Chapter 33: The Theory of Otherworld Collision

On a two-hundred-square-meter island surrounded by vast, white mist, a young man in his early twenties stood staring at an ordinary-looking small tree before him, smiling foolishly.

Lin Li looked at the small green fruit growing from the miraculous little tree with an affectionate expression, his thoughts wandering as he chuckled to himself.

"Forget it, forget it. I shouldn't even think about becoming an Investigator.

That is a law enforcement agency filled with many cultivators whose cultivation levels are unfathomable. If I truly became an Investigator and had to commute to that kind of place every day, I’m afraid I might accidentally expose the secret of this mysterious island.

Furthermore, the enviable benefits one could obtain as an Investigator are indeed very tempting to my current self.

But in time, with this miraculous little tree on the mysterious island and the magical green fruits it produces, I will surely become an incredibly powerful cultivator. When that time comes, the things I obtain will be far better than those benefits.

What was that saying? One must have long-term vision and not trade a watermelon for a sesame seed just for the sake of immediate, trivial gains."

Standing before the unremarkable, miraculous little tree, Lin Li pulled his wandering thoughts back.

Before leaving, he took one last look at the exquisite, small green fruit growing on the tree and muttered to himself.

"Wait for me, baby. As soon as I finish lunch, I'll drive straight into the wilderness."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Li gave a mental command, and he instantly vanished from the island.

…………

As July arrived, the summer afternoons grew increasingly sweltering.

In the azure sky, white clouds drifted like clumps of cotton candy.

Some of these clouds clustered together like silver-white waves rolling in the sea, while others overlapped like delicious cakes in a bakery.

"Cicada, cicada..."

The more intense the afternoon sun and the higher the temperature, the more joyful the cicadas—the spirits of summer—became. They seemed to possess inexhaustible energy, telling the world of their current delight.

"Rumble..."

A silver van appeared on the highway outside the suburbs, driven by a young man in his early twenties.

"Having a car is so convenient; this trip is saving me a lot of time."

Driving his rented silver van, Lin Li sped toward the wilderness outside the city.

While traffic was somewhat congested within the urban areas, once one left the bustling city center and entered the suburbs and then the outskirts, the traffic became increasingly smooth.

In particular, the closer he got to Chenhua Avenue, the fewer vehicles he encountered on the road.

This was a normal phenomenon. Under the years of publicity and education from the government, the residents living in cities and towns—from three or four-year-old children to seventy or eighty-year-old elders—all knew that exotic beasts frequently appeared in the wilderness and that one should not venture into the wilderness unless necessary.

This parallel world, named Blue Star, originally had a historical development process identical to Earth's.

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of spiritual energy over a hundred years ago, which caused humanity to begin awakening their spirituality and led to the emergence of cultivators who could manifest various kinds of supernatural abilities, this world might have followed a normal historical progression to become another world with the exact same history and technology as Earth.

As for why spiritual energy suddenly appeared in this world over a hundred years ago, it was something the governments of various countries were currently researching with great intensity.

According to some rumors circulating online, the governments of various countries had made certain progress after years of researching why spiritual energy suddenly appeared, though they had not released their findings to the public.

There were rumors suggesting that the reason spiritual energy appeared on Blue Star a hundred years ago was due to a collision between Blue Star and a dimension from another world.

That other world possessed spiritual energy, and after the collision, Blue Star was influenced by it, causing spiritual energy to gradually emerge on Blue Star as well.

This was the "Otherworld Collision Theory" circulating on the internet.

Lin Li always viewed these online rumors as mere stories, reading them purely for amusement and never taking them seriously.

As an ordinary person, the reason why something as miraculous as spiritual energy appeared in this world was not something he needed to concern himself with; the most important thing was to live his own life well.

…………

"Cicada, cicada..."

The further he drove toward the wilderness, the louder the chirping of the cicadas in the roadside trees became.

Under Lin Li's driving, the silver van soon reached Chenhua Avenue and sped toward the wilderness at high speed.

Once past Chenhua Avenue, it would take about half an hour to walk to the wilderness, but by car, it would only take a few minutes.

"Screech..."

The wilderness lay ahead. Lin Li slowed down and pulled the van to the side of the road, parking under the shade of a lush roadside tree.

Before entering the wilderness, he needed to change his gear.

With a thought, the camouflage clothing he had previously placed on the mysterious island appeared in his hands.

After changing his clothes, Lin Li opened the door and stepped out of the car.

"Whew..."

A sudden gust of wind blew, bringing a wave of heat that made Lin Li, who had grown accustomed to the cool environment created by the car's air conditioning, feel a surge of heat.

Of course, such heat could not dampen Lin Li's determination to head into the wilderness to hunt exotic beasts.

Just thinking about the small green fruit growing from that miraculous little tree on the mysterious island filled Lin Li with motivation.

"Come on! I'll try to hunt five rabbit-type exotic beasts like the ones before before the sun goes down."

Lin Li gave himself a pep talk, and then, with a thought, the spiritual tool longsword worth 499,999 yuan instantly appeared in his hand.

Griping the spiritual longsword, Lin Li stepped out from the shade and walked toward the nearby wilderness.

Taking a step forward from the solid, flat highway onto the weed-covered wilderness, Lin Li had officially left human society and entered the perilous wilderness where various exotic beasts roamed.

…………

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

Heat waves rolled across the wilderness from time to time, blowing through the waist-high weeds and creating a rustling sound.

Although he had experience entering the wilderness to hunt exotic beasts once before, Lin Li still felt a bit nervous this time.

Even though he now had a way to save his life by entering the mysterious island, that was predicated on him not being ambushed and killed instantly by a sudden appearance of an exotic beast.

Of course, even if he wasn't killed instantly, if he were seriously injured by an ambush and brought to the brink of death, he feared that even if he remained conscious and could enter the mysterious island with a thought, he would still be unable to escape death.

…………

(End of Chapter)