With a soft “puff”…
Under the young living Buddha’s guidance, the energy mass instantly broke through the thirty-sixth circle of the energy cycle that Xu Ze had been longing for so long. What did the thirty-sixth circle represent…
It represented that the biggest obstacle to Xu Ze advancing to a Level 4 medical corpsman had been eliminated…
As the thirty-sixth circle was broken through, the young living Buddha had already sensed that Xu Ze had broken through a major threshold. He was just about to release his hand when he suddenly felt a suction coming from Xu Ze’s Baihui acupoint…
The young living Buddha’s delicate eyebrows rose slightly, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes…
He only felt that under the pull of that suction, the surrounding spiritual energy suddenly accelerated violently, rushing into Xu Ze’s body at more than two or three times the previous speed…
While the young living Buddha was surprised, he did not notice that from his own palm as well, a faint but extremely refined and pure thread of vow-power was drawn in by that suction.
The suction lasted only about two seconds before quickly dissipating. But the large amount of energy particles that had been suddenly drawn in rushed along the Ren and Du meridians straight into Xu Ze’s qi sea, and then within the qi sea, charged toward the energy mass.
By now the energy mass had already reached a state of fullness and could not digest these energy particles, so the particles were left to collide wildly throughout the qi sea.
As these energy particles collided, the qi sea gradually began to expand, until it had expanded to a degree where it could expand no further. Then those energy particles charged toward the energy mass in the center.
And under the frenzied impact of these energy particles, the energy mass finally could no longer withstand the powerful shock and burst apart with a bang…
Countless bioelectric energy began surging along the body’s meridians toward all four limbs, and this massive bioenergy continued to seep thread by thread into the cells of muscles, bones, and skin, slowly settling there and gradually strengthening these cells.
Meanwhile, the faint refined vow-power that had been drawn from the young living Buddha at the same time headed directly toward Xu Ze’s forehead between his brows, slowly settling there, and then forming something like a pale golden little sphere at the spot between his brows, where it stopped moving entirely.
As this energy gradually dissipated into the various cells of the body, Number One’s voice suddenly rang out again in Xu Ze’s mind: “Host has successfully established a Level 4 energy cycle. Constitution: C-grade. Knowledge level: Level 2. Advancement requirements met. System upgrade beginning.”
“Beep. System upgrade complete. Time elapsed: sixty seconds. Energy consumed: sixty-five percent. Level 4 permissions unlocked…”
This was a moment Xu Ze had been anticipating for a long time, but at this moment Xu Ze still had not snapped out of those images and had not heard any of Number One’s notifications at all…
The young living Buddha looked at the spiritual energy around him that had slowly come to a halt, gave Xu Ze a slightly puzzled glance, but did not think anything of it. He only thought to himself with a slight jolt of surprise, “This Venerable One’s cultivation method is truly marvelous…”
Then, seeing that Xu Ze’s eyes were still somewhat dull, it seemed he was still sunk in his own illusory dream and had not yet awakened…
The young living Buddha smiled faintly with a slight nod. This illusory dream of his was excellent for tempering spiritual vow-power and also had the effect of opening spiritual intelligence. After being tempered by him in this way, this Venerable One would greatly benefit in his future cultivation…
After a short while, feeling that it was about enough, he straightened his expression and called out clearly, “Om mani padme hum!”
With this clear cry from the young living Buddha, Xu Ze’s eyes flew open. He stared blankly at the young living Buddha in front of him, then looked around in confusion, and only then remembered where he was…
And at this moment, no one noticed that the pale golden sphere between Xu Ze’s brows—transformed from a thread of the young living Buddha’s vow-power—had begun to slowly rotate, drawing the mental power in Xu Ze’s mind to extend toward the pale golden sphere…
Then, after Xu Ze’s mental power and the pale golden sphere slowly connected, the pale golden sphere slowly stopped rotating and went still, with no further movement at all…
Xu Ze truly did not understand what had happened, but he felt more relaxed than ever before, and his mind was completely clear, as if he really had received some great benefit…
Seeing Xu Ze’s somewhat dazed and puzzled expression, the young living Buddha said in a crisp voice, smiling at Xu Ze, “Alright… you have been given your benefit… now go…”
With that, he paid Xu Ze no more attention and turned to walk toward the meditation room at the back…
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Xu Ze quickly turned and joined his palms in a salute toward the departing young living Buddha, then, with a trace of confusion, walked out of the great hall.
At this time, Luo Hao had just raised his head from his kneeling position. He had no idea that he had just been unconscious for a while and simply assumed he had felt a bit dizzy from kneeling too long.
Seeing that the Living Buddha Nama was already gone from inside, he could not help but feel some regret. If only he could have received empowerment from Living Buddha Nama…
Then he saw Xu Ze walking out while he was still kneeling on the ground. He could not help but blush, and quickly scrambled up, saying to Xu Ze with a dry laugh, “Section Chief Xu, you’re out…”
“Mm…” Xu Ze nodded. He was still a bit dazed at this point, his mind still full of those wondrous images from earlier, and he had not fully come to his senses.
However, he did not linger. He walked directly down toward the Small Golden Tile Hall below, because Xu Ze seemed to understand that the young living Buddha had probably already given him his benefit, that this place was temporarily not fated to him, and that it was time to go…
Seeing Xu Ze heading straight down like this, Luo Hao suppressed his questions and quickly followed Xu Ze down…
Along the way, the lamas nearby all bowed to Xu Ze one after another. After returning each salute, Xu Ze reached the entrance of Sangna Temple, where the jeep happened to come speeding from the distance, trailing a thick cloud of dust…
Xu Ze got into the car. At this point he stopped thinking about what had just happened and remembered that the reason he had come out today was to inspect the special forces brigade’s weighted cross-country march. He immediately asked, “We’ve been delayed for a while—where has the unit gotten to?”
The officer driving thought for a moment and quickly answered, “By now they should be about ten kilometers from here… If we drive faster, we should be able to catch up in about ten minutes…”
“Mm… alright, continue on…”
Along the way, Xu Ze was absent-minded, but he did manage to follow the entire cross-country route to the end…
After returning to the military district quarters, he ate a quick meal, said hello to the other members of the inspection team, and went back to his barracks to rest…
After entering the barracks, Xu Ze still could not stop thinking about what had happened today. He truly had not figured out what had actually happened later on, or what benefit the young living Buddha had actually given him.
He thought for a while but simply could not figure it out. No help for it… Xu Ze decided to set it aside for now and do some energy cycle cultivation first. He could see that the breakthrough was not far off, so he had better push hard and get himself into the thirty-sixth circle as quickly as possible…
But when Xu Ze lay down on the bed and had just begun circulating his energy cycle, he felt slightly that something was off—it seemed a bit easier than usual. But he did not pay attention at the time and simply continued driving the circulation as he always did…
One round, two rounds, three rounds… thirty-three rounds, thirty-four rounds…
“Huh? What’s going on?” Xu Ze felt that even at the thirty-fourth round he was still extremely relaxed. In the past, by this point, pushing forward any further had already been very difficult…
Thirty-fifth round… thirty-sixth round… Xu Ze circulated in a daze, watching in disbelief as he easily broke through the boundary of the thirty-fifth circle and went straight into the thirty-sixth, and even the thirty-sixth circle was crossed without the slightest obstacle… Then he was completely stunned…
“What’s going on? What on earth is going on?” Xu Ze stared wide-eyed at the ceiling above his head, truly unable to understand how he had suddenly entered Level 4…
Inexplicably, he had entered the threshold of a Level 4 medical corpsman that should have required at least another half year or more of hope to reach…
“Could it really be that today that little Living Buddha Nama helped me break through the thirty-sixth circle in one go… and advanced me to this Level 4 medical corpsman?” Xu Ze thought dazedly for a while, then quickly snapped out of it and hurriedly entered the virtual space…
“Medical Officer Xu Ze…”
As soon as he entered the virtual space, he heard Number One address him this way. Xu Ze could not help but draw a light breath. If Number One addressed him like this, then it meant he truly had entered the ranks of Level 4 medical corpsmen…
“A Level 4 medical corpsman… I’ve finally reached it…” Xu Ze shook his head excitedly. This young living Buddha really had been good to him, and truly formidable as well—he had actually helped him reach the ranks of Level 4 medical corpsman in one go. That was incredibly powerful…
After Xu Ze came to his senses, he quickly said to Number One, “Number One, quickly show me what new functions Level 4 has?”
Soon, a light screen appeared before Xu Ze’s eyes, displaying some of the new functions available to a Level 4 medical corpsman: “X-ray tomography… Air source analysis… Allergen detection… Biological entity energy assessment… Air source conversion…”
Looking at these five new functions, Xu Ze was somewhat curious. X-ray tomography was of course CT—he knew that—and he also knew what allergen detection was. But what were air source analysis, air source conversion, and biological entity energy assessment?
He had no choice but to ask Number One, “What are this air source analysis and conversion, and that biological entity energy assessment function?”
Number One answered mechanically, “Air source analysis is a skill that a Level 4 medical officer must possess. When carrying out interstellar missions, one must analyze the air composition of the planet to determine whether it is suitable for human survival, and also analyze whether there are other harmful substances in the air…”
“Air source conversion means that once it is discovered that the oxygen content in the air is insufficient, or that there are harmful substances to the human body in the air, this function can be used to convert and decompose them. The conversion and decomposition capability depends on the individual’s energy…”
“The biological entity energy assessment function means that by scanning other humans or living beings, one can determine their approximate energy value, judged using the nine levels of medical corpsmen as the standard. Ordinary people are Level 0… ascending in order from there…”
Hearing Number One’s explanation, Xu Ze finally understood why it was said that only Level 4 medical corpsmen began to possess the capability for alien-world operations. It was because of this addition…
As for the other functions, they were also fairly practical. As for the CT, Xu Ze had already been using it ahead of schedule for a long time. Now it seemed that Level 5 medical corpsmen should have an MRI imaging function, which should also be something a Level 4 medical officer could use across levels…
Although he had now stepped into the ranks of a Level 4 medical officer and Xu Ze was extremely excited, he did not slack off. Instead, he continued driving his energy cycle and continued cultivating, striving toward the thirty-seventh circle…
Little Knife could only be restarted and awakened after Level 5. Level 5 required reaching the forty-fifth circle, and also required a B-grade constitution to advance. As the saying went, the revolution has not yet succeeded—comrades still need to work hard…
The routine inspection of the Northwest Military District’s special forces brigade training soon came to an end. Escorted by the military district’s Deputy Commander Wu, the inspection team boarded the plane with satisfaction.
As for Wu Lei, he had already told Xu Ze that the next time they met, they absolutely had to drink together a few more times… Wu Lei had put it bluntly: he had never suffered such a loss in his entire life, and after training hard for a year, he would definitely come to settle the score of getting drunk…
Xu Ze readily agreed. He actually felt a certain rapport with the straightforward Wu Lei. Ever since Xu Ze had shown those two skills and made Wu Lei concede, Wu Lei had been extraordinarily polite to Xu Ze. In the other two areas Wu Lei did not dare compare himself to Xu Ze, but when it came to drinking, he truly was not convinced, and it was the only thing in which he might still be able to catch up to Xu Ze…
On the return flight, the officers from the Military Training Department of the inspection team showed Xu Ze much more respect. The strength Xu Ze had demonstrated during this inspection had truly shocked them thoroughly…
The group returned smoothly to Yanjing. Minister Yang Guanglian, upon receiving the report, was very satisfied with this routine inspection. He had also long since learned about the few skills Xu Ze had shown over there, and he could not help but feel proud. This young officer had been promoted by his own hand, and quite a few people in other departments had grumbled about it. Now, every bit of strength this young fellow displayed earned him another bit of face.
Moreover, if the rank of major general really was to be promoted in August, there would certainly be many people who would object. Only if Xu Ze demonstrated sufficient strength could he suppress the others…
Back at the Special Operations Division, Xu Ze’s subordinates were all extremely excited that this time Xu Ze had gone down to the Northwest and cowed that fat Wu from the Northwest. After all, many of these subordinates had been to the Northwest and suffered greatly at the hands of that fat Wu—they had been drunk under the table by him…
But the other party was a general, and their own drinking capacity was no match for his, so they had no choice but to swallow the loss in frustration. Now, hearing that Xu Ze had single-handedly taken down a whole crowd in the Northwest, everyone was thrilled. Every one of them felt that the Special Operations Division had finally vented some frustration this time.
However, no one noticed that the Special Operations Division Chief, Lin Beijia, was not particularly happy. This time he had received a personal phone call from the old master of the Zhang family, telling him to pay close attention to the actions of this deputy division chief Xu Ze. If the other party committed any disciplinary violations or other such matters, he absolutely must seize on them—under no circumstances could Xu Ze be allowed to smoothly ascend to the position of major general.
Lin Beijia belonged to the Zhang family faction, so he naturally had no choice but to listen to the old master’s words. Moreover, his own position as division chief was also that of a major general. If Xu Ze really did take another step and become a major general, then his position as division chief would become somewhat awkward…
And if the other party were promoted to major general and also gained the appreciation of the minister or even the chairman, then perhaps in a year or two, he would climb right over his head…
“Xu Ze… you did well on this mission. In the coming days, there are several more military districts’ routine inspections that you may need to attend… During this period, you can rest a little…” Lin Beijia looked at Xu Ze across from him, his emotions hidden extremely well, and said with a smile.
“Understood, Chief… After this trip to the Northwest, I really am a bit tired… If possible, I really would like to rest for a few days…” Xu Ze nodded with a smile.
“Mm, good… If you want to take leave, just let me know in advance…”
Xu Ze nodded. It just so happened that his mother had said a relative back home was sick—apparently quite seriously ill—and had been staying at the First Affiliated Hospital in Xingcheng for quite a few days without improvement. So he should take the opportunity to go back. Besides, Sun Lingfei had long since returned to Xingcheng University, and after not seeing her for these days, he really did miss her…
So he asked Lin Beijia for a few days of leave and prepared to return to Xingcheng the next day…
Back in the office, he took care of the matters that needed handling. After giving Zhang Zuo a heads-up, Xu Ze booked a plane ticket and flew directly to Xingcheng the next day…
After returning to Xingcheng, he gave his mother a call…
“Mom… I’ve already returned to Xingcheng today. Which floor of the First Affiliated Hospital is that cousin of mine staying on?”
Hearing that Xu Ze was back, Xu’s mother was happy for a while, then quickly said, “Your cousin was treated over there for half a month with no improvement, so two days ago he was transferred to Lianyang for treatment… He’s staying in the internal medicine department of Lianyang Central Hospital… When are you going?”
“Oh… he was transferred back to Lianyang?” Xu Ze thought for a moment, then said, “Alright… then I’ll go over tomorrow. I’ll stay in Xingcheng for a day…”
“Good. Anyway, your cousin’s illness is a chronic one, so there’s no rush for this one day… You can go see him tomorrow…”
Xu’s mother said happily, “Remember, after you’ve seen your cousin, come home for a visit. Mom bought a free-range chicken for you—tomorrow I’ll make you a pot of soup…”
“Alright… Mom, after I go to Lianyang tomorrow, I’ll come straight home…” Xu Ze nodded in agreement, then hung up the phone…
After returning to Xingcheng, the first thing to do, of course, was to visit Old Master Tang’s house. This was a routine every time he came back. After all, the old man basically lived alone with Tang Zhi and a few servants at Tianyang Mountain, which could be considered quite lonely…
So whenever Xu Ze came back and had time, he would go keep the old man company, so he would not be too lonely…
Ever since Xu Ze had given him bioelectric treatment that year, Old Master Tang’s health had been excellent and his spirits high. Seeing Xu Ze back, he was extremely happy. He had Tang Zhi arrange for the chef to prepare a table of good dishes, then brought out a bottle of fine liquor, and the two of them sat facing the dishes, sipping together…
“Ah Ze… I heard you did well this time. You went to the Northwest and cowed that notoriously fat Wu, which let a lot of people breathe a sigh of relief…” Old Master Tang said with a smile, looking at Xu Ze.
Xu Ze smiled awkwardly and said, “Grandpa Tang… actually Commander Wu is not a bad person, he just likes his liquor a bit. Quite a few people in our department have suffered at his hands…”
“I never imagined you were so good at drinking… Heh heh… Next time, help me entertain a couple of guests?” Old Master Tang said with a smile.
“Entertain guests? Sure… Grandpa Tang’s guests, of course I’ll entertain them…” Xu Ze quickly agreed.
Seeing Xu Ze agree so readily, Old Master Tang nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, “Come, come… first keep Grandpa Tang company for a couple of drinks, but no more than that…”
“Drinking with you, Grandpa Tang, I can only have two cups—you mustn’t drink too much either…”
After accompanying Old Master Tang through the meal, Xu Ze asked Tang Zhi for a car. His Maserati was still in Yanjing, and he still needed to go to Xingcheng University now, then to Lianyang Hospital tomorrow, and then home. Having no car would not do…
Hearing that Xu Ze wanted a car, Tang Zhi smiled and said, “There’s still a Mercedes at home, and an Audi… Which one do you want?”
“The Audi… I wouldn’t dare drive the old master’s Mercedes…” Xu Ze said with a smile.
Tang Zhi chuckled softly and said, “If you want, I can assign you a driver. You can just sit inside and relax…”
“Forget it, forget it… If I actually brought a driver along, people would laugh at me…” Xu Ze could tell Tang Zhi was teasing him and chuckled in response.
“Alright then…” Tang Zhi tossed over a key and said with a smile, “Go drive it yourself…”
Xu Ze caught the key and nodded with a smile. “Alright… Brother Tang, I’ll be going then…”
Tang Zhi watched Xu Ze drive the Audi down Tianyang Mountain in a flash, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Back then, he had watched this young fellow rise. At the time, he had been a green student full of passion, and Tang Zhi had worried quite a bit for Xu Ze, telling him to seize his opportunities and climb higher while the old master was still around…
Who would have known that this kid would now already be a major colonel with real power in the military? It really made him sigh with amazement…
Xu Ze descended Tianyang Mountain and headed straight for Xingcheng University. Today happened to be Friday, so Sun Lingfei should not have any classes. If she had nothing going on tomorrow, he would bring her home with him…
Xu Ze drove along slowly with the flow of traffic toward Xingcheng University. In just over twenty minutes, he arrived on campus. Looking at the familiar campus, Xu Ze could not help but sigh softly. Although it had only been a few months since he had truly left, he really felt as though it had been a long time…
The car moved slowly through the campus. Watching the younger students walking past, a trace of melancholy flashed across Xu Ze’s face. He was just about to pull out his phone and call Sun Lingfei when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure walking by over there…
