Chapter 36: A Notice

An Hour later...

Neolan could be seen back inside his room. After coming out of the Rift, he had returned straight home, and unlike a typical medieval fantasy world, there was no need for him to report that the mission had been completed.

The wristwatch he was wearing had automatically registered the mission as complete and transmitted the real-time data of the Rift being closed from that area. With the entire process handled automatically, Neolan had simply returned to his room without needing to interact with anyone.

After coming back, Neolan had taken a shower to wash away the blood stains covering the lower part of his pants and the grotesque smell of the monsters that had clung to him.

He was now wearing a heavy dark-leather brigandine jacket cropped just above the waist, with a structured collar that flared slightly around his neck and framed the stark white under-tunic beneath it.

The tunic stretched neatly across his chest, while the form-fitting trousers made from a midnight-black weave were secured by a thick and functional utility belt. With the newly crafted clothes fitting perfectly against his body, Neolan could easily be considered one of the most handsome men on Earth, but he didn’t pay any attention to his appearance.

Neolan’s entire attention was focused on the System Window floating before his eyes. He had been staring at it ever since he arrived in his room, carefully thinking about the meaning behind its words.

[Notice! Host’s next transfer will carry Host’s entire current form along with the Soul. Qing Lan and Neolan will become one and the same.]

’Hmm, so it essentially says that my body, Soul, and Qing Lan’s body will all become one and the same. But there’s one thing that’s been bothering me...’ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Neolan paused for a moment before his expression became slightly more serious. ’Is my body even intact at this point? Didn’t someone try to find my body in that world, only to discover that it was dead?’ Just as he finished that thought, the System Window suddenly changed as another message appeared before his eyes.

[The time in that world was stopped the moment Host was transferred to Earth. It will not resume until Host returns there.]

The moment he read the message, Neolan’s eyes widened. ’Time is stopped?!’ He couldn’t believe that something similar to what had happened when Bifrost first emerged was already taking place in the cultivation world because of the System. If time had truly stopped there, then everything in that world had remained frozen from the exact moment he had disappeared.

’What... in the hell?’ Disbelief remained etched across Neolan’s face for a long moment before he finally sighed. The implications of something like this were far greater than he wanted to think about, especially when he still knew almost nothing about the System itself.

’Sigh, I shouldn’t think about these things with Ultimate Comprehension to begin with, since Ultimate Comprehension itself came from the System. Forget it... I’ll figure things out when the time comes.’ Neolan felt a headache whenever the System became involved in his thoughts.

Although it hadn’t even been two days since he had received the System, the sheer number of mysteries surrounding it made it feel as though he had been dealing with it for far longer.

Neolan shifted his attention toward the clothes he was wearing as he remained leaned back against the blue holographic seat. ’I custom-made these while thinking about whether I could use them in the cultivation world. They have several modern functions integrated into them that could help me deal with many things, but the people around me would probably think I’m weird or become suspicious that I come from somewhere else.’ He had specifically designed the clothes with the possibility of taking them with him in mind.

The clothes had required time to make through the personal AI he had created inside his wristwatch, and he had also needed to gather the necessary materials from different parts of the Estate for nearly half an hour.

Even so, he had gone through all that effort because he had hoped to get something useful out of the idea. Unfortunately, there was another problem that made the entire effort seem pointless.

’I can’t take the wristwatch either, since only my body and Soul will transfer... It would have been good if the System had an Inventory or something—!’ Before he could finish his thought, another System message suddenly appeared, making him sit upright with wide eyes.

[Inventory available!]

[Inventory: An Infinite Storage Space where anything non-living can be stored!]

’Huh? It’s available? Similar to those novel Systems? Then why didn’t you show it to me before?’ Neolan questioned internally, only to receive an answer that was almost exactly what he had expected.

[Host never asked or required it until now.]

"..." Neolan became speechless for a moment at how much more of a cliché this System could apparently become.

’But shouldn’t it have been listed as one of the functions of the System? Or is "Inventory" something outside of the System, like an item or something?’ His Ultimate Comprehension immediately caught the distinction within the System’s wording, and his suspicion was proven correct when the System answered.

[Host is correct. Inventory is not a function of the System.]

Although the System’s answer remained vague, Neolan caught the important distinction immediately. However, he didn’t think about it too deeply for now and simply nodded before shifting his attention toward his wristwatch.

’It’s already five PM, huh? Well, all those things one after another took time, and the time dilation inside the Rift must have cost me several hours here.’ Neolan shook his head before sitting upright and walking toward his bed. As he reached it, another thought surfaced in his mind.

’Hmm, what about when I’m transferred from Earth? Would time also be stopped here?’

[No. Time will continue to pass here while Host is gone.]

Neolan remained silent for a moment after reading the answer. ’I knew everything wouldn’t be so smooth sailing. Earth is where my main focus should be, as my goal was to save my family and everyone else close to me from the beginning... but it seems the resurrection of my family plan will have to be omitted now that I’m back in the past.’

His expression became slightly more serious as another thought followed. ’That means I need to put even more effort into everything now. There could be any kind of incident happening here while I’m in that world.’ The fact that time continued moving on Earth meant that every moment he spent in the cultivation world could potentially become important.

’I need to get strong really quickly. From what I can guess, the Azure Heaven Realm, or anything related to cultivation, exists in an entirely different universe. If I’m supposed to cross an entire universe, it won’t be as simple as crossing from one galaxy to another. There must be some kind of obstacle between Universes.’ Neolan thought as he finally lay down on the bed.

He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before slowly closing his eyes, ’Well, I should sleep for now. Even if time is stopped there, I’ll be constantly transferring between these two worlds every twenty-four hours. That means there won’t be much time to sleep because of all the things I need to accomplish in both worlds.’

Just as he was going to sleep, he remembered he needed to put the wristwatch into the inventory, without hesitation he tapped the watch and the holographic watch came into his right hand automatically, he spoke up, "Inventory."

The moment he spoke, a small window popped up where empty slots could be seen lining in rows upon rows, without a second thought Neolan threw the wristwatch into the Inventory, "Cassy, I wouldn’t be eating dinner and also do not disturb me for an entire day." He raised his voice slightly before relaxing his entire body on the soft bed.

"Alright, Young Master!" Cassy, his personal maid’s voice came from beyond the door.

’Now I am exhausted as hell...’ With that final thought, Neolan closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep. While Neolan slept the System window popped up on its own and showed something Neolan had forgotten to check because of the constant things happening around him.

[Soul Essence: 5000!]