Chapter 2: The Price of Transit

Ao Yetian slipped out of the Holy Orchid Institute's back gate. 


The few guards he passed noticed nothing amiss, yet the unfamiliar, buzzing weight of the Profound Energy in his core felt like a nest of angry, coiled hornets. 


To them, he was a student walking home; to himself, he was now a predator walking among lambs.


He moved with the practiced stealth of a man used to shadows, heading for a secluded, derelict building on the very outskirts of Glory City. 


This was no time for heroics or grand strategy; he needed to understand his power and, more importantly, the card.


He pulled out the sleek, black rectangle. 


It felt smooth, impossibly uniform, and jarringly modern in his hand—a stark, cold contrast to the worn wood, rough stone, and perpetual grime of this low-tech world. 


The silver geometric logo matched no known inscription pattern in the Tales of Demons and Gods universe.


It came through the same dimensional tear as the crystal, Ao Yetian reasoned, his new mind sharp and calculating. It must be related to the other worlds.


He ran his thumb over the surface, focusing his new Profound Energy into the object. 


Unlike the red crystal, which had been pure, raw power, the card was inert, a dead slate. 


He pushed harder, forcing a sliver of the pure, tyrannical energy that burned in his core into the card's surface.


The card suddenly flickered with a faint, deep purple light, and a cold, robotic voice echoed directly in the silence of his mind, bypassing the need for ears:


[USER: Ao Yetian. IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE.]


[ACCESSING INTER-REALM TRANSIT SYSTEM.]


Ao Yetian’s heart gave a sudden, powerful lurch against his ribs. It worked. This wasn't just a trinket; this was his link to the forgotten parts of his life.


[TRANSIT PENDING. DESTINATION WORLDS AVAILABLE: 2.]


[WORLD A: CELESTIAL-PUNISHING REALM (HIGH-LEVEL PROFOUND ENERGY). STATUS: ACCESSIBLE.]


[WORLD B: EARTH, CHINA, ZHONGLING PROVINCE (LOW-LEVEL SPIRITUAL ENERGY). STATUS: ACCESSIBLE.]


The Celestial-Punishing Realm was clearly the Against the Gods universe, a place of impossible power and danger. The second, with its modern context, was definitely Yang Chen’s world.


"Destination B," 


Ao Yetian whispered, his voice suddenly hoarse. That world felt safer, a modern environment where he could gather information without immediately fighting gods or demons.


[REQUEST DENIED. INSUFFICIENT CHARGE.]


Ao Yetian frowned, his internal focus instantly shifting from destination to obstacle. 


"Charge? What charge?"


The robotic voice continued, cold, precise, and entirely unsympathetic:


[INTER-REALM TRANSIT REQUIRES REALM-SPECIFIC LINGUAL CURRENCY TO COUNTER DIMENSIONAL DRAG.]


[REQUIRED CHARGE FOR DESTINATION B (EARTH): 1,000,000,000 GLORY CITY SPIRIT COINS.]


[CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE: 0.]


Ao Yetian froze. One billion Spirit Coins?


The number hung in his mind like a crushing mountain. That was an astronomical sum. 


Glory City’s entire annual revenue didn't even approach that figure. 


That amount of currency, whether in gold, silver, or spirit stones, was enough to completely fund the City Lord's Mansion for decades. 


It was an impossible, ridiculous, soul-crushing total.


He had traded a life of certain doom for a life of impossible debt.


“I have to become the richest man in the known world just to buy a one-way ticket out of it,” 


He thought, the absurdity giving way to a cold, frightening determination. He gripped the card so hard his knuckles turned white, his new Profound Energy surging with his anger.


“Fine.”


The system of this world is about to be drastically rearranged. 


Profit is now the highest form of cultivation.


The card had given him a goal, but it also presented a challenge far greater than any demon beast: a cosmic bank vault. 


Ao Yetian stood alone in the ruins, a powerful Profound Cultivator with the memories of three universes, and a single, ruthless directive: Billionaire or Bust.