CHAPTER 441: CHAPTER 441: RETURN TO SUZHOU CITY, REUNION

Without realizing it, another month and a half had passed. During that time, Wang Lan found his life incredibly fulfilling, spending every day affectionately with Jiang Xinyu, and they became the couple at the Star Martial Academy in Modu City that everyone envied.

Typically, a couple both gifted and beautiful face many challenges, but not so for Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu. To challenge them, one had to be qualified to do so.

Wang Lan’s excellence had far surpassed his fellow students, and not by a small margin. Since the start of the term, even though there were fools like Duanmu Yi, after the downfall of the Duanmu Family, not even the gifted younger generation of the Yu Family dared to offend Wang Lan.

Thus, these past two years had solidified Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu as an unshakeable couple, with the metaphorical dog food they scattered leaving many praying for them to marry on the spot and then immediately disappear to produce offspring.

"Summer vacation is almost here..." Having just successfully completed the Level 7 Spiritual Engraving test and now attempting to make a primitive Soul Bead grenade, Jiang Xinyu suddenly started the conversation.

"Yeah, it is. What about it? Got any plans?"

"Should we go back? I heard from Sisi that this year she and Xiangwen will both be returning to Suzhou City."

"Up to you, we’ll go back if you say so."

"Then let’s go back. In the second half of the year, we’ll be juniors. Time flies."

"Indeed, we’re almost twenty," Wang Lan reminisced with a sigh.

In this past year, because everything had been calm, there hadn’t been an explosive increase in strength. However, due to the Immortal Cloud Mysterious Green Record, his Star Martial Art level hadn’t been rising too slowly.

At this moment, he was at the peak of the Galaxy Stage, about half a year away from breaking through to the Star Sea Stage. If nothing substantial happened, it would be rather difficult for Wang Lan to break Yu Ruoyun’s record.

Yu Ruoyun had already reached the brink of breaking through at Wang Lan’s age, succeeding during the second half of her junior year. Comparing himself to a freak like Yu Ruoyun was impossible, but he found he could still measure up against Jiang Xinyu.

In this past year, Jiang Xinyu’s strength had also been developing rapidly, having progressed from the beginning of the Galaxy Stage to the peak at a pace not slower than Wang Lan’s. Especially when it came to combat ability, Jiang Xinyu’s had multiplied several times over the year before.

With Wang Lan’s tireless instruction, taking her now and then to the Tianjian Bureau’s spatial training ground for sparring practice, Jiang Xinyu’s true combat strength was probably at the level of an elite Star Sea Stage.

The wind at the end of June, steaming like a blanket against the skin, did not see the two taking public transportation this time, but rather Wang Lan driving back to Suzhou City himself. Saying that he was driving was merely for show, actually.

After acquiring the Cybertron Planet, Wang Lan used a spark of the Fire Seed to transform his vehicle into a mechanical lifeform. It was a very primitive mechanical lifeform that required Xiao Ai as the central control system.

Even after a year, the Cybertron Planet was still at a very primitive and underdeveloped stage, similar to the Cambrian explosion of life on Earth. The mechanical lifeforms derived from it were also extremely rudimentary.

Earth took five hundred million years to evolve intelligent life, but this process was entirely random and disorderly, plus multiple formatings, which is why it evolved so slowly.

But the Cybertron Planet was different; it was like a preset evolutionary program, its path a straight line. Plus, with the intervention of artificial cultivation, its evolutionary speed was countless times faster than Earth’s.

If Earth’s evolution was the survival of the fittest through natural selection and elimination, then Cybertron Planet’s evolution was like deliberate, single-species cultivation.

As the master of Cybertron Planet, Wang Lan could easily sense its evolution this past year. He observed the progression from the initial miraculous reactions of the most primitive silicon-based organic materials to the emergence of primitive multicellular silicon-based life. In just one year, life had originated. In another year, it was likely that various mechanical lifeforms longer than a hand’s span would be filter-feeding all over the planet.

Along the highway, with clear paths throughout, two hours later, Wang Lan dropped Jiang Xinyu off at the entrance to her community before heading to his own home.

"Xiao Ai, have you been slacking off while I was away for this past year?" Wang Lan arrived home and spoke with a frown.

"Wang Lan, as an artificial intelligence, ’slacking off’ has never existed in my dictionary. It’s you who forgot to set a regular cleaning program for me."

"Xiao Ai, you’re already a mature artificial intelligence. Can’t you learn to edit your own programs? Must I give you instructions for everything?"

"Alright then, Wang Lan, shall I initiate the purification program?"

"Initiate!"

WHIRR WHIRR WHIRR—the exhaust fans overhead in each room kicked into action with a buzzing sound, and the hidden vacuum robots in every corner of the rooms deployed. Three intelligent housekeepers swiftly removed the dust-proof bed and sofa covers before sending them to the washing machine.

The 400-square-meter household that had just been empty suddenly gave Wang Lan a sense of being overcrowded.

DING-DONG—The phone suddenly rang; in the five-person group chat, Xu Xiangwen sent an @everyone voice message.

"Is everyone back? If you’re back, sign in. Tonight, at Shuiyue Paradise in the center of Suzhou City, let’s gather?"

"Received!"

"+2"

"+3"

"Sisi, are you bringing two people? Do you have a boyfriend now?" Gong Feiyu hastily replied.

"What? ’+2’ means two people? Then I’m ’+1’."

The lights of the night gradually lit up, illuminating the entire Suzhou City. Jiang Xinyu, dressed in a white dress, looked exceptionally beautiful as she walked into the private room of Shuiyue Paradise, holding Wang Lan’s hand.

Xu Xiangwen and his girlfriend, Gong Feiyu and his girlfriend, along with Xie Sisi had already arrived. When they saw Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu push open the door and come in, Xu Xiangwen’s girlfriend Jia became curiously observant of the two.

Over these three years, she had heard their names countless times from Xu Xiangwen, and also heard about their legends from classmates and her older sister. Now seeing them in person, they truly looked extraordinary, like a celestial couple.

"Everyone’s here? Sorry, we’re late."

"Yo, holding hands? Are you officially dating now?" Xu Xiangwen immediately asked with a teasing laugh.

"When did this happen? Who confessed first?" Gong Feiyu also asked with a curious face.

"Do we even need someone to confess? Isn’t it all just a natural progression?" Wang Lan said casually, glancing over the trio, his gaze finally settling on Gong Feiyu for a moment.

Everyone was in their third year. After entering the Star Martial Academy, Star Martial Warriors’ strengths would experience an explosive growth period. During this time, it would become clear who were the dragons and who were the worms. Perhaps some who shined like starlights in high school might be surpassed by those they once outshone in university.

The Star Martial Warrior profession thrived on innate talent; having Star Martial talent was just the beginning. What future achievements one could reach, talent was more essential than effort. Most people didn’t have the luxury to slack off—under the school’s strict policies, everyone was like a pressed soybean cake, squeezed for every last drop of potential.

Over the past two years, Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu were still unrivaled. Although Xie Sisi had the weakest foundations, she had caught up and recently broken through to the Galaxy Stage. Xu Xiangwen had also stepped into the Galaxy Stage, but Gong Feiyu... was still in the late Star Cloud Stage.

In two years, going from the early to the late Star Cloud Stage wasn’t too slow; it was above average progress. However, compared to talents like Wang Lan, the gap seemed frustratingly large.

Once, Gong Feiyu was a member of their four-person clique, ranked within the top ten at the Suzhou No.1 Middle School’s Star Martial Arts Campus. Back then, he was on par with Xu Xiangwen and far stronger than Xie Sisi.

Being overtaken by Xie Sisi was already quite harsh for Gong Feiyu. To think that even Xu Xiangwen, who used to be on the same level, was now much stronger than he was, it’s no wonder Gong Feiyu wasn’t in the best of moods today.

"Wang Lan, do you happen to know Cheng Jianan?" Xu Xiangwen’s girlfriend suddenly asked during the meal.

"Cheng Jianan?" Wang Lan thought about it and shook his head. He knew many classmates, but most of them had graduated. Wang Lan hadn’t had any interaction with those a year above or below him, so he wasn’t clear about them.

"I think I know her," Jiang Xinyu said after contemplating, "I remember there’s a Cheng Jianan in dorm 711. Why do you suddenly ask about her? She should be from the year above us, but we’re not very familiar."

"She’s my sister. Over the years, I’ve often heard about you all from her—you guys are amazing. Especially Wang Lan, I heard you might break Princess Yu’s record and enter the Star Sea Stage earlier than her."

At this point, Jia’s cheeks flushed with a crimson hue, whether from excitement or nervousness. She looked exactly like an enthusiastic fan.

"Jia, calm down," Xu Xiangwen quickly said with a hint of jealousy, "Wang Lan is just a tiny bit more awesome than your boyfriend. Back in the day, it was me who led Wang Lan to soar..."

COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—Gong Feiyu suddenly coughed into his cup.

"Feiyu, am I wrong? Back when Lanzi was only at the Starlight Stage, it was us and Xinyu who took him to the training ground. Without that time, how could he have taken off on the spot?"

"Xiangwen, you know what I admire about you the most?" Gong Feiyu asked seriously.

"Thick skin?"

"No, you just have no shame at all! Especially the way you’re so earnest about it."

"Wild Imprisonment Finger!"

After many years, coming together once more, the five-person group had many emotions running deep. And this time, they all distinctly felt Gong Feiyu’s out-of-place vibe. Although he still chatted and laughed heartily with Wang Lan and the others, he seemed to be slowly drifting out of their circle.

The group played until very late, and since Wang Lan didn’t drink, he drove Xie Sisi and Jiang Xinyu home. As for Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu, they had called for drivers.

Wang Lan had thought he would have lots of time to enjoy a two-person world with Jiang Xinyu but didn’t expect that Jiang Xinyu would visit her grandmother’s home on the third day. Wang Lan had considered calling Xie Sisi, but ultimately decided against it.

「In the evening.」

Wang Lan went to his aunt’s home. Orders for the Star Martial Toxins Vaccine were consistently high, and many samples required his aunt’s personal attention. Consequently, when Wang Lan entered the house, only Mrs. Feng and Song Jia were home.

Song Jia had just graduated from primary school and was about to move up to middle school. So this summer vacation was the happiest one she’d had in years. Barefooted, reclining sloppily on the couch, she watched the currently most popular Star Martial fantasy drama on the TV screen with wide eyes while stuffing snacks into her mouth.

"Has young master Wang Lan arrived?" Mrs. Feng hurriedly brought slippers for Wang Lan to change into.

It had been more than a year since they’d last met, and Song Jia had grown into a slender young girl. If she once was a scruffy kid, now she was a girl of the flowering season. But... with her current image, she doesn’t quite match the style of a girl in her flowering season.

"I’m saying, girl, mind your image a bit."

"Why bother with image at one’s own home? So-called image is for outsiders. Bro, when did you come back?"

"Huh?" Wang Lan gave Song Jia a surprised look; that call of "bro" came somewhat unexpectedly.

"What’s wrong? Is there a problem with me?" Song Jia quickly sat up straight, then tidied up the messy snack wrappers in front of her with her hands clasped, looking well-behaved.

"No problem, it’s just... Aren’t you afraid all this eating will ruin your figure?"

"I’m hungry, what to do... Bro, can I tell you a story? I’m a little crab. One day, as I was walking along, both my claws fell off, and then I went to the hospital..."

"Alright, alright! I get it," Wang Lan quickly waved his hands, "How much does Auntie give you a month?"