Chapter 273 (1/2)

Zhang Dong floated around in his new void dimension. It was looking quite different now after he figured out what this place actually was.

”Should I put more trees here? What do you think, bob?”

He was now standing on a small tropical island with nothing more than the deep clear ocean surrounding him. There was a certain lack of living creatures swimming in that water and it was clear enough to see the bottom.

With a flick of his finger, a set of palm trees with coconuts sprung out from the ground. Soon a nice sturdy hammock was placed between those two and Zhang Dong hopped into it.

”You're not much of a talker, eh?”

The glowing orb didn't react to the question as he had hoped for. The place that he was now looking at had changed to fit his vision. He could change it by sheer will as this small pocket dimension was in fact a reflection of his soul. Its size was tied to his cultivation realm, if he managed to reach the late stage it would probably expand further outwards.

”My soul realm eh?”

He glanced to the side and could see his soul beast taking a dip in the warm ocean. He could bring in some fish but they wouldn't really be real, nothing more than a simple construct.

This was certainly new to him. Apparently, this was something that everyone in the cultivation world and other worlds possessed. It was just hidden deep inside themselves as it was inside of their soul. He was somehow forced inside of this soul world during the whole crossing over worlds fiasco.

Zhang Dong wasn't sure about the logistics of being here. This was all done by his system that had functions that didn't make much sense to him. From Bob's explanation, it seemed that his soul was stuck between this world and the passage he was in previously. This was also the only way through he could survive as somehow souls wouldn't be erased while existing outside their own world.

He already knew that there were more worlds like the cultivation one that he came from. Something brought him thereafter he clicked that email, the biggest question was why.

By how the system reacted it seemed that people weren't allowed to travel between these worlds. If they did they would be erased out of existence just like he almost was. The system was given to him by whoever or whatever sent him to the cultivation world but it was broken during the time he almost died.

It looked like the system thought he was dead as his designation number always came up as 'deceased' when he was scanned. There was someone else like him who made this possible and he had left that cube behind at the old secret ground that he had been.

This was also the reason that he was somehow trusting this blue orb thing. It was helping him for now, his secret helper was going against the being that created this whole mess. Though he wasn't sure if that being was malicious in any way, it could have just been playing games. It was giving people strange powers from a mundane world, from a certain standpoint it could be considered a blessing.

He profited from gaining this system. After coming to the cultivation world he gained everything, good looks, status, and power. He managed to turn his lesser than stellar life into something special.

The big question was, what was this being or god expecting to achieve from giving others like him powers and sending them to strange fantasy-like worlds. Would there be some payment waiting to be paid at the end of the journey?

'Sometimes living in a delusion is bliss…'

After giving out a sigh, his new partner in the form of a blond girl was still in the middle of traveling back home. Surprisingly the people in this world were quite advanced, they looked to be in a sort of renaissance era. Though instead of venturing towards more advanced technology they were investing their time into magic.

Mana was an abundant source of energy that was just filling up the air. It recycles itself whenever a spell is cast so it was hard for it to run out. He knew this thanks to Bob's help as well as to Beatrice that was happy to answer any of his questions. After being able to hear the girl's thoughts he thought that he might be able to download some information directly from her brain but it wasn't happening. He would need another way to get more information about this world and this would be done through books.

”Might as well try cultivating here…”

He jumped off his hammock and tossed the coconut that he poked a hole through. It was kind of weird but he was able to feel the sweet taste of the milky liquid inside. He could even make the coconuts taste like an energy drink if he wanted in here.

The weather was calm as he floated up while in the lotus position. Since the whole monster exterminated he wasn't able to cultivate. He concentrated on this soul realm, there was no way of advancing his regular realm but that wasn't true for his soul. Now while he was here the access point was at his fingertips.

The clear water that filled this ocean was quite calm and peaceful. Soon there was a change with that, the whole place started to distort and rumble. The soul beast that was Zhang Dong's dragon looked at its master floating up and glowing in a golden color.

His body started exuding powerful bolts of lightning that shot out in all directions. They collided with something and continued to push against it. This only caused the whole place to shake even more before Zhang Dong stopped his first cultivation attempt. His face was filled with sweat and he was panting.

”It did work… at least a bit…”

The whole locked soul dimension got slightly bigger, he could feel this. He quickly measured how much his cultivation advanced and to his surprise, this form of cultivation was very beneficial. His soul had gotten slightly larger and more powerful, this also pumped up his qi reserves by a tiny amount.

”This feels like it will be better than regular cultivation… with a stronger soul all of my techniques will get more powerful, my soul-beast will also start evolving further…”

He had something to do till his new partner in crime returned home but for now, it was time to cultivate.

Beatrice was now sitting in a carriage, she had gone through all the procedures to leave the magic academy and was now heading home. The teleportation circle that she used was something that she would never get used to. It always made her sick in her stomach and she always needed some time to regain herself.