Du Heng hadn’t expected the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a stare-down with a chicken.

He had never seen such a tall and majestic chicken before. Forgive his lack of knowledge for using such a word to describe a chicken. But this was truly the tallest chicken he had ever seen, even taller than an ostrich.

Standing upright, it stood a full two meters tall, more than ten centimeters taller than Du Heng. Its glossy black and white feathers resembled a majestic landscape painting. Its bright red crest tilted to one side, beneath which a pair of sharp eyes stared intently at Du Heng.

This chicken was a combination of ferocity and beauty. If Du Heng had seen it any other day, he would have taken a photo and posted it on his social media. But now… the chicken looked at Du Heng with a fierce look, as if it wanted to devour him alive. For a chicken, its expression was a bit too terrifying. Du Heng could sense that the chicken was furious!

 Du Heng didn’t know what he had done to offend it. He rubbed his head, his mind a blur, a riot of bizarre images flashing before his eyes.

Who was he? Where was he? What had happened?

He remembered having dinner with his roommates yesterday, discussing what they’d do after graduation. When they learned he wanted to return home and inherit his family’s private restaurant, they all pledged their support. Why did he wake up with such a fuss? Not only was his mind a mess, but his body ached unbearably, especially his stomach, which felt cold and hard. It felt like someone had chewed on three-day-stale bread, drunk a bellyful of cold water, and then been kicked countless times. It was terrible…

His physical discomfort aside, he had something else to worry about. He didn’t want to be the first person in history to be killed by a chicken—literally, of course.

The feathers on the rooster’s neck puffed out. It was thicker than a typical feather duster. What would it feel like to be pecked by a chicken taller than you? Du Heng dreaded the thought. If he were pecked, he’d be dead, wouldn’t he?

Du Heng looked around frantically. He was in a dry cave. The rooster stood guard at the entrance like a guard, with the aura of a single man standing guard against a thousand. Du Heng, trapped inside, felt like a pitiful creature.

Seeing Du Heng retreat, a sarcastic voice rang out from behind him: “I’ve told you so many times not to look into its eyes, why didn’t you listen?” Du Heng looked back and saw a shadow behind him. The light was too dim to make out the person’s face.

Du Heng was still in the mood for wild thoughts and felt extremely aggrieved: “Can you blame me? I saw a pair of chicken eyes the moment I opened my eyes. Even a god wouldn’t be able to react!”

The rooster lowered its neck and spread its wings. Its sharp claws scraped the ground several times, leaving deep claw marks. The rooster flapped its wings: “Ou-!”

Du Heng knew from the moment he saw the rooster’s gesture that it was about to charge! Rooster, Goose, and Stray Dogs, the three rural bullies were known for bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and for bullying the good and fearing the bad. Don’t be cowardly at this moment! Anyone who is cowardly will be in trouble!

Du Heng quickly picked up two stones from the ground. With a mighty swing of his arm, the first stone flew from his hand. He had always had excellent aim. As a child, when he poked a hornet’s nest while others needed sticks, he could stand far away and knock down the nest with a single stone.

The rooster hadn’t expected Du Heng to resist. The first stone struck its head with a dull thud, and it screamed in pain and stopped. Unknown where the stone had struck, the rooster struggled violently. It flapped its wings rapidly, stirring up dust from the ground.

The dust filled half the cave, and Du Heng coughed as he choked. He wasn’t sure if such an attack would be effective on the chicken, so he held the stone tightly. If the chicken rushed towards him again, he would throw another stone at it.

From the dust came the sound of flapping wings and the chicken’s painful groaning. After a few minutes, the noise stopped. Du Heng poked his head out to look at the chicken, only to see it was… dead.

One of its eyes had been smashed in by a rock, and the ground was covered in blood and chicken feathers. This wasn’t just a chicken being slaughtered; it was even more horrifying than a murder!

Du Heng dropped the rock in his hand in shock. Could his rock really be that powerful? He’d killed a chicken that big with just one rock? It was over, it was over. Wouldn’t the chicken’s owner come after him?

Just then, Du Heng heard the voice of the man in the cave again: “You’re done for! You’ve killed General Brahma. The Demon Lord won’t forgive you.”

Demon Lord? Du Heng was stunned. What kind of childish term had he heard?

The figure behind Du Heng stepped out of the shadows. Du Heng looked closely and saw he was dressed in a gray robe, like something out of a TV drama. Du Heng couldn’t help but stare at him a few more times; he’d never seen anyone so handsome.

The man looked Du Heng up and down. “Excellent, Du Heng, you’re a hidden talent. First you swallowed the Demon Lord’s Illusionary Sky Pearl, and now you’ve killed his General Brahma… This time, even Medicine King Valley can’t protect you.”

Du Heng scratched his hair. It had been a nuisance ever since. He touched it and felt a long strand. Ugh! It was even longer than a girl’s. He tugged at it, wincing in pain.

 The man frowned and looked at Du Heng. “Why are you grinning? Speak.” Du Heng hesitated. “Who… are you?”

The man was surprised. “You don’t even recognize me? Ha, have you been possessed by some strange being?” Du Heng glanced at the man suspiciously. The man said, “You’re an outer disciple of Medicine King Valley, and I’m Yun Zhonghe, an inner disciple.”

Du Heng asked again, “Where is this?” Yun Zhonghe’s eyes were complicated. “You don’t even remember this? The Phantom Sky Pearl truly transforms you. You look like a completely different person…”

Yun Zhonghe muttered a few words, then seemed to give up trying. He said, “This is the Taixu Realm. You and I are both disciples of the Medicine King Valley. A few days ago, the Demon Lord Yan Buhui and the two beauties of the Langhuan Pavilion battled for the Phantom Sky Pearl. Yan Buhui was injured and went to the Medicine King Valley to seek medicine. However, the Medical Immortal was away, so the Demon Lord abducted me and brought me to the Demon Sect to help him refine elixirs.”

Du Heng asked suspiciously, “Then why am I here?” Yun Zhonghe said unhappily, “If you weren’t so clumsy, how could I have been abducted by the Demon Lord? You’re clearly an outer disciple serving me. It’s fine if you don’t help, but you’re even getting in the way.”

Du Heng smiled awkwardly. He lowered his head to examine his clothes and hands. This wasn’t his body. He was wearing a black robe, like those ancient figures in TV dramas. Looking at his hands again, he saw a scar on his left index finger, but his hands didn’t have one.

Du Heng was a little dazed. Where had he ended up? Had he traveled through time? Or was this the legendary soul-transmigrating experience?  Using someone else’s body is so shameful…

Yun Zhonghe saw Du Heng’s puzzled expression and sighed, “Just accept your fate. You’re destined not to leave this cave.” Du Heng’s slight shame gave way to confusion: “Why?”

Yun Zhonghe said, “First, you swallowed the Magical Sky Pearl that the Demon Lord worked so hard to obtain. He imprisoned you here to use your flesh and blood for medicine. Second, you just killed the Demon Lord’s spiritual pet, the Brahma Chicken. Thanks to you, now even I might not be able to escape.”

Du Heng’s eyebrows raised, as if he had done something terrible. Du Heng squatted down and looked at the tragically dead Brahma Chicken. “So it’s so powerful… But it was the one who attacked first. If it hadn’t pecked me first, I wouldn’t have fought back.”

Yun Zhonghe said, “The Brahma Chicken is fierce and aggressive. If you make eye contact with it, it will think you’re provoking you.” Du Heng’s mouth twitched. Isn’t this just a joke about what you’re looking at? When did he ever make eye contact with a chicken? How unfair!

 Oh, he remembered now. The moment he opened his eyes, he was staring into the eyes of a chicken. Du Heng covered his face helplessly. This world was so unpredictable. He couldn’t even look at a chicken?

Yun Zhonghe sighed and spoke earnestly, “Du Heng, it’s not that I don’t value fraternal friendship. Now trapped in this situation, I can barely protect myself, let alone you. The Demon Lord asked me to extract your flesh and blood to refine elixirs, but I’ve been stalling for several days. Once the Demon Lord emerges from confinement, he’ll probably do it himself. You… take care of yourself.”

After saying this, Yun Zhonghe walked deeper into the cave. Du Heng watched him disappear into the darkness. To say he wasn’t panicked would be a lie. He had inexplicably traveled to ancient times and been captured by the Demon Lord. He had yet to answer a multitude of questions, yet now faced an unknown world and its many risks.

Luckily, Du Heng had a good temper. No matter the circumstances, he could make himself comfortable. His parents said he was the reincarnation of a pig, and that eating and sleeping would make all his worries disappear.

Du Heng had just opened his eyes and fought a chicken. He still felt a little weak. With lingering fear, he looked at the chicken on the ground with its eyes still open, then found a rock to sit on. As soon as he relaxed, he felt hungry. He rummaged through his sleeves, and instinctively found several gray bags.

The bags were only the size of a palm, embroidered with a dark red grass. The moment he found them, Du Heng knew their purpose. They were storage bags, embroidered with talismans, and each small bag could hold countless items. Some powerful ones could hold an entire world!

The unfortunate person Du Heng had been born into shared the same name, but was naturally dull. An outer disciple of Medicine King Valley had found him while on a mission and brought him back to the Valley. It would be fine if Du Heng were clever, but the boy was so dull that he could only serve as a waiter in the outer sect.

Cultivators have a strict hierarchy, with higher-ranking cultivators treating lower-rank cultivators like ants. Du Heng, after decades of painstaking practice, had only just reached the first level of Qi training, and his daily duties were limited to sweeping and cleaning in Medicine King Valley. With his qualifications, he shouldn’t have been able to serve inner sect disciples like Yun Zhonghe, but he had a good appearance and seemed particularly well-behaved when silent. Yun Zhonghe was deceived by Du Heng’s appearance and hired him as a waiter.

Yun Zhonghe was actually kind to Du Heng. He knew Du Heng was sincere, so he never treated him harshly. On the day the Demon Lord invaded Medicine King Valley, Yun Zhonghe had hidden himself, but the foolish Du Heng, fearing for Yun Zhonghe’s safety, headed straight for his hiding place. Poor Yun Zhonghe was exposed. A medical practitioner who had always been associated with spiritual plants and elixirs was no match for the Demon Lord. He was abducted along with his unfortunate inner disciples.

The Demon Lord abducted eight inner disciples from Medicine King Valley, hoping they would help him refine the Out-of-Body Elixir. Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the Demon Lord Yan Buhui had been stuck in the late Nascent Soul stage for thousands of years and would die if he didn’t achieve Out-of-Body. To achieve this, Yan Buhui even fought against the two women from Langhuan Pavilion and stole the Phantom Sky Pearl. With the Phantom Sky Pearl and the Out-of-Body Elixir, Yan Buhui felt he could achieve Out-of-Body!

 In a buoyant mood, Yan Buhui wanted to show off in front of the other medical practitioners. Unexpectedly, the moment he pulled out the Phantom Sky Pearl, the red bead slid into Du Heng’s stomach. Seeing Du Heng swallow the bead, Yan Buhui nearly beat him to death on the spot. If the inner disciples of Medicine King Valley hadn’t said that Du Heng could use the power of the Phantom Sky Pearl as medicine after absorbing it, he would have died long ago.

In reality, the former Du Heng was truly dead. The current Du Heng was a pitiful creature from another world!

Du Heng clutched his stomach, tears welling in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to come to the Taixu Realm at all. Could he still go home now? Mom said she’d make his favorite roast chicken today. Could he still go home for dinner if he closed his eyes now?