T.E.R.

T.E.R.

The next morning, at the fortress.

Hearing movement from the bed, Wang Jixuan stopped meditating, returned to a normal seated posture, switched on the desk lamp, and picked up the thick book beside him.

Mechanics: Introduction.

On the spacious bed, Zhou Zhengde opened his eyes blankly. Feeling the cool touch of his bare skin against the blanket, his left hand trembled as it reached toward the bulge in the blanket beside him.

Ah, skin...

He sprang upright, wearing only a pair of briefs, and stared at the figure on the other half of the bed.

Zhou Zhengde first breathed a sigh of relief.

The one lying beside him was Lin Bo. The guy was currently sleeping face-down, also bare-chested.

What the hell?!

Two crisscrossing bolts of lightning seemed to appear behind Zhou Zhengde. His legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees. He had to brace himself against the bed to barely remain standing.

He knew it. Whenever he drank, he got drunk easily, and whenever he got drunk, all sorts of things happened. But this... this... did this count as workplace bullying? Lin Bo was a conservative too. Could it be because of some demand from him, the captain...

Fortunately, Daoist Wang's voice sounded from nearby at just the right time:

"Don't worry. I kept watch the entire time. Nothing uncontrollable happened between you two. Your clothes got dirty, so I washed them for you."

Zhou Zhengde let out a long breath and slumped down beside the bed.

He looked at Wang Jixuan and smiled gratefully.

"Thanks. What did I do after getting drunk last night?"

Wang Jixuan's expression was difficult to describe. Some... rather unbearable images surfaced in his mind. Out of consideration for their friendship, he quietly tore those images to shreds.

Wang Jixuan closed the thick book in his hands, cleared his throat, and said solemnly:

"Last night, you got drunk, held Wei Na's hand, and said a lot of things."

"I held Wei Na's hand? Seriously? Don't joke about that. We used to be a couple, but we've long since drawn a clear line between us."

Zhou Zhengde frowned at Wang Jixuan.

Wang Jixuan pursed his lips, shrugged, and nodded lightly.

Zhou Zhengde lowered his voice. "I really said that?"

"You did."

"What did I say?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I am," Zhou Zhengde said, his expression becoming more earnest and uneasy.

Suppressing a laugh, Wang Jixuan said, "You said you liked her and asked whether she could marry you. The kind of marriage where you both upheld chastity clauses. You could apply for IVF, and you could keep exercising until she reached menopause. Fifty squats every day... I only learned what menopause meant yesterday."

"What... what was her reaction?"

Two flames appeared in Zhou Zhengde's eyes.

"She was deeply moved," Wang Jixuan said sympathetically. "Then she shook her head and refused without the slightest hesitation. She said she liked being free and easy, and she didn't want to have children."

Zhou Zhengde cleared his throat. "Hahaha! I knew it'd turn out like that. Haha, ha... sigh."

He had wanted to hold on a little longer.

But Wang Jixuan had already tossed him a box of tissues.

Zhou Zhengde sniffled, tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle, and tried his best to look carefree.

"It's all in the past. I know. It was all over long ago. I shouldn't have tried to bind her... All right, I'll go first... Buck up and work hard. When I have time in a few days, I'll arrange for you to meet a few conservative girls. It's settled, then. You need some emotional healing..."

Wang Jixuan had just been about to refuse when he suddenly thought of something and slowly nodded.

Daoist Wang said softly, "I can try getting to know them, but I have no plans to start a family for now."

Zhou Zhengde sighed, looking somewhat at a loss. "All right. I'll get dressed first. Sorry for disturbing you... Wait, no. This should be my home, shouldn't it?"

Wang Jixuan closed the book, stood up, and said with a smile, "Then I'll head back and wait for news from that investigation team."

"Go on, get some proper rest. I'll go keep an eye on the war zone investigation team's affairs... You didn't sleep last night?"

"I slept for a while, in the chair," Wang Jixuan said seriously. "I had to make sure that you and Lin Bo didn't actually do anything."

Zhou Zhengde firmly gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll do my best to find you a Pure Soul."

Wang Jixuan straightened the edges of his uniform, tucked the book beneath his arm, slipped his hands into his pockets, lowered his head, and walked out of the Security Captain's dormitory.

Inside his new dormitory.

Wang Jixuan leisurely organized his belongings.

Mu Liang's original work clothes had already been placed in the deepest corner. Using the general credits he had accumulated recently, Wang Jixuan had bought several loose cotton-linen shirts and cropped pants.

He rather liked this casual style of dress.

If I hadn't cultivated, how would I have lived in the mortal world back then?

It was something Daoist Wang had been contemplating lately.

Back in the wooden cabin in Wanlijin's greenhouse district, his cultivation had progressed rather quickly. Though it was still extremely slow compared to his previous life, it was far better than in Middle City.

Why was the spiritual energy on Wanlijin's territory relatively abundant?

Wang Jixuan had naturally investigated this before.

It was not because there were more plants in the greenhouse district, but because of their formulated soil.

Wang Jixuan had studied the matter before. The formulated soil contained some spiritual power, but he did not know its exact source. So he had asked Lin Bo to obtain some for him, then asked Doctor Wei Na to analyze its composition.

He suspected that this formulated soil was still related to Blade Beasts.

One of the ingredients in the formulated soil was very likely...

Blade Beast flesh and blood.

Aside from cultivation, there was actually only one issue Wang Jixuan needed to worry about most right now.

Kong Nu wanted to slice him up.

Wang Jixuan was also waiting for the investigation team sent by the war zone, to see just how capable these "experts" were.

This investigation team was purely a sharp blade Zhou Zhengde had summoned through his powerful connections. Zhou Zhengde already intended to use the team against Kong Nu.

Daoist Wang had also figured something out.

He should make full use of whatever resources he could. For now, he did not possess the hard strength to ignore the rules of the mortal world.

Since Zhou Zhengde had a grandfather who was a general and could suppress all sorts of petty villains, Wang Jixuan would hide here for the time being, cultivate in peace, build up his strength, and find more escape routes.

The only fear was that the tree might wish for peace while the wind refused to stop.

This poor Daoist has looked down on this mortal world too much before.

For now, I should build up my reserves and bide my time, focus on cultivation, broaden my knowledge, and temporarily attach myself to A Force. So long as I do not become too deeply entangled and do not commit evil deeds for them, that will be enough.

One must hold reverence for heaven and earth.

Daoist Wang stretched lazily. Looking at the packed wardrobe, he actually felt a slight sense of accomplishment.

Then he looked toward the miscellaneous items he had sorted out.

T.E.R.

He had seen those three letters again.

Wang Jixuan had already roughly understood their meaning—the name of a virtual songstress somewhere underground in Fortress 76.

Because the fortress prohibited excessive entertainment, T.E.R. could only remain active through some old-fashioned radios. Having debuted only two or three years ago, she had already accumulated a large fanbase in Lower City and Middle City.

Wang Jixuan took the Holographic Music Player and studied it briefly before plugging it in.

A thin Projection Screen appeared above the trapezoidal player box, displaying a string of options. Wang Jixuan tried selecting Radio LIVE · Little River, and an "album cover" appeared in the center of the Projection Screen.

The cover showed a cartoon girl in a slip dress, smiling brightly with her hands behind her back.

A soft female hum flowed from the player, followed by the melody of a solo guitar.

For some reason, Wang Jixuan's mind relaxed.

Oh, a different kind of zither playing.

The clear, gentle female voice began to sing softly. The notes were like flowing water in a little river, drifting back and forth through the modest room.

Wang Jixuan sat on the bed, lowered his head to read, and slightly opened his left hand. A thread of breath emerged and wrapped around the cup, drawing the stainless-steel cup before him. He took two light sips.

This thick basic science book no longer seemed quite so difficult to get through.

[Always thought you'd go see that little river with me / Never expected we'd only take two steps / Before saying there would be no future / Just afraid that my heart loving you would fade away like this / Yet I didn't know how to tell you...]

[After leaving you / I began to Show Off my true heart / Guessing at your unpredictable feelings / Wanting to confirm once more / Whether we could walk to that river / Perhaps I was only afraid my true heart would be buried / And didn't truly want you to accompany me all the way...]

Wang Jixuan smiled with narrowed eyes, letting time flow across the characters before his eyes.

The qi within his body became lazy and gentle. Rather than rushing forward impatiently, it began slowly seeping into places his Dao body had previously been unable to nourish.

When the song ended, the singer spoke. It was that same clear female voice:

"That's all for today's song. I hope you can relax your body and mind after tiring studies and work. Keep it up and live well! We agreed to meet at the concert in the surface city!"

Wang Jixuan looked at the Holographic Player and happened to see the album cover turn forward. The cartoon girl smiled as she made a V sign.

He set down his cup, looked at his palm, brought his fingers together in a Sword Finger, then gently spread them apart.

He laughed silently, shook his head, and continued reading while considering whether this world's machinery could be combined with the Artifact Refining Method.

The Music Player automatically moved on to the next track, all radio recordings from that Virtual Songstress.

Before long, Wang Jixuan discovered that relaxing and enjoying music like this was surprisingly beneficial to cultivating his Dao heart.

How marvelous.

The clear female voice began another soothing song. She seemed to know that her gentle voice could comfort people's hearts, and was doing her best to make use of that gift.

Amid the singing;

Wang Jixuan put down his book, crossed his legs, and began meditating. Scene after scene passed through his mind: towering mountains and flowing water, birdsong and fragrant flowers. There was also a wooden cabin, a patch of darkness, and specks of light slowly gathering toward him.

In the Security Captain's office, Zhou Zhengde held a communicator between his shoulder and cheek, repeatedly agreeing to something as he rapidly wrote down the information he had just received on a sheet of white paper with a ballpoint pen.

In the simple gym beside the Central Medical Room, Wei Na wore yoga pants and a sports tank top. Taking advantage of a lull in the Medical Room's work, she was doing body-sculpting exercises.

Several young men and women passing outside laughed and chatted as they headed toward their respective workstations.

Inside the Psionicist outpost office on the Third Floor of the fortress's Upper City, Kong Nu was viciously berating several lab-coated researchers standing before him. In the corner of the office, a girl in a white dress hugged the teddy bear in her arms tightly, her large eyes carrying a trace of confusion and emptiness...

The fortress's machines continued operating, while the lights of Middle City and Lower City flickered on and off.

"Team Leader! Team Leader Mu Liang!"

Lin Bo's shout pulled Wang Jixuan back from his daze. He removed the newly bought earbuds from his ears.

He was slacking off at his workstation in the Security Office.

Wang Jixuan asked, "What is it? Has that investigation team arrived?"

"Team Leader, don't tell me you forgot you're supposed to meet a cute girl today?"

Lin Bo muttered in a low voice:

"The girl is already here, on the park bench across from the Security Office, behind the central elevator shaft.

"Just do our captain a favor and go talk to her for a bit! She saw your photo and took the initiative to ask to meet you. Her name is Wen Tongtong, a standard conservative. Doctor Wei Na gave her a five-star recommendation.

"Hehe, as long as you go over there in our uniform, this is already half done! With your temperament and looks, you're absolutely unbeatable!"

Wang Jixuan smiled and nodded, closing Mechanics: Advanced before asking again:

"Has that investigation team still not arrived?"

"I heard they'll reach the fortress tonight. They're all genuine frontline combat personnel rotating back from the front for rest! I heard there's even a powerful frontline Psionicist!"

"Fine," Wang Jixuan answered. He raised a hand to straighten his collar, and his light-blue security uniform was immaculate.

To be honest, he had no expectations for a sweet romance. At this stage, his Primordial Yang was even less something he could afford to lose.

First, it was a kind gesture from his friend. Second, he could take the opportunity to experience interacting and getting along with others, in order to refine his heart through the mortal world.

According to the rules here, it would be enough to politely say, "You're wonderful, but we're not suited for each other," later on.

He straightened his uniform collar, casually picked up his holster and fastened it, then strode out of the Security Office.