Farewell to the Past

"Honestly, since games are tied to foreign exchange, why not make gaming a school subject? This is discrimination."

Putting on his virtual helmet and looking at the interface before him, Su Shijie skillfully made his selections and entered a game he had always played.

Then, with his current perception, the virtual helmet began syncing with his brainwaves.

Thoughts rooted in his mind began pouring into the virtual world.

But this time, after entering the virtual world, Su Shijie vaguely felt an odd sense of detachment—the distance separating the humanity within his soul core and part of his subconscious human layer from his thoughts.

"Maybe the Star Domain Network, which can only be accessed at the Transformation Tier, is an upgraded version specifically designed to deal with this phenomenon. It might even be directly connected to the ocean of the subconscious, which could give it some special functions."

Su Shijie pondered inwardly.

The four layers of the soul could undergo different variations in different species.

For example, the insectoid race, a sub-civilization of the Earth Federation, had evolved primarily from locusts, cockroaches, ants, and bees. In insectoid civilization, each race usually had only one Hive Mother as its soul core. The insects within the colony shared a subconscious layer, and every independently acting insect was a single thought.

At present, the insectoids mainly lived in Africa. They were attached to human civilization and provided the Earth Federation with semi-processed psionic items through sweatshop-style factories, and...

The two sides were surprisingly united, presenting a united front against outsiders. The insectoids followed humanity's lead and even provided mounts, creating the Earth Federation's unique Bug Knight profession at the Transformation Tier.

Even during exam periods in the past, Su Shijie only devoted part of his attention to studying. For more intensive tutoring, he still had to go home and rely on his little brother and sister. Without this cursed helmet at home, he could study with more focus.

But this time, Su Shijie did not start playing after logging in.

Arriving in the fully immersive virtual world, he woke up in his in-game home. Feeling the smooth touch and warmth beside him, Su Shijie suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

Given Su Shijie's personality, although he used games to grind for money, he would never shortchange himself.

Everything he used was the best he could get his hands on. That vial of potion had been bought with money earned from selling off his obsolete equipment and grinding in-game, all under the lofty excuse that sharpening the knife did not delay chopping wood.

Otherwise, it would not have taken this long.

How could reality be as fun as the game world?

If he did not still want to visit the rumored, even more wondrous Star Domain Network, he probably would have dragged things out even longer.

This time, he had logged in to archive his account.

Aside from his wives, he sold everything that could be sold.

Since he had already made his decision, he needed to make choices and sacrifices.

Though he could not bear to part with the game into which he had poured years of effort, nor the wives of all different styles, he wanted even less to die.

Once Su Shijie made up his mind, he was decisive. What he had not yet sold were all top-tier items, and he also had quite a few friends in the game.

The whole process went quite quickly.

After saying goodbye to his friends one by one and successfully selling off all his top-tier equipment and assets,

Su Shijie gave his virtual wives instructions, gathering them all in the last little house he had left for one final farewell.

Then he logged off.

Back at the virtual helmet's login screen, Su Shijie looked at the string of zeroes in his balance and sighed.

Of course he was reluctant. It was the effort of several years.

God knew how crazy and excited he had been when he first encountered immersive online games. Even now, he vividly remembered that exhilarating feeling of reliving his youth.

But in the end, he still had to say goodbye.

His balance was 4.38 million Credit Points, along with four purchase quotas for Awakened Rank potions.

Although ten purchase quotas for Awakened Rank potions could be exchanged for one purchase quota for a Transformation Tier potion,

Su Shijie, who was no longer planning to use potions, was considering whether he should simply exchange them all for potions.

The market price was one million Credit Points, but because buyers needed purchase qualifications, he could easily sell them at a premium.

One and a half million, or even two million, was possible.

And what was he saving so much money for?

He could buy the flesh and blood of high-level Spirit Beasts to assist his psionic guidance, buy living Spirit Beasts and directly absorb from them, or put out bounties for the locations of Contamination Sources.

As long as one had money, there were many things one could do.

Even a cheaper residence in Prosperous Sky City could be bought for under one million.

A bottle of soda cost only one Credit Point.

Adding the vial his father had brought back for him, once he exchanged his remaining four quotas for potions and sold them, he might have more savings than his father.

Still, Su Shijie planned to go home and ask his father for advice on how exactly to use it.

His experience in this area truly could not compare to his father's.

After wrapping things up with the game, Su Shijie did not force himself to study things he disliked. Instead, he wore his helmet and began psionic guidance.

After guiding for roughly an hour each time until he hit his limit, he would rest for a while and study material that interested him. Once he had recovered, he would continue guiding.

Before breaking through and undergoing a full-body transformation, guidance itself only caused a little soreness and numbness. It was much easier to bear.

Ordinary people might run into all sorts of problems.

But after Su Shijie's soul core awakened, his already excellent talent had become even stronger.

Guidance was as easy as breathing for him. It was efficient, caused no waste, and did not harm his genes.

Combined with the sturdier foundation brought by Bloodline Transformation, he could be more forceful and uninhibited during guidance.

For the rest of the day, Su Shijie sank into a repetitive cycle.

The Influence of Psionic Energy on the Four Fundamental Forces.

Psionic guidance...

Changes Psionic Energy Brings to the Microscopic World.

Psionic guidance...

The Limits of Space.

Psionic guidance...

The Relationship Between Spatial Compression and Curvature Jumps.

Psionic guidance...

On the Possibility of Capturing Images of the Past Through Curvature Jumps.

It had to be said that once he ruthlessly abandoned the game and devoted himself wholeheartedly to one thing, time passed just as quickly.

He had just completed another round of psionic guidance and was about to casually browse some trivia that might interest him when someone patted his shoulder.

He took off his virtual helmet and saw a tall Russian beauty standing beside him.

Azure eyes, soft brown hair, a well-proportioned and tall figure, and a crop-top shapewear outfit with athletic shorts outlining her curvaceous body.

Anna Brin, the commander's daughter.

She was indeed very beautiful, only slightly inferior to his in-game wives. Unfortunately, she had a mouth on her, and she was arrogant beyond belief.

"Were you doing psionic guidance just now?"

Anna Brin looked down at Su Shijie, surprise written all over her face.

"Heh."

Faced with Anna Brin's questioning, Su Shijie merely gave a contemptuous laugh, put down his helmet, rose to his feet, and left.

She was over half a year older than him, yet only Mortal Rank 5.

A useless little brat who was scared of pain and dragged her feet whenever it was time to break through.

Though he had been the same in the past, they were no longer alike now.

Although Su Shijie had little experience with romance in either of his lives, the theoretical knowledge he had accumulated from the internet in his previous life, along with the practical experience his in-game wives had helped him build in this one,

meant he had no intention of acting like some gentleman.

There was nothing wrong with proper courtesy and restraint, but toward someone like Anna Brin—arrogant and always pushing her luck—he had never shown a pleasant face.

They had even fought a few times as children. Hair had been pulled out, noses had been bloodied. Of course, she had always been the first to lose her temper and throw a punch, though he had been injured plenty of times too. Once, her scratches had made him feel like his face was about to be ruined.

And Su Shijie's contemptuous little look, along with that seemingly mocking laugh, somehow made Anna feel as though she were about to explode. Her anger immediately surged.

As the commander's youngest daughter, and with her looks on top of that, her brothers, parents, and classmates had all practically put her on a pedestal.

If she could beat him, she would have clawed at him long ago.

But after suffering a few losses and learning that he really dared to hit her, Anna no longer took the initiative to attack.

This time, she had seen him overestimating himself and attempting psionic guidance, so she had come over to mock him. Yet who could have expected that without even saying much, he could still be this infuriating?

"You've clearly decided to use potions, yet you're pretending to work hard with psionic guidance. Who are you putting on this act for?"

"You don't actually think I'm putting on an act for you, do you?

"You're really full of yourself."

How could Su Shijie, who had lived through the keyboard era, possibly lose to someone like this? That baseless accusation, paired with his look of surprise, nearly made the Russian girl drop dead on the spot.

That sudden emotional swing completely restored Su Shijie from the fatigue of a day's psionic guidance, leaving him a little more energized.

"Also, while you still have a bit of looks now, a bucket waist and elephant legs are an inescapable fate as you get older. Rather than argue with me here, you should go do something meaningful."

After getting up to leave, Su Shijie even gave her this reminder with an earnest expression.

Then he hurriedly went to stand beside his little brother and sister, relying on the protection of two Mortal Tier Level 9 legs in case her knights in shining armor came looking for trouble.

Bai Xinxin could not help looking speechlessly at the ceiling. What a pathetic display.

Still, despite her muttering, she puffed out her chest and stood beside Su Shijie in cooperation.

Unable to out-argue or outfight him, Anna Brin held it in for a long time before finally bursting into tears with a wail. Then she ran out of the classroom, repeatedly saying that she was going to tell her father.

"Brother Shijie, although my sister can be a little unruly at times, as a gentleman, I think you could give way to her a little."

The commander Shegail's third son, Ivan Brin, who looked nothing like a Russian just like his father and had a somewhat scholarly air, came over to mediate. He spoke with a Sichuan accent while calling him the overly refined "Brother Shijie."

"Why should I?"

Su Shijie's words made Ivan choke up, unable to think of a rebuttal.

"Then next time it's rotation duty, you'll probably have to clean the solar panels again."

"As if sucking up to her would mean I wouldn't have to. Heh, privilege dog."

To motivate the Advanced Class students, the shelter assigned rotating work duties every month. Though they were nearing their final exams, there was still one final rotation remaining.

Among them, cleaning solar panels was probably the least popular duty.

They had to climb a hundred-meter-tall tree and cut away all the newly grown branches and leaves covering the solar panels, then clean them thoroughly.

With the Giant Brown Iron Tree's bark and branches tough enough to stop bullets, even its fresh branches and leaves were quite difficult to deal with, much less when working a hundred meters in the air.

Ever since Su Shijie offended Anna, he had always drawn this assignment.

But he had already reached Mortal Rank 7 at the age of twelve, and with proper safety measures in place, this amount of work was nothing...