Chapter 1: Cang Cheng

Chapter 1: Cang Cheng

Year 3431 of the Galactic Calendar

Canglan Star Domain

Border Planet 'Luo Ri'

The Canglan Star Domain comprises approximately a hundred planets of varying sizes, with the main planet 'Canglan' serving as the undisputed center of the star domain.

Radiating outward from the central planet Canglan, other planets are classified based on their level of prosperity into first-class, second-class, third-class, and border planets, with their development levels decreasing accordingly.

Luo Ri, situated at the outermost position, not only lacks advanced technology, culture, and economic infrastructure, but its residents are mostly the elderly, the infirm, the sick, and the disabled. The few young adults are either ex-convicts or ordinary people who have not awakened. Those rejected by other planets often register and settle on Luo Ri.

The previous governor of Luo Ri recently died of illness, and the newly appointed governor has only been in office for a few days before rumors began circulating that he is seriously ill and confined to his residence.

"Sigh, they say the new governor is the fifth prince, Cang Cheng. He hasn't been seen coming out of the Central Mansion for days now. I wonder if he’s already kicked the bucket?"

"Hehe, whether he’s dead or alive, what difference does it make to us? If he dies, they'll just replace him."

"The fifth prince is pitiful, too. His body is frail, not to mention he was determined to be incapable of awakening.

Just think about it, the other princes of His Majesty have all successfully awakened, and their ability levels are all A-grade. In such a situation, what good is a prince without abilities?

Rather than keeping him in the palace as a nuisance, they might as well send him to a border planet to live out his days.

And so, just after the fifth prince finished his 18th adulthood ceremony, he was 'gifted' Luo Ri. Euphemistically called a 'gift,' hehe, but it’s practically the same as exile, isn’t it?"

...

Every resident of the Canglan Star Domain undergoes an awakening test at birth. Those who possess the potential to awaken will do so between the ages of 12 and 16, and upon success, they will gain a physique or mental strength that surpasses limits.

Those who possess such abilities usually join the military or civilian organizations, becoming Spirit Warriors who wield Spirit Runes in battle. Others, depending on their potential, become Spirit Rune Masters.

Of course, there are some awakened individuals who are not interested in combat or Spirit Runes and instead excel in various industries.

As a prince of the Canglan Star with rights of inheritance, one must have extraordinary strength to gain the respect of others. Cang Cheng, who was detected to be unable to awaken from a young age, was inevitably a neglected and unwelcome presence.

At this moment, in the dim master bedroom of the Central Mansion on Luo Ri, Cang Cheng slept with his eyes tightly closed.

His black hair was in disarray, and his skin was pale to the point of being bloodless, giving him a sickly, lifeless pallor.

His pale lips were slightly parted, and his weak breathing was barely perceptible, as if he could die at any second.

The next moment, Cang Cheng painfully emitted a low moan, and sweat began to bead on his forehead, quickly soaking him completely.

“IDE...” (It hurts)

A strange language left Cang Cheng's mouth, with a strange rhythm.

As the pain faded and his breathing steadied, his beautiful black eyes snapped open.

They were pure black, like obsidian, bottomless yet sparkling with a lovely glimmer.

A gentle whirlwind stirred in the otherwise still room, causing his wet hair to dance.

However, in just a moment, the cyclone vanished without a trace, and the striking black eyes closed again.

When they opened again, the eye color remained pure black, but the striking glimmer had softened into a clear, curious, and puzzled expression.

“DEK... Where am I?”

The strange language suddenly switched to the common language of the Canglan Star Domain, giving Cang Cheng a start.

Instinctively, he lifted his hand, attempting to draw a 'scouting' spell in the air. However, the lovely blue glow only formed a small light point at his fingertip before fading away.

Cang Cheng tried again, and once more, it disappeared.

He tried once more, and again, it dissipated.

Cang Cheng tilted his head in confusion.

What happened to his magic?

His power as a grand spell mage?

Why was there so little remaining?

Cang Cheng was thoroughly confused.

Cang Cheng flew into a rage.

Cang Cheng muttered curses.

And at that very moment, a deluge of memories flooded Cang Cheng's mind.

Fortunately, as a mage, he was accustomed to processing complex information, so this influx of memories posed no significant problem for him.

Cang Cheng's fingers rubbed against the coarse quilt, and then he grabbed a corner of it.

"No way… Did I… time-travel?"

The original Cang Cheng was the youngest forbidden spell mage in the entire Siaxi Continent, mastering the four elemental forbidden spells by the age of 22, making him the most promising and untouchable mage of the continent.

Cang Cheng had been researching the forbidden lightning spell derived from wind magic, but in a moment of carelessness, he was struck by lightning. When he woke up again, he found himself in a place called the Canglan Star Region, now inhabiting this world's Cang Cheng.

"This makes no sense… How could lightning-based magic cause time travel? Why is my soul in this body? Is there some sort of connection between our souls? It can't be just because our names sound alike, right?

And where did the soul of this body go? I only learned the basics of spiritual magic..."

The ever-inquisitive Cang Cheng had one question after another popping into his mind, with question marks appearing one after another.

In the end, Cang Cheng rubbed his hands over his head, messing up his black hair.

"Forget it, no point in thinking about it. I’ll focus on surviving and recovering my magic power first."

With the tiny amount of magic power he had now, like a light drizzle, Cang Cheng was helpless.

The forbidden mage was deeply distressed.

From the memories, he learned that the original Cang Cheng was the fifth prince of the Canglan Star Region and was supposed to hold a high status.

However, because he had been born with a genetic disease, leaving him sickly and unable to awaken as a magician, he had been neglected by his father since birth, subjected to abusive remarks by servants, beaten by his other royal brothers, imprisoned in dark cells, tossed into ponds…

In short, the original Cang Cheng had lived a miserable life and had long longed for death.

A few days ago, when Cang Cheng turned 18, he had been sent to the border planet Luo Ri by the emperor. Wasn’t this essentially a disguised exile?

Thus, the last glimmer of hope in Cang Cheng's heart was snuffed out.

He was abandoned. No one liked him, no one needed him. Thus, he no longer needed to exist.

With such negative thoughts weighing on him and under the stimulation of certain events, he fell into a fever and lost consciousness, which brought the forbidden spell mage Cang Cheng here.

Cang Cheng knew that magic had no boundaries and held infinite possibilities. Although he still had many questions at this moment, the open-minded forbidden spell mage had already come to accept the fact that he had arrived in a strange world, becoming someone unfamiliar.

Cang Cheng got up and went to the washroom to splash some water on his face, and also to see what Cang Cheng looked like now.

"Apart from being a bit paler and thinner, he looks almost exactly like me at 18."

The person in the mirror had black eyes with upturned outer corners, and a tear mole at the corner of his right eye, making his eyes incredibly captivating. Yet his eyes were so bright, like auroras cutting through the eternal night, which lessened the fragility that such beautiful eyes might otherwise convey.

His nose was tall and straight, with a delicate tip, and his thin lips were light in color. His gaunt face gave him a very weak and pale appearance.

Despite looking somewhat frail, Cang Cheng was relieved to see that his appearance hadn’t changed much.

He then returned to the bedroom and surveyed the room.

The room was clean and tidy, but quite plain.

There was only a bed, a wardrobe, a low cabinet, a pair of tables and chairs, and a grayish artificial fur rug spread on the floor. There was nothing else.

All the furniture was made of white metal, shimmering with a cold, metallic gleam. Even the floor was made of synthetic metal, also in a cold white shade.

This cold, metallic decor… gave Cang Cheng the feeling of being in a prison.

Cang Cheng touched the floor with his bare feet. Brr… so cold.

He then stepped on the rug. Ouch… it’s scratchy.

Cang Cheng began to criticize the other furniture one by one.

The bed wasn’t soft enough, the cabinet wasn’t big enough, the wardrobe wasn’t grand enough, and the table and chairs were too shabby. There weren’t even any snacks on the table.

All bad reviews.

Having grown accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle of a forbidden spell mage, Cang Cheng could not adapt to the overly austere and harsh environment of Luo Ri Star.

He sat on the edge of the bed, head hanging low, he sighed, "Ah... forget it, I’ll just make do for now."

It wasn’t as if Cang Cheng had never lived in worse conditions before. However, he felt a bit reluctant to abandon the cozy, soft, and fragrant nest he had just made.

Cang Cheng, a forbidden spell mage, once had his own territory and a grand mansion.

Unfortunately, all of that was destroyed by a bolt of lightning.

After a moment of nostalgia, Cang Cheng gathered himself again.

Thanks to the original owner's memories, Cang Cheng had gained knowledge about this world and knew how to use most of the household items, sufficient to get by.

However, this knowledge was too basic for Cang Cheng. It simply wasn’t enough for him.

Moreover, when it came to Spirit Runes, the unique combat mechanism in the Canglan Star Region that was very appealing to Cang Cheng, there was almost no relevant information in the original owner's memories.

This made Cang Cheng feel quite uneasy.

He needed someone familiar with this world to guide him.

"It seems that this world has something like a light computer that can be used to look up information, but... is it truly safe?"

Cang Cheng held a skeptical attitude toward this.

Since he was a mage, he might as well solve the current challenges using mage methods!

With that thought, Cang Cheng bit his finger and tried to draw a summoning magic array on the smooth metal floor with his blood.

As a forbidden spell mage, an existence that had transcended boundaries and opened the 'Gate of Truth,' he was endowed with power that surpassed that of ordinary humans.

His blood could connect to the 'Gate of Truth' and receive the gifts of truth.

As the magic array was completed, Cang Cheng could feel the boundary forming.

It had actually worked!

It seemed that magical runes could mostly be used in this world, and the gift Cang Cheng had received from the Gate of Truth had not been revoked.

This was a piece of good news for Cang Cheng.

Cang Cheng gathered magic at his fingertips and channeled it into the magic array.

The main materials and energy for this magic array were Cang Cheng's blood, with magic serving only as a guide. This was why, even with his limited magic, Cang Cheng was able to activate the array.

"Omniscient and omnipotent God of Truth, your wisest disciple has encountered some difficulties. I implore you to send a wise scholar familiar with this world, a strong guardian, and a friend of the human race to relieve your disciple of his worries."

As soon as he finished speaking, the red array glowed with a dark red light.

Cang Cheng fixed his gaze on the brilliant light, not once looking away.

Moments later, the light dispersed, and a figure materialized before him.

The figure was a head and a half taller than Cang Cheng, with broad shoulders and a wide back, dressed in a sharp military uniform.

His long black hair cascaded down to his waist, its ends slightly swaying.

He had sharp facial features, with deep-set eyes and a high, straight nose—an imposing presence.

And his eyes glowed with an inhuman red-gold hue, with cross-shaped pupils. He had a pair of black horns, each about 20 cm long, covered with black scales that glistened with iridescent hues in the light.

Behind him trailed a long, fluffy black tail, measuring about 1.5 meters in length.

Cang Cheng was astonished, his black pupils widening slightly, and in the next moment, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

He had summoned an exotic being.

Look at those beautiful horns, that fluffy tail, those sharp claws.

He was truly beautiful.

In the world of Siyashi, there were many exotic beings, and Cang Cheng had a high regard for them.

Even beings that others might find too burly, like giants, or those that didn't fit human aesthetics, like liches, or even the bone-only necromancer race, Cang Cheng found them distinctive and greatly admired them.

Truth be told, Cang Cheng favored these exotic beings over humans.

With a curious look, Cang Cheng approached the figure and, in a friendly tone, asked, "May I touch your horns?"

The figure frowned in silence.

Seeing that the other party seemed unwilling, Cang Cheng spoke again in a softer voice, "If not the horns… then how about the tail?"