Reincarnators will all retain their original names. This is a way to protect the soul."
Gu Nan nodded. "What about foreigners?"
"...If you don't understand the language, you will be reincarnated as someone whose real name sounds similar, or you can change it yourself." Gu Nian's face darkened again.
"It seems that you can find reincarnators this way."
Gu Nian was speechless.
Just then, the middle-aged driver over there also finished checking the information and said, "Gu Nian, a member of the Federation's Ninth Region, Ruby Fish Star, with two ascendants... The fees have already been paid, please get in the van."
The three of them climbed into this suspicious van, and Gu Nan found that there were already two people sitting in the van in addition to them.
It was a man and a woman. The man looked like he was in his thirties, but his expression was a little cautious. The woman looked about the same age as Little Cabbage. Contrary to expectations, she was the one who nodded at Gu Nian.
Obviously, she was the reincarnator. She saw the confirmation of Gu Nian's identity just now, so she took the initiative to greet Gu Nian.
As for Gu Nan and Little Cabbage, she directly ignored them.
Gu Nan felt a little interested and gently rubbed his nose. It was quite normal for people from larger maps to look down on countryside cultivators, but one could see the status of ordinary ascendants from this interaction.
As for the man in his thirties, Gu Nan couldn't see the slightest fluctuation of internal energy on him. He likely wasn't a martial artist, nor should he be the same type of ascendant as Gu Nan and the loli.
Gu Nian also gave a light nod in response and didn't reply. After getting off the van and arriving in town, she casually explained to Gu Nan.
"That woman just now reincarnated to a lower realm to find a boy toy… Compared with Star Realm's slaves, the lower realm is much more cost-effective."
Gu Nan suddenly gasped. "Sister, do you still need a boy toy?"
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: In the small van headed to the Mingguang Ascension Center
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 2
Equivalent Martial Art: External Kung Fu Master - Innate Realm
Current Quest:
→ None
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 206
Overall Evil Points: 506, Overall Evil Value: 16
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣
Item/s owned:
→ Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣