Chapter Five: The Schemes of Another World Run Deep

Now, let's turn to the situation in this other world. After Chen Bo swallowed the Pulse-Coagulating Gu, he immediately felt a swelling pain in his lower abdomen, right at his dantian. Soon after, he could distinctly sense the Gu transforming into a searing current, spreading swiftly through his limbs and every bone in his body.

“Ahhh! Damn it!” Even in his drunken state, Chen Bo was acutely aware that every inch of his body was wracked with pain.

It was unbearably hot, scalding as though someone had poured a kettle of boiling water into him. The agony snapped his consciousness wide awake; the numbing effect of alcohol vanished without a trace. Chen Bo’s mind had never felt so clear.

He gripped the corner of the blanket on the bed, stuffed it into his mouth, and bit down hard. It was both a way to vent his pain and a precaution against biting through his tongue.

“Mmm! Mmm!” Eyes bulging, veins popping across his body, Chen Bo could see a fiery red glow coursing through his veins. His skin was flushed a deep scarlet, like a prawn just out of boiling water, and any sweat that managed to bead up was instantly evaporated.

A single minute stretched on as though it were a century.

With an exhausted sigh, Chen Bo tugged the blanket away, his eyes full of fatigue as he forced a bitter smile. “This feels like being steamed alive. Am I experiencing what it’s like to be the monk from the old legend, captured by demons to be steamed?”

He opened his personal status page. Two attributes had changed.

Host: Chen Bo
Condition: Frail
Level: 0
Realm: None
Items: Crystal Hairpin (1)
Techniques: None
Gold: 530
Viewers: 1,512,546

His condition had shifted from ‘weak’ to merely ‘frail’. It seemed his meridians were almost completely repaired—just a little more recovery, and he’d be as good as new.

“Hm? What’s that smell?” Chen Bo sniffed, catching a pungent stench wafting from his own body. Glancing down, he was startled by what he saw.

A grimy black substance coated his skin. Logically, this was the accumulated impurities from his body, expelled by the Gu worm. But the stench was truly unbearable.

He hurried to fetch a large bucket of water, rushed into the bathroom, shed his clothes, and began to scrub himself clean.

His skin, formerly a dull bronze, was now milky white and tender. His once-flat abdomen now boasted faint, not-quite-obvious abs and the hint of an Adonis belt—was he finally on the path to becoming a heartthrob?

Soaking in a wooden tub as large as a bath, he reflected on the fickleness of fate: one moment, he was on Earth, and the next, he’d transmigrated to this perilous world.

With the memories he’d inherited, Chen Bo knew this world was called the Wildlands Continent—a bold, if somewhat clichéd, name.

The continent was vast, its true size unknown, possibly endless. Here, martial strength ruled all; power determined one’s place, and no matter how clever or talented you were, if you lacked strength, you could only survive by attaching yourself to someone stronger.

The cultivation realms of the Wildlands were as follows: Skin Tempering, Flesh Forging, Marrow and Bone Refinement, Viscera Purification, Vein Severing, Essence Gathering, Sea Opening, Foundation Condensation, Core Formation, and Spirit Transformation. Each major realm was subdivided into early, middle, and late stages.

This was all Chen Bo knew for now. Following the logic of fantasy worlds, there were surely higher realms above these, but his knowledge was limited by his humble status in the Chen family and he’d never been exposed to anything more exalted.

From Skin Tempering to Vein Severing, practitioners were classified as Postnatal. This stage focused on forging the body into a vessel, to prepare for absorbing primal energy in the later Innate stages.

At the peak of Skin Tempering, one could wield five hundred catties of force—enough to kill a tiger with a punch. By the end of Flesh Forging, two thousand catties—uprooting trees was no feat. Marrow and Bone Refinement brought six thousand catties—splitting mountains and shattering stone. Viscera Purification offered fifteen thousand, enough to take on ten thousand men alone. Finally, at Vein Severing, one could command a force of forty thousand catties, a level considered top-tier in Blaze Town.

The five realms after Vein Severing were the legendary Innate stages.

Essence Gathering enabled one to absorb the world’s primal energy and store it in the dantian, circulating it through the meridians. Sea Opening transformed the dantian into a sea of energy, allowing for more flexible use. Foundation Condensation forged the primal energy into a cauldron, refining it to greater purity. Core Formation condensed this energy into a golden core, granting the ability to fly. At Spirit Transformation, the golden core became a spirit body—capable of forming an avatar; with two Spirit Transformation experts’ strength, as long as the spirit body survived, the soul was indestructible—a truly terrifying prospect.

Yet, Chen Bo, the famous streamer, was now a talentless weakling, unable to muster even the strength of an ordinary person his age. To be transmigrated as such a useless character was rare indeed.

With his meridians now repaired, did that mean he could begin cultivating? The system’s answer was yes!

However, because he’d used system items to repair his meridians, the system stipulated that he could only cultivate techniques provided by the system itself. Yet he had none at present. Chen Bo felt helpless—he’d need a considerable sum of gold to try his luck at the system’s grand lottery, and gold equated to real-world cash—donations from his viewers.

What’s more, to prevent Chen Bo from exploiting national resources to farm gold, the system had imposed a limit: only one thousand gold pieces a day could be earned from state-sponsored donations. Don’t bother searching for loopholes—the system’s will permeated every corner of both worlds, patching any exploit instantly.

There was nothing Chen Bo could do—no use fighting it or cursing it. That was just how the system worked.

“Hm? Who’s there?”

Ever since swallowing the Pulse-Coagulating Gu, Chen Bo’s senses had sharpened. He instantly noticed another presence in the room.

“Young master, it’s me.” A slightly hoarse voice sounded from behind.

“Grandpa Steward!” Chen Bo turned to see a plain-looking old man, dressed in simple cloth, hunched over.

But those who knew him would never consider him easy prey. His name was Chen Sheng, the Chen family’s second greatest expert, with strength at the early stage of Vein Severing. Together with Chen Bo’s grandfather, he had built the family’s foundation in Blaze City. His status in the family was lofty—even Chen Bo’s father showed him respect.

“Young master, the master asked me to inform you that Qin Ruolan has returned. The old master believes their intentions are hostile—most likely...” Chen Sheng trailed off, trusting that Chen Bo would understand his meaning.

“Qin Ruolan? My betrothed—the one promised to me since childhood?” Chen Bo’s expression was a strange mix. This plot was all too familiar.

The prodigious young master, now a cripple, is about to face the classic plot twist: the fiancée returns to dissolve the engagement—a trope beloved by countless fantasy authors.

“Young master, I advise you not to see her,” Chen Sheng said.

Chen Bo pondered, then replied, “No, I want to see how heartless and ruthless they can be. This past year has taught me a lot about people!”

“If that’s your choice, I shall withdraw.” With those words, Chen Sheng vanished without a trace—coming and going like the wind, as befitted a true practitioner.

“I never imagined I’d end up being dumped by my fiancée—how utterly ridiculous.”

The schemes of this world run deep. I want to go back to Earth.