On a 200-square-meter island, enveloped in a vast white mist, a young man in his early twenties was staring at an unremarkable little tree in front of him, a foolish grin on his face.
Lin Li gazed lovingly at the small, green fruit growing on the Magical Little Tree, his mind wandering as he continued to grin foolishly.
'Forget it, forget it. I shouldn't even think about becoming an Investigator.
'That's a law enforcement agency filled with countless Cultivators of unfathomable power. If I really became an Investigator and had to commute to a place like that every day, I'm afraid I'd accidentally expose the secret of the Mysterious Small Island.
'Besides, while the enviable benefits of being an Investigator are really tempting to me right now...
'...given time, relying on this Magical Little Tree and the Magical Little Fruits it produces on the Mysterious Small Island, I'll definitely become an incomparably powerful Cultivator. When that time comes, what I'll be able to obtain will be far better than those benefits.
'What's that saying again? A person has to think long-term. Don't get fixated on trivial gains and end up losing a watermelon just to pick up a sesame seed.'
Standing before the unremarkable Magical Little Tree, Lin Li reined in his wandering thoughts.
Before leaving, he took one last look at the small, delicate green fruit on the Magical Little Tree and muttered to himself.
"My precious, you just wait. After lunch, I'm driving straight out to the wilderness."
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Li vanished from the small island with a thought.
...
July had arrived, and the summer noons were growing hotter and hotter.
Cotton candy-like white clouds drifted across the azure sky.
Some clouds clumped together like silver-white waves cresting in the sea, while others layered on top of each other, resembling delicious cakes from a bakery.
"CHIRP, CHIRP..."
The fiercer the afternoon sun and the higher the temperature, the happier the cicadas—those spirits of summer—became. As if they had limitless energy, they sang of their joy to the world.
"RUMBLE..."
A silver van appeared on a road outside the suburbs, driven by a young man in his early twenties.
'Having a car is so convenient. This trip saved me a lot of time.'
Lin Li drove his rented silver van, speeding toward the wilderness outside the city.
Within the city limits, the traffic had been somewhat congested, but once he left the bustling urban center, passed through the suburbs, and went beyond, the traffic became progressively smoother.
Especially the closer he got to Chenghua Avenue, the fewer vehicles he encountered.
This was a normal phenomenon. After years of public education campaigns from the government, residents of cities and towns knew well.
From three and four-year-old children to seventy and eighty-year-old elders, everyone knew that Mutant Beasts often appeared in the wilderness and that one should not risk entering it without a good reason.
This parallel world called Blue Star originally had a historical development process identical to Earth's.
If not for the sudden appearance of Spiritual Energy over a hundred years ago, which led to humans having their Spirituality Awakened, the emergence of Cultivators, and some Cultivators awakening various Superpowers...
...then, following its normal historical trajectory, this world might have just been another version of Earth, with an identical history and level of technology.
As for why Spiritual Energy suddenly appeared in this world over a century ago, that was a topic of intense research by governments around the world.
According to some rumors circulating online, the governments had made some progress after years of research into the origin of Spiritual Energy, but they had not announced their findings to the public.
One rumor claimed that the reason Spiritual Energy appeared on Blue Star over a hundred years ago was because Blue Star had collided with a world from an Alternate Space.
That Otherworld possessed Spiritual Energy, and after the collision, Blue Star was influenced by it, causing Spiritual Energy to gradually appear on Blue Star as well.
This was what the internet called the "Otherworld Collision Theory."
Lin Li had always treated these kinds of online rumors as little stories, something to read for a laugh, and had never taken them seriously.
'I'm just an ordinary person. Why this world has something as miraculous as Spiritual Energy is not something I should be concerned with. The most important thing is to live my own life well.'
...
"CHIRP, CHIRP..."
The further he drove toward the wilderness, the louder the chirping of the cicadas in the roadside trees became.
With Lin Li at the wheel, the silver van soon reached Chenghua Avenue and sped on toward the wilderness.
After Chenghua Avenue, it would take about half an hour to reach the wilderness on foot, but now, by car, it was only a few minutes away.
"SCREECH..."
The wilderness lay just ahead. Lin Li slowed down and parked the van on the side of the road, under the shade of a lush roadside tree.
'Before I head into the wilderness, I should change my outfit.'
With a thought, the camouflage fatigues he had placed on the Mysterious Small Island beforehand appeared in his hands.
After changing, Lin Li opened the car door and got out.
"WHOOSH..."
A sudden gust of wind swept a heatwave over him. Having grown accustomed to the cool, air-conditioned environment inside the van, Lin Li felt a wave of oppressive heat.
Of course, such oppressive heat couldn't deter Lin Li's determination to hunt Mutant Beasts in the wilderness.
Just thinking about the green Magical Little Fruit growing on the Magical Little Tree on the Mysterious Small Island filled Lin Li with motivation.
"Let's do this! I'll try to hunt five rabbit-like Mutant Beasts like last time before the sun goes down."
Lin Li pumped himself up. Then, with a thought, the Spiritual Longsword worth 499,999 yuan instantly appeared in his hand.
Gripping the Spiritual Longsword, Lin Li stepped out from the shade of the tree and walked toward the nearby wilderness.
He took a step forward from the firm, flat road and onto the weed-covered wilderness. With that, Lin Li had left human society behind and entered the perilous wilds, where all sorts of Mutant Beasts roamed.
...
"RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE..."
Heatwaves periodically swept across the wilderness, making the person-high weeds rustle.
Although he had experience hunting a Mutant Beast in the wilderness once before, Lin Li still felt a little nervous entering it again.
He now had the Mysterious Small Island as a life-saving escape, but that was only if he wasn't ambushed and killed in a single strike by a suddenly appearing Mutant Beast.
Of course, even if he wasn't killed instantly, a serious injury from an ambush could leave him on the brink of death. In that state, he would likely die anyway, even if he remained conscious long enough to escape to the Mysterious Small Island with a thought.
...