Ding Yun's initial words, which acknowledged her brother's guess and revealed she had witnessed a transmigator before, filled Ding Xiang with both surprise and delight.
The latter half of her statement, however, sent him plummeting into despair.
The prospect of his mother becoming his shadow, always present, knowing every detail of his school life, filled him with dread. The thought alone painted his future in bleak colors, devoid of light, hope, or freedom.
"How could this happen? Why did Mom quit her job? Is it really just for my grades? It's too much. It's over, it's over, it's over. Will I even be able to eat at the school cafeteria anymore?"
Ding Xiang didn't actually think his mother's job was that strenuous. They woke up around the same time, and by the time she returned home, he still had several hours of classes left. In his mind, he was far more exhausted than she was.
What truly worried him wasn't his mother's constant presence, but the potential loss of cafeteria meals. He might have to eat the food his mother prepared for him three meals a day.
Accustomed to cafeteria fare, he didn't find his home cooking particularly appealing.
The school cafeteria's dishes were often bold in flavor: either too salty, too spicy, or fried with generous amounts of salt and chili powder, designed to tantalize the taste buds. Jin Cuihua's cooking, on the other hand, was predominantly light. As for suggesting she make her dishes saltier, his father, Ding Hai, had a cautionary tale.
Once, he'd complained the food was bland and lacked flavor. His mother had responded by dumping a whole can of salt into the dish. From that day on, he never dared to offer any suggestions.
Currently, the main situation at home was that his father and sister, when craving something richer, would either cook it themselves or buy it from outside. With limited pocket money and no means to earn his own, Ding Xiang could only indulge in hearty meals at the school cafeteria.
The mere thought of having to eat bland, health-conscious meals every day plunged him into a feeling of utter despair.
"Three years, it'll pass quickly!"
Ding Yun offered a perfunctory comfort to her brother before sending him back to his room to sleep.
She herself retired early.
...
The next morning, Ding Xiang attended his classes as usual.
Jin Cuihua and Ding Hai also went to work, leaving Ding Yun alone at home. She began to ponder how she could gain influence in this world.
"This world is just beginning its spiritual energy revival. Martial arts and cultivation traditions probably haven't truly begun, or if they have, they're likely incomplete. What if I open a livestream and teach martial arts and cultivation techniques?
Become a Martial Ancestor and Dao Ancestor?
It sounds promising, but I don't know if the livestream will be stable or get shut down. Also, the spiritual energy is too thin right now to see significant results. Even practicing martial arts would likely take years to show noticeable effects.
I can keep it as a potential plan, for now."
"Beyond that, I don't need to over-rely on my spatial ring. Growing some vegetables for myself is fine, but using it to spread influence across the world is practically impossible. That small space can't possibly supply everyone with vegetables and fruits. Only the Omnipotent Workshop could do that.
Sigh, the last world exhausted me. Do I really have to start a business with the Omnipotent Workshop in this world? That sounds way too troublesome!"
"Uh... I'll put this plan on hold for now.
I'll see how Ding Xiang does later. If he has any entrepreneurial aspirations, I can lend him this golden finger. Once he's developed to a certain extent, I can find an excuse, say for my thirtieth birthday, to have a big sale. I'll print my avatar on all the products. The effect should be similar to me starting a business and printing my avatar on products, or sending out red envelopes. Plus, that way, I can relax. Not bad!"
The previous world, with its focus on balance and development, had drained Ding Yun's energy. She longed for rest and some idleness. Thus, she quickly settled on two less demanding plans, deciding not to rush. She would rest for two or three years and have some fun first.
Then, Ding Yun felt a sense of relief wash over her.
It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted, and her mind was finally at ease.
Indeed, nothing in the world is difficult if one is willing to give up. Procrastinating tomorrow after tomorrow could be quite enjoyable.
However, even though she planned to rest for a few years, her previous arrangements were still proceeding normally.
Half an hour later, the wisp of spiritual energy she had sent with Tian Dashuan and Tian Xiaoer to another world returned with them, re-entering Ding Yun's mind and bringing her intelligence from that world.
That world was much as Ding Yun had speculated.
It was the end of a dynasty, plagued by natural disasters. Regions were fragmented, warlords were in conflict, heroes rose and fell, foreign invaders threatened, and peasant uprisings were constant. People were fleeing famine and disaster, a true scene of chaos.
However, there was a difference: martial arts were flourishing in that world, Daoist arts had not completely disappeared, and monsters and demons ran rampant. Most people knew some basic martial skills. However, wealth was required for martial arts cultivation. Ordinary people struggled to afford food, let alone the increased caloric intake and medicinal herbs needed for training.
Therefore, most people practiced only superficially, or a village would collectively support one or two martial artists to defend against external threats and manage water resources for irrigation.
If the martial artist in Datian Village hadn't died a few years prior, they likely wouldn't have been wiped out.
Compared to the flourishing martial arts, the inheritance of Daoist arts was more secretive. Many people had only heard of it but never seen it, only knowing that monsters appeared in certain places, and Daoist priests or celestial masters would come to subdue them. Additionally, some martial artists with profound cultivation could also subdue monsters and demons, but it was more difficult and dangerous for them than for Daoist priests or celestial masters, as it wasn't their specialization.
However, this information was not important.
The only truly crucial piece of information was this: the collision between the two worlds and the appearance of a stable spatial passageway were not accidental or coincidental. They were deliberate actions by people from that world, or perhaps, specifically by that world's emperor. In fact, the widespread natural disasters in their world were also related to their emperor.
The entire story was a bit long, but in essence, that world's emperor was a true Son of Heaven.
He had the recognition of the world consciousness.
And could trade with the world consciousness.
The current emperor was Emperor Qingyan. Years ago, he had already become a Grandmaster of Martial Arts, but due to his innate talent, his cultivation had been stuck at this level. He could only live for about three hundred years, and he was already two hundred and sixty.
It was no exaggeration to say his lifespan was nearing its end.
Unwilling to die, he found two forbidden techniques in the imperial family's treasury. One was a secret art that sacrificed national destiny to facilitate contact with other worlds, and the other was a secret art of sacrificing the essence of another world to the world consciousness to gain its favor. According to the secret art, if he could sacrifice the essence of an entire world to the world consciousness, he could truly live as long as heaven, and with some manipulation, he could even become the Heavenly Emperor.
Following this, he sacrificed sixty percent of his empire's destiny.
This led to contact and collision with the world Ding Yun inhabited.
The natural disasters and suffering in his world were a direct result of losing sixty percent of its destiny.
Without further unexpected events,
The opponent would most likely attempt to invade and conquer this world.