Chapter 79: Missing Home Is Nothing to Be Ashamed Of

When Li Tiezhu heard Si Chen ask "What does transmigrate mean?", he immediately perked up.

"Master, this is quite the wild story!"

He scrambled up from the floor, sat cross-legged across from Si Chen, and cleared his throat:

"Simply put — I, Li Tiezhu, am not originally from this world."

After saying that, he carefully watched Si Chen's reaction.

He had expected to see surprise or confusion, but Si Chen simply gave a light nod, gesturing for him to continue.

That reaction left Li Tiezhu, who had prepared a whole belly full of explanations, feeling a little dumbfounded.

He scratched his head and pressed on:

"Back in my original world, I was living just fine — a totally ordinary working stiff, going to work every day and being lazy… uh, I mean, working very diligently."

Since the matter of the System had already been exposed, there was no point hiding the transmigration either.

"Then one day I was pulling an all-nighter at the office, grumbling at my computer screen, and that's when this wretched System latched onto me."

"After that, I have no idea what happened — one blink and I woke up inside this body."

He patted his own chest. "The original owner of this body, I heard, was called Li Lin — some poor kid who dug wild vegetables in the mountains. He passed out from hunger and never woke up… and then I showed up."

Mentioning the original owner's name, Li Tiezhu pursed his lips. "Li Lin? That name sounds limp and spineless — hardly worthy of me."

"I, Li Tiezhu, will not change my name no matter what. Now that I'm here, from this day forward, there is only Li Tiezhu!"

He rambled on, describing that "old home" of his…

A world with no Spiritual Energy, yet filled with all kinds of iron boxes that rolled across the ground and flew through the sky, where everyone held a glowing little slab in their hands and could talk and see each other across thousands of miles.

He said the people there didn't practice Cultivation, but had tinkered together "big firecrackers" capable of destroying heaven and earth.

They used no magic, yet could build "towers" that pierced the very clouds.

They had no jade message slips, yet information traveled faster than a Flying Sword carrying a letter…

Si Chen listened quietly, his gaze gradually growing distant.

As a star, his sense of time was immeasurably vast — one hundred years, ten thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

The tiny lives clinging to planets were, to him, like mayflies that lived and died within a single day.

He had no interest in, nor any way to, observe every minute detail of each one.

But Li Tiezhu's description stirred a memory — a civilization he had briefly "gazed upon" a very, very long time ago.

Remarkably similar…

Was it a coincidence? Or perhaps…

Si Chen's gaze drifted through the window toward the blazing sun hanging in the sky.

He still remembered that when he had first arrived in this world through reincarnation, still swaddled in an infant's wrappings, he had tried to send a greeting to the sun above.

But it had given no response — like a puppet on strings, devoid of consciousness, utterly incapable of conversing with him.

Si Chen withdrew his gaze and glanced at the boy in front of him, who was talking with great enthusiasm.

Asking him was clearly pointless. He was not that black-haired young man who had once pierced through the endless void and truly "locked eyes" with him.

To Li Tiezhu, the sun overhead was just a sun.

"Master, isn't that incredible?"

Li Tiezhu finally finished recounting his transmigration experience and looked at Si Chen with eager eyes. "Two completely different worlds!"

Si Chen smiled faintly. "The universe is vast."

He said only those four words.

Indeed — the universe was vast, full of wonders, large enough to hold countless worlds, and large enough for a single soul to drift here by chance.

Having said all of this, Li Tiezhu felt, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, considerably lighter in both body and spirit.

It was as if he had set down a heavy burden; even his breathing felt easier. This secret, buried deepest in his heart, had finally been shared with someone other than that wretched System.

[Esteemed host, your words just now — "the universe is vast" — truly contain profound wisdom and have opened my eyes!]

The System's electronic voice chimed in at just the right moment.

[Little Tong has never encountered an existence as powerful and wise as yourself!]

[Little Tong's admiration for you is like a mighty river flowing endlessly……]

Li Tiezhu rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest — you weren't singing this tune when you were scolding me earlier."

[Host, you wrong me. Every word Little Tong speaks comes straight from its core code! Heaven and earth are my witnesses!]

The lighthearted atmosphere gave Li Tiezhu a little more courage.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally voiced the question he had turned over in his mind countless times: "Master… do you think I can ever go back? Back to my world?"

Si Chen was silent for a moment.

This question touched precisely on a blind spot in his current knowledge. He could perceive the nature of energy, but how could he perceive something he had never witnessed with his own eyes?

Seeing that his master said nothing, the small flicker of hope in Li Tiezhu's heart slowly sank.

He forced a breezy, self-deprecating tone:

"Hah, come to think of it, there's not much tying me to that place anyway. Classic transmigration template — parents gone, power boundless!"

The more he talked, the more his own story felt like a well-worn cliché straight out of a novel: "Look at my setup — transmigration, System, orphan, good-for-nothing… Goodness, all I'm missing is a broken engagement. Every box is checked!"

He even broke into a little rhyme: "No house, no car, no savings to my name — crossed over to another world to shout my claim!"

Though Li Tiezhu tried hard to keep his tone playful, those eyes of his — always so full of energy — still betrayed a flicker of loneliness he couldn't quite hide.

Si Chen watched the boy's shoulders tremble ever so slightly, and thought of how he himself had felt when he first chose to remain in this mortal body. He spoke:

"Missing home is nothing to be ashamed of."

Li Tiezhu's stream of chatter came to an abrupt halt.

"Master…"

Si Chen looked at him, a hint of encouragement in his eyes. "The fact that you could come here means the path exists. We just don't know yet where that path is, or how to walk it."

"Perhaps… the day you become strong enough, you'll find the way home."

"Really?" Li Tiezhu's voice was trembling.

"The universe is vast."

Si Chen repeated the phrase, but this time its meaning was entirely different: "Vast beyond anything you can imagine — and therefore vast enough to hold every possibility."

[The host is absolutely right!]

The System eagerly chimed in. [As long as host diligently practices Cultivation and follows Little Tong's missions, in the future you'll surely……]

"Shut up!" Li Tiezhu snapped inwardly, though his face had already lit up again with a bright glow.

He wiped his face hard, straightened his back, and declared: "Master, I understand now! Starting today, I will train hard!"

Not to become some Immortal Emperor. Not to dominate the heavens.

Simply — to go home.

That thought took root like a seed, deep in his heart.

Si Chen watched the boy pull himself together and gave a quiet nod.

Just then, the flying vessel gave a gentle shudder and began to descend. From outside the cabin came Heishan's booming, excited voice:

"Brother! We're here! Come look — this place smells amazing!"