Chapter 139: Rouqi & Rouqin?
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that I still didn't have eyes to open. Or a body. Or, well, anything physical at all. I was just... floating there, a spiritual consciousness untethered from flesh.
"Well," I thought to Azure, "this is... different."
Usually, when I jumped between worlds, I woke up already nestled in a convenient corpse that had somehow recovered from a deadly injury, ready to start my new life. The whole "ghost floating around looking for a body" thing was definitely new.
"Perhaps it's because we used the Genesis Seed's fruit rather than the system," Azure suggested. "The mechanics of transition might be fundamentally different."
I nodded, or at least performed the spiritual equivalent of nodding since, you know, no actual head. "Makes sense. We can't assume anything works the same way here." I paused, considering. "Though I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed about the energy in this place."
The world around us felt... thin somehow. The ambient qi – if you could even call it that – was nothing like the primal force I'd sensed from the golden fruit. It was weaker, diluted, almost like someone had taken normal qi and watered it down until it was barely recognizable.
"The primal energy we sensed likely came from the Genesis Seed itself," Azure theorized. "It was probably just the power that enabled the world-walking, not a representation of this world's energy."
"Yeah, that tracks." I sighed, watching as a wispy tendril of the local energy drifted past. "Still, what is this stuff? It feels almost like qi but... not quite?"
Before Azure could respond, I noticed my surroundings properly for the first time. I was floating above what appeared to be a city, though 'city' might have been a generous term. The buildings were a hodgepodge of architectural styles, ranging from what looked like ancient Chinese influences to something more... industrial? Most were in various states of disrepair, with crumbling walls and patched roofs that spoke of long-term decay rather than sudden destruction.