“All my life, I have strived with every fiber of my being to reach this goal… I once thought I might never live to see that day. But if the second control point has truly been discovered, then perhaps… within my lifetime, I might still witness it.” This elderly man, who held a position of great power within China, was now brimming with excitement and emotion.
More than a decade ago, after uncovering that secret, he had led his clan and the vast power behind him in an earth-shattering undertaking—one known to no one. After all these years of relentless effort, they had finally made a monumental breakthrough. How could he not be thrilled?
But Xu Ze, meanwhile, had no idea that he had already been swept into a massive vortex. Perhaps it had been destined ever since he obtained Xiao Dao. There was no avoiding it, no evading it.
He hadn’t originally been qualified to enter this affair or participate in its unfolding. But driven by certain forces, he had been climbing upward. Through his own efforts and a fair bit of luck, he had reached a position that was just high enough—one that allowed him to brush up against this matter ahead of time.
And now, he had finally touched it—though Xu Ze himself was still unaware. Being able to encounter this early might be his good fortune… but then again, who knows? Everything would ultimately depend on Xu Ze himself.
At this moment, Xu Ze, of course, knew nothing of all this. He was flying back to Xingcheng, about to spend his final few days as a student at Xingcheng University, carefree and at ease.
He was traveling on a military aircraft dispatched by the Yanjing Military Region to Xingcheng, and he was fully immersed in running his energy circulation, absorbing energy particles from the high-altitude air to replenish the once-again-silent automatic response system.
He didn’t know if this would work, but it was the only solution he could think of. No matter what kind of system it was, if damaged, repairing or restarting it would require energy.
And Xu Ze knew that his bioelectrical energy was inherently gentle and non-destructive. He believed that the automatic response system had remained completely unresponsive for days, only managing a faint, barely audible alert when he was in grave danger—all because it lacked sufficient energy.
If it had enough energy, it wouldn’t be like this. So, this was all he could do—keep supplying energy. A system crash was likely just a software issue.
The system’s hardware, being futuristic high-tech, shouldn’t break that easily. If it were that fragile, what kind of advanced technology would it be?
Thinking this, Xu Ze suddenly felt a strange sensation. System hardware—apart from external auxiliary devices like his ring and glasses—the only thing he knew of was the Galaxy Microchip, which he had never seen but which Xiao Dao had described as incredibly mysterious and advanced. Where exactly was that thing? It couldn’t be that easy to burn out, could it?
The violent energy particles at high altitude began to rapidly coalesce around Xu Ze, streaming into his body’s Conception and Governor meridians. Although these particles were far more turbulent than usual, Xu Ze had grown accustomed to them after several rounds. It took more time to integrate them, but the energy gained was correspondingly greater.
“One cycle, two cycles, three cycles…” Xu Ze continued running the circulation without pause. Each cycle now completed at remarkable speed—many times faster than before.
During the hour-long flight from Yanjing to Xingcheng, Xu Ze had already completed twenty-two cycles.
But he had no idea how much energy those twenty-two cycles had actually replenished, because he still couldn’t access the virtual space and therefore couldn’t see the energy accumulation indicator. Nor could he be certain that all the energy had been supplied to the system.
Still, he had no choice but to keep at it, persisting until the automatic response system responded once more.
After disembarking from the plane, Xu Ze thought of that charming, ever-smiling face. He patted his pockets and remembered that when he’d left for Yanjing, he’d been in such a hurry that he hadn’t brought his phone. Instinctively, he called out: “Xiao Dao—connect me to Lingfei…”
But he quickly realized: Xiao Dao was gone now, and so was the automatic response system. There was no one left to respond to such an unusual request.
He sighed softly and got into the car arranged by the Xingcheng Military Region, heading home.
His apartment in the neighborhood looked just as it had when he’d left—no dust had accumulated despite being empty for so long.
It seemed that either Sun Lingfei or Brother Tang had known he’d gone to Yanjing and had arranged for someone to clean the place.
Stepping into his room, he saw his phone lying quietly on the nightstand. After all these days, it had long since run out of battery. He pulled a charger from the cabinet, plugged it in, and began unpacking his belongings.
There wasn’t much to unpack anyway—he’d left empty-handed, and all he had with him now were two military uniforms and a small, exquisitely crafted wooden box.
Looking at the box, Xu Ze smiled faintly. This was a gift from General Zuma just before he’d returned home. It should contain something quite valuable.
He opened it gently. Lying on the deep blue velvet inside were dozens of diamond stones, each the size of a soybean, shimmering with a brilliant luster. Xu Ze couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Zuma was indeed generous to his friends. These dozens of high-quality diamonds must be worth at least a few million dollars, no problem.
But at this moment, even these diamonds didn’t hold much allure for him. He simply closed the lid and tucked the box into the nightstand drawer. He’d figure out what to do with them when he had time.
Figuring the phone had charged enough by now, Xu Ze turned it on and pressed the power button.
As the phone booted up, it immediately emitted a series of “beep-beep-beep” notification sounds, which caught him off guard. Then he remembered that Xiao Dao was no longer around, so these days’ messages hadn’t been intercepted.
He opened them and skimmed through them one by one. Two were from Luo Zi and the others, asking where he’d disappeared to lately.
Two were from Xiao Hao, saying he was out of living expenses.
Checking the dates, one was sent yesterday and another today. Xu Ze then recalled that it had been three months since he’d last given Xiao Hao his allowance.
He sighed quietly. Xiao Hao’s spending really had been escalating. Back then, he’d given him six thousand yuan, which worked out to over two thousand a month—and it still wasn’t enough. Back in his own student days, he’d only spent six or seven hundred a month.
But then again, Xu Ze smiled wryly—Xiao Hao wasn’t like him. Who could be as frugal as he was, even with a girlfriend, spending so little?
He opened his computer and transferred another ten thousand yuan to Xiao Hao via online banking. Then, ignoring the fact that it was class time, he picked up the phone and called Sun Lingfei.
The phone rang for a while before the call was declined.
Xu Ze paused briefly, then smiled. He held the phone and waited.
Soon, it rang. Seeing the unfamiliar number on the screen, he answered, and Sun Lingfei’s low, delighted voice came through: “A’Ze? You’re back?”
“Yeah… I’m back,” he replied softly. “I missed you.”
“Mm… are you at home? I’ll call you after class,” she said, her voice tinged with shyness, accompanied by the giggling of a girl friend in the background.
Xu Ze smiled knowingly. “Alright. Five-thirty, at La Vela?”
“Ah? Oh…” Sun Lingfei was surprised that he’d chosen La Vela for their dinner date, but there was more sweetness and delight in her voice than surprise. That was where they’d had their first meal together—though back then, there’d been an annoying third wheel tagging along.
Sun Lingfei was thrilled, but she had no idea that an even bigger surprise awaited her.
After hanging up, Xu Ze grabbed some clothes and took a shower. When he came out, he saw it was still early, so he sat down in his room and resumed his energy circulation practice.
With plenty of time this round, he spent over two hours and managed to complete the thirty-second cycle. By the time he reached it, the energy cluster was moving at a crawl, and pushing it further had become extremely difficult.
Xu Ze knew he still had some way to go before reaching the thirty-third cycle, but he wasn’t about to give up. He’d been stuck at thirty-two cycles for a while now, and though the thirty-third was still out of reach, he wanted to try anyway.
Every time he broke through a minor barrier, the energy he could accumulate was significantly greater, which should help the automatic response system recover. So this time, without hesitation, after completing the thirty-second cycle, he didn’t stop as usual. Instead, he kept pushing the energy cluster toward the thirty-third.
The cluster moved forward at a glacial pace, bead by bead. Sweat beaded densely on Xu Ze’s forehead as he pushed with all his might. But the gap between the thirty-second and thirty-third cycles was truly formidable. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to give up.
“Keep going… keep going… for Xiao Dao—I have to make it through…” Xu Ze clenched his jaw, sweat pouring down thicker now. Even the tiny blue veins usually hidden beneath his skin began to surface.
Under his full exertion, the energy cluster inched forward, drawing nearer to the Baihui point atop his head. Thirty centimeters… twenty… ten… But Xu Ze’s face grew paler by the second. Though his mental strength had grown considerably lately, he still felt like he couldn’t quite keep up.
Pushing the energy cluster normally didn’t consume much mental energy, but during breakthroughs, the drain was enormous. So Xu Ze was gradually feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
Yet he held on—more stubbornly than ever before. In the past, he just wanted to grow stronger for himself. Now, it was no longer just about him—it was for Xiao Dao. For Xiao Dao to return to his side.
As vast amounts of energy particles around him were drawn into his body, the abundant particles above North Lake kept pouring continuously into his Conception and Governor meridians without cease.
Finally… under Xu Ze’s persistence, with a faint, almost imperceptible “pop,” the energy cluster smoothly passed through the Baihui point atop his head and began its descent down his forehead, toward the Qihai point below.
As the energy cluster successfully cleared the Baihui, that spot suddenly seemed to open like a tiny pore. Countless energy particles rushed in, merging into the cluster and vastly amplifying its energy content.
Feeling this surge of abundant energy, Xu Ze’s heart soared. He held his breath and waited… waited to see if the system would respond.
“One second… two seconds… three seconds…” Just as he was about to lose hope, a soft “beep” sounded in his mind.
Hearing that sound—like a celestial melody—Xu Ze was overjoyed. Finally, a response!
“System energy replenished. System self-diagnostics in progress…”
“System self-diagnostics?” After a brief pause, Xu Ze was once again ecstatic. Self-diagnostics—did that mean there was hope Xiao Dao could recover successfully?
Forcing himself to stay calm, he anxiously awaited the result of the self-diagnostics.
The process was relatively quick—only about a minute—but to Xu Ze, it felt like eons.
However, the result was still deeply disappointing.
“Primary system damaged beyond current repair. Automatic response system assuming control. Switching to backup operating system…”
“Switch countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven… one, zero…”
“Beep—Switch successful. System rebooting…”
“System reboot successful… Hello, I am the backup operating system—Xu Ze’s medic. You may call me Number One.”
Hearing this somewhat mechanical voice, Xu Ze sighed softly. He steadied himself and asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for so long: “Can Xiao Dao be repaired?”
“Primary system severely damaged—repair currently impossible,” Number One replied mechanically.
“Then what would it take to repair it?” Xu Ze pressed anxiously.
“That would require a great deal of energy… no hope of a complete repair at this time.” The backup system once again dealt a cold, crushing blow to Xu Ze’s hopes.
