Chapter 143: A Ticket to Experience a Parallel World

After lying there for a while, Zhang Ning fully woke up. He began to seriously consider his master's advice—was it truly detrimental to practice the Dao of Time so indiscriminately? Yet, after pondering for a long time, he could not reach a decision. Sometimes, convincing oneself was indeed the most difficult part.

Therefore, Zhang Ning decided against going back to sleep. He opened the system interface to pass the time.

Ever since he had been scammed repeatedly by the system, Zhang Ning had harbored lingering fears about it. Whenever he had free time, he would open it up to study its various functions. Although he had not been overly reckless in utilizing his golden finger after arriving at the Azure Sky Realm, cautious as his nature was, there was still a gap between that and scrutinizing the user manual word by word as he was doing now.

With no other choice—since the system did not come equipped with a system sprite or anything of the sort—Zhang Ning had to figure things out on his own. To his surprise, he actually discovered quite a many interesting features, though a great number of them were practically draconian clauses!

When Zhang Ning noticed the newly illuminated Parallel World module, it felt as though he had discovered a new continent.

Something this fascinating and important—surely he couldn't have missed it before? It had definitely appeared just recently!

Zhang Ning immediately looked at the relevant description and found that the Parallel World module was designed to help the host understand and reference various other DAOs. In other words, using this Parallel World module allowed one to witness what kind of life different Dao practices would lead to... What a fantastic item!

Zhang Ning’s eyes lit up. He almost wanted to pick up this new module and plant a kiss on it. He immediately clicked on it and discovered that the first three purchases came with experience vouchers—they did not require viewer count points and were completely free!

An idea instantly formed in Zhang Ning's mind. Nonetheless, he clicked on the instructions to read them carefully, which set his mind even more at ease.

It turned out that when using the parallel world shuttle function, a transparent protective shield would appear on the user's surface, visible only to the host. As long as the host did not actively attack anyone in the parallel world, nothing that happened there could harm the host, not even a cataclysmic apocalypse. It was a completely safe feature as long as one quietly played the role of a bystander... Wonderful! Zhang Ning immediately redeemed two parallel world experience vouchers—one for himself, and the other for... his master.

Then, Zhang Ning tiptoed over to Chu Hanru's door. After hesitating for a long time, he still did not knock. He knew that even these soft movements would probably sound deafening to his master's ears. In the end, Zhang Ning slowly slipped one of the experience vouchers through the crack of the door. However, the rustling sound of the voucher friction against the floor suddenly made him feel immensely embarrassed. He covered his face and ran back to his room, fully expecting to meet his master in the parallel world shortly to see what cultivating other DAOs would be like, after which the master and disciple could have a proper talk.

Yet, Zhang Ning was being too wishful. Things did not develop as he had anticipated. Chu Hanru was still burning with anger. Upon seeing the object slid through his door, he put it away without even glancing at it, having no intention of investigating it right away. Meanwhile, back in his bedroom, Zhang Ning—driven by the determination to make peace with his master as soon as possible—activated his own experience voucher... and his face immediately fell.

It turned out that after using the voucher, one could also input several keywords to facilitate the selection of the parallel world to visit. This meant there was no guarantee he and his master would end up in the same parallel world!

Zhang Ning felt somewhat disappointed. He knew he had acted on impulse. However, the moment he activated the voucher, he found himself standing in an pitch-black space of unknown whereabouts where he could not even see his own fingers. A transparent protective membrane had already formed around him, clearly waiting for him to input his keywords so he could depart... A miscalculation! Was he an idiot? Zhang Ning silently berated himself.

Still, matters had reached this stage. With the thought of going to see what achievements cultivating other DAOs might bring, Zhang Ning decided to proceed. After some thought, he chose not to enter "Dao of Time" as a keyword. Instead, he typed in "Dao of Space." Then, thinking that he absolutely had to catch a glimpse of his master in that other world, he entered "Chu Hanru." Finally, considering that the experience voucher had a 24-hour countdown and wondering what he would do if his master happened to be in another lesser or middle chiliocosm world and they failed to meet, Zhang Ning added the words "Together." Thus, the three keywords he entered were: "Dao of Space," "Chu Hanru," and "Together." Feeling certain that this was foolproof, Zhang Ning activated the parallel world experience voucher.

――――Divider――――

When Zhang Ning opened his eyes again, he saw a youth of about fifteen or sixteen years old poking at his protective membrane. The youth could actually see the barrier as well. The two of them were standing quite close to each other, which startled Zhang Ning so much that he let out a loud howl. Upon seeing him wake up and hearing his cry, the youth quickly took two steps back, widened his eyes, and nearly drew a weapon as he demanded, "What on earth are you howling for?!"

"Oh, sorry! Sorry!" Zhang Ning scratched his head and said, "I was just suddenly startled. I am... um..."

As Zhang Ning struggled for an explanation, the youth opposite him said, "I know! You're Zhang Ning, right? I'm Zhang Ning too!"

??? This was the parallel world version of himself?! They had run into each other just like that?

Unable to control himself, Zhang Ning drew a sharp breath and began to carefully appraise the youth. He was quite tall, easily reaching 1.8 meters. He wore a garment that resembled the ancient Hanfu of Water Blue Planet more than the attire of the Azure Sky Realm, yet his hair was tied up in the common hair bun of the Azure Sky Realm. His facial features still retained a hint of youthful immaturity, yet they had bloomed into a handsome contour. His face bore an expression of unyielding defiance as he stared cautiously at Zhang Ning.

"Um, hello there, Zhang... Zhang Ning?" For a moment, Zhang Ning did not quite know how to strike up a conversation. The feeling was utterly surreal. They were supposed to be the exact same person, yet a slight gap in time separated them, making the other look more mature—so much so that he seemed like a completely different individual.

Moreover, the youth radiated an aura that clearly said, "I am not someone to be trifled with." Zhang Ning could discern the distinct muscle lines beneath the youth's clothing... This was not a character to be provoked lightly.

The two of them remained silent for a moment. But seeing Zhang Ning's at-a-loss expression, the Zhang Ning on the opposite side slowly relaxed for some reason. He looked Zhang Ning up and down and asked, "A parallel world experience voucher?"

Zhang Ning breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and replied, "Yes, exactly." Then, unable to control his curiosity, he began to look around. The parallel world counterpart standing right before him had commanded most of his attention earlier; only now did he notice that their current location appeared to be the center of a traditional garden. The surroundings were adorned with carved beams and painted pillars, yet intricate details revealed numerous modern elements... Where on earth was this?

Curious, Zhang Ning asked, "May I ask? Were you in the Azure Sky Realm the moment you transmigrated? Is this a lesser world of ability users?"

The Zhang Ning opposite him raised an eyebrow. For some reason, this gesture made Zhang Ning feel a strange sense of familiarity. The youth replied, "Yes. Judging by that, our worlds shouldn't differ by much. The moment I transmigrated, I encountered the Azure Sky Realm. Um," he paused for a fraction of a second, as if swallowing back some words on the tip of his tongue, "this lesser world of ability users was scammed into existence by the system, right?"

"Right, exactly!" Zhang Ning blurted out, a lingering sense of doubt welling up within him: Do parallel worlds differ by merely this much? Just a tiny time difference? No major distinctions at all?