Chapter 129: A Brand New Business
"Have you ever recorded the times you changed locations?" Liu Sheng asked Song Ru earnestly, her eyes lighting up.
This seemed to be a brand new topic!
Liu Sheng's intense scrutiny made Song Ru feel a bit prickly all over.
She had the illusion that she had turned into a roasted chicken, glazed with honey until it was glistening and tempting.
She scratched behind her ear, recalling carefully: "In the Weird Domain, I think it was about six times."
"But we didn't know?" Liu Sheng remembered that she had never discovered this.
"Because each time, you all just happened to not be there."
"After leaving the Weird Domain, it should have happened more than ten times..."
"Thirteen times?" Liu Sheng interjected.
"Yes, that's about right! How did you know?" Song Ru looked at Liu Sheng in surprise.
"That's not important for now, continue. Under what circumstances did these thirteen times occur?"
"First, back in Qinghe, after I said goodbye to Captain Chen Shanyuan and his team, I returned to my own home, this very house. Because I was too tired, I just fell asleep directly, and when I woke up, I saw myself standing by the bed, with another me lying on the bed!"
Liu Sheng said strangely: "If the other you was lying down sleeping, why did you want to kill her? Couldn't you all coexist peacefully?"
"Just like us, so peaceful."
"Never thought of fighting for body control!"
"Or... have you already fought for it?"
"Hiss! The more I think about it, the more terrifying it gets!"
Liu Sheng dispelled the distracting thoughts.
Song Ru, her face instantly darkening, continued: "I didn't want to, but the 'me' on the bed also woke up, and her first reaction was to kill me."
"What about the subsequent dozen times?"
"Then I went back to Qinghe Academy for school. I encountered it twice when I went to relieve myself, then it appeared behind a bookshelf when I was reading in the Hidden Scripture Library, and once on the way home from school. I could only put these corpses into my Storage Pouch."
"As a result, I encountered it several more times after returning home in the evening, which caused me to barely sleep all night."
Liu Sheng nodded, seeing the large dark circles under Song Ru's eyes, she knew what she said was true. No wonder she looked so haggard early in the morning.
"And then you found yourself having a Breakthrough?"
"Hmm..." Song Ru suddenly came to her senses, "How did you know?"
"Didn't you say you were going to take the imperial examination? And you went to Qingzhaotang early in the morning. It's quite easy to connect the dots, isn't it?" Liu Sheng said with a wry smile.
"Yes, oh right, maybe I've been so distracted by this matter recently that my memory is particularly muddled."
"Just like now, I can't even process that there are already so many corpses at the bottom of the well... I don't want to carry a pouch full of myself... What should I do..."
"As a result, I even got several real exam questions wrong. How am I supposed to take the exam like this? The Instructor said I might not pass..."
The more Song Ru thought about it, the sadder she became, filled with grief and indignation, she fiercely bit her finger.
"Uh, we were just talking about your cultivation Breakthrough," Liu Sheng reminded her.
"Oh right!" Song Ru was indeed a bit confused, "In short, it's probably because after going through the Weird Domain, my cultivation had already reached the limit of Initial Realm Stage Five, just one step away, and finally under the continuous stimulation of battle, I had a Breakthrough."
"First, I need to tell you something." Liu Sheng said seriously, "Your Breakthrough was probably because you killed yourself enough times."
"Ah?" Song Ru felt like she was struck by lightning after hearing this.
What kind of terrifying setting was this!
"So, you can become stronger by killing yourself. This ability is very good. As long as you keep killing, you should be able to steadily increase your cultivation, without having to worry about a Bottleneck."
"But, you might need a better way to dispose of the bodies. It smells too strong here." Liu Sheng really couldn't hold back anymore, "Let's talk somewhere else."
"Oh, oh, okay." Song Ru was stunned, listening, and slowly followed Liu Sheng back to the flower hall.
"Do you remember what you said to Li Mingzhu in the Weird Domain?"
"It seems like... ah... challenging myself?" Song Ru vaguely recalled.
Immediately, she remembered everything that happened in the car, her eyelashes lowered, casting a deep shadow.
Liu Sheng knew the reason for her gloom and continued: "That power of the Dao gave you such a unique ability: you can become stronger by challenging yourself."
"I suddenly thought, in the past, one could only gain cultivation ability by praying to the Supreme God. Can it be done with weirdness now too?"
"The principle is not yet clear, but this possibility is not ruled out."
"But, I don't want to challenge..." Song Ru gnawed on her fingernails, saying meekly.
"Even if your strength will definitely increase after each challenge?"
Song Ru immediately fell silent.
"Do you have a premonition when another you appears?"
"Hmm..." Song Ru recalled, "I'll feel like someone is watching me, and I have to quickly hide."
Liu Sheng mused: "As a result, it's a vicious cycle. You're alone, and another 'you' appears."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know if you've noticed, but every time 'you' tries to kill yourself, it's when you're alone?"
Liu Sheng felt this phenomenon was quite obvious; she didn't understand why Song Ru couldn't notice it.
"So if you really don't want to kill yourself, maybe you can find someone to watch over you." Liu Sheng said, "Of course, this is just my guess, you can try it."
"Ah? Really?" Song Ru hadn't expected it to be so simple; she scratched her head.
"I feel like she's a bit... losing brain cells due to division? Shouldn't she be getting stronger in all aspects?"
Liu Sheng secretly asked world 2.0 in her mind.
"She has been in a state of nervous tension, and her resilience is not high to begin with, which has ultimately led to mental exhaustion. It is recommended to seek treatment at a medical hall, otherwise, it may result in permanent intellectual decline."
It seems being a New Human is not easy.
As Liu Sheng was lamenting, she heard Song Ru's voice, as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "Can I ask you to stay with me for a night?"
"I can pay you."
Liu Sheng felt something was strange.
...
Early the next morning, Liu Sheng yawned as she left Song Ru's house, large dark circles under her eyes, and ten Lingtual newly acquired in her pocket.
Song Ru had initially offered her family's heirloom spiritual item as extra compensation from her mother, but Liu Sheng refused, feeling she hadn't really helped much.
She hadn't fought monsters or killed anyone.
It was just the two of them sitting and staring at each other all night. Liu Sheng eventually couldn't stay awake and took out her "Curriculum Assessment" to review.
Song Ru asked out of curiosity and only then learned that Liu Sheng was also participating in the imperial examination. So, she proactively offered to help Liu Sheng with her studies since there was nothing else to do.
As it turned out, she got eight out of ten questions wrong and was completely confused herself, forcing Liu Sheng to help her solve the problems instead.
Although Liu Sheng hadn't studied Curriculum Assessment much, she had at least learned it from "world 2.0," and her knowledge was particularly solid, making solving problems effortless.
Working on problems all night, how could she not be tired!
However, it also proved that Liu Sheng's guess was correct: under observation, Song Ru would not manifest another "her."
In addition, Liu Sheng also received a brand new Artifact Refining order.
"Make a convenient, smokeless crematory furnace."
"Smokeless is good, environmentally friendly."
"It's not difficult, but it gives me the creeps."
"But there's money."
"What is morality, what is the bottom line? As an Artifact Refiner, of course, I must help people with their worries."
"From now on, a new Dao will be opened!"
