Over a month later.
Fang Xing walked down the street, his steps suddenly slowed.
He was back at the platform he had been at before.
After a month of emergency repairs, the ground here was level, the buildings were intact, and pedestrians flowed like the tide, a stark contrast to before.
It was unbelievable that just over a month ago, this had been a battlefield riddled with scars that had seen injuries and fatalities of over a thousand people.
Happy Home District.
Fang Xing opened his front door and couldn't help but complain, "To think after such an incident, there's still no compensation, and the landlord hasn't even lowered the rent…"
He opened a box of food, wolfing it down while checking his contacts.
Seeing that Gu Yun still hadn't reached out, he felt a pang of sadness.
But Fang Xing knew, as a mere sparring partner, he really had no place to offer comfort to others, and they didn't need it from him.
If he truly wished to comfort someone, unless he could bring Gu Renwang back to life, anything else would be superfluous.
"Trust her, she will pull through on her own."
Fang Xing sighed, washed up briefly, and then went straight to bed.
The next day.
Early morning.
With anticipation, he looked directly at the attribute panel:
[Name: Fang Xing]
[Age: 16]
[Profession: Martial Artist]
[First Realm: Flesh Skin (Refining Skin: 84/100)]
[Military Boxing Twelve Styles: 1/100 (Skilled)]
[Great Dragon Stance: 13/100 (Skilled)]
[Gate of All Heavens: 100/100 (Positioning Successful)]
…
In that instant, a symbol resembling a mirror inside Fang Xing's mind suddenly shone brightly!
Some unknown information emerged, letting him know he had gained the ability to traverse to another world!
He could initiate the crossing whenever he wanted.
Fang Xing's eyes moved as he looked toward the bottom of the attribute bar:
[Gate of All Heavens (Charging)]
"No progress bar even? I thought it would directly capture another world, or maybe I'd have to stay in another world for a hundred days before returning…"
"Turns out, after the progress bar is completed, you just get the right to travel to and from another world… Just don't know when the capture of this second world will start…"
But this was probably for the best; otherwise, if he needed to stay in another world for a hundred days before returning, he really wouldn't know how to cover it up.
Taking a deep breath, Fang Xing began taking out the tools he had bought one by one.
Drones, air detection devices, poison testing strips, selfie sticks, and a pet cage with several small white mice…
He was already wearing the basic Nano Protective Suit, on top of which the most important item was his weapon.
He calmed his nerves and pulled out a black stick from under the bed… Wait, it was a stun baton.
He couldn't afford a Laser Gun—the RT700 stun baton was the best weapon he could find and he had worked hard to save for it.
At this moment, Fang Xing picked up the stun baton. It was about 70 centimeters in length, neither too thick nor too heavy, and felt just right in his hand.
The crucial part was, as soon as he pressed the button, a burst of electric sparks sprang from the tip of the stick!
Crackle and snap!
"According to the seller, the regular current can take down an elephant directly… and that's just the basic function."
"Moreover, this stun baton has been modified to shoot currents from the top… Although it's a short range, it can take others by surprise."
With the stun baton fastened at his waist, Fang Xing let the Nano Suit cover his whole body, then picked up his backpack and carefully categorized and packed the supplies.
"According to Gate of All Heavens, it seems I can only pass through directly, can't open any sort of teleportation gates… the selfie stick is useless now."
He sighed and then, with just a thought,
1, 2, 3…
After counting silently to three, a cluster of silvery brightness appeared before his eyes.
This brilliance instantly swallowed him up…
Inside the bedroom, no trace of Fang Xing remained.
…
Wilderness.
A two-headed lizard monster suddenly looked up, then saw a cluster of silvery electric light.
Snap!
The next moment, a stream of electricity crossed through the air and turned it into charred remains.
"I guess… I was too cautious."
Fang Xing looked at the palm-sized corpse of the two-headed lizard, not removing his Nano Suit.
"I really traveled to another world…"
At that time, he was quickly looking around and checking the way back.
"Um... I can teleport back, but there is about a 3-second delay, it's a pity... it can't be used to escape immediately anymore, I'm lacking a life-saving divine skill."
Fang Xing slightly frowned, then began to deploy drones while starting the air detection device.
Accompanied by the analysis of the instrument, results appeared quickly.
"The main component is nitrogen, oxygen content 22%, rare gases 1.2%, and 0.0001% of components that are undetectable? But it's generally confirmed there are no toxic gases..."
Fang Xing looked towards the lively white mouse in the cage next to him, hesitated for a moment, then opened his nano mask.
"Um, I can breathe normally, the air is very fresh..."
By that time, the drone had also transmitted back images of the surroundings, revealing a wilderness forest like emerald jade, with a river flowing slowly like a ribbon in the middle.
On an open ground, there was a beast that resembled a wild boar running.
Its body was over six or seven meters long, resembling a small hill, and it had six tusks aligned side by side, astonishingly, those tusks seemingly like ivory emitted a mysterious blood-red glow.
"Certainly a transcendent species? Seems like there's more than one..."
Fang Xing's eyes brightened, "It seems this world is abundant in resources... Set the drone to automatic cruise mode."
After a thought, he immediately set the drone to automatic cruise, and alongside assigned it the task to make a map of the nearby area and search for other creatures.
"Just to be cautious, these technological products will never be taken back to the Blue Star Federation's world."
Fang Xing resolved this secretly.
Although he had made many preparations, whether these products had hidden backdoors was really hard to say.
Therefore, the best method was not to test human nature, just assume they did!
Leaving these items in the Otherworld meant there was no chance they would connect to the network and leak data after he returned!
"Ah... the troubles of a technologically advanced world."
"Even if I obtain some resources from here, it wouldn't be easy to act immediately..."
After all, as just an ordinary student, how could Fang Xing explain suddenly acquiring many bizarre items? Or even his sudden wealth?
"I need a channel, one where I can obtain cash or even anonymous accounts... a channel to offload a large amount of materials..."
"After all calculations, it seems inevitable to deal with the black market."
Fang Xing sighed, looking for a suitable location on the drone-scanned map to establish a base camp.
Selecting such a location also required knowledge; it needed to be close to a water source yet safe.
He had taken similar courses, so this task was easily manageable for him.
Half an hour later, Fang Xing fetched some river water, poured it into a pot, and slowly started boiling it while also watching the roasting bird and fish above the firepit.
These foods were naturally what he had found nearby; the forest seemed unusually rich with small animals.
Of course, the river wasn't safe either, because in a fleeting glimpse from the drone, he seemed to have seen a dark shadow of a python stretching over a dozen meters long swim by…
Because of the primitive environment, Fang Xing improvised and started with roasted bird and fish. The fish from the river were quite large, each over half a meter long, with bones firm and fine. Therefore, he also made fish soup.
In addition, there were berries and mushrooms he had casually picked from the nearby bushes...
Once the meals were prepared, Fang Xing did not start eating immediately but first took out toxicity test strips and tested everything.
"Um, the bird meat and fish are fine..."
"The mushrooms are also fine, oh my... these berries are actually poisonous?"
Looking at the results on the test strip, Fang Xing was a bit conflicted, "It seems I can't eat this first meal in the Otherworld… I'll go back and order takeout later..."
"But to utilize the resources of this world, I had to try eventually; let's follow the procedure... Test paper first, then the white mice!"
He took some fish and bird meat to feed those pioneer white mice.
As explorers of the new world, these white mice could be called vanguards, enduring many dangers for Fang Xing.
Fang Xing waited for half an hour and saw that the mice that had eaten the meat showed no anomalies, so he nodded, "Observe for another day… see if they eat the berries tomorrow, I wonder how strong the toxicity is? It could be used for destroying traces..."
"After setting up a control group for observation, I could bring back a little food and then find an opportunity to taste test it near the school clinic..."
Watching the white mice eat meat and drink soup, Fang Xing too felt hungry, unable to wait for takeout, quietly nibbling on the cookies he had brought, even the water was bottled water he had carried himself.
"I have to say, this meat is quite fragrant... it even makes one hungrier."
After eating his fill, he stood up and habitually assumed the Great Dragon Stance.
The proficient-level Great Dragon Stance was the basis of Fang Xing's current martial arts progress and could not be neglected for even a day.
"Oh?"
This time, he distinctly felt something different.
"Is it my imagination? If it were a beginner-level Great Dragon Stance, I might not even notice... but I feel like my vital energy is circulating more lively?"
With a thought, Fang Xing immediately looked at the attribute panel:
[Great Dragon Stance: 14/100 (Proficient)]
"The prowess level of the Pile Skill increased a bit? Didn't I just improve it yesterday? Previously, the Great Dragon Stance prowess needed two or three days to improve by one point..."
"Vital energy circulation could be an illusion, but the data on the prowess panel cannot be wrong..."
Fang Xing seemed to think of something, looking greedily at the land and sky around him.
At that moment, the mountains and rivers in his eyes seemed to have acquired a different allure.
"I've heard that in different planets, the speed of cultivation varies... even some cosmic sanctuaries in the universe are incredibly abundant with cosmic energy, allowing one to progress at a rapid pace... many of the Federation's universities are built in such cosmic secret realms."
"Here might not compare to any cosmic secret realm...
but it clearly has more abundant cosmic energy than Chuying Star?"
"To cultivate martial arts in this Otherworld actually comes with bonuses?"
"What secrets might still be hidden here?"