Evolution - Chapter 162

Chapter 162

After an in-depth exchange of body and soul, Yu Zhiyao was dead tired. Where would she find the energy for wild thoughts?

It was true that she herself wanted to choose the Glazed Immaculate Spirit Body, and it was also true that she had been a little concerned about Ji Changqing's feelings.

Saying she wanted to differentiate into an Alpha was just to scare Ji Changqing; she wasn't looking forward to it at all. But her fear of differentiating into an Omega was real. Even though the Alliance treated Omegas fairly and offered strong protections, her monthly period before evolution had been deadly enough. She had no desire whatsoever to experience a monthly heat.

But Ji Changqing's reaction made her feel that she was truly being treated with the utmost seriousness and was deeply loved. Ji Changqing understood her hesitation and unease, sympathized with her alarm and fear, and would treasure every bit of her affection, treating it with tenderness.

Sometimes, she truly thought Ji Changqing was one of a kind. To have grown up in such a closed, patriarchal environment and suffered so much injustice, yet to have a disposition that wasn't twisted—instead, she was more open and magnanimous than most people, rebellious to an illogical degree.

But for her, it was just right. In fact, they were an even better match now than when they had fallen in love at thirty.

She had finally shed the responsibilities that had once trapped her, and Ji Changqing had discarded her formerly excessive pride—likely a result of transitioning from a writer to an entrepreneur, a process during which she was repeatedly humbled by the real world, making her incredibly thick-skinned.

Both of them had released their true natures and let themselves fly free, which paradoxically allowed them to touch each other's true souls. If something was wrong, they said it, rather than keeping it bottled up and making the other person guess blindly. This made things much more relaxed and pleasant. There was no need to secretly concoct a million different scenarios, get angry alone, and then realize after the fact that things weren't like that at all.

Just like now. After their not-so-serious late-night talk, both of them were very happy.

As for Yu Zhiyao, with her worries gone, it was as if the last time bomb had been defused. She had no more anxieties. She focused on working with Chu Ci every day, making detailed plans for the construction of the Blue Star base.

Since she and Chu Ci would most likely be heading over a year or two later, they had to plan everything in advance and prepare the blueprints. That way, when the first group went over to handle the infrastructure, they could build according to the plans. There shouldn't be too much deviation, right?

Luo Mingsheng and Luo Gengjiu were handpicked by their Big Sister to lead the first wave, guiding the disciples from the various sects of the Seven Realms Cultivation Alliance to Blue Star.

The labor force of the cultivation world was truly all-natural, pollution-free, fantastically fast, and sometimes even more useful than machinery! How could they not take advantage of it?

Because Yu Zhiyao hadn't started cultivating yet, it was quite difficult for her to move around freely on Ten Thousand Swords Peak. So, basically, the three of them would go to the cave residence where Yu Zhiyao and Ji Changqing lived every day, using it as their office.

Cultivators often lost track of time when they got busy. At times like these, Ji Changqing would frequently barge in and shove her public displays of affection down the throats of the three single women.

After all, she was just a fledgling who was sweating it out with the construction team while also diligently attending her morning and evening cultivation classes.

Yu Zhiyao wasn't as durable as they were. If they needed to work overtime, she would rest for a while before coming back to join them. And during those times, Ji Changqing was almost always there. So the three of them often saw Ji Changqing giving Yu Zhiyao massages, washing her hair, and even doing her nails and painting them...

She even had the audacity to glare at them accusingly, as if to say: Don't you know Yu Zhiyao can't overexert her brain? Why are you giving her so much work?!

This shameless flaunting of their affection was simply outrageous.

Big Sister was especially tolerant. Adhering to the fine principle of "put up or shut up," she press-ganged Ji Changqing into service, making her work so Yu Zhiyao could rest.

The move was breathtaking, very much in the style of "break up one couple if you can" and "just say no to PDA." The message was clear: one of you has to work for me, don't even think about being all lovey-dovey over there while we're toiling away.

Although Ji Changqing's work efficiency in this area was far lower than Yu Zhiyao's, it was better than nothing.

With that, Ji Changqing quieted down quite a bit. But then Yu Zhiyao became the one insisting on feeding them PDA! She said, "I don't like being idle by myself. Let's work together! We can finish faster that way."

Of course, no one would refuse her! In fact, they couldn't have been happier!

But Big Sister was very worried about Ji Changqing's cultivation progress, hating the iron for not becoming steel. "With your aptitude, you should be taking advantage of your time on Ten Thousand Swords Peak to work hard and raise your cultivation level. If you keep this up, Yu Zhiyao might even reach Core Formation before you!"

With Ji Changqing's lousy aptitude, reaching Nascent Soul on a place like Ten Thousand Swords Peak was no problem. Spirit Transformation would be a bit difficult, but if she gathered enough rare treasures, she could probably brute-force her way there.

Ji Changqing wasn't flustered at all. She just grinned cheekily. Hearing that Yu Zhiyao might reach Core Formation before her didn't make her feel like a slacker in the slightest. She was perfectly cheerful, right up until the day she mysteriously asked Big Sister, "When we're at the same cultivation level, we can start dual cultivation, right?!"

Chu Ci felt as if she'd been struck by lightning! She was dumb as a wooden chicken!

Holy crap, why did she have a junior sister like this?!

For a moment, she didn't know whether to scold her for always looking for crooked shortcuts or praise her for being so darn clever.

Dual cultivation was a legitimate practice, not some disgusting plundering technique. It was just that among cultivators who became Dao Companions, few were willing to dual cultivate unless both parties had solemnly sworn a Dao oath recognized by the heavens. This was because vigilance against others was second nature. During dual cultivation, one's spiritual energy and meridians were completely open to their partner. If the other person had malicious intent, it was extremely easy to be severely injured.

She could scold her for taking a crooked path, but she and Yu Zhiyao were mutually in love and deeply affectionate. For them, dual cultivation was a normal course of action; not dual cultivating would be abnormal.

But praise her? She really couldn't swallow her pride on this one! What was the difference between this and the "I don't want to work hard anymore" mentality? It was just a clever shortcut.

Chu Ci calmed herself down, countless thoughts racing through her mind. Fine. They're in love, and dual cultivation is normal for them. In that case, I might as well find them a decent dual cultivation manual!

She tried hard to console herself. In any case, they were sincere with each other, and Yu Zhiyao's spirit body was special. If they dual cultivated, it might even further improve Ji Changqing's aptitude. Brute-forcing a breakthrough with rare treasures was also using external help, and so was dual cultivation. The latter didn't even have any side effects. It was a good thing!

A good thing, my ass! In the end, Big Sister still gave Ji Changqing a sound beating. Only after repeatedly warning her that they absolutely had to be in the same major realm to dual cultivate did she hastily shove the manual at her.

A year later, Major General Xie'er returned with the official approval for the project proposal. Her face was dark. Those people had said something about "not bothering two masters for one matter"—since it was Xie'er who made the suggestion and served as guarantor, and she was already a familiar face to the cultivators, she might as well deliver the approval documents and escort them to Blue Star!

Bah! A bunch of shameless bastards! Wasn't it just because she'd snatched the biggest prize, and now those shameless fools didn't want to spend a huge amount of time on a round trip just to pick up some scraps?! Their excuses were prettier than any song!

This time, Luo Mingsheng and Luo Gengjiu led a team of seven thousand cultivators on the journey to Blue Star.

He Yi and the six others from the Academy of Sciences decided to stay on Ten Thousand Swords Peak, since Yu Zhiyao couldn't leave yet. The first wave was focused on large-scale infrastructure construction, which didn't have much to do with them anyway. By staying on Ten Thousand Swords Peak, they could continue their studies, learn more about the theories of the cultivation system, continue their related research, or prepare for future research topics.

What's more, Chu Ci had said that when the time came, they wouldn't take a starship. Yunbao would fly them directly across the stars to Blue Star. For a group of researchers, was there anything special about a starship? Not really! But to travel via Yunbao, protected by Chu Ci, able to cruise through the cosmos without any protective gear—how cool was that!

They practically begged and pleaded, insisting that everyone had to experience this unscientific, fantastical event together!

Chu Ci thought about it and decided to let them stay. No matter where they were, these people were diligent workers, contributing to the reconstruction of her Lingyun Peak. Six researchers, plus He Yi, Yu Zhiyao, and Ji Changqing—nine people in total. She could protect them. As for Gu Jiawen and Shen Guiqing, their cultivation levels were high enough that they didn't need her protection; they could even take turns with her.

Seven months after the first wave departed, Gu Jiawen had successfully refined the pill using the ninth-grade Heaven's Heart Lotus. Shen Guiqing's long-term regimen of medicinal cuisine had also conditioned Yu Zhiyao's body to its optimal state.

It was time to resolve the issue with her constitution.

Chu Ci was very cautious, checking and rechecking every required spirit herb, spiritual material, and finished pill.

Shen Guiqing prepared the body-tempering solution and placed Yu Zhiyao into a cauldron. "Repairing your spirit body, eliminating impurities, and suppressing the other evolutionary path will all be very painful. This cauldron contains a wisp of Glazed Pure Fire. It will help rapidly refine the medicinal power to speed up the process. Also, because it has a natural affinity with the Glazed Immaculate Spirit Body, it can also alleviate the pain."

Yu Zhiyao foolishly believed her!

Then, she entered the cauldron. As the solution began to steam, she didn't feel much, just a slight stinging. But when Chu Ci fed her the pill, dissolved it with spiritual energy, and began guiding it to temper her tendons, refine her bones, cleanse her blood, and wash her marrow, the pain was so intense she couldn't even scream.

What kind of torture was this? It was like countless tiny drills boring into her body without anesthetic, like being flayed by a thousand knives, scraping the flesh from her bones. Her flesh, bones, tendons, and blood were all treated equally, none spared as the impurities were slowly purged from them.

Outside, Ji Changqing, who had once suffered through a body-tempering medicinal bath herself, was like a novice husband waiting anxiously outside the delivery room, helpless and pacing restlessly. She was waiting for Yu Zhiyao to successfully overcome this trial and emerge into a world of boundless possibilities.

Inside, Yu Zhiyao—who had always been calm and composed, who was powerful and captivating in Ji Changqing's eyes—was screaming "Holy crap!" so loud in her mind it broke through the heavens.

Right now, she was filled with regret. She regretted that when Chu Ci had asked if she was sure she wanted to choose the Glazed Immaculate Spirit Body and walk the path of cultivation, she had said yes.

Chu Ci had clearly told her that choosing the ABO evolutionary path wouldn't be too difficult or too painful, but choosing the Glazed Immaculate Spirit Body would be a hundred, even a thousand times more agonizing.

She had chosen the latter, believing that a hundred or a thousand times the pain was nothing compared to the terror of losing herself.

Before starting, Chu Ci had also reminded her that simply severing the factors of the ABO evolutionary path wasn't difficult. But if she chose to convert them to repair her Glazed Immaculate Spirit Body, it would make the body even more perfect—the process would just be a little more painful than simply severing them.

She had thought, I've already chosen something a hundred or a thousand times more painful, what's a little bit more?

And this was the result.

Although she had never experienced the pain of childbirth, said to be the greatest pain known to humankind, the agony she was in now was probably enough to cover giving birth to ten—no, a hundred children!

The only saving grace was that she had chosen to do this on Ten Thousand Swords Peak. If she had made another wrong choice and done it on Blue Star, enduring a month of this agony, the excessive pain would have probably killed her long before the genetic conflict was resolved.

Chu Ci hadn't deceived her. After about four hours, just as beads of sweat began to form on Chu Ci's forehead, the torture ended!

She thought it was an illusion, that she had simply gone numb from the extreme pain. But then Chu Ci gently reminded her, "While the medicinal power is still active, listen to my incantation and follow the way I guide my spiritual energy. Begin cultivating!"

Only then did she realize she had truly made it through.

Chu Ci circulated her spiritual energy for one cycle, then watched as Yu Zhiyao completed a full cycle on her own. Satisfied, she withdrew her hand. "Cultivate for a while longer. You can stop once the medicinal power has been fully digested and absorbed."

This cultivation session lasted for nearly another two hours. When she felt the medicinal power finally fade and stopped, she felt a strange sense of wonder, as if the entire world was different.

She hadn't eaten for nearly six hours. Normally, she should have been dizzy with hunger, but now she only felt hungry. Her body felt no discomfort at all; in fact, she felt better than she ever had before.

Just as she was marveling at this, Ji Changqing swept in like a gust of wind, her face a mask of unconcealed worry. "How are you? Was it very painful? You worked so hard!"

That expression, that tone, and those words—for a moment, it really seemed as if she were a husband in the delivery room, completely focused on his wife. If there wasn't a baby around, Yu Zhiyao might have mistakenly thought she had actually just given birth.

She was mentally a bit tired now, but her body was in excellent condition. She wasn't a truly weakened new mother, but when Ji Changqing diligently cleaned her up and helped her change, she was happy to be waited on.

She even complained coquettishly, "That was just too painful. It hurt so much I couldn't even scream. They say the pain of childbirth is the worst a human can experience, but I feel like what I just went through hurt more than giving birth to ten or even a hundred children combined!"

Ji Changqing lowered her head, kissed her lovingly, and swept her up in a princess carry. "You said the pain of childbirth is the worst a human can experience," she said nonchalantly. "But you're probably not human anymore, are you? A normal human couldn't have withstood that kind of pain. They would have died long ago."

She actually called her non-human! Yu Zhiyao glared at Ji Changqing, murder in her eyes. She wrapped her hands around her neck and pretended to squeeze. "I'll kill you!"

Ji Changqing held her and burst out laughing.

But wasn't it true? After evolution, everyone's training in physique and mental power was already different from before, let alone after starting cultivation.

Before, someone with a kitchen knife could run rampant in the streets. Now, a knife like that couldn't even break their skin.

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