"Damn, he's such a show-off!" a certain fox-faced man thought to himself.
Seeing a fool like me standing in the rain, he actually froze all the surrounding raindrops in the air.
Raindrops floated before Chu Huaixu's eyes, crystal clear yet utterly motionless, defying the laws of nature.
Already soaked to the bone, he curiously raised a finger and gently poked at one of the raindrops.
"I can't even poke through it?" he wondered with surprise.
He quickly understood that it was because each raindrop was enveloped in a layer of power invisible to him. It was because they were encased in this power that the stunning scene before him was possible.
As for who this power came from, it was obvious.
Chu Huaixu looked up at the man whose features were indistinct in the high sky and had only one word to describe him:
"Show-off!"
...
...
Under the oil-paper umbrella, Han Shuangjiang's right hand tightened its grip on the handle.
Although her expression remained as cold as frost and her eyes seemed calm, her heart was already reeling in shock.
"Traveling through the air... this is... a Great Cultivator!"
In the Xuanhuang Realm, cultivators were divided into nine realms. Upon reaching the fifth realm, one would be honored as a Great Cultivator. And the most distinct characteristic of a Great Cultivator was the ability to travel through the air without relying on any external objects.
Someone of this strength was a rarity even among the four great sects of the Mirror Kingdom.
One must know, in the Joyful Sect where Han Shuangjiang had once been, not even the Sect Master, the Holy Maiden, or the Holy Son had ever reached the fifth realm. To be precise, that glib-tongued Sect Master with the big, fat rear end was merely at the third realm.
If it really came to a fight, a Great Cultivator could suppress him with a mere flick of a finger. Though, with Han Shuangjiang's understanding of the Joyful Sect, she knew very well that under such circumstances, the people of her sect would probably kneel and take that finger into their mouths.
At this thought, she quickly shook her head, dispelling her wild thoughts and memories of her past experiences. That place, where decadent music echoed day and night, was somewhere she truly never wanted to recall again.
Within the Joyful Sect, the culture of comparison was rampant. What everyone compared themselves on in that place was easy to imagine. Han Shuangjiang had no desire to one day become the object of others' comparisons. She had heard that the Holy Son and Holy Maiden even had the responsibility of teaching their junior brothers and sisters in class, demonstrating the "Joyful Entanglement" for all to see...
She just wanted to escape it all, to control her own destiny!
And the prerequisite for all of this was cultivation, was becoming stronger!
Therefore, after seeing that the other party was a Great Cultivator, Han Shuangjiang was first shocked, and then her heart burned with passion!
This was Wumeng Mountain, just outside the [Dao Gate]. It was almost certain that not only was this person an expert of at least the fifth realm, but he was also eighty percent likely to be from the powerful [Dao Gate]!
"He didn't lie to me. That storyteller didn't lie to me!" Han Shuangjiang said in her heart.
"He said that if I came here at the midnight hour tonight, I could join the [Dao Gate]. It was actually true!"
Just a few days ago, she had met a storyteller by chance. He had told her this, then vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Could it be that this is truly my destiny!" Han Shuangjiang raised her head, watching the figure in the sky slowly descend.
The person, dressed in a white robe, landed between Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang, the three of them forming a stark contrast.
Chu Huaixu was soaking wet, but even with a few damp strands of hair stuck to his forehead, his handsomeness could not be concealed.
Han Shuangjiang held her oil-paper umbrella, but even with a thin veil, her stunning beauty could not be hidden.
He was a handsome man. She was a beautiful woman. The Great Cultivator was... well, he was a person.
The man's white robe and his entire bearing gave off an incredibly transcendent feeling, but his looks were utterly unremarkable. If this were a historical drama, after making such a grand entrance, exuding such an imposing aura, and creating such a massive scene with the suspended raindrops, the moment the camera focused on his face, it would absolutely disappoint the audience's expectations.
But Chu Huaixu recognized him and was still quite surprised.
Before he transmigrated, the timeline in "Borrowing a Sword" was Xuan Calendar Year 1997. The game had launched its open beta in 1991 and had been running for six years. At that time, as a veteran player, he had already reached level 49.
In the Xuanhuang Realm, before mortals could officially begin cultivating, they had to first open their apertures, clearing their acupoints and strengthening their physical bodies, before they could draw qi into their bodies and become a first-realm cultivator. For players, this period of opening apertures and tempering the body corresponded to levels 1-9. When a player reached level 10, they were comparable to a first-realm NPC. Level 19 was equivalent to the peak of the first realm!
By this conversion, Chu Huaixu at level 49 was equivalent to the peak of the fourth realm. One more level up, to level 50, would make him comparable to a Great Cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm! The only reason he hadn't leveled up was that the level cap for the current game version was 49.
Although he had transmigrated and the timeline was now Xuan Calendar Year 1990, pushed back a year, his memories had not disappeared. He naturally recognized the famous person before him.
"Li Chunsong, the Sixth Elder of the [Dao Gate], a terrifying existence at the seventh realm, and an expert who ranks among the top in the entire Xuanhuang Realm."
"On the game forums, he has many resounding nicknames."
"Deadbeat Gambler, the Charity God of Gamblers, Li Pure-Loss..."
This person was addicted to gambling. He was either gambling or on his way to gamble. Fortunately, he always adhered to the principle of "small bets for fun" and rarely wagered large amounts. It was just that he gambled frequently and would bet on anything. Because he lost almost every bet he made, he had earned these nicknames. (T/N: His name, Chunsong, sounds like chún sòng, which means "purely gifting away.")
Chu Huaixu hadn't expected to meet him at the foot of Wumeng Mountain. He also had no idea what the man intended to do. One had to know, even his previous level 49 powerhouse of an account would have been crushed in an instant before Li Chunsong.
Moreover, after this period of contemplation, he had actually begun to form some faint speculations about his own identity.
'I was being hunted by Xue Hu from the constabulary, and the constabulary belongs to the Mirror Kingdom's royal court.'
'And Xue Hu said I wanted to infiltrate the Dao Gate with ill intentions.'
'Then my [Faction] is most likely on the side opposing the Dao Gate and the royal court.'
'Damn it, then I'm probably from the Moon Kingdom!'
And now, standing before him was an absolute powerhouse of the Dao Gate, a titan of the cultivation world. If he were to detect something...
This caused alarm bells to ring wildly in Chu Huaixu's heart. His body tensed up, yet he tried his best to force himself to calm down. He knew very well that in front of an expert of this caliber, he was practically "transparent." For instance, if his heart started racing wildly, the other party could easily detect it.
"Damn it, damn it, truly damn it!" he cursed in his mind as his brain began to work at high speed.
Cold sweat broke out on his body, mixing with the rainwater.
The only thing he had to offer right now was the one-hundred-tael silver note in his pocket.
Chu Huaixu recalled all the information he had on Li Chunsong, then glanced at Han Shuangjiang not far away. He remembered very clearly that a Dao Gate player had once posted on the forums that the two [World Protagonists] of the Eastern Continent's Mirror Kingdom—Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing—were actually brought back to the Dao Gate together by Li Chunsong.
At this moment, he also noticed that after Li Chunsong glanced at him, he first showed a bit of surprise, then sighed softly. But after sighing, he didn't say much more, only asking, "What are your names?"
"Han Shuangjiang."
"Chu Huaixu."
Hearing this, Li Chunsong looked at them with interest and said, "Shuangjiang, one of the twenty-four solar terms. Huaixu, is April. The way your names were chosen... is rather interesting."
His tone and expression had a hint of playing the chaotic matchmaker.
He waved his sleeve and said, "Alright, I'll skip the idle talk. I deliberately came a little earlier than the appointed time, but I didn't expect you two to be even earlier."
"In that case, come back to the Dao Gate with me."
As soon as these words were spoken, a tempestuous storm raged in Chu Huaixu's heart.
However, in the next moment, Li Chunsong pointed a finger forward, and both he and Han Shuangjiang floated into the air, ascending with him towards the sky.
Only after the three of them had flown far away did the suspended raindrops finally fall to the ground.
...
...
Meanwhile, in the dense forest at the foot of Wumeng Mountain, a delicate-featured youth named Xu Ziqing was frantic with anxiety.
Because he was in a hurry.
But he had been surrounded by the constabulary.