Depletion

Zhen took a deep breath but somehow he felt even more tired. His entire body feels like there's no more mana flowing throughout his body.

When Zhen first started cultivating, his body had become healthier and stronger, and rarely did his body become this kind of state.

Zhen tried to walk forward a bit and he somehow managed to lose the strength to walk now. He had to lean on Sara which surprised her.

"Zhen, what's happening? Why are you walking like this?" Sara asked with concern while holding my arm.

Zhen tried to reply to her but couldn't as he felt his body become like a balloon, full of air and nothing else. 

Slowly, Zhen fainted once again and completely blacked out.

*Thump*

Zhen collapsed into the ground where Sara hurriedly tried to wake him up and even resort to healing, using most of her mana. 

Alas, nothing seemed to work as Zhen remained unconscious and unresponsive.

===============

Losing his conscience, Zhen woke up in the same mysterious dream again. However, Zhen noticed that there is something unusual compared to the last time.

Zhen feels his body turned back to how it used to be on Earth and not a cultivator body. 

Not knowing what's going on, Zhen tried to use his magic by channeling his mana but to no avail.

Although he was no longer exhausted, Zhen didn't feel comfortable with this change one bit. 

The town is in danger now and if he loses his power at this time then he'll be powerless to do anything.

'If I have to watch my beloved die in front of me again and I have no power to stop it then I would really go crazy.'

Gritting his teeth on the possibility of what will happen if that actually becomes a reality, it will be one hell of a nightmare for him.

Zhen's body keeps shaking as he keeps on thinking of the negative thought and possible events from happening.

*Huff* *Huff*

Zhen took multiple deep breaths before being able to calm himself again. Seeing how he couldn't activate his Sense, Zhen started to walk around aimlessly.

Zhen doesn't know how long time has passed but his body starts to become sore as he hasn't stopped walking at all.

The scenery did not change one bit and it feels like he was walking in a circle. But his instinct told him that he's getting closer to something.

An unknown amount of time later~

Finally, Zhen's mouth has become dry due to the lack of water he drank and every step feels like a needle piercing at his bone. 

So far, Zhen has gritted his teeth while clenching his fist to continue moving forward.

Thankfully, his effort wasn't wasted as Zhen finally saw some stairs. He really wants to collapse now when he sees it. 

The staircase has so many steps that Zhen can't even count with the naked eye.

Right when Zhen was about to collapse, he can feel a bit of stamina return to him. There are so many confusing and mysterious things happening at this moment. 

Zhen was pretty sure that he has a bit of stamina returning to him because this space wants him to climb those steps.

He feels like an ant as he couldn't do anything to stop this from happening. Zhen could only continue to grit his teeth as he took his first step into this staircase.

As soon as the step connected, Zhen felt multiple flashes of memories shooting inside his brain but it's too fragmented for him to comprehend anything useful.

The memories he received have images that are blurred out that he can't even tell what it is. 

'My intuition is telling me that the memories are a jigsaw puzzle and to complete the puzzle, I would need to climb to the peak of this platform.'

Thinking like that, Zhen starts to tread the stairs slowly but steadily to not waste any more unnecessary stamina.

Sweat has started trickling down from Zhen's forehead where it continues to drip toward his clothes.

By the time Zhen reaches the 100th stairs, his clothes are completely stained with sweat. The stair has a gravity pressure on him as he struggles to continue to ascend further.

Zhen cursed in his mind as this isn't a wuxia novel where he's trying to obtain some legacy or fortuitous cultivation method.

'If I ever find the person pulling the string from behind and causing me to suffer this much, I would outright change my name created by my maid to another if I don't beat you to a pulp.'

Zhen swore to beat whoever is torturing him with this method.

Around the 500th steps, Zhen's eyes have become dazed and he is simply walking up without any conscience. 

Zhen had never over-exercised and today could be the longest exercise he has ever done.

When Zhen felt despair has fallen, the staircase Zhen was on vanished completely and he teleported into a platform. 

The platform has a chandelier cup holding up some tiny bright core.

Zhen felt the tiny bright core is somehow connected to him like it's been a part of him ever since he was born. 

As Zhen approached closer to see it clearly, he was shocked because this inanimate object is pulsing.

'It is a live being. Unbelievable, this is just getting weirder and weirder yet I have zero clues.'

While Zhen was shocked at the beginning, he started analyzing this core from afar and noticed something inside the core. 

Zhen finally got a gist of what's going on and why his body is reacting like this.

That tiny core has that tiny red blood drop from the new dungeon. 

Zhen didn't know how the tiny core had gotten the blood inside as he didn't recall opening that container at all.

'Wait. Didn't I fell unconscious for 10 hours in total? Could it be..... during those 10 hours, this mysterious core got out of my body and grabbed it inside.'

A chill ran down as Zhen came to this thought. He doesn't even know if this core is beneficial to him or will suddenly turn hostile toward him. 

Worse, it can't be like those novels where they will try to possess his body and take over his identity.

"Stop being so imaginative fool, I won't take control of your body even if you beg me."

A female voice suddenly echoed through and Zhen fell down as he didn't expect anyone to be here except him. 

Turning his head left and right, Zhen tried to look around to see who's there.

"You're really a fool. You have been staring at me so rudely this entire time and can't even detect it. Why are you my host sigh?"

The female voice spoke again and this time Zhen stared at the core in the chandelier cup.

"W-Who are you? What do you mean by the host? N-No, more importantly, where am I right now." Zhen asked a series of questions since he had so many that he would go insane if it continued on.

"Sigh, you're too weak at the moment so even if I tell you about it, you can't even do anything. I only recently awakened as I finally obtained a fragment of my blood that you found in the new dungeon. I'm still too weak to be able to transform back to my majestic self."

The female voice replies in a way that is completely answering nothing at all. 

Zhen only got the hint that she managed to awaken and talk to him is due to that hidden treasure that the black mage is looking for.

"How do I address you and what do you mean by I'm too weak to do anything?"

"As I said, you're not powerful at all despite your understanding of this world. I'm only saying this once so listen up. You can call me Her Highness or Queen as I used to be a Sovereign ruling thousand of worlds. The world you're in now is only a tiny world that has illogical cultivation."

Zhen became completely absent-minded with her remark.

'Tiny world? Ruling thousands of worlds? Don't tell me those novels are really based on a true story and the author is actually from those kinds of places?'

Zhen can no longer handle this outrageous plot twist and because of his fatigued body. 

He became out cold again and only wished this was just a dream.