Chapter 1: The Visitor from Another World
“The energy is finally full. It should be time to go back, right？” Ning Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, observing his inner sea of consciousness. A dull gray stone sphere began emitting a faint glow, and Ning Chen vaguely sensed another world—a deeply familiar feeling.
“Yes!” Ning Chen leaped up excitedly, jumping off the bed and punching the air repeatedly. “I can finally go back! After a whole year, it’s been so tough!”
In his excitement, he unconsciously released the aura of his fifth-level Qi Refinement. A sudden gust of wind arose out of nowhere, causing his robes to billow.
Ning Chen calmed himself down and stepped out of his bedroom. Gazing at the golden sun in the sky—as large as a millstone—and then at the small courtyard that belonged to him, he sighed. This was the only fixed asset left to him by his predecessor, an inheritance from his predecessor’s master.
“I’m leaving now… I can’t help feeling a little reluctant. I wonder if I’ll ever come back.”
When it came to home, Ning Chen was not originally from this world. He had been a third-year university student in Huaxia, Earth, before going alone to Mount Huang for a summer trip. The strangely shaped rocks of Mount Huang were famous, and he didn’t want to leave empty-handed. So, he bought a stone from the souvenir street at the foot of the mountain—these stones were all collected by local villagers from mountain streams, and the price was perfect for a broke student like him.
As a result, while going up the mountain, he took a small path and almost got lost, getting his hands scratched bloody in the dense forest before finally finding his way out by evening. When he checked his pocket, he discovered the stone was gone. Initially, he didn’t think much of it—after all, a ten-yuan stone wasn’t a big loss. The problem arose when he was trying to sleep that night. As his mind wandered, he suddenly realized the stone was inside his head!
This scared him quite a bit. At first, he thought it was just a hallucination, but over the next few days, he found that as long as he focused, he could see the stone in his mind.
Ning Chen didn’t dare tell anyone about it—partly because he was afraid of being labeled a lunatic, and partly because if it turned out to be real, he might get taken away by the authorities for dissection.
He returned to school and first went to the hospital for a brain CT scan, but the results showed nothing unusual. After that, he didn’t dare take any further action.
At first, Ning Chen wondered if he was about to unlock some kind of golden finger—maybe an alien base or some innate treasure. But after about ten days passed with no reaction from the stone in his head, he simply let it be.
Then, after half a month into the new semester—about a month since he had obtained the stone—he was back in his dorm preparing for a nap when the stone in his mind suddenly began emitting a faint glow. To his shock, he could vaguely sense a call from another world. Though utterly bewildered, he didn’t think too much about it and simply followed the sensation, ending up transported there.
Then Ning Chen’s soul transmigrated.
The body he transmigrated into was also named Ning Chen, a rogue cultivator in Cangshan Market. Orphaned from birth, he originally had a master at the mid Qi Refining stage who died exploring outside two years ago, leaving him a solitary courtyard on the market’s edge, a fragmented first volume of “Mystic Void Scripture”, and the skill to draw “Misfortune-Averting Talismans”.
Unfortunately, his predecessor lacked talent—the talisman failure rate was too high, gradually exhausting his resources until he desperately attempted a breakthrough. During the attempt to advance from Qi Refining third layer to mid-stage, he suffered qi deviation, conveniently benefiting Ning Chen from Earth.
When he transmigrated, perhaps due to the spiritual energy from the endless void, after assimilating his predecessor’s memories, he found himself already at Qi Refining fourth layer.
This world was far from peaceful. The market was built at the foot of Cangshan Mountain, with ferocious beasts roaming beyond. No legal constraints governed cultivators, making Ning Chen reluctant to venture out.
His mind’s stone sphere had also transmigrated with him. Now with enhanced spiritual power and cultivation, he recognized this as the Sea of Consciousness—typically only opened at the Condensing Core stage. Who knew what treasure this stone sphere was？ It had opened his Sea of Consciousness while he was still an ordinary person, granting him inner vision.
At the time on Earth, I didn’t feel anything, but now I can sense this stone sphere slowly absorbing energy from the endless void. I have absolutely no influence over it, and judging by the feeling it gives me, it would probably take a full year to completely saturate.
“Alright, one year it is then. Might as well treat it as a long journey. I wonder how frantic mom and dad must be by now.”
Since I’m here, I might as well settle in. Ning Chen decided to make his home in Cangshan Market.
The first volume fragment of the “Mysterious Void Scripture” was the cultivation technique passed down by his predecessor’s master, capable of reaching the eighth level of Qi Refinement. For rogue cultivators like them, they typically relied on such incomplete technique fragments or shallow cultivation methods to embark on their path, advancing through countless hardships.
Ning Chen had initially considered joining a major sect to gain powerful backing, but upon inquiry, he learned they only recruited and trained disciples from childhood. At eighteen years old, he was already well past the age for Foundation Establishment, and no sect would accept him. As for joining cultivation families, that would mean even less freedom - hoping to obtain their techniques would be pure fantasy. It was better to remain content as a stable rogue cultivator.
Having understood the situation clearly, Ning Chen gave up the idea. Fortunately, his master had taught him the skill of drawing talismans. The “Crossing Calamity Talisman” specializes in healing internal and external injuries, detoxification, and warding off evil. It’s commonly used by cultivators at the early to middle stages of Qi Refinement, serving as standard equipment for daily travels, exploration, and combat—priced at one hundred taels of gold per sheet!
When Ning Chen first learned the price, he was startled. Calculating based on Earth’s standard of 300 per gram, one talisman would convert to 1.5 million RMB—enough to buy an apartment in a second-tier city.
However, items for cultivators here are generally expensive. Daily meals consist of fierce beast meat, and high-quality magical instruments and elixirs are priced in spirit stones. Moreover, Ning Chen had to pay taxes for setting up a stall to sell talismans in the market, which was also why his predecessor was struggling to get by—both setting up stalls and eating required money.
Fortunately, his soul power greatly increased after crossing over, and his cultivation also advanced by one level. Drawing the “Misfortune Dispelling Talisman” no longer posed any difficulty. Originally, his master could draw it ten times a day with only two to three successes, while his predecessor could barely manage five attempts daily, succeeding only once every three days—gradually depleting their resources. After Ning Chen familiarized himself with his body and cultivation, he could draw ten talismans daily, achieving nine successes, with the sole failure occurring only due to carelessness. It was truly a case of “turning a bicycle into a motorcycle.” Not only did he no longer lack gold and silver, but he could also afford to purchase a few low-grade spirit stones each month to aid his cultivation. Life had become quite comfortable indeed.
A year passed peacefully like this. Perhaps due to his improved mindset, or maybe because his dual-life experience enhanced his aptitude, or even the assistance of spirit stones in his cultivation—regardless of the reason, around the tenth month in this world, Ning Chen’s cultivation advanced further, reaching the fifth level of Qi Refining.
As the one-year mark approached, Ning Chen still didn’t know whether he could return. He spent his remaining gold and silver on some mortal martial arts. For a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, learning such mortal martial arts was as easy as child’s play.
“Cultivation techniques are far too expensive here—I can’t afford anything. Might as well buy some martial arts to practice. At least when I return, I can pass myself off as a martial arts master,” Ning Chen thought.
