Evan Yang took a deep breath. He was about to enter the Otherworld—a place completely cut off from the Immortal Realm and all other realms. But what kind of place was the Otherworld, really? No one had ever been there, and even those Gods who had gone never returned.
A place even Gods couldn't return from—Evan naturally felt a bit of dread, but also a sense of longing. Only in danger can you find opportunity; that's always been Evan's guiding principle.
"Are you ready?" Elder Woodspirit asked again, seeing Evan staring off into space.
Evan snapped back and smiled. "Yeah, I'm ready. What do I need to do?"
"In a moment, these stones will start moving. Then a huge boulder will appear. You need to channel any three of your attributes onto yourself at the same time, and then you can walk through the boulder. Once you pass through, you'll be in the Otherworld," Elder Woodspirit explained.
Just as Evan was about to follow Elder Woodspirit's instructions, Elder Woodspirit added, "I know you have a lot of spatial treasures, and quite a few friends inside them. When you get to the Otherworld, absolutely do not let them out. I don't know the exact reason, but I suspect that anyone who isn't a Three-Attribute Heaven cultivator or whose strength isn't high enough will rapidly age and die as soon as they come out."
Evan was shocked by Elder Woodspirit's warning. Could it really be that dangerous?
"So you must be careful. No matter what happens, you'll have to handle everything yourself and face every problem on your own," Elder Woodspirit said.
Evan nodded. "Understood."
"Then you can start now," Elder Woodspirit said. The pile of stones in front of them quickly began to move, and finally a massive boulder appeared. Following Elder Woodspirit's instructions, Evan channeled three attributes onto himself. The three attributes quickly wrapped him up, and when he tested it with his hand, he found he could pass through the stone just as expected.
After confirming he could pass through, Evan Yang took a deep breath and stepped inside. His vision flickered from darkness to light, and when he reappeared, he found himself standing atop a giant stone in the middle of a pool, surrounded by water.
He’d expected the Otherworld to be a dark place crawling with bugs and strange creatures, but when he looked around, it was barely any different from the Immortal Realm. If there was a difference, it was the aura—something about the atmosphere here felt off.
The air was thick with the presence of countless creatures—it felt almost like an animal world.
Just as Evan was about to explore and figure out what kind of place this was, he heard a chorus of cries up ahead—animal sounds, maybe. Curious, he hopped to the shore and followed the noise, soon entering a forest. Inside, he quickly spotted a flock of sheep-like creatures making noise, and behind them was a shepherd wielding a whip, driving them along.
The shepherd looked just like someone from the Immortal Realm, and the sheep seemed no different from ordinary sheep. Evan started to wonder, "Did I come to the wrong place?"
Just then, the shepherd noticed Evan and asked suspiciously, "Who are you?" The sheep all turned to stare at Evan too, their gazes oddly humanlike—making him realize these sheep definitely weren’t normal.
"Are you human?" Evan asked, suddenly curious.
"Of course I am. If I weren’t human, what would I be? Did you think I was some kind of strange creature?" the shepherd replied.
"So you know about strange creatures? Is this the world of strange creatures?" Evan asked, curiosity piqued.
"Who exactly are you? Don’t you even know where you are?" The shepherd eyed Evan suspiciously.