"Not gonna lie, this knock-off phone isn't half bad. It's not much different from the real thing," mused Zhao Gui, lounging in his room and fiddling with a faux phone he'd just bought from the night market. It was an imitation of an Apple smartphone, looking identical to the real one, but costing mere hundreds of yuan. Upon testing, it seemed that it ran mobile games rather smoothly.
Exiting his game, Zhao Gui logged into his WeChat account. Just as he stepped into the WeChat application, barely having the chance to look around, he was suddenly added to a WeChat group.
"The Guild of Jokers Across All Realms..."
The group name had Zhao Gui bursting out laughing in surprise. Upon glancing at the group members, his brain went into chaos. These people truly had a knack for humor, what is going on? Erlang God, Skybarking Dog, Kitchen God, Stove God, Ox-Head, Horse-Face, Sun Wukong, Supreme Lord Taihang...
Erlang God: The festival at Yaochi is just around the corner, what gifts is everyone preparing?
Sun Wukong: My dear, this old Sun never prepares gifts. My dear, what present are you planning for me?
Erlang God: Monkey, one of these days I'll skin you.
Skybarking Dog: Woof woof woof.
Kitchen God: Enjoy your festival at Yaochi, but poor mortal me is in bad luck.
...
Watching them chat, Zhao Gui began to laugh. This group of jokers was really good at messing about. Smiling, Zhao Gui decided to change his username too, to Silly Innocent God. Seeing the new moniker, he giggled.
Sun Wukong: My dear, hurry up and send a red envelope. Otherwise, at the Yaochi festival, do you believe me if I say I'll roast and eat Skybarking Dog?
Erlang God: Monkey, do you believe me if I say I'll set your Mountain of Flowers and Fruit on fire?
Sun Wukong: Hehe, Skybarking Dog, you'd better send a red envelope or else you're gonna have a bad time...
In the group chat, Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen were locked in a heated argument. Amid their fierce quarreling, the Sky Hound suddenly sent a red envelope. Zhao Gui, who was lurking in the chat, didn't hesitate and immediately grabbed it, prioritizing the red envelope over everything else.
"Congratulations! You have won a pack of dog food from Sky Hound. Would you like to claim it…"
Upon opening the red envelope, a dialog box appeared. Zhao Gui's eyes widened at the sight of it and, without thinking, he clicked 'claim'. Zhao Gui froze on the spot as he clearly felt an extra space existing within his own body. And within this space, a bag of dog food lay peacefully.
With a simple thought, the dog food appeared in Zhao Gui's hand. This bewildered him completely. What on earth was happening? Could anyone explain this to him?
"Could they really be immortals?"
Upon witnessing the lively chatter in the group, Zhao Gui was astounded. As he checked the contents of the other red packets, he discovered that, apart from the dog food he'd received, the rest claimed merits.
Sun Wukong: Lord Lao Zi, you're the slyest among us. Send out red envelopes, and I swear I'll steal from you again.
Lao Zi: You cheeky monkey…
After saying that, Lao Zi sent out a red envelope, and Zhao Gui quickly grabbed one again.
"Congratulations! You've received a Body Strengthening Elixir
A snack concocted by Lord Lao Zi in his spare time for children
. Would you like to claim it…"
The dialog box reappeared, and at this point, Zhao Gui was sure that... Damn! The beings in this group chat are indeed immortals. Damn, since when did immortals start playing WeChat? After calming down, Zhao Gui started to get excited. He was on the path to fortune. Being in the same group chat as these immortals was certainly a lucky break.
Claiming the Body Strengthening Elixir, a golden pill appeared in Zhao Gui’s hand. The pill, shining gold in color, was about the size of a longan, and it gave off a tempting aroma.
"Eating a pill concocted by Lord Lao Zi should be safe, right?"
With this thought, Zhao Gui swallowed, proceeding to pop the golden pill into his mouth. Upon entering his mouth, the pill instantly melted, a warm current flowed down his throat and disseminated within his body.
"Ah…”
Zhao Gui let out a wail, his entire body felt like it was boiling. Dropping his phone, he rushed into the bathroom, turned on the shower and icy cold water cascaded down, turning to vapor once it hit Zhao Gui's heated body.
"It's over, it's over! Am I going to die?"
Peppered with heat, Zhao Gui felt incredibly uncomfortable. Even with the cold shower running, Zhao Gui felt as if he was being boiled alive, like he was locked inside a sauna, with the heat constantly rising.
This continued for an hour before Zhao Gui finally began to return to normal. The room was filled with steam, and Zhao Gui lay weakly, his skin a lobster red.
"No more random eating in the future," he muttered, breathing out a sigh of relief. He slowly got up and then froze in place, staring at his reflection. He couldn't believe the man in the mirror was him. His skin was red and glowing. Looking closer, his physique was striking - with a perfect chest and sleek abs, he was even more attractive than a professional model. However, what was most surprising was his manhood, which was now decidedly more impressive than before.
Looking at himself in the mirror, his skin was smoother than ever, like he had just had a makeover. He exuded a special charm, looking incredibly handsome. His height had also increased by a few centimeters, from 1.75 meters to approximately 1.80 meters now.
"Ha ha, hahaha, hahahaha!"
Zhao Gui roared with laughter, thrilled at his transformation. Who wouldn't want to be so attractive? Zhao Gui was now, with a perfect physique, fair skin, and a face full of charm, he had turned into a total heartthrob.
"What the... that red envelope."
Suddenly remembering, Zhao Gui shot out of the bathroom like a rabbit. Opening his phone, he saw that the group was mysteriously quiet.
"Dear masters, how about giving some attention to my public account? There are rewards for followers."
The last message in the chat group was sent by someone named Le Shen
Goof God
. There was a public account associated with the message. Zhao Gui searched for the account, and sure enough, he found the Goof God's public account.
He clicked follow, and a dialogue box popped up. Before Zhao Gui had a chance to react, a red envelope was sent over. Seeing the red envelope, Zhao Gui laughed and clicked to receive it.
"Congratulations! You've won the Goof God's Notebook. Would you like to accept it?"
The familiar dialogue box appeared and Zhao Gui clicked on 'Receive'. The next moment, Zhao Gui's eyes widened. Nothing appeared within the mysterious space, but his mind was suddenly crammed with a plethora of information. It was as if memories had materialized from thin air, but they were not exactly memories, more like a collection of learned experiences.
After assimilating these "memories", Zhao Gui was astounded. This knowledge was all about music, including the Chinese zither, erhu, guzheng, flute, and xiao...
What surprised Zhao Gui the most was that this knowledge included Western instruments such as the piano, violin, cello, and drum set.
"Holy cow, since when do Eastern immortals have knowledge about these things?"
Zhao Gui swallowed hard, the knowledge of the God of Music was immense, even if he had received this wealth of experience, it would take some time to fully absorb. However, all of this excited him. In this world, knowledge was the most precious thing. He could consider himself overnight rich, transforming from nobody to a musician.