CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 86: CLEARING THE LEVEL! A NEW MONTH!

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

May 1st. Eleven days had passed since "Over My Dead Body" emerged.

Ren Qingqing, who had suffered an unexpected disaster, was informed that she had one foot in the new world’s door due to her "special bloodline" and "special abilities." There was no doubt, when the police officer, the local mayor, and her own parents all told her she was going to become Superman, the persuasiveness was simply off the charts.

She took a hiatus from school and moved houses, all in one go. Ren Qingqing was almost clueless as she moved from Luoyang to a suburb of Sky Capital, settling into an academy still under construction. Yes, an academy; having studied for over a decade, Ren Qingqing was quite confident in recognizing academic buildings.

The dormitories here could be considered the highest quality in Mysterious Country: two people per room, complete with private bedrooms, bathrooms, toilets, a kitchen, and even a living room. When Ren Qingqing moved in, someone was already there.

Her new roommate was a cute girl with baby fat, a year younger than her, named Tang Yihan. Her accent was from the south, and sometimes she would burst into dialect before swiftly switching back to Mandarin, which was very amusing. She often clung to Ren Qingqing, calling her "Sister Qing, Sister Qing" incessantly.

However, Ren Qingqing did not underestimate her at all. On her first day, she saw Tang Yihan swimming through the living room, as if gravity didn’t apply to her.

Ren Qingqing knew she was a Superman reservist, so Tang Yihan must already be a Superman. Normal people couldn’t resist gravity; Newton would be rolling in his grave.

So Ren Qingqing quickly learned that this academy not only truly offered education in ’cultivation’ and ’supernatural powers’ as she had guessed but might also be the strongest academy built with the aim of becoming ’Number One’ in Mysterious Country. In recent days, the girls’ dormitory had also gradually welcomed new arrivals—all young women from various places, each with ’notable abilities.’

Most of them possessed some wonderful abilities. Although they hadn’t started their lessons, they also sought ways to sharpen their skills—or rather, to show off their skills.

The older ’Old Salted Fish,’ Ren Qingqing, who didn’t possess anything, could only nest in the dorm’s living room and binge-watch dramas on the 55-inch LCD TV. Tang Yihan was not like her previous roommate, with whom she shared interests. Since Tang Yihan had never been to Sky Capital before, she had been running around outside these past few days: one day visiting the Great Wall, the next watching the flag-raising ceremony, living it up as a Successful and Showy Person.

As soon as Tang Yihan opened the dormitory door today, she floated straight into the air and began stripping off her clothes. "It was so hot today, almost as hot as back in my hometown... Isn’t Sky Capital further north? My underwear is totally soaked!"

"The Labor Day holiday has already begun today; there are definitely a lot of people coming to Sky Capital for a visit." Dressed in a light shirt, lying on the sofa while drinking cola and eating chips, Ren Qingqing said lazily, "It gets hot everywhere when the temperature rises... Perhaps it’s a bit cooler in the Northeast?"

Tang Yihan, stripped down to her underwear, lay sprawled over the wall-mounted air conditioning vent, wailing, "Ah... I’m going to melt."

Ren Qingqing said, "Be decent, Little Han. Remember you’re a flying Fairy."

"Heh." Tang Yihan floated behind Ren Qingqing. "Which episode are you on now?"

"Episode forty-five!" Ren Qingqing replied. "In the TV drama, it’s already reached the year 234..."

"Have they finished the battle at Red Cliff yet?" Tang Yihan asked curiously.

"That was over a dozen episodes ago," Ren Qingqing said with a speechless look. However, Tang Yihan wasn’t much interested in history, and even her slight understanding of the ’Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ didn’t clue her in on which events corresponded with which years. "Right now, they’ve filmed up to the part where Chancellor Zhuge Liang’s star falls at Wuzhang Plains."

Tang Yihan shook her head. "Isn’t this supposed to be an immortal hero story about Ren Family Cultivators fighting Strange Creatures? What does it have to do with Zhuge Liang?"

"One of the Ren Family Cultivators has a connection," Ren Qingqing explained. "Ren Ge is the son of the third-generation Cultivator Ren Luoyang... Anyway, he’s one of the Ren Family’s current, age-appropriate Cultivators. He admired Chancellor Zhuge Liang greatly while traveling through the Shu Region and, realizing the chancellor’s life was nearing its end, decided to follow him in hopes of saving his life at a crucial moment..."

"Is there a Spell that can bring the dead back to life?" Tang Yihan asked.

"Yeah, there’s the 1st-level Regrowth, 2nd-level Great Regrowth, 3rd-level Supreme Regrowth, 4th-level Blood Revival Technique... 7th-level Resurrection... After level 10, it’s Immortal Technique: Retention," Ren Qingqing said. "There has always been a Cultivator in the Ren Family who specializes in Healing, but for ordinary people, the Resurrection Spell is essentially enough to revive the dead, mend flesh from bone, and stabilize the Divine Soul. The Immortal Techniques above level 10 are reserved for members of the Ren Family."

"Hold on a second," Tang Yihan asked, "If the Resurrection Spell is so powerful, what’s the use of stronger Healing Magic? If someone has injuries that ’reviving the dead and mending flesh from bone’ can’t heal, shouldn’t they have long been dead beyond recovery?"

It seemed Tang Yihan hadn’t really watched ’Over My Dead Body,’ so Ren Qingqing patiently explained, "It’s not like that. As Ren Family Cultivators grow, they all learn a variety of Defensive Magic. These Defensive Magic Spells usually take a day or two to set up through complex rituals and can almost only be completed within the family grounds. Once set up, the Spells form ’self-operating,’ multi-layered Armor for the Cultivator.

"These defensive multi-layered Armors vary greatly in strength depending on the Cultivator’s power and their dedicated study of Defense knowledge. For example, the Patriarch of Ren Family, Ren Ying, currently has 85 layers of defensive Armor. She’s also specialized in Defense, possessing ’Innate Qi’ that consolidates all Armor, making her practically Immovable as a Mountain against Demons.

"Normal multi-layered Armor can be broken by Demon attacks, perhaps losing one or two layers, or three or four. In the face of powerful attacks, a dozen layers might be lost, and being besieged could even lead to a complete breach of the Armor Spell. Only Defense Cultivators from Ren Ying’s lineage can fully consolidate their Armor, preventing it from weakening under minor attacks.

"However, this Armor is quite formidable. As long as it’s not broken, Ren Family Cultivators can emerge virtually unscathed. I previously saw a Ghost-faced Dazzling Bird that could emit sonic waves to penetrate stone, but the Ren Family Cultivator facing it could withstand the attack and slay it directly."

Tang Yihan, still somewhat confused, shook her head. "But what does that have to do with Healing?"

"Immortal Techniques above level 10 are capable of maintaining and replenishing the Spell-formed Armor on a Cultivator," Ren Qingqing explained, her eyes fixed on the television screen, where a Ren Family Cultivator was peeping into the camp. "However, it also takes an hour to fully restore a Cultivator’s Armor, allowing Ren Family Cultivators to travel in the wilderness, face consecutive battles, and quickly recover their defensive stance."

"So, Immortal Techniques above level 10 are no longer about Healing people but specifically about repairing the Intangible Armor formed by Spells."

Dragging out her words, Tang Yihan hummed, "Sounds complicated... But is this Armor really that powerful? Can it withstand bullets?"

Ren Qingqing thought for a moment. "It should, but it might only be able to block a limited number of bullets. If it were Ren Ying, then unless you use missiles or special elite weapons, conventional Hot Weapons and elixirs are almost meaningless against her, no matter how many you have..."

"You mean Ren Ying is her? Doesn’t she look a lot like you?" Tang Yihan slapped Ren Qingqing’s shoulder and laughed. "So you mean to tell me you can be this pretty with just a change of makeup and clothes?"

The scene now showed Ren Ying, who appeared to be in her teens, reprimanding Ren Ge, who was kneeling on the ground with white hair. Ren Ge had just attempted to use an Immortal Technique to save Chancellor Zhuge Liang but aged rapidly the moment he began.

He managed to extend Chancellor Zhuge Liang’s life by half a day, but he himself lost two years of his Lifespan.

Having had a Spiritual Exchange with the Luo God and been reborn once, Ren Ying, who was nearly thirty years old, had grown accustomed to this.

However, after her rebirth, it only took her ten years to regain the appearance of her teenage years. With the Luo God’s Shelter, she wore water-blue robes that resisted water and fire every day. Her appearance was holy and dignified, quite imposing.

She looked like a luxurious, high-end version of Ren Qingqing.

Even when Ren Ying was angrily reprimanding Ren Ge, a beautiful person still looked good while scolding others. After this scene, Ren Family Cultivators would go on an Expedition to deal with the Ghosts at Wuzhang Plains and confront "Ghost General of the Generation" Wei Yan.

After watching this episode with Ren Qingqing, Tang Yihan couldn’t help but sigh when she saw Ren Ying clad in her invincible water-blue Armor, moving through enemies as if they weren’t even there, "It would be great if we could learn this kind of ability."

"How could that be possible? It’s just a Spell in a TV show," laughed Ren Qingqing.

"But it could be real, you know. Some people have already started experimenting with these kinds of long-term Spells of Shelter; it’s just not perfected yet," Tang Yihan mentioned offhand, as she floated in the air and casually swung her legs.

Ren Qingqing blinked. She knew that her new roommate was extraordinary and privy to a lot of inside information, so she didn’t disbelieve her words.

However, Tang Yihan was just making casual conversation. After finishing, she continued watching TV, and when the ending credits rolled, she floated towards the bedroom to grab her clothes for a shower.

"By the way," Tang Yihan suddenly turned around before entering the shower room and said, "We’ll probably start school after the May Day holiday, so if you want to go out and have fun, you’d better do it soon."

"You should receive the notice tonight."

Start school?

Ren Qingqing, who had been enjoying herself in the dorm for several days, finally remembered her grand mission of revival.

"Huh? No way..."

Sitting in his computer chair with no sense of a grand revival mission, Ren Suo listened to Yu Kuangtu’s voice from his phone and complained subconsciously, "They’re lifting the danger alert?"

"In three days, a drastic change will occur domestically, and the importance of your identity will become insignificant," Yu Kuangtu said. "Surely you don’t still expect to get paid without going to work?"

"That’s not it..." Although Ren Suo’s ideal was to get paid without working, he wasn’t foolish enough to say that directly to his boss.

"But your report is really well written," Yu Kuangtu said. "After I submitted your draft, the higher-ups took the points in your report—about the Assassin possessing ’Bullet Time,’ and the strong having secret techniques allowing them to burn life for ’Unlimited Energy’—very seriously. Especially your argument that ’the strong are human,’ which has been recognized by many scholars."

’The strong,’ specifically referring to the Female Seeker in "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters."

Of course, because this is the truth I revealed by shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target, Ren Suo thought.

To submit the "Research Report on ’Killer’s Blood Feast’ and ’If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters,’" Ren Suo had meticulously combed through the game’s settings. He described content that hadn’t yet been exposed in the videos but was subtly hinted at, using his ’superb observational skills.’ His descriptions aligned perfectly with the facts, well-documented and utterly convincing.

Pausing for a moment, Yu Kuangtu on the other end of the phone said, "Compared to combat, you seem to have more talent for investigative analysis... Everything is in its initial stages now, and capable people are highly valued. Therefore, you might experience a job transfer."

"Practice more these two days. The day after tomorrow—that’s the last day of the holiday—come to the Tactical Bureau in the morning," Yu Kuangtu said unhurriedly. "Then, you’ll undergo a new power assessment... This test is crucial for your future."

Ending the call, Ren Suo exhaled softly.

Just as Qiao Muyi said. This is the beginning of a grand era, brimming with countless opportunities. And whether or not I can grasp them, that’s up to me.

He shook his head and looked at the screen.

"Welcome, I regret the poor reception!"

After easily passing the second level, Ren Suo tackled the third level. In the Divine Battle, with a total of 156 contenders, he spent three days and finally beat the game for the first time this morning!

And today marked the start of a new month and also the statutory holiday for International Labor Day!