NOVPUBHe Xing, already on the plane, had no idea how many messages Yan had sent her.
Leaving a gift for her junior before running off was something she had planned long ago.
Translating the cultivation manual from another world into a document suitable for this one had taken considerable effort.
The manual she brought back was actually etched in her mind, and the modern world lacked materials capable of bearing its contents.
He Xing had initially considered handwriting it but soon realized it would be a monumental task—creating a digital version was far more practical.
The manual, known as The Stellar Arcana in the other world, was renamed by He Xing after some deliberation. She even added a few modern adaptations as safeguards, treating them as hidden enhancements.
After all, she had once seen Yan in possession of a Skyfire Crystal. Though He Xing detected no traces of cultivation in her, a Fateweaver was never so easily deciphered.
This manual was both precious and not precious to He Xing, yet it was undoubtedly the most valuable thing she could offer.
A gift given sincerely, from the heart.
...
Inside Room 320,
Yan repeatedly opened and closed the "document" stored in the USB drive left behind by He Xing, which bore an unmistakable xianxia-novel aesthetic.
He Xing wasn’t the type to joke around.
In their WeChat conversation, the senior had been deliberately vague, likely due to the document’s peculiar nature.
Much like how Ding Ling would use coded language in messages to avoid data surveillance, He Xing had done the same.
Yan moved her laptop to her bed, mainly to avoid the awkwardness of her roommates catching her staring blankly at the screen.
Right now, she leaned against the bed frame, lost in thought.
The North Star Attunement Method
Every individual character made sense, but strung together, they might as well have been gibberish.
Phrases like "drawing starlight into the body" and "opening stellar meridians" left her baffled. The supplementary materials were even more bewildering—she skimmed two pages before giving up.
This thing clearly didn’t belong in a modern, technologically advanced society.
Considering He Xing’s "Retired Quick-Transmigration Tragic Romance Protagonist" aura, coupled with her hints, Yan had a rough guess: this was probably something the senior brought back from one of her transmigration worlds after retirement.
And if this was the only thing He Xing could offer, its value had to be immense.
Still, Yan’s mind wandered. The fact that He Xing had converted the method into a digital document suggested she had studied it herself.
Maybe her physical recovery was related to this.
Alternatively, perhaps He Xing had brought it back unchanged from a modern cultivation world.
This single USB drive sent Yan’s thoughts spiraling. She had no intention of practicing it—despite being surrounded by people with extraordinary auras, recklessly dabbling in something so out-of-place could have unpredictable consequences.
For one thing, "drawing starlight into the body" sounded like a midnight rooftop activity. She’d rather sleep.
Besides, most wuxia novels emphasized that the best time to start cultivation was childhood. While she didn’t know if she had any talent, Yan wasn’t about to upend her life plans over an unexpected gift.
She closed the document, ejected the USB, and sighed. Knowing the stubbornness of people like Ding Ling and He Xing, refusing this gift probably wasn’t an option.
With He Xing away for now, the drive would have to stay with her.
June 19th.
The College of Liberal Arts and the School of Medicine had wrapped up their exams, and Yan and Jue Jue could finally breathe.
Between finals and the start of the summer semester, they had a blissful two-week break—completely class-free.
"Finally done."
"Still, we owe Boss Lu for this."
Stretching as she walked across campus, Yan reflected on how they’d borrowed Lu Chen’s Dimensional Convenience Store twice for cram sessions. After whatever calamity had befallen him months ago, the store had barely operated, which ironically gave Yan and Jue Jue undisturbed study time—even managing a secret meetup with Xu Jiaojiao overseas.
During those visits, Lu Chen had ushered them into a VIP room, but Yan sensed he had something left unsaid.
To thank him, Yan had snagged a box of premium fruits from Yi Zhi’s farm.
Ordinary snacks wouldn’t cut it for a proprietor of interdimensional goods.
Now that they had Lu Chen’s contact, summoning the store’s door was much easier.
The two made their way to a secluded, camera-free grove on campus—their usual spot.
According to Lu Chen, most people couldn’t even see the store’s wooden door.
Yan and Zhu Jue stepped inside with practiced ease.
"More studying?" Lu Chen’s voice greeted them the moment they entered.
Months after his ordeal, his hair had barely grown back, leaving him with a conspicuous wig.
"Not today. We’re done with exams. This is for you—thanks for the VIP treatment." Yan gestured as Zhu Jue set the fruit box on the counter.
"Wow, freedom at last. Need me to open the door for summer break?" Lu Chen asked.
His expression faltered slightly. The phrasing sounded ominously final—like they were settling debts before leaving for good.
"You’re not… going far, are you?" he ventured carefully.
His "far" implied leaving this dimension entirely.
"Huh? How’d you know?" Yan blinked.
With finals over and summer semester yet to begin, she and Zhu Jue were planning a trip to visit friends.
Lu Chen’s face fell. "Just a guess."
Of course. Two dimension-hoppers wouldn’t stay in one place forever. That they’d lingered this long was already surprising.
"We’re just traveling. We’ll be back soon," Zhu Jue reassured, mistaking Lu Chen’s gloom for loneliness.
But if the store’s door could open anywhere, why did Lu Chen seem so resigned? Was he leaving too?
"Are you restocking soon?" Zhu Jue asked.
"Have to. Same old suppliers," Lu Chen replied.
Three months of sporadic operation had left his shelves nearly empty—except for the items nobody wanted.
Lu Chen had visited the interstellar and post-apocalyptic dimensions multiple times. He feared that if he grew too comfortable, he might lose his drive to improve, so he decided to return to the familiar dimensions to continue his explorations.
However, his lack of combat prowess had always been a source of frustration for him.
Ever since he began speculating about the true identities of the young couple, Lu Chen had done everything in his power to provide them with conveniences—opening doors for them at any time, relocating guests—none of which fell under the usual operations of his small shop.
"That…" Lu Chen gritted his teeth before speaking.
"I know you both have your own matters to attend to, but there’s something…"
"I knew you had something to say! You’ve been holding back this whole time," Yan remarked, exchanging a glance with Jue Jue.
"Is there anything we can help you with?" Yan asked curiously.
"I know this request is rather presumptuous, but I can’t think of anyone else to turn to," Lu Chen continued.
"I want to improve my ability to defend myself against external threats—to enhance my combat skills. Do you two happen to have any cultivation manuals or secret techniques you’d be willing to trade with me?"
The request left both Yan and Jue Jue stunned.
Huh? What? Boss Lu, why on earth would you think we have something like that? What gave you that impression?!
"I—I know this sounds sudden and strange. But you both know about my last dimensional trip three months ago… I almost didn’t make it back," Lu Chen said, now feeling like he had nothing left to lose.
"Honestly, I wanted to ask you both to take me as your disciple, but I know that’s difficult. So, if I could just trade for something suitable, that would be more than enough."
This string of words left Yan momentarily speechless.
What? Boss Lu, why do you suddenly sound so reverent?! And what’s this about becoming your disciple?!
"I think there might be some misunderstanding here," Yan said carefully, while Jue Jue facepalmed.
This wasn’t the first time someone had suddenly started talking to them as if they were something they weren’t.
"That red gemstone you gave me before… was that supposed to be a disciple gift?" Yan suddenly realized.
"No, no, not at all," Lu Chen shook his head.
He wanted to smack himself. The couple clearly didn’t want to reveal their identities, and now, with his slip-up, they were still trying to play dumb.
He had no idea how to salvage the situation—he’d completely messed things up.
Yan and Jue Jue exchanged glances, silently communicating.
After a brief moment, Lu Chen saw Yan rummaging through her backpack.
"This thing inside… a friend gave it to us. It might be useful to you, or it might not," Yan said thoughtfully, extending her hand to reveal a silver USB drive.
"Anyway, we don’t know much about it. We have things to do, so we’ll be going now."
With that, Yan shot Jue Jue a look, and the two of them bolted for the wooden door, fleeing before any further misunderstandings could arise.
"Hey—" Lu Chen stared blankly at the USB drive in his hand.
He hadn’t even opened the box of fruits the couple had brought, and they’d left in such a hurry. Were they in a rush for something important? He couldn’t very well stop them.
Lu Chen plugged the USB drive into his computer and opened the document inside, nearly falling off his chair in shock.
"Heavens…" he murmured under his breath.
The "North Star Guiding Method" was, by sheer coincidence, a cultivation technique for harnessing stellar energy—exactly what he had needed in the dimension where he’d nearly met his demise!
Not only that, but the document also contained meticulously detailed explanations of key breakthroughs and common pitfalls, as if a master had highlighted every crucial point for him.
Lu Chen devoured the contents of the "material" voraciously.
The more he read, the more he realized the immense value of what was stored on that tiny USB drive.
In that stellar world, the constellations were different from those in the modern era. Many cultivation techniques required aligning with specific fate-bound stars, but this "North Star Guiding Method" had clearly been adapted for "modernization"!
Using the Big Dipper as an anchor, it allowed the practitioner to draw in the power of countless stars—something that could be cultivated even in today’s society!
As he scrolled further, Lu Chen’s breathing grew more erratic. His eyes were glued to the diagrams in the document, unable to look away.
The text also listed supplementary materials that could enhance cultivation efficiency.
One of them, a cluster of "alien flame ore," was identical to what he had stored in his spatial storage!
"So this is called 'Celestial Flame Ore,'" Lu Chen murmured. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
He had hoarded a large amount of it in his storage, never realizing it could be used as a direct energy source for cultivation.
Then it hit him—the exceptionally rare "red gemstone" he’d gifted before was actually "Celestial Flame Crystal." A flash of understanding crossed his eyes.
"So that’s how it is."
Clearly, three months ago, when he’d given them that gift, the well-traveled couple had immediately recognized which dimension he’d visited and identified the resources he possessed.
Yet they hadn’t said a word—instead, they’d prepared a cultivation method perfectly suited to him, painstakingly detailed and stored on this USB drive!
Only now, as they were wrapping up this chapter of their lives and preparing for a long journey, had they handed it to him.
He just happened to have Celestial Flame Ore, and the couple had just happened to provide him with a stellar cultivation method—one that had been modified to work with Celestial Flame Ore.
No doubt, obtaining something so perfectly tailored to his current situation couldn’t have been easy for them.
They’d delivered it and left in a hurry, casually brushing it off as something a friend had given them, claiming they didn’t understand it themselves.
Lu Chen sniffled. How could he ever repay them?!
How incredibly fortunate he was to have met two such selfless veteran dimension travelers, willing to help a newcomer like him!
They’d saved his life once, and now they’d given him the means to grow stronger.
The saying goes, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." But they had done both—given him the fish and the fishing rod!
Especially this cultivation method. Based on Lu Chen’s brief experience in that world, obtaining something like this in the mortal realm would have been nearly impossible. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what price the couple had paid to acquire this USB drive, only to hand it over to him without hesitation.
Lu Chen took a deep breath. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he owed them.
High-level dimension travelers had seen it all—they probably didn’t lack for gifts.
All he could hope was that his next dimensional journey would yield something interesting, something that might bring a smile to their faces.
As for becoming their disciple… Lu Chen quietly reflected that in his current weak state, having only experienced a few dimensions, he wasn’t worthy yet.
But in his heart, the couple had already become his mentors—his guiding lights!
He aspired to become a dimension traveler like them—one who could casually traverse worlds as if on a leisurely journey, extending such generosity and care to newcomers.
They were his role models, his beacon of inspiration!
