Chapter 1 Preparations

Two months ago, after deciding to obliterate that ghost-wizard family that cursed ordinary people and resolving to travel to another world to hone his combat skills, Su Zhou had been preparing for these endeavors.

There were many things to prepare.

First, he had to try to understand the information available about that world. This was where Shao Shuangyue's game manual came in handy. Su Zhou specifically bought all of Gong Qiying's games. Although he didn't have time to play and complete them himself, he could watch playthroughs on various video websites!

Speedrunning through videos, offering critiques, speaking eloquently and endlessly…

This was the superiority of a "cloud gamer"!

Moreover, there was a whole host of Soul scholars, Wolf scholars, and XX scholars who would conduct in-depth analyses of the games, even writing novels of millions of words based on their own imaginative interpretations. Although most of it was guesswork and far-fetched connections, it was better than nothing, and it was exactly what Su Zhou needed.

"Believing everything written is worse than believing nothing at all. Don't forget about the Erosion Deviation Value."

This was Yara's lazy warning: "Even with multi-world information transfer, creators can't completely follow their inspiration—they still need to make a living. No one likes stories where the protagonist is constantly abused."

"That's true." Su Zhou thought about it and immediately agreed. Moreover, some situations in those worlds might be even worse than depicted in the corresponding works.

But he still retorted, "But who knows if they'll do the opposite? Like, maybe it's a happy, harmonious world, but some pretentious author, after receiving inspiration, insists on killing off several main characters, handing out death flags before the ending, and making the protagonist wear a green hat or something else messed up—that possibility isn't zero!"

"Although I want to say that even demons aren't that bored," Yara said after a long silence, struggling to nod. "But in fact, there are indeed people like that in this world."

In short.

After watching the entire series, the "cloud gamer" Su Zhou had a general understanding of the other world behind the Wooden Centipede. Except for "Global Cyber 2068," which was about a group of mechanized cyborgs riding motorcycles and fighting various mechanical beasts through transformations, most of the others were set in ancient fantasy settings. Human exorcists fought against various demons and monsters in grand settings, either fulfilling vows or saving the world.

The two works in which the Wooden Centipede had appeared were set in Zheng Country and Fusang respectively. The former was an additional monster in the DLC "Kunlun Tianshan," and was related to the bronze divine tree "Jianmu" (the tree that connects Heaven and Earth).

The latter was a small boss guarding the "entrance to the Human, God, and Netherworld realms," also known as the Fusang Gate, in the sixth main installment, "Benevolent Kings Unending." It also had a certain symbiotic relationship with the mid-boss Giant Wooden Guardian.

"Jianmu is the divine tree that connects Heaven and Earth, allowing passage between Heaven, Earth, Humans, and Gods, while Fusang is a pair of divine trees, forming a gate, which is the source of the sun, and the entrance to the realms of Humans, Gods, and the Netherworld—both have some connection to the opening of Heaven and Earth."

Su Zhou had a high Mysticism stat, not to mention that after eating the Wisdom Fruit, his memory was even clearer, making it easy for him to recall relevant ancient texts.

He didn't know whether he would be traveling to Zheng Country or Fusang this time, but both were likely ancient settings. Therefore, to avoid unnecessary problems, ancient equipment, commonly traded goods, and the possibility of camping in the deep mountains and forests for ten days to half a month had to be considered.

He even taught himself Japanese and the dialects of various regions in Zheng Country for a while—theoretically, with the Wisdom Fruit's enhancement, basic communication should be possible.

Therefore, in addition to studying at school, cultivating spiritual energy, and chatting with professors from various academies, being subtly or even explicitly told, 'Come to our academy! We have money, resources, and guaranteed job assignments to solve all your problems!', Su Zhou also entrusted Shao Qiming to help him prepare a lot of related supplies.

"I have weapons."

The cross spear engraved with sacred texts, exuding a sense of ritual, was wrapped in inconspicuous white cloth at the tip to avoid being too conspicuous. It was tightly grasped and hung on the strap behind his back.

Before setting off, Su Zhou checked his equipment one last time.

—Salt, sugar, and spices for trading with ancient people. Some glass beads, pearls, artificial diamond gems, and a small amount of real silver.

—Obscure spiritual energy crystals for trading or processing with ancient cultivators. A small bottle of No. 3 Holy Water, drinking one mouthful of which was equivalent to an intermediate healing spell and could heal internal injuries.

Unfortunately, there were only three mouthfuls. After all, the Blessing Cross was too small, and if there was too much water, it would be difficult to increase the concentration and improve the effect.

Although Su Zhou himself had super regeneration, it would be greatly weakened in extremely cold environments. In short, it was always good to bring it along, and this kind of healing elixir with no side effects would definitely have extremely high value.

—A simple tent, blankets, various survival equipment, a cutting knife, hammer, pliers, tweezers, heater, hand-cranked charger, and a high-performance flashlight for wilderness survival and exploration.

A circle of small props that could be easily taken out hung on his combat belt, such as some rhombus-shaped iron blocks that could be used as hidden weapons and ranged attack weapons… Su Zhou was extremely aware that drawing a gun from his pocket was too slow, resulting in him having one of his hands chopped off, so even if he couldn't get firearms, he would prepare these kinds of small gadgets that could quickly counterattack.

"Yara said that the flow of time in different worlds isn't consistent. The fastest and slowest speeds may have a difference of hundreds of thousands of times or more—and these two worlds, which aren't located in the same time coordinate system, usually can't be observed by each other at all, and are 'time traps' that even ordinary gods would fall into."

"But the Celestial Scale can ignore this 'time trap' and take me through. In that case, maybe even if I travel once, not much time will pass in the real world."

Thinking this in his heart, Su Zhou didn't completely believe Yara, knowing that the other party must be hiding some elements in this matter.

But he knew that the other party would never harm him: "This guy Yara is probably planning to rely on the Celestial Scale's travel to analyze the seal on its main body, thereby breaking free from its restraints and regaining its freedom? Anyway, it must have a certain purpose, otherwise, it wouldn't be so enthusiastic about the Celestial Scale, which sealed it."

"But so what? At least I have value to be exploited—as for now, I'll enjoy myself first, hahaha!"

"Preparation complete, start, depart!"

With everything confirmed, Su Zhou laughed heartily and reached out to touch the orb of light derived from the Celestial Scale on the table—behind this orb of light, he could see snowy mountains and forests. His equipment shouldn't be useless.

In an instant, the man and the snake disappeared together from the room.

——The Garden of Extinction·Eternal Emptiness——

In the completely frozen, ice-sea-like void, countless brilliant glowing crystals were blooming with their dazzling light.

These star-like crystals illuminated each other, interacting with their brilliance. If possible, they might rotate in the void, vibrating with ripples, creating chaotic space-time turbulence.

And each brilliant or dim crystal was a boundless world.

However, many crystals were broken. Their originally complete structures had been destroyed and stripped of some parts, appearing battered and miserable, seeming like they would be destroyed at any moment.

However, the completely frozen void slowed down, or rather, paused this destruction, allowing these broken crystal worlds, like stars, to continue.

At this time, a silver light lit up from a vast and boundless world located at the very center of all crystal worlds, which seemed to be the only complete one. The edges of this world were filled with countless dense cracks, and the frozen void burst open with cracks, and the silver light followed these cracks, speeding toward a crystal that was interacting with it with ripples and light.

At the same time, far away at the other end, a boundless fragment, like a Ouroboros ring, trembled slightly.

Thus, the power of the river of time changed slightly for an instant.

——The Material World——

Mid-air inside a certain world.

With a silver curtain suddenly unfolding and then suddenly dissipating, a figure carrying luggage appeared in mid-air dozens of meters high. He floated for a while, but soon began to fall.

"Crap, I forgot about the problem of teleportation location!"

A rather annoyed exclamation could be heard, but it could also be heard that there was no surprise or panic in this voice.

"But, anyway, I'm a psychic."

Boom!

In the midst of the wind, a figure fell like a stone.

On the ground covered with snow, a cloud of dust suddenly rose.