Chapter 93: New World

In the square, Zheng Jian’s expression went blank.

What the hell? No way.

After all that fuss, had he actually been thrown into the Hall of Reincarnation?

The moment he imagined the Lord God’s emotionless voice casually pronouncing “obliterate,” Zheng Jian felt his liver twitch.

“Do you want to understand the meaning of life?”

“Do you want to truly live?”

A chill crept over Zheng Jian’s scalp. Damn it, in the Hall of Reincarnation, the real danger was not the worlds themselves, but the other reincarnators.

Endless strange methods, schemes that came from behind when least expected…

“System, y-you’re not joking, are you? Right, where’s the Lord God? Where is he?” Zheng Jian was deeply uneasy. In his Smiling Proud World, there had been no real missions, so he had mostly done as he pleased. But if this were the Hall of Reincarnation, then he would be judged…

A faint coldness crept up his back. He did not ask for any A, B, C, D, or E-grade story rewards; as long as they did not deduct points, that would already be a blessing…

The system fell silent for a long moment. Then, suddenly, when it spoke again, even its voice had gone strange. “I was lying to you. There is no Lord God, no Reincarnation Square. Look carefully…”

Zheng Jian: “?”

The surroundings abruptly brightened. The pillar of light vanished, and around the square there appeared countless stars, as though Zheng Jian were standing in the midst of the cosmos, with only this single square beneath his feet.

“Holy hell, holy freaking hell!”

Zheng Jian was stunned.

Then, not far ahead, one star lit up. A familiar sensation rose in Zheng Jian’s heart, and he blurted out, “That’s the Smiling Proud World?”

“That’s right! Do you understand now, host? Every star here is a world,” the system replied.

Zheng Jian rose from the ground and looked at this dreamlike scene. Relief washed through him. So long as it was not the Hall of Reincarnation, that was fine.

He came to himself and opened his mouth. “System, that was cruel. You could scare someone to death!”

To be honest, Zheng Jian had nearly believed it just now.

But now that he knew the system had deliberately frightened him, he had recovered his composure. This really should not be the Hall of Reincarnation. After all, since entering the Smiling Proud World, he truly had not received any missions, and for a while now there had been no Lord God or anything of the sort.

This place was just that square, surrounded by countless worlds. If someone told Zheng Jian it wandered through the seams between heaven and myriad realms, he would believe it.

“System, then where am I going next?” Zheng Jian asked in confusion. “I asked you before and you wouldn’t say. Surely now you can tell me?”

The system seemed to consider it for two seconds. “Guess.”

“Guess?” Zheng Jian was so angry he could hit someone. Could you please stop messing around?

“If you can’t guess, then go there. Once you arrive, you’ll know.”

The system’s voice rang in Zheng Jian’s ear. At once, the surrounding stars began to spin, faster and faster, until at last they became streaks of flowing light.

Zheng Jian could not help closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the scene around him was gone.

He was standing in wild, open country, and far ahead lay a small town.

“What place is this now?” Zheng Jian murmured to himself. “No, I’ve probably arrived in a new world. But which world is it?”

He blamed the system for refusing to reveal even this much. Damn it, he would have to gather information himself before he could tell what world this was.

While grumbling inwardly, Zheng Jian slung the Tear-Stained Sword across his back and headed toward the town. At the very least, from the architecture of the distant settlement, he could tell this was still an ancient Chinese setting. That was good; at least there would be no language barrier…

When he entered the town, he did not see any signboard bearing a famous name. It was probably just an nameless little market town.

He found a tavern. Inside, there were scattered tables with a few wandering martial artists sitting at them. Why call them wandering martial artists? Because each of them wore a sword or carried a blade on their back. Though they drank, their eyes remained wary, ready to erupt into violence at any moment.

The tavern keeper was an old man. His hair was white, his clothes old beyond measure, and his eyes were murky. He walked slowly, yet his hand, when carrying wine, was remarkably steady.

“Another pot over here!” a scar-faced man at the center table shouted.

“Coming!” the old man replied in his slow, unhurried manner. He took a small earthen jar from behind him and ambled over.

In a corner sat a middle-aged man dressed in fine, splendid clothes. His face was dark with displeasure, and a sword was slanted across his back. His eyes were like unsheathed blades. He glanced around the tavern, and when his gaze flicked across the Tear-Stained Sword behind Zheng Jian, a flash of brilliance burst in his eyes, though he said nothing.

As Zheng Jian entered, everyone in the tavern swept their gaze over him, each one pausing on the Tear-Stained Sword behind his back.

Zheng Jian’s heart stirred. “This seems to be a rather unfriendly world…”

Just by stepping anywhere, those looks told him plainly that this world was definitely not one of the classic martial-arts worlds. Unlike the Smiling Proud World, where schemes and intrigue also existed, there was usually not such unmistakable killing intent.

At that moment, the tavern keeper was carrying a jar of wine, slowly making his way toward the scar-faced man. He walked so slowly that one almost worried he might fall over on the next step.

“Sir, your wine.” The old man finally reached the scar-faced man’s table and slowly set the jar down.

At that very moment, a sudden change erupted!

The old man’s bent back snapped upright, and the wine jar flew straight toward the richly dressed middle-aged man in the corner.

At the same time, the old man lunged with a speed no one of that age should possess. A dagger appeared in his hand at some unknown moment, its cold gleam hidden behind the wine jar.

“Holy shit!”

Zheng Jian was utterly dumbfounded. He had to admit he had misjudged the man. The old fellow had played the part too convincingly; Zheng Jian had not seen at all that the old man was actually a master!

A true master. It sounded slow in hindsight, but in reality it happened with terrifying speed.

Zheng Jian himself had not seen it coming, and naturally the middle-aged man in fine clothes had not either. No one in the tavern had!

This was a premeditated assassination.

The old man’s target was the middle-aged man.

No matter how fast the middle-aged man reacted, he still needed time. But when the old man’s killing intent suddenly burst forth, the dagger was already only a few steps away, and in the next instant it was right before him.

The man in fine clothes leaped straight up and slammed his hand against the wooden table in front of him, using it to block the incoming wine jar.

With a sharp crack, the jar shattered, and the scent of wine filled the air. Yet no one cared about the drifting fragrance; all eyes were fixed on this sudden, unforeseen scene.

The old man had clearly anticipated it. His body twisted, and from below upward the dagger still stabbed steadily toward the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man drew his sword in an instant. The blade that had been lying across the table was already out of its sheath. In a flash, he thrust three times, each strike aimed straight at the old man’s heart.

So the man in fine clothes was also a master.

By Zheng Jian’s standards, the level of this sword technique was already no lower than that of Xiang Wentian from the Smiling Proud World.

Well, speaking of it, even my great and mighty Xiang Wentian would refuse to accept that.

Why is it that even after changing worlds…

I’m still the unit of measurement for combat power? Heh-heh-heh.

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