“Run!”
Without another word, Fang Qing turned and fled.
When individuals lacked transcendent power, the distinction between strong and weak was actually very clear: the skinny could not beat the burly, the empty-handed could not beat those with blades, and one man could not beat a crowd.
Besides, he knew perfectly well just what he was worth.
In his previous life, he had been nothing but a weakling who had never learned to fight. Who did he think he could take on?
After running for some distance, Fang Qing discovered, to his sorrow, that his pursuers seemed to be getting closer and closer.
‘Damn it, this body is too weak.’
‘Shit, someone save me…’
‘Uncle didn’t bring me along specially to use me as a bullet shield, did he?’
Fang Qing felt that he was going to leave his life here today.
‘Sure enough… even after transmigrating, a loser is still a loser.’
Bitterness filled his heart. Then his foot suddenly caught on something, his vision went black, and he tumbled into a roadside ditch.
“Now I’m really dead…”
Hearing the shouts drawing nearer and nearer, Fang Qing felt a wave of despair. Just then, within his mind, he suddenly sensed a bead.
“This… this is…”
His heart stirred, and his figure vanished in an instant.
A moment later, a group of vicious-looking men chased over, still carrying long spears and other weapons, raising torches and shining them about wildly. “Where is he? How did he disappear?”
……
Splash!
The great sun hung high overhead, and the wind carried a faint salty tang.
The sea stretched endlessly in all directions, while Fang Qing floated on the surface with both hands pressed tightly against his trouser legs and his head tilted back, not daring to move an inch.
Yes, he could not swim…
When he had suddenly appeared in the seawater, he had nearly died of fright.
Fortunately, he remembered a self-rescue guide for falling into water that he had once read. By keeping this posture and staying still, he could keep his nose above the surface and avoid drowning immediately.
Since he would not drown for a while anyway, Fang Qing did not panic at once. He simply lay there and first began studying his golden finger.
When he closed his eyes, he saw a strange bead.
The bead was the color of chaos, radiating light in all directions. Around its body, vaporous mist lingered, faintly giving one the sense of the cosmos and starry rivers being opened up.
Within the bead, clear and turbid currents shifted uncertainly, as though there were a portal inside.
“Dao-Siring Pearl?”
A stream of information came through, allowing Fang Qing to learn the name and functions of his golden finger.
“Isn’t this the bead I bought casually online before I transmigrated? Back then, it even came with a free bracelet…”
Fang Qing came to an understanding. This “Dao-Siring Pearl” had three great functions.
The first was “returning to the root and reverting to the origin.” This bead had been born before heaven and earth, and could refine all energies back into the most fundamental “yuanqi.” This “yuanqi” could then transform into myriad forms, wondrous beyond measure.
‘In wuxia terms, it can turn all kinds of foreign true qi into original true qi, then simulate all the martial arts and mental cultivation methods under heaven? But I don’t know a single martial art…’
If he wanted to simulate any kind of true qi or magic power, he naturally first had to obtain the corresponding method.
Fang Qing shook his head. “The second great function is the ‘traversal’ that brought me out of danger. It can also be called ‘reaching everywhere,’ but at present it can only shuttle back and forth between this water region anchor point and the place I came from… I suppose that counts as gaining a teleportation gate?”
“As for the third great function, it is the Dao-Siring Pearl’s innate ability to immunize me against heavenly secret deductions, divination, and the like… called ‘As Though Within the Reckoning’!”
So-called “As Though Within the Reckoning” meant that the Dao-Siring Pearl could also “weave” a layer of false fate and identity information for him, blending him into the world and thereby deceiving calculations.
If it were merely “outside the reckoning,” that would be fine for a dead object, but as its master, Fang Qing would inevitably become an information black hole. It might not be obvious at first, but after many interactions with cultivators, sooner or later he would reveal himself among a mass of abnormal data.
This “As Though Within the Reckoning” was different. The false fate it wove would allow diviners to obtain a “reasonable explanation.”
“Good! With such a divine object, it is enough to shelter my immortal path!”
Fang Qing opened his eyes, his expression invigorated, and then saw several seagulls flying over his head.
He paid them no mind and began trying to paddle, learning to swim as he looked around. “The water is salty. Could this be the sea? I wonder if there are any islands nearby, or if any ships pass through?”
As for dangers like sharks or physical exhaustion? Fang Qing was not too panicked. In any case, he could return to that little mountain ditch where he had fallen at any time.
Half a day later.
Fang Qing began to feel tired. He looked at the direction of the sun and narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, his expression changed.
Not far away, on the surface of the sea, trident-like ripples had suddenly appeared. A gray dorsal fin could be faintly seen.
Beneath the water, several huge shadows were rapidly approaching.
“Bad luck. Time to vanish.”
Fang Qing’s heart stirred, and his figure disappeared in an instant.
Rumble!
In a daze, Fang Qing seemed to see the birth and destruction of the universe, the opening of worlds…
Endless chaotic currents roiled. Clouds steamed and rosy vapors gathered. The Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three, and Three gave birth to all things…
Flowers, birds, insects, fish, and all the myriad facets of the mortal world…
“So this is… what it feels like to reach everywhere?”
The Dao-Siring Pearl appeared before Fang Qing’s eyes again. Within it, clear and turbid qi could be faintly seen churning, like a portal.
……
Ancient Shu.
A mountain ditch.
The dawn light was faint.
A flash of light passed, and Fang Qing’s figure emerged. As for those refugees, they had naturally long since left.
“Huff, huff… My half-day of perseverance wasn’t wasted.”
Fang Qing looked at the sky and estimated inwardly, “The flow of time in the two worlds should be about the same?”
He looked at his own damp clothes and could not help but smile wryly. He found an open space and began making a fire to dry them.
After all, this was ancient times. Catching cold was no joke. He had only just seen many clansmen die of illness.
“Hmm?”
While tidying himself up, Fang Qing touched the immortal calendar at his chest and could not help crying out in dismay.
He opened it and saw that the already incomplete calendar had been soaked for half a day. More than half of it had long since been ruined, leaving only some blurred handwriting that could barely be made out.
“First month, [Xu Sun], Year Holder… Third day, Dark Star overhead, avoid drawing talismans, refining pills…”
“Third month, [Wei Fire], eighth month, [Gui Metal]?”
Fang Qing sorted through the information he could still read, then sighed again. “Why weren’t there any secret writings or hidden layers after it got soaked? And here I thought the ancients would never deceive me. Turns out the ancients were lying to me…”
As for those few legible [Year Governors], they did allow him to understand this world a little more.
“It seems… these mighty beings are closely related to the human race’s daily production and sacrificial activities, even to the directions of mountains and rivers, the movements of sun, moon, and stars, and the changes of all things in nature? That’s why they were recorded. What kind of great power is this?”
“And it seems to have some connection with bits of ancient knowledge I learned… the Twenty-Eight Mansions? Or the Twelve Zodiac Signs?”
“Sigh… Unfortunately, I haven’t even entered the gate of cultivation yet. How could I possibly know the secrets within?”
After thinking for a while, Fang Qing began to ponder his future.
“The current me is far too weak…”
Possessing a great treasure without the power to protect it was like a child carrying gold through a busy market.
“I definitely can’t return to that great refugee group… Go to a county city or prefectural city alone? Too many people, too many eyes. It wouldn’t be convenient for traversal. If someone sees me, I’m done for…”
“So… I might as well stay in the wilderness for a while first, explore the world on the other side, and strive to obtain a bit of self-protection first?”
“In any case, that side is the sea. Where there’s seawater, there’s salt. Supplies shouldn’t be a problem. It’s just wilderness survival, right?”
“I also have to make a wooden raft first. It’s no good being soaked in seawater all the time. While I’m at it, I’ll learn to swim.”
Fang Qing gnashed his teeth, then froze. “I feel like I’ve forgotten someone… Forget it. Uncle, you’re on your own. If something happens to you, I’ll definitely avenge you. I won’t change my surname and sever ties with the family…”
……
Three days later.
Outside a cave.
The fragrance of roasted meat filled the air. Above the fire, several tree branches had fish skewered on them.
Fang Qing turned them from time to time and sprinkled on white salt.
A moment later, he opened his mouth wide and bit down. His brows furrowed. “A little burnt… and there aren’t any other seasonings. The taste is pretty average… At this level, it can’t compare to the grilled fish of any street stall from my previous life. Sigh…”
After forcibly filling his stomach, he returned into the cave, blocked the entrance, and with a thought, heaven and earth spun.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived atop a wooden raft.
Moisture still clung faintly to the raft. In the sky, dark clouds were gradually dispersing. Clearly, a storm had just passed.
“The sea really is unpredictable. Fortunately, my little plank of friendship didn’t flip over.”
Fang Qing knocked his own wooden raft in satisfaction, then drifted along with the waves.
He gazed into the distance, where sea and sky met in a single line, his expression somewhat anxious. “I overestimated myself. I thought that after watching a few seasons of wilderness shows, I could become the lord of the wild… The result is that after only a few days as a savage, I already can’t take it anymore. Two more days! If I still don’t see hope in two days, I’ll first go check out the nearby cities…”
Perhaps heaven had not treated him too poorly after all. Half an hour later, Fang Qing looked at a black line emerging in the distance, and surprise appeared on his face. “An island?!”
……
Biyu Island.
In the waters along its edge, Old Man Zha was taking his granddaughter Zhu’er out to sea in their little boat.
The sea was dangerous. If one went too far out, one might encounter yao beasts. His family could not afford a large ship that could cleave through waves either. Their so-called small boat was actually no more than a skiff, and they only dared wander around the waters close to the island. If they sailed even slightly farther, the boat might be destroyed and its passengers killed.
As Old Man Zha tended the fishing net, he instructed his granddaughter, “There isn’t much grain left at home. Later, scoop up more sea grain… This time, this old man even brought our ancestral red dragonwood fishing rod. Perhaps I might hook a treasure fish…”
Watching his granddaughter, who was only about ten years old, busily working, hope rose in his heart. “In a little more than three months, it’ll be time for the Bihai Sect to test aptitude. Perhaps Zhu’er truly has immortal fate… Even if she has no immortal fate, if she eats a treasure fish, she can lay a foundation in qi and blood and become a martial master or strongman…”
In the overseas cultivation world, islands were few and resources were not abundant. Cultivators naturally had a supply of spirit rice, but mortals could only live off the sea.
Fortunately, mortals were the root of cultivators. Once their numbers grew large, genius cultivators would always appear among them. Thus, great spirit planters had specially cultivated special seaweed and sea grass. After fishermen harvested them and dried them in the sun, they became food.
Old Man Zha’s children had died young, leaving him only this granddaughter, whom he treasured more than anything. His greatest wish now was to pave a good road for her.
Just then, Old Man Zha, who was about to cast his line, suddenly rubbed his eyes, as though he had seen something floating over on the sea.
Only when it drifted closer did he discover that it was a youth clinging to a wooden board.
“This is… a shipwreck?”
Old Man Zha hurriedly steered the boat closer. He looked carefully again, and when he saw the youth’s coarse hemp clothes, he secretly let out a breath of relief and called, “Boy, are you still alive?”
Fang Qing had abandoned the raft as soon as he saw the island, clinging to a wooden plank and splashing about. Sure enough, before long, he saw a fishing boat approach, and the old man on it shouted out.
“Huh?”
He blinked, discovering that he could actually understand a few words.
Originally, after arriving in another world, a language barrier should have been the norm. But he found that this old man’s language was actually somewhat similar to the Ba tongue.
“Could it be…”
Fang Qing’s heart stirred, and he answered loudly, “Still breathing!”