Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 397 [Random Character Introduction Letter]

However, impulse aside, there are still about twenty membership red envelopes in my backpack. I can use them up first and then say "The world is so big, I want to go see it".

After another ten consecutive draws, Zhang Chengdao didn't get a single blue-quality item; all he got were the most ordinary things, which left him quite disappointed.

But he quickly cheered up and continued to draw the remaining dozen or so.

After all, it's been a long time since I've drawn a "high-quality item". Even if it's my turn, shouldn't it be time to draw something good?

As soon as I thought that, I took the first draw and a golden light flashed before my eyes.

Wow! A golden legend!?
Zhang Chengdao first looked at the prompt with a smug expression—

"Received a [Random Character Introduction Letter]".

"Random character...letter of introduction!?"

Zhang Chengdao read it aloud without thinking.

In the original game, this item does exist, and it is indeed gold-colored, but it's impossible to get it from the member bonus, because it's a reward for recharging, allowing players to randomly draw a paid character!

A character is a special character in a game that players can raise and control. Unlike villagers in the game, these characters do not experience birth, aging, illness, or death; they exist permanently and are known as "cultivators."

Furthermore, only these "cultivators" can equip special weapons and items in the game to participate in various gameplay modes such as monster invasions, obtain tokens, and exchange them for rewards.

It's worth mentioning that the original game's operator was quite generous; most characters could be obtained for free, with only a very few requiring real money to acquire, making it a special perk for big spenders.

However, this game isn't primarily a PvP game. Even if there are leaderboards where whales compete to show off their combat power, it doesn't really matter to most players. So, having those characters makes no difference, unless they're your main characters or your favorite characters, but that's a different story...

Well, anyway, the reason why the [Random Character Introduction Letter] is gold is because it randomly generates characters—including existing characters.

If you're unlucky and actually get a character you already own, besides accepting your bad luck, you'll also get two "Soul Stones" to upgrade the character's stats and abilities. Of course, these things have some value in the game, but in real life...

Zhang Chengdao couldn't believe that farts could have any value!
After all, the only character he could get from the first recharge was his current "suit," while all the other characters he could get for free were gone. His character list was now filled with his apprentices and disciples. Who knows if this [Random Character Introduction Letter] can actually summon any characters in the game!
What troubled him even more was that if he couldn't, wouldn't this legendary gold item be less useful than some gray-grade material?
At least the latter can still convincingly sell some trendy junk to the locals!

If possible, then...

Is the summoned character a real person? A puppet? Or some other indescribable being?

They can't really be two-dimensional paper figures, can they?
Leaving aside the other abstract points, if a real person is indeed summoned, where did this "real person" live before? And how did they travel to the White Stone Realm? Does this mean that the barriers of the White Stone Realm have completely loosened, and they can leave as well?
No, no, no, if I think about it more deeply, could the opportunity that led me to transmigrate, or rather, the "tool" that allowed me to enter and exit the White Stone Realm, actually be my own "golden finger"?

Zhang Chengdao was excited for a moment, and then confused for a moment. In the end, he simply took out the [Random Character Introduction Letter] and stared at the envelope in his hand, which looked ordinary except for its golden light, and pondered.

Let's just open it! We've already drawn it, might as well open it!

Having made up his mind, Zhang Chengdao decisively opened the letter.

Another flash of colorful light appeared, and inside the envelope was a thin sheet of paper. The contents of this paper resembled a "resume," detailing the character's name, cultivation level, background, and special skills and supernatural abilities.

More importantly, Zhang Chengdao is actually very familiar with this role.

"[Lu Seng]!?"

Zhang Chengdao exclaimed in surprise.

【Lu Seng】is a Buddhist cultivator character in the original game. He was the only Buddhist cultivator character in the version before his transmigration. He was also a character given as a reward to whales who spent a certain amount of money, and he was once one of the symbols of whales' status.

Lu Seng's background is nothing special. Just like in the original game, he comes from Shaolin Temple and is a master with profound Buddhist knowledge. His cultivation has even reached the Integration Stage, which is much higher than Zhang Chengdao's!

As for the spells and supernatural powers they are good at...

That is, the things that are displayed as skills in the original game...

It's really terrible.

This character was originally positioned as a tank, but unfortunately, he couldn't draw aggro in the game. As a result, his damage-dealing teammates would often all die while he was still leisurely swinging his staff at the boss. This once made Zhang Chengdao so angry that he wanted to smash his phone.

I should have known better than to waste so many resources raising him!
Moreover, this character not only has terrible skills, but his age is also a mystery. He looks like an underage monk. However, Zhang Chengdao does not believe that a cultivator's appearance age is the same as his strength age. This is because, in addition to using illusions to change their appearance, a cultivator's physical state will remain the same as it was after they achieved the Golden Core stage. This is why many cultivators always look white-haired and old – because they were already very old when they achieved the Golden Core stage!
Therefore, if we think about it from this perspective, and Lu Seng's appearance is that of an underage monk, then we can deduce that he was still an underage person when he achieved the elixir!
Just how incredibly talented must someone be?!
Countless thoughts raced through my mind, but in reality, it all happened in an instant.

Zhang Chengdao had just finished reading the "resume" in the [Random Character Introduction Letter] when a distorted, semi-transparent "door" appeared before his eyes, resembling rippling water.

Then, a familiar yet unfamiliar...little monk squeezed through the "door".

It was indeed Monk Lu!

"Amitabha Buddha, Benefactor Zhang, did you hire this humble monk to come here to assist you?"

A clear, childlike voice rang out, and Zhang Chengdao belatedly looked at Lu Seng, somewhat dumbfounded.

Lu Seng in the game...

There really is such a person!?

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, it's me, it's me!"

Zhang Chengdao swallowed hard and quickly and warmly settled Lu Seng in.

Why not take advantage of free labor? My sect is desperately short of people!
After settling Lu Seng in and drawing the remaining membership red envelopes that hadn't resulted in anything happening, Zhang Chengdao told Manager Xu that he was going out to slack off... cough, no, he was going out to explore the world.

As Zhang Chengdao flew westward from Baishi Mountain, he felt a mix of trepidation and longing as he approached his hometown.

It wasn't that he felt particularly close to the civilization on the western continent, but rather that once he confirmed the shape of the continent's edge, it was as if he were seeing his homeland across time and space.

If given the chance, I could even fly higher and see if this world is also a... planet.

While Zhang Chengdao was lost in thought, an hour passed. Although it was a bit boring in the sky, looking down, the colors of the exotic civilizations he had never seen before were even more intense than those depicted in the movies and TV shows he had watched before his transmigration.

Of course, it is also more backward.

He stopped abruptly when he could see the edge of the continent in the distance.

world……

Not the same.

There is no Byzantium, no Mediterranean Sea, and no Britain here; there is only a landmass with sheer cliffs, beneath which lies the deep blue sea.

Starting from the familiar Arabian Peninsula, the entire European continent disappeared, as if it had been torn away.

Looking further west along the sea below the cliff, all that could be seen was a raging storm with thunder and lightning. Even from this distance, Zhang Chengdao could faintly sense the power contained within it.

That was a power no less than the heavenly lightning that strikes when a cultivator undergoes tribulation.

Zhang Chengdao was stunned for a long time before he vaguely remembered.

like……

Within the Central Plains cultural sphere, which is divided into three parts—Xiao, Chu, and Zhou (now Baishi Xianzong)—I have never heard of the existence of Tsarist Russian civilization.
To resolve his doubts, Zhang Chengdao did not rashly explore the western sea, but instead deliberately changed direction and flew north.

As darkness fell, Zhang Chengdao felt increasingly uneasy as they flew further and further.

The land to the north has a completely different shape from the familiar land of another world. If you had to describe it, it's more like the glacier was directly crashed onto the land and connected to it.

No wonder I always felt that Baozhou, where Baishi Mountain is located, was colder than the places further north before I transmigrated. It turns out that the entire continent of this world seems to have shifted northward!
In other words, all the mountains and rivers on the entire continent that Zhang Chengdao was familiar with were at a higher latitude than those he knew before he traveled there.

If this is still a planet.

Meanwhile, the beautiful and fiery civilization of the Great Mao Kingdom, which once flourished in another world, disappeared because its location was too far north and the temperature was too unsuitable for human habitation.

No, the land didn't disappear, but the civilization of Tsarist Russia no longer existed. Instead, a group of humans who looked even more savage than savages, wrapped in fur, slowly moved across the ice fields, somewhat like Eskimos, but not quite the same.

In an instant, Zhang Chengdao looked up at the boundless sky.

If only I could go to outer space and take a look, then I would understand what was really going on.

I wonder how well cultivators can withstand space radiation. Oxygen deficiency is easy to solve, since cultivators don't really need to breathe oxygen. But space radiation is not so pleasant. It can be irreversible. You can't just destroy your physical body and then become a soul cultivator like He Yu, can you?
Thinking of this, Zhang Chengdao decided to be conservative and wait until he was strong enough, or go back and consult He Yu to see if he could use methods such as astral projection or puppet substitution to explore "outer space".

The further north you go, the lower the temperature gets, sometimes even abnormally low.

When they finally reached the end of the glacier, Zhang Chengdao was taken aback.

Another cliff!

The glacier cliffs starkly separate the sea from the continent, while on the distant sea, a chilling spectacle of lightning and thunder unfolds!

If the situation is the same in the west and north, why is there no cliff in the south?
Zhang Chengdao recalled the scene when he flew westward along the southern coast of the mainland. There were indeed no cliffs, and the sea was full of islands.

Does that mean the south side is passable?
Zhang Chengdao's heart stirred, and he immediately changed direction again, flying south.

By the time we crossed the entire continent, the moon was already high in the sky.

The sea at the southern tip of the continent is dotted with many islands. Further south, the sea is calm and peaceful, unlike the terrifying thunderclouds that appear on the sea to the west and north.

Zhang Chengdao hesitated for only a moment before riding the clouds and continuing south.

But not long after, Zhang Chengdao saw a magnificent view he had never imagined.

The once peaceful sea surface suddenly shifted, forming a "cliff" shape, with seawater continuously cascading down to the sea below, creating a bizarre underwater waterfall.

This waterfall in the sea is dozens of meters high and is quite spectacular. Zhang Chengdao even went to the edge of the "cliff" to take a look. There were no rocks or anything like that. It was just ordinary seawater that naturally formed this "spectacle".

Of course, on the sea below, the familiar thunder and lightning reappeared in the distance. Clearly, the situation here was the same as it was on the western and northern parts of the mainland.

Zhang Chengdao finally came to a conclusion.

It seems that the situation in the east is probably similar to this one.

He simply flew eastward along this sea waterfall.

When he got bored on the road, he even discovered on his own that he could play games (cultivate) while flying. Anyway, for a cultivator of his level, as long as he spared a sliver of his mind, flying on the clouds was like an autopilot, which was very convenient.

However, when it got light again, he was somewhat disoriented.

Because the sun appears to rise from behind you, rather than in front of you.

If the sun in this world also follows the principle of "rising in the east and setting in the west," or if the movement of celestial bodies in this world conforms to Zhang Chengdao's previous understanding, then it means that Zhang Chengdao is now flying northwest.

After flying for an unknown amount of time, the temperature dropped lower and lower, and even the breath they exhaled turned into white mist. Zhang Chengdao had even gotten used to playing Snake and Bubble Dragon (cultivating) while flying, and observing the waterfall at sea. Finally, as far as the eye could see, a desolate continent came into view.

Following that, the white frost on the ground and the snow-capped mountains in the distance gradually emerged from the sea, allowing Zhang Chengdao to roughly guess the strangeness of this world.

Neither the cliffs to the west nor the cliffs to the north were formed naturally.

No, or rather, it may have arisen naturally, but it certainly did not arise in a truly natural state without external interference. At least with his meager undergraduate knowledge, he had no theory to explain the cause of this strange geographical phenomenon.

The entire continent was like a giant isolated island, raised dozens of feet above the sea level!
Beyond the isolated island lay the stormy and thundercloud-filled seas, a place even Zhang Chengdao dared not easily venture into. He had no idea what lay beyond, or whether the remaining continents he knew still existed...

(End of this chapter)