CHAPTER 10: CHAPTER 10: IS THIS FOR REAL?

The middle-aged scavenger spoke the secret and then looked at Qu Jianlei with curiosity.

However, the other party was momentarily stunned, slowly exhaled a breath, and did not react at all.

About half a minute later, this fool slowly opened his eyes and turned to leave.

"Hey, Xiaoqu," he couldn’t help but shout, "Where are you going?"

"Where?" Qu Jianlei turned his head, looked at him suspiciously, "Of course, going back to rest, then work."

"Uh..." The middle-aged man glanced at the scavengers and hunters at the scene, "You’re not going to participate in the cleanup?"

"Not participating," Qu Jianlei shook his head without hesitation and left without looking back.

He had already acquired three weapons and searched two bodies, excess would be damaging.

Most importantly, the failed genetic potion still posed a potential threat to him.

He didn’t know how genetic warriors trained before the apocalypse, anyway, it’s different from the path of the Daoist Sect classics he knew.

He planned to carefully ponder the differences, and if possible, start from Blue Star’s body refining approach.

Anyway, he couldn’t let the mutation start from the xiphoid process—five percent probability was still too low.

As his figure grew smaller and smaller in sight, the scavengers and hunters exchanged glances.

Eventually, someone snorted softly, "Indeed an idiot."

Given today’s situation, it was supposed to be a turning point in Sha Qu’s fate.

Previously, he was easily bullied by everyone without any concerns.

Now he had a tiger skin, he should seize the opportunity to establish some rules and seek some benefits for himself, yet he just walked away?

Some didn’t care about Qu Jianlei’s ideas, impatiently saying, "It’s time to discuss the other items... "

Someone muttered under their breath, "What a group of profit-riddled fools!"

Qu Jianlei walked quickly, soon disappearing from everyone’s sight.

Then he bent over, started to run fast, because his body was extremely light due to years of malnutrition, he ran very fast.

However, as he kept running, his body grew hotter and his skin became more red.

Just when he felt he couldn’t hold on much longer, several uneven small mounds appeared ahead: finally arrived!

Qu Jianlei ran to the side of a small mound, scratched the ground a couple of times, then pushed hard.

A crack appeared in front, about twenty centimeters wide, about one meter long.

He checked the few hidden strands of hair at the crack, finding no anomalies, he unhesitatingly squeezed in.

This wasn’t his residence, just a temporary refuge he dug in the wild.

Qu Jianlei was extremely thin, for him, this was quite an undertaking but he severely lacked a sense of security.

Even if meals came irregularly, he still dug three temporary refuges in the wild.

Every refuge was pathetically small, but for Qu Jianlei, it was better to have them than not.

Now this refuge was the largest one, but he squeezed in with the Gauss Automatic Rifle, still somewhat bumping around.

Squeezing diagonally downward below ground nearly three meters, he reached a narrow space.

The space was about one meter from the surface, two meters long, sixty centimeters wide, roughly one and a half meters high.

About the size of two stacked coffins.

In this space, he also had a small jar of water, half a tube of nutrient liquid, half a candle hidden.

His lack of security was truly remarkable; after mysteriously crossing over once, he didn’t want to cross over a second time.

Regardless of survival rate, can he ensure next time crossing over, he would definitely be in a human body?

But now he did not have time to consider these.

Pushed the door closed from inside, took out the newly acquired flashlight, checking it was fine, he entered the underground cellar.

Then he quickly sat cross-legged, began to check the qi and blood in his whole body.

Because of the intense exercise just now, his breath was rapid, unable to enter meditation.

But could feel the muscles all over his body were sore, and it wasn’t the feeling of excess lactic acid secretion.

Qu Jianlei wanted to meditate, but unfortunately, he had no luck techniques.

Before crossing over, he did study "Five Animals Qigong" and "Eight Pieces of Brocade," as for Tai Chi... he wasn’t well-versed.

But in such cramped space, these body refining skills couldn’t be performed at all.

So... reluctantly standing a posture stance?

His stance posture was still quite standard, once invited experts for guidance back in Divine Land.

Unfortunately, after coming to the wasteland, too poor, such physically demanding exercises... hadn’t tried them much.

But now rare to be a little extravagant, with the body extremely hot, just the right time to try.

While standing in posture, he sank his qi into the dantian—it’s the lower dantian, not the middle dantian.

This body’s foundation was still somewhat deficient, standing for barely two minutes, he already felt some waist and back pain.

Yet immediately, a miracle occurred, the heat at the xiphoid process began to subside, the whole body’s heat also gradually weakened.

Correspondingly, the lower dantian started to heat up.

The whole body’s heat seemed to converge like hundreds of rivers into the sea, continuously flowing into the lower dantian.

In an instant, Qu Jianlei felt energized, his waist didn’t hurt anymore, and his back wasn’t sore.

But, what exactly have I trained up?

A failed Genetic Potion actually started helping me cultivate Inner Strength?

This heat turning into Inner Qi, is it reliable... is it serious?

The next moment, a phrase suddenly popped into his head—"Every part of the human body is a Dantian."

So this heat, is it possibly reliable... serious... right?

However, as he recalled this phrase, his mind suddenly shook, and an image outline emerged.

It was a cartoon butterfly with a big head and small body, its wings as small as tiny muscles on the legs of a stick figure.

Though it was fuzzy and indistinct, Qu Jianlei shivered all over.

He muttered softly, almost like in a dream, "Xiao Hu... is that you?"

Xiao Hu was the artificial intelligence he created in the Divine Land.

At the time, he was somewhat world-weary, choosing the form of a butterfly—even if I live only one summer, I will still bloom beautifully.

But when he named it, he felt the name "Xiao Die" was too common and homophonic with "Dad."

Nobody can take advantage of him casually, not even an artificial intelligence!

So it wasn’t strange at all to call a butterfly "Xiao Hu," right?

Xiao Hu’s intelligence level was high, and Qu Jianlei, as its "creator," was not short on money, so he spared no expense on hardware, making its computational speed very fast.

With the support of the Divine Land’s officials, many data were open to Xiao Hu, enhancing its learning ability and making its training completion highly advanced.

Although it hadn’t gained independent consciousness, Qu Jianlei felt it wasn’t much different from a sentient being.

As for giving it intelligence? Qu Jianlei didn’t ponder too much on it, even if he was indeed tempted.

Firstly, he figured it was likely beyond his capability, though his IQ was extremely high, he wasn’t arrogant to the point of madness.

Secondly, allowing artificial intelligence to gain consciousness is essentially an anti-social idea; who can ensure it wouldn’t turn against humans?

Anyway, he was very happy to finally see Xiao Hu now.

Unfortunately, the cartoon butterfly trembled slightly twice and then burst apart into twinkling starlight.

The starlight didn’t last even a second before dimming and disappearing.

Immediately, a familiar throbbing pain echoed in his mind—a kind of swelling pain.

"Then let it hurt," Qu Jianlei was still in a Posture Stance, but his hands had already reached for his waist to take out a Nutrient Injection.

After consuming a Nutrient Injection, the throbbing pain intensified.

Without thinking, he took out another one.

Previously, he earned ten Nutrient Injections from Mr. Sai as salary, and scavenged twelve more from Iron Head and Third Master.

Now he could afford to be a bit lavish, and he was certain this swelling pain likely enhanced his brain’s computational ability.

It took about ten minutes for him to consume three Nutrient Injections before the head swelling stopped increasing.

However, maintaining the Posture Stance... was really no longer feasible, since this body has hardly ever done it before.

He plopped down on the ground, picked up a water bag, and drank heavily.

The Posture Stance consumed quite a lot of energy, and his brain consumed even more; after three Nutrient Injections, not drinking water wasn’t an option!

This water bag must have been carried by Iron Head, and the water was unexpectedly clear.

However, even though he was extremely thirsty, Qu Jianlei restrained his urge to "drink heartily."

Rationality told him that it’s very necessary to plan his diet well, as the body’s odd state might last for an unknown duration.

Though he sometimes couldn’t control his body, in normal circumstances, his self-discipline was very strong.

It wasn’t just an obsession; this perilous place didn’t afford him much room for error.

After drinking six large gulps in a total of twelve small gulps, he decisively put down the water bag.

Then, naturally, he adopted a "Five Hearts Facing Heaven" position.

He wasn’t sure if doing so would bring him any benefits, but in Daoism... isn’t it often like this?

His breathing calmed a bit, but his mind still throbbed intensely.

Another ten minutes passed, and he felt around for another Nutrient Injection.

This time, however, he didn’t continue drinking water, as water resources were indeed too precious.

In the following hour, he consumed two more Nutrient Injections and drank three large gulps of water.

As he worried about when this boost would come to an end, the swelling pain in his head began to subside.

Five minutes later, the pain had become negligible, and Qu Jianlei even wondered if there was any residual pain left.

Then, a mantra suddenly appeared in his mind, "Nameless Qi Refining Technique"!

Is this... a cultivation Technique? Qu Jianlei was immediately bewildered.

After crossing over, his memory of much of Blue Star’s knowledge was vague at best, mostly knowing the what but not the why.

After all, he excelled in supercomputing, not super memory.

But he was certain that he had never come across such a Technique on Blue Star.

Even if there was indeed a cultivation Technique, it couldn’t possibly be called "Nameless Qi Refining Technique," right?

So, has my transmigration’s cheat finally arrived, is this... the system activation?

(A new week has started, and the new book seeks all sorts of support. Recommendation tickets are free.)