Chapter 16: Matching the Small World

"You old fossil—give me back my flying sword!"

Lu Chuan and the stupid donkey carrying on as though no one else existed finally pushed Baili Die—stripped of her flying sword—to the edge of a breakdown.

Baili Die threw herself at Lu Chuan, lunging to snatch her flying sword back.

But what left everyone's jaws on the floor was that the small red flying sword, with no one directing it, turned around and shot straight back toward Baili Die on its own.

"This…this is the flying sword automatically protecting its new master—how is that possible? Who is this old man? How can he control someone else's flying sword?"

The impossible scene left the crowd of spectators inhaling sharply one after another.

Boom!

The small red sword drove straight into Baili Die's Body-Guarding Steel Energy.

A startling burst of red Sword Energy exploded outward—Baili Die's Body-Guarding Steel Energy was shredded, and her entire body was sent flying.

"Tch—that weak?"

Lu Chuan rolled his eyes, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked toward the passage.

Seeing Lu Chuan about to leave, the small red sword hurried back and began circling him continuously, emitting a low humming vibration—as though throwing a little tantrum.

"What are you doing? You're this weak, and you want to follow me around?" Lu Chuan looked at the small sword with exasperated disdain.

The small sword seemed to understand his words. The entire blade dimmed at once.

"All right, all right—acting like a little girl, tearing up over just a couple of words."

Lu Chuan pursed his lips and pointed toward Bai Linlin.

"Here—I've got a job for you. Keep this young lady safe. When this old master gets back, I'll give you a spirit bestowal or something."

A spirit bestowal?

No one knew what a spirit bestowal was—not even Lu Chuan himself.

Because he had made it up on the spot.

The small red sword's dimmed blade suddenly blazed with light again, as though filled with boundless, inexhaustible power.

The small sword flew to Bai Linlin's side and released its Sword Energy in a fierce, aggressive wave.

"Off we go."

Lu Chuan waved a hand with mild boredom and stepped through the passage in one stride. Lin Xiaoxiao and the others rushed to follow.

Watching this decrepit old man pass through the barrier without the slightest resistance, the crowd started murmuring among themselves again.

Strange things happen every year—but this year was taking it to another level.

Of course, Lu Chuan passing through the barrier unimpeded also came as a relief to the onlookers.

In everyone's understanding, there was simply no way Lu Chuan was a cultivator above the Fourth Realm.

As for what to make of the flying sword business just now—who the hell knew.

After Lu Chuan left, Baili Die, having been sent flying earlier, finally made her way back.

Seeing that her own flying sword was now guarding Bai Linlin, she nearly exploded with rage on the spot.

But this time Baili Die had learned her lesson and didn't try anything reckless.

After all, compared to her life, one flying sword wasn't worth that much.

Only now the grudge between them had deepened considerably—the next time they met, it would likely be a fight to the death.

……

The scenery on the other side of the passage caught Lu Chuan off guard.

This appeared to be a grassland—lush and verdant as far as the eye could see, stretching endlessly to the horizon.

There was no sun, yet there was ample light—one could even feel warmth in it.

A breeze swept across the grassland, sending rippling "waves" through the grass. It was deeply pleasant.

A perfect moment—a gentle, unwavering breeze, and light that felt just right.

"Interesting."

Lu Chuan gave a cheerful nod and turned his focus inward into his mind, reviewing the map he'd memorized earlier.

He had his answer in short order.

This was almost certainly what the map labeled the Hundred Spring Grassland—the safest location in the entire Maple Leaf Secret Realm.

Not only safe, but rich with natural treasures as well.

"Ha—is my luck actually turning?"

Lu Chuan had spent a lifetime running into one disaster after another, saddled with a brain-dead system.

Now that he'd arrived in this world, things seemed to be trending in a better direction.

"Stupid donkey—match this small world, then help me get those girls gathered together first."

Lu Chuan was bloodthirsty, hot-tempered, thoroughly unreasonable, and mentally unwell.

The possibility of actual senility couldn't be entirely ruled out either—being able to completely forget everything one had ever learned wasn't something that inspired much confidence.

But no one could be all flaws without a single redeeming quality.

Lu Chuan's one virtue was that he kept his word—absolutely and without exception.

Since he had promised Nangong Chuxue he would look after the girls, he would bring every one of them back safely.

"You really do know how to boss people around."

The donkey stood planted beside Lu Chuan, baring its big flat teeth, those wise eyes full of displeasure.

Since Afu was bound to Lu Chuan, no matter how far he was kicked, he would return to Lu Chuan's side in an instant.

So Lu Chuan, when bored, enjoyed kicking the donkey around as a way to relieve stress.

"Get it straight—you're not a person. You're just a brain-dead donkey." Lu Chuan rolled his eyes and stated it plainly.

"I must have offended someone across 8 lifetimes to end up with a host like you."

Grumbling the whole time, Afu closed those wise eyes.

Wave after wave of strange ripples radiated outward from Afu's body, blanketing the entire small world.

After a few minutes, Afu opened his eyes again and said with full contempt:

"Matching complete. This is a small world left behind by some cultivator. It has no complete Grand Dao framework. The total area of this small world is roughly the size of the planet you used to live on."

Lu Chuan's eyelid twitched at that. A small world with the surface area of Earth—that was genuinely staggering.

"Interesting. Something seems to be lurking inside this small world. I'll transmit the data to you."

As Afu spoke, his eyes suddenly rolled back.

Across those blank white eyeballs, vast amounts of mysterious runes rapidly appeared.

The runes flickered with an eerie green light, pulsing in and out.

Following the donkey's process, a massive stream of information flooded into Lu Chuan's mind—all of it concerning this small world.

For an ordinary person, having this much information suddenly crammed into their head would have blown their mind on the spot.

Only a freak like Lu Chuan, with a boundless and expansive mindspace, could receive a data transfer of this scale.

An extraordinarily detailed map then unfolded within Lu Chuan's mindspace.

The map was divided into 5 major zones. Lu Chuan's position sat at the center.

Across the map, the precise locations of all natural treasures were clearly marked.

If this wasn't cheating, nothing was.

Not only that—the map was alive with red dots in motion. These red dots were the signatures of living beings.

But at the very northern edge of the entire map lay a patch of pitch-black shadow. Within Afu's transmitted data, not a single piece of information had been attached to it.

This, it seemed, was the location Afu had mentioned—whatever was lurking there.

Lu Chuan wasn't particularly bothered. Whatever it was, if it came looking for trouble, he'd pound it into the ground.

"Can you be any less useful? Everything's just red dots—how am I supposed to tell which ones are the girls?"

Lu Chuan muttered in displeasure.

Afu's eyes bulged at that, and he shot back:

"Who do you think I am? Giving you a rough overview is already doing plenty. You want me to break it down by face and gender too? That's not something I can do."

"If you can't do it, then get lost!"

Lu Chuan raised a foot and sent Afu flying.