Although it was for the sake of sleeping, it was also for a serious purpose. Ethan Brooks had been practicing Wudang’s Turtle Breathing Technique since childhood. In order to better master this skill, he decided to learn some hypnosis as an aid.

The result was that his Turtle Breathing Technique only reached a second-rate level, while his hypnosis had already become top-notch.

What? You say that the Turtle Breathing Technique, this kind of Chinese martial art, only exists in wuxia novels? That’s where you’re wrong—completely wrong. In real life, martial arts do exist, just not as magical as in the novels, where a single palm can topple a building or a single punch can create a crater.

The most mystical aspect of Chinese martial arts is qigong. Only after learning qigong can one truly claim to know Chinese martial arts; otherwise, it’s just flashy moves with no substance—this is what the experts say.

In modern times, due to wars and the movement to eradicate superstition, qigong gradually faded from the public eye. However, many families still passed it down from generation to generation. Ethan Brooks’s family was one such lineage, though with few members. The Turtle Breathing Technique was just an ordinary qigong method, passed down through the generations after Ethan Brooks’s ancestors learned it at Wudang.

Its offensive power wasn’t strong, but it was excellent for holding one’s breath and playing dead. Besides, it was still a form of qigong, so it was definitely good for health. If Ethan Brooks got into a fight, he could easily handle a dozen ordinary people.

Maybe there’s a family like this around you, or maybe your friend is one of them...

Back to the point—if these things weren’t caused by hypnosis, how else could they be explained? Could it be a movie shoot, and someone brought me here for a hidden camera prank?

That must be it!

When Ethan Brooks got out of bed, he found that he was also wearing Western-style clothes—ancient Western clothes, at that. Sure enough, if you’re acting, you need the full set, even down to the costume.

Ethan Brooks walked around the room, searching for hidden cameras, but never found any. Just as he was getting frustrated, he suddenly noticed the door in front of him.

How could I be so stupid? Why not just go out the door instead of looking for cameras in here?

With that thought, Ethan Brooks immediately pulled open the door, and what he saw left him utterly stunned.

A courtyard—a small, old courtyard. Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to surprise Ethan Brooks. A small courtyard like this, with such simple scenery, wouldn’t take much effort to set up.

What shocked him was the scene outside the courtyard. Because the ground here was lower, he could see the buildings outside.

Ancient buildings, all in Western style, and the area was vast—practically a whole city. This wasn’t something you could just build on a whim.

If someone built a whole city just to film a hidden camera show, that would be a bit too dedicated. I’m not Truman—do they really need to go this far?

He opened the courtyard gate and looked at the people passing by on the street. No one noticed his presence. Were these people actors? Was I really so lucky as to become Truman, and this was “The Truman Show”?

Is this blue sky fake too? And those green mountains in the distance—those must be fake as well. I’ve never seen such a clear sky in my life...

Forget it, I’ll just find someone to ask!

But what if that person lies to you? Damn, if he doesn’t tell me who I am, I’ll hypnotize him—he’ll have to spill everything, even when he was weaned.

“Hey, bro, where is this place?” Ethan Brooks casually picked a big guy to ask. This one looked like the brawny, simple-minded type—easy to handle.

“What did you say?” The big guy turned to Ethan Brooks and asked. It wasn’t that he didn’t hear Ethan Brooks, but that he didn’t understand.

“I said, what is this place?” Ethan Brooks asked again.

“I don’t know what tribe’s language you’re speaking. Use the common tongue of the human race,” the big guy said unhappily.

“What do you mean... Wait!” Ethan Brooks realized something was wrong. The big guy was speaking a language he had never heard before. There were plenty of languages in the world he didn’t know, but the strange thing was, he could actually understand what the big guy was saying.

Ethan Brooks fell into deep thought, trying to figure this out!

“Little brother, go home and play—don’t cause trouble!” The big guy, seeing Ethan Brooks like this, left him with a sentence and walked away.

Ethan Brooks subconsciously walked back to the courtyard, pondering everything. As he passed by the water vat in the yard, he suddenly stopped, then backed up to the edge of the vat.

No way, even my face has changed—and for the worse! Ethan Brooks looked at his reflection in the water. There was nothing left of his former appearance. His once incredibly handsome face was gone, replaced by this ghastly look. Luckily, it was still passable; otherwise, I’d fight you bastards to the death.

In fact, Ethan Brooks’s old appearance and his current one weren’t much different—both were slightly above average. To call him handsome was a stretch; he was just okay.

Suddenly, Ethan Brooks saw a red flash in his eyes, and then he fainted.

When Ethan Brooks woke up, it was already night. The first thing he said upon waking was...

“Damn, I actually transmigrated!!”

Chapter 2: Refining Qi with Poison

Ethan Brooks—unexpectedly, the original name of this body was also Ethan Brooks. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe it was like some people say, the parallel worlds theory—there’s a version of yourself in every world.