A Teacher for a Day, a Father for Life

There is an electronic screen at the entrance where you can select the smart mode.

Li Shutong said, "First, switch to sleep mode."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room darkened, with only a few dim yellow stripes of light on the floor, the light being exceptionally soft.

Li Shutong said, "First, switch to white noise sleep mode."

The next moment, the entire floor-to-ceiling glass changed shape. Qing Chen saw raindrops hitting the glass, and the sound of rain, deep yet clear, came from inside the room.

With the constant temperature in the room, Qing Chen felt as if he were in the rain of autumn, perfect for sleeping soundly under a summer quilt.

"Let's switch to white noise mode," Li Shutong said.

The floor-to-ceiling windows are no longer transparent; instead, they resemble a giant holographic screen, and the scene changes from a rainy day to a fireplace.

Firewood burned in the vintage fireplace, and a soft crackling sound filled the room.

Li Shutong smiled and looked at Qing Chen: "The Qing family has used neural network technology to increase human wakefulness time, but ironically, people in this era need sleep more and more. Falling asleep has become a luxury for many people."

"Master, these must be expensive, right?" Qing Chen asked. "When we came here, I noticed that the buildings in District 6 were quite old and the environment wasn't very clean. The interior decoration of this house is somewhat out of place with the buildings outside."

"Hmm," Li Shutong nodded, "Although I want to buy you a house, the problem is that I can't buy you one that's too flashy and attracts too much attention. The location in District 6 is just right; it's not in the Lower Three Districts, but you can enter the Upper Third District at any time. To be honest, it's quite embarrassing that the first house your master gave you was so ordinary, so I had Li Dongze find someone to renovate it so that it wouldn't look so dilapidated."

Qing Chen fell silent.

The father in the Outer World had just sold his house, and then the master in the Inner World gave him one as a gift.

Li Shutong said, "Don't worry about people finding out about your relationship with Heng Society. Li Dongze knows what's important. The expenses for buying the house and decorating it won't be traced back to Heng Society or the Knight."

"Master," Qing Chen asked, "Why did you suddenly buy me a house?"

"Oh, you're asking about that?" Li Shutong thought for a moment and replied, "Heng Society actually controls a group of Time Walker. Although we haven't figured out what to do with them yet, we can't let them cause trouble everywhere. I asked Li Dongze to ask those Time Walker what a father should do when his son comes of age in the Outer World. 89 Time Walker said that a father should prepare a house for his son so that he can find a wife... Most young people in the Inner World rent houses. Although I don't know why you need a house to find a wife, it's never wrong to prepare one for you."

Qing Chen stared blankly at the middle-aged man in front of him.

He originally thought that his master had secretly brought him back to City No. 18 to do something earth-shattering, but he didn't expect that the other party just wanted to show him the newly bought house.

Shouldn't a person like Li Shutong be able to accomplish earth-shattering feats with the slightest gesture?

How can we waste time on such trivial family matters?

Qing Chen recalled the words his master had spoken to him by the campfire that night before they entered Forbidden Zone No. 002: "What others have, my student must also have."

After learning that he had broken ties with his father, the other party took the initiative to assume the responsibilities of being a father.

A teacher for a day is a father for life.

But when others control the Time Walker, they devise Purge Plan. Yet, after his master takes control of the Time Walker, he asks such a pointless question.

Those Time Walker would probably be quite shocked.

Qing Chen looked at Li Shutong, who seemed to feel somewhat guilty because the house he was given wasn't good enough.

Li Shutong said, "You can stay in this house for now. You'll need to keep a low profile for a long time to come, so this place is more suitable. However, I've also prepared a safe house for you in Room 2013 of the Qingyang Building in District 1. If you encounter danger, you can take refuge there. The room code is 010101, and your incarceration number is..."

After saying that, Li Shutong placed another ID card on the shoe cabinet. "Your new ID card. Don't carry this with you for now. Just leave it in this room. Both houses are registered under this ID card."

"Thank you, Master," Qing Chen, his nose tingling with emotion, unsure of what to say.

Li Shutong laughed and said, "Alright, you'll be an adult soon, stop being so dramatic."

"Yeah, not being pretentious."

The master and apprentice sat by the French windows, Li Shutong took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and looked out the window.

Qing Chen pointed to a red building and asked, "Master, that building has a red cross symbol on it. Is it a hospital? Why are hospital buildings so tall?"

"That's not a hospital," Li Shutong shook his head, "It's Fertility Center."

"Fertility Center?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled. "Is it a women's and children's hospital specializing in childbirth?"

Li Shutong said expressionlessly, "That's where artificial wombs are provided for women. Couples can have their eggs and sperm extracted for artificial insemination. Then, the Fertility Center will select the healthiest follicle from more than ten follicles and place it into the bionic artificial womb. In this way, women can be spared the pain of ten months of pregnancy."

Qing Chen was shocked. "Such technology already exists? Does that mean women don't have to suffer anymore?"

"Yes," Li Shutong nodded, "The baby can be born after being gestated in an artificial womb for ten months, but you probably don't know that this was invented by the conglomerate so that women could have the same labor power and working hours as men."

Li Shutong continued, "This technology has existed for over a hundred years. At first, women were overjoyed, but more than a decade later, the Senate, under Chen's manipulation, passed a bill to 'modify maternity leave.' From then on, women's maternity leave was only 7 days, and all families had to face a new expense. It was a choice: either you quit your job to carry your child to term, or you pay for an artificial womb."

Qing Chen fell silent; it turned out this wasn't a good thing after all.

This was too magical for Time Walker like him in the Outer World.

"By the way, Master," Qing Chen asked, "Why didn't you tell me before that killing someone after the conditions for containing Puppet Master are met will cause new changes?"

Li Shutong lifted Qing Chen's arm and looked at the student's wrist under the light. "This time you killed 13 people in the Outer World, but did not sacrifice their bodies? After meeting the first stage containment conditions, as long as you kill an enemy with your own hands, the second stage form of the Puppet Master will be unlocked by 1 centimeter. If you sacrifice the enemy's corpse, it will be unlocked by 10 centimeters."

Qing Chen nodded. "It seems you already knew, Master, but deliberately didn't tell me."

"The previous owners of the Forbidden Item ACE-019 Puppet Master all met with bad ends; they either went mad or became obsessed," Li Shutong said, looking at Qing Chen. "So when the old folks gave this to you, I was a little angry. But then I thought about it, and what if your mind isn't swayed by it? As your teacher, I should trust you."

"What is the maximum number of people Puppet Master can control?" Qing Chen asked.

"No one knows its upper limit," Li Shutong replied.

Qing Chen was stunned. So this Puppet Master really could control many people. "But Master, I've always been curious about something. Although this kind of temptation can make people want to unlock more, it shouldn't drive them crazy, right?"

"When you were using it, didn't you ever experience the mindset of the person being controlled?" Li Shutong asked. "Especially the madness, fear, repentance, and cowardice the other person experiences when they are controlled—those most intense and darkest emotions in the world can erode a person's soul."

"I didn't feel anything," Qing Chen in surprise.

Li Shutong was also surprised. "How could there not be?"

"Master, really no," Qing Chen replied earnestly.

Li Shutong looked at his student with a strange expression, feeling that there were too many oddities about him.

First, he broke free from Lin Xiaoxiao's nightmare with his mortal body.

Even before the Gene Lock was unlocked, signs of advancement appeared.

Immediately after unlocking the Gene Lock, the initial level was higher than that of any previous knight.

The final oddity is now: the description of the Puppet Master is based on the personal experience of a certain knight who captured and used it.

That senior only used it once before storing the Forbidden Item in Forbidden Zone No. 002, not wanting it to see the light of day again.

Now, in Qing Chen's hands, the Puppet Master has become a real puppet, devoid of emotion and feedback.

Qing Chen asked, "A puppet is just a puppet, how can a puppet have emotional fluctuations? Master, are you mistaken?"

Li Shutong sighed, "Don't talk to me like that, let me think about it..."

He knew that when the giant Ding Dong emerged from the heartland, he actually had Forbidden Item in both hands. The old guys wanted him to come and see Qing Chen so that Ding Dong could choose which Forbidden Item to give to Qing Chen.

As a result, Ding Dong chose to give the Puppet Master in her right hand.

At that time, Li Shutong felt a little strange. Why would he give Puppet Master?

Looking back now, it must have been because Ding Dong, after using her Dual Pupils, thought that Qing Chen wouldn't be in any danger even if he took the Puppet Master.

However, Li Shutong was thinking that it would be great to give Qing Chen both Forbidden Item at the same time...

The old folks' vision is too narrow!

Such a talented successor should be given more!

"Do all Forbidden Item unlock a second stage?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"Not everyone can," Li Shutong shook his head. "I've been thinking that it might be determined by the superhuman's level in life. Only superhumans of B-Class or above can extract Forbidden Item, level A Forbidden Item have a second-stage unlocking state, and level S objects may have a third stage."

Unlike extraordinary individuals, Forbidden Item are only classified into three levels.

Qing Chen asked curiously, "Master, have you ever seen an S-rank Forbidden Item?"

"Perhaps we'll see each other soon," Li Shutong said with a smile.

Looking at his master, Qing Chen realized that the other party might already possess an S-rank Forbidden Item!

"Wait a minute," Qing Chen suddenly asked, "Master, I just remembered something very, very important. After becoming a knight, can you still have children?"

"Of course you can!" Li Shutong agreed, adding, "... But with your unapproachable personality, do you really need to consider something like this?"

"Master, please don't make personal attacks," Qing Chen raised an eyebrow. "I heard that people who have been injected with gene-altering drugs become sterile. Are knights any different from them? Why don't knights experience problems after their genes are altered?"

"They're not even the same path," Li Shutong said, both amused and exasperated. "The path to becoming a knight is based on humanity, but involves perfecting one's genes to approach godhood."

"What about the gene serum?" Qing Chen asked.

"The gene serum is made by the research labs of those conglomerates. They extract genes from non-humans from who-knows-where and attach them to humans," Li Shutong said. "In a sense, you wouldn't be wrong to call them half-beasts. Of course, humans and half-beasts can't have offspring."

Qing Chen suddenly felt that the status of those gene warriors in his master's words had suddenly dropped a lot...

Li Shutong explained, "Superhumans have always looked down on gene warriors, even if their combat power might not be as good as the gene warriors'. It's a natural hierarchy of contempt. Of course, you shouldn't underestimate some gene warriors either. Many of them are just looking for a way out; they don't have a choice."

"Then why didn't the Tribunal of Taboos's gene serum have any effect?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"You know quite a lot, and it seems you've had quite a few exchanges with the Time Walker," Li Shutong glanced at him. "The Tribunal of Taboos special because the genes they extract are taken from gods."

This statement startled Qing Chen: "Do gods truly exist? And why would a god allow them to collect genetic samples?"

"Perhaps they have a better relationship with the gods," Li Shutong sighed. "I'm not entirely sure about the specifics. The Tribunal of Taboos has always been very mysterious, and there's very little information about them."

"By the way, Master, I have a question," Qing Chen, looking at Li Shutong, "Is it possible for a knight to become Awakened?"

"Of course it's impossible," Li Shutong said. "No cultivator can become Awakened."

"Why?"

"Because the Awakened are those who release their potential through emotions in extreme environments, and cultivation is essentially about releasing a person's potential through the methods of inheritance," Li Shutong explained. "Once the potential has been released, it will naturally not awaken again."

"Then I have another question," Qing Chen pondered, "For a normal knight, the first promotion corresponds to F-Class, and the seventh promotion corresponds to S rank. Since I started at E-Class, will I have already surpassed S rank by the seventh promotion?"

"No," Li Shutong shook his head. "Advancing from B-Class to A-level is one threshold, and advancing from A-level to S-level is another. To you, it may seem like just a difference in letters, but for cultivators, it's a path to heaven, and its significance is extraordinary. Surpassing S-level makes one a true god, perhaps able to overturn rivers and seas with a single thought. Perhaps after experiencing all eight Life and Death Trial, you might have a chance to transcend that threshold, but before that, the chances are slim. There might be quantitative changes, but no qualitative changes."

At this point, Li Shutong suddenly frowned.

According to this theory, Qing Chen can reach S-rank by completing six Life and Death Trial. What will happen when he completes the seventh trial?

No one in the Knight Organization has ever experienced anything like this!

But does this mean that even though Qing Chen embarked on the path of a knight, his potential has never been fully realized?

Ahem, yesterday's chapter did indeed get more subscriptions than the others...

I've seen through your true nature...

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