16 A Chance to Cultivate!

Just as he had mostly recovered from his physical injuries, he was assaulted by horrible pain from his dantian, putting his exhausted mind under pressure once more. Gritting his teeth, he held his lower stomach while barely suppressing his voice. The feeling was like an expanding balloon on the verge of tearing.

His console was blaring once again.

[Warning! Unknown pressure on owner's dantian! Owner's dantian is at risk of damage! Do you wish for emergency treatment? Yes/no]

"Yes goddammit!" He roared as his thoughts were sent into disorder.

Nanobots were released back into his body that traversed his blood before arriving at his dantian. They grouped and surrounded the dantian before releasing various medications. Then they moved into a spherical formation and released a spherical energy shield around the dantian that tightly hugged it, reducing the pressure.

[Owner's dantian is within acceptable levels! Do you want to be hospitalized for treatment? Yes/no]

"No!" He yelled as veins swarmed his face and neck.

The medication kicked in and reduced the pain and bloating feeling to acceptable levels, allowing Hong some leeway to properly breathe. Taking in deep breathes, he could not be bother with his sweat drenched clothing. However, he looked at his console, and his heart sank.

[Warning! Unknown pressure is continuing to rise in the dantian! The nanobot's energy shield is experiencing minor straining! Deploying more nanobots! System recommends hospitalization!]

"What the hell's going on with my dantian?!" His thoughts ran fast as he panted for air.

Recalling the soul ripple that passed him, he couldn't help but have many questions. However, those had to wait, since there was more important matters.

[Warning! Unknown pressure is continuing to rise in the dantian! Deploying more nanobots! System recommends hospitalization!]

The minutes ticked by as Hong sat in meditation position, continuously observing his dantian.

Right now, countless little black dots had formed a sphere around his dantian, releasing an energy field that contained the unknown pressure. The nanobots seemingly had unlimited energy, as it was transferred from the console.

"Do I really need to get hospitalized? Hospitals are expensive! Even if I have insurance, the expenses are enough to put a big dent on my credits! I really need to save money!" He said internally as sweat constantly rolled down his head from the pain.

Suddenly, the pain quickly faded along with the faint bloating feeling.

[Unknown pressure in owner's body is rapidly decreasing!]

[Unknown pressures have reached acceptable levels for the dantian!]

[Unknown pressure is gone! Dantian has suffered minor damage! Repairing in progress!]

"Phew! I'm glad my console has emergency nanobots! I really need to get me some in the future." He thought.

[Warning! Unknown object in host's dantian! What does owner want to do?]

"Eh? Unknown object?"

Hong quickly released some of his divine sense into his dantian, and saw a floating object that resembled the shape of a golden ring. The ring was lined with countless symbols and runes on it's exterior. Upon seeing it, Hong's face turned into shock and doubt!

Without a doubt, it was the time artifact!

He had seen it in that weird temple in that weird realm in the cultivation realm when countless people swarmed around it. The size was way larger and it resembled something like a gateway. It had flashed a golden light before he vanished. Now, it had appeared in Chen's body.

Many questions appeared in his head, but he quickly shook his head.

"Don't do anything! Just leave it alone." He said to the console.

[Command accepted. Leaving unknown object alone]

Hong sighed in relief when the ring began to emit a mysterious aura around it's body.

[Warning! Unknown energy being emitted from object! Console's scientific instruments and data storage cannot identify unknown energy! System recommends upgrading current scientific instruments and data storage with a better tier module. Do you wish to view online modular stores? Yes/no]

"Hold that off for a second!" He said as questions arose in his head.

[Understood! Holding off for a second... Done! Do you wish to view online modular stores? Yes/no]

"Wha-?! No! Hold off until I say not to!" He said angrily. For some reason, he felt like his console was messing with him.

Going back to his thoughts, his expression turned slightly dark.

For one, every console is equipped with basic scientific instruments, data storage, and processing power which can also be upgraded with modules. Civilians can only go up to peak civilian grade unless they get a reward module. The higher grade ones are for military, research, status, government, etc.

The fact that his console, equipped with a medium-tier civilian-grade data storage and processing power module and a basic low-tier scientific instrument, could register the unknown energy says a lot about how humanity's technology is at.

If there was any spiritual energy or Qi, humanity would have detected it long ago. Fortunately, his powerful soul wasn't picked up, or he'd be locked up in a research facility.

Secondly, the fact that the time artifact had appeared in his dantian raised countless questions.

Thinking back to that soul ripple, his face darkened further. Just from the soul ripple, he could somewhat discern that the other party's soul power is around the same as his. Aside from the fact that the artifact appeared at the same time as the ripple, it's impossible for there to be a cultivator in this place considering there is zero spiritual energy, zero Qi, and zero heavens!

As he calmly analyzed the situation, could feel a connection between the two. Suddenly, a bold thought appeared in his head as his eyes regained clarity.

"Wait a minute! Didn't I appear in this universe thanks to time traveling? I wasn't the only one by the artifact at that time. Could it be that it sent other cultivators as well, and some appeared in the future?"

Some of his doubts vanished, considering that the thought made sense.

"Since the ring is a time-traveling artifact, it would not make sense if it only sent me to the future. Maybe it sent the other cultivators to different timelines, and some were coincidentally to this one as well! But why did it land in my hands? And why did it suddenly appear after the soul ripple?"

Hong could not find an answer to this question, and the mystery could only stay clouded. To him, that was no longer important! What is important, is that the item came from the cultivation realm! The item should most definitely contain spiritual energy!

Thinking about it, hope and excitement appeared in his eyes! There's a chance to cultivate!