Chapter 1: Spatial Rift (Part 1)

Cerislin said, “He’s a complicated jerk!”
Guo Shier understood at once—that young man from the Tianling clan was one of Cerislin’s suitors, and an unpopular one at that. His strength was lower than Cerislin’s, but not by much, which was why she found him annoying. He had no intention of competing or being jealous; he couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. There was no romantic relationship between him and Cerislin, so he simply smiled and ignored it.
The town in Tianji Mountain wasn’t large, and its roads were narrow, so Guo Shier and the others were blocked by the people of the Tianling clan. The young man blocked Cerislin’s path and said anxiously, “Cerislin, you left without saying goodbye last time, forcing me to search for you for so long… I didn’t expect to find you here too!”
Cerislin, holding a long sword, replied coldly, “Lose, we already fought last time. You can’t beat me!”
Lose’s face turned red immediately. He said, “I’m not here to fight you. I… I’m here to see you!”
Cerislin asked irritably, “Why are you here to see me?”
Lose stopped not far in front of Cerislin. He saw her wary expression and her sword, ready for battle, so he forced a wry smile and said, “Could you put down your weapon? I don’t intend to fight you anymore. Um, who are these friends?”
Cerislin replied bluntly, “It’s none of your business!”
There were quite a few people from the Tianling clan with them—over a dozen. Guo Shier observed briefly and realized none of them were experts. Li Ran and the others also noticed that the opponents were ordinary fighters, with a large gap in strength, so they didn’t pay much attention. The only thing that surprised them was the appearance of the Tianling clan members—each one was a handsome man or beautiful woman.
Especially Lose, who had been pestering Cerislin, was tall and handsome, with sharply defined features, big eyes, and a high nose, giving off an impressive aura.
But Cerislin didn’t care about their looks at all. In her eyes, only strength mattered; everything else was ignored. She was always submissive in front of the strong but irritable and impatient with the weak. She said, “Lose, stop blocking the road. Move aside!”
Lose showed an awkward expression but didn’t give up. He still blocked the path and said, “Cerislin, we’re going to the Luotian Ruins as a team this time. Will… will you come with us?”
Cerislin gave him a disdainful look and said, “Go with you?”

Lose said, “Yes, yes. Look at the people around me—they’re all going to the Luotian Ruins. Let’s go together… so we can take care of each other.”
Cerislin said indifferently, “Take care of each other? Am I supposed to take care of you, or will you take care of me?”
Lose was momentarily stunned and replied, “Of course I’ll take care of you…”
Cerislin rolled her eyes at him and said, “You’ll take care of me? With your skills? Forget it, Lose. I have no interest in joining your team. Move aside!”
Not only was Lose embarrassed but also unable to recover his face. He looked at Cerislin helplessly, unable to believe she viewed him in such a light. His companions couldn’t stand it any longer, and one of them said, “Lose, is this the expert from the Blade Clan you mentioned? Extremely arrogant. Who does she think she is?”
Cerislin glanced over and said, “Blade Clan, Cerislin—please teach me!” She pointed her long sword at the person who had spoken just now, ready to fight the moment tensions rose.
People on both sides stepped back, and someone shouted, “Don’t fight in the town! Go fight outside!”
Fights between warriors were never welcome in any residential area. The power levels in this world were extremely high; once a fight started, it often led to destruction—neither ordinary houses nor the metal buildings of the Mechanical Clan could withstand their attacks.
A crowd emerged from the shops along the streets, each holding weapons and aiming them at the opposing sides. Their expressions were tense, and someone shouted, “Everyone, fighting is not allowed in the town. If you ignore our warnings, you won’t get any supplies here!” The townspeople were helpless. With their limited strength, they couldn’t stop these experts from fighting, so they could only use these non-threatening words to try to prevent the impending battle.
Guo Shier said persuasively, “Enough, Cerislin. He’s no match for you. Let’s go.”
The people of the Tianling Clan, including Lose, might not be strong, but they were all young and proud members of their clan. After all, the Tianling Clan was one of the three major races in this world. Feeling the contempt and disregard from the other side, they grew furious.
The Tianling Clan youth who had been challenged by Cerislin’s face turned red. He was about to accept the challenge when Lose held him back, saying, “Xiao Wu, don’t go. She’s extremely strong!”

Lose and the others also realized that Guo Shier and his group were not easy to deal with, especially since the clothes they wore were exactly the same as those of the Spellcraft Tribe. They understood that if a fight broke out, despite the smaller number of the opponent, they had no guarantee of winning given their own strength. Moreover, this was not the right time for a battle— the true experts of the Sky Spirit Tribe had already entered the Luotian Ruins, and they didn’t even have reinforcements.

Lose had no choice but to retreat reluctantly to the side of the street, forcing a smile as he said, “We’ll move aside…” His face burned with embarrassment, but he knew that if a fight started, the consequences would be beyond his control. He could only give way to avoid escalating the conflict.

Cerislin snorted, sheathed her long sword, and obediently stood behind Guo Shier, following closely behind as they moved forward.

Lose stared intently at their backs, lost in thought.

Soon, the group dispersed. A few members of the Sky Spirit Tribe gathered briefly, exchanged a few words, and then left quickly. They were all upset, but they couldn’t fight now. They also understood that retreating might be humiliating, but fighting could cost them everything—only by finding the tribe’s experts might they stand a chance. With just their current numbers, the gap between them and the opponents was far too large.

Guo Shier said, “These Sky Spirit Tribe members are quite weak. They seem to be the younger generation, right?”

Cerislin replied respectfully, “Yes.” Ever since Guo Shier reforged her weapon for her, she had stopped acting coy or foolish, realizing that Guo Shier didn’t fall for such tactics and fearing it might offend him. Besides getting a new weapon, she also hoped to learn something.

“Although the Sky Spirit Tribe has powerful experts, their younger generation is far inferior. These people can only operate around the edges of the Luotian Ruins and won’t venture deeper. Even if they tried, the tribe’s experts would stop them.”

Guo Shier nodded. He guessed there was nothing valuable in the periphery, but it was still a form of experience. For the younger generation, it was an excellent testing ground.

……

When leaving, Anbenji, the guide from the Machine Tribe, gave Li Ran a simple map. Starting from the town and bypassing a canyon in the Tianji Mountains, they could enter the Luotian Ruins. Guo Shier and his group were no strangers to such places—similar to the secret realms in the Spellcraft World, though with some differences. Strictly speaking, Luotian was a crack in the projected starry sky. Entering Luotian meant stepping into a vast crack.

This crack is the world of Luotian, as well as the location of Luotian’s ruins. It is said that Luotian was the earliest gathering place of the Tianling tribe. After several successive catastrophic disasters, the Tianling tribe was forced to seek a way out and eventually entered the world of star worship.

Li Ran’s team did not stay in the small town for long. Soon, the five of them left and flew toward Tianji Mountain.

At that time, many exploration teams could be seen along the way. Many of them chose to use flying vehicles, while Li Ran and the others flew directly. Li Ran took Borong with him, and Guo Shier took Serichelin. The Blade Tribe was not good at flying; they could manage short distances in a short time, but for long-distance flights, flying vehicles were faster for them.

The five flew high in the sky, with Guo Shier using a purple chain to pull Serichelin along. Borong and Serichelin were terrified—such heights were unbearable for them, and the speed was too fast. In moments, they flew over Tianji Mountain and entered a vast canyon.

Li Ran and the two others continued at the same speed but lowered their altitude, diving straight into the canyon. Below, they could see various teams moving along. Before they had flown far, they were pulled downward by a powerful force. Instantly, the runes on their bodies emitted light.

Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “There’s such a strong pulling force here… We’d better land. Flying like this is too exhausting!”

The five slowly descended. Serichelin held her chest and said after a while, “You Spellcasters are truly amazing. You can fly so high and so fast… It’s terrifying. Even if someone is stronger than you, they can’t catch up.”

Borong’s face turned pale; he couldn’t say a word and could only gasp for breath. He was also deeply frightened—not just by the height but especially by the speed.

Serichelin was filled with emotion. She finally understood just how big the gap between the Blade Tribe and the Spellcasters was. Thankfully, the number of Spellcasters in this world was small; otherwise, no other race would have a chance to survive. No wonder all races wanted to learn spells—this ability was truly extraordinary.

Spellcasters have always been mysterious. They can exist on their own—each person is like a world—and are the most self-sufficient race. If people from all races were thrown into a desolate wasteland, it would be the Spellcasters who would survive the longest. This is because Spellcasters can use spells to create the resources they need to survive. Moreover, Spellcasters, especially those at the altar level who came to this world, possess altar spaces where they can store large amounts of supplies. They are a race that is nearly impossible to kill.

The canyon was lush with vegetation, though there were no tall trees. Among the bushes on the ground, thick tree stumps could often be seen, clearly the remains of trees that had been cut down. Although Li Ran’s team did not fly very high, they did not have to trudge through the grass and bushes either; instead, they flew a few meters above the ground at a slow pace. Due to some unknown force, all of them retained most of their strength to handle emergencies. At this level of flight, both Berong and Serichlin could manage on their own. It was a bit difficult, but it was much better than flying high, and the two could barely keep up with the team’s speed.