Evening. The afterglow of the setting sun, like threads of gold, filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows across the bustling street.
Lu Zhanyuan strolled leisurely down the street as he always did.
Suddenly, a slender figure standing at the entrance of a flower shop caught his eye instantly, like a bright and beautiful landscape.
Lu Zhanyuan's heart began to race involuntarily, and an urge to get to know the person surged deep within him.
He took a light breath and walked slowly toward that figure.
"Hello."
A trace of undetectable nervousness laced Lu Zhanyuan's voice. "Are the flowers at this shop very pretty?"
The girl turned her head slightly, revealing her delicate features. Seeing the handsome Lu Zhanyuan beside her, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
Then, she broke into a generous yet polite smile. "Yes, they're very pretty."
Lu Zhanyuan gazed blankly at the bright smile on the girl's face, listening to her voice, crisp and melodious like silver bells, sending ripples through his heart.
"As I was passing by just now, I saw you standing here and felt that you, like the roses in this flower shop, are equally beautiful."
A blush instantly spread across the girl's cheeks, and she lowered her head shyly. "You certainly have a way with words."
"I was merely speaking my true feelings."
Lu Zhanyuan smiled slightly at the girl and asked, "Do you come here often?"
"No, I just happened to be passing by." The girl looked up at Lu Zhanyuan before her.
Lu Zhanyuan smiled slightly at the girl. "This truly is a wondrous fate, allowing me to meet you at this moment. Might I make your acquaintance?"
"Hello, my name is Lin Yue." The girl generously extended her right hand.
"Hello, my name is Lu Zhanyuan, 'Lu' as in the land..."
"Pui!"
"Scumbag!"
Lu Zhanyuan's right hand froze in mid-air as he watched the girl's lovely figure quickly walk away, his eyes filled with annoyance.
He shook his head helplessly, and anger surged within his heart like a tide.
"It's all the fault of that recently broadcasted remake of *The Return of the Condor Heroes*—and that damned Lu Zhanyuan in the show!"
Lu Zhanyuan muttered between clenched teeth, pouring all his pent-up anger onto Lu Zhanyuan from the Condor world.
"Lu Zhanyuan, you scumbag, you're truly out of your mind! Li Mochou is such a gentle yet resilient, cold and peerless beauty, yet you didn't know how to cherish her!
First you played with her feelings, then you fell in love with He Yuanjun, cruelly abandoning Li Mochou and finally driving her step by step toward darkness, refusing to accept her even unto death.
If it were me, I would definitely treat her wholeheartedly and never let her turn to the dark side!"
The more Lu Zhanyuan spoke, the more agitated he became. His voice trembled with anger, and his hands were clenched into tight fists, as if he wanted to smash all his grievance and fury onto that fictional character.
Right at that moment,
[Ding! Detected that the host has been cursed as a scumbag for the 100th time while trying to pick someone up. The Heavens Travel System has been successfully activated.]
[Ding! Heavens Travel System binding complete. The Heavens Travel System will take you walking through the heavens and traveling across myriad worlds.]
Startled by the sudden system prompt, Lu Zhanyuan stood frozen on the spot, the angry expression on his face instantly turning into utter bewilderment.
As a model modern youth, he was not unfamiliar with the concept of a "system," but he never expected that something existing only in web novels would actually befall him.
A moment later, Lu Zhanyuan snapped back to his senses, hurried to the parking lot, and drove his car at lightning speed back home.
Sitting on the sofa, Lu Zhanyuan tentatively called out with a fluttering heart: "System?"
"Can you hear me?"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for activating the Heavens Travel System. You have received one Newcomer Gift Pack. Would you like to open it?]
Lu Zhanyuan leaped up from the sofa in excitement, confirming that this system was real.
"System, open the Newcomer Gift Pack for me!"
[Ding! The Newcomer Gift Pack can only be opened after entering the Heavens Travel System Space. Does the host wish to enter the system space now?]
Living alone as an orphan, Lu Zhanyuan didn't hesitate for a second. "System, I want to enter the system space."
A flash of white light swept past, and Lu Zhanyuan instantly vanished from the room.
He arrived inside the system space to find everything around him a vast expanse of pure white. Above his head was endless whiteness as well, with only a smooth surface beneath his feet.
Right in the center of the space stood a huge light screen, upon which different images flashed rapidly, dazzling to the eye.
"System, open the Newcomer Gift Pack for me!"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully opening the Newcomer Gift Pack!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the Transparent Sacred Body!]
Suddenly, a light blue energy orb appeared around Lu Zhanyuan, enveloping his entire body.
He immediately felt a warm current slowly seeping inward from the outside. Carrying mysterious energy and vitality, this warm current made him feel as though he could hear tiny yet distinct cracking sounds among his bones, yet strangely, he felt no discomfort at all.
He could feel his bones being reshaped, his muscles being re-sculpted, and the meridians within his body gradually becoming broader and more resilient.
As the warm current penetrated deeper, his soul seemed to undergo a wondrous transformation as well.
His consciousness became unprecedentedly clear and sharp, allowing him to perceive even some extremely subtle fluctuations in the surrounding air.
When the warm current thoroughly melted into his body, the remodeling of his physical form and soul was declared complete.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the internal energy mental art — Nine Yang Divine Skill!]
As the system prompt finished, a beam of white light shot from the light screen ahead, illuminating Lu Zhanyuan.
Drawn by an invisible force, Lu Zhanyuan's body involuntarily crossed his legs into a lotus position, and he sat cross-legged on the ground in a posture both upright and solemn.
As he closed his eyes and concentrated, the contents of the Nine Yang Divine Skill mental art flowed into his mind like a babbling brook.
Every word and every sentence seemed to contain the fundamental principles of heaven and earth, stirring his mind and causing him to hold his breath involuntarily and focus with utter concentration.
Lu Zhanyuan could clearly feel a warm stream of qi rising slowly from his dantian, then beginning to circulate throughout his entire body.
At this moment, he felt as though he were isolated from the outside world, casting all his worries and stray thoughts to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.
As his cultivation deepened, the stream of qi within his body grew increasingly majestic, ultimately condensing into a force both unfamiliar and familiar that circulated endlessly within him, generating life without end.
When his cultivation session ended, Lu Zhanyuan stood up and stretched his body.
Sensing the internal energy he had just cultivated within his body, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the Nine Yang Divine Skill had already broken through to the third layer.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring a one-million-cubic-meter spatial ring!]
At that moment, another tiny beam of white light shone from the light screen ahead onto Lu Zhanyuan's left hand.
Lu Zhanyuan raised his left hand to look, and saw that an antique ring had suddenly appeared on his index finger.
At the same time, he sensed a vast space within his mind.
With his eyes wide open, Lu Zhanyuan stared blankly at the ring on his finger, his heart brimming with surprise and excitement.