[Xuan’s POV]

"A mirror..." Xuan mumbled, staring at the bald head of a bulky monk in front of him.

Hearing Xuan speak, the monk immediately put aside everything that he was doing and ran up to him.

He extended his hand, and for a single moment, Xuan thought the monk was about to attack him, so he proceeded to Void Step behind the monk and throw a punch.

Or that was the plan, but instead, Xuan teleported, lost his footing, and crashed into the desk where the monk had sat a moment ago.

"You seem a little spooked. Calm down," the monk said with a sigh. "My name is Huizhen. I don’t mean you any harm. I was just trying to calm you down before you did... that."

Xuan grumbled and pushed the table aside, breaking it further and ruining all the documents that Huizhen had been filling out.

He adjusted his posture and calmed down.

"How long was I out for?" Xuan asked plainly.

Huizhen tilted his head. "Only a week. You weren’t very injured, but your Dantian was in a strange state. It was almost like you were suffering from Qi deviation."

Noticing the puzzled look on Xuan’s face, Huizhen continued.

"Typically, if a cultivator loses hold of himself, he enters Qi deviation. The most common side effects are heavy internal injuries and meridian damage. And if your meridians are damaged, you turn into a cripple."

"Oh... Yeah, that doesn’t sound that great," Xuan replied with a sigh and decided to see reason. "So I’m in your temple. Did you guys come here after the world ascension?"

Huizhen nodded calmly. "We descended from the lower heavens, and we will remain here until our recruits are disciplined."

Lower heavens... the Three Evil Kings of the Nether Sea mentioned a Spirit Lord descending from there and sealing them away, Xuan pondered. "Say, what are the lower heavens? Are they like extremely big worlds?"

Hearing that, Huizhen let out a hearty chuckle and walked up to Xuan, stopping before him. "Your world is considered a small world, also known as a Tier 1 world."

He cleared his throat and continued. "Worlds from Tier 1 to 3 are considered Mortal Worlds. From Tier 4 to 6, they are considered the Lower Heavens, because those worlds have the highest number of Spirit Lords or higher."

That’s pretty simple, Xuan thought with a nod and continued listening.

"Now Tier 7 to 9 worlds are considered Upper Heavens, and they have the largest reserve of Spirit Sovereigns, and even those at the Spirit Enlightenment realm. They are the peak of this small universe, and... I’d tell you more, but I don’t know much myself."

With that, Huizhen seemed to be finished. However, Xuan did have one more question he wanted to ask.

"So what about Tier 10 worlds?"

Huizhen’s brows twitched. "Tier 10 worlds and above are referred to as the Supreme Heavens. No one knows what happens there... we only know the name of the realm where those godly cultivators are staying, that’s all."

"I see... Well, it was a nice chat, but I should probably get going now," Xuan got straight to the point. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Yet Huizhen merely let out a chuckle. "I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. You’ve broken into the Grand Jade Temple, and for that, you must pay the price."

Xuan raised a brow. "And what’s the price? Do you want me to fight one of you or something?"

"Oh? That’s a wonderful idea," Huizhen replied with a smile. "You will fight one of the Core Disciples, and if you beat them, I will allow you to walk out of here alive."

Right... Xuan rolled his eyes, not believing the monk for a second.

And a moment later, his suspicions were confirmed.

"I’m just kidding. You may leave whenever you please," Huizhen said, narrowing his eyes. "But only after you tell me how you’ve managed to get past our detection arrays. How did you arrive from the sky? Did you fly on a sword? No... You’re only a Spirit Warrior, you can’t control your Spiritual Qi like that..."

So he wants me to tell him that I teleported here from across the country? Sure, why not, Xuan thought with a chuckle.

Given the new world, it didn’t sound that unbelievable after all.

"You see, I entered a Dimensional Gate, and after getting caught in a spatial disruption, I was sent here. That’s it."

"Hmm? One of those gates sent you here?" Huizhen repeated skeptically. "I’m afraid that’s not possible, but—"

"Alright, let’s spar," Xuan cut him off with a frustrated look. "It seems like you’re going to keep prying for answers like some sort of annoying cockroach, so let’s just get it over and done with."

With that, Xuan entered a fighting stance, ready to battle.

However, he was aware that the moment the fight started, he would get beaten to a pulp, but monks weren’t bloodthirsty, and this one in particular wanted answers.

So with that in mind, Xuan was going to use this as a learning opportunity while also tempering his body.

Huizhen let out a sigh and scratched his bald head. "If that’s the path you wish to go down, I believe we’ll be very good friends."

The moment Huizhen uttered those words, he vanished from sight.

Xuan tried to react by teleporting out of the building, but before he could do so, he felt someone grab his neck.

He infused Elemental Qi into his body in an attempt to ward off Huizhen’s grip, but it was to no avail as Huizhen suddenly struck his lower back, causing all the Qi that Xuan had been gathering to disperse.

And before he could even react, Huizhen pushed Xuan forward, then extended his fist and hit Xuan straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

His vision blurred, and when it momentarily came back, Xuan teleported to the very corner of the room, and coincidentally, he appeared right in front of Huizhen’s fist, and he was immediately knocked out.