On a remote street in the southern part of Nagazora City, a few female Honkai Zombies were wandering about. Although this area was close to the city center, the street was lined with shops like game stores and flower shops that didn't attract much foot traffic, so the number of Zombies here was small.
Besides the sound of the Zombies' footsteps, the street was otherwise silent, everything eerily quiet.
But this tranquility didn't last long before it was shattered.
A white light suddenly appeared above Nagazora City, falling like a meteor with a white tail of fire, descending upon the world—this Honkai-infested world.
"Boom~~" A large crater was blasted into the white concrete road. The impact's airflow sent rubble and dust flying. Shards of rock shot out like bullets, embedding themselves in the few Zombies gathered on the street. The shockwave of the impact shattered all obstacles around the landing site, and several Zombies were even thrown several meters away as if pushed by an invisible hand, collapsing to the ground, unable to get up. The kicked-up dust formed a small, spectacular mushroom cloud.
The culprit behind all this was currently lying in a spread-eagle position in the crater he had created, seemingly asleep, a line of glistening, mysterious liquid drooling from the corner of his mouth.
The sunlight today was incredibly bright, which made it difficult for Li Xuan to sleep. He opened his eyes with some annoyance. I should have closed the curtains, he thought. The glaring sun made him squint. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see clearly—the azure sky.
The blue sky with a few floating white clouds and the faint outlines of shops on either side of his vision gave him the feeling that he was lying on the road.
Heh, how could that be possible, Li Xuan chuckled to himself, completely unaware that he had just jinxed himself.
Holy crap! Why am I actually lying on the road?!! Li Xuan, who had just climbed up from the ground, was stunned by the sight before him. He was sitting in a crater that looked like it had been hit by a meteor. Dust floated all around, and not far away lay several female corpses with patches of blood on the ground. The shops on both sides of the road looked like they had been abandoned for years. For someone who had just woken up, the scene was as bizarre as a murder scene.
"Hiss~~" Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Li Xuan's right hand, making him suck in a breath of cold air. His palm had been cut by a sharp piece of rubble, leaving a three-centimeter-long gash from which blood flowed uncontrollably.
To die before the mission is even accomplished, damn it.
Li Xuan held his hand helplessly, a look of dismay on his face, staring at his palm and trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding. His gaze inadvertently fell upon a silver ring he was wearing on his right index finger.
Huh~, when did I buy a ring? Li Xuan stared at the ring, completely baffled as to where it came from.
However… the next scene left Li Xuan and his little friend completely stunned.
The blood on his palm, which should have obeyed the law of gravity, not only didn't drip down but flowed upward, absorbed directly by the silver ring. What the hell is this? Newton's rolling in his grave, and I can't hold the lid down.
In just one day, Li Xuan's entire worldview was ruthlessly shattered, ground into dust, and scattered by the wind.
The ring, having drunk its fill of blood, stopped absorbing after a moment. And the wound on Li Xuan's palm, under his astonished gaze, began to heal slowly. Within a minute, it completed a miracle of medical history. It scabbed over, healed, the scab fell off, and the wound was covered by tender new skin.
Coming to his senses, Li Xuan tried to pull the silver ring off his finger, but it seemed to have fused with his flesh. Pulling hard didn't work; it only hurt.
As Li Xuan struggled with the ring, he suddenly felt a needle-like pain in his head. Segments of information appeared in his mind. His heart began to race, his thoughts accelerated, his limbs felt as if they had boundless energy, yet his whole body ached as if being gnawed by ants. The process took less than a minute, but to Li Xuan, it felt like a year had passed.
"Ah!!!" Li Xuan stood and roared, a shout of power and a groan of pain. The free-floating Honkai energy in the surrounding air began to swirl into a vortex and enter his body.
As he endured the pain, a red mark quietly formed on the back of his right hand.
One yin, one yang, two interdependent fish—this was the Taiji! It was also all things!