I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 125: A Wondrous World, Accompanied by Danger and Opportunity
A little over half an hour later, Lin Li finished his pastries and tea and left the teahouse, having gathered a great deal of information about this world.
Thanks to the friendly teahouse owner, Lin Li now had a better understanding of his whereabouts.
"Old Qi, has that customer left?" A plump woman wearing a headscarf emerged from the back kitchen and asked the teahouse owner.
"Yes, he’s gone." The teahouse owner picked up his teacup, took a sip, and replied to his wife.
"That customer didn’t seem like an ordinary person," the owner’s wife said.
"He’s certainly not ordinary. He doesn’t know things that even children are familiar with, and he didn’t even know the name of the current emperor.
But his cultivation aptitude is quite good. He’s at the Second Order Initial Stage, and I estimate he’ll break through to the Second Order Middle Stage within a year at most," the ordinary-looking teahouse owner said with a chuckle.
"What? He’s so young and already about to break through to the Second Order Middle Stage?!!!" the owner’s wife said in astonishment.
"I didn’t expect it either. If I hadn’t happened to catch that faint Spiritual Energy Wave he unintentionally revealed, I’d have thought he was at Tier One Peak at most."
The teahouse owner said with a smile. At the same time, a faint golden Spiritual Light flashed in his eyes.
...
Lin Li had gathered a lot of information about this unknown Otherworld from the teahouse owner.
This unknown Otherworld was called the Spirit Realm.
No one knew the true size of the Spirit Realm. The country Lin Li was in, the Chu Kingdom, spanned over fifty-eight million square kilometers with a population of about 2.5 billion—a truly vast and sparsely populated nation.
The teahouse owner had casually mentioned over twenty countries in the Spirit Realm comparable to the Chu Kingdom. He added that there were many even larger nations, but they were too distant to be worth mentioning.
For ordinary people, visiting every major city in their own country in a single lifetime was an incredible feat, let alone the smaller towns.
As for going to other countries, the vast majority of ordinary people simply couldn’t do it.
Walking out of the teahouse, Lin Li looked up at the huge sun, which was twice the size of the sun on Blue Star, and muttered to himself.
’Over fifty-eight million square kilometers... The Chu Kingdom is more than ten million square kilometers larger than the entire continent of Asia. That’s just immense!
And the owner said there are many countries like this one, and plenty that are even bigger. Yet, the combined area of all the nations he knows of is still just a tiny fraction of the boundless Spirit Realm...’
Pulling his gaze back, Lin Li took a deep breath, calming his turbulent emotions.
’Coming to such a wondrous world, crisis and opportunity go hand in hand. But I have the Mysterious Small Island and that Magical Little Tree, so my path will be much smoother than an ordinary person’s.
Destination: Dongwu City. I’ll try to get there before sunset and see what a city in this world looks like.’
His mind made up, Lin Li immediately broke into a run, heading out of the small village.
According to what the teahouse owner had said, there was a main road north of the village leading to Dongwu City. Following that road would lead him to his destination.
...
The sun was setting in the west. Brilliant red light shone from the horizon, dyeing the main road to Dongwu City a beautiful shade of red.
A convoy of a single carriage and eight riders approached from afar, making their way methodically toward the distant Dongwu City.
The eight riders surrounded the carriage—in front, behind, and to the sides—forming a tight protective formation around it.
At that moment, the carriage curtain was lifted. A maid with her hair in buns asked a middle-aged man with a buzz cut riding to the right of the carriage, "Guard Liu, my lady wishes to know if we’re close to Dongwu City yet?"
"We’re almost there. In about half an hour, before the sun sets completely, we’ll arrive at Dongwu City," Guard Liu replied with a smile.
"My lady, Guard Liu says we’ll reach Dongwu City in about half an hour." Having gotten her answer, the maid lowered the window flap and spoke to the young lady sitting beside her.
"Mm." A voice as gentle as water came from within the carriage.
"Everyone’s worked hard on this trip. Let’s just push on a little more. We’re about to reach Dongwu City!" Guard Liu said to his companions.
"Sir!" the other guards responded in unison.
But at that very moment, disaster struck.
WHOOSH.
A dart glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light suddenly shot out from the woods by the roadside.
It was incredibly fast, letting out a sharp whistle as it tore through the air.
"Ambush!!!"
Hearing the whistle, the same thought flashed through every guard’s mind, and they instinctively cried out.
The incoming dart, infused with Spiritual Energy, was moving too fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already upon one of the guards protecting the carriage.
The dart, thrown by the hidden attacker, was aimed at Guard Liu.
An ordinary person would have no hope of dodging such a sudden attack from the woods.
But Guard Liu wasn’t a Guard Captain for nothing.
Just as the dart glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light was about to strike Guard Liu’s head, a faint golden Spiritual Light flashed in his eyes.
Instantly, Guard Liu’s reflexes sharpened dramatically. With a slight tilt of his head, he deftly dodged the surprise attack...
THUD.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...
The dart dodged by Guard Liu embedded itself in the trunk of a large tree by the roadside, sinking two-thirds of the way in.
The entire tree began to shake, and a shower of leaves fell from its branches.
Facing the ambush, the convoy halted. Guard Liu and his men drew their weapons, warily watching the forest where the dart had come from.
"Who goes there? Only cowards attack from the shadows!"
Half a minute passed, but there was not the slightest response from the woods.
The guards didn’t dismount to search the woods for the attackers. They held their positions, fearing it was a trick to lure the tiger from the mountain.
Moreover, they knew their mission was to protect the carriage’s passengers; killing the enemy was not their primary objective.
It was pointless to remain at a standstill. Just as Guard Liu was about to order the driver to press on toward Dongwu City, voices drifted out from the woods.
"Big Brother, I told you, we should’ve just rushed them. This Liu Jie guy is extremely cautious, he’s not going to fall for it..."
"Shut up. Even though San’s plan didn’t work this time, at least he used his brain and tried to lure them into the woods. Unlike you, who only knows how to fight and kill..."
"Big Brother... but in our line of work, isn’t fighting and killing all that matters?"
"Just shut your mouth..."
...
