Chương 1: The La Ferrari Eclipse

Leo Chen didn't expect to transmigrate in a Costco. It was the first day of summer break. Someone on Reddit said the Costco in Milford had restocked the Pokemon 151 booster boxes, so Leo asked his dad to drive him. His dad, who understood nothing about Pokemon but everything about his son's enthusiasm, agreed. The booster boxes were gone. Of course they were. The shelf where they should have been held a single pack of bicycle playing cards and a sign that said "LIMIT 2 PER MEMBER".

Leo stared at the empty shelf for a while.

"Want to go get us some hotdogs?" his dad asked.

"Sure thing, Dad. You want the usual?"

"Diet Coke. And don't skimp on the relish." Leo navigated to the food court and came back with two hotdogs, two sodas, and a sense of mild purpose. He scanned the aisles for his dad. He found him where he always found him. The motorcycle section. Or at least, where the motorcycle section used to be.

"You know Mom would never let you get one of those, right?" Leo called out as he rounded the corner, already picturing his dad staring at the Yamaha display. He stopped. The motorcycles were gone. In their place stood rows of swords. They floated. Each sword hovered at chest height above its own circular display platform, rotating slowly under individual spotlights, the way a dealership would showcase a limited-edition sports car. Leo looked down at the hotdogs in his hands. Still warm. Still real.

He looked back up. The swords were still there. Every single blade was covered in the coolest lines Leo had ever seen. Tiny geometric patterns traced across the steel in paths that folded into themselves, spiraled outward, and reconnected. Every single one of them was unmistakably a weapon designed to kill things. His dad stood in front of one particular sword, hands behind his back, bending forward to get a closer look. Leo looked left. Toilet paper. He looked right. A pallet of Kirkland Signature olive oil.

And in front of him, his dad was admiring a sword. This one was different. A glass display case enclosed it, separated from the rest by a length of velvet rope. The blade was three and a half feet of steel the color of Ferrari red, deep and glossy, and the lines on it burned a brighter white than anything else on display. A small placard sat on the stand below it.

La Ferrari Eclipse Tier 2 Spiritual Steel / Tier 4 Forbidden Formation Array, Foundation Establishment Compatible, Costco Item #4471882"Beautiful, isn't it?" his dad said, without turning around.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Leo stared at the display. Costco was selling swords. Swords that floated. Swords covered in tiny glowing lines that moved as he looked at them.

"Wha..."

"Your mom wants us home by three, I know." His dad didn't look away from the display.

"Did you see her text?" Leo hadn't. He pulled out his phone. The family group chat. His mom. Leo's homeroom teacher coming at 3. Ms Patterson. Come home NOW. David do not let him wander around. I know what you two are doing. It was 12: 57.

"What is that thing?" His dad turned to him.

"This is the La Ferrari Eclipse. This is the dream, Leo. Every Foundation Establishment cultivator who has ever lived has wanted something like this."

"Foundation Establishment," Leo whispered. His dad was using cultivation novel terms. Words that should have existed only in web novels on his phone were now printed on the Costco placard.

"The blade is Tier Two Spiritual Steel," his dad continued.

"Any Foundation Establishment cultivator can lifebond with Tier Two material. But the formations." He tapped the glass lightly.

"Tier Four, Leo. Nascent Soul grade. Inscribed on a blade that everyday cultivators like you and me can buy and use. Do you understand what that means?" Formations. Leo knew that word. Complex arrays of inscribed patterns that channeled spiritual qi to produce specific effects. He'd read about them in dozens of cultivation novels. In the stories, formation masters spent decades learning to draw them. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. But formations were fictional.

Spiritual qi was supposed to be fictional. Now he could see it crawling across the blade with his own two eyes. He reached toward the glass case.

"Hey, hey, hey." His dad caught his wrist and pulled his hand back.

"What are you doing? Those are Nascent Soul formations on that blade. You're still at the Mortal Stage. If that case wasn't there, the qi radiating off those inscriptions alone would fry your meridians." Leo looked at his own hand. Mortal stage. He'd read enough xianxia novels to know the stages of cultivation. Tier One Qi Refining, Tier Two Foundation Establishment, Tier Three Gold Core, and Tier Four Nascent Soul. He didn't even qualify as a Qi Refiner.

"The formations do all the heavy lifting," his dad continued.

"You channel Foundation Establishment divine sense into this thing, and it outputs at high Gold Core. High Gold Core, Leo." Divine sense. In the novels, it was some kind of perception that cultivators developed. Leo made a mental note to look up what it actually meant in this world. His dad finally seemed to register that Leo was holding food.

"Oh, is that mine?" He reached for the hotdog and the Diet Coke and took a large bite while still staring at the sword. A glob of relish fell on his polo shirt. He didn't notice.

"You're going to start cultivating next year," his dad said through a mouthful of hotdog.

"And you'll hit Foundation Establishment easily before college. Easily. I bet if you get into Harvard, your mom would buy you one of these as a graduation gift." Leo was still processing. His dad was eating a $1. 50 Costco hotdog and casually discussing cultivation between bites.

"Remember, don't tell your mom about the hotdogs. She wouldn't want to hear about us eating this stuff." Leo looked at the display case again. His eyes drifted down to the price tag. $1, 199, 999. 97 He choked on air.

"It costs that much?"

"I know, right?" His dad's face lit up.

"It's such a steal. I can't believe Costco has one on sale. Normally you'd pay a few hundred grand more. The Costco buyer must have gotten a bulk deal from the Formation Master."

"This is why we pay the Executive membership." He pointed his hotdog at Leo.

"It pays for itself."

"Dad." Leo looked at the price tag again to make sure he hadn't miscounted the digits.

"Are you sure it's okay to spend this much money?" He didn't know how it had happened. Somehow his dad's excitement had carried him along, and he'd almost forgotten they were discussing a sword that cost more than a house. His dad waved a hand.

"Save money, save money. You sound like your mom. Do you know how much we have saved for your high school? Your college? Your Foundation Establishment Body Refining elixirs? We're fine. We've saved enough." He took another bite of the hotdog and chewed thoughtfully.

"As soon as you graduate college, I'm going to buy one of these, Leo. That's my promise to myself." Leo looked at his dad, and despite the absurdity of everything, felt a warmth in his chest. Different world, different everything, but his dad hadn't changed.

"Dad, I support you. Go for it!" His dad beamed. Then the smile faded. He looked back at the sword, and his expression turned heavier.

"I'd need six months to lifebond with it, though," he said quietly.

"You can't just pick up a flying sword and go. Six months of dedicated meditation." He stared at the slowly rotating blade for a long moment.

"There's no way the firm would let me take six months off." He sounded disappointed, vaguely aware that the life he'd built to afford such a sword was the same life that kept him from using it.

"Maybe when I retire." Then his dad turned to Leo, and something shifted.

"I know," his dad said.

"Yes, Dad?"

"Leo, you'll have summers off. You could lifebond with one of these the summer before college." His dad put both hands on Leo's shoulders.

"And then you can tell me how it feels to fly around on one of these things." The weight of his dad's hands felt a little heavier than usual.

"So you're telling me this will let me fly?" Leo asked.

"Of course it will let you fly! It will let you exhibit the combat power of a Gold Core. This thing is insane, Leo. At this price, it's robbery. Costco is practically giving it away." Leo's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out. The family group chat. His mom. David I swear there is hell to pay if you are still at Costco. Leo needs to be HOME and SHOWERED. His dad read it over his shoulder and winced.

"What time is it?" Leo checked. 1: 12.

"We should go," Leo said. His dad blinked.

"You want to leave?" Leo had never understood why his parents pushed so hard for Exeter. It was just a school. But that was before he walked into a Costco selling flying swords, before he found himself standing in a world filled with spiritual qi. For the first time, he was glad his mom had made him apply to what she called the number one school in the country.

"Yeah, Dad. Let's go home. I want to be ready for this." His dad stared at him, hotdog frozen halfway to his mouth. Then a grin broke across his face, wide and proud and a little surprised.

"That's my boy." He clapped Leo on the shoulder.

"Let's move." Leo should have been more alarmed. Ten minutes ago none of this had been real. Cultivation was fiction, swords didn't float, and his dad was just a guy who dreamed about buying his own motorcycle. But his dad was still his dad. His mom was still screaming at his dad through the family group chat. He was still himself, walking through a warehouse that smelled like concrete and bulk detergent. The only thing that had changed was everything else. Leo had less two hours before Ms.

Patterson arrived, and he intended to spend every minute learning everything he could about the world he'd woken up in. For the first time in fourteen years of being Leo Chen, he wasn't being dragged somewhere by his parents. He was the one in a hurry.