Chapter 1 The Human World

The Human World: the phrase "war-torn ruins" could not even begin to describe the state of the two surviving cities.

They had been crushed and mangled by the intersection of two worlds.

What remained of these cities looked like crumpled pieces of discarded foam paper, thoroughly wrinkled and misshapen. Electrical and communication systems were almost entirely paralyzed. The tallest buildings had collapsed, causing massive casualties, with corpses and pileups visible everywhere on the roads.

Car hoods were smashed open, and the ruins still smoldered with embers and smoke.

Some died instantly when the world collapsed, without even a flicker of awareness. Others suffered agonizing deaths amidst the spiritual energy surge and the city's destruction, or were left maimed.

The dead were gone, but the living had to endure the pain.

So, living wasn't always a blessing.

However, the living could at least still see the sky and hope for the future, while the dead had lost everything.

Therefore, living might also be a struggle tinged with pity.

Zhang Hao, wearing camouflage fatigues, carefully pinned the Shenzhou red dragon shoulder patch onto his uniform, then picked up his rifle.

He was a disciple of Longhu Mountain, sent down to experience the world, and belonged to the special operations unit stationed in Yingtian Prefecture.

This time, a Shan Hai (Mountains and Seas) rift was involved, a blatant supernatural event. Daoist disciples and some Buddhist disciples, influenced by Yuan Jue and having left their original temples, were all dispersed and integrated into the external rescue combat units to prevent the rescue forces from being affected by the supernatural event.

This was achieved smoothly, with almost no resistance.

The Daoist disciples carried their swords, while the Buddhist monks simply chanted sutras quietly.

They nodded to each other.

Then boarded the warplanes, possibly never to return.

Zhang Hao didn't know what words they chanted last.

Was it, "May all Qi be cleansed, and my Dao flourish!"

Was it, "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew and lightning."

Or was it just a few curses before stepping onto the path ahead?

Anyway, he just slightly regretted not having eaten a few more portions of the old street's specialties.

Zhang Hao carried modern Shenzhou standard-issue equipment, although he didn't really need a gun.

For some reason, his cultivation had been increasing noticeably lately, perhaps because of his visits to that old street. He felt that the spiritual energy there was gradually becoming denser, almost reaching the level of a blessed grotto. So, his trips to the old street were just for cultivation, and to seek guidance from Grandmaster Yuan Jue and Head Instructor Wei.

Not to freeload meals.

He was a true Daoist cultivator, a direct disciple of Longhu, not that simple.

Of course, many people didn't believe that.

Including himself.

The power of a single talisman far surpassed that of the gun in his hand. But in this chaotic area, the deterrent effect of firearms was much greater than that of Daoist talismans. After Zhang Hao and his teammates finished patrolling the area, he exhaled and looked at the faintly visible barrier in the distance, smiling wryly, "Looks like we won't be able to go back anytime soon."

At this moment, the Shan Hai rift had directly isolated the entire city.

They could even vaguely see the world on the other side of the rift, with frightening clarity.

"We can go back."

"Wait for the response from Shenzhou. In the meantime, protect our Shenzhou compatriots."

His teammate spoke with certainty.

But Zhang Hao found it difficult to explain to him just how terrifying this Shan Hai rift was. He was constantly breaking out in cold sweats from fear. The feeling was like the terror of suddenly falling in a dream, amplified hundreds of times and sustained continuously.

Or the extreme discomfort of holding a pen tip slowly towards the center of your forehead.

His Daoist spiritual sense was screaming at him about the danger.

When he saw his comrade, a soldier with over ten years of service who had successfully graduated from an international special forces training camp, involuntarily clenching and unclenching his fist, he realized that his comrade was only saying that to prevent him from overthinking.

Zhang Hao threw a mint into his mouth, staring blankly at the rift. By now that unkempt fellow he liked must still be researching those rifts like crazy. Never mind, once he gets back this time, he will definitely ask her out.

Perhaps, he could ask Head Instructor Wei?

He seemed very experienced.

After all, a celestial maiden and the Qingqiu fox spirits lived nearby.

Qingqiu foxes, three of them, couldn't possibly have been sent there... right?

As Zhang Hao was spacing out, he suddenly heard bursts of laughter. In this extremely cruel and chaotic area, such laughter was rare. The tension on Zhang Hao and the soldier's faces eased. They quickly walked to a temporary camp.

Most of the buildings had already collapsed, and the remaining parts weren't safe.

So, they had gathered the people they found and built a temporary shelter in an open area. There, a little girl, probably just in kindergarten, was being amused by her mother. A teammate in the camp explained, "The rescue team just found them..."

The little girl's clothes were a bit dirty, probably from just being stained, but she was energetic and not afraid at all.

Children forget easily.

Zhang Hao's spirit relaxed a bit.

He thought for a moment, then took out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket.

This was a habit of the Longhu Mountain disciples.

Because almost every young Daoist had heard stories from an old man when they couldn't recognize all the elders on the mountain. The old man would always take out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket and give it to them. This led to generations of Longhu Mountain Daoists always carrying talismans, cinnabar, yellow paper, and a candy.

This greatly increased Longhu Mountain's approachability, but the side effect was that the rate of elderly diabetes directly doubled compared to before.

The little girl wasn't afraid at all, took the candy, and bowed deeply.

Her hands were placed on her sides, her head lowered, and her hat swung to the top of her head like a little penguin.

"Thank you, uncle."

Zhang Hao smiled and returned the greeting seriously, "You're welcome."

It was time for a shift change, so he sat on a stone to the side and played with the child.

Children could always heal the wounds left by the world.

Of course, except for unruly kids.

If it was an unruly kid, then Zhang Hao felt that he would let them experience the 'cruelty' of society and the 'iron fist' of the adult world, then turn around and leave 'ruthlessly'. As for the unruly parents? Hmph, if you're unjust, don't blame me for being unkind. As long as I have no morals, you can't kidnap me.

But now, Zhang Hao felt that his tightly stretched spirit had been relieved, as if he had been falling but was caught by a cloud. Even his Daoist spiritual sense felt relaxed.

At this time, after eating the third candy, the little girl quieted down and hummed a tune. Zhang Hao recognized it as a rough Shaanbei folk song, Xintianyou, but in the little girl's voice, it became too soft and crisp, losing its original meaning. Zhang Hao originally wanted to ask who had taught her, but this environment wasn't suitable for asking that question.

But the little girl looked at him with a hint of pride and said, "Uncle, uncle, do I sing well?"

"Yes, you sing well..."

"Hehe, that's good, this is what I'm preparing to sing for my dad."

"Dad?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen my dad for a long, long, long time. We were supposed to go to the amusement park today, but he didn't come. Mom said that Dad went home first, to a very, very far old home."

"Home..."

The smile on the Daoist's face froze.

He felt himself falling again, turned his head discreetly, saw the child's mother was about to come over, but stopped, raised her hand to cover her face, tears slid down her face, and her shoulders trembled. Zhang Hao slowly turned his head, the little girl next to him was swinging her legs, her face still full of expectation.

"You know, uncle."

"My home is very big. Dad told me that there are two trees in the old home, a jujube tree and a pear tree, which can bear many, many fruits every year. There is also a vegetable garden, where we can grow vegetables. The vegetables will also bloom flowers. I have grown bok choy, and the flowers are very beautiful. Dad said he can hold me and let me fly over the vegetable garden like a butterfly."

The little girl spoke very fragmentedly, like other children of this age.

Then she kicked her legs and said, "But, I don't plan to sing for Dad..."

"He actually went back without me."

"He must apologize properly!"

After a while, her voice lowered again, and she murmured, "But, he has to say it earlier."

"Because after a while, I won't be angry anymore."

Zhang Hao's hand trembled.

He opened his mouth. Just as he was about to comfort the little girl, a burst of violent fluctuations erupted. Zhang Hao suddenly raised his head, his pupils shrank. The Shan Hai rift, which had stopped, suddenly began to extend again. This time, everyone saw, outside the Shan Hai rift, the phantom of another world.

A soaring pillar of vast Qi.

And a white-clad figure outside the pillar of Qi.

A vast and majestic aura surged down, Zhang Hao's spiritual sense making him far more sensitive than normal people. In that instant, he almost fainted on the spot. This was a power that absolutely surpassed everything he knew, but he still stood in front of the child and the ordinary people, threw down his gun, and produced a sword.

This was his last bit of courage.

The Shenzhou soldiers used themselves as walls and fortresses, protecting the ordinary people inside.

The enormous pressure, the vast power belonging to the top-tier power of all pantheons in the entire world, a fierce god who could truly control the collision of two worlds, enough authority to drag the vast land of Shenzhou into the Shan Hai. Faced with such an enemy, even Zhang Hao felt a sense of powerlessness.

Was there anyone who could stop it?

Were they just waiting to die here, or watch helplessly as Shenzhou, as their homeland, fell into another world?

This was the feeling of insignificance and helplessness that arose in the heart when seeing a god, seeing the most powerful of gods.

The spread of the Shan Hai rift suddenly stopped.

Zhang Hao was stunned.

The person in white raised his eyes. In the image of the other world seen through the Shan Hai rift, another voice appeared, footsteps, as composed as a tiger walking through the mountains, a figure stepping through the void, each step as if he was stepping on invisible stairs, making calm footsteps.

Wearing clothes of black and red, with a red-stained yellow turban on his left arm, dancing like flames.

Holding a sword in his left hand, his brow calm.

Head Instructor Wei?!

Zhang Hao's eyes widened. Although he didn't know what method was being used, Wei Yuan seemed to be taking risks again.

The white figure also noticed this uninvited guest, calmly looked down at him. Originally it was a confrontation between the two sides, but the white fierce god suddenly said:

"...It's you, the people of Xuanyuan, the ministers of King Yu."

"You controlled the floods, crossed mountains and seas, sealed water gods, now you want to stand in my way too?"

The whisper of a god resonated directly with the cognition of living beings. Not only humans, but even fierce beasts, animals, could hear and understand, so they were also subjected to the greatest shock, and their thoughts were momentarily dazed and confused.

The people of Xuanyuan?!

The ministers of King Yu?!

Controlling floods, crossing mountains and seas?

Zhang Hao's heart skipped a beat, and a strange feeling arose from his brain. He immediately thought evasively, this fierce god was mistaken again, just like when they were fighting the Mountain Lord before, the Mountain Lord said that Head Instructor Wei had sealed him, but it was actually the master of the Strange, Forceful, Chaotic Spirits Diagram that did it...

But the next moment, the sword in the mortal's hand was raised, pointing at the fierce god.

"Yes... Taowu."

He responded softly, "Long time no see, it's been five thousand years..."

His voice mixed into the wind, falling calmly.

Zhang Hao's thoughts froze.

A deathly silence.

ps: Today's first chapter ~ 3,600 words ~ ~

A chapter of foreshadowing and building momentum... Yang time schedule, second day! Open the betting pool, open the betting pool, let's see how many days I can last, bet on monthly tickets, bet on monthly tickets.

Recommend a book ~ Hell has looked for me many times, but I forgot every time...

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