#does he acquire xin mo to do it?

[sunderwight]

Shen Yuan who glitches in his transmigration, but the original Shen Qingqiu still dies of a qi deviation.

So the System still needs someone with narrative relevance to throw Luo Binghe into the Abyss. In a fit of desperation, it contrives circumstances after Shen Qingqiu's death to move Luo Binghe to An Ding Peak (not that difficult), and then the System makes Shang Qinghua be Luo Binghe's new scum master who casts him down.

Airplane's thrilled, really. Cultivators aren't supposed to get ulcers but damned if he doesn't come close to one anyway. Between Shen Qingqiu and then just a while later Liu Qingge both dying from qi deviations, and Shang Qinghua looking like a stiff breeze could take him out any day now, poor Mu Qingfang is also just about at his wits' end.

But it's not all bad news! On An Ding Peak, Luo Binghe actually finds himself surrounded by the kinds of people who are accustomed to being bullied by the rest of the sect. So they're pretty sympathetic to him, and it's easier for someone with basic laboring skills to advance on that peak too. His chores don't decrease too much, but he actually gets rewarded for doing them well, and no one tries to kick him out of the dorms or anything. Shang Qinghua doesn't either go out of his way to bully or praise Luo Binghe, correctly reasoning that his best shot at not getting a gruesome death is to just be a more forgettable bad guy than an abusive dirtbag or a heart-wrenching betrayal. He doesn't sabotage Luo Binghe's cultivation (no point, and it would just farm resentment later) but he also doesn't go out of his way to help him improve (not gonna arm his inevitable maybe-probably-murderer with better weapons!), so Luo Binghe's situation sees an overall improvement but not the zero-to-hero treatment he'd have got with Shen Yuan either.

When Shang Qinghua shoves Luo Binghe into the Abyss (he just full on picks him up and tosses him like a sack of beans, better to rip it off quick like a bandage), LBH is upset, but he's not especially surprised or dismayed about Shang Qinghua's part in it. Later on he'll be kind of confused, because he just assumed that of course the righteous sect cultivator would abhor the demon, but it turns out Shang Qinghua has been working for a demon since before Luo Binghe even came to the sect? But then it still kind of makes sense because a Heavenly Demon would definitely pose a risk to Mobei Jun and to Mobei Jun's rule. Shang Qinghua, he supposes, is just really loyal to his specific demon.

Luo Binghe's subsequent revenge quest is also somewhat mitigated by the Abyss actually not being that bad.

The Abyss is not actually that bad thanks to the glitched out Shen Yuan having been camping there for several years now.

So when Shen Yuan's transmigration failed it failed because he "woke up" during the process, realized where the System intended to put him, was like no way in goddamn hell am I being that guy about it, and actually kind of won the ensuing tug-of-war. The System couldn't put him in Shen Qingqiu but Shen Yuan didn't want to go back to his dead body either, so he ended up stuck in the nearest available space for lost interdimensional beings. Which was the Endless Abyss.

Luckily Shen Yuan's quasi-transmigrated imparted an equivalent cultivation level as Shen Jiu's to him, and the glitch made him able to sense and manipulate certain extra-dimensional energies, so he manifested as this weird godlike being able to manipulate and control aspects of the Abyss. So he set about transforming Airplane's Torment Nexus into a viable ecosystem (the current version would not be anything approaching sustainable were it not for divine/narrative intervention, and is constantly on the verge of destabilizing into unlivable ruin that would only be fit for some particularly hardy microorganisms).

It's still like, a monster land full of demonic creatures and terrifying phenomenon, but with Shen Yuan's assistance it becomes something more like a demonic wildlife reserve than a dimensional horror plane. Though it is still a dimensional horror plane, and Shen Yuan is its chief dimensional horror. He treats it sort of like those dungeon building or wildlife park sims, figuring out how to keep everything in balance while still preserving all the interesting parts. A lot of the extreme survival issues of the Abyss are more of a result of it being environmentally unstable than a result of its actual denizens, and once he smooths out a lot of the messy dimensional edges and creates stable vents for the fluctuating energy run-off, the demonic inhabits start behaving less like horror movie monsters and more like animals. They're still wild and dangerous and prone to killing one another, but also more cautious, and able to access enough stable resources that they can even start to be picky about what they pursue.

Turns out that a lot of creatures in the Abyss actually don't like fighting and dying and being brutally injured on a regular basis, even if they can heal from it!

Shen Yuan has even discovered that some like chin scritches (he's not terribly worried about habituating them to people, given how rarely any people actually access the Abyss, but also because he's not really all that people-ish himself these days).

This means that one of Luo Binghe's first encounters with the horrible creatures of the Abyss, is in fact a pack of wolf-like monsters thoroughly avoiding an actual fight with him. In fact most of the denizens of the Abyss just avoid him. They can smell the Heavenly Demon energy rolling off of him, and given the current abundance of alternatives to dealing with that, virtually none of the monsters actually choose to challenge him. There are still a few that will go after anything that's bleeding, but that problem stops once Luo Binghe's physiology heals his wounds, which takes like... a couple hours, max.

Despite the stories he's heard, Luo Binghe is relieved to find that the Abyss is not quite so terrible as all that. Normal survival skills suffice for seeing him through much of it. He's able to hunt for food, scavenge for tools, and even finds potable water fairly easily. After a few weeks, he also comes across a ruin which seems to be inhabited.

The being inhabiting it is plainly a god, although he demurs and refutes such assertions whenever Binghe is too frank. He's a strange being, at turns looking like some queer approximation of a human, at other times blinking and winking in and out of existence, in patterns of strange lights and oddly geometrical fire. But he's surprisingly not hostile, letting Binghe rest in his residence, and even directing him towards points of interest. Accompanying him, too, though he seems to think that Binghe doesn't notice the odd almost spiderweb-like patterns that appear on things which he's influencing. The god calls himself The Peerless One, or at least that's what Luo Binghe infers from some writings on the ruin. The Peerless One offers instruction, seemingly without thinking about it, and gets flustered at being addressed by title, so Binghe also begins to refer to him as Shizun after a while.

[diushek]

Shen Yuan who, on a shitty walk through nature with his brothers, finds a sword. It's like, a black, rusty sword, but Shen Yuan is just like, hey!!! It's a sword!!! He keeps it.

And Shen Yuan accidentally acquires a Xin Mo.

He actually obviously doesn't know it's Xin Mo, at first. It's just a pretty silly sword. Xin Mo, of course, can't feed on spiritual energy and be vicious because, well, there's none of that in this world. However, Xin Mo can intrude into Shen Yuan's dreams.

Shen Yuan randomly dreams about the sword spirit telling him about the things can do. Shen Yuan thinks he won't fall asleep again after reading another PIDW update and ignores it.

Shen Yuan has that sword in his house, perhaps next to a sofa where he spends many hours. And Xin Mo, lacking spiritual energy, begins to feed on emotions. It feeds off of Shen Yuan's wild rage when he critiques novels, his frustration when he loses games, his visceral hate when Airplane screws up an update- from the constant and continuous almost repressed excitement of Shen Yuan.

And if Shen Yuan notices that the sword looks like, restoring itself? Well, it's not really that important, I mean... Of course Shen Yuan is going to ignore that until it bites him in the ass.

And it happens. Xin Mo appears again in his dreams; tells him about other worlds where he can have more power if he wields it, about fruits that he can use to obtain health and immortality... Shen Yuan already knows all that shit, he's up to date with PIDW and Xin Mo is the protagonist's golden finger and a vicious thing addicted to sex and blood.

However, the dream he had is insistent and Shen Yuan wakes up and says, well, fuck it... He takes up the sword -which has no rust at all, and in fact does look a bit like Xin Mo from some fanarts- and concentrates on thinking about PIDW. It's not like the sword is going to open a dimensional portal, true?

TRUE???

There is a dimensional portal open in the middle of his living room. Shen Yuan screams, the portal closes and he runs to hide the sword in the closet.

In his dreams, Xin Mo teases him. Isn't he curious about other worlds? Doesn't he want to see monsters beyond his understanding? Doesn't he want to explore the flora of a mystical world? Shen Yuan is too tempted. In the end, he says, fuck it. Buy xianxia tunics online, other glasses with more acceptable frames for the ancient era, gives in to the fact that he will be seen as an outcast because of his short hair and buys a straw hat with a veil, sends a message to his family group not to bother him because he will watch a marathon of One Piece from start to finish and if anyone comes to visit him he will force them to watch it with him- opens the portal and walks through.

It feels disgusting and horribly dizzy. On the other side, there is a forest.

Xin Mo pushes spiritual energy through him as soon as they arrive in that world. Tells him that he is going to need it.

The forest path leads to a village; there, it is clearly a xianxia environment and Shen Yuan is pleased that his robes fit. He trades some vintage-looking pieces of jewelry he bought secondhand for coins of that world and is ready to stay a few days while he finds some spirit fruits or something.

Xin Mo is still an annoying bitch, but Shen Yuan gets used to it. Get his spiritual fruits, start a book of pressed flowers, spend a week of simple and comfortable life missing the internet and sleeping in uncomfortable beds at inns until the spirit fruits do their work, and Shen Yuan wakes up with a strange feeling in his veins and no need to wear glasses.

Xin Mo uses that to his advantage; the stronger Shen Yuan is, the more can influence in him, and the more can feed with the favorite foods blood and sex. Shen Yuan opens a portal back to his room at the end of the week, he answers some overdue messages to prove that he is still alive, and sleeps for a whole day in his bed.

He buys more xianxia clothes online, takes a risk by getting hair extensions to dispense his straw hat, and decides to go back. Just because he wants to continue upgrading his health a bit more, and well, he can cultivate spiritual energy now, right?

It turns out to be difficult. It's difficult to get cultivation manuals and difficult to get instructions. He barely manages to do so in some awkward ways, but discovers that all the cultivation manuals are clearly in the emperor's libraries.

So, he decides that he will pay tribute to Emperor Luo Binghe. He will offer him precious things and his only condition to continue providing that is… to visit his library.

Precious things, of course, are many things that he knows do not exist in that world. Coffee beans, cocoa beans, chocolate in all its forms. He refuses to allow things like tobacco into the world, but he does allow modern spices, modern recipes!!, even cheap jewelry turns out to be a precious thing because, what the hell, of course the world of PIDW wouldn't have the slightest idea what plastic is.

Shen Yuan introduces himself as a prince-diplomatic envoy from another world. His mission is to obtain certain information from this world... and the gifts are a test of the loyalty of the world from which he comes. Shen Yuan hopes that the demon court will be so enthralled by the foolish things he has brought that they will swallow his tale.

Luo Binghe doesn't seem convinced, but agrees.

So Shen Yuan comes every two-three weeks, covers Xin Mo in talismans to conceal it, transforms it into a pocket dagger, and hides it in the inner pockets of the shorts he wears underneath of the xianxia robes. And he brings a lot of gifts with him. He gets a little silly; he buys old-looking glass jars and fills them with hundreds of packets of instant ramen seasoning, and others with the instant ramen noodles. Explains how they are used and distributes them as gifts around the court. Bring candy without its plastic wrappers, more chocolates, chocolate peanuts, chocolate almonds? Chocolate powder! Powdered sugar! Marzipan! He brings makeup and skincare for the wives, and soon they are all wearing the most beautiful and impossible colors.

His chests are full of food from a distant world, their journeys seem to be long to return each time. Shen Yuan continues to learn; he is always under the distant watchful eye of Luo Binghe, but he does not steal any scrolls. He reads, he studies, he learns. His cultivation really improves, his fragile health does too.

Xin Mo is still that insolent and persistent bitch. However, the more Shen Yuan's cultivation improves... that bitch really seems to make more sense to him. As if his words were deeper, as if they settled there. So much resentment, so much pain from so many years, Shen Yuan is an unstable and irascible chaos. His gifts falter, his mood does so more.

Luo Binghe knows something is going on. He knew that this strange "prince" was not normal, but why does he look so corrupted lately? Luo Binghe doesn't know anything about him, where he even comes from, but he's going to find out. Whatever the cost.

[thispatternismine]

Feedback Fest 2024: 10 Fic Recs

It's been a while since I've done any kind of recs list post, so I thought I'd have a go at this. Instead of trying to pick just 10 fics as my favourites (Difficulty level: Impossible!), I decided to base it on which fics seem most overlooked, so I chose fics from my bookmarks that had under 500 kudos

Fandoms included: ATLA, SVSSS, MDZS, Watership Down, Star Wars, Good Omens, Untitled Goose Game All are complete, with a variety of ratings & themes (ranging from chill G to E with archive warnings)

Title: Gabriel & the Great Goose of Terror Fandoms: Good Omens, Untitled Goose Game Pairings: None Rating: G Wordcount: 4,363 Description: A strange package arrives in Heaven. An unnamed angel opens it and finds it empty. Not having the imagination to see what this implies the angel miracles the box away and continues with their daily duties, blissfully unaware that the horror that had originally been hiding in the box has already been unleashed.

Title: The Story of El-ahrairah & the Rabbits of Cloud Recesses Fandoms: Watership Down, MDZS Pairing: Tagged as Wangxian but it's background Rating: G Wordcount: 1,702 Description: The Black Rabbit of Inle and El-ahrairah are both very disappointed in the warren of Cloud Recesses, though for very different reasons.

Title: This Bed of Love Fandom: MDZS Pairing: Wangxian Rating: E Wordcount: 4,513 Description: Wei Wuxian sucks a string of hickies around the base of his throat, a perverse necklace that matches the one Wei Wuxian wears. Lan Wangji can’t help the way the corner of his lips curl at the giggle his husband gives when he draws back to look, happy that they are both enjoying themselves. Day 1 – Coming Untouched

Title: The Element of Change Fandoms: ATLA Pairings: Urzai, Ozai & his family Rating: T (the MCD is for canon character death) Wordcount: 6,862 Description: A think piece on if Ozai had been born a waterbender and how that would change his relationships with his family and, ultimately, his life.

Title: Gratuitous Fandoms: ATLA Pairing: Ozai/prison guards Rating: E (the pairing + rating should tell you all you need to know regarding warnings) Wordcount: 7,757 Description: In another version of events, perhaps, someone comes to his aid. Someone saves him, and he does not have to face degradation again, and again, and again. This is not that story.

Title: About the Acquired Blindness Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: T Wordcount: 891 Description: Shang Qinghua isn't sure if he wants to know if his eye sockets are empty or not. If yes, then it is irreversible. How will he do his job then?

Title: I've Connected the Two Dots Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: None Rating: T (CNTW) Wordcount: 1,242 Description: Airplane has a problem. However, as the Peak Lord of An Ding, he has a lot of practice dealing with problems.

Title: Twilight Sleep, Waking Nightmares Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: M Wordcount: 6,111 Description: An alliance of young cultivators are looking for Xin Mo, and want Mobei-jun to tell them where and how to get it. It goes pretty badly for them, starting with the fact that their demon bindings and truth potions work. How do you torture a demon enough to make them shut up?

Title: Amongst the Crystals Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: G Wordcount: 5,482 Description: Early one morning, Shang Qinghua is awoken by Mobei-Jun and taken somewhere. He doesn't know why, but he figures his King has a good reason. Never could Shang Qinghua predict what lay in wait for him.

Title: The Warm Embrace of Long, Sharp Teeth Fandoms: Star Wars Pairing: Reylo Rating: E Wordcount: 18,847 Description: There are stories on Jakku that every child knows. Younglings who wander off into the cold, barren night and never come back. Ever-shifting monsters, too terrible for the mind to hold. Stay close to the fire, my darling, stay close. Rey knew these stories, too. She just didn't realize she was in one.

[okokbutimagine]

I am glad you liked it!!! Really, it’s so nice to know people actually read my ramblings !!! ❤️

Things in this AU will go pretty accordingly to PIDW canon (pre Abyss at least) except with a less dark Binghe and no papapa with random girls

Binghe will still suffer a lot in the Peak but since now he has SY he is more… tame ?? with the revenge thing? He just doesn’t care about being treated like shit, as long as SY stays by his side

He was so happy and oh so relieved when the whole Meng Mo thing went down and he discovered his demon heritage and not only SY still accepted him but also said he should give his all in training with the dream demon

SY meanwhile is planing and preparing (not like he has anything else to do, “life” as ghost can be kinda boring) for the Abyss, he sees daily how awfully Shen Qingqiu treats Binghe and the System already confirmed he can’t interrupt the Abyss Arc

So he stays by Binghe’s side, motivates him to become strong (to be able to stand the hardships he will encounter before becoming the OP Protagonist) and does his best to learn about different kinds of demons, their weaknesses, specially the ones he read about in the novel and knew Binghe would find/fight

He doesn’t have a body, can’t really interact with objects (like books and manuals) unless *inserts System voice* User is willing to spent 30 B-Point to be able to read the chapter “Fantastic Demons and where to stab them” from a book one disciple left laying around

While Binghe trains, Shen Yuan learns

(This also lead to some very enthusiastic slightly one sided conversations where Yuan goes on and on about some random demon he read about that day while Binghe just looks at him like he is the most precious thing in the world)

Then comes the Immortal Alliance Conference

As always, Shen Yuan is by Binghe’s side, invisible and unheard by all but him

During the whole thing, Yuan is by Binghe’s side, when he rescues would-be harem members (and oh, SY thinks, Binghe must be embarrassed to make any moves while he is here, yes that explains why he is not shoving his tongue down Qin Wanyue’s throat - SY wouldn’t spot a crush on him till it kissed him directly), when Binghe fights (and Yuan remembers him of the weaknesses of that one and how their organs may be used for this or that)

Shen Yuan is also by Luo Binghe’s side when he is standing in the edge, almost falling in the Abyss, with Shen Qingqiu pointing a sword at him and then shoving him

But… Shen Yuan is not by his side when he falls. Nor when he reaches the Abyss.

Not that he doesn’t try but there is some kind of… invisible wall?

A notice from the System explains

“The Abyss Arc can not be interfered with. The Protagonist must go thorough the Abyss alone and acquire Xin Mo for the progression of the plot.”

…what kind of shitty last time rule is this?!??!?

Before Shen Yuan can even process what is happening, the System sends a new notice, saying it would go in hibernation.

Ok. What about Shen Yuan tho?

For the next years, Shen Yuan roams. No one to talk to, no one can even see him, he is just… bored.

(He is also acting like a grieving wife after being so suddenly separated from Binghe but let’s be real no surprise here)

He goes around this world, observing people, creatures, demons. He specially likes the human towns, he can get inside anywhere, see artists performances, hear some gossip, and when he tired of that city, he goes to the next one.

He isn’t sure how much time has passed but for sure some years already? His roaming leads him to a city called Jinlan.

He stays there, he sees the first cases of the Plague, he recognizes the signs of what caused it but he can’t interfere, it’s almost like he is a reader again, just watching the plot unfurling but unlike in a book, watching as dozens of people die in such a terrible manner, there isn’t anything entertaining here

He hears the people from the city commenting on how some cultivators from Huan Hua Palace came to try and help

He also hears that Cang Qiong Mountain sent some of it’s Peak Lords here

He goes to check out who from CQ came and makes a face at spotting Shen Qingqiu as one of them

He can’t do anything really serious against him but… maybe some annoying haunting? That he can certainly do

System: would user like to spent 10 B-Points to interact with object [Shen Qingqiu’s favorite fan]?

SY: hell yeah, I’m gonna drop this in the river- wait a sec, when did your hibernation end?!?

He gets his answer not from the System but when he is following Shen Qingqiu (who is looking for his fan lol) around and they come across the Huan Hua Palace disciples

And there is Luo Binghe, all grown up and… looking ready to kill SQQ on sight

Wait, wait, Binghe! I know you hate him but aren’t you supposed to ruin his reputation and get even more people on your side first?!? Where are your amazing acting skills?!?

(I will continue this later in another reblog, for now have this! Hope you like!)

ok ok but imagine

If something went wrong when Shen Yuan’s soul was supposed to enter Shen Jiu’s body

I always thought that the reason the System picked SY’s from a whole other world wasn’t just bc it wanted him to fix the story but because Shen Jiu had actually died way too soon and without him the story wouldn’t progress, so it picked the most similar soul out there, Shen Yuan, and threw it inside a body whose soul had already left

BUT WHAT IF

Shen Jiu soul had been a little stronger, just enough to survive the qi deviation, but the System had already picked SY soul

Without a body, his soul automatically seeks the power source of the System, of that whole world, the protagonist: Luo Binghe himself!

That’s how Shen Yuan ended up haunting Luo Binghe

Ofc things didn’t go well at first, we have a very confused just-turned-ghost Shen Yuan trying to understand how the fuck is LUO BINGHE from that trash novel here in front of him!! On the other side we have Luo Binghe who really doesn’t know what to do bc this ghost Knows him??? Also it’s not like it’s a vengeful spirit or anything evil, the ghost it’s actually… Really kind to him?

Then their adventure together begins, their “I feel bad for your shit life” and “I don’t really want to exorcise you” feelings turn into a companionship

SY tries to help Binghe improve his cultivation (as much as he can from being invisible and snooping around the peak after any text/manual he finds) in preparation for the Abyss while also being the only person in Binghe’s life to not treat him like shit bc damn that kid really got the Sad Backstory shit going strong

On the other side we have Binghe giving his all in his studies and training to show off make SY proud (and if he also tries to look for a way to get a body for his crush, I mean, ghost friend well-)

Not really sure where to go with this story but some more points:

- No one can see/feel SY, even powerful cultivators, bc of some protection the System put on him so he wouldn’t interfere (more than he already has)

- the System can’t really give SY missions since it’s not like he can do much without a body, most missions are related to getting closer to Binghe

- not a point, I just think it’s funny Binghe now has 2 “I don’t have a body” teachers, SY and Meng Mo

- So story happens bla bla bla Binghe finds out about the Sun Moon Dew Flower and growns a body for SY

- Yay they can finally hold hands!!!

- SQH just panicking in the background during this whole AU bc damn it he did everything RIGHT why was LBH SO DIFFERENT AND WHERE IS HIS HAREM

[bioluminonsense]

#does binghe ever leave the abyss? #probably #does he acquire xin mo to do it? #maybe #does he conquer the world again? #perhaps #does he come running back with tales to tell and presents to offer and theoretical ways for shen yuan to leave the abyss with him? #for sure #though he might also just decide that the abyss is a nice enough place to live when the god of it loves you #'okay shizun I went and conquered the world like you said now can I come home and be shizun's wife?' (via @sunderwight)

Shen Yuan who glitches in his transmigration, but the original Shen Qingqiu still dies of a qi deviation.

So the System still needs someone with narrative relevance to throw Luo Binghe into the Abyss. In a fit of desperation, it contrives circumstances after Shen Qingqiu's death to move Luo Binghe to An Ding Peak (not that difficult), and then the System makes Shang Qinghua be Luo Binghe's new scum master who casts him down.

Airplane's thrilled, really. Cultivators aren't supposed to get ulcers but damned if he doesn't come close to one anyway. Between Shen Qingqiu and then just a while later Liu Qingge both dying from qi deviations, and Shang Qinghua looking like a stiff breeze could take him out any day now, poor Mu Qingfang is also just about at his wits' end.

But it's not all bad news! On An Ding Peak, Luo Binghe actually finds himself surrounded by the kinds of people who are accustomed to being bullied by the rest of the sect. So they're pretty sympathetic to him, and it's easier for someone with basic laboring skills to advance on that peak too. His chores don't decrease too much, but he actually gets rewarded for doing them well, and no one tries to kick him out of the dorms or anything. Shang Qinghua doesn't either go out of his way to bully or praise Luo Binghe, correctly reasoning that his best shot at not getting a gruesome death is to just be a more forgettable bad guy than an abusive dirtbag or a heart-wrenching betrayal. He doesn't sabotage Luo Binghe's cultivation (no point, and it would just farm resentment later) but he also doesn't go out of his way to help him improve (not gonna arm his inevitable maybe-probably-murderer with better weapons!), so Luo Binghe's situation sees an overall improvement but not the zero-to-hero treatment he'd have got with Shen Yuan either.

When Shang Qinghua shoves Luo Binghe into the Abyss (he just full on picks him up and tosses him like a sack of beans, better to rip it off quick like a bandage), LBH is upset, but he's not especially surprised or dismayed about Shang Qinghua's part in it. Later on he'll be kind of confused, because he just assumed that of course the righteous sect cultivator would abhor the demon, but it turns out Shang Qinghua has been working for a demon since before Luo Binghe even came to the sect? But then it still kind of makes sense because a Heavenly Demon would definitely pose a risk to Mobei Jun and to Mobei Jun's rule. Shang Qinghua, he supposes, is just really loyal to his specific demon.

Luo Binghe's subsequent revenge quest is also somewhat mitigated by the Abyss actually not being that bad.

The Abyss is not actually that bad thanks to the glitched out Shen Yuan having been camping there for several years now.

So when Shen Yuan's transmigration failed it failed because he "woke up" during the process, realized where the System intended to put him, was like no way in goddamn hell am I being that guy about it, and actually kind of won the ensuing tug-of-war. The System couldn't put him in Shen Qingqiu but Shen Yuan didn't want to go back to his dead body either, so he ended up stuck in the nearest available space for lost interdimensional beings. Which was the Endless Abyss.

Luckily Shen Yuan's quasi-transmigrated imparted an equivalent cultivation level as Shen Jiu's to him, and the glitch made him able to sense and manipulate certain extra-dimensional energies, so he manifested as this weird godlike being able to manipulate and control aspects of the Abyss. So he set about transforming Airplane's Torment Nexus into a viable ecosystem (the current version would not be anything approaching sustainable were it not for divine/narrative intervention, and is constantly on the verge of destabilizing into unlivable ruin that would only be fit for some particularly hardy microorganisms).

It's still like, a monster land full of demonic creatures and terrifying phenomenon, but with Shen Yuan's assistance it becomes something more like a demonic wildlife reserve than a dimensional horror plane. Though it is still a dimensional horror plane, and Shen Yuan is its chief dimensional horror. He treats it sort of like those dungeon building or wildlife park sims, figuring out how to keep everything in balance while still preserving all the interesting parts. A lot of the extreme survival issues of the Abyss are more of a result of it being environmentally unstable than a result of its actual denizens, and once he smooths out a lot of the messy dimensional edges and creates stable vents for the fluctuating energy run-off, the demonic inhabits start behaving less like horror movie monsters and more like animals. They're still wild and dangerous and prone to killing one another, but also more cautious, and able to access enough stable resources that they can even start to be picky about what they pursue.

Turns out that a lot of creatures in the Abyss actually don't like fighting and dying and being brutally injured on a regular basis, even if they can heal from it!

Shen Yuan has even discovered that some like chin scritches (he's not terribly worried about habituating them to people, given how rarely any people actually access the Abyss, but also because he's not really all that people-ish himself these days).

This means that one of Luo Binghe's first encounters with the horrible creatures of the Abyss, is in fact a pack of wolf-like monsters thoroughly avoiding an actual fight with him. In fact most of the denizens of the Abyss just avoid him. They can smell the Heavenly Demon energy rolling off of him, and given the current abundance of alternatives to dealing with that, virtually none of the monsters actually choose to challenge him. There are still a few that will go after anything that's bleeding, but that problem stops once Luo Binghe's physiology heals his wounds, which takes like... a couple hours, max.

Despite the stories he's heard, Luo Binghe is relieved to find that the Abyss is not quite so terrible as all that. Normal survival skills suffice for seeing him through much of it. He's able to hunt for food, scavenge for tools, and even finds potable water fairly easily. After a few weeks, he also comes across a ruin which seems to be inhabited.

The being inhabiting it is plainly a god, although he demurs and refutes such assertions whenever Binghe is too frank. He's a strange being, at turns looking like some queer approximation of a human, at other times blinking and winking in and out of existence, in patterns of strange lights and oddly geometrical fire. But he's surprisingly not hostile, letting Binghe rest in his residence, and even directing him towards points of interest. Accompanying him, too, though he seems to think that Binghe doesn't notice the odd almost spiderweb-like patterns that appear on things which he's influencing. The god calls himself The Peerless One, or at least that's what Luo Binghe infers from some writings on the ruin. The Peerless One offers instruction, seemingly without thinking about it, and gets flustered at being addressed by title, so Binghe also begins to refer to him as Shizun after a while.