Tong Yu had transmigrated, but before he could even figure out what was going on, he was slapped squarely across the face, followed by a torrent of abuse.

“Why aren’t you dead? If you want to die so badly, just die quietly, why are you alive again? Go die!”

“Enough, Little Yu knows he was wrong.” A woman stepped forward to pull back the angry man.

“It’s all because you spoil him!” The man glared fiercely at the woman, then continued pointing at Tong Yu’s nose, cursing, “I’m telling you, if you really want to die, pick a place no one knows about and die cleanly. Don’t implicate Sheng Jing again.”

Who is Sheng Jing?

As Tong Yu was wondering, he saw the man turn to the other side, his tone suddenly filled with guilt and self-reproach: “Sheng Jing, it’s our fault for not raising our child well. If there’s a next time, don’t mind him, just let him die. That way, everyone will be free, and you won’t have to get a divorce.”

Divorce? The kind after marriage? When did he get married?

The man referred to as Sheng Jing had been standing by the window the whole time, looking out, completely indifferent to what was happening until now. He finally turned his head, and his exquisite features almost made Tong Yu, a self-proclaimed “face-lover,” gasp in awe. However, what this overly handsome man said wasn’t so pleasant: “Mom, Dad, I’m definitely getting a divorce. I’m sorry.”

Upon hearing this, the man who had slapped Tong Yu earlier showed a flicker of disappointment in his eyes but still nodded: “Okay, Mom and Dad support you.”

Sheng Jing showed no reaction to this, just nodded: “You two chat. I’m going to the study.”

After Sheng Jing left, the middle-aged man looked at the bewildered Tong Yu, so enraged he gnashed his teeth, about to strike again, but his wife quickly blocked him: “Don’t hit him, Little Yu just recovered, his spiritual sea isn’t stable yet.”

What in the world is a spiritual sea?

Did he transmigrate to another world?

Drawing upon his vast knowledge of online novels and TV dramas, Tong Yu quickly analyzed his current situation. The two people in front of him must be the parents of this body. That overly handsome man was this body’s husband, and their relationship had already broken down, leading to a divorce.

“Just looking at him makes me angry.” The man seemed unable to stand Tong Yu, slamming the door as he stormed out.

“Don’t cause trouble again in the future,” the woman said.

Cause trouble? It seems the original owner wasn’t a good person; even his biological parents disliked him so much. But what kind of trouble did the original owner cause? Was it because his husband wanted a divorce, and he desperately refused, causing a scene? Actually, that’s understandable. If his husband were that handsome and suddenly wanted to divorce him, Tong Yu would probably struggle too.

“And don’t try to commit suicide again.”

Suicide?! So the original owner died by suicide?!

No way, buddy, no matter how handsome a man is, he’s not more important than your life.

“You almost had brain death just now, and your spiritual power contract with Sheng Jing was broken. If Sheng Jing hadn’t been soft-hearted and re-established the spiritual contract with you, protecting your spiritual sea with his spiritual power, you would have truly died, do you understand?”

Tong Yu blinked.

“Regarding this divorce, Mom and Dad know you don’t want it, but what you did was truly too much. If you really don’t want to divorce Sheng Jing, treat him well for this year. If Sheng Jing still wants a divorce after a year, we won’t cling on, okay?” The woman earnestly persuaded him, “Sheng Jing has already been more than kind to you.”

The amount of information in that instant was overwhelming, and Tong Yu didn’t quite understand everything, but he could tell good from bad advice, so he nodded and agreed: “Okay.”

The woman sighed: “It’s good that you’ve thought it through. Rest for a bit; Mom will make you something to eat.”

Finally, Tong Yu was alone in the room. He first let out a huge sigh of relief, then began to observe his surroundings until he saw his face reflected in the glass.

It was a face about 80% similar to his original appearance, but he looked listless and weak, probably due to just recovering from a serious illness, completely lacking spirit.

As a wandering soul who had been a ghost for many years, bored enough to even cameo as an NPC in escape rooms, Tong Yu was filled with gratitude for this new life. So what if his father didn’t love him, his mother didn’t cherish him, and his husband wanted a divorce? These were no big deal.

Tong Yu walked to the window, reaching out to touch the sunlight outside. He squinted happily, savoring the beauty of life. At that moment, a sound suddenly came from the sky. A huge spherical object flew from the horizon and landed in the neighboring yard. Immediately, an adult man walked out of it and went straight into the house next door.

What is that? A UFO, a flying car, an airship?

Where exactly has he transmigrated to?

…

An hour later, dinner was ready. Tong’s mother motioned for her husband to carry the dishes out, then she went to call Sheng Jing, and finally, her son.

By now, Tong Yu had calmed down. Since he’d accepted the idea of transmigration, nothing else was too hard to swallow. He’d just transmigrated to a technologically advanced world, that’s all. He had also just confirmed two things: he could understand both the spoken and written language. This meant he could communicate with this society, and as long as communication wasn’t an obstacle, understanding this world was just a matter of time.

Tong Yu cautiously shuffled to the very end of the dining table and sat down, fully aware of his unpopular status. Then he glanced at the dishes on the table and concluded that his body’s mother was a terrible cook. These steaming dishes were a riot of colors, yet not a hint of aroma wafted from them. How on earth are they cooked?

“Let’s eat,” Tong’s father glared at his son in disgust, then was the first to pick up his chopsticks.

Tong Yu waited until everyone else had started eating before cautiously picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and carefully putting it into his mouth. His expression immediately contorted.

Although he hadn’t expected much from this meal, this was… too awful. The fishiness was so strong he almost fainted. As someone who had been a ghost for many years, Tong Yu was thoroughly qualified to declare that even ghosts wouldn’t eat this stuff.

He desperately held it in, tears welling up, just barely managing not to vomit on the spot.

“Why are you crying? Who are you putting on a long face for?” Tong’s father couldn’t stand the sight of Tong Yu like this.

Tong Yu quickly explained: “No, it’s the fish…”

“What about the fish? Did you get a bone stuck?” Tong’s mother asked worriedly.

“Mm-hmm,” Tong Yu nodded, taking the opportunity to rapidly shovel rice from the bottom of his bowl. Thankfully, the rice was normal, though a bit soft from too much water.

Dinner was finally over, and Tong Yu’s parents prepared to leave. Sheng Jing and Tong Yu barely spoke to each other, but Sheng Jing was consistently respectful toward Tong Yu’s parents.

“Tong Yu, behave yourself this year. If Sheng Jing insists on a divorce after a year, you must agree unconditionally.” Tong’s father looked at Tong Yu, but his words were meant for Sheng Jing. Deep down, he still hoped Sheng Jing would give his son a chance; What a wonderful son-in-law he is.

But Sheng Jing’s face remained expressionless. Tong’s father knew it was hopeless and could only sigh silently.

“Why wait a year? We can divorce now,” Tong Yu was a decisive person. Besides, he now had a new “core,” and having a husband around wasn’t a good thing.

“What are you talking about?!” Tong’s father raised his hand, ready to hit his son again.

Tong Yu flinched back in fear, confused. Aren’t they trying to get him to divorce? Why are they even angrier when he agrees?

“Alright, it’s getting late, let’s go home.” Tong’s mother, afraid the two would argue again, pulled her husband away.

“I’ll take Mom and Dad back, then return to the institute.” A cold voice sounded beside him.

Tong Yu paused for a moment before realizing that Sheng Jing had spoken to him.

Sheng Jing walked into the yard, operated something on his wrist, and the ground suddenly trembled. Then, a huge circular opening appeared, and an all-black flying vehicle emerged from it. It was identical to the one he had seen in the neighboring yard earlier.

The flying vehicle hovered half a meter above the ground. Tong Yu’s parents and Sheng Jing walked inside, and then, with a *whoosh,* it flew away.

Tong Yu stood frozen for a full minute before finally closing his gaping mouth.

That flying vehicle is so cool! He wondered if his cheap husband would share one with him when they divorced.

…

For the next three days, Tong Yu stayed put. With the help of the smart home robot, he gained a basic understanding of this era.

This planet is called Shui Lan ^[1] Aqua Blue Star, named so because its human inhabitants are immigrants from Earth. About 800 years ago, Earth’s temperature plummeted, making it no longer suitable for human survival, forcing humanity to migrate into space. Humans then drifted through space for 97 years before unexpectedly discovering a habitable planet, Shui Lan Star, thus ushering in the Interstellar Era.

From the data, Tong Yu also learned that civilizations in the Interstellar Era have rankings, and the evaluation standard for these rankings is spiritual power. According to the Interstellar Era’s understanding, all intelligent races possess spiritual power, though its strength varies. The Earth immigrants who had just settled on Shui Lan Star were in an undeveloped state regarding their spiritual power. In other words, the Earthlings who had just entered the Interstellar Era were like uncultivated barbarians to other civilizations. Because of this, Shui Lan Star was once invaded and enslaved by alien civilizations for a long time.

During that period of invasion, Earth’s scientists developed an instrument that could forcibly activate spiritual power. Relying on this instrument and the unyielding spirit of Earthlings, they finally persevered until the emergence of the Interstellar Alliance, thereby gaining independence. Of course, some also say that if the Earthlings’ spiritual power hadn’t been activated to a certain extent, even if the Interstellar Alliance appeared, other civilizations wouldn’t have recognized Shui Lan Star’s independence.

For survival, humans forcibly activated their spiritual power, but forcibly activated spiritual power had severe side effects. The spiritual sea became damaged, and spiritual power was extremely prone to losing control. Most awakened individuals didn’t live beyond five years, and those who miraculously survived would eventually go mad. Later, through continuous research, scientists finally found a way to alleviate this condition: the spiritual contract.

This involved binding individuals with abnormally strong spiritual power to individuals with stable spiritual power through a contract to achieve balance.

Tong Yu didn’t quite understand the specific principle, but the general idea was that everyone’s brain contains a spiritual sea, which has the function of self-regulating spiritual power. However, for those whose spiritual power had been forcibly activated, their spiritual sea was damaged, preventing them from freely regulating their own spiritual power. Ordinary people, though their spiritual power was weak, had complete spiritual seas, which could help regulate spiritual power.

Once the contract was established, the ordinary person would have to endure the spiritual power influx from the awakened individual. This process would be very painful, but at the same time, under continuous stimulation, the ordinary person’s spiritual power would have a chance to awaken naturally.

He and Sheng Jing had formed this type of contract.

Once a spiritual contract is established, it cannot be easily dissolved unless one party suffers brain death, thereby extinguishing their spiritual power. Otherwise, the other party will inevitably suffer a backlash. Of course, it’s not impossible to forcibly dissolve it regardless of the consequences, but newly formed contracts have a one-year protection period due to unstable spiritual power.

Upon learning this, Tong Yu finally understood what “divorcing after a year” meant. It wasn’t that the other party didn’t want to divorce; it was that they couldn’t.

“So the original owner’s contract with Sheng Jing was dissolved the moment the original owner died, and then a new contract was made with me, this wandering spirit? So that wasn’t a dream…” Before waking up, Tong Yu had been trapped in darkness for a while. That darkness was boundless and engulfing, and just when he felt he was about to dissipate, a force pulled him out. The moment he opened his eyes, he arrived here. “Could it be Sheng Jing’s spiritual power that pulled me out?”

So he owed Sheng Jing a life?