Chapter 20: The Spatial Gateway

Chapter 20: The Spatial Gateway

After leaving the school gate and waiting for Sun Xin to depart, Chen Shouyi seized the opportunity to suggest getting ice cream.

Zhang Xiaoyue’s face flushed with shyness, but she didn’t refuse.

She was beautiful. If women were compared to water, some resembled muddy puddles, while others were like clear springs.

Without a doubt, Zhang Xiaoyue belonged to the latter.

Yet, Chen Shouyi realized that while he felt a flicker of excitement, it wasn’t as intense as he’d imagined. The bizarre experiences of the past month had rapidly matured him from a naive teenager into someone far more composed.

Since the ice cream shop was on another street and not along their usual route, Chen Shouyi chose a different path on the way home. As he passed by an abandoned, unfinished building by the roadside, the Book of Knowledge in his mind flickered briefly.

At first, Chen Shouyi paid it no mind. But after completing his daily cultivation routine and lying down to sleep that night, he found himself inexplicably recalling the phenomenon.

Ever since merging with his body, the Book of Knowledge had remained silent, like an inanimate object—never responding unless summoned.

But today had been an exception.

Troubled by this strange occurrence, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Eventually, he couldn’t resist the urge to dress quietly, slip out of his room without alerting anyone, and leave the house.

He checked the time: already half past midnight.

Dongning City, being a small town, had little nightlife.

At this hour, the streets were nearly deserted, with only the occasional car speeding past.

The abandoned building wasn’t far. After crossing a few streets, Chen Shouyi soon arrived.

Even he didn’t fully understand why he’d come here—it was as if some unseen force had compelled him.

Gritting his teeth, he approached the looming structure.

In the past, he would never have ventured into such a dark, secluded place.

But now, his strength was his confidence. Unless he encountered a powerful Martial Artist Apprentice or the like, ordinary people—even in groups—were no match for him. If he unleashed his full lethality, a single strike would be fatal.

The area lacked streetlights, plunging it into pitch-black darkness.

Picking up a discarded wooden stick from the ground, he felt slightly braver.

The unfinished building was massive, originally intended to be a commercial plaza.

Three years ago, its construction had caused quite a stir in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, it was left as a derelict mess after the developer fled.

Step by cautious step, Chen Shouyi advanced. The Book of Knowledge reacted even more intensely, flickering incessantly like a corrupted system. And whether it was his imagination or not, his body grew increasingly hotter.

It was as if a warm spring bubbled within him, its soothing currents spreading through his limbs.

The residual fatigue from his evening cultivation seemed to lessen, and his steps became lighter.

Guided by that inexplicable pull, he headed straight for the underground parking lot.

Here, the darkness was absolute—he couldn’t even see his own hand in front of his face. Pulling out his phone, he turned on the flashlight and carefully felt his way forward.

But after just a few seconds, the phone flickered and died.

Chen Shouyi frantically pressed the buttons, but it refused to respond.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a faint glow ahead.

"What is that?"

He was startled, his heart pounding wildly as he strained to see clearly, but the light was too faint and hazy, making it impossible to discern what it was.

Gripping the wooden stick tighter in his hand, he continued forward.

After walking another 20 to 30 meters, his body suddenly stiffened, and his footsteps halted. The wooden stick slipped from his hand, clattering loudly against the ground, the sound echoing endlessly in the silent midnight parking lot.

Yet Chen Shouyi remained motionless, as if oblivious.

His eyes widened as he stared at something dozens of meters ahead.

A small patch of lush green grass, like a mirage, floated above the ground, emitting a faint glow.

It was roughly one square meter in size and over two meters tall, its base seamlessly merging with the ground, as if the grass had sprouted directly from the concrete.

"An undiscovered spatial gateway!" He was stunned.

He had seen spatial gateways on TV and the internet—some large, some small—but none compared to witnessing one in person.

"But why would a spatial gateway appear here?" He quickly regained his composure.

If he remembered correctly, this abandoned building had been constructed three years ago, meaning the spatial gateway hadn’t existed back then. This suggested the gateway had only recently formed.

This implied that, after a 20-year lull following the last spatial fusion two decades ago, the merging of worlds seemed to have resumed.

He suddenly recalled recent news reports and the disguised barbarian in Dongning City: "No wonder there have been more attacks by Otherworld creatures lately."

But right now, he had no time to dwell on it.

Picking up the wooden stick, he cautiously approached the gateway step by step.

As he drew closer, his body grew increasingly hot, as if flames were burning inside him. Strangely, this sensation made him feel even better, as though some latent power was awakening, transforming his body.

Soon, he stood right before the spatial gateway.

The patch of grass was so close it seemed like a single step would take him into the Otherworld.

"Should I go take a look? If it’s dangerous, I can just come right back." Feeling the intense changes within himself, he couldn’t suppress the thought.

He tentatively extended the wooden stick into the spatial gateway. It immediately grew heavy, as if something were pulling on it. He wasn’t surprised—gravity in the Otherworld was three times that of Earth.

Soon, the stick touched the grass. He noticed no optical distortion or height discrepancy; what he saw matched reality perfectly. The Otherworld seemed to have merged seamlessly with the parking lot.

After pulling the stick back out, he examined it carefully under the faint light—completely unharmed.

"It looks safe to enter."

Taking a few deep breaths, he cautiously stepped one foot inside.

The next moment, space twisted around him, and his body abruptly grew heavier.

Though Chen Shouyi had mentally prepared himself, he nearly collapsed to the ground.

Under such gravity, a fall like that could easily fracture his tailbone.

The triple gravity weighed down every part of his body, making breathing difficult and even causing faint discomfort in his heart. Before he could even process the terrifying gravity, he steadied himself and immediately scanned his surroundings, alert.

On Earth, it was still dark, but here it was daytime. He found himself standing halfway up a mountain, where he could see the distant sea. As far as his eyes could see, there were no large creatures, only a few faint black dots soaring high in the sky above.

He carefully inspected the surrounding grassland once more but found no trace of Otherworld insects for the moment.

Finally, he let out a sigh of relief.

Following the abrupt patch of concrete amidst the grass, he slowly sat down, gripping the wooden stick in his hand tightly.

Only now did he have the chance to focus on the changes in his body. It was growing increasingly hot, almost to the point of spontaneous combustion. His skin was flushed red, and steam billowed from his entire body.

Yet, strangely, despite the burning sensation, his body felt lighter and more comfortable.

When he first arrived, he had felt some chest tightness and shortness of breath. But as time passed, the gravity here seemed to lessen gradually. His breathing became smoother, and the oppressive feeling in his chest slowly faded.

Without a doubt, this was clearly related to the Book of Knowledge.

He immediately called upon the Book of Knowledge.

In this Otherworld, the Book of Knowledge seemed far more active. With just a thought, the Attribute Panel instantly appeared in his mind.

Name: Chen Shouyi

Attributes:

- Strength: 11.6 (10)

- Agility: 11.7 (10)

- Constitution: 12.1 (10)

- Intelligence: 10.8 (10)

- Perception: 10.8 (10)

- Willpower: 11.4 (10)

Knowledge:

- Chinese Language (Proficient 6)

- Physics (Skilled 12)

- Chemistry (Skilled 11)

- Mathematics (Skilled 9)

- English (Skilled 6)

- Computer Science (Beginner 6)

- Cooking (Beginner 5)

- Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques (Skilled 8)

- Meditative Self-Refinement (Skilled 2)

- Swordsmanship (Skilled 4)

- Archery (Uninitiated)

Innate Ability: Natural Healing

Energy Accumulation: 2.35

Chen Shouyi stared at the panel, stunned.

He couldn’t help but check it several times, almost doubting his own eyes.

In such a short time, his attributes had undergone astonishing changes.

"No wonder I’ve been feeling lighter and lighter."

Not only that, but the Attribute Panel had also gained a new innate ability: "Natural Healing."

He suddenly recalled the material of the Book of Knowledge—it seemed to be crafted from the heartwood of the Otherworld’s World Tree. According to barbarian legends, the World Tree was born at the dawn of creation, possessing the power to uphold space and balance nature.

Of course, in Chen Shouyi’s view, legends were just legends, inevitably exaggerated and mythologized. The reality was surely far less impressive.

Even the deities of the Otherworld, within this world, did not possess unimaginable power. Most of the Otherworld’s civilizations were still in a primitive stage, with societies primarily organized into tribes rather than nations.

Many of their gods were merely worshipped totems, divine beasts, powerful giants, or nature spirits. They might possess abilities beyond human comprehension, but they were far from omnipotent.

Still, even if the legends were greatly diminished, and even if the Book of Knowledge had become damaged and lost much of its power on Earth, it seemed to retain some residual abilities—enough to transform his body.

Moreover, this transformation hadn't stopped yet—it seemed to have only just begun. In the brief span of a dozen seconds, he noticed his strength had increased by another 0.1 units.