While everyone was sleeping with anticipation for the next day. Shi Lang was gazing at the ceiling of his room. His house was a simple two-bedroom apartment, with one room occupied by his parents and the other one was his. They weren’t rich, but the house was clean and well maintained.
The room consisted of a bed that was next to a window. Along with it was a small study table that had a few books and a lamp on it. Right above the table was a shelf that held trophies momentous Shi Lang won in his academics.
The occupant of the room himself was lying on the bed, wearing a lower on his lower body, but the torso was exposed to the pale moonlight pouring from the window. Even though it was dark, it was easily visible that his chest was covered with a bruise. The weather in the city was pleasant all year round, and a light breeze blew at night.
His body was covered in sweat. As the breeze blew in from the window, he shivered. Earlier, in the evening when he was cleaning the mech bay, he did not use his hands. He was told by his classmates that they all planned to topple the Battle Class in practical exams. He was surprised, but he did not falter. Shi Lang supported the people in their decision and volunteered for anything that he could do.
After coming home, he got a message from his parents that they will be working overtime, so he consumed a pack of instant noodles. Due to the medication prescribed by the doctor at the school, he slowly drifted into the land of slumber. As he slept, he dreamed of a scene from his past.
…
Shi Lang stood over a cliff as he gazed down at the wide horizon in front of him. The sky was clear and a cool breeze caressed his long hair and handsome face. He sighed and mumbled, “A good scenery, indeed.”
He seemed to be a young man in his late twenties, with a physique similar to what he had now. His hair was long, and he wore an ancient white hanfu. This was Shi Lang in his previous life.
He was a loose cultivator, who was just one step away from ascending to the realm of immortals. The current scene was the moment just before his tribulation came. Shi Lang did not know how many years it had been since he had set out on the path of cultivation. He had reached this level with his hard work, faced betrayals, massacred people.
Shi Lang fell into the category of people who were neither good nor bad. He did not falter or let himself fly when he achieved something. As soon as he finished admiring the scenery in front of him, a lot of dark clouds gathered in the sky. Heavenly lightning swarmed in the shroud of darkness.
Suddenly, Shi Lang sensed something odd. He ignored the clouds and looked at the horizon once again. To ascend, he needed the spiritual energy of the world and to resist the tribulation. However, as soon as he started gathering the energy, the world around him began to die.
Shi Lang was shocked to see this, but soon he realized what was going on. A bitter smile surfaced on his face as he mumbled, “Such a heavy choice?”
At this moment, if he resisted the tribulation with the spiritual energy, his home, the world will die and life on the planet will wither away as well. If he does not resist, then the lightning will kill him. Shi Lang closed his eyes and sighed, “Whatever.”
As soon as the sigh escaped his mouth, the lightning fell and hit him. Shi Lang did not resist the lightning. He chose his home and the people residing in it above himself. He did not wish for his deed to be known, nor did he want any glory. He just turned into a mound of ash, scattered along the horizon he was enjoying.
Shi Lang always wished to leave no regrets in his heart and that is what he did. Leaving the world with no regrets in his heart. He had lived for a time too long and seen enough.
…
Shi Lang gazed at the ceiling and mumbled, “It has been a while since I dreamt of this.” subconsciously his hand was placed on his chest as if looking for something.
Just above his heart, a black triangle-shaped tattoo appeared out of nowhere. The tattoo had been in the same spot in his previous life and it seemed to have followed him in this life. This tattoo was the spiritual space where a treasure was stored. Sensing his thoughts, the tattoo turned to a rectangle and an oval stone appeared in his hand.
Shi Lang sighed and asked, “What are you?”
The boy never knew what this stone was, even in his previous life. He only kept it because it looked pretty. The stone had a scaly texture to it and a radiance that seemed to grow very slowly. After pondering over what the stone could be, he put it back on his chest, letting it disappear in the spiritual space.
The world lost its spiritual energy to support a cultivator, but it still allowed small operations. Putting his thoughts away, Shi Lang went back to sleep. He did not wish to be the strongest, but he wished to live a life with no regrets.
However, for some reason, his strength in this life became his biggest regret. He fell asleep with his mind pondering over how to grow strong enough so that he could not be burdened in his heart.
…
The night passed by in a blink, and Shi Lang woke up to the alarm on his phone. His parents had not come back home all night. This was the usual routine. They will work overtime at least twice a week. The boy freshened up, got dressed to go to school.
The bruise on his chest has lightened a lot. He grabbed a pack of meat buns from the monorail station for breakfast. Today Shi Lang was not late. Whenever he dreamt of his last moments in the previous life, he would be agitated and restless. However, until now, it did not pinch him. As he sat on a seat gazing outside at the scenery flickering at a high speed, he thought, if the way he is living now is the correct one.
He had been a proud man who almost transcended mortal shackles, a man who gave up everything in just one moment, yet he never had regrets. Ever since he was reincarnated, he thought of living a normal life, but now it seems that normal life was not without regrets. He has been to the top, the strongest, but now he sought a life with no regrets.
Thinking about it a smile surfaced on his face. The chance was in front of him, all he needed to do was to grasp it. His aura suddenly changed, from a face in the crowd to a light shining in the dark. A lot of people in the monorail gave him a second look but could not spot what was different about this boy.
Shi Lang arrived at the school gates and went in at a calm pace. When he arrived at his class, he found nobody was present there. He was surprised, and suddenly his phone rang. The phone has now become a pen. He clicked to receive the call and Lucas informed him to come to the Mech Bay.
Shi Lang was aware that they were going to get a Mech, but this efficiency shocked him. He made his way to the Mech Bay and found that the situation was not very merry as he had expected it to be. The technology class was standing next to a pile of parts and in front of them stood the Battle class. He sighed and walked over to his classmate. Upon asking, he discovered that these guys were not doing anything but staring at them for the past ten minutes.
Their stare was intimidating enough. He came to the front and said to Tim, “How about I talk to them?”
Tim did not know where this guy hit his head and became so confident, and before he could even react, Shi Lang gave him a nod and walked over to the battle class. Lucas hurriedly followed him.
The distance between the two groups was not more than ten meters. Shi Lang came and stood three meters away from Jenkins Edwards. He bowed slightly and said, “Good Morning to you, Council Chief Edwards.”
Jenkins Edwards, the first student in the battle class, and head of the student council. Jenkins nodded and asked, “What is going on? Why has your department dumped the trash here?”
Shi Lang replied calmly with his eyes looking down, “We were given a project by the headteacher to refurbish a Mech from spare parts. These parts are for that only.”
Jenkins raised his eyebrow and said, “Meaning, you will be occupying the Mech Bay?”
Shi Lang shook his head, “The outside is fine, Council Head. However, we might require some of your valuable output, such as your experience in the cockpit and things you dislike inside a mech. We hope you can guide us.”
Jenkins had an indifferent expression on his face. He said, “We will see if we have enough time. Try to keep the voice low. I do not wish to be disturbed.”
Shi Lang bowed to him and so did Lucas as they said, “Thank You.” in one voice. Jenkins nodded and left the place with his class.
After they went inside, did Lucas ask his best friend in a low voice, “What was that?”
He did not understand why Shi Lang said all that and what was even more, it all worked well. How could Shi Lang tell him that coaxing these kids to do what he wanted was easier than pleasing someone in his old life? He only said, “Nothing else matters but the outcome. Let us go. We have a lot to do.”
Indeed, the technology branch setting out to fight the Battle class was an outcome of the latter’s tyranny. That was all that mattered, and it was time things changed.