Tianlong: I am carefree

"Achoo—" Wang Lie sneezed, waking up from his dream. "Damn, I was just dreaming about looking at beautiful women on the beach, why is it suddenly so cold?" Wang Lie muttered to himself. "Holy crap—" Opening his eyes, Wang Lie jumped up in fright. "Where am I?! Who's kidding me?! I was clearly in a hotel in Hainan, how did I end up in this godforsaken place?! Who did this?! Come out here, I promise I won't kill you!!!" The only sounds besides the echoes were the thunderous roar of water. No one answered Wang Lie. He surveyed his surroundings; he was in a valley. To his left, a massive waterfall cascaded down the cliff like a jade dragon, pouring into a crystal-clear lake. The waterfall continuously poured in, yet the lake never overflowed, suggesting there was another outlet. The water churned where the waterfall entered, but just a dozen or so feet away, the lake became as smooth as a mirror. The moon shone in the lake, its reflection mirroring a bright, full moon. He had just been sleeping on a huge rock not far from the lake's edge; no wonder he had been awakened by the cold. Wang Lie stared in disbelief. What kind of place was this? Although the scenery was nice, there wasn't a soul in sight. It was eerie and terrifying. Cursing, Wang Lie jumped down from the rock, looked up, and could vaguely see the surrounding mountain walls, unsure if anything was out. Wang Lie had always been an outdoor enthusiast, a key member of the Peking University Mountaineering Club during his university years, and had ventured into many remote mountains. Although he felt a little panicked, he wasn't afraid. Picking up a tree branch for self-defense, Wang Lie walked along the lake. Although he didn't know where he was, finding his way out was his top priority. It was a pity that he was only wearing pajamas and hadn't even brought his phone with him. The lake is oval in shape, with most of it hidden in the trees. It circles from west to east and then from east to west, about four kilometers in length. There are cliffs and precipices in all directions, with no way out. Looking up at the high cliffs, the valley is shrouded in white mist. As dawn approached, the valley was eerily quiet; not a trace of human presence, nor even of animal tracks, could be heard, save for the intermittent calls of birds. Wang Lie sat by the lake, tapping the water's surface with a branch, a deep sense of unease settling in. In his twenty-odd years of life, he had never encountered anything like this. How could he have gotten himself into such a mess while on vacation in Hainan? He tossed the branch aside, leaned against a rock, and waited for the ceaseless flow of the waterfall. "Oh dear, something's not right. This scene looks so familiar." Wang Lie suddenly noticed a smooth, jade-like stone wall to the right of the waterfall. It must have been that the waterfall was much larger millions of years ago, and the relentless erosion over countless years had polished this half of the stone wall to such a smooth finish. Later, as the waterfall's flow decreased, this crystal-clear, mirror-like stone wall was revealed. "Holy crap, isn't this the Boundless Jade Wall?" Wang Lie exclaimed in surprise, jumping up in shock. “It really does look a bit like it, no way.” Wang Lie’s face was grim. “Right, there should be a smaller piece of the Boundless Jade Wall that reflects the image. Let me look for it. God, please don’t play me, I don’t want to time travel.” Wang Lie gestured and calculated the angle of the moonlight reflection. A moment later, he discovered a large, bare stone wall behind a grove of trees, covered in vines. The stone wall was unusually smooth, resembling a bronze mirror, only much smaller than the mountain wall west of the lake. Wang Lie sat down on the ground. "Holy crap, it really is the Boundless Jade Wall! Could I have really transmigrated? And to make matters worse, it's in a place like this. Damn it, Duan Yu and Xu Zhu are both overpowered, how am I supposed to survive here!" Wang Lie wasn't one to give up easily. After grumbling and venting for a while, he stood up. Regardless of whether he had really transmigrated into the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, since there was the Boundless Jade Wall, there must be a way out. He would go out and find the person first. After carefully recalling the plot of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Wang Lie realized he was fortunate to be a martial arts enthusiast, otherwise he wouldn't have known what to do. "According to the original work, there should be a sword pointing the way to the cave entrance." Wang Lie looked at the opposite mountain wall, from bottom to top and then from top to bottom, but apart from rocks and trees, he couldn't find a sword. "That's not right, why isn't it there? Maybe we're going in the wrong direction." Wang Lie carefully examined the mountain walls from other directions, but still couldn't find the sword that should have been embedded in the mountain wall. "Could I have guessed wrong? This isn't the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils? But the valley, the lake, the jade wall—they're all right." Wang Lie scratched his head. "Never mind, it was dark earlier, so I probably didn't look carefully. I'll search again. I refuse to believe there's no exit." Wang Lie walked along the mountain wall where the small jade disc was located, poking at the dense bushes with a branch. After searching for an unknown amount of time, when Wang Lie poked at the bushes again, he stumbled and almost fell. The branch didn't even hit the mountain wall. Ignoring his embarrassment, Wang Lie cheered and hurriedly parted the messy branches to both sides, revealing a dark cave in front of him. "Hahaha—" Wang Lie laughed a few times, "As expected, the old man is indeed clever!" Wang Lie was quite pleased with himself. The cave was pitch black. Although there was no danger according to the plot of Tian Long Ba Bu, Wang Lie still did not rush in. Who knew if this was the world of Tian Long? The sword that should have been there was not there. Back in the valley, Wang Lie gathered some dry branches and leaves and piled them together. After searching for a long time without finding a fire-starting stone, he finally gathered some branches to rub together and start a fire. Although he had done this before during field training, it still took Wang Lie a lot of effort to successfully light the fire. He carefully made a torch, tossed his hair, and went into the cave. Upon entering the cave, Wang Lie looked around and saw that it was a completely natural cave with no trace of human intervention. A chill ran through him. "This doesn't seem to be the world of Tian Long Ba Bu. Or is it that Wu Ya hasn't come here to live in seclusion yet?" Ignoring everything else, Wang Lie walked forward with his torch in hand. The path kept tilting downwards, clearly getting lower and lower as he went. After a while, the space suddenly expanded. Wang Lie looked around and realized it was a natural stone chamber, probably at the bottom of the lake, but it hadn't been converted into a room yet. Seeing a passage in the southwest corner, Wang Lie didn't linger and continued on. He passed through several more undeveloped stone chambers. Wang Lie vaguely heard the sound of water. He quickened his pace, turned a few corners, and the sound of water became deafening. There was no light coming in from ahead. He quickened his pace and reached the end of the passage. Ahead was a cave just big enough to fit one in. He peeked out and his heart pounded in his chest. Looking out, he saw a raging torrent of water, a vast river. The riverbanks were lined with steep, rugged cliffs; judging by the situation, he had reached the banks of the Lancang River. Wang Lie was overjoyed. He slowly climbed out of the cave and found himself several dozen meters above the river. Even if the river rose sharply, it wouldn't flood the cave, but reaching the riverbank wouldn't be easy. After resting for a moment, Wang Lie climbed up using both hands and feet, memorizing the surrounding terrain for future visits. He thought, "Since Wuya hasn't arrived yet, I'll claim this place for now. Once I find out what kind of world this is, I'll come back and develop an unbeatable seaside villa. If I can also add those beautiful girls to my collection, that would be amazing!" Wang Lie chuckled to himself. The riverbank was full of rocks, not a single path in sight. Wang Lie walked seven or eight li, stumbling and bumping along, until he came across a wild peach tree laden with fruit. Starving, Wang Lie climbed the tree and ate his fill, feeling much better. He walked another ten li or so before finally finding a path. Exhausted, Wang Lie sat down beside it, unwilling to move. After waiting for a long time, he finally saw a person dressed in ancient costume approaching in the distance. Wang Lie's last hope was shattered; it seemed he had truly traveled to ancient times. "Brother!" Wang Lie stopped the newcomer, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked, "May I ask where this place is?" The man who came appeared to be a woodcutter, carrying two bundles of firewood. He put down his load and answered a few questions in dialect. Wang Lie was dumbfounded; he couldn't understand a word he said. "Could you speak a little slower?" Wang Lie asked apologetically. After much fuss and gestures, Wang Lie managed to glean some information from a combination of words and guesses. It was the first year of the Mingtong era in Dali. Wang Lie didn't know much about Dali's history and couldn't figure out which year it was. Anyway, the current emperor wasn't Duan Yu's uncle. Finally, Wang Lie found out the direction to Dali City. Since he was already there, he figured he might as well make the best of it and find a place to practice his skills.