Chapter 2: The Dimensional Chat Group

Dimensional Chat Group?

Jiang Wang frowned slightly. By nature, he was not a man given to cruelty or ferocity; he preferred to lie flat and take life as it came. Precisely because of that, after being transmigrated he had no wish to stir up trouble. After all, he had already gained a lifespan of more than a million years the moment he arrived. As long as he kept clear of that stone monkey when he ran wild in Heaven, there would be plenty of days ahead for him to enjoy.

After a million years or so, would it not be wonderful to grind his way into a Great Luo Immortal?

This abruptly appearing dimensional chat group made him deeply suspicious.

A heart demon? Or some mighty being of this world probing him?

The great powers of the Journey to the West world were hidden too deeply; none of them had made a move throughout the entire pilgrimage.

Take the Jade Emperor, for example.

In dramas and films he was mocked as useless, but in truth he was unfathomable.

It was not that the Jade Emperor could do nothing about the monkey, but that he simply did not wish to act personally.

Otherwise, would the Jade Emperor, who attained Golden Immortal status only after enduring three thousand calamities and then, beyond a billion more, finally secured the supreme fruit of the Heavenly Emperor, truly be unable to handle a mere hairy monkey with minor immortal cultivation?

Ridiculous. Jiang Wang simply did not believe it.

In his view, including the Havoc in Heaven itself, the whole of the Journey to the West was nothing more than the immortals playing along with Wukong.

Well, except for the heavenly soldiers and generals, because they were the ones really getting beaten.

After careful deliberation, Jiang Wang silently activated the fragment of the Creation Jade Disc.

A thread of power spread from the fragment and enveloped him. Using that force, he examined everything thoroughly. Then his closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

Ha! It really was a dimensional chat group!

Jiang Wang was overjoyed.

And he had good reason to be.

A heavenly soldier’s work was dull beyond measure: six days on, one day off, with daily duty guarding the Southern Heaven Gate, and occasional training sessions in the palaces of the supreme deities such as the Palace of Kongo and the Palace of the True Warrior, where one had to receive instruction from numerous marshals.

Of course, marshals were everywhere in Heaven, and in truth most of them were not all that formidable.

No supreme deity could hold his head up before the other immortals without at least a few hundred marshals under him.

For instance, the True Warrior Great Emperor in the north had five hundred spirit officers in his service, each of them a marshal of Heaven, with countless heavenly soldiers and generals under their command.

Compared with them, the Marshal Canopy and the Curtain-Raising General under Pigsy and Sandy were not considered important figures in Heaven at all.

Pigsy had it a little better; his superior was the True Warrior Great Emperor, so he had backing.

As for Sandy, he was a complete honest man, with not the slightest support behind him.

If Jiang Wang followed the established path, at best he would eventually become a marshal or heavenly general on the level of Pigsy or Sandy.

Heaven’s laws were strict, and even marshals and heavenly generals had little in the way of entertainment.

Aside from training heavenly soldiers, they mostly just cultivated diligently.

Otherwise, why would the immortals in Heaven look forward to the Queen Mother’s Peach Banquet so eagerly? Because whenever the Peach Banquet came around, everyone could finally relax and enjoy themselves to their hearts’ content.

Thus, when Jiang Wang first arrived, he had already resolved to endure a million years of dullness in silence.

He had never imagined...

Heaven had not abandoned him after all.

The dimensional chat group had invited him to join. How could he not enter?

If he could obtain even a few treasures from the chat group, he would immediately change jobs and become a wandering immortal.

Of course, that was only idle fantasy.

Wandering immortals did not enjoy the same benefits as Heaven’s officials.

Each year, Heaven distributed spiritual stones to its divine personnel. Though with his rank he could only receive two hundred stones a year, it was still enough to make a wandering immortal green with envy.

From time to time, Heaven also organized grand feasts. Even ordinary heavenly soldiers could eat a few bites of heavenly treasures, strengthening their realm or increasing their magic power.

At such times, wandering immortals could only stand to the side and watch, unable to partake in any of it.

After a brief silence, Jiang Wang made up his mind and joined the dimensional chat group.

“Join.”

Ding! Congratulations on joining the dimensional chat group! Your nickname has been assigned. If you dislike it, you may change it for 100 points!

Welcome, Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate, to the chat group!

After the prompt, a page appeared in Jiang Wang’s consciousness.

Just like... one of the massively popular chat apps he had used in his previous life.

There were not many extra functions in the group: only chatting, video, red packets, and check-in.

As soon as Jiang Wang entered, the quiet group immediately burst into activity.

Old Heavenly Master: Welcome, newcomer.

Mortal Enemy of Mosquitoes: Welcome, newcomer.

Little Spider: Welcome, newcomer.

Useless Prophet: Welcome, newcomer. Newcomer, report your identity and your world.

Snake Queen: Welcome, newcomer. The Snake Queen greets you.

Jiang Wang opened the member list. Aside from himself, there were only five members in the group.

Those five who had just spoken. After observing carefully, he found that apart from the one called Useless Prophet, the others’ names all felt vaguely familiar.

But he could not be certain yet.

Better to go in and talk first.

Cultivating alone was, in truth, rather dull.

It was true that constant cultivation, with every moment bringing a slight increase in strength, could become addictive. But if one expected Jiang Wang to keep his Dao heart steady for a million years, frankly, he could not manage it.

Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate: I am Jiang Wang. A pleasure to meet you all.

Old Heavenly Master: Southern Heaven Gate? If this old man remembers correctly, the Southern Heaven Gate is the gateway of Heaven. Could it be that the newcomer is an immortal?

In the world of One Person, Old Heavenly Master Zhang Zhiwei was slightly startled upon seeing the newcomer’s nickname.

The nickname itself made him think deeply.

In the days since joining the dimensional chat group, he had already come to understand its miraculous nature.

To put it simply, the dimensional chat group randomly invited people from different worlds to join.

The members’ strength varied greatly.

As far as he knew, the strongest member in the group at present should be the Snake Queen. The member called Useless Prophet had once revealed her strength, and Zhang Zhiwei considered that he would not last a single move in her hands.

He had not expected that this time the chat group would actually bring in an immortal.

The Southern Heaven Gate, the gateway of Heaven in ancient myth.

One who could guard the Southern Heaven Gate, and be called its guardian, must surely be a heavenly soldier or general.

If one dared to imagine even more boldly... perhaps one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Come to think of it, Heaven and the Celestial Master’s Mansion did have some connection, did they not? A faint trace of embarrassment appeared on Zhang Zhiwei’s weathered, wrinkled face.

He laughed at himself. “To think that with old age, I have begun seeking connections. Unseemly. Quite unseemly.”

Then, looking back to the chat group, Zhang Zhiwei happily joined in.

He was old too, and being alone up in the mountains was terribly boring. A place to relieve the tedium was not a bad thing.

In the chat group, Jiang Wang’s arrival seemed to have greatly excited the members.

Useless Prophet: @Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate. Newcomer, which world are you from? I’ve never heard of a character named Jiang Wang. Can you describe the situation of your world? I’m a prophet, you know. As long as I know the whole world’s outline, I can take a look at your future.

Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate: A prophet? You can even know the future of other worlds? The future of beings not native to your own world as well?

Useless Prophet: Uh... how should I put this? What I’m about to say may shock you a little, newcomer, so please don’t be scared.

Snake Queen: From a certain perspective, what she says is indeed frightening. Newcomer, you’ve only just arrived, so perhaps you should take it slowly?

Little Spider: Newcomer, absolutely do not listen to this woman’s nonsense! She actually told me that Earth will be destroyed by a purple sweet potato spirit in the future. How ridiculous. Earth has the Avengers, okay? What would it have to fear from a purple sweet potato spirit?

Old Heavenly Master: Though this old man does agree with the prophet’s words, I do not agree with her prediction of the future. The road is walked by oneself; how can one rely on prophecy to know it?

Useless Prophet: Ah, you lot were all so trusting of me before. Why is none of you willing to believe me now?

Little Spider: I just don’t want the newcomer to be cheated.

Snake Queen: Ha, I simply do not want the newcomer to be so shaken after learning the future in a moment. After all, the future... if one can avoid knowing it, then it is better not to know.

Useless Prophet: @Little Spider, look, look! Sister Medusa is the one with the normal mindset. Peter, as expected, you really are a male spider!

Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate: I see. In that case, I am a little interested in hearing your prediction. I am the Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate, an ordinary heavenly soldier. The place where I reside is Heaven, where the Jade Emperor and the other gods abide. In the Western lands there is also Mount Spirit, and upon that mountain dwell the Buddhas. Heaven governs the six realms, and in the human realm there are the Four Great Continents.

Guardian of the Southern Heaven Gate: So, can you know my future?

A smile tugged at the corners of Jiang Wang’s mouth.

The group member claiming to be a prophet was probably, like him, also a transmigrator.

Right now she was most likely posing as some mystic with foreknowledge.

As fellow transmigrators, why make things difficult for each other?

A glint stirred in Jiang Wang’s eyes as he prepared to tease the other party a little.