Strange Land, Kind Souls

Bai Yunfei's breath hitched in his chest. Never had he imagined defeat, not for him, a Monarch, a revered cultivator who commanded the respect of countless others and reigned over the vast expanse of the four seas from his celestial palace. However, all his power and prestige crumbled when a mysterious cultivator arrived, seeking a duel. Bai Yunfei, never one to shy away from a challenge, accepted.

The battle raged for days—an epic clash of wills and strength. When it became evident that Bai Yunfei was unkillable, the mysterious challenger employed an ancient technique and an equally ancient treasure to imprison him.

"I will have my revenge!" Bai Yunfei's defiant cry echoed across the four seas.

"No, you will not," came the chilling reply.

And then, silence. Bai Yunfei found himself abruptly transported, standing bewildered in the heart of a dense forest.

"Where am I?" he murmured, his voice a mere whisper compared to his earlier roar.

Bai Yunfei first noticed that the place he was in didn't have Qi! His body had lost all of its power, all of its cultivation. He couldn't believe it.

"Where did that cultivator send me? Fuck!" he cursed.

Bai Yunfei wasn't stupid, though. At any moment, a beast could attack him in the middle of the forest, so the best thing to do was to leave the forest as fast as possible, looking for some shelter.

He wandered around, finding a road to follow. The road differed from the ones he was familiar with. It was not a muddy road or made of cobblestones.

'What material is this?' thought Bai Yunfei as he crouched to touch the road.

That's when a car came his way. He looked at it and couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. He first thought it was a creature, but then he saw people inside the car!

That was not a chance he could miss. He waved his hands, hoping that the people would leave the unknown object.

"Look, Mom, there's someone on the road asking for help," a woman said, pointing at Bai Yunfei.

The car stopped, and from there, two women came out. One was a student who looked to be around 19 years of age, and the other was older, in her forties.

Bai Yunfei was uncertain if he would speak the same language as those individuals. That was the thing he was scared of the most.

"Hello," he said, hoping that they would somehow understand him.

They did! The young woman looked at his clothes and laughed. "Did you flee from an anime convention or what?"

He had no clue what an anime convention was, but Bai Yunfei wasn't dumb enough not to realize his clothes were much different when compared to theirs.

"How did you know?" he said, smiling. "I wonder if you can give me a ride to a tavern or a place to stay."

"Tavern?" The girl burst into laughter again. "You can stop the role-playing already. Mom, let's help him."

The girl felt a strong urge to assist Bai Yunfei, yet her mother disapproved of extending kindness to unfamiliar faces.

Bai Yunfei's appearance had always been a source of numerous advantages in his previous world, and that reality remained unchanged on Earth. They chose to offer him a lift.

"What's your place of residence? Should we reach out to your parents?" the girl inquired.

"I'm all alone in this world, without parents or a place to call home."

The girl found Bai Yunfei's way of speaking a little different. It was much more formal than usual. But hearing that sentence, she could feel the sadness coming from him.

As a powerful cultivator, Bai Yunfei had seen his family and friends pass away over the centuries. They couldn't live as long as him. For him, that was one of the worst parts of being a cultivator.

Well, the girl tried to cheer him up. "My name is Yu Yan, and this is my mother, Mei Li."

"Bai Yunfei. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Despite finding some help, Bai Yunfei still felt out of place, and that feeling increased drastically when he saw the different houses and the cars passing by on the streets.

It was simply very different from his old world. But Bai Yunfei had already seen impressive things and celestial beasts. This wasn't enough to shock him.

The city where Yu Yan and Mei Li lived was small. The traffic was calm that day, and during the journey, it started to rain. Bai Yunfei looked at the raindrops on the asphalt, thinking about how his life had changed drastically overnight.

They arrived home after a 15-minute journey. As soon as he entered, the first thing Bai Yunfei noticed were the strange objects in the house. The TV, the computer, the refrigerator, and all the electronics.

Despite being curious about each object, Bai Yunfei tried to keep it to himself. He knew that in an unfamiliar place, he needed to blend in and appear normal.

Bai Yunfei could hear the two of them talking in the kitchen. "Do you think it's a good idea to bring this stranger here? We don't know anything about him," Mei Li said.

"He doesn't seem dangerous, and we always have the weapons Grandpa left us to defend ourselves," Yu Yan replied. "Remember we need someone to do some renovations around the house? We can offer shelter and food in exchange for the services."

The two women talked for a while before coming back to share the offer with Bai Yunfei, who gladly accepted it. All he wanted was shelter and food until he had enough time to adjust to his new reality.

"Thank you for helping me," Bai Yunfei said. "It means a lot to me."

Mei Li prepared lunch. It was delicious. After lunch, Mei Li went to work, leaving only Bai Yunfei and Yu Yan in the house.

She didn't like the idea of letting her daughter alone, but she had to go to work. Before leaving, though, she passed by her neighbor, an elderly couple, and asked them to call the police if they heard anything strange coming from her house.

While the two were alone, Yu Yan shared the new game release she wanted to play.

She announced, "It will launch tonight. It's an awesome cultivation game with some competitive aspects. Did you hear about it?"

Bai Yunfei was instantly curious. "No. Can you show it to me?"

Bai Yunfei, who had never seen a cellphone before, was shocked when Yu Yan shared everything she knew about the game, including showing him some videos.

After learning about the game Path to Ascension, Bai Yunfei developed a strong desire to play it.