A Life That Has Experienced Pain Is a Higher Life

Lin Xiaoxiao asked, "Since you can resist the nightmare, why did you come in? If you can endure five minutes without sleeping, you'll naturally be free from the nightmare's summons."

"I thought you had something to say, so I came," Qing Chen replied. "What do you want to test this time?"

"Starting today, it's not a test. The boss wants me to guide you on a journey," Lin Xiaoxiao answered.

"Guide me on a journey?" Qing Chen asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"To evolve humanity for you using nightmares, to let you experience some hardships," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "But seeing how easily you resisted the nightmare just now, it seems the nightmare won't be effective anymore. The boss will have to guide you personally."

Qing Chen pondered this.

This nightmare was different from the last one; it felt more like a lesson arranged by a teacher for a student.

At this moment, Lin Xiaoxiao said, "Don't overthink it. The boss still only appreciates you for now. Whether you can become his student in the future is still uncertain."

"You're envious of me," Qing Chen stated.

"Envious," Lin Xiaoxiao admitted frankly. "Not everyone can become the boss's student. At least Ye Wan and I can't."

"Why?" Qing Chen asked, not understanding.

"Because neither of us made it past the first trial," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "But the boss believes you can."

"Make it past?" Qing Chen blinked in surprise.

Lin Xiaoxiao smiled mysteriously. "It's a path of dying to live. Every time you improve yourself, you need to walk through a desperate situation and feel pain."

"Then why me?"

"Because the boss said you have the courage to find life in the face of death."

"If it's that painful, why are you still envious?" Qing Chen asked.

"Because it's a path of cultivation with infinite potential. Ye Wan and I have already reached our limits," Lin Xiaoxiao said with a hint of longing. "Although that path is painful, you must understand that a life that has experienced suffering is a higher form of life."

Qing Chen didn't dwell on this question anymore and instead asked about other doubts. "How old is Mr. Li Shutong?"

"Why do you ask?" Lin Xiaoxiao inquired, curious.

"No reason, just asking," Qing Chen replied.

He asked this because if time in the Outer World was stationary relative to him when he entered the Inner World, it would mean he aged faster than ordinary people.

It wasn't that his physical functions aged faster, but rather that he was splitting his lifespan between two worlds.

When his peers were forty, he would already appear and function like someone in their sixties.

So, he wanted to know if Li Shutong's extraordinary abilities could extend one's lifespan.

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at him. "Guess? The boss's age is hard to guess."

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "40 years old?"

"You're underestimating," Lin Xiaoxiao said.

"60 years old?"

"Incorrect."

"120 years old?"

"Stop, stop, stop. Don't guess anymore, or you'll guess him away," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "The boss is 52 this year."

Qing Chen was instantly shocked. Li Shutong's appearance was that of a man in his mid-thirties.

"Look at you, so inexperienced. I wouldn't be surprised if someone like the boss lived to be over a hundred," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "We've been with him since we were very, very young. I haven't seen him change his appearance in all these years."

"Why did you follow him?" Qing Chen asked.

"No reason. Ye Wan, myself, and many others were orphans," Lin Xiaoxiao said, lying on the hot sand. He propped his arm under his head and looked up at the sky. The sky suddenly darkened, and the air became less hot. "You were born into the Qing Clan, so you wouldn't understand how brutal life is outside. Becoming an orphan is a simple matter."

"Maybe your parents just happened to run into gang members on the street and got into an argument, maybe you were targeted after getting paid, maybe there was a chemical leak at the factory, or maybe you were attacked by hackers while connected to the virtual network. Anyway, people just die so casually."

"Then you can't afford your property taxes, the insurance company refuses to pay, the bank seizes your house, and you're kicked out onto the streets. No one cares if you live or die."

"At that point, your life is already bleak. The gangs want to capture you to be a drug mule, or worse, abuse you and film videos to create virtual lives to sell for money."

"At a time like this, someone appears before you and says, 'Come with me, I'll give you a new life.'"

"No matter who he is, you'll go with him."

Qing Chen quietly watched Lin Xiaoxiao. At this moment, he finally understood that his own hardships were nothing compared to the other's life.

"Why did he take you in?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"Because we were useful," Lin Xiaoxiao said. "He couldn't do what he needed to do alone."

Qing Chen was stunned. He still didn't know the goals of the so-called Knight Organization and Black Spade, nor did he know what behemoth Black Spade was opposing. Was it the Five Great Companies, or something else?

But Li Shutong taking in Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan clearly had an element of utilization, yet Lin Xiaoxiao and the others didn't seem to mind.

Speaking of which, Lin Xiaoxiao got up. "Alright, get some rest early."

The nightmare dissipated, and Qing Chen was still in the dim prison cell, lying on the cold bed.

Now that he had witnessed Li Shutong's mysterious level, he wondered if the Canon he held was enough to exchange for the opportunity to open the door to a new world.

Qing Chen was unsure if the Canon was valuable enough, and he also had no way to explain its origin.

Wait a little longer.

Waiting and hope, all of humanity's wisdom is contained within these two words.

Countdown 24:00:00.

In a corner of Prison No. 18.

"Is anyone there? Let me out, why am I locked in here!" someone yelled, banging forcefully on the alloy gate.

Liu Dezhu, a Transmigrator from Luocheng, was confined in a solitary cell. Unlike the cells of ordinary prisoners, this room actually had a surveillance camera closely watching the detained individual.

Ever since he went to Li Shutong to complete a mission, he had been locked in this hidden corner, completely forgotten.

There was no concept of time here, nor could he see the sunrise or sunset. Liu Dezhu could only rely on the robots' meal delivery times to judge what time it was outside.

The sound of him banging on the alloy gate grew fainter and fainter until he had no strength left and his throat was a little hoarse, at which point he stopped.

It felt as if he was the only one left in this prison, with no one responding to his pleas and anger.

Liu Dezhu couldn't understand. Everyone else in the Inner World was thriving, with mechanical limbs and becoming members of organizations, so why had it turned out like this for him?

Moreover, he had bragged to his classmates before coming here, saying he was a Transmigrator.

When he returned to the Outer World after 24 hours, how would he explain it to his classmates?

If his classmates asked, "What's your status in the Inner World?"

How would he even begin to answer?

Should he say he had a stable job in an administrative unit in the Inner World, where he didn't have to do anything and got food every day?

Should he say he had successfully changed his profession? Changed his profession to Prisoner?