Chapter 34: Successful Replication, Passage Controlled!

As the door slammed shut, the faint starlight from the distant cosmos vanished from Yu Sheng’s eyes. It took a full half-minute for him to recover from the momentary shock, after which he took a long, deep breath, a cold sweat breaking out as the realization finally hit him.

Opening the door did not necessarily mean arriving at a specific "location" in some foreign realm or on some planet—there was even a certain probability of opening directly into outer space.

The randomness and range of this "door" far exceeded Yu Sheng’s imagination.

At this moment, he even felt a sense of relief—he was grateful that the first time he accidentally opened the "door," he had stepped into a foreign realm rather than into the deep void of space. If he had been that unlucky, he could hardly imagine what might have happened.

In the worst-case scenario, he might have been trapped in a continuous cycle of death and resurrection within the harsh environment of outer space, perhaps without ever having the chance to maintain a clear enough mind to figure out or master the ability to open the door. Even if he had miraculously survived, or luckily stumbled upon a way to open a door back to the surface, it would have been a terrifying ordeal.

Once his pounding heart finally calmed, Yu Sheng immediately began to analyze the new information he had gathered from the process.

When the door had opened, he had not felt the terrifying "suction" of the vacuum on the other side, nor had he felt the biting cold expected of outer space.

Yet, during his previous attempts, he had been able to hear sounds and feel environmental influences from the other side—such as the scorching air currents from a barren planet.

Why was this? Did the "door" itself possess some kind of filtering mechanism? When the environmental disparity between the two sides was too great, did it automatically isolate those effects? Or did "outer space" possess some unique property, acting as a "coordinate" that could only be seen but never truly reached? Or perhaps... what he saw wasn't truly outer space, but another kind of "foreign realm" that merely looked like a starry sky?

Yu Sheng pondered this, glancing back at Irene in the oil painting.

Irene looked at him hesitantly. "Should we continue? You seemed quite startled just now..."

Yu Sheng closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, only determination remained.

"Continue."

He gripped the doorknob once more, but with even greater caution than before. He focused intently on the subtle, delicate "spiritual guidance," trying to recall the feeling of his previous successful openings, attempting to... replicate a specific passage.

He slowly opened the door. On the other side was an unremarkable scene that looked like a desolate beach.

It was not any door he had opened before.

He tried again and again, opening the door repeatedly, searching for the path that would lead him to Hu Li.

Or any other path he could replicate—as long as he could master the rules of opening the door.

Amidst these constant attempts, a fleeting thought crossed Yu Sheng’s mind: would there be a door behind which lay the familiar "hometown" of his memories?

He remembered that he had arrived at this "Boundary City" after walking out his front door one morning. Although there was no concrete evidence, he was increasingly suspicious that this had been the very first time he had "opened the door"—only he had been completely unaware of it at the time.

Would he one day open a door and see the home of his memories?

Yu Sheng forcibly suppressed this sudden thought. He knew he had more pressing matters to attend to; for now, going home would have to remain a hope buried in his heart.

Door after door opened—some bizarre and surreal, some mundane, some absurd and eerie, and even some that were bustling and prosperous.

Countless distant worlds rushed toward him with every brief opening and closing, only to be slammed shut. In this repetitive process, Yu Sheng suddenly had a strange realization.

This world... was truly more than just the Boundary City.

Outside this massive "City of Intersections," which seemed to possess so many unique qualities... the expanse was truly vast and boundless.

So many landscapes, so many mysteries, so many strange and varied distant lands—all right there every time he opened the door, just a push or pull away.

He was not trapped in this city.

Irene also seemed to be growing excited. Though it was unclear why the doll in the painting would be so thrilled, she watched the scenery outside the door along with Yu Sheng, her interest clearly rising.

Unable to move, she began to comment on the scenes beyond:

"That mountain is so tall! There’s something glowing on it—could we go see it sometime?"

"The ocean! What a huge fish!"

"Wow! It’s all snow, but why is it light blue... it doesn't look like there’s any life there..."

"...It’s a toilet, hurry, close it, hurry!"

"...That scared me! A ghost!"

The doll was never quiet, chattering incessantly about whatever appeared outside. Yu Sheng initially found it a bit noisy, but gradually, Irene’s unpredictable outbursts became a small pleasure in the tedious "testing" process.

Then, just before one particular opening, he felt a flutter in his heart. It was as if he were using an old-fashioned analog radio tuner to scan a narrow band and finally "hit" the right frequency. He sensed a passage he had opened before—it wasn't the valley filled with hunger, but it was a door he had definitely opened.

Yu Sheng seized that feeling, and for the first time, he actively controlled his "spiritual guidance." Without any technique, relying purely on instinct, he leaned toward that familiar passage.

He carefully pushed the door open and looked through.

He saw flames burning around the door frame.

He also saw a majestic, ancient palace in the distance, with ethereal light shimmering between the eaves and pillars. There was a handsome young man in embroidered robes, along with an old man who looked like an immortal with crane-like grace and the face of a youth.

The young man was being hung from a roof beam by the old man, who was giving him a thrashing.

The old man was full of vigor, and his voice came through clearly:

"Is this how you repay your master after all these years! Secretly practicing the demonic arts! Speak! What is this about refining living souls in the alchemy furnace? What about the human heads? You... you have truly harmed the innocent!?"

The handsome young man in embroidered robes twisted on the beam, shouting, "Master, I am wronged! I was just refining ordinary Spirit-Nurturing Pills! How was I to know that Junior Brother would see a person emerging from the furnace’s fire door... Ow, ow, don't hit me, don't hit me, Master, I am wronged!"

The old immortal nearly jumped with rage upon hearing this. "Cease your sophistry! I inspected the furnace earlier and even glimpsed the spiritual essence of living beings! There were definitely living people in your furnace!"

Yu Sheng was dumbfounded. Then, he saw a small figure pop up beside the door frame—it was that same young acolyte with the fan. The brat stared wide-eyed at the door, then shrieked and ran toward the main hall: "Master! Master! Another head has popped out of the Senior Brother’s alchemy furnace! It’s the same one as before!"

The old immortal-like man then pulled out a copper-tipped belt... or perhaps it wasn't a copper-tipped belt—it was too far to tell—but judging by the young man’s sudden shriek, the deterrent was no less fearsome than one.

Yu Sheng slammed the door shut. Shock, excitement, and thrills intertwined. After a long while, he turned to Irene and shouted in pleasant surprise, "Irene! I did it! I did it!"

Irene was startled. "Calm down, what did you do?"

"That passage just now was one I’d opened before! I controlled it and opened it again myself—the process is controllable! It can be replicated!"

He was exhilarated. Now that he had confirmed he could truly control that subtle "spiritual guidance," it meant he could also control and replicate any other "door" he had opened before, including the valley where Hu Li was!

The next step was to find a way to recall the "frequency" he had felt in his heart when he had first fallen into that valley. Even if he could only find a similar frequency, he would exhaust every possibility until he found it!

Irene was clearly caught up in Yu Sheng’s excitement as well, though the doll was unexpectedly quick to regain her composure. She reminded him, "Um, shouldn't you explain the situation to the people on the other side of that door first... the one hanging from the beam looked like he was about to be beaten to death..."

Yu Sheng froze, only then realizing the oversight—mostly because his previous openings had been so random that he wasn't used to the process being controllable or having so many options.

He reached for the doorknob, but a moment of hesitation flickered in his heart.

Were the people on the other side reasonable? That old man who looked like an immortal... could he be one of the "Immortals" Hu Li mentioned? It didn't seem like it; his style didn't fit the type of immortal who would run a travel agency. Perhaps they weren't in the same system... What if they attacked him because he explained it poorly? He was just a mortal and certainly couldn't win... Could he just speak through the door? The people on the other side shouldn't be able to attack through the door... After all, when he closed it before, the old man had only sensed the "spiritual essence" and hadn't been able to track him down...

A chaotic stream of thoughts flashed through his mind. Yu Sheng gritted his teeth, gathered his focus, locked onto the frequency again, and after confirming it several times, carefully opened the door.

Success welled up in his heart—he had successfully replicated the passage.

The old immortal was just then dragging the long-suffering, robe-clad youth through the air on a glowing cloud.

Yu Sheng stayed behind the door, not daring to get too close, and shouted, "It’s all a misunderstanding!"

The youth in embroidered robes immediately fell off the cloud, shouting as if he were about to cry, "You can't play like this! I don't know which Immortal Senior is on the other side, but if I’ve offended you, please just say so!"

"I don't know! I’m just passing by!" Yu Sheng said truthfully. "I didn't know it was your alchemy furnace—it’s a misunderstanding, really!"

He then immediately slammed the door shut.

Mainly because he was truly afraid the immortal on the other side would strike back.

Yu Sheng turned back and stared at Irene in the oil painting.

"...Do you think I explained it clearly?"

Irene nodded vigorously. "I think you explained it clearly."

"...I feel kind of bad."

"...You probably won't run into them again. The world is so big, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."