"Tomorrow morning, gather directly before heading to the Experiment Building. Come over yourselves after breakfast. Remember, the meeting time is 7:30."
After teaching them the Aura Techniques, Zhao Jingzhong gave them a reminder, then had them put away their Crystal Bodies and led them out of the Experiment Building.
The other trainees streamed out as well. Everyone was clearly excited; some had even begun trying to use "Clothing" and "Lock," though they usually only managed to make their faces turn red from the effort.
"You all learned it, right?" Yuan Dang asked.
"Of course we did," Jie Qiansi said. "Direct comprehension, no need for verbal instruction. Awesome! This is how cultivators are supposed to learn!"
Another trainee from the Eighth Team said, "I originally thought we'd be learning some abstruse methodology, things like the divine treasury or the mysterious female gate. My classical Chinese isn't great... I didn't expect it to be direct knowledge transfer."
"If we'd had this method when we were in school, would we have needed to waste so much time listening to lectures? We could've had a lot more fun."
"This teaching method will definitely bring enormous changes to the education industry. Looks like teachers won't be able to keep their jobs for much longer."
"Maybe in the future, we'll quickly become proficient in all kinds of knowledge. Nothing else, at least enough knowledge for a bachelor's degree in every subject."
Only Qiao Muyi poured cold water on their excitement. "Have you noticed that your vortices are almost depleted?"
Everyone froze. Their vortices had not yet begun to turn, so they normally could not really sense their condition. Now, after using the Breathing Method, they discovered that their vortices contained only one or two wisps of drifting airflow. It was only after they drew aura into them that a swirl appeared.
"This Aura Technique download probably consumes one's own aura. That's also why you need a vortex before the technique can be imparted," Li Qingxuan said. "The aura consumed definitely isn't much. It should be roughly the amount an ordinary person has immediately after opening a vortex."
"Aura Cognition Class mentioned before that vortices in the Formation Stage and the Turning Stage are actually about the same. Our cultivation over the past few days has only accelerated the vortex's transition into turning; the amount of aura inside has not actually increased. So if the state has accurately calculated the aura consumed during impartation, it really can teach techniques to the 'target demographic' with perfect precision."
Everyone was somewhat surprised by this information, but someone quickly caught on. "So this kind of downloading consumes our aura? Then if we download other knowledge..."
"It probably would as well. And as for the two techniques, Clothing and Lock... how should I put it? They're really just sensations. It feels like there isn't much information in them. In network transmission terms, they might only be a dozen or so bits. But if you wanted to download textbook knowledge, you couldn't manage without several megabits. And a lot of knowledge requires images and practical training, so it might take several gigabits by then."
Yuan Dang nodded. "So downloading knowledge isn't impossible. But first, someone has to be willing to upload it, and second, you need enough aura to sustain such terrifying consumption."
"Put simply, we're still in the dial-up era, so don't expect downloads from the fiber-optic era."
Everyone accepted that. After all, as the state's first batch of cultivating civil servants, they would enjoy whatever benefits they were entitled to sooner or later. They were already among the top one percent of cultivators worldwide, and they had learned two Aura Techniques that could turn them into superhumans. What more could they ask for?
At that moment, Ren Suo walked up to Qiao Muyi, patted her shoulder, and said quietly, "Muyi, there's something I want to talk to you about in private."
Qiao Muyi looked at Li Qingxuan and the others first before replying, "Mm."
The two of them silently drifted away with the crowd. Of course, anyone paying attention could easily notice. Jie Qiansi and the others all noticed what their roommate was doing, but none of them said anything. After a while, Li Qingxuan and the others also realized that Qiao Muyi and Ren Suo were gone. But they were all adults, so naturally...
Those who knew, knew.
The two people who knew were now heading toward the supermarket inside the base. However, Ren Suo had no intention of going somewhere crowded, so he pointed toward a patch of small woods not far away. It was one of the landscaped areas the base had not completely cleared away. "Let's talk over there."
Qiao Muyi nodded and followed Ren Suo toward the small woods, but she stopped before he entered them. "Here is fine."
"Here?" Ren Suo looked around. There was no one nearby, so it seemed fine. "Okay."
When Ren Suo had patted Qiao Muyi's shoulder earlier, he discovered that he only needed to spend 3,000 seconds to obtain a key from Qiao Muyi while she was awake.
There were only 3,600 seconds in an hour. Now, he could obtain a key after maintaining contact with the awake Qiao Muyi for less than an hour. That meant their relationship had improved greatly compared to before, when it had taken over 9,000 seconds.
Tomorrow would be the fifth day. At noon, they would take a vehicle back to the city. Ren Suo had no idea what work the National Security Bureau would assign them afterward, whether they would be sent to other cities on business trips or even stationed there long-term—after learning cultivation methods and Aura Techniques, could they really say no to an assignment from the state?
Today was Ren Suo's best chance to obtain Qiao Muyi's key.
After returning, everyone would have their phones back. Their group life over these past few days did not mean much, and Ren Suo did not know whether Qiao Muyi would be busy after going back. If he did not act now, this matter would be delayed indefinitely.
Ren Suo had never been someone who procrastinated. He had always been the typical student who suffered first and enjoyed himself later, getting everything done in advance. If he did not do his homework on the first day of summer vacation, then he definitely would never do it; whenever he saw something he wanted, he quickly assessed whether he could afford it, and if he wanted it, he bought it immediately, never wasting time.
Ren Suo looked at Qiao Muyi, his expression somewhat complicated. Just as he was weaving together a reason to make Qiao Muyi obediently fall asleep in front of him, she suddenly said, "I don't like dragging things out, so... we can only be friends."
"Mm, mm, mm... huh?" Ren Suo made a questioning sound through his nose.
"I'm sorry. You're a very nice person, but I currently have no plans to date," Qiao Muyi said. "Besides, your gender doesn't quite meet my requirements."
What? What? What? Ren Suo was dumbfounded. He wanted to reach out and grab Qiao Muyi to explain, but Qiao Muyi nimbly dodged his wandering hand and said, "I'm heading back first. See you tomorrow."
Then Qiao Muyi seemed to reveal a satisfied smile and promptly slipped away, leaving Ren Suo standing alone by the woods like a petrified piece of large trash—commonly known as an idiot.
At that moment, Ren Suo recalled what he had done over the past few days:
Chatting with Qiao Muyi and the others;
Going to the girls' dormitory to play cards;
Insisting on eating with them;
Joining their discussions whenever he had the chance...
Could they have thought he was flirting with them, hitting on them!?
As a reserve otaku whose game console was already his wife, Ren Suo realized for the first time what he had been doing these past few days. It was not as though he had some virgin issue where talking to girls made him embarrassed, but he normally would not chat with girls or anything... Fine, fine, he did have a little of that shy single-dog syndrome. It was perfectly normal for single dogs to be like this.
Yet over the past few days, Ren Suo had treated "obtaining a key" as a game quest and treated Qiao Muyi like an NPC. Since he knew there were mechanics like indirect favorability, he had done everything he could to win Qiao Muyi over.
Looking back now, Ren Suo realized that all his actions perfectly matched the kinds of behavior that deepened affection in modern Xuan Kingdom social culture.
Thinking of the "approving" looks from Jie Qiansi and the others, as well as the strange smiles from the girls, Ren Suo understood that they—the girls included—had misunderstood him!
He desperately wanted to chase after Qiao Muyi and shout, "I just wanted you to sleep! I never wanted to date you!"
"Pfft... Hahaha."
Ren Suo turned around and saw that there was actually a figure on the grass inside the woods.
Before you continue