Year

As for the virtual Hen Ren, Xu Ai decided to keep her distance.

For a ruthless person who would bet her life on a breakthrough, Xu Ai felt that with her current abilities, she should continue to hone herself further...

Next, Xu Ai thought about letting the trial space simulate a combat environment, and then...

A neutron star, and Xu Ai died on the spot...

Following that, Xu Ai tried all sorts of simulations, such as simulating pure sci-fi interstellar warfare, fighting directly with warships, or simulating worlds with other power systems, like the Douma Continent...

"This trial function is truly exaggerated..."

Xu Ai looked at herself fighting bloodily in the trial space, feeling somewhat dazed.

She tried disconnecting her consciousness from her main body, and it worked!

Then, she sealed the memories of her consciousness, and that worked too!

She simulated a memory where she had to win or die, and then released Hen Ren...

"I actually fought Hen Ren to a draw in a life-and-death battle? Is this for real!?"

In the trial space, Hen Ren and Xu Ai were in a dense forest, an encounter battle, and the virtual Hen Ren was fighting for her life! Xu Ai was also fighting for her life!

The two went berserk, constantly breaking through their limits, and soon the entire forest was leveled by them...

This battle lasted for nearly a day and a night, moving from the ground to the sky, then into the earth and water, only ending with Hen Ren winning while heavily injured.

After the sub-consciousness died and she reconnected with her main body, all the emotions and memories of that life-and-death struggle flooded into Xu Ai's mind, causing her spirit to tremble uncontrollably...

It took a good while for Xu Ai to recover.

"So this is what a life-and-death battle feels like..."

I never expected that when I fight for my life, I really don't shy away from Hen Ren...

However, if it were a real life-and-death battle, I'd rather not; I don't want to go through that...

Xu Ai moved her mind, and the surrounding aura suddenly became scorching hot.

The triple Fire Domain and the threshold of the Laws of Fire—this was the harvest from 'her' 'life-and-death battle' just now!

"Indeed, there is great terror between life and death; no wonder the quality of human powerhouses always surpasses other races..."

The Virtual Universe is a good thing; it can simulate combat, and although they can all realize this isn't a true life-and-death struggle, it still has some effect.

"Simulation continues, still me, and a life-and-death battle with Hen Ren!"

Xu Ai arranged it again, but unfortunately, it didn't succeed.

Above the trial, a string of time was displayed: 167:59:43...

A 7-day cooldown period?

"Could it be that sealing memories for a life-and-death battle causes certain side effects? That's why the trial limits this kind of continuous operation?"

But thinking about it, when Xu Ai received the insights from the 'fallen' sub-consciousness just now, something was clearly wrong. Although she eventually calmed down, doing it a few more times would definitely lead to trouble!

With that thought, Xu Ai continued her seclusion.

From the inherited memories of Cai Yi, there were a great many secret techniques. Cai Yi was currently working hard on her cultivation, and she was responsible for helping to organize these memories and then summarizing them for Hen Ren.

Hen Ren, meanwhile, was cultivating while deducing her Hen Ren Method.

Time flew by...

On February 28, 2057, the Elite Training Camp opened again.

Old students graduated, and new students joined.

The quota for the Elite Training Camp was fixed, with about 30-40 people graduating and being recruited each year. Two-thirds of these spots were recruited from the Basic Training Camp, and only one-third were selected from the outside world, meaning about 10-14 people.

Among these outside spots, two-thirds belonged to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the Thunder Dojo, while one-third belonged to the military and the HR Alliance. That meant one-eighteenth of the total spots belonged to the HR Alliance, which was only about two or three people.

Most importantly, the HR Alliance was primarily based in Europe and America. As for the families in Huaxia trying to snatch these spots? Don't even think about it; look at the Wang Family of the nine core families in the original story—they couldn't get them either... just obediently go to the Basic Training Camp...

Because of Hen Ren, the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the Thunder Dojo both gave half of their quotas to the military this time, and since the Xu Family didn't have any geniuses, they didn't waste them.

"This is the Elite Training Camp; not bad, right?"

Xu Ai brought Xu Xin and Liu Ting to the entrance of the Elite Training Camp.

Beside them was Jiang Fang.

Because Jiang Fang's parents had long passed away and her husband had died in battle, she was all alone, so Xu Ai and Xu Xin brought her along when they went home for the New Year.

Xu Ai pointed at the Black Dragon Ranking List, and seeing the look of shock on Liu Ting's face at the Black Dragon's eyes, she couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

"Xiao Ting, wake up."

It was better to have Jiang Fang and Xu Xin; they patted Liu Ting on the shoulder to bring her back to her senses.

"Sister Jiang Fang, Sister Xin, thank you."

Liu Ting thanked Jiang Fang and Xu Xin, then stomped hard on Xu Ai's foot!

Xu Ai immediately put on a pained expression, jumping backward repeatedly.

"Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!"

Fine, it didn't actually hurt, but she still had to put on a show. Otherwise, given Liu Ting's personality, she would definitely be relentless and keep going...

"Hmph!"

Liu Ting grabbed Xu Xin and Jiang Fang by the arms, one on each side, and walked straight into the Elite Training Camp without even glancing at Xu Ai.

She had joined the Elite Training Camp!

The reason she was able to secure a spot was entirely due to Hen Ren's influence.

He had asked Hong for one directly, and Hong hadn't said much because the Nine-Fold Domain method Hen Ren had given him had already completely captivated him!

So, no matter what Hen Ren said, Hong would just reply, "Yes, yes, yes, I'll tell the staff (Inspector Wang) about it in a moment..."

And just like that, Liu Ting got in!

As an aside, Thor later ran over to Hong's place to try and mooch off him again...

"Xiao Ai, you've arrived too."

As soon as Janet entered the training camp, she saw Xu Ai hopping around and couldn't help but smile and greet her.

Watching Liu Ting and the others walk in, Xu Ai stopped pretending.

"Hi, Janet."

"What was that all about just now?"

"Don't ask, this is what happens when you offend a woman..."

"Hmm?"

Janet was very confused, but after thinking about it, she guessed it must have been offending Xu Xin. In her impression, only Xu Xin could make Xu Ai suffer a setback.

Although, most of the time, it was Xu Xin who suffered the setback...

"Let's go, let's head in quickly."

Xu Ai pulled Janet along and walked into the Elite Training Camp.

In the month or so that had passed, the training camp hadn't changed much, as even during the New Year holiday, some staff members remained stationed there.

"I'm going to be staying with you guys!"

Liu Ting wasn't about to be polite; she simply dumped her luggage right in Xu Ai and the others' villa.

Xu Xin naturally didn't mind; after all, Liu Ting would come to stay at their place for a while whenever she had nothing better to do.

But Xu Ai was very unhappy. Her two-person world with her sister was gone!

Before she could even refuse, Xu Xin spoke up first:

"Sure, there are plenty of rooms anyway."

"..."

Xu Ai shut her mouth...

"Sister Xin is the best!"

Liu Ting jumped straight into Xu Xin's arms, sat on her lap, and gave her a kiss, which earned her several glares from Xu Ai.

"I really want to live with you guys too."

Janet leaned in front of Xu Ai and said in a coquettish voice.

"Mm, keep dreaming."

Heh, she had already let one wolf into the house, how could she possibly let another one in!?

Xu Ai smiled, grabbed Janet by the back of her collar, walked her to the villa door, gave her a kick on her backside, then clapped her hands and shut the door!

"Seriously..."

Janet rubbed her butt with a resentful expression. Although Xu Ai had used a clever technique and hadn't actually hurt her, it was still very uncomfortable.

Looking at the closed door, Janet thought for a moment, then ran toward Jiang Fang's villa next door.

If she couldn't mooch off Xu Ai directly, mooching off Jiang Fang nearby wasn't a bad alternative!

That way, she could visit Xu Ai's place often and mooch off Xu Ai's Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber!