Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
The group of geniuses were amidst a heated discussion about how to make their ends meet. One proposed to join a band at a Backsea pub, another suggested private tuition, but its payment would take longer.
However, why would anyone hire some amateur kids? Their standard was far below that of professional musicians.
Lu Shu did not want to waste his time hearing them out. Ever since he expressed his talent of “breaking rocks with his chest”, the rest seemed unwilling to include him in their discussion. He was a misfit!
Cao Qingci did not speak a word throughout the entire discussion. Still quiet, she saw Lu Shu walk towards a newsstand.
“Hey, I want to make a call,” Lu Shu shouted at the newsstand owner. The middle-aged man looked up at Lu Shu and wondered who would still use fixed-line phones nowadays. Even he seldom touched it.
But Lu Shu looked like an ordinary student, not a migrant worker. Maybe he had his phone stolen.
Lu Shu recalled the number with incredible memory and dialed the phone immediately. The call was picked up at once and a voice called out in surprise, “Hello?”
“It’s me, Lu Shu, calling… Uh hm, Zuan, quickly come and fetch me at the train station. Be fast and be cool,” Lu Shu said.
“Brother Shu!” Zuan was pleasantly surprised, “You are really in the Capital for progress report? Wait a minute, I’m on my way!”
Lu Shu stood in front of the newsstand after he hung up the call. The owner cast a brief glance at him, “Forty cents per minute.”
“I’ve got no money,” Lu Shu replied with great confidence as he stood outside the door of the newsstand.
“From Wang Bin’s distress, +99…”
Before the owner got angry, Lu Shu said, “My friend’s coming in a minute. He will certainly pay.”
After he heard that, the owner did not question further as he thought Lu Shu did not look like a rascal.
On the other hand, the geniuses continued to discuss with full enthusiasm, “Tonight we can stay in the ticket hall. They have chairs. Plus, it shows we can endure hardships, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t mind. How about tomorrow then? The thing is we can’t even afford our dinner. Shall we go carry luggage or something?”
“Carrying luggage is such a brainless job… Through that the Heavenly Network can’t see our intellectual abilities. Will that be a minus point?”
In the end, no conclusion was reached after the long discussion.
Actually, it was a well-known fact that in business, the number of decision-makers in the team should not exceed three. Otherwise, they would be screwed. At present, although the geniuses were quickly bonded together by adversity and let go of their pride and indolence, the question still persisted, as no one could be convinced by the others. Each and every one of them wanted to do something impressive to capture the attention of the Heavenly Network.
As the result, there were so many voices but no consensus.
Lu Shu only looked at them cheerfully. Out of the good will of including Lu Shu, Yi Ran tried to engage him, “Lu Shu, come and join the discussion.”
“It’s fine. You can discuss among yourselves.”
Other people were a bit annoyed by Lu Shu’s attitude. Why was everybody trying so hard to think of a plan, but he, for whatever reason, chose to wait and reap the fruits of their collective wisdom?
However, in less than 20 minutes, a luxurious car roared past and stopped nearby. Stunned, all of them could only stare as Lu Shu sat next to the driver after greeting the person in the car.
“He can do this?!” someone was in shock.
“This is absolute cheating!”
No wonder Lu Shu refused to join their discussion, because he had already found his way out!
“Why do I not have any friends in the Capital…”
“Begrudge him for what? My uncle is in the Capital too! But think about it, how will the Heavenly Network think of you if you rely on external help to pass the assessment?”
“Indeed. An assessment is an assessment. How can one go with the shortcut!”
“I expected better from him. But it is better to not play this kind of trick in the face of the Heavenly Network.”
“Wait! You said your uncle was in the Capital. Can you remember his number?”
“Er… No,” in the modern age, who would actually remember other people’s numbers besides their parents’ or lover’s? That person was actually boasting when he mentioned his uncle in the Capital. He did not even know where his uncle stayed, let alone his number.
Someone said in a sour voice, “But Lu Shu remembered…”
As for Lu Shu, Zuan was a bit curious, “Brother Shu, it’s pretty obvious that they want to assess your character by taking away all your stuff. Are you sure it’s okay that you are cheating like this?”
“It’s fine,” Lu Shu could not care less, “I’m interested in neither the Heavenly King, nor the Chief Manager of some state. What’s the use of a good character record?”
“Indeed…” Zuan paused for a second, “Brother Shu, I’m so touched to know that you actually remembered my number!”
“Of course, we are friends!” Lu Shu laughed.
After all, you promised to take care of my food and accommodation, didn’t you? If not, honestly I might not have been able to remember it at all.
“Where are we going now?” Lu Shu asked.
“Haha, I’ll show you the prosperity of our Capital, of course! There will be feasting and revelry too!”
…
Lingjing Lane, the Capital.
Though the name of the lane was absent in all existing documents, its existence was real.
At the end of the narrow lane there was a different world altogether.
Despite the seeming lack of pattern, the arrangement of the buildings exuded a sense of completeness. Endless routes hidden between the eaves and houses, that extended in all directions with an air of tranquility.
Further down the road, in a corner there was a staircase that led underground. The staircase was unguarded, as though the people inside were unconcerned about any uninvited visitors.
One of the underground buildings was extremely spacious and futuristic, with one wall as tall as four meters and more than ten meters in width, installed with a giant screen.
Numerous monitor recordings were shown on the screen. In the center of the room located a control panel with buttons and joysticks, which seemed to be used to control all the images on the screen.
At that moment, Nie Ting sat quietly in front of the control panel and stared mindlessly at the screen in front of him. It was as if he was looking at something, but at the same time nothing at all.
Shi Xuejin entered, “Is there really a need for this?”
“Yes.”
“We are in severe shortage of manpower,” Shi Xuejin said, after some consideration.
“We don’t need wretches. They are capable of nothing but terrible mistakes,” Nie Ting calmly replied, his eyes indecipherable.
Shi Xuejin sighed. What he meant was that character building could be trained and practiced and that it was too absolute to throw the baby out with the bathwater like that. After all, those were all Class A aptitude geniuses with the potential of ascending to the top.
To give up any one of them would be a great loss to the cultivation realm.
In this aspect, Shi Xuejin disagreed with Nie Ting, but he still respected Nie Ting’s choice. Without saying anything more, he sat beside Nie Ting quietly and indulged in his reading.
To Shi Xuejin, reading was more important than anything else.
…
The scenes on the screen were constantly changing. For an outsider, they might think that Nie Ting only sat there staring into the blank space.
But the scenes were continuously projected into his unfocused eyes, as though nothing could escape his attention.
This room had long been a secret of the Heavenly Network. The only thing that was made known was that all information was handed to Shi Xuejin, who would bring it to Nie Ting inside.
People were only aware that Nie Ting’s power was ranked third in the entire world, and that his hard-fought combat abilities from his cultivation were terrific.
However, it never occurred to anyone that someone like him would awaken to other incredible powers again.
Really, no one was willing to entertain the thought. He was already scary enough. Had he awakened again, it would be indeed unimaginable.
Suddenly, Nie Ting pointed to a footage in the bottom right corner of the screen, “Chen’s kid drove Lu Shu away. Undisguised cheating.”
Shi Xuejin cast a glimpse at him and smiled, “Why so much attention on him?”
Nie Ting did not reply.
“You think that… he can become the ninth?” Shi Xuejin’s interest was elicited, “But he resorted to such a foul means. What will you do?”
Nie Ting removed his eyes from the screen, sighed heavily and gathered his cloak together, “The apocalypse is coming. It’s not good if one always abides to conditions. Also, taking foul means doesn’t mean he has no principles.”
“It seems you really have high expectations of him,” Shi Xuejin smiled, “But, I don’t think you will succeed. Have you not noticed that he seems unconcerned about what he’s got in the Heavenly Network at all?”
