Bai Liang opened his eyes to find himself lying on a bed in an unknown room. He remembered entering that distorted mirror and everything blacked out.
He thought he would be reincarnated from a newborn baby, but looking at his current body, it seemed like it wasn't the case.
[Good morning, Master.]
Hearing the light-toned voice of an adolescent boy in his head, Bai Liang made a guess, "Xue Liang?"
Xue Liang: [Yes, Master. This is Xiao Xue, Master's sword spirit. Xiao Xue will do his utmost best to assist Master.]
Xue Liang: [If Xiao Xue may inform, Master can directly speak to Xiao Xue through Master's mind.]
Bai Liang touched his chest and froze. 'Where's my amulet?'
Didn't he ask that voice to allow him to bring it with him?
Xue Liang: [It's the agarwood bracelet Master is wearing on Master's left wrist. Keeping a deceased's ash as an amulet is a foreign practice in this world, so Xiao Xue asked for a minor shapeshift ability from heaven.]
Bai Liang raised his hand to see the dark beaded bracelet Xue Liang mentioned. When he probed it with his spirit, he could feel the familiar presence of his master's spirit residue and calmed down.
He looked around the small room. Its white wall was made out of a very strong substance, and there were many things he wasn't familiar with. He drew open the curtain next to the bed to see he was high above the ground and many horseless carriages were passing by on the smoothly paved road outside.
Xue Liang: [This is a modern world of science and technology. The complete information of every world has been stored inside Xiao Xue. Would Master like to study it along with Master's current identity?]
Bai Liang nodded in reply, and a heavy load of information poured into his head. If he were a normal person, his head would already crack and split from the burden, but it was nothing for a cultivator like him.
He guessed that Xue Liang was used as a medium because of this burden. Xue Liang didn't have any head or brain after all. There was no mental strain for it.
Processing all the information and memory, he found that his name in this world was Su Yan, a young man in his early twenties. Su Yan had been living independently from middle school ever since his parents passed away. He was scouted by an entertainment company in his third year of middle school and focused on training from high school until his debut.
He was something that this world called as 'idols', an entertainment provider who sang and danced with a group of people. Other than those, idols were also required to participate in various shows and events to elevate their popularity and gain more admirers.
His group was called EFEX. According to the information, the amount of popularity they had only amounted to a third-rate group.
In his group, he was dubbed the 'snow angel' by their fans because of his cute face yet frozen expression. Although he was intimidating at first glance, he wasn't any less attentive and caring compared to the rest of the members. It was just that he never exactly expressed it. This contrast of appearance and character gained him significant popularity.
A loud music rang in the room, bringing him out of his thoughts. He picked up Su Yan's phone next to his pillow and answered the call, following Su Yan's memory he had just studied.
"Xiao Yan, you're already awake?" a female voice spoke from the other end. "There's a little traffic, so I'll be arriving in about 20 minutes. In the meantime, you go ahead and get ready. You can directly wait at the lobby later."
"Yes, Ning-jie," Bai Liang affirmed and disconnected the call.
He got up from the bed and grabbed the set of clothes that had already been prepared since the night before. While washing up and getting changed, he continued processing the information in his head.
Once he finished, he looked at himself in the mirror to realize Su Yan's face was 80% similar to his own, only softer. He was younger than his original body and shorter by a few inches.
He had round limpid eyes that carried a hint of maturity, a small nose like that of a rabbit, and pink petal lips. His black hair was thick and lustrous, proof of proper care, though it was incredibly shorter than his own hair. It seems like it was common sense for men to have short hair in this world. The back of his neck felt somewhat refreshed, so he didn't mind it.
Xue Liang: [Master's vessel is chosen from those with a degree of involvement in the world's fate. The chosen one has the highest overall similarity to Master's, so Master can rest assured and act as yourself.]
Bai Liang hummed in understanding and packed his bag, copying what Su Yan usually brought with him every time he went out. He left his room and saw the dormitory he shared with the other members was currently empty. Following his memory, he went out and descended to the lobby using the elevator.
The technologies in this world were very convenient. Without needing any qi, one could fly like a bird and move faster than a horse. With one block of a device, he could contact anyone of any distance instantly and even share news and information with people all over the world.
Master must be living a comfortable life here.
Xue Liang: [Does Master really not want to meet Grandmaster anymore?]
Bai Liang shook his head. 'I won't disturb his hard-earned peace.'
Soon after he reached the lobby, a black van arrived by the driveway. He confirmed it was the same one as in Su Yan's memory and opened the door. Inside, EFEX's manager, Qin Ning, handed him a boxed meal and a cup of coffee milk.
"Good morning, Xiao Yan. Here's your breakfast," Qin Ning greeted him. "Please finish everything today. Your schedule for this program will be a bit rough."
Bai Liang opened the box and smelled the delicious fragrance of eggrolls and tenderly sliced beef. The box kept the warmth of the food inside and was just perfect to fill in his empty stomach for the morning.
His cultivation was suppressed by the law of the world, but it wasn't entirely gone. It was enough for him to sustain himself without food or sleep for 3 days. As for his strength, he was still above mortals though he couldn't fly anymore and his true qi's movement was restricted.
Qin Ning was used to Su Yan's silence and proceeded to brief him about the program he was going to participate in for the next 2 days. They were now heading to the harbour where they would be meeting with the program crews.
The program Su Yan managed to get cast for was a horror survival program involving 6 different guests for each episode. This time, they would be required to stay for a night in a famous haunted manor which was situated on an abandoned island. The manor had become a sensation more than 10 years ago when it was discovered by the satellite.
It was bought by a rich master and underwent some restoration. After its safety was ensured, it was opened to the public as an attraction but was only opened from 7 AM to 3 PM for safety purposes.
Now, the crew was given permission to stay there for a night with the condition that police and ambulance were on standby from the beginning until the end. Since its official announcement, their viewers were very hyped about it, both curious about how scary the mansion was at night and who the crew invited as guests.
"Xiao Yan, the other 5 guests have strong standings in the circle, so be careful not to offend anyone. Even if you can't smile at them, you must mind your conduct. Respond accordingly and don't ever ignore them."
Bai Liang only replied with a nod.
Qin Ning inwardly sighed. Among the EFEX members, Su Yan was undeniably the most popular outside their own fanbase. His appearance that contrasted with his character was an interesting quirk that some programs became interested in casting him as filler.
Still, she didn't think he would land himself a popular program of this scale. If this episode was a success, she could probably consider talking to EFEX's agent about making a special program or content for them to market them into more variety programs.
They arrived at the harbour 2 hours later and headed to the assembly point. To show appreciation and courtesy, Qin Ning made sure that they were the first to arrive among the guests.
It was still 1 hour before the start of the program, but the crew was already there for preparation. Bai Liang had an inexplicable impression of ant workers seeing the crews busying about as Qin Ning brought him to greet the director.