Enemies Meet

"Which dorm are you in?"

"Building Ten, Room 4041! What about you?"

"Building Three, 3033! There's a party tonight. I'll contact you then." They had already reached Building Three when Meng Xuanxuan said this to Tang Yu.

"Another party?" Tang Yu's expression turned strange when he heard her. The last party had ended on bad terms, and now there was another one. Something about it made him uncomfortable.

"Zhang Mufeng set it up. He said it's a freshman mixer to encourage everyone to get to know each other." Seeing the reluctance flash across Tang Yu's face, Meng Xuanxuan hurriedly explained.

That reminded Tang Yu. At Li Yiyang's family banquet, Zhang Mufeng had even invited Meng Xuanxuan to dance.

"Fine, got it. Contact me then!"

After watching Meng Xuanxuan head upstairs, Tang Yu walked toward his own dorm. It was a three-bedroom apartment with a shared living room, each bedroom separate. Room 4041 was the first room. The wristband contained the room password, and after entering it, Tang Yu went inside. There was a bed and a wardrobe beside it. He had no luggage, so he sat directly on the bed and began checking the information in his wristband.

The wristband transmitted information through radio waves directly linked to the brainwaves of the human body. All he had to do was press a button to connect. It was somewhat like the VR technology from long ago, only more advanced.

Enrollment lasted five days in total. On the 10th, they would be sent to the military training grounds. Scrolling down further brought up information on his instructor.

Zhang Shuai: Junior Instructor, A-rank Mecha Pilot License, gene count exceeding 300, instructor of Class Three, First Year. Wasn't this the instructor who had reprimanded him today?

Next came a stream of information flooding into Tang Yu's mind: Force Guidance Art.

The amount of Force a person's cells could store was limited by their gene count. The higher the gene count, the more Force their cells could store. During combat, cells would be damaged and Force depleted. At such times, it had to be replenished. Not everyone could afford to consume nutrient solution or spirit liquid crystals every day, and guidance arts allowed human cells to replenish consumed Force through a certain form of cultivation.

After reading through all that information, Tang Yu continued receiving more. Cell Strengthening Theory explained how to increase the amount of Force one's cells could hold. Cultivation could not produce rapid improvement overnight, but by strengthening the amount of Force one's cells could store, one could increase their explosive Force output and thereby raise their combat power.

Practicing according to Cell Strengthening Theory would increase the capacity of one's cells. Originally, half an hour of cultivating Force Guidance Art would replenish the Force depleted within the body. But once one had achieved results with Cell Strengthening Theory, it might take an hour, or even two hours, to fully replenish one's Force.

It sounded troublesome, but the theory was actually very simple. It was like someone who could only eat three bowls of rice a day. Cell Strengthening Theory would enable them to eat five bowls, or even eight bowls, a day. How much they could increase depended on their cultivation talent and natural aptitude.

It was said that this theory had been proposed by Long Xuan, president of the global Warrior Association. Only after countless theoretical and practical verifications had this book been produced.

There were several more books below: <The Common Ground Between Mechanical Energy and Human Force>, Principles of Automatic Mecha Assembly, Secrets of Genetic Awakening, and so on. They were all theoretical knowledge, but all were required courses. As for electives, one would only be qualified to choose them after surviving military training.

Without dwelling on it, Tang Yu began cultivating Force Guidance Art. The Force in his cells had been heavily depleted and had yet to be replenished. Drinking nutrient solution was too extravagant, so this was a perfect chance to test the wonders of Force Guidance Art.

Force could not only be absorbed from the outside world; it could also be acquired through cultivation. However, the process was extremely slow, and Force Guidance Art compressed that process again and again.

Following the recorded method, Tang Yu completely calmed his mind and slowly stimulated the Force within his body, bringing it into a semi-active state. His cells vibrated and pressed against one another at a certain frequency, generating energy. This energy was the most primitive form of Force, which was then assimilated by the residual Force within the cells and slowly transformed.

At first, Tang Yu cultivated very slowly because he could not yet control that frequency well. But he seemed born for cultivation and adapted extremely quickly. Before long, he had a firm grasp of the frequency, and the Force in his cells replenished faster and faster.

About an hour passed. Tang Yu's cellular Force had been severely depleted, with only around thirty percent remaining. But after an hour of cultivation, he had recovered about ten percent, bringing it up to forty percent. As he continued cultivating, the speed would certainly become even faster.

But at that moment, Tang Yu stopped cultivating and began exploring Cell Strengthening Theory instead.

The principles of Cell Strengthening Theory were not difficult, but actually putting them into practice varied from person to person.

Force Guidance Art worked from the outside in. The exterior of the cells was compressed and vibrated to generate energy. Cell Strengthening Theory, however, worked from the inside out. It used the Force stored within cells to stimulate their membranes, increasing the strength of the body's cells and thereby enhancing their capacity. But this was a gradual process that required years of persistent cultivation. The effects would not appear overnight. Tang Yu practiced for a while, figured out its principles, and did not continue.

Just then, his phone rang. He had assumed it was Meng Xuanxuan, but when he checked the number, it was Mu Xueyuan.

"Hello, what is it?"

"Student Tang Yu, there's a freshman mixer tonight. Are you going?" Mu Xueyuan sounded somewhat excited.

"Yeah, I'm going. What's wrong?" Tang Yu asked in confusion.

"I'm waiting downstairs outside your dorm! Hurry down." Mu Xueyuan hung up immediately, giving Tang Yu no chance to refuse, though he had not intended to.

"Student Tang Yu!"

The moment he came downstairs, Tang Yu heard Mu Xueyuan calling him. Her voice was very distinctive, a little soft and syrupy, but not in an unpleasant way. Instead, it sounded quite comforting.

As Tang Yu approached, Mu Xueyuan tried to take his hand, but he dodged. She was not embarrassed, merely smiling sweetly and revealing two shallow dimples. They resembled Tang Yu's a little, except Tang Yu usually wore a deadpan expression and rarely smiled.

"Let's pick up Xuanxuan. She's going too!" Tang Yu said as he headed toward Building Three.

"Which building is she in?" Mu Xueyuan trotted after him and asked curiously.

"Building Three, 3033!"

A strange expression appeared on Mu Xueyuan's face when she heard that. "Isn't that the same dorm as Xiaoqian?"

As they spoke, they arrived outside Building Three. Tang Yu sent Meng Xuanxuan a message saying that he had arrived.

Not long after, Meng Xuanxuan came out of the building. However, another girl was beside her. It was none other than Mu Xueyuan's close friend, Lu Xiaoqian.

"Why are you two together?" The two girls spoke almost in unison. The difference was that Meng Xuanxuan's face carried a trace of anger as she grabbed Tang Yu and pulled him over, as if afraid Mu Xueyuan would steal him away.

"Xuanxuan, do you have to watch him so closely?" Lu Xiaoqian noticed and could not help laughing.

"That's right, Student Meng. I only want to be friends with Senior Tang Yu."

When Mu Xueyuan said this, Lu Xiaoqian wore an odd smile. Its meaning was obvious: Did she even believe that herself?

"Alright, enough of that. Hurry up and let's go. I heard there are lots of handsome guys and beautiful girls there. Let's go take a look!" Lu Xiaoqian said, taking Mu Xueyuan's hand and signaling for Meng Xuanxuan and Tang Yu to hurry up.

"Xiaoqian!"

Hearing the voice, Tang Yu turned his head, and his gaze suddenly went cold because he recognized the person.

"It's you!"

Tang Yu recognized Yuan Chengwu, and Yuan Chengwu recognized Tang Yu as well. Their eyes met, their gazes almost tangible. In an instant, the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Meng Xuanxuan frowned as well. Naturally, she knew Yuan Chengwu. He was Yuan Chengkong's cousin and had once tried to cause trouble for Tang Yu, though he had failed. Now that enemies had met, their hatred flared all the more fiercely.

"Why are you here?" Lu Xiaoqian's entire body trembled when she heard Yuan Chengkong call her name. She slowly turned around, her gaze toward him complicated.

At Lu Xiaoqian's question, Yuan Chengkong pulled his gaze away from Tang Yu.

"I was going to Mars to pick you up, but when I got there, I found out you had already come to Earth early, so I followed you back."

"Chengkong, it's impossible between us. Stop wasting your efforts." Lu Xiaoqian shook her head.

"Why?" Yuan Chengkong's voice suddenly rose several pitches as he questioned Lu Xiaoqian.

"Why? My brother still hasn't woken up, and you're asking me why?" Rather than showing any fear after Yuan Chengkong shouted at her, Lu Xiaoqian raised her voice even louder.

Yuan Chengkong's expression darkened after her outburst. "I really didn't do it on purpose. Besides, our Yuan Family has already apologized. Can't you forgive me?" There was a trace of pleading in his voice.

"Did you think about me when you were sleeping in the same bed as that woman Dou Qing'er?" Lu Xiaoqian's face went completely cold. Since she had already decided not to love him anymore, she might as well make everything clear now and avoid leaving things unresolved in the future.