Chapter 2

"Anyway, since we are here, we might as well make the best of it. Living is better than dying. Wang Yue, you are me, and I am you. From now on, we are one person." Wang Yue looked at the sword in his hand, his eyes somewhat unfocused as he spoke softly.

In fact, he now possessed all the memories and emotions of this body. It was more accurate to say that he had actively integrated with this Wang Yue rather than fundamentally replacing his existence. To some extent, his part of the spirit, in terms of both emotions and memories, was exactly the same as this body before it "died."

The only difference was who was in control, who had the authority to make decisions.

The rain outside gradually stopped, and the floor inside the room was still a mess. Wang Yue stood there in a daze for a while, sighed, and the sword in his hand transformed back into a flowing green light, retracting into his body. He then took off his soaked clothes, stuffed them into the washing machine in the bathroom, turned on the shower, and took a hot bath, washing himself thoroughly. After that, he put on clean clothes, tidied up the balcony, and opened the door to go out.

After a night of wind and rain, the morning air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees. Birds, still wet from the rain, chirped happily as they flew from nearby trees.

The lawn after the rain was especially green, dotted with flowers, and the chirping of birds made the scene even more vibrant and full of life.

Standing at the door, Wang Yue took a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill his lungs, and his mood instantly improved. Such a scene, full of greenery and vitality, was something he could only see in historical pictures from his time.

The development of technology inevitably came at a great cost. When humans finally left Earth, the entire home had already become a forest of steel and concrete. Tall residential complexes rose to the sky, and many people were destined to live in these buildings from birth. Outside were dust covers, and inside were controlled zones. The sky they saw was always shrouded in thick layers of dust, and even sunlight seemed like a luxury...

Not far from his residence, about two to three hundred meters down the street was a park. The park was quite large and bordered a river. Due to the dense trees, even on a sunny day, the forest inside was somewhat dark and damp. Because of its remote location, few people were willing to stay there for long.

However, beyond this forest was a bustling commercial street. Taking this small path to school saved at least half the time compared to the main road. Therefore, Wang Yue used to pass through here every day on his way to and from school, and he was so familiar with it that he instinctively walked this way as soon as he left his house.

The sun had not yet risen, and the park was very quiet. There were almost no people on the way, only a few birds flitting about in the trees, jumping from branch to branch. When they saw a stranger, they were startled and flew away with a flutter of wings. To Wang Yue, this scene was full of vitality and energy.

However, as Wang Yue walked through the forest, a figure suddenly caught his eye on a small clearing not far away.

"Someone is already out here for morning exercise?"

Wang Yue was slightly taken aback, paused, and squinted to look into the forest.

It turned out that the person exercising in the forest was an old man in black casual clothes, with gray hair and a somewhat thin build. He was practicing with a sword, moving slowly, almost like doing calisthenics. His movements were not only slow but also lacked strength, sometimes even wobbly, with no beauty or rhythm.

This was very different from the cold weapon combat techniques popular in the federal army in Wang Yue's memory or the fencing sport still practiced in this world. It seemed that the old man was just exercising in the morning, casually moving the sword, without any discernible method.

Where there are people, there are disputes and wars. This is a truth that holds true in any world. This world also has a history of thousands of years, with numerous countries, complex interests, religions, conflicts, darkness, and light. Of course, there are also various martial arts and combat techniques passed down.

The first instinct of human survival is the desire for safety, and strong personal martial skills are clearly the most direct means to achieve this goal. This is not much different from the historical development on Earth.

In the country where Wang Yue now found himself, which should be considered the Western part of the world, roughly equivalent to Europe on Earth, it had also gone through stages of primitive tribes, slave society, feudal society, and capitalism. However, the memories of his family and the evolution of modern history confirmed for him that this was definitely not any period in Earth's history.

Because he had crossed space, not just time. There was no concept of time in a black hole. Although it felt like several hundred years had passed in his consciousness, it might have been just a pause, like a video that had been paused, with time completely stopped. Moreover, the memories left in this body mentioned a world that, while not fundamentally different in common knowledge, had different countries.

For example, the country corresponding to "China" on Earth, although located in the East and powerful, could you imagine that it still maintained an imperial system?

The Asian-Tang Empire! A great nation that dominated the Eastern world!

That was also the homeland of Wang Yue's father, Wang Chaozong.

Apart from historical factors, other aspects were similar to Earth. After two industrial revolutions, modern industry developed rapidly in the Western world. People generally received compulsory education from the state, and everyone, starting at the age of five, went through twelve years of basic education and then chose different specialized subjects for further study based on personal interests and family realities. The subjects were divided very finely.

Wang Yue, at seventeen, was already a first-year student at the National Medical University of York in this world. Because his body was naturally weak, he joined the school's "Combat Studies Club" in addition to his studies, which gave him a basic understanding of the swordsmanship and combat techniques in this world. This also sparked his interest in the old man practicing with a sword, leading him to make some comments.

However, after watching for a while, Wang Yue began to doubt his initial thoughts.

Wang Yue noticed that the old man had a significant characteristic in his sword practice: no matter how slow his movements were, his eyes always focused on the tip of the sword in his hand.

His gaze was concentrated, and he was fully focused.

Moreover, he always kept his left hand hidden under his ribs. As the sword moved, his fingers also moved, with his index and middle fingers trembling slightly, as if holding another sword. His hands interacted, complementing each other.

His two hands, one up and one down, one long and one short, seemed awkward at first glance, but if you could see the underlying principles, you would notice that the old man was always drawing circles with his hands, large and small, straight and slanted, far and near, interlocking and continuous.

Additionally, Wang Yue observed that the old man not only drew circles with his hands but also with his feet, each step following a curve. The sword moved, the hands moved, and the feet moved, giving the impression of a puppet being manipulated by an invisible thread, with every movement affecting the whole body.

Although his movements did not seem smooth or rhythmic, when he moved, his entire body moved, the sword, hands, and feet all in motion. Every part of his body seemed to be in motion, especially his spine, which seemed to have something moving continuously inside, giving Wang Yue a feeling of boiling.

Wang Yue was increasingly amazed. After an unknown amount of time, the old man, who had been facing away from him, suddenly stopped, placed his hands together, and slowly pressed them down from his forehead along the center of his chest and abdomen. At the same time, he lifted his right foot and slowly brought it back, lightly placing it on the ground, and exhaled deeply.

Wang Yue clearly felt that this simple action of lifting and placing his foot made his entire body tremble. In his mental perception, it seemed as if the ground itself had collapsed and surged, making everything before his eyes seem unreal.

"How could this happen?"

Wang Yue was stunned. He was standing at least several dozen meters away from where the old man was practicing. A simple foot placement could not possibly cause the ground to shake, creating an earthquake-like effect. In fact, what Wang Yue had felt was a mental phenomenon.

Although everything had been shattered during his passage through the black hole, even his mental core had undergone a mutation due to the sword in his body, making it uncontrollable. The mental power he had cultivated for decades was now completely gone. However, as a mental entity, his basic foundation remained, and by integrating with the spirit and consciousness of this body, his mental strength far exceeded that of an average human.

"The ability to influence a person's spirit with a single movement—this set of movements is indeed not simple!" Wang Yue pondered, then tried to mimic the old man's movements, attempting them twice.

Unfortunately, what seemed like simple movements felt extremely awkward when he tried them. His body, hands, and feet felt as if they were rusted, making it difficult to achieve the same coordination as the old man.

Wang Yue did not believe it, stood there for a while, and tried again, but he still felt something was off. Even after adjusting his movements to be more precise, he could not recapture the initial feeling.