Possessed

Demon Cloud Star was also in the Milky Way, roughly a dozen light-years from the Solar System. It was an energy planet. Long before the federal government was established, when Earth was still divided among multiple regimes, it had been discovered by NASA in Country M. But due to technological limitations at the time, humanity could not reach it, much less mine it.

After the federal government was established, humanity began coming into contact with extraterrestrial technological civilizations. Advances in science and technology sparked tremendous interest in Demon Cloud Star's energy resources. This discovery greatly improved humanity's mech technology. Powerful energy gave mechs limitless possibilities; some supreme experts could even wear mechs and roam through space for extended periods.

"Tang Yu, I didn't mean it like that. Don't misunderstand!" After Meng Xuanxuan pointed it out, Xia Linlin also realized her words had been rather inappropriate and hurriedly apologized.

"Mm. You two keep eating. I'm leaving first!" Tang Yu was preoccupied with becoming a disciple and had no appetite. After saying that, he prepared to leave.

"Let's go together! I'm full too!" Hearing that Tang Yu was leaving, Meng Xuanxuan lost her appetite as well.

"I should head home too!" Seeing this, Xia Linlin spoke up as well. She took out her phone and made a call. Tang Yu knew someone would soon come to pick her up.

"What are you going to the Force Martial Arts Gym for?" With nothing else to do while sitting in Angel's Wings, Tang Yu asked Meng Xuanxuan.

"Heh heh, how confident are you that you'll successfully become his disciple?" Hearing Tang Yu's question, Meng Xuanxuan set the car to autopilot, then turned to face him.

Tang Yu paused. With Wang Meng's introduction, there probably would not be much of a problem. Besides, he had some confidence in himself. But he was not familiar with Jin Taian. Whether the man would accept him was another question.

Seeing Tang Yu fall silent, Meng Xuanxuan's lips curled into a satisfied smile. "I forgot to tell you, I know Director Jin. And there's no need for you to become his disciple. Otherwise, you'll definitely regret it!"

"That's a pretty big claim, isn't it?" Even Tang Yu was slightly shocked by Meng Xuanxuan's words. Who was Jin Taian? The director of Suhang City's Force Martial Arts Gym, a government councilor for the Asian region—his status and strength were both extraordinarily impressive. Yet when Meng Xuanxuan spoke of him, he seemed like nothing special. And why did she say Tang Yu would definitely regret it?

"Hmph! You think I'm all talk? Then just wait until you have to call me Martial Aunt!" Meng Xuanxuan said smugly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Isn't it obvious enough? His master is also my teacher. If you become his disciple, wouldn't you have to call me Martial Aunt?" The smile on Meng Xuanxuan's face grew even wider. Tang Yu, meanwhile, was covered in black lines. Call Meng Xuanxuan Martial Aunt? How could that be possible? Tang Yu no longer wanted to become Jin Taian's disciple.

"Ahem, then forget it! Besides, he has a grudge against the Xia family." Tang Yu hurriedly found himself an excuse.

"You still say you don't like Xia Linlin? Your true colors are showing now!" Hearing Tang Yu say that, Meng Xuanxuan immediately got angry. Sure enough, Tang Yu still cared about Xia Linlin.

"Who I like seems to have nothing to do with you, does it?" When Meng Xuanxuan brought it up again, Tang Yu lost his temper too. Her words left Meng Xuanxuan speechless. That was right—what did it have to do with her whether Tang Yu liked Xia Linlin? Yet for some reason, she simply could not stand seeing him give up on becoming Jin Taian's disciple because of Xia Linlin.

"My master has a gene count above 1,000. He's a Force warrior at the Divine Transformation level, one who has reached the realm where the mind can influence matter. So, are you interested?" Rather than continue arguing over that matter, Meng Xuanxuan said this to Tang Yu.

The Divine Transformation realm?! To be honest, Tang Yu was tempted. It would have been a lie to say otherwise. At the Divine Transformation realm, mental will could influence matter. Normally, only A-rank mechs and above could allow people to fly, but Divine Transformation experts were different. They could use mental power to control Force energy, wrap it around themselves, and fly through the air.

"Your master is so powerful. How could he possibly accept me as a disciple so easily?" Though he yearned for it, Tang Yu knew it was unrealistic. What right did he have to take a warrior of that level as his master?

"Not necessarily. With my recommendation, you still have some hope." Seeing Tang Yu's lack of confidence, Meng Xuanxuan shook her head and spoke to him.

Hearing Meng Xuanxuan say that, Tang Yu's heart stirred. It really did seem possible. "Tell me. What are your conditions?"

Tang Yu did not like beating around the bush. Since Meng Xuanxuan could say such a thing, she must have some degree of confidence. But there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Tang Yu knew Meng Xuanxuan must want something, though he had no idea what it was.

"I like people who are straightforward like you. I haven't thought of the conditions yet. Just remember that you owe me one! Besides, I'm not afraid you'll refuse to pay up!" A scheming smile appeared on Meng Xuanxuan's face, and Tang Yu felt as though he had been trapped by this girl.

Sure enough, when Tang Yu stepped down from Angel's Wings, the place before him was not Suhang City's Force Martial Arts Gym, but Meng Xuanxuan's apartment in Rainbow Bridge Residential Compound.

"Come on, go inside. The person you want to meet is in there!" Seeing the puzzled look on Tang Yu's face, Meng Xuanxuan smiled faintly and told him. Upon hearing this, Tang Yu knew he had been set up by Meng Xuanxuan.

"Wait, I don't even know who the other person is yet!" Tang Yu did not hurry inside and instead asked Meng Xuanxuan this.

"I mentioned him before—my elder, Qin Bo!"

Hearing Meng Xuanxuan's words, Tang Yu took a deep breath. Previously, Meng Xuanxuan had said there would be no benefit for him in meeting this person now, but it seemed the other party had changed his mind.

When Tang Yu entered the apartment, he saw a middle-aged man of around fifty sitting upright on the living room sofa with his eyes closed in meditation. He was somewhat thin, with a haggard face, vastly different from the image Tang Yu had imagined.

"You're here!" Sensing Tang Yu's arrival, the man Meng Xuanxuan called Qin Bo suddenly opened his eyes and stared directly at Tang Yu, as if trying to see through him. There was no malice in his gaze, yet Tang Yu was still overwhelmed by his eyes and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Sit down and let's talk!" Qin Bo withdrew his gaze, and a kind smile appeared on his face. Pointing at the sofa, he spoke gently to Tang Yu.

"Qin Bo, I've finished what you asked me to do. Next time you go to another life-bearing planet, you have to remember to bring me along!" Before Qin Bo could finish speaking, Meng Xuanxuan had already sat down beside him and said in a coquettish tone.

"Hehe, you girl. You're already this grown up, yet you're still so playful! What could possibly be fun about those low-level civilizations? If something happened to you, how would I explain it to your father?" Qin Bo said with a chuckle.

"Teacher, aren't you going back on your word? We agreed on this before!" Hearing Qin Bo's words, Meng Xuanxuan pouted and complained. Even the way she addressed him had changed. Usually, she called him Qin Bo to sound closer, but now she called him Teacher.

"Fine, fine, fine! I'll definitely take you next time, but you have to promise to listen to me." Qin Bo seemed unable to withstand Meng Xuanxuan's persistent pleading and finally relented. Only then did he turn his attention back to Tang Yu.

"You're very much like him!"

Him? Was he referring to Tang Wei, his father?

"You and your father both have an adventurous spirit buried in your subconscious. But it seems you aren't as crazy as he was. He was possessed!" Qin Bo's thoughts seemed to return to decades ago, when he first met Tang Wei.

"Qin Bo, can you tell me about my father?" There was a trace of pleading in Tang Yu's voice. This was the first time Meng Xuanxuan had seen Tang Yu like this.

"Shouldn't you know your own father very well?"

Hearing that, Tang Yu shook his head. Come to think of it, he had not seen his father with his own eyes for many years.

"When I first met him, he was still dirt poor. He even borrowed the money to buy a spaceship from me, shamelessly clinging to me until I lent it to him. If he hadn't saved my life, I never would have lent money to a lunatic like him. I still don't know what your mother saw in him! It's funny—afterward, he disappeared for four or five years, and for a time, I even thought he had run off... At the time, I was in charge of mining energy crystals on Demon Cloud Star. One day, he suddenly came to find me and said he was paying me back. Then he took out an energy crystal. I thought he was joking. A thousand energy crystals would not have been enough to repay what he owed me. But when I took that crystal from him, I was stunned!"

At this point, Qin Bo fell silent and took a breath, his thoughts returning to more than a decade ago.

"The energy crystals mined by the federal government could only power S-rank mechs, but that was already enough for us. You should know that a single S-rank energy crystal was enough for a small spaceship to make one warp voyage from the Moon to Jupiter. But the energy crystal he gave me would now be considered SS-rank. It could make ten warp voyages of that distance. Later, the federal government named this kind of energy crystal an SS-rank energy crystal."

Taking a deep breath, Qin Bo continued, "He once told me that if he ever struck it rich, he definitely wouldn't forget me. At the time, I thought he was just joking, but it turned out to be true. Through me, he signed an agreement with Dream Domain Network to provide the mining locations of those energy crystals, with the profits split equally. But later, the federal government got involved. You know there was nothing we could do about that, so it became a thirty-thirty-forty split, with the government taking the largest share... It was also at that time that something happened to your mother."

Hearing Qin Bo mention his mother, Tang Yu froze. Tang Wei had told him that his mother died in childbirth because of a difficult labor, but after growing up, Tang Yu knew that was a lie. How could a pregnant woman die from a difficult labor these days?