Chapter 1

Tong Yu had crossed over, but before he could figure out what was happening, he was slapped hard across the face, and a torrent of insults rained down on him.

"Why don't you just die? If you want to die so badly, do it quietly. Why are you still alive? Just go die."

"Alright, Xiao Yu knows he was wrong." A woman stepped in to pull the angry man away.

"It's all because you spoil him!" The man glared at the woman, then continued pointing at Tong Yu's nose, scolding, "I'm telling you, if you really want to die, find a place where no one knows and die cleanly. Don't drag Sheng Jing down with you again."

Who is Sheng Jing?

As Tong Yu was pondering this, he saw the man turn to look elsewhere, his tone suddenly filled with guilt and self-reproach: "Sheng Jing, it's our fault for not raising the child right. If it happens again, don't bother with him. Let him die, so everyone can be free, and you won't have to get a divorce."

Divorce? The kind that happens after marriage? When did he get married?

The man referred to as Sheng Jing had been standing aside the whole time, gazing out the window, seemingly indifferent to the situation. It wasn't until now that he turned his head, and his exquisite face nearly made Tong Yu, a sucker for good looks, exclaim in awe. But the words from this excessively handsome man weren't pleasant: "Mom, Dad, I am definitely getting a divorce. I'm sorry."

Hearing this, the man who had slapped Tong Yu showed a flash of disappointment in his eyes but still nodded: "Alright, we support you."

Sheng Jing didn't show any reaction to this, just nodded: "You all talk, I'll go to the study."

After Sheng Jing left, the middle-aged man looked at the bewildered Tong Yu, his teeth itching with anger, ready to strike again, but his wife blocked him: "Don't hit him. Xiao Yu just recovered, and his Mental Sea is still unstable."

Mental Sea? What on earth is that?

Could it be that he had crossed into another world?

With his extensive knowledge from web novels and TV dramas, Tong Yu quickly analyzed his current situation. The two people in front of him were probably the parents of this body's original owner, and the excessively handsome man was his husband, with whom the relationship had already broken down, leading to a divorce.

"Just looking at him makes me angry." The man seemed unable to stand the sight of Tong Yu and stormed out, slamming the door.

"Don't stir up trouble anymore." The woman said.

Stir up trouble? It seemed the original character wasn't well-liked, even by his own parents. But what kind of trouble did the original character cause? Was it because his husband wanted a divorce and he refused, causing a scene? It's understandable, though. If my husband were that handsome and suddenly wanted a divorce, I'd struggle a bit too.

"And don't try to kill yourself again."

Suicide?!!! So the original character died by suicide?

Come on, man, no matter how handsome someone is, life is more important.

"You almost had brain death just now, and your Mental Contract with Sheng Jing was broken. If Sheng Jing hadn't been soft-hearted and re-established the Mental Contract, using his mental power to protect your Mental Sea, you would have really died, you know?"

Tong Yu blinked.

"About the divorce, Mom and Dad know you don't want it, but what you did was really too much. If you really don't want to divorce Sheng Jing, treat him well this year. If he still wants a divorce after a year, let's not cling to it, okay?" The woman advised earnestly, "Sheng Jing has already been more than kind to you."

The influx of information was a bit overwhelming, and Tong Yu didn't fully understand it, but he got the gist and nodded in agreement: "Okay."

The woman sighed: "It's good that you've come around. Rest for a while, and I'll make you something to eat."

Finally, the room was left with just Tong Yu. He let out a big sigh of relief and began to take in his surroundings until he saw his reflection in the glass.

The face was about eighty percent similar to his original appearance, but the person looked somewhat haggard and weak, probably due to recovering from a serious illness, lacking any vitality.

As someone who had been a wandering spirit for many years, bored enough to play NPC roles in escape rooms, Tong Yu was filled with gratitude for this new life. So what if his parents didn't care, and his husband wanted a divorce? These were minor issues.

Tong Yu walked to the window, reaching out to feel the sunlight outside. He squinted happily, savoring the beauty of life. Just then, a noise came from the sky, and a massive spherical object flew in from the horizon, landing in the yard next door. A grown man emerged from it and went straight into the neighboring house.

What was that? A UFO, flying car, airship?

What kind of place had he crossed into?

——

An hour later, the meal was ready. Tong Yu's mother signaled her husband to take the dishes out, then went to call Sheng Jing, and finally went to fetch her son.

By this time, Tong Yu had calmed down. Having accepted the idea of crossing over, everything else seemed manageable. It was just a world with advanced technology. Moreover, he had confirmed two things: he could understand the language and read the writing, which meant he could communicate with this society. As long as communication wasn't a barrier, understanding this world was just a matter of time.

Tong Yu cautiously slid to the far end of the dining table, fully aware of his unwelcomed status, then glanced at the dishes on the table, concluding that his body's mother's cooking skills were quite lacking. The steaming dishes were colorful but emitted no aroma whatsoever. How on earth were they cooked?

"Let's eat." Tong Yu's father gave him a disdainful look, then was the first to pick up his chopsticks.

Tong Yu waited until everyone had started eating before he carefully picked up a piece of fish, cautiously placing it in his mouth, and his expression twisted.

Even though he hadn't expected much from the meal, this was… too awful. The fishy taste was so overpowering it nearly knocked him out. As someone who had been a ghost for many years, Tong Yu felt qualified to declare that even ghosts wouldn't eat this.

He held back with all his might, tears almost welling up, to avoid spitting it out on the spot.

"Why are you crying? Who are you sulking for?" Tong Yu's father couldn't stand his expression.

Tong Yu quickly explained: "No, it's the fish…"

"What's wrong with the fish? Did a bone get stuck?" Tong Yu's mother asked worriedly.

"Yes." Tong Yu nodded along, burying his head in the rice. Fortunately, the rice was normal, though a bit soft from too much water.

After a difficult meal, Tong Yu's parents prepared to leave. Sheng Jing and Tong Yu barely spoke, but Sheng Jing was consistently respectful towards Tong Yu's parents.

"Tong Yu, stay put for this year. If Sheng Jing insists on a divorce after a year, you must agree unconditionally." Tong Yu's father, though looking at Tong Yu, was speaking to Sheng Jing. Deep down, he hoped Sheng Jing would give his son a chance. What a great son-in-law he would be.

But Sheng Jing's face remained expressionless, and Tong Yu's father knew it was hopeless, so he could only sigh silently.

"Why wait a year? We can divorce now." Tong Yu was straightforward, and besides, with his new mindset, having a husband around wasn't ideal.

"What are you saying?!" Tong Yu's father raised his hand, ready to give his son a hard slap.

Tong Yu shrank back in fear, confused. Wasn't he supposed to divorce? Why was his agreement making them angrier?

"Alright, it's getting late. Let's go." Tong Yu's mother, fearing another argument, pulled her husband away.

"I'll take Mom and Dad back, then return to the research institute." A cold voice sounded in his ear.

Tong Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that Sheng Jing was speaking to him.

Sheng Jing walked into the yard, operated something on his wrist, and the ground suddenly trembled. A massive circular opening appeared, and a sleek black aircraft emerged. It was identical to the one Tong Yu had seen in the neighboring yard earlier.

The aircraft hovered half a meter above the ground, and Tong Yu's parents, along with Sheng Jing, boarded it. Then, with a whoosh, it flew away.

Tong Yu stood there, dumbfounded for a full minute before finally closing his gaping mouth.

The aircraft was so cool. He wondered if, during the divorce, his soon-to-be ex-husband could give him one of those.

——

Over the next three days, Tong Yu didn't go anywhere. With the help of a smart home robot, he completed his basic understanding of this era.

This planet was called Water Blue Star, named so because the humans here were immigrants from Earth. About eight hundred years ago, Earth's temperature plummeted, making it uninhabitable for humans, who had to migrate into space. After drifting in space for ninety-seven years, they accidentally found a habitable planet, Water Blue Star, and thus began the interstellar era.

From the information, Tong Yu also learned that the civilization of the interstellar era had levels, and the evaluation standard was mental power. According to the interstellar era's terminology, any intelligent species had mental power, though its strength varied. The Earth immigrants who first settled on Water Blue Star were still in a state of undeveloped mental power, meaning that to other civilizations, they were like uncivilized savages. Because of this, Water Blue Star was once invaded and enslaved by alien civilizations for a long time.

During those days of invasion, Earth's scientists developed a device to forcibly stimulate mental power. With this device and the indomitable spirit of Earthlings, they finally held out until the emergence of the Interstellar Alliance, gaining independence. Of course, some say that if Earthlings' mental power hadn't been stimulated to a certain level, even with the Interstellar Alliance's emergence, other civilizations wouldn't have recognized Water Blue Star's independence.

To survive, humans forcibly stimulated their mental power, but this came with severe side effects. The Mental Sea was damaged, mental power was prone to losing control, and most Awakened didn't live past five years. Even those who survived eventually went mad. Later, through continuous research, scientists finally found a way to alleviate this situation: the Mental Contract.

By binding a person with exceptionally strong mental power to someone with stable mental power through a contract, balance could be achieved.

Tong Yu didn't fully understand the principle, but the general idea was that everyone's brain had a Mental Sea, which autonomously regulated mental power. However, those whose mental power was forcibly stimulated had damaged Mental Seas, making it difficult to regulate their mental power. Ordinary people, though weaker in mental power, had intact Mental Seas that could help regulate it.

Once a contract was established, ordinary people had to endure the mental power impact from the Awakened. This process was painful, but at the same time, with constant stimulation, ordinary people's mental power had a chance to awaken naturally.

He and Sheng Jing had established such a contract.

Once a Mental Contract was formed, it couldn't be easily dissolved unless one party experienced brain death, extinguishing their mental power. Otherwise, the other party would suffer backlash. Of course, forcibly dissolving it without regard for consequences was possible, but newly established contracts had a one-year protection period due to unstable mental power.

Upon learning this, Tong Yu finally understood what the one-year divorce meant. It wasn't that the other party didn't want to divorce, but they couldn't.

"So the original contract with Sheng Jing was dissolved at the moment of the original owner's death, and then a new contract was formed with me, a wandering spirit? So that wasn't a dream…" Before waking up, Tong Yu had been trapped in darkness for a while, an endless void that threatened to consume him. Just as he felt he was about to vanish, a force pulled him out, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself here. "Could it be that Sheng Jing's mental power pulled me out?"

So he owed Sheng Jing his life?