On the Qianyuan Continent, humans were the most intelligent beings, capable of harnessing the powers of the universe for their own use. In the Black Eye Galaxy, humans transformed themselves into monsters with mismatched organs, greatly enhancing their individual strength but severing their connection to the universe's energies.
They turned themselves from conductors into insulators, from sealed vessels into leaky sieves. No matter how rich the surrounding spiritual energy was, they could no longer utilize it. Those gifted with all three dantians lacked the corresponding cultivation techniques and could only spend their lives trying to figure things out on their own, the paths of cultivation and enlightenment were mere fantasies.
No, more accurately, they didn't even understand what cultivation and enlightenment were.
Qi Ze possessed all the top-level cultivation techniques of the Alchemy Sect and knew nothing of other schools' legacies. Of course, he had no intention of cultivating a cultivator, nor would he rashly hand over the inheritance of the Supreme Divine Creation Sect to anyone else. He valued Ouyang Ye solely because he was a tool for his own enlightenment.
He wanted to see how far Ouyang Ye could go with the Wind and Fire Dual Swords. Other alchemists practiced "nourishing the sword with human energy," but Qi Ze intended to do the opposite and test the concept of "nourishing the person with the sword."
After explaining the possible future scenarios, he returned to his room to meditate, while Ouyang Ye was stunned for a moment before he let out a loud "Ahh!" and jumped up. "Uncle, do you know how incredible the Wind Forest and Fire Sea is? You wouldn't believe..."
He dialed Li Yu's number and rambled through the story, then danced around the room shirtless, tightly hugging the black sword, his eyes tender and expression entranced, as if embracing a lover. He decided to spend the rest of his life with the Wind Forest and Fire Sea, all those young hunks and spicy girls could just fuck off!
Li Yu was silent for a moment before he said in a low voice, "Try buying a lottery ticket, I have a premonition you might hit the jackpot." This outrageous luck was unheard of. Why couldn't he have been a hundred years younger, to be roommates with Young Master Qi?
Ouyang Ye was bouncing around for a few minutes before collapsing. He struggled back to the repair pod alone, hugging the black sword to sleep, a silly smile on his lips. Yan Junyu, with his hands in his pockets, stood by and watched him silently, his expression very complicated. He had always been the pride of the heavens, his background, appearance, and abilities were all top-notch, only to be admired, when had he ever envied anyone?
But now, he had to admit he was very envious of Ouyang Ye. If he could, he wouldn't mind swapping places with him. Although his potential had reached SSS-level, destined to stand at the apex in the future, he wanted to be like Ouyang Ye, using his sweat and perseverance to fight for an unknown future.
SSS was the limit for human power, a fact that was universally accepted. He wanted to break it but always felt powerless, as if he had come to a cliff, either stop or fall. Just now, he suddenly remembered something Qi Ze had said: "I will build a bridge for you to cross the chasm."
It seemed that Ouyang Ye had this bridge in his hands.
"What a lucky bastard." He shook his head, his face full of self-mockery. Because he knew that Ouyang Ye's luck came from the fact that he still retained a bit of innocence in his heart, willing to bet his entire fortune on a single gamble. If he had met Qi Ze under similar circumstances, he would have scoffed at his words, even to the point of erasing the other's existence, thereby erasing all miracles.
It seemed Grandfather was right, people always had to retain a bit of their original intentions while growing up. The experiences of this time taught him too much, and also made him have a deeper understanding of power and life.
If he could live, if he could live... He walked to the opposite room, sat down next to the boy, and looked at his delicate profile, lost in thought--
The competition was imminent, and Ouyang Ye, under the protection of a squad of mercenaries, went to the Morona Great Forest for special training. He fought fierce beasts every day, his combat value rising steadily with the assistance of the Wind Forest and Fire Sea, quickly reaching the level of a fourth-level ability user. At his age, he could be considered one of the young geniuses on Neptune.
Since receiving the massive fire element supplementation, Yan Junyu's spiritual body could leave the corpse and move freely, occasionally going along to observe, but never for long before eagerly returning to Qi Ze's side. He liked fighting, liked bleeding, but now, nothing was more attractive than Qi Ze.
After forging the spirit sword, Qi Ze began to modify the basement's swimming pool, using a file to slowly etch an octagonal pattern on the bottom of the pool, the lines were very complex, with many ancient characters dotted among them. The elemental particles in the room began to stir due to the formation of the pattern, as if brewing a storm.
Yan Junyu had a faint premonition that the pattern was closely related to himself. But he didn't dare to think deeply, only staying by Qi Ze's side every day. One carved, and one watched; one meditated, and one sat in contemplation; one forgot to eat, and one repeatedly reminded him without getting tired, even though the other couldn't hear a word.
After a busy month and a half, all the lines were finally connected. Qi Ze sat down against the wall of the swimming pool, a rare, pure smile on his face. Yan Junyu's stunned gaze quickly moved away from him, then as if guarding against something, slowly moved away a little more.
At this moment, Qi Ze's communicator rang, and a short message from the registrar's office informed him that his leave of absence had expired, either he had to withdraw his leave and go to class, or just drop out. Qi Ze, of course, didn't want to drop out; he was planning to find a way to transfer to the mecha manufacturing department, to observe and learn the art of alchemy in this world, so he cleaned up and dressed neatly before going to the classroom.
After a month, Meng Yao seemed a lot gloomier, sitting in the front row of seats, not speaking to anyone. Helena, on the other hand, was completely unaffected, her laughter and chatter with her desk mate could be heard from afar, it seemed that the lawsuit between the Meng and Hai families had ended with the victory of the Hai family. The Meng family, having offended Li Yu, had always been unable to buy a suitable ancient qin and was now frantically contacting auction houses.
The Imperial Music Academy was full of the powerful, if they took a modern seven-string qin to the competition, they would lose on tone quality alone, the chances of getting in would be minimal. Meng Yao only wanted to humiliate Qi Ze, but she didn't expect to harm herself in the end, not only losing the lawsuit and career prospects but also having her face stepped on by others, the resentment in her heart naturally accumulated deeper and deeper.
The Hai family was also a major clan, she couldn't openly retaliate, seeing the intact Qi Ze walk into the classroom, her eyes immediately turned red.
"You're not dead yet?" She curled her lips, her smile extremely vicious.
Qi Ze, however, didn't seem to hear a word, walking very calmly past and sitting as usual in the corner.
Meng Yao turned around and glared at him fiercely, seeing the mocking expression on Helena, she barely suppressed her anger. Unable to fight the Hai family, she took it out on a mere carbon-based being, even if she won, what good would it do? Her dignity would only be lost more completely. But she couldn't get past that hurdle in her heart, she quickly tapped into her smartbrain and sent a message to her fiance: You didn't do what you promised me! Qi Ze is not dead, he came to class!
"In the coming days, I'll be training intensively, after the martial arts tournament is over, I'll deal with Ouyang Ye and Qi Ze together. Don't worry, Dad is preparing to use the Yan family's connections to contact the imperial auction house, there is a wide range of goods on their side and they are preparing a joint mega-auction, as soon as there is news, they will let us know, in less than a month, they can help you buy an ancient qin."
Ouyang Duanhua's reply made Meng Yao smile again, casually sending a few kiss emojis.
Qi Ze felt a tug at his heart, he looked at her from a distance, a sneer on the corner of his mouth. He was impatient to sit for long, after half a class, he bent down and slipped out the back door. Passing by the Mecha Combat Department, he seemed to remember something and grabbed a passerby to ask, "Student, do you know which class Wang Xuan is in?"
The passerby pointed to the training field and told him to find him himself.
Qi Ze had just reached the edge of the field when he spotted his target, who was circling a mecha, looking very troubled.
"So, this mecha is broken? I'll fix it for you," Qi Ze didn't like small talk, and as soon as he got there, he just blurted it out.
"You are... Qi Ze?" Wang Xuan looked at him for a long time before recognizing him. In just a month, the boy had grown considerably, his skin was very white, under the sun's rays, it had a translucent quality, but his lips were blood-red and his eyes were extraordinarily bright, giving him an almost eerie appearance at first glance.
No wonder Young Master Ouyang was so infatuated with him, recently ditching all his lovers and leaving the boy alone. This was probably his way of settling down. Wang Xuan was secretly gossiping in his heart, but on the surface, he asked seriously, "Are you alright? Is class starting today?"
"I'm alright." Qi Ze circled the mecha twice and continued the previous topic, "Is there something wrong with this mecha? How about I fix it for you?"
Knowing that the boy intended to repay him in this way, Wang Xuan was very grateful, but still waved his hand, "It's not fixable. This mecha is the oldest G9 model, if other parts were broken, they could be replaced with other models, but if the power converter is broken, there is no replacement, because the manufacturer has been out of production for a few hundred years, there is no inventory in the warehouse. This mecha is probably the last G9 in the Empire, it could be put on display in a museum."
Wang Xuan had a good attitude, not forgetting to mock himself.
His roommate, however, was very worried and suggested, "If it can't be fixed, forget it. If you sell it as scrap, you can still make a bit of star coins, our guys will chip in a bit more, and we'll buy a new mecha. The mecha tournament is coming, you can't afford to lose."
A tall, muscular boy walked over and added, "Yeah, don't bother the manufacturer anymore, it's a waste of time. If you win the mecha tournament, you can go to the Imperial Military Academy for further study, what a great opportunity? Don't you know, Ouyang Duanhua that kid signed up for both the martial arts tournament and the mecha tournament, saying he was going to take both championships and snatch two admission spots. You can't let him be so smug!"
Yan Junyu only understood at this point, he asked in a deep voice, "Because I died, so your guaranteed admission spot was revoked?" "When the pot's empty, the tea's cold," nothing could be more true. Death was indeed helpless and powerless.
Wang Xuan knew that his two roommates' backgrounds weren't much better than his own, so he firmly rejected their suggestion.
Qi Ze listened patiently for a moment, then spoke again, "Give me the mecha, I guarantee I'll fix it for you, shall we consider it repayment for your previous life-saving grace?"