Chapter 2

“Where am I? What am I doing here? What happened...shouldn’t I be dead?” Chen Yi questioned as he arose from a hospital bed and looked around.

Contrary to his expectations, he did not see ventilators and IV pumps or even simple monitoring equipment but instead saw other people like him, with head injuries or such lying in bed.

Just as he stood up, sharp, intense pain lanced through his body and made him fall onto the vinyl floor. Before he fainted, unconscious, he felt memories merge into his mind. But they weren’t his memories, they seemed too unfamiliar, too foreign to be his own. However, he could not fight back due to all the agony that he was experiencing.

……..

When Chen Yi opened his eyes, he saw a group of people wearing robes crowding around him, whispering to each other. When he got up from the floor, all the mutterings stopped and a mage helped him up, informing him that he had fallen. Chen Yi muttered a word of thanks to the mage and the crowd dispersed. He returned back to his hospital bed, mumbling, “What were those memories? They seem awfully familiar yet not familiar at the same time.”

He looked around to see if he could find a mirror, to prove whether he had imagined those alien recollections. However, fate was being very cruel to him, for what greeted him in the mirror was not a muscular figure with black hair with slanted eyes, but one with a fair face, a gangly build, and greasy hair.

He examined his body and noticed that he was wearing white robes. He also found that he now had a ring- albeit a bit dull in shine. He rubbed the ring with his robe to get rid of the layer of dust. In doing so, a bright light emerged from the crystal that was embedded in the ring.

Before he could exclaim in surprise, in his mind, an angelic voice sounded. “Welcome, Host! Congratulations on waking up. Your first mission is to explore the new, futuristic world around you.”

Just after she said that a tab opened in Chen Yi’s mind and it stated: Exploring the world. Explore this futuristic version of Earth that you have transmigrated to. Mission rewards: 1x common chest.

Surprised at the sudden giving off a mission, he jumped up, gaining weird looks from the other patients in the process. Ignoring the strange gazes from the other people in the ICU, Chen Yi left the ward. A familiar man stood up and stated, “Yi er, how have you recovered so quickly? Even modern healing techniques were used previously and did not help you recover.”

Chen Yi suddenly remembered that the person before him was his father and so he replied, ”The healers took very good care of me, and I suppose luck also contributed to my recovery.”

His father gave him a suspicious and astonished look but did not say anything.

…….

Chen Yi soon arrived home and explained to his family that he had recovered with the help of the hospital’s healers. A few were shocked, including his brother, Chen Wei. He went straight into the backyard to cultivate.

Soon after, a great cry shouted out. His brother ran up to him and said, “ The Lu clan have arrived with their army. It seems like the Lu clan’s Young Master is going to challenge our family. You should hide. ”

Chen Yi did not hide in the house. Instead, he went outside and concealed himself behind a stone slab, to shield his figure as he was watching.

“Come out! You can’t hide in that mansion of yours. I am here to challenge you and you can’t escape.”

Instantly, Chen Hao, Chen Yi’s father appeared in the air and said, “What if we refuse to fight you?”

Sniggers sounded from the opposing clan and their leader said, “If you refuse, I do not think you will be the most powerful in this region. I think we will be regarded as having defeated you if news of your cowardice were to spread out.”

“Chen Wei! Come out!”

His brother emerged with a flourish, exuding an aura of confidence. “Come, Lu Cheng! I will fight you and prove that I am the most prodigious child in this area! ”

A flash resounded throughout the void, in which they had already started fighting.

Quatrain of Seven Steps!

Lu Chen started with his famed move and immediately appeared behind his opponent, sword in hand.

Chen Wei responded with his own move, Lion-eating Man, roaring, to slow the speed of Lu Cheng to a crawl. It was evident that Chen Yi’s brother had prepared in advance for this battle.

Lu Cheng’s smile dropped. He hadn’t expected his move to be countered so easily.

Taking advantage of his enemy’s surprise, Chen Wei brandished a sword that seemed as if it appeared out of nowhere. He raised it in the air about to bring it down upon his adversary.

“Hmmph! I will not be defeated that easily. Take my next move! Autumn Drizzle: monsoon flood”

A barrage of sword lights bombarded Chen Wei’s figure. The Lu Clan cheered as if they knew that they had won with that move. The Chen Clan, in contrast, looked crestfallen.

Surprisingly, in the aftermath of the move, the two clans did not see a figure on the ground, half-dead and oozing copious amounts of blood. Instead, contrary to their expectations, Chen Wei stood there, defiant. Everyone gasped in surprise.

Chen Wei exclaimed, “Did you really think you could overpower me with just that? Foolish! I had long known of your combat techniques in short-ranged attacks and therefore, prepared a counter in the form of an antique shield used by the great ancestor of the Fan Clan. Not even my family knew of this. ”

Lu Cheng knew he was in for a long battle. After a few hours of fighting, both combatants stood in the void, panting for breath and suffering from injuries. Both of them had severed limbs, even if one of them won, their progress in cultivation would remain stagnant. Very few pills regenerated lost limbs. The very few that did, however, cost an astronomical amount of money, something that neither clans could afford.

“ I never knew you were this good. We were truly underprepared this time! We shall leave you alone for once.”

“Why do you think that you could just leave like that, after fighting with me for so long? Pay us 1000 gold coins and we shall allow you to leave our courtyard“

“Truly despicable! We will not pay you a single copper coin. Hmmph! Let’s go, everyone.”

“Do you seriously think that we will allow you to leave and go as you please? We are not human punching bags to stay silent and endure all that pain and humiliation. ”

“Use the formation!”

Suddenly, a violent earthquake shook the ground. The tremor only lasted for a fleeting moment as it soon gave way to a yellow dome that entrapped the unsavoury visitors. A translucent figure could be seen through the walls of the “prison”, holding a flower and clappers, accompanied by a chilling, hornless dragon that flew in circles around the formation.

“How…..how could this be?! Your family’s formation was broken years ago in a battle. How could it still function well enough to confine our entire clan? Sorcery! Black magic! This can’t be happening...”

The Clan Head grinned, “Well, it was broken..but we managed to fix it. Why else do you think we fought the Huang clan for the Spirit restoring liquid? In the end, we hired the services of a skilled formation master after paying a substantial amount of money. It was worth it. Otherwise, we would not be able to kill your entire clan today!”

The entire Lu Clan had hideous expressions of dread on their faces. They knew that this was to be their death. They wished they had not poked this hornet’s nest.

Let’s not dally any longer. Flaming meteorite- burn the heavens. A massive rock descended from the sky, clearly heading for the formation. They prayed for the spell to stop. But it didn’t.

A loud boom sounded when the meteorite reached the ground.

When all the dust cleared, remnants of bodies lay strewn on the ground, lifeless. They were dismembered, limbs oozing blood with bones exposed. The expressions on the corpse were not of happiness, they showed despair and desperation. It was truly a gruesome sight and some of the younger members of the clan fainted.

News of the Chen Clan’s victory spread throughout the region. Not everyone was happy, however. Some people were worried, now that the balance of power had been tipped in the Chen clan’s favour. Their victory had made them the rulers of their region, unopposed.

Although the battle was a happy occasion for the Chen clan, under the surface, everything was not well. Forces began to accumulate strength for the internal struggle that was about to begin between the Young Clan Heads.

Suddenly, in Chen Wie’s head, the angelic voice sounded again, in its soothing tone.

“Congratulations, Host! You have completed the mission: exploring the world. Calculating rewards now… 1x common chest, 100 points.”

Chen Wie was ecstatic and rubbed the ring on his finger to get access to his reward. “I get a common treasure chest just for sitting behind a rock? This is too easy. Hang on…. How do I open the chest? Open chest! Open! Open Sesame! Uhh….System… how can I open my chest??”

As the familiar interface opened in Chen Wei’s mind, an option appeared: open chest?

“Of Course! OPEN!” Chen Wei exclaimed, rubbing his hands with anticipation.

A tattered piece of paper greeted Chen Wei’s eyes. Its seré appearance made it seem useless, however, the aura it projected was profound. A description appeared beside the paper.

It read:

From the past

but influences the future.

Of immense value

like a memory.

Useless to many

but value to one

To be useful

Must be shared with none.

The caracol shape (at the bottom) is but the end

The rest will also help your enemies fend

“WHAT?????” Chen Wei shouted with a puzzled look.

“How is that going to help me?”