The sensation of his soul being pulled struck him again, but Li Yue was no longer the same as before.
His soul strength, through continuous cultivation, had almost solidified, and he no longer feared the pulling sensation experienced when traversing worlds.
That inexplicable force didn't even cause the slightest change to Li Yue's soul.
However, Li Yue still couldn't tell how much time had passed; it felt like only an instant, yet also like thousands of years, before his soul finally returned to his body.
Opening his eyes again, Li Yue looked around.
Just like his last return, he found himself on an ordinary street.
However, this time, there was no giant fist smashing towards him the moment he arrived.
The surroundings were dim, as if it were late night, and there wasn't a single pedestrian on the street.
It seemed unusually quiet, eerily silent, not even a whisper of wind could be heard.
Li Yue also felt that this world seemed a little different from when he left, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what the feeling was.
"Xiaodai, connect to the network and check what time it is and how long I've been gone."
Li Yue felt the box in his left hand and Annie, whom he was holding in his right, were still there, and he didn't notice any abnormalities.
Then, he instructed Xiaodai.
"Li Yue, have we arrived in another world? Is this the world you spoke of? Why is it so quiet here?"
Annie finally came to her senses.
After all, it was her first time experiencing world-crossing; it was already quite good that she didn't pass out like Li Yue did the first time.
However, the sensation of her soul being forcibly pulled from her body was not pleasant, so Annie still felt a dizzying sensation, as if she had been spun countless times in a tumble dryer.
After hearing Li Yue's voice, Annie couldn't help but open her eyes, only to find that this world looked no different from her previous one, but it seemed a little too quiet.
"Yes, Annie, we've returned safely.
Come on, I'll introduce you to a new friend.
He's a superhero in this world, and he's also incredibly rich.
Let's go extort a meal from him first."
The person Li Yue was referring to was, of course, Tony.
After speaking, Li Yue directly used his superpower, teleporting himself and Annie to Tony's villa.
"Annie, you can sit on the sofa first.
Oh, do you want a drink?"
Li Yue showed no politeness, gesturing for Annie to sit on the sofa and placing the box containing the Compound V sample, which he was holding in his left hand, on the table.
"Jarvis, are you there? Where's Tony now? Inform him that I'm back, and I've brought him some good stuff."
Then, he walked to the familiar refrigerator, took out two cans of drinks, handed one to Annie, and sat on the sofa.
However, Li Yue didn't immediately open his drink; instead, he first spoke to Jarvis, the villa's AI butler.
Yet, after waiting for dozens of seconds, Li Yue was somewhat surprised to find that Jarvis's voice didn't come.
"What's going on?"
"Sir, I feel that this world has undergone indescribable changes."
As Li Yue was utterly astonished, Xiaodai's voice came out.
"Xiaodai, what's wrong? Did you find what I asked you to look up? Why did it take so long? Have you been slacking off?"
Li Yue spoke to Xiaodai with a hint of reproach, but then immediately realized that Xiaodai was an artificial intelligence, so how could it slack off?
If Xiaodai wasn't slacking off, then why hadn't it figured out such a simple question after all this time?
"Sir, I don't know what happened.
I can't connect to the network, but I can receive surrounding network signals, though only a tiny bit, and then the signal mysteriously disappears."
Xiaodai's cute voice was filled with confusion, and Li Yue was also a little surprised after hearing it.
What was going on?
Li Yue couldn't help but fall into deep thought, releasing his spiritual power to carefully sense what changes had occurred, which he hadn't noticed at first.
"Huh? Li Yue, is there something different about the drinks in your world?"
Annie's voice came, interrupting Li Yue's thoughts.
It turned out Annie had just opened the drink Li Yue handed her.
"They're all the same! What's wrong?"
Li Yue didn't take Annie's words to heart.
He had drunk drinks from both worlds, and there was nothing different.
After a perfunctory reply, Li Yue continued to sense what changes had occurred in the world.
"No, Li Yue, look quickly!
Are you sure the drinks in your world look like this?"
Annie suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Li Yue again.
"What's wrong? It's just a drink, how can it be... Holy crap, are you doing magic?"
Li Yue felt a little impatient.
How could a drink be any different?
However, when Li Yue turned his head, the words he wanted to say instantly got stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
Because in front of him, Annie held the opened drink can upside down in the air, yet not a single drop of liquid flowed out.
Then Annie vigorously shook the can, and a long stream of water appeared, but it remained suspended in the air.
There were even large and small bubbles visible within the stream, as if unaffected by gravity.
The scene was incredibly strange.
Li Yue admitted he had never seen such a situation.
Was Annie performing magic?
But how was this kind of magic, where objects seemed to pause, performed?
"No, pause? Time?"
Suddenly, Li Yue had a very bad feeling.
After carefully sensing his surroundings with his spiritual power again, Li Yue finally understood why he had felt strange after returning: the air in this world was no longer flowing.
"Is it really time stop? It seems I need to make a trip to Kamar-Taj."
Li Yue pondered.
If it was truly time stop, then the only one capable of such a feat would be the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, at Kamar-Taj.
"Annie, wait here for a moment.
I'm going to see what's going on."
Li Yue said to Annie, intending to directly use his superpower to go to Kamar-Taj.
"No, I want to come with you."
Annie refused Li Yue's suggestion without even thinking.
"Uh, alright, then you can come with me."
Li Yue thought about it and agreed.
Annie was from another universe, and with the current unknown situation in this world, it wasn't appropriate to leave her alone.
Moreover, Li Yue felt it was necessary to inform the Ancient One, as he had privately brought someone from another universe to Earth.
Li Yue also felt a little guilty at this moment... Kamar-Taj, with its countless ancient buildings, was a sacred place for sorcerers to learn and practice magic.
However, when Li Yue arrived again today, he found that something was different.
Kamar-Taj was incredibly silent now, as if there wasn't a single living soul.
Of course, there were actually quite a few people, but they all stood there like statues, completely motionless.
"Ancient One, are you there?"
Li Yue couldn't help but shout, because he and Annie had just circled Kamar-Taj completely and hadn't seen any trace of the Ancient One.
This made Li Yue feel even worse.
The Ancient One had disappeared too; it seemed the situation was very grim.
"Annie, wait for me here.
I'll be right back!"
Li Yue finished speaking and, without waiting for Annie's reply, directly vanished.
When Li Yue's figure reappeared, he was already in space, looking at the distant azure Earth, dreamy and mysterious.
But the Earth, which should have been slowly rotating, had stopped moving.
Moreover, in one part of the Earth that Li Yue could see, where the sun's rays clearly shone, a black spot, visible to the naked eye, had strangely appeared, and that was New York...
"So it is!"
After a sigh, Li Yue's figure disappeared into space.