Book 3, Chapter 4: Hongfu

Chen Chuan rejected the offer. “No need.”

Hongfu’s voice faded.

Chen Chuan washed his face before sorting out his things.

After around fifteen minutes, the Realm Pass told him that his shopping agent was going to arrive in ten more minutes and asked whether he wanted a security guard to deliver it to his room, though it would cost extra.

He decided it wasn’t worth saving that small amount and said yes.

Another fifteen minutes passed before he received a message saying that the security guard had arrived. Chen Chuan opened the door and received a box. After thanking him, he shut the door and returned to the living room.

There, he set the box on the table and opened it. There was no ice in it, unlike the box Qi Gao had. There was only a sealed bag buried under piles of thick padding.

He took it out and removed the seal to find a nearly transparent eye mask, but on a closer look, it had thin tube-like veins inside. At the back were slender bone tubes that extended backward, wrapping around his head and face before fastening together at the nape of his neck with a bone clasp.

From a distance, no one would even notice he was wearing it. If they did, they would probably think that it was just a decoration. While the mask looked light and flimsy, it was actually really durable. Since it was made of biomaterials, it could repair itself once soaked in nutritional fluid that was compatible with it.

It was worth 3,520 devs, but there were Realm Passes that cost more than ten thousand devs or even more. The best ones were custom-made. This Realm Pass was a general-purpose model with a price range that was considered cheap and affordable, though Chen Chuan had to pay a little more, since he used a shopping agent and the security guard had delivered it to him.

He removed the bone mask and put on the newly purchased Realm Pass. The bone tubes extended on their own to fix themselves around his ears before blending together behind his neck.

The moment he patted it, things were different. The flickering images outside became clearer and livelier. In terms of functions, he also no longer needed to use a Realm Node to contact people on his contact list. He could also read things on the information portal and make use of various services.

The greatest difference between the Premium Jade Model and the bone mask was that it could receive images. It would form a screen of light half a foot to one foot in front of him, and Chen Chuan could use his fingers or voice to read or communicate with the screen. He could also remove excessive light pollution that he had no desire to see.

The old model couldn’t filter information and just stuffed everything into his head. If Chen Chuan hadn’t been Chen Chuan, but just a normal person, he wouldn’t have been able to get used to it and would have vomited from nausea. Though there might be people who actually liked this sort of thing.

Chen Chuan checked his contact list. There were only two names on it right now. Qi Gao’s profile picture was a stylish man wielding short swords and wearing fingerless gloves.

Meanwhile, Tan Zhi’s profile picture was a scholar in traditional robes, holding a feather fan and a silk handkerchief. He was even fanning himself with it. When Chen Chuan tapped on the profile picture, he could hear the sound of flowing water and the qin.

Aside from these, he had a message from half an hour ago. It was from Authorization Agency asking him to leave a review.

Chen Chuan clicked on the “excellent service” button before swiping the page away to read up on other things. He first read all the things students needed to know, then began reading up on the Biofield Link Interface.

This time, he got results soon.

Biofield Link Technology had risen to prominence seventy years ago. With gigantic shapeshifting lifeforms as the foundation, the people used the Domain Link Nodes to connect with a lifeform via its bio-contact point, then merging all the biofields within it and integrating them into the domain chain.

The “lifeform” was a huge amalgamation of other lifeforms, and it covered the entirety of Central City. Each Realm Node was one of its axon terminals, and each individual person could use these Realm Nodes to strengthen their connection with it. The Realm Pass was an interface that allowed people to communicate with it directly. Its domain field could identify and verify each individual, enabling communication and information exchange between biofields.

The biosentient entities were part of the lifeform’s central nervous system and were in charge of handling large quantities of data. They were divided into active biosentient entities and passive biosentient entities. The passive biosentient entities were all over the city and helped sort out the daily information flow, but they were pretty inflexible and would not provide any reactions aside from handing out authorization.

Posuo was an active biosentient entity. It was in charge of administration and public sectors. It could make the best decision based on each individual situation. Posuo contained a huge body that was a cross between a plant and an animal, and it was under the heavy protection of the government’s Security Department.

The companies in Central City each had their own independent biosentient entity with a unique name. Martial Valor University’s Hongfu was one of them.

Her body was buried deep in Arcane Palace’s Swallow Ark, but her axon terminals spread through every corner of Martial Valor University. She could prevent other biosentient entities from invading the university and attack when necessary.

Hongfu could also cut off contact with the Fu-Mu Entity at any moment she wanted to become an independent biofield so that the Martial Valor University members could use her, not that the Martial Valor University members’ use of the Realm Pass ever went through the Fu-Mu Entity, anyway.

That was all the information provided to the public on the information portal. There were no records about how these things and technology were developed, nor the details about how they worked.

If Chen Chuan wanted more information, he needed a higher authorization level.

Usually, few people were interested in knowing such things, because they were far beyond their understanding. Most people only wanted to enjoy the benefits brought by the lifeforms and not how they came to be.

Interestingly, despite having such technology, the central government placed a lot of value on martial artists. Martial Valor University was located at the second-largest area in Central City as its sole occupant, and it was surrounded by state-owned companies and businesses with good ties to it.

Once Chen Chuan couldn’t get more information, he skipped an advertisement that had seized the chance to appear while he was reading. Instead, he went to look for news about Central City and found that most of them were about violent crimes in the lower city district.

The lower city district was a general term rather than an official region. Most of its residents didn’t have recognized statuses or were just temporary citizens. Even so, they formed the majority of the city’s population. The real “lower city district” was the large slums under Central City.

Chen Chuan’s attention was attracted by a certain piece of news. At around 4 p.m., an algae fuel power generating plant in the industrial area located in the north of the city had exploded, leading to a massive power failure in the area. The Public Security Department locked down a few main roads and the entrances to the city. Even now, the lockdown was still on.

This might be why they had run into the patrol cars.

However, there were security guards from many different companies in the pictures in the news, so things were unlikely to be as simple as they seemed.

After reading, it was already 9:30 p.m., so Chen Chuan removed his Realm Pass, took a shower, changed into his pajamas, and went to bed. He soon fell into a deep sleep.

He woke up at 5 a.m. the next day, as usual. Once he pulled the curtains back, he went into the bathroom to wash up and ate a couple tubes of nutritional paste from his fridge.

Once he came out of the kitchen, he went to the window. When he looked down, he estimated that he was around three hundred meters above ground. From this height, he could see most of the city.

The sky wasn’t fully bright yet, and the fog was still around, surrounding some of the taller buildings. Gray-blue clouds lay scattered all across the sky, and a golden-red light shone in the horizon.

The sun was about to rise.

This was the world without the Realm Pass. In Qi Gao’s words, it was the fake Central City, not its true self.

Jing Lin had also mentioned something about the real world before. Back then, he must have been talking about everything he saw through the Realm Pass.

When someone got immersed in the biofields and enjoyed the benefits the people outside the city could not, they could easily form a sense of superiority over all the people living outside the city.

But this sort of situation was absolutely abnormal.

Cheng Zitong had said that the world was divided into various circles. Some circles were formed due to real circumstances, while some were formed by human design.

Chen Chuan could sense that there were secrets buried deep under this “real world.”

He had a feeling that as he grew stronger, then even if he didn’t seek out those secrets himself, they would slowly but surely reveal themselves to him.

After admiring the scenery for a while, he began doing the most important thing after he joined the main campus.

He picked up his Realm Pass from the table and went to his private training room to connect with Hongfu in order to look into what sort of lectures he needed to attend.

Once he entered Martial Valor University’s portal, Hongfu said, “Chen Chuan, I’ve detected that you are a new student. The university will need to perform a basic test and assess your potential in order to see whether you pass the requirements to study here and can complete your courses. Will you sit through the test now? If you want to, you can summon me by calling my name.”

At that, Chen Chuan said, “Hongfu, I’d like to sit for an entrance exam.”

Right after he made the request, the woman in red from last night appeared in his training room. At such a close distance, her eyes were even livelier. Unlike last night, she had a goose-quill saber with a red tassel at the end of the hilt hanging by her waist.

“You’re holding a saber, so I believe that you like this sort of weapon, which is why I brought one myself.”

Even though Hongfu only had one main body, her voice right now was completely different from the one in the Realm Pass. It was strong and lively, pleasant to the ears, and full of emotion.

This Hongfu was more similar to an independent, living person.

“Thank you,” Chen Chuan replied politely.

Hongfu observed him for a bit before swinging her arm. The scenery around them changed to one of rolling clouds and numerous mountains. There was even the sun shining on the side.

Chen Chuan was standing on one of the mountains, while Hongfu was on the mountain across from him. They faced each other at a distance.

“Draw your weapon,” Hongfu instructed.

Chen Chuan was quite surprised. All of this was an illusion. Could the university really gauge his real strength through such a test? But since they did it like this, they had to have their reasons.

So, Chen Chuan nodded and positioned the Frost King Saber horizontally before himself. He held the saber’s hilt in one hand, and the sheath in the other. The next moment, he yanked the sheath back. It flew away, revealing the cold, glinting steel of the saber.

Upon seeing him draw his saber, Hongfu grabbed the hilt of the goose-quill saber and drew it out with a whistle. She moved, and her robes fluttered. In an instant, she arrived in front of Chen Chuan and swung her saber down at him.

Chen Chuan didn’t overlap with his second self, but he could still see her movements. He brought the saber up to parry her attack, and the sound of metal hitting each other echoed around them. A powerful force came from the clash, and Chen Chuan sank a little.

His gaze stilled. This feeling was definitely no illusion. Was Hongfu actually a real person?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep