"The Immortal Realm of Perfect World is only about the size of a single galaxy! The universe is measured in light-years, yet Perfect World uses kilometers!"
"Given the exaggerated writing style of fantasy novels, a single two-way foil could flatten a bunch of Great Emperors. Fight me if you disagree."
"The original poster is blind and mentally handicapped."
"Tap, tap, tap." The sound of a keyboard echoed from a rented apartment.
"According to the original text, the village chief mentioned that traveling from one domain to another spans millions of li, and a semi-true starry sky also exists. Based on Chen Dong's vague concepts, this is roughly equivalent to a radius of 4.5 million kilometers, yielding a circular area of 6.36E+13 square kilometers. The Earth's surface area is about 510 million square kilometers, so dividing the Wasteland Domain by Earth's surface area results in roughly 125,000 Earths—and the Wasteland Domain is the smallest of the Eight Regions. Furthermore, a single province in the Three Thousand Provinces is larger than the entire Eight Regions combined. I won't even bother calculating the rest!"
"Let's roughly estimate the Milky Way has 60 to 100 billion habitable planets, and let's give the probability of an intelligent planet producing civilization as one in a hundred million."
"I won't calculate further here; I'll just give everyone a general concept. After all, Chen Dong once wrote that a marquis-level retainer could command hundreds of millions of people, and the number of such retainers is unknown..."
"So you're the only one who thinks having a lot of words makes you right? If you've got the guts, go run off to the Wasteland Domain and check out the Milky Way yourself, you trash! What's the use of running your mouth and talking big without seeing it with your own eyes?"
"The OP is triggered! (Laughing emoji)"
"If I actually went there, I wouldn't even tell an idiot like you. When you can't win an argument, you just block people!" Shi Heng cursed in front of his computer, then went looking for his next target post.
Shi Heng had been cooped up at home for a long time, making his body appear somewhat slender and pale. He had a lean face, a pair of sword-like eyebrows, a straight nose bridge, and a rounded nose tip. He looked about seventy percent like Louis Koo, just not as soft-featured.
*Grumble, grumble.*
Shi Heng rubbed his stomach, contentedly closed the post, stretched, grabbed his phone, and stepped out of his rented room.
...
In the Void.
Silence reigned, as if time itself did not exist. In the distant reaches, spatial rifts resembling black lightning occasionally burst forth, fleetingly revealing colorful worlds, where the birth and destruction of countless worlds could be vaguely glimpsed.
A streak of purple light tore through the void.
"Heavens, send me back! I'll never argue online again! I have elderly parents above and young children below, wah!"
A tiny wave of thought emanated from within.
The purple light was shaped like an auspicious cloud, and at a glance, it was clearly extraordinary and unusual. At this moment, it housed a weak soul, and it was evidently the source of the thought wave just now.
Suddenly, a new spatial rift tore open nearby, and a white ball of light darted out from it, violently slamming into the purple cloud.
The purple cloud and the white ball instantly fused together, carrying the weak soul as they veered off course and plunged into a spatial rift on the far side.
...
The Wild Mountain Range, Shi Village.
As dawn approached and the night was just about to clear, a light woven of interwoven purple and white hues emerged from the void on one side of the sky. Without pausing for even a fraction of a second, the light plummeted straight toward the stone platform in the village. Upon hitting the ground, the light of the ball scattered without kicking up a single speck of dust. Once it touched the ground, it expanded into a human shape and vanished into the human body in a flash.
No more than a split second passed from the appearance of the light to its disappearance. At that moment, a willow branch resembling a divine chain suddenly lunged from the charred tree stump beside it, aiming straight for the center of the human's brow.
Seeing that there was no reaction whatsoever, the willow branch paused for a moment before slowly retracting. Its divine splendor gradually faded, and upon closer inspection, it looked no different from an ordinary willow branch.
...
"Ding... The world membrane has been crossed."
"Ding... System projection target error... Separating..."
"Ding... Separation failed... Continuing attempts... Attempt failed..."
"Ding... Detecting projectable targets..."
"Ding... Target found... Installing... Installation complete."
"Welcome to the (Loving Family) Chat Group!"
...
The sky grew pale. In the distant mountain forests, fierce beasts roared and birds shrieked. Though only faintly audible, one could sense that their masters were the apex predators of these high mountains and deep ravines.
*Where is this?* Shi Heng slowly regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and looked around.
Shi Heng propped his upper body up with both hands and shook his head. He only remembered that he had gone out for a meal earlier, and on the way, to save a little girl, he was unfortunately struck by an advertising signboard falling from high above, after which he lost consciousness.
He had no impression of anything that happened afterward, save for a vague purple light appearing in the darkness, and then the purple light wrapped around him as he traveled through who knows how many layers of barriers.
Perhaps virtue brings its own reward, or perhaps his time had simply not yet come. Though he did not know where he was now, at least he was still alive, wasn't he?
Furthermore, there were signs of human civilization. Humans were naturally gregarious creatures; if he were to leave human society, an online debater like him would drive himself crazy from sheer isolation.
Of course, that was assuming it truly was human civilization.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!" A burst of dog barking came from a stone house courtyard to the side.
Hearing this familiar barking—though he had been bitten by a dog when he was young and was rather afraid of dogs—he couldn't help but let the stone in his heart drop. At least he was hearing a familiar sound.
"@#$&#%￥^?" An elderly man of roughly sixty or seventy years emerged from the stone house in that nearby courtyard. Following the direction of the yellow dog's barking, he spotted Shi Heng and spoke to him.
The old man had a rugged appearance, his weathered skin scarred by decades of wind and rain, and his long hair hung loose. It was obvious the village still relied on hunting to survive.
Shi Heng was certain he had never heard this language before. After all, having lived in modern society for over twenty years and spent more than a decade as an internet keyboard warrior, while Shi Heng couldn't speak or understand foreign languages, his basic ability to distinguish them remained intact.
It seemed he really had time-traveled! And to a primitive tribe, no less!
At that moment, panic gripped his heart. After all, he was merely an ordinary person—an ordinary indoor slacker from modern society who didn't exercise regularly. Lost in the primitive wilderness, any casual ferocious beast could cost him his life.
Shi Heng felt a bitter ache in his heart. He couldn't understand a word being said, his origins were baffling, and stuck in the wilderness, he feared he might be beaten to death shortly.
At that exact moment, the purple cloud that had burrowed into Shi Heng's body flashed with purple light, and Shi Heng instantly mastered this *Foreign World Language*, comprehending the meaning of the old man's words just now.
"Who are you?"
Seeing that Shi Heng was half-sitting on the stone platform and that the Sacrificial Spirit showed no abnormal activity, yet Shi Heng still hadn't answered him, Shi Yunfeng spoke again. "Where did this youngster come from?"
Shi Heng steadied his nerves, immediately stood up straight, cupped his fists in the ancient manner, and said:
"I'm not quite sure how I got here either. When I woke up, I found myself already lying here. Elder, you may call me Shi Heng."
"May I ask where this place is, Elder?" Shi Heng immediately followed up.
"Surname is Shi? Our village is called Shi Village. Since you were able to come here and the Sacrificial Spirit Lord raised no objection, you shouldn't be anyone utterly heinous."
Shi Yunfeng smiled slightly, nodded, and looked Shi Heng up and down.
"The young man has fine features, but his body is far too weak—inferior even to a three-year-old child in the village. Who knows how you managed to make your way into this Great Wilderness. Hurry inside! Look how thinly dressed you are; don't catch a cold. The morning wind in this Great Wilderness is no joke!"
"Many thanks, Elder!"
Shi Heng was still wearing the T-shirt he had worn before transmigrating. He rubbed his arms with both hands and quickly followed Shi Yunfeng into the courtyard, a look of profound shock and suspicion on his face.
Shi Village?
Sacrificial Spirit?
Hearing the two names spoken by the old man, Shi Heng's pupils abruptly constricted.
Shi Village + Sacrificial Spirit, a high probability of equals Perfect World!!! Emperor Huang!!! A world with off-the-charts power levels!!!
Furthermore, this was within the Eight Regions, where people could kick the bucket at any moment during the early stages!
In modern parlance: What the hell, something huge has happened this time!
Shi Heng roared frantically in his mind. Then he hurriedly pressed on:
"Did the elder just say Shi Village? As in the 'Shi' for stone? Oh, and by the way, is that charred willow stump beside us your village's Sacrificial Spirit?"
"Haha! That's right! That's right! It seems you know quite a bit about our village! Come inside first and we'll talk!"
It's over, it's totally over!
One hundred percent confirmed—it's like an absurdity stepping right through your front door, absurd to the extreme!
Though he had no idea what kind of treasure brought him across time and space—capable of the sheer absurdity of crossing worlds, it surely couldn't be too weak—he hoped it could help him out so he wouldn't end up living too miserably in the future.
Shi Heng mentally grumbled a few complaints toward the purple cloud.
He couldn't help but smile bitterly. After all, in his memory, Perfect World was something he read while it was being serialized, and several years had already passed, so he didn't remember many specific details. Although he had also watched the Perfect World animated series, the details were far too brief.
He only remembered that the Willow Deity was gorgeous!!
And Emperor Huang was just as handsome as him! Plus, he got to marry three wives!
Novels and animations were ultimately consumed from the perspective of a bystander eating melon seeds, lacking any deep sense of immersion. Now that he had transmigrated here, everything was real. Thinking of the formidable enemies and crises Emperor Huang would face in the future—not to mention that his own transmigration would trigger a butterfly effect—
Shi Heng felt a splitting headache coming on.
After all, novels were written and animations were compiled; they differed quite a bit from reality. The perils within were nothing a person from the 21st century could possibly imagine.
However, the most urgent task was to understand the outside world thoroughly. Shi Village was relatively the safest place available; it seemed he had no choice but to settle down here first.
"Then I shall impose upon you, Elder!"
Shi Yunfeng led Shi Heng into the courtyard, kicked a large yellow dog wandering around nearby, and motioned for Shi Heng to sit at the stone table and chairs set up in the middle of the yard.
"Sit!"
"Many thanks, Elder!"
"Well, I don't know how you managed to come here, but our village is the only settlement within dozens of li. Seeing how frail your body is, I suppose you couldn't possibly make it out of these deep mountain ravines anyway. Do you have any other plans?" Shi Yunfeng retrieved a clay pot from the stove nearby, scooped up some water, and walked over holding a porcelain bowl, motioning for Shi Heng to have a drink of water first.
Shi Heng had yet to recover from the shock of Shi Yunfeng's words, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts. Hearing Shi Yunfeng's words, he quickly expressed his thanks and asked: "Might I ask how I should address you, Elder?"
"You can call me Elder Shi. I am the current chieftain of this village."
"Elder Shi, I am terribly sorry to disturb your rest. As you can see, I am a complete stranger here. Would it be possible for me to stay temporarily in the village for a while?" The more Shi Heng spoke, the more awkward he felt, but he had no choice—surviving took precedence.
"Very well. Though the conditions in the village aren't great, I don't know if you'll be used to them." Shi Yunfeng pondered for a moment. "There is a vacant room beside my house at the moment; you can stay there. When dawn breaks later, I'll have the villagers bring you some fur coats and bedding."
"Many thanks, Elder Shi." A heavy stone lifted from Shi Heng's heart, and he excitedly bowed to Shi Yunfeng. He also felt a secret thrill of relief, thanking his lucky stars he hadn't been driven out of the village. Otherwise, having transmigrated today, he surely would have ended up inside the belly of some ferocious beast by day's end.
"Young man, sit here for a moment. Once the villagers wake up for their morning training, I will introduce you to everyone. This place is located in the Great Wilderness, and very few outsiders ever enter our Shi Village!"
As they spoke, a milky voice rang out from inside the house.
"Chieftain Grandpa! Chieftain Grandpa! I want some milk!"
Hearing the cry from within, Shi Yunfeng finished his sentence and stepped into the house.