Evolution - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
After Ji Changqing and The First’s physical bodies disappeared from the instance, the game interface displayed a progress bar: Reversal Value 99%. The two remained in the cultivation world in a soul-like state, watching their Big Sister go on a rampage. It wasn’t until Chu Ci broke through to the Void Refining stage that the progress bar shot to 100%, and they were unceremoniously ejected from the instance.
Both of them felt a little wistful and didn’t even have the heart to examine their mission rewards.
“It’s over just like that?” The First murmured. Even though she had constantly reminded herself that “they’re just NPCs,” they had spent over two hundred years together. People have feelings, and bonds are forged through time. Slowly, it began to feel as if they had truly been born in that world, and the people around them were fellow disciples with whom they could entrust their very lives.
Ji Changqing also had trouble snapping out of it. “Yeah. I’m actually a little sad to see it end.”
The First felt a tightness in her chest.
It was said that cultivators were emotionally detached, but before their “deaths,” they had seen the reddened eyes of their sect-mates and the tears that fell from their Big Sister’s eyes.
Unable to immediately lift their spirits, the two didn’t log out of the game. Instead, they found a place to sit and drink tea.
“Big Sister saw us at the end, right?” After two cups of tea, The First couldn’t help but seek confirmation from Ji Changqing.
Previously, after slaughtering hundreds, Chu Ci’s killing intent had grown heavy and she had become increasingly violent. They had worried she was on the verge of demonic cultivation. Then, they watched in astonishment as the heavenly tribulations for her advancement descended, each fiercer than the last. And each time, their Big Sister, filled with an unventable, world-shattering rage, proactively met the tribulation head-on and scattered it with a single sword strike.
The two had never so directly witnessed their Big Sister’s power—a strength that could dominate the entire cultivation world.
After the tribulation passed, the violent aura and killing intent seemed to have been cleansed away.
Once her breakthrough was complete, Chu Ci glanced in the direction they were floating. What a gaze it was—cold and indifferent, majestic and noble, yet behind the depths of her eyes lay an endless sorrow.
Her gaze landed lightly in their direction, yet even their soul-like bodies in their ghostly state felt a heavy pressure.
With just that one look, they were kicked out of the instance. That was why The First couldn’t shake the feeling that she might have been overthinking things.
Ji Changqing opened her personal page and tapped a white jade medal within. “See if you have a white jade medal too.”
The First opened hers and gasped. “Tianyi Sect, Lingyun Peak, Grand Virtue Medal?”
“I think I remember this being the highest-level medal in the Tianyi Sect?!” Ji Changqing was also baffled. The holder of this medal could enter the Tianyi Sect directly and receive the treatment of a direct disciple.
But what use was it to them? An instance could only be entered once.
Unable to figure it out, they set the matter aside. As their emotions gradually settled, they began to wonder: could the cultivation techniques from the instance be practiced in the real world?
There’s no time like the present. They decided to log off and give it a try.
Due to the adjusted time flow, they had spent over two hundred years in the instance, but in reality, only a little over two days had passed.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
Looking at the undulating skyline of buildings outside her window, Ji Changqing finally felt the tangible reality that the other world had been nothing but an illusory dream. She silently washed up and ate, a sense of unease growing within her. Her taste buds, spoiled by Shen Guiqing’s meticulously prepared spirit food, now found everything bland and difficult to swallow.
She mechanically forced herself to eat until she was full, then collapsed onto her large, comfortable bed. Sleep, just sleep. Everything will be better after I wake up.
She awoke to the deep of night. Ji Changqing felt dazed, and the motion of opening her phone felt strangely unfamiliar. Flashes of her dreams were all about the cultivation world; it seemed the aftereffects of the instance wouldn’t fade so easily.
After all, she had lived there with genuine feelings for over two hundred years. In terms of sheer duration, the real world couldn’t compare. It wasn’t just using her phone that felt strange; she felt a subtle sense of alienation from the entire real world.
Even the faces of her family and friends had grown blurry.
Not caring whether it was wrong to bother someone in the middle of the night, she decisively dialed Xue Hong.
Xue Hong was already asleep. She grumbled and cursed but ultimately resigned herself to her fate and told Ji Changqing to get her ass over there.
“What was your building and apartment number again?”
“Have you gone senile already?”
“Oh, I was too absorbed in the game. I can’t remember for a moment.”
Mentally exhausted, Xue Hong recited the address, deeply regretting her decision all those years ago to buy a place so close by.
“I’m hungry. Can you cook up whatever you have for me?” Ji Changqing whined over the phone. “I’ve only got a few steaks here. I’ll bring them over in a bit.”
Fine. Xue Hong thought numbly. She’d get some instant food ready, prepare the steaks, and there was also a chicken. It was too late to stew it, so she’d just have to eat it poached.
By the time Ji Changqing finally dawdled over, a full pot of instant dumplings was boiling in the kitchen. Too lazy to serve them, Xue Hong brought the entire pot to the table. The steaks still needed time to defrost, so she sat and watched Ji Changqing eat, making idle chit-chat.
But what was up with this psycho, looking up at her every couple of bites? Was she using her good looks as an appetizer?
“Are you nuts?! Why are you looking at me with that creepy expression?” Xue Hong was getting seriously creeped out. Something felt off. After a moment’s thought, she realized—holy shit! The posture, the gaze, the expression… wasn’t it exactly how one would study a funeral portrait?!
Afraid Xue Hong would take the food away—she only had three steaks, and at this hour, all the delivery services were closed—Ji Changqing quickly polished off the dumplings. She let out a long, melancholy sigh. “It’s just… I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long, I’d almost forgotten what you look like.”
Xue Hong rolled her eyes. This woman was seriously unwell. Haven’t seen me in a long time? Was the person she’d seen just the other day a ghost?
The aroma of chicken wafted from the kitchen. She couldn’t be bothered to argue with Ji Changqing. Just let her eat and shut up!
After devouring a pot of instant dumplings, finishing off a chicken, and downing five steaks, Ji Changqing sighed in satisfaction. Watching Xue Hong emerge from the clean kitchen, yawning and telling her to get lost—and to remember to restock both refrigerators tomorrow—this dose of real, down-to-earth life finally gave her a sense of being grounded.
Full and with nothing to do, she began to try practicing the cultivation techniques from the instance. She struggled until dawn, finally forced to admit that Blue Star must have very little spiritual energy—even less than the mortal realm in the cultivation world.
As dawn approached, an idea struck her. She changed her clothes, grabbed her car keys, and drove to a nearby lakeside park. Finding a secluded spot, she first went through a round of physique techniques to warm up, then assumed her stance and began practicing the method their Big Sister had modified for her, a combination of physique techniques and a sword cultivator’s body tempering art.
As she practiced, a familiar trace of qi finally appeared in her body. Her eyes lit up. With great difficulty, she guided it, attempting to break through her acupoints.
In a place lacking spiritual energy, cultivating internal spiritual power was difficult. However, techniques that used qi to temper one’s muscles and bones were still viable, especially this particular set that had been modified for them. It relied more on the primordial qi of the rising sun than on ambient spiritual energy.
Although her progress was less than one percent of what it had been, and it was excruciatingly painful, she was content just to be able to cultivate at all.
She continued until the sun was high and the sky was bright. It was almost time for work, and more people were beginning to pass by, so she finally stopped.
Back home, she took a quick shower and eagerly logged into the game to share the good news with The First.
The First’s spirits were even lower than hers. Scientific research in the cultivation world and in the real world were two completely different beasts. Adjusting was much harder for her than for Ji Changqing—after all, research was her job, her life.
“Hey, I think you should take a vacation,” Ji Changqing said, her thoughts clear. “For one, you can think about whether any of your research from the instance can be applied in the real world. And two, we’ve entered the interstellar age. Other civilizations’ technology might be several levels higher. You might have to learn everything from scratch and ascend directly.”
“You’re right.” The First’s spirits lifted a little. She had looked forward to the technology of the interstellar age, but she had entered the instance not long after, and a dream that lasted several hundred years had left her unable to snap back to reality right away.
Ji Changqing shared the good news that her body tempering technique was practicable. “The speed is only about one percent of what it was, but you should pick yours up and start practicing, too. It’ll definitely be beneficial.”
The First readily agreed.
The two went to queue for mental power training and unexpectedly discovered the greatest gift from the instance: their mental power had increased significantly, and their training speed was markedly faster.
The First, who was still hovering at Physique Level 1 and had just barely touched the edge of Level 2, also received a discouraging suggestion: because her mental power was three levels higher than her physique, it was recommended that she strengthen her physique training.
No wonder she had felt so tired the past couple of days. Her soul was running too fast for her body to keep up.
The two conferred for a long time and tentatively decided to spend a month digesting everything from the instance. In any case, not many people had completed the second stage yet, so it was highly likely they would have to wait a long time for the third.
A week later, the two, who were engrossed in their training, received a system message. It instructed those who had successfully passed the second stage to report to a designated university on September 1st to study courses related to the Galactic Interstellar Alliance.
“Wow, they move fast,” The First remarked, tapping the “admission notice.” She was filled with emotion and eager to start. The only downside was that the arrangement was for everyone to attend the nearest university. If they could have studied together, she could have discussed cultivation problems with Ji Changqing in person.
However, she did run into Zhong Lan. Although Zhong Lan hadn’t managed to team up with them for the second stage, her luck held out. She successfully passed it just before the term began and secured a spot.
The venues were provided by various universities, but the buildings and furnishings were brand new. It was clear that a section of each campus had been specially set aside and rebuilt. On the first day of registration, the first thing they learned was how to use the equipment in the classrooms, dormitories, and training rooms.
It was obvious that everything was built according to the Galactic Interstellar Alliance’s educational model, filled with technology far beyond anything on Blue Star.
The classrooms were relatively simple. Student seats encircled a central teacher’s podium, and in front of each seat was a row of buttons for selecting courses or taking exams. All classwork and tests were conducted there.
The dormitories were all single rooms, each equipped with a high-end game pod, a bed, and a sofa. All appliances were smart and voice-controlled. Aside from tidying clothes and making the bed, every other chore was automated. Was the bathroom wet after a shower? No problem. Just say, “Clean bathroom,” on your way out.
In under five minutes, the automatic cleaning and drying cycle would complete, leaving not a single water stain behind.
If you wanted to have a small gathering with friends and needed more space, that was no problem either. Just tell the smart butler, “Party mode,” and the sofa and bed would automatically retract against the wall, freeing up plenty of room.
It was a godsend for the chronically lazy.
You could even choose your shower mode: waterless ultrasonic cleaning, sauna showers—they had it all.
Everyone was howling with excitement. What kind of divine dormitory was this? No, that was an understatement. How could this even be called a dormitory? It was a real-life Transformer!
The training rooms, however, were more brutal. In addition to mandatory physique training—which you couldn’t leave until you performed the exercises correctly or met your target—there was gravity training, mental power training, and more. The variety was dazzling, and the more they learned, the more they pitied themselves.
The orientation teacher repeatedly emphasized that this was a fully enclosed study program. It would generally take six months to a year to complete, depending on individual progress, and no one could leave before finishing. Furthermore, any gatherings in the dorm rooms required advance registration of the time and number of attendees.
No one paid much attention to this. You could leave early once you finished, so what was the big deal?
After thoroughly adhering to the “say important things three times” rule, the teacher gave this group of older “students”—who looked completely unconcerned and had totally missed the point—a pitying glance.
Silly children, you’re wrong. So very wrong. This is a big deal, bigger than any of you can possibly imagine!
So big that by the time you walk out of here, your entire worldview will be shattered!
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