Neo had heard countless descriptions of how one's first Gate-passing experience felt.
Some said it was like experiencing an extreme intimacy with the laws of the world, where one was bathed in its radiance and could peer into its secrets.
Some said it was the only state in the world where one experienced true Zen—a formless, tranquil state of mind that cleansed one's soul.
Some even compared it to taking a wonderful hard drug for the first time!
After experiencing it for himself, Neo could only say they were right.
Neo felt that all those descriptions couldn't be more true!
After jumping through the Gate, he felt what could only be described as a cool breeze, yet it was definitely not a breeze, hit him.
He had fallen into a state of tranquillity so intense that he almost felt like nothingness—like he was formless and mindless...
He shouldn't need to think...
He shouldn't need to breathe...
He should just remain at peace...
At peace with the world...
But then he was flung out.
Thud!
Neo fell on his face before he could get his bearings and 'accidentally' smashed his forehead on a shiny white rock.
"Hehehe, newbie."
The mocking laughter from the party members stung him like flames and made him blush a bit.
It was quite embarrassing.
Scrambling up, Neo rubbed his swollen forehead and grumbled at his bad luck. Of all the places he could have fallen, it just had to be on that pointed, shiny rock?
He looked behind him and realised that the Gate was gone. There was only a black circular object left in its place.
'An array wheel,' he thought, admiring the complex runes drawn on the wheel.
Array wheels were devices made through a process of inscribing runes, rune circuits, and rune networks on a suitable material to perform complex tasks.
Suffice to say, any array wheel was expensive, even the most basic ones. A portable checkpoint array such as this one was sure to be pricey.
Tearing his gaze away from the array wheel, Neo glanced ahead and stared at the zone.
'Is this heaven?' Neo thought, staring at the beautiful scene before him like a fool.
"Pfft! Heaven? A mere white-grade zone looks like heaven to you?"
Neo realised he had thought out loud...
Ignoring the mocking remark, Neo studied the zone more carefully.
It was a forest zone, with snow-white grass that glowed softly, short trees with snow-white leaves that also glowed, and even a small pond with snow-white water that glowed as well!
The sky was a dazzling blue, which contrasted perfectly with the tree leaves and brought out their colour in just the right way...
It was so surreal. Neo felt that it really did look like heaven!
But...
There was one problem...
"What the f*ck! Are those...?" Neo trailed off in shock.
It appeared the other party members had also noticed it. The trunks of the trees in this zone had humongous wooden d*cks protruding from them.
The d*cks looked disturbingly real, with cone-shaped tips, veins around the shafts, and even complete with two balls.
Neo felt dizzy from the jarring contrast between what could only be described as a holy scene and one so perverted, it was unsettling.
Neo couldn't help but be puzzled...
'What the f*ck do trees need cocks for?!'
Were they some kind of creepy trees that would later awaken to commit immoral acts?
Neo felt a bit scared to enter this zone now. What if the trees magically came to life and started chasing after them?
The trees were too numerous, and their party's number was too small for it to be even called a gangbang!!
"Use the tester, Gary. Does the energy pattern match?"
Gary, the other tall, dark, muscular man in the party, brought out a small black cubical device and powered it on.
The device whirred to life, levitated for a few seconds, then whirred again before dropping down into his palm.
Some random numbers appeared on the surface of the cube, and Gary compared them to the ones on his personal system.
Wait, his personal system could work here?
Neo was shocked, thinking these party members sure had money—and lots of it.
Personal systems that could function in the Spirit Realm were no longer just technology but 'Spiritech': a fusion of spirit energy and modern technology that was as expensive as kidneys!
Just the oldest version was sure to cost hundreds of thousands!
The amount of functions available on that small wristband was in the thousands!
And there were some really cool ones like instant profiling and body scans...
"Verified." Gary put the tester back into his storage ring and took out his weapon—a sickle...
With his dark skin and imposing physique, there was only one word to describe his current appearance.
'Scary...'
"Alright, here's the plan: we go in and try to get the first kills as silently as possible. Our first priority is to identify the abilities, fighting patterns, and special moves of the beasts within this zone, as well as their bloodline depreciation time."
As the party leader said this, the other party members began taking out their weapons, battle suits, or their 'spheres'.
The spheres were ball-like artefacts that could enhance the power of spells cast by the owner and could even autocast spells by utilising a bit of the owner's soul force!
Every standard Elementalist had to have one. It was almost like having a second caster, in a way.
Seeing as all the party members except for the leader brought out a sphere, Neo could tell that they were all at least Mixed Spirituals, if not Pure ones.
The atmosphere was serious and tense as the group prepared to battle the unknown.
Neo had silently moved to the back of the group after receiving the Spirit Vacuum from the party leader. He was going to hang back and only swoop in when he was needed.
Hopefully, not anytime soon...
Roar!
'Spoke too soon...' Neo thought bitterly as he stared intently at the forest that was now making snapping noises as something huge and furious barrelled out of it.