2145, Kunlun Academy, Zero Laboratory.
"Warning! Energy fluctuations exceeding limits! Spatial rift expanding!"
Amidst the piercing alarms, Zhang Ming stared at the ever-widening spatial rift before him, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
As the youngest Golden Core cultivator at Kunlun Academy, he should have been basking in the joy of approaching the Nascent Soul stage. Yet here he was, the "Myriad Celestial Mechanism" in his hand—a fragment of a primordial treasure from antiquity—vibrating wildly, emitting an ominous red light.
"Dammit! The experiment to reversely analyze multiversal coordinates actually got traced back by something?"
Zhang Ming gritted his teeth, channeling his true essence to stabilize the spatial tear. But the next second, a malice so vast it was suffocating poured out from the rift.
It wasn't matter, nor energy, but pure informational pollution—chaotic, nihilistic, insane.
"An Outer Realm Demon?!"
Zhang Ming's pupils contracted sharply. Such entities were only briefly mentioned in ancient Kunlun texts: high-dimensional informational lifeforms roaming the cosmic void, feeding on civilizations and souls.
"Trying to eat me? Let's see if you have the teeth for it!"
With a decisive thought, he poured all his true essence into the Myriad Celestial Mechanism. The ancient treasure erupted in dazzling golden light, clashing head-on with the malevolent force.
BOOM—!
The laboratory instantly vanished into nothingness.
Zhang Ming felt the world spin and twist around him. He could sense the Myriad Celestial Mechanism desperately stabilizing his soul from being torn apart, but at the cost of its own energy rapidly depleting.
After an indeterminate time, the dizziness finally subsided.
Zhang Ming opened his eyes to find himself lying in a dark, narrow alley.
"Where... is this?"
He struggled to sit up, surveying his surroundings. Crumbling brick walls, filthy cobblestones, the air thick with the smell of mold and something rotting. A few figures in shabby robes conversed furtively deeper in the alley.
"The energy rules... are wrong. This world's fundamental physical laws are completely different from home."
Zhang Ming frowned, extending his spiritual sense to scan the area. The next moment, his expression shifted slightly.
"What kind of place is this? Spiritual energy concentration is almost zero, but it's saturated with another kind of energy... similar to spiritual energy but different. And the energy fluctuations from those people... so primitive and crude?"
As he pondered, a sharp cry echoed from the alley's depths.
"Hand over the money!"
"Please... I just came to buy a wand..."
Zhang Ming raised an eyebrow and looked towards the sound. Three thuggish-looking men surrounded a scrawny boy. The leader held a stick—no, not an ordinary stick; its tip shimmered with faint energy fluctuations.
"A wand?" Zhang Ming's eyes lit up. "Interesting. The spellcasting medium of this world?"
"Crucio!"
The thug grinned maliciously, brandishing his wand. A dark red beam shot towards the boy.
But just as it was about to hit, a figure appeared like a ghost in front of the boy.
Zhang Ming extended two fingers and casually pinched the "spell."
"Hmm, energy form is a directed, focused mental attack wave? The construction method is novel, but the efficiency is pitifully low. Energy utilization rate... about 2%? Tsk, too crude."
He muttered to himself while casually squeezing his fingers. The dark red beam instantly shattered into specks of light and vanished.
The three thugs stood frozen, mouths agape.
The leader swallowed hard. "You... who are you?!"
Zhang Ming turned his head, offering a polite yet distant smile. "Excuse me, what is this place?"
"Kn-Knockturn Alley," the thug stammered, his eyes full of fear.
A wizard who could catch a Cruciatus Curse bare-handed and crush it? They'd never seen anything like it in their lives!
"Knockturn Alley?" Zhang Ming pondered. "And the civilization level of this world is roughly? Also, what do you call this energy application method?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Zhang Ming sighed. Seems like asking these primitives won't yield much.
He looked down at the Myriad Celestial Mechanism in his hand. The once-brilliant treasure was now dull, with fine cracks on its surface.
[Warning: Energy reserves below 5%]
[Recommendation: Immediately seek an energy source for recharge]
[Detected special energy "Magic" in surroundings, convertible for absorption]
Zhang Ming's eyes lit up. "Magic? So the supernatural power here is called magic?"
He looked up at the three trembling thugs, more precisely, at their wands.
"Excuse me, could I borrow your... 'wands' for research?"
"Wh-what?"
"Oh, it seems you're unwilling." Zhang Ming shook his head regretfully. "That's a shame."
He reached out and made a grasping motion in the air.
The three wands flew from their owners' hands obediently into Zhang Ming's palm.
"Th-this... Wandless magic?!" The lead thug's eyes widened in terror.
Zhang Ming ignored their exclamations, focusing his spiritual sense on scanning the three wands.
"I see. Using special wood as a base, with tissues from magical creatures sealed inside... It's a dual structure of an 'antenna' and an 'amplifier.' The caster emits specific frequency energy waves through incantations, and the wand amplifies and directs them..."
"Tsk, the design idea is good, but the materials and craftsmanship are too crude. The efficiency is simply abysmal."
He shook his head and casually threw the three wands to the ground.
Snap!
The moment the wands touched the ground, something bizarre happened—they began to glow, change shape, and finally turned into three ordinary bricks.
"WHAT?!" The three thugs completely lost it.
Zhang Ming nodded in satisfaction. "Hmm, material morphology restructuring. Although this world's rules are a bit strange, basic artifact forging techniques still work. By the way..."
He turned to the three thugs, now scared out of their wits, and asked politely, "Excuse me, is there a library or similar place nearby? I need to learn some basic knowledge about this world."
"Di-Diagon Alley..." the lead thug stammered, pointing towards the alley's end. "There... there's a bookstore there..."
"Thank you very much."
Zhang Ming gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
After a few steps, he seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, by the way, that curse you used on the child earlier... 'Crucio,' was it? Judging by the energy signature, it should be an offensive spell contaminated by some malicious information."
"Long-term use of such spells will lead to soul corruption. In our terms..."
He paused, using a flat, academic tone.
"You've been infected by the 'Outer Demon's' whispers. If not cleansed promptly, you'll become mindless puppets within three years at most."
"I suggest seeking medical attention ASAP. Although I doubt this world has the necessary treatment methods."
With that, he waved his hand and disappeared into the depths of the alley without looking back.
Leaving the three thugs standing there, rooted to the spot, their faces ashen.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ming had reached the exit of Knockturn Alley, looking up at the sign that read "The Leaky Cauldron."
"A new world, a new research topic."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, his eyes shining with pure curiosity and excitement.
"Now, let me see what interesting things this so-called 'magical world' has to offer."
Behind him, the Myriad Celestial Mechanism trembled slightly, as if responding to its master's anticipation.
[Detected numerous unknown energy rules]
[Recommendation: Begin collecting samples, establish database]
[New Task Generated: World Rule Analysis Progress 0.01%]
Zhang Ming smiled.
This experimental field looked quite interesting.