The rest of the day Ling Xu decided to stay in his apartment and have a little time for himself without doing anything. He wanted to clear his mind and go through everything he went through since the tutorial.
He also entered his phone as he checked the information from the government's page.
The first thing he saw was that everyone that had entered the mission came back alive once again. Ling Xu remembered that at the end of the mission, around 200 people had died, so it was great news to see that they hadn't been actually gone.
But as he read more he found out that those that had died in the tutorial didn't enter the mission. It seems they had lost their participation rights once they died inside.
He also found out a statistics that had made an approximation of the stages in the Blood Qi realm of everyone who had returned alive from the mission.
Around 10% where below the fourth stage of Blood Qi and they were those who performed the least without dying on the mission. Another 30% were in the fourth stage and they were those that performed around the outer layer and had barely tried hunting on the inner layer. More than 50% had managed to enter the fifth stage and they were those who had stayed for the longest time inside the inner layer.
And less than 5% were those who managed to enter the sixth stage or higher and they had hunted in the inner layer of this mission and also on the second floor of the tutorial. They also were the ones who tried their best to advance on their stage after the tutorial ended and the mission hadn't begun.
"Mr. Sun should be part of the last few who managed to surpass the fifth stage inside the mission. After seeing him briefly on the last day I felt from his aura that he had entered the sixth stage of Blood Qi."
...
The sun rose up and it was already the second day since he had returned from the mission.
Ling Xu woke up with only one thought in mind.
"What should I do? Although Earth is my home, rejecting the chance to enter the world of cultivation would only limit my growth. I can't constantly wait for a mission to become stronger when it might never come."
Having postponed the thought of living Earth to enter a world full of opportunities to advance in his cultivation, Ling Xu decided that it was time to decide.
"It hurts me the most because it probably means that I won't see again Lu Xie, the one and only friend I have made in the last three years."
Ling Xu didn't know what to do as he realized that his limit here on Earth was the ninth stage of Blood Qi until the system provided more information. He didn't feel comfortable waiting for a chance to breakthrough into the Qi Refining realm when it might never come, or who know how long it would take before it came.
He calmed down and focused on how he felt about it, taking his time in feeling the idea of entering a world full of people who are able of moving mountains and splitting the sea. He also understood what it meant going there, as his heart felt a deep bond with the world he was living in.
But after a long time of deliberation, knowing what his heart wanted, Ling Xu's eyes became firm.
[Do you want to use your one way teleportation chance to another world?]
[Once you teleport you will be entering the cultivation world and you will lose all your skills.]
[The skills provided by the system are a temporary measure for humans on Earth to get accustomed, once they breakthrough to the Qi Refining realm they won't be able to use them anymore.]
"So this was also a thing, now I don't feel bad about losing three of my skills through the enlightenment. After all, once I broke through to the Qi Refining realm I would have lost them either way."
...
On the third day after the end of the mission, Ling Xu was looking at the sky while having his usual walk around the park close to his apartment.
He casually saw a person or two strolling around, but that was it as he had realized that people had become scared again after the second mission.
Although the system and missions had already been common knowledge for the last month, many families were scared and isolated themselves in hopes of protecting their children.
They were even more scared after they realized, those who had died in the tutorial, that the difference in strength had increased tremendously.
The majority of the survivors on the mission had managed to progress at least two stages before they decided to save up points and acquiring equipment or even skills.
"I feel I have made the right decision, not only my progress would have slowed down staying here but it seems that it will take a long time before the government is able to stabilize the country once again. And who knows what might happen once a third mission comes and the gap increases even further."
Ling Xu suddenly got a phone call from his friend, asking him to meet him in his house to have dinner.
"Strange, this is the first time that he has invited me over to his home. I wonder what might have happened for him to do it now."
…
Several hours later, he was already eating with Lu Xie at his house. But it looked more like a villa as it was extremely large and Ling Xu would need to walk for a minute before he managed to reach from one end of the house to the other.
They were eating in the living room which was a few times bigger than his whole apartment. It had expensive and delicate decorations all over the room.
Ling Xu and Lu Xie conversed about anything that came to mind, covering every bit of information related to the current events and what happened on the mission.
"It's great that you have invited me, but why now?"
Ling Xu saw his friend become silent and he pressed a little bit, trying to find out what was going on.
"After all these years, I know how you feel about being used because of your family's wealth."
Lu Xie heard him and had a face that had written worry all over it.
"Should I tell him? Ling Xu is very different from the past, he has become very strong to the point that I'm afraid of asking him. Maybe he will be able to deal with it."
Having decided, Lu Xie's face changed once again. Feeling confident in his friend's strength, he didn't have to worry anymore.
"Xiao Xuan is planning to seek revenge on you, he felt humiliated after you beat his guards and I was told that by the end of the night he will send people at your home."
Ling Xu's face changed as he was surprised, he never expected that this was what he wanted to say since they met two hours ago. But he couldn't care less, he was more than confident in his strength, even after he lost three of his skills.
With his current strength, although he wouldn't be able to defeat the mutant whirling ape once it broke through the Qi Refining realm, he was more than confident that he would be able to kill someone in the ninth stage of the Blood Qi realm.
So having a few thugs below the seventh stage coming at him made no pressure whatsoever.
"That was what you were so worried about? Don't worry, he won't be able to do anything to me even if he sends a dozen people over."
"What do you mean you are not worried?!"
Lu Xie was about to continue as he felt worried once again seeing his friend not caring about it, but he saw Ling Xu's face which didn't show a single ripple of emotion and he calmed down once again.
"Sigh, it's not like you are the same as before. You have now become strong to the point I shouldn't feel worried. If it was the you from before I would have asked you to stay with me until the thugs returned, but now…"
Ling Xu had a smile when he heard his friend recognize his growth as he also felt very proud of himself. He never expected that after a month he would change so much.
But the next second he remembered something as his face changed to one of hesitation.
Lu Xie saw his face and now it was his turn to ask what was going on.
"Why did your facial expression change all of a sudden, did you actually become afraid of Xiao Xuan's thugs or what?"
He added a tone of humor to it as he knew from his previous confidence that Ling Xu's face came from something else.
"I didn't want to say it now but it seems I have no choice."
"What is it friend? You are making me worried for nothing."
Ling Xu looked up from the plate and faced his friend with a look of sadness in his eyes.
"I am leaving Earth, by tomorrow morning I won't be here anymore."
"…"
The room became silent.
…
Ling Xu was returning home, full of hope of what was going to come once he travelled to the other world, but he couldn't hide the sadness that only intensified after he left Lu Xie's house.
He remembered how the conversation unfolded, once he told his friend that they would probably never meet again.
"Ling Xu, you don't have to feel sad because you are leaving. Being your friend has been my greatest pleasure and I only hope that once you are there you experience life to the fullest."
For the rest of the walk he looked to the ground, not daring to see the sky that was about to open for him.
"Don't worry Lu Xie, I will do my best to return to Earth and see you again."
He thought as he looked at the sky, seeing the scenes of his experience on this beautiful planet he calls Earth.
The memories of his childhood came as Ling Xu almost cried while remembering the moments he had with his mother before and while she got sick.
"Uh?"
A tear was falling through his cheek when Ling Xu got home and felt several presences inside his apartment.
"Perfect timing, I needed something to relieve myself after going through this rollercoaster of emotions. Now that you have come, don't expect to leave unscathed."
Ling Xu entered his building and took the elevator as if he didn't know that several thugs were waiting inside his home.
Once he arrived at his floor, he went to his door and took his keys out.
"Man, I actually want to do more than just crippling him. I can't believe he made us wait this much."
"Wait I hear something, I think our target has arrived."
Three thugs wearing black suits were talking as they heard Ling Xu's arrival, making the room return to complete silence.
Ling Xu could feel their auras that couldn't be completely hidden as he figured out their cultivation stages. Two of the thugs were in the fifth stage of Blood Qi and only one in the sixth.
"Something feels wrong."
"I said silence."
"But boss why did the kid suddenly stop before opening the door with the keys?"
They felt something was off, they were about to break out of the apartment to still have the advantage.
Outside the apartment, Ling Xu's eyes turned red as a torrent of blood qi could be faintly heard. The pressure could be felt inside the apartment as the thugs felt the scent of death.
He charged in and broke the door as if it was nothing, it didn't decrease his speed in the slightest.
Ling Xu's fist moved very fast as he broke the arms and legs of the three guys that were hired to cripple him.
"Aghhhh!"
His eyes returned to their normal state as he heard the cries of the three man lying down in the floor.
They couldn't even react before they felt their world move and they were on the ground with their limbs completely broken.
He took his refined short sword out and looked at the man who had started to look very pitiful.
"Please don't kill me!"
They all said, but Ling Xu didn't pay attention as he went to the wall that looked to the street.
"Swish!"
The thugs looked at his back, which faced the night sky. With his current appearance and the effect of having cut the wall, they were in complete awe.
Ling Xu put his weapon back inside his spatial ring and jumped out of the building.
...
Morning came and Ling Xu had woken up in the park, a few blocks away from his home, which now had several officers questioning the guys he had crippled.
He had planned to leave yesterday but on second thought, he felt that if the other world had the same time it would be best to go once it was day time.
Ling Xu looked one last time at the sky on Earth, feeling nostalgia and then faced the question from the system.
[Do you want to use your one way teleportation chance to another world?]
"I want to go now."