Simultaneous Transmigration: We Level Up Alone Across Multiple Worlds

The outer perimeter of the Star Palace.

The air underground was heavier than on the ground, and in front of me was a corridor that seemed to rotate endlessly around the distant center, like a labyrinth without end.

Xia Youjie walked out of the platform and stopped in the middle of the corridor.

Riko followed silently out.

Xia Youjie looked at the enormous Hongxing Palace in the distance, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Neither Gojo nor Tenze wants to send you in."

"Me too."

He turned his head and looked at Riko with a smile.

"If Riko doesn't want to be assimilated, she can go home with Ms. Kuroi."

Riko suddenly turned around and looked at Natsumi Yuki.

His fists were clenched, his lips were parted, and his chin was trembling slightly.

Her eyes slowly reddened, tears welled up from her lower eyelids, and streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She raised her hand to wipe it, the back of her hand rubbing against her face, the emotion she felt was endless.

"……Really……"

Xia Youjie nodded.

"I want to... stay with everyone a little longer..."

"I want to go to more places and see more scenery with everyone..."

Tears welled up in his eyes and then streamed down his face, sliding down the curve of his mouth to his chin.

"Anyway, after assimilation I'll be Lord Tengen. I used to... think I could accept it calmly..."

She lowered her fist from her chest.

"I thought I was ready. But..."

She looked up at Xia Youjie.

Her eyes were red, tears still clung to her face, and her lips trembled slightly.

"But then I met Gojo, Kuroi, Natsuyu, and that bookworm Tensawa... and the seashells he kept for me..."

"I don't want it to end like this. I don't want to forget all of this after becoming Tengen-sama; I want to remember it all!!"

The corridor fell silent immediately.

Xia Youjie looked at her with satisfaction; this was her own decision, and responded gently.

"Then let's go back."

Riko still had tears on her face, but she looked at Xia Youjie's smile.

"……May I."

"Both Gojo and Amasawa will say yes."

Riko lowered her head, wiped away her tears, and sniffed.

"Um!"

Just then, footsteps came from the passageway in the distance.

Xia Youjie turned his head.

Tian Zechen emerged from the underground passage, his trousers covered in mud, and there were a few bloodstains on the back of his left hand, it was unclear whether they were his own or someone else's.

Stopping in front of the two, Tian Zechen shifted his gaze to Xia Youjie.

"Are you done talking?"

Xia Youjie nodded. "You're right, Riko doesn't want to be assimilated."

Tianze Chen looked at Riko again.

Riko met his gaze, her eyes reddening again, but this time she didn't cry.

"Aren't you going to thank me?"

Riko glared at Tian Zechen when she saw the marks on his body.

The surging thoughts in my heart were instantly put into action.

She threw herself into Tian Zechen's arms, her forehead hitting his chest, her hands gripping the sides of his uniform. Her face was pressed against his clothes, her breath suffocated by the fabric.

Tian Zechen raised his hands above his head, not expecting this little girl to pull this stunt.

Then he gently patted her on the shoulder.

After a while, Riko let go and stepped back.

Xia Youjie watched this scene with an uncontrollable smile on his face. When he saw Tian Zechen looking at him, he immediately turned his head away.

He opened his mouth to explain to Tian Zechen

"...When Riko said she didn't want to go, I told her she could go back. Gojo and Amasawa both said yes."

"It was Tianze who finally convinced me and Wutiao."

Upon hearing this, Riko stood up straight again, having already dried her face—however, it didn't matter.

"Really? Then he's still somewhat useful."

Xia Youjie smiled.

Tianze Chen shifted his gaze from Tianlizi's face to the depths of Hongxing Palace.

"You all go back first, I'm going to see this Tianyuan."

Xia Youjie's smile froze instantly. "What are you doing seeing Tianyuan?"

"The stellar body is gone; they need to explain that."

Tian Zechen did not give a direct answer.

"Wutiao should still be waiting outside. You should go and meet him first."

Xia Youjie didn't move, staring at Tian Zechen's face.

When this person on the breakwater cursed Tianyuan as "a coward who's afraid of death" and "an old codger," he wasn't exactly easy to talk to.

Now he says he's going to report to Tianyuan?

This is utterly upside down!

He wasn't there to negotiate.

intuition.

Xia Youjie had seen Tian Zechen on the breakwater; he had utterly refuted Tian Yuan, who had lived for a thousand years.

Assimilation is now on hold, and Riko no longer needs to go to Tengen, but Tengen is still there, and the barrier is still there.

The problem has not been truly resolved.

Tian Zechen needs to resolve this.

"Then I'll go with you."

Xia Youjie's tone left no room for negotiation.

Seeing this, Riko Tennatsu realized something and took a step away from Tenze Chen.

"I'll go too."

"Stop making things worse, okay? Ancestors..."

Tian Zechen looked at Xia Youjie and met his stubborn gaze.

Tian Zechen let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright."

The entrance to the Hongxing Palace swallowed up three figures.

Every so often, a fork in the road appeared, leading to another fork. A faint white light served as a signpost, and the three of them turned several corners under its guidance. The corridor ahead narrowed and then widened again, repeating the cycle endlessly.

The only sound in the corridor was footsteps.

Tian Zechen walked at the very front.

Xia Youjie and Tian Lizi followed behind.

The corridor suddenly opens up into a spacious area at the end.

The entire space is like a white dream, with no sense of direction for the light source; light comes from all directions, and there are no shadows.

The center point is at the very top.

The body no longer shows any trace of human remains.

The head is an elongated cylinder that extends directly from the top of the torso, without a neck.

The skin was entirely white, wrinkled and piled up on the surface, like paper that had been soaked in water and then dried.

The four eyes are located on the upper half of the face, arranged in pairs, one above the other. They have no eyelids and cannot blink.

The mouth occupies the entire lower half of the face, with the corners of the mouth stretched to both sides. When closed, it forms a slit across the face, and when open, it is roughly the size of a human head.

It has no nose.

No hair.

There was no sense of direction for the light source in the entire space; light poured in from all directions at the same time. Tianyuan sat in the center of that uniform white light curtain, his four eyes turning simultaneously, aiming at the three people who walked in.

Tian Zechen stopped in front of her.

Xia Youjie and Tian Lizi stood behind him.

silence.

Tengen spoke first.

"Don't the astral bodies want to?"

Tian Zechen raised his eyes and looked at the inhuman creature opposite him.

"Nobody wants to."

"What do you want to talk about?"

Tian Zechen raised his left hand, palm facing up and spread it out.

Concentrated positive energy... or rather, life energy seeping from the palm of the hand.

It wasn't the gentle treatment he received; instead, it was a surging light that illuminated half of his face, making his features clearly defined, and a shadow appeared beneath Tian Zechen's feet.

Xia Youjie stood two steps behind Tian Zechen.

Positive energy can affect barriers constructed from magical power, but it is not practical. Truly advanced barriers are not afraid of this.

Tian Zechen's trump card has never been words.

Xia Youjie was surprised that Tian Zechen had produced results he had never seen before, and wondered when he had started preparing for them.

When I was persuaded by this person with words on the breakwater, I thought that was all he was.