I changed the world.

These were two robbers; what the locals called "motorcycle theft" was their profession. What they were after wasn't just Zhang Jing's phone, but also the fact that they believed Zhang Jing was a wealthy man and likely carried other valuables.

It should be said that most motorcycle thieves in this world are from the lower rungs of society. Due to high unemployment and low wages from odd jobs, many of them turn to these shady activities. Moreover, because they generally have a strong resentment towards the rich, they are ruthless when robbing those they perceive as wealthy.

However, none of this concerned Zhang Jing. In Zhang Jing's view, he was just walking peacefully on the side of the road when two guys came up behind him and tried to knock him unconscious with a stick. Their methods were brutal and unscrupulous. These scum of society did not deserve any sympathy.

Just as the sturdy rubber roller was about to strike Zhang Jing on the back of the head, the rider was suddenly surprised to find that his target had disappeared!

Immediately following was the feeling of suddenly losing balance after swinging the stick at the wrong spot, a feeling somewhat similar to walking down a stairwell in the dark and accidentally stepping into the air because you misjudged a flight of stairs.

Because of this, the missed swing even caused the entire electric scooter to wobble twice due to the loss of balance...

Before the rider on the front seat of the electric scooter could regain control of the vehicle, a powerful force suddenly struck from the side and rear of the vehicle in the next instant.

Strictly speaking, the force wasn't very strong, but at this point, it completely disrupted the already unbalanced electric vehicle. The front of the vehicle shook violently, and the vehicle, like a drunkard, veered and sped towards the middle of the road.

After crossing a lane traveling in the same direction, the car quickly veered into the opposite lane.

At that very moment, an SUV with its headlights on was speeding towards them at over 60 kilometers per hour. The electric vehicle that suddenly appeared in front of them clearly caught the SUV driver off guard, and before they could avoid it, a violent collision occurred amidst screams...

Chapter 181 The Bronze Gate

Seeing the two motorcyclists who had been thrown several meters away and whose fates were unknown, and the two-wheeled electric vehicle that had been smashed to pieces, Zhang Jing snorted coldly and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

Just now, after easily dodging the stick that came from behind, he took advantage of the moment when the other party's electric bike lost its balance and kicked it from the side and behind.

The kick was extremely skillful. In terms of sheer force, it wasn't particularly powerful, yet it broke the electric scooter's last remaining balance, causing it to lose control and hurtle diagonally.

This involves a delicate control over power.

In this section of road without surveillance cameras, even if the police investigate afterward, they will not be able to find anything; at most, they will assume it was a car accident caused by dangerous driving.

In particular, the fact that these two men were undoubtedly carrying weapons, coupled with their likely prior criminal records, would make it easy for the police to identify them as motorcycle thieves. Therefore, even if they didn't kill anyone directly, they would likely spend a pleasant time in prison or detention.

Back home, Zhang Jing retrieved the ring he hadn't yet identified. The ring was about 1 centimeter wide and appeared quite old; the patterns on it were blurred with time, and there were even traces of calcification. It seemed likely to have come from a tomb and been submerged in groundwater for a long period…

Zhang Jing tentatively used the techniques for controlling magical artifacts to mobilize the Qi within his body and, in conjunction with his divine sense, began to slowly refine the ring. After a short while, a certain power within the ring began to be awakened, and then it resonated with Zhang Jing.

After a while, the residue on the ring began to peel off, and the entire ring began to shine. At this moment, in Zhang Jing's eyes, the ring's appearance had changed.

As you can see, this ring is exquisitely crafted, with intricate patterns around it, resembling scrolls or cloud patterns. The most striking feature is the gemstone set in the center of the ring. The shape of the gemstone easily evokes the scales of some creature, with a dark gold edge that reflects light strongly, and the interior also has a fine sense of layering.

As the ring's shape gradually changed, a faint mist rose around Zhang Jing. In a few breaths, the mist thickened, and within that mist, an ancient bronze gate appeared before Zhang Jing, standing quietly in the void, as if leading to another world.

Zhang Jing observed that the gate was decorated with some mysterious abstract patterns, and in the center of the gate was a huge and strange bronze beast head. With Zhang Jing's knowledge, he could not immediately identify what kind of strange beast's head it was.

The next moment, the eyes on that face, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened. It stared at Zhang Jing for a moment, let out a low growl, and then opened its mouth and uttered a sentence in a strange tone.

The language used was not the standard Mandarin spoken in the Great Zhao Dynasty, but rather an ancient language similar to the one Zhang Jing had heard many times in the Buddhist canon. Fortunately, because many Buddhist canons have been deciphered to date, Zhang Jing can now roughly understand this language.

The monster said, "Take out the key, and 'The Hunter' will let you through. You have three chances."

Zhang Jing thought for a moment, organized his thoughts, and asked in a somewhat uncoordinated tone, mimicking an ancient language, "Hello, what will happen if I get it wrong three times?"

But then the beast's head looked him up and down with a malicious gaze that made Zhang Jing uncomfortable. After that, it let out a low growl before finally replying, "You will become food for the 'hunter'."

At that very moment, an inexplicable aura of danger emanated from the beast's head, as if some suppressed emotion was about to be released—greedy, cruel, and dangerous.

Zhang Jing was on high alert and subconsciously took a half step back, his body tensing as if he were ready to retaliate at any moment should anything happen. Fortunately, the monster did not attack, but only roared urging Zhang Jing to quickly retrieve the key.

Just then, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhang Jing's mind. He bowed slightly to the beast head and said, "Hello, please allow me to go and get the key. I will be back in a little while."

"Go, go." With a slightly disgruntled growl, the beast head closed its eyes, muttered something, and then fell silent.

Then, the surrounding mist gradually dissipated, and the bronze gate disappeared into the mist like a mirage. Finally, everything was absorbed back into the ring in Zhang Jing's hand.

After everything had subsided, Zhang Jing quietly pondered for a while. He first put the ring on the index finger of his left hand, then took out the jade tablet from Lishan Cave and disappeared from the spot.

A short while later, Zhang Jing returned to the study. When he came back, he had a key in his hand. The key was dark blue-black with a smooth surface and was engraved with complex runes. It was about half the length of a palm and looked quite exquisite.

This key was the same one he had obtained from the tomb of Celestial Master Song Shouxuan. At the time, because he did not know its function and tried various methods to find out, he could not obtain any information. Therefore, Zhang Jing stored it in Lishan Cave.

Just after hearing the monster's words, Zhang Jing thought of the mysterious key in his hand. Knowing the usual pattern of the wishing book, even extremely rare coincidences could come together. Perhaps this key was the key to opening that bronze gate.

After retrieving the key, Zhang Jing did not immediately summon the gate. Instead, he began to organize his equipment and backpack, preparing a full set of gear according to the standards for exploring the "Filthy Woods." He carefully organized his supplies and weapons, and even took the "Heavenly Punishment Sword" with him.

This is because Zhang Jing did not know what was hidden behind that bronze door, and before seeing the final result, he could not even be 100% certain that what he wished for was behind that door, although it was highly likely to be so.

As the old saying goes, "Better safe than sorry."

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Jing summoned the wishing book and made a wish: "I wish that I will have good luck in the next 24 hours."

After confirming that his wish had been successfully made, Zhang Jing put away the wishing book, then stretched out his left hand and began to perform divination. However, as the divination continued, his expression gradually became serious.

Finally, he took out the Demon Refining Pot, took a sip, and by then, beads of sweat were already appearing on his forehead...

Even after Zhang Jing finally stopped calculating, he was still unable to reach a definite conclusion, as if some invisible force was interfering with his calculations.

Zhang Jing knew that this represented two possibilities: one was that the matter he was calculating had a significant impact on the world; the other was that the power behind the matter he was calculating had surpassed his own at this moment.

This directly results in the fact that even if he can measure it, the result is rather vague. Furthermore, forcing a measurement could even harm him.

For example, this time, Zhang Jing could only vaguely predict that what he sought was indeed inside that bronze door.

Furthermore, he vaguely predicted that the subsequent exploration should not be too dangerous.

Although it was somewhat vague, Zhang Jing felt quite confident that he had reached this point. Moreover, if all else failed, he still had the Heavenly Punishment Sword and the Wish Book as backup plans.

After making all the preparations, Zhang Jing, with the Heavenly Punishment Sword at his waist, a backpack on his back, and a key in his hand, summoned the bronze gate once more. The huge beast head on the bronze gate opened its eyes again, glanced at him, and said, "Take out the key, and 'Hunter' will let you through. You have three chances."

The same tone, the same words, exactly the same as before. A certain conjecture suddenly arose in Zhang Jing's mind: the intelligence of the beast head in front of him seemed to be not very high, or rather, it seemed to be operating according to some kind of predetermined "AI".

However, this was not the time to think about these questions. Zhang Jing opened his palm and showed his key.

Upon seeing the key, a strange, circular rune on the right side of the beast's head rotated slightly and then made a soft "click" sound. Immediately afterward, the rune opened up from the center, revealing a structure resembling a keyhole.

Zhang Jing hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and inserted the key into the hole. To his surprise, if he wasn't mistaken, the last time this bronze door was opened was thousands of years ago. Yet, despite the passage of time, the key still moved smoothly without any resistance caused by rust or weathering. It was as if some force had been maintaining the proper functioning of these mechanisms.

After inserting the key to the bottom, Zhang Jing applied a little force and twisted it to the side. A slight clicking sound was heard.

Immediately afterwards, the bronze door was slowly pushed open by some unknown force, creaking and groaning as it opened. Beyond the open door was a dark, gloomy void, as if swallowed by black mist. Standing on this side of the door, one could not see what lay behind it.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Jing stepped through the door...

....................................

This is a silent world, devoid of any sound—not just human voices, but even the chirping of insects and the calls of birds. No living creatures can be seen in the surroundings.

Zhang Jing stood in a dimly lit grove of trees. He looked up at the sky and, through the sparse canopy overhead, could see that there was no sun or moon in the overcast sky, only faint starlight casting a few rays of light to the ground.

Chapter 182 The World Behind the Door

Most of the trees around were species I had never seen before. A faint breeze blew through the air, causing the treetops to sway and rustle.

Zhang Jing was surrounded by a lush forest. He could clearly feel that the humidity here was higher than outside, and the surrounding trees were growing into the forest, becoming exceptionally lush.

The tree branches cast menacing shadows on the surrounding ground, making them appear somewhat ferocious.

Judging from the growth of the surrounding plants, Zhang Jing deduced that this world must also have a day-night cycle, just like the "filthy woodland" world he had experienced before. Otherwise, plants that lack photosynthesis would not be able to grow so tall.

Zhang Jing looked behind him and saw that the bronze door had disappeared. At the same time, the dark blue key was quietly floating in the void.

Zhang Jing reached out to grab the key, but the moment he touched it, the key transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into his hand.

Then, an abstract key-shaped mark appeared on the back of his hand.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Jing raised his hand and looked at it. The ring was still intact on his left index finger. A thought struck him, and he probed it with his divine sense...

Immediately afterwards, he saw the surrounding mist rising, and then a bronze door opened in front of him, revealing a dark doorway.

........................

After trying twice, Zhang Jing discovered that as long as he had the ring, he could summon the bronze gate at any time and enter without needing to insert the key again. Relieved, he realized the way out was now clear.

After retracting the bronze gate, Zhang Jing turned around and carefully surveyed his surroundings again. Confirming there was no immediate danger, he began to perform divination using his fingers. Soon, he frowned. It must be said that in this area, his "Minor Six Palaces Heart Severance" was more affected than outside, as if some force was constantly disrupting his predictions, preventing him from performing normal divination.

He took out the Demon Refining Pot again, took a sip, and half-closed his eyes to begin calculating once more...

After a long while, Zhang Jing let out a long breath. The result was still blurry, but with a strong push, he could only roughly confirm that the road to the east was the right one.

It's somewhat frustrating, but that's all we can do.

He brought up the compass function on his phone, but unfortunately, the compass spun aimlessly and couldn't point the way as accurately as it would on Earth.

Zhang Jing immediately made a judgment: most likely, this was no longer Earth, and there were no magnetic poles, so a compass would be useless here. He had encountered similar issues with the compass in Lishan Cave and the Filthy Forest, so he was prepared for this.

He took out his usual cyan longsword and arm shield, and began to carefully proceed in the eastward direction.

The paths in the jungle were not easy to traverse, but this was not Zhang Jing's first time entering the filthy forest. His experience in exploring unfamiliar forests and his improved cultivation made him more adept at handling this environment than ever before.

He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, then drifted like a wisp of smoke onto a branch of a large tree. With small strides but considerable speed, he advanced several meters along the branch before leaping towards another large tree not far away…

Sometimes in the trees, sometimes under them, Zhang Jing moved quite quickly through the forest. He would stop from time to time to observe the plants he encountered along the way. Perhaps due to its isolation from the outside world, the plant species here were clearly different from those in the outside world, and many of them were varieties he had never seen before.

As he continued forward, he began to see tall stone sculptures in the woods. These sculptures had exaggerated and abstract features, which reminded him of the ancient Shu and Mayan sculptures he had seen in his previous life...

These statues have a strong mystical feel and are quite different from contemporary sculpture styles.

Zhang Jing noticed that most of these sculptures depicted strangely shaped monsters. These monsters stared at pedestrians walking on the road with huge, empty eyes. What caught his attention in particular was that almost without exception, these sculptures were damaged, and some were even severely broken, completely shattered into pieces.

Due to the passage of time, some herbs and moss have grown on these statues, blending them into the landscape and giving the area a wild, remnant feel.

..............................

He heard a faint, indistinct sound nearby. Zhang Jing turned his head to observe, and found a strangely shaped centipede, about the length of a palm, crawling rapidly near a tree root and disappearing under a pile of dead leaves.