Before attempting to enter other universes, Su Cheng first learned how to set an anchor point in this world—this was rather like the most advanced application of spatial magic.
She also treated this as a research project, receiving both complaints and praise for her investigative spirit.
Ian stood in the messy hall, looking at the calculation blueprints and magic arrays scattered across the floor. "If you had truly been born five thousand years ago, you probably would have become a Blessed of Logos."
Su Cheng looked up from a pile of scrolls. "I believe it. I don't think He has changed much from before, and He likes me a lot right now."
His Holiness the God of Light swept his gaze over the drooping curtains ahead, as well as the shadowy figure flickering within.
A continuous, soft rubbing sound echoed, like silk brushing over gravel, or tiny gemstones sliding across the floor—
A tail tip, as pure white as the first snow, poked out from behind the heavy curtains.
It didn't look like flesh and blood, but rather as if it were meticulously carved from mutton-fat jade. Every scale was round and fine, its edges shimmering with a soft, pearl-like glow.
As the tail swayed, the flowing pearlescence seemed to come to life, casting rippling, fragmented shadows on the obsidian floor.
Soon, a massive body slowly glided out into the hall. The giant snake tail was like a thick tree trunk, every muscle brimming with elegant and restrained power.
The creature slithered forward on the ground. At the waist, the torso split into two human-like bodies.
Like twin flowers blooming on a single stalk, the two slender and exquisite male bodies appeared perfectly symmetrical. Their skin was snow-white and well-defined, as if carved from freezing frost and pure moonlight.
Waterfall-like snow-white curly hair, resembling a flowing galaxy, draped casually around their waists, swaying in the air to form holy arcs of light.
The man on the left tilted his head slightly, a single eye in the center of his forehead flashing with a breathtaking, eerie blue light.
The man on the right also turned his head, his eyes as azure as the clear sky looking straight at him. "Long time no see."
Ian met those three eyes.
The two beautiful human bodies stood tall and straight, calmly meeting his gaze. The giant white snake tail lazily coiled into a ring, the tip tapping the ground rhythmically.
Ian: "...Logos."
His trailing voice was still echoing in the hall when another person walked out from the depths of the bedchamber, a hair tie in his mouth as he tied his dark golden curls into a high ponytail.
"You miscalculated again!"
The blonde, blue-eyed man said grumpily, his lean and strong chest heaving beneath his open robe. "Su Cheng—"
"Goodness," Su Cheng stood up. "Your Holiness, could you please advise your beloved student not to act so impatiently in front of the leader of the second-generation gods? Look at His Holiness the God of Light; even when facing someone he dislikes, he remains so composed."
Ian raised an eyebrow slightly. "I think many of your friends would disagree with you giving me that title. Besides, I thought you knew that He also taught me many things—"
He casually picked up a piece of scratch paper covered in various runes, took one look at it, and froze.
It was only hours later that he finally pulled himself away from the sea of scrolls.
Looking up, he saw Su Cheng sitting affectionately side-by-side with a silver-haired, red-eyed vampire on the sofa chair ahead, even taking a sip from his cup.
"...Strange," she evaluated. "Tastes a bit better than the last one?"
"Seems you still have a dragon's palate," Sasha shrugged. "Exactly the same as the Commander."
Su Cheng jumped up. "Alright, then I'm going to continue!"
"What's the rush?" Sasha looked around the hall where papers were flying everywhere. "I thought you carved out this space in the Divine Realm to have better fun—though you certainly have been playing, are you in a hurry to leave this world?"
He turned his head and saw a certain ancient god, immediately showing a look of disgust and pretending the other party didn't exist.
Su Cheng: "Aren't many of you able to slip away at any time now? I can almost feel the planar seams and passages now, but this return positioning is rather troublesome."
She didn't mind coming back regularly to deal with the aether, not to mention there were still many interesting things here.
Su Cheng was examining the prototype of the composite magic array she had made. "I just really want to show you guys my world. There are lots of fun things over there too. But speaking of which, when I was recently looking for other universes with similar material structures, I also found some that are quite close to where I used to live. Some have even developed into the interstellar era, with even more fun races and an even higher level of technology. Even in my world, we didn't have such fun holographic games..."
"...If you're only doing it for that," Camus frowned, "you could also use reverse summoning."
Su Cheng immediately understood his meaning. "Then we'd have to research energy conversion, otherwise even if the things come over, we wouldn't be able to use them."
"From your description," he thought for a moment, "it should be simpler than what we're doing now."
Su Cheng fell silent for a few seconds, deciding to just do it.
"But Teacher and I still need to continue solving this," Camus said calmly. "You guys can go ahead and try other things first."
Su Cheng grabbed Sasha and pulled him up. "Come on!"
The Vampire Progenitor let out a melodramatic wail. "Do you know how many years it's been since I messed with this stuff—"
Despite his words, perhaps because of his long experience being taught by gods during his years as an elf, he picked it up very quickly.
"Why don't you let the Commander suffer through this," he still complained resentfully. "This would definitely make his head explode."
"...Because I don't want his head to explode."
Su Cheng said in annoyance.
She looked around the hall at the group of deities, some writing furiously and others adjusting their magic, and suddenly realized that everyone seemed to be a student of a certain two-headed snake.
No wonder the atmosphere was so harmonious.
So she also happily buried her head in her work and continued.
This time the progress was indeed very rapid, although there was a slight accident during the first experiment.
"...Given the current situation, it's possible that living creatures will be the first to respond to the summon."
Su Cheng said uncertainly.
When the magic array erupted with a pillar of white light, everyone present felt a very unfamiliar aura—an existence with a structure completely different from the living beings of this world.
Logos watched the vaguely flickering figures inside with great interest.
Loki praised, "What fascinating creatures."
Su Cheng saw thousands of magnificent, smoke-like streams of light, resembling countless translucent crystal threads, carrying a kind of extreme cold from the deep cosmos.
She reached out to catch a sparkling ice crystal condensing in the air.
At that moment, she saw ripples form in the sea of light. Amidst clouds made of hydrogen and helium, it was as if an invisible tide of life was surging.
—Until two human figures appeared within.
"...What's going on?"
A woman stood up, rubbing her eyes. "I thought those damn Zerg were attacking again. I was just thinking that this time I must..."
She froze mid-sentence. "Holy shit, is this some Western fantasy world? It doesn't look staged."
"Because it's not an act," Su Cheng said, feeling completely speechless. "I'm more curious about why your mother tongue is the same as mine."
"This is the language I used in my first world," the woman looked at her and said naturally. "It seems our hometowns are quite similar?"
Su Cheng's eyes lit up. "Can you locate it and go back now?"
"We are more, ahem, drifting with the tide," the person said, a bit embarrassed. "But if you want to find a high-tech world, how about I cut a piece of myself and leave it here? Oh, it's no different from plucking a hair. You can use it as bait, and the next ones to come will most likely be the Zerg. Although I'm not sure which clan it will be, whichever it is, they occupy spots in various universes. Basically, the civilizations in those places have all developed to the interstellar age..."
In exchange, the other party expressed great curiosity about the magic of this world.
Su Cheng raised her hand and gestured. "Everyone in front of you is a master of magic."
The person fell silent for a second. "I'm just saying, among these creatures I see, are any of them human? After all, judging from their vital signs, they don't seem to have much to do with the word 'human'. Or do you have a different definition here?"
Su Cheng: "..."
Well, she wasn't wrong.
Su Cheng: "I do have genuine human friends, I can call one over for you if you want."
Ian glanced at her. "You'd better hurry. In a little while, Zane will be ascending to godhood too."
There were actually two unfamiliar visitors from another world. The man hadn't spoken at all, seeming rather uninterested in all this, while the woman was very eager to study magic.
"I like you," she said to Su Cheng. "Wow, the one who just came in is really nice. Is that the main husband?"
"..."
"Sorry, was I not supposed to mention that word in front of so many people?"
"It doesn't matter, your partner is handsome too," Su Cheng said speechlessly. "Could you guys clear some space?"
According to the description of the lady who previously claimed her race was Zailan, the Zerg were an absolutely terrible group of creatures.
They built nests and transported resources across universes, burning, killing, and looting everywhere. Moreover, whenever they saw a Zailan, they would drool, go crazy, and charge up to fight.
—Anyway, that was the general gist of it.
Unexpectedly, however, the next two guests to arrive were nothing short of polite; both of them had great demeanor, elegant and gentle.
They even had an artist's temperament.
Although it was a bit strange that, theoretically they were a couple, they looked very much alike.
There was a similarity from the inside out.
"...I would be happy to help," the man immediately stated after hearing the situation. "Please give me a few minutes to familiarize myself with the language of your world."
The woman looked at the painted murals on the temple dome. "I want to see the ancient gods of your world—"
Su Cheng said there was no problem. "Most of them haven't left yet."
The two women quickly became acquainted.
And interestingly enough, the situation described by Miss Zailan earlier was, from a certain perspective, also reality.
"It's complicated," the other party said. "You can understand it as them both thinking the other is very delicious. In fact, that is indeed the case. Besides, I can list some worlds suitable for tourism for you."
They huddled together and exchanged a lot of information.
"Your partners get along quite well," the Zerg God said. "Last time I met someone, she also brought her boyfriends, and when those people gathered together, it felt like the entire plane was going to explode."
Su Cheng: "..."
"By the way, let me ask you a question," the Zerg God said curiously. "If Mr. Kai is the first—"
Su Cheng: "?"
"Then who should be the second?"
Su Cheng: "..."
Everyone in the entire hall looked at her.
