Chapter 21 – The Second World 第二个世界

Lin Yuan was standing in a vast white space. He had just completed the task in the world of cultivating immortals and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when the Jiuchong Ring suddenly gave a prompt: "The task is completed. Preparing to teleport to the next plane."

Lin Yuan was shocked: "Wait a minute! You're not even giving me a chance to rest?!"

The Jiuchong Ring responded coldly: "That's right."

The process of crossing over was very sudden. Lin Yuan woke up feeling dizzy and found himself standing on a strange street. The people around him were wearing ordinary modern clothes. Cars were honking on the street, pedestrians were bustling about, and there were even airplanes flying in the sky. He realized that he had come to a modern world.

He felt mixed emotions: "Goodness! I woke up and returned to the modern world?!"

The Jiuchong Ring interrupted at the right moment: "Welcome to the doomsday plane."

Lin Yuan was stunned: "Doomsday? This looks completely peaceful! Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

The Jiuchong Ring: "There are still six months until the great change of the world."

Lin Yuan was stunned: "You expect me to survive for a doomsday in this normal world? Are you singling me out?"

The Jiuchong Ring ignored his complaints and said coldly: "A new task is issued: Find the relevant world treasure."

Lin Yuan roared angrily: "Huh?! Can't you be more specific?"

The Jiuchong Ring: "No relevant task clues have been obtained yet. Please explore on your own, host."

Lin Yuan: "..."

Lin Yuan learned from the Jiuchong Ring that he had become an ordinary 16 - year - old high school student, and his name was the same as in his previous life. He lived in a poor but warm family.

When he was a child, his parents died in a car accident, and he was raised by his aunt, Cao Yuwei.

Cao Yuwei was a 32 - year - old professional woman who worked as a manager in a mid - to high - end chain restaurant. She was busy with her life but took good care of Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan had a close relationship with his aunt. However, because of his identity as a time traveler, he began to deliberately hide some things and became a bit distant.

In school, Lin Yuan was an ordinary high school student. His grades were average, and he was good at sports, but he didn't like to draw too much attention to himself.

He had a few ordinary friends, but due to his somewhat "warm on the outside, cold on the inside" personality, he didn't have any particularly close friends.

Lin Yuan was distracted in class when the Jiuchong Ring suddenly reminded him in his mind: "Time is pressing. The host should hurry up and prepare."

Lin Yuan: "Shut up! You want me, a first - year high school student, to prepare for fighting zombies? What am I supposed to use to fight them, throw textbooks at them?!"

The Jiuchong Ring said coldly, "Your cheat ability is about to activate. … Ding! You've successfully activated the wood-type ability."

The Jiuchong Ring told Lin Yuan that the wood - type ability was his main reliance in this doomsday plane. However, due to the limitations of the world's laws, this ability needed a gradual activation process.

The Jiuchong Ring didn't clearly tell Lin Yuan what the treasure was specifically, only mentioning that "Jiang Tianming will be the key."

By chance, Lin Yuan tried to use his spiritual power on the balcony at home to accelerate the growth of a potted plant and found that he could make the plant regain its vitality in a short time.

He secretly rejoiced: "This ability might allow me to grow vegetables in the doomsday. At least I won't starve to death."

But the Jiuchong Ring coldly dampened his spirits: "Growing vegetables is just the most basic use. The true power of the wood - type ability lies in 'healing' and 'destroying'."

Lin Yuan thought deeply: "It seems that this cheat ability needs to be upgraded. Otherwise, when the doomsday comes, I'll just be a mobile vegetable farmer."

The Jiuchong Ring told Lin Yuan: "Your task objective is to find a person named Jiang Tianming. He is closely related to the treasure. Finding him might allow you to complete the task ahead of time."

Lin Yuan: "Who is Jiang Tianming? What does he look like? How can I find him?"

The Jiuchong Ring responded indifferently: "You will meet him. Fate will lead you to meet each other."

Lin Yuan complained: "As expected, I have to run around and find the person myself. Can't you be more reliable?"

Lin Yuan gradually underwent a psychological transformation from "refusing to accept the reality" to "starting to prepare silently":

At first, he was lucky enough to hope that the Jiuchong Ring was "joking". But as time passed, he realized it was all real.

He secretly began to use his spare time to learn survival skills, such as how to store food and water, and how to use his wood - type ability to grow simple food crops.

At first, Cao Yuwei didn't pay much attention to Lin Yuan's changes. She just thought that he was starting to be sensible.

Cao Yuwei would make breakfast every morning and urge Lin Yuan to get up and go to school. While eating, Lin Yuan would secretly peek at the news to look for signs of the doomsday.

Cao Yuwei asked with concern: "You seem to be preoccupied recently. Are there any troubles at school?"

Lin Yuan shook his head and perfunctorily said: "It's okay. I just suddenly thought that I should learn more things."

Cao Yuwei was pleased: "I'm relieved that you have such an awareness, nephew."

At school, Lin Yuan found that many students were completely unaware of the doomsday and still lived an ordinary life. However, he began to pay attention to the abnormal phenomena around him, such as changes in plant growth and abnormal weather.

He also vaguely heard someone mention Jiang Tianming's name. It seemed he was an ordinary worker at a construction site.

Based on the clues he heard, Lin Yuan speculated that Jiang Tianming might be related to a nearby construction site. He tried to look for him, but due to the crowd and chaos, he didn't get any results for the time being.

Cao Yuwei had heard the name Jiang Tianming before, but the two had no direct contact.

Jiang Tianming was an ordinary construction site foreman, but he knew some doomsday news vaguely and seemed to have prepared for it long ago.

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林远正站在一片白茫茫的空间,刚完成修仙世界的任务,还没来得及喘口气,九重戒就突然提示:"任务完成.正在准备传送到下一位面."

林远大惊:"等一下!连休息的机会都不给?!"

九重戒冷淡回应: "是的."

穿越的过程非常突然,林远头晕目眩地醒来,发现自己站在一个陌生的街道上,身边的人穿着普通的现代衣服,街上汽车鸣笛,行人熙熙攘攘,天上还有飞机飞过.他意识到自己来到了现代世界.

他心情复杂:"好家伙!一觉醒来回到现代?!"

九重戒适时插嘴: "欢迎来到末世位面."

林远愣住了: "末世?!这看起来明明一片祥和啊!你确定没搞错?"

九重戒: "距离世界大变还有六个月."

林远目瞪口呆: "你让我在这种普通世界准备应对末世?!你是不是看我不顺眼?!"

九重戒丝毫不理会他的抱怨,冷冷说道: "新任务发布:找到相关的世界宝物."

林远愤怒地大吼: "嗯?!就不能具体一点?"

九重戒:"尚未接触相关任务线索,请宿主自行探索."

林远:"..."

林远从九重戒了解到,自己成为了一个普通的16岁高中生,名字也和前世一样,生活在一个不富裕但温馨的家庭中.

他小时候父母因车祸去世,由小姨曹雨薇抚养长大.

曹雨薇是一位32岁的职业女性,担任一家中高端连锁餐厅的经理,生活忙碌但细心照顾林远.

林远和小姨的关系亲密,但因为林远的穿越者身份,他开始刻意隐藏一些事情,变得有点疏离.

林远在学校是一个普通高中生,成绩一般,体育还不错,但不喜欢太过引人注意.

他有几个普通朋友,但因为性格稍微有点"外热内冷",没有特别亲密的好友.

林远在课堂上走神,九重戒突然在脑海中提醒他:"时间紧迫,宿主应抓紧准备."

林远:"闭嘴!你让我一个高一学生去准备打丧尸?拿什么打,用课本砸吗?!"

九重戒冷漠道:"宿主的金手指即将觉醒.... 叮!恭喜宿主激活木系异能."

九重戒告诉林远,木系能力是他在这个末世位面的主要依靠,但因为世界法则的限制,这种能力需要一个逐步激活的过程.

宝物具体是什么,九重戒并未明确告诉林远,只提到 "江天明会是关键."

林远无意间在家中的阳台尝试用灵力加速了一株盆栽的生长,发现自己可以让植物在短时间内焕发生机.

他暗自庆幸:"这能力在末世也许能种菜,勉强不至于饿死."

但九重戒冷冷打击他:"种菜只是最基础的用途,木系异能的真正威力在于 '治愈' 与 '破坏'."

林远沉思:"看来这金手指得升级了,否则末世一来,我就是个移动的菜农."

九重戒指告诉林远:"你的任务目标是找到一个名叫江天明的人.他和宝物密切相关.找到他,或许会让你提前完成任务."

林远:"江天明是谁?他长什么样?我怎么找?"

九重戒冷漠地回应:"你会遇见的.命运会引导你们相遇."

林远吐槽:"果然是要我自己跑断腿去找人啊,能不能靠谱点?"

林远逐渐从 "拒绝接受现实" 到 "开始默默准备" 的心理转变:

他刚开始心存侥幸,希望九重戒是在"开玩笑",但随着时间推移,他意识到一切都是真的.

他偷偷开始利用课余时间学习生存技能,比如如何储存食物,水源,用木系能力种植简单的食物作物.

曹雨薇对林远的变化起初并不在意,只是以为他开始懂事了.

曹雨薇每天早晨都会做好早餐,催促林远起床去上学,林远会一边吃饭一边偷看新闻寻找末世的征兆.

曹雨薇关心地问:"最近看你好像心事重重,是不是学校里有什么烦恼?"

林远摇头敷衍:"没事,我只是突然觉得,该多学点东西了."

曹雨薇欣慰:"你能有这样的觉悟,小姨就放心了."

在学校,林远发现很多学生对末世毫无察觉,依旧过着普通人的生活,他却开始注意周围的异常现象,比如植物生长的变化,天气的异动等.

他还隐约听说有人提到江天明这个名字,似乎是个在某个工地工作的普通人.

林远根据听到的线索,推测江天明可能和附近一个工地有关.他试图去寻找,但因为人多混乱,暂时没有结果.

曹雨薇曾听说过江天明的名字,但两人并没有直接交集.

江天明是一位普通的工地包工头,但他隐隐知道一些关于末世的消息,并且似乎早有准备.