A blue-white spatial rift opened up, and the recently arrived subway train and the people in the station suddenly vanished.
When they reappeared, they found themselves in a strange forest!
"Can someone tell me where we are?"
"Could it be… we've crossed over to another world?"
"Damn it, get me back! I just bought a house and still have thirty-two years of mortgage left!"
Amid the clamor of angry and shocked voices around him, Xu Que paid no attention to the others. Their fates were none of his concern.
Sensing the dense spiritual energy around him, Xu Que quickly broke away from the crowd. Before long, these people would become prey for creatures from this alternate dimension.
Trusting his instincts, Xu Que didn't move toward the area with the most concentrated spiritual energy but instead dashed in the opposite direction.
As he searched for a safe spot, a massacre unfolded among the people left behind. Several blue-skinned hounds, resembling oversized dogs, launched lethal bites at a woman. Before she could scream, one of the hounds tore her head off.
The panicked crowd, witnessing this bloody scene, screamed in terror and frantically fled into the surrounding forest.
These ordinary people, accustomed to peaceful lives, had never seen such gore.
But in the next moment, a group of green-skinned, humanoid creatures blocked the path of a dozen or so fleeing people.
Cries of despair and pleas for mercy echoed through the forest, only amplifying the panic among other escapees.
Xu Que chose not to play the hero. He had to focus on cultivating as quickly as possible. To escape from this dimensional rift, they would need to defeat the boss here, which would require immense strength!
In his past life, humans had relied on killing creatures emerging from the Abyss to earn small amounts of cultivation points, slowly embarking on the path of cultivation.
But now, Xu Que didn't need that. He possessed the breathing techniques from his past life. By entering the Abyss early and absorbing the spiritual energy, he could activate any of his previous life's techniques.
As more and more dimensional rifts appeared, Earth gradually entered an era of spiritual energy revival. Unfortunately, by that time, Earth was already riddled with wounds.
Though many had reached the A-rank by then, they still had to flee when faced with an S-rank creature from another dimension. After all, an S-rank creature could destroy an entire city!
As the spiritual energy poured into his body, Xu Que quickly ran his breathing techniques. In just the time it took to complete one small circulation, his cultivation surged by more than half.
Indeed, cultivating within a dimensional rift was much faster than outside. It was just too dangerous here—if only he could weld himself in and train without interruptions!
Xu Que recalled that in his past life, when he first acquired the Ice Spirit Heart, Liu Ruyan had asked him to give it to her, claiming her cultivation was progressing slowly. At the time, he hadn't realized its value and wanted to please her, so he handed it over. But within just seven days, Ji Boda used the Ice Spirit Heart to reach the top 50 in the cultivation rankings, gaining a skill that doubled his cultivation speed.
Xu Que had questioned Liu Ruyan then, asking why she had given the Ice Spirit Heart to Ji Boda. Her answer had been, "My cousin climbed the rankings to protect our forces and win Cheng Bing'er's favor."
Thinking back on it now, Xu Que felt he'd been a fool.
But in this new life, he knew many secrets unknown to others—like the rewards for climbing the rankings!
Though the ranking seemed simple, there were hidden mechanisms at work. For instance, in his past life, the top S-ranked powerhouse, Kun Emperor, had been the first to reach the rankings, gaining a talent that allowed him to train a hundred times faster.
Meanwhile, the first to acquire a C-rank weapon, the Heaven-Slashing Emperor, received a divine weapon—an emperor-class artifact capable of surpassing ranks and bound to his soul.
As for the Yanluo Emperor, the first to awaken his bloodline, no one knew exactly what he gained, though rumors claimed his limbs would regenerate after each battle.
While it might seem easy to climb the rankings, there were strict requirements. In his past life, despite the Abyss' descent lasting more than a month, only two or three people made it onto the rankings.
With the spiritual energy compressing, Xu Que suddenly opened his eyes, a faint glint flashing within them.
It was done! He celebrated silently, having ignited his first star.
Just as he prepared to advance to a second star, a thick, bloody smell made him frown.
Had he been discovered already?
Xu Que had expected to reach three stars before the other-dimensional creatures noticed him, but their sense of smell was sharper than he'd thought!
Three blue-skinned hounds growled at him from below his perch in the tree.
Unfazed, Xu Que stood up. Though he was unarmed, dealing with three ordinary blue hounds wouldn't be difficult. After all, he was already a one-star ranked ability user.
Xu Que knew that power levels were divided into six grades, from E to S, with seven stars in the E grade and nine stars in the D grade. Once someone reached the D grade, they could apply for the rankings.
Whether anyone could surpass S rank was still unclear. When Xu Que had died, the strongest, Kun Emperor, had already fallen, and the second-ranked Zhang Guan had only reached S rank two years prior.
Stretching his limbs, Xu Que set his sights on the closest blue-skinned hound.
Channeling his spiritual energy, Xu Que launched himself like an arrow, slamming a powerful punch into the first hound's head.
"Splurt…"
With a forceful blow, he punched through its skull, splattering thick, black blood across the ground!
Xu Que let out a deep breath, relishing the thrill, as that one blue-skinned hound had granted him a fifth of the spiritual energy he needed!
Moreover, he hadn't expected that a single star would be enough to take down these ordinary blue-skinned hounds so easily.
By the time a month had passed in his previous life, even ordinary blue-skinned hounds could tear apart one-star ability users!
The remaining two hounds, seeing their companion killed, let out even lower growls.
They pulled back, crouched, and bared their fangs as they launched themselves at Xu Que.
Xu Que, well-versed in dealing with such ambush creatures, took a step to the left and quickly spun, kicking one hound aside.
Taking advantage of the other's isolation, he gathered strength in his right fist and aimed at the remaining hound.
But instead of landing a solid hit, he missed as the blue-skinned hound dodged and lunged at him.
Sensing the danger, Xu Que slid beneath it, using an upward kick to send the hound flying.
As he prepared to finish off the airborne hound, the other one lunged at him.
"Courting death!" Xu Que shifted his stance, turning his shoulder and fist to meet the attack.
"Splurt!"
Blood spurted as his punch shattered the charging hound's head.
Without a second thought, Xu Que dashed toward the other fallen hound, delivering a powerful punch that crushed its skull.
Exhaling, Xu Que opened his status panel.
[Name: Xu Que]
[Cultivation: Unrated One-Star 62%]
[Techniques: None]
[Training Manual: Basic Breathing Techniques (Upgradable)]
[Bloodline: None]
[Spirit Beast: None]
[Honor: 15]
Trading Hall (locked)
Just as expected, killing one blue-skinned hound granted him about 20% progress and five honor points.
Closing the panel, Xu Que surveyed his surroundings. Though it was temporarily safe here, other creatures might soon track him.
He decided to keep moving. Once he reached three stars, he'd return to hunt more creatures.
…
Outside, nations across the globe were under attack by creatures from the alternate dimension. Live footage showed civilian casualties rising rapidly.
In truth, the creatures that initially emerged from the Abyss were fairly weak. With courage and basic weapons, four or five adult men could subdue one.
But for people unprepared for such events after years of peace, it was difficult to react correctly under pressure.
Those who fled without a plan, overwhelmed by panic, became food for the other-dimensional creatures.