Chapter 508: Sorry! The Winner of the Level 9 Competition is Me!

The seventh day of the third lunar month.

The New Saint has already left.

Chen Shu's research on Space-Time Energy was also nearly complete, so he idled on the sofa, scrolling through his Mobile Phone.

He soon scrolled to news about Xiaoxiao.

Yujing News: Graduated from university at twenty-one! Pushing Artificial Life Technology to new heights!

Imperial Capital Broadcast: The top schools in Yujing have been incredibly competitive these past few years...

Yujing Youth: Ling'an Academy genius graduate leads global Artificial Life Technology? Exclusive news! She is the biological sister of the one who confirmed Spiritual Power last year!

Yuanzhou Observer: Students from our province...

Although the defense process was not very smooth, Xiaoxiao's thesis was top-tier, and it still made the news and the trending topics.

These past few years, Yujing and Ling'an, the two top-tier universities in the world, have indeed been very competitive.

"Emmm..."

Yuanzhou is poised to become the biggest winner.

Chen Shu read through the comments on every video one by one, liking all the comments that discussed whether Ning Qing or Ning Ji was more outstanding and concluded that the younger sister was better. After a moment of contemplation, he copied one, changed his nickname and avatar, and set his account to private.

Loyal Fan of Senior Sister Xiaoxiao: These sisters are truly outstanding! I originally thought Ning Qing, who confirmed Spiritual Power last year, was already amazing enough, but her sister, who is five years younger than her, is directly leading the technological development of a new industry worldwide. They are truly one more outstanding than the other, please accept my bow!

He didn't know who had posted it.

Regardless, Chen Shu had a great time copying it.

Then he clicked on the hot list and copied it under every related video.

"Hahaha..."

After spending a few minutes copying, a small red dot appeared below, containing the number "23".

He clicked to look, and they were basically all likes.

Many silly netizens don't use their brains when going online; if they see a comment that seems to make sense, they might just like it... It's a pity it's a bit late now, the hot comment slots have already been taken by others, and it is very difficult for latecomers to reach the hot list.

Suddenly, Chen Shu found a few replies among the many likes.

Zhang Yu Xiaowanzi replied to your comment: Why did you change your name?

Zhang Yu Xiaowanzi replied to your comment: Afraid of being recognized?

Zhang Yu Xiaowanzi replied to your comment: I was wondering why this person was on my following list, but I had no impression of them. I thought about it, oh, so it's you, you silly dog, acting as a paid poster! How much does Xiaoxiao pay you per post? If there's money to be made, let's all make it together!

"..."

Chen Shu hurriedly clicked into the video and deleted the comment.

"Phew..."

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, in the building's room.

The little cat-girl was lying on the desk, holding a pencil, earnestly writing pinyin letters in her small notebook.

Behind her, the young girl lay on the bed, holding her Mobile Phone, frequently switching between major platforms, searching for news about herself, and secretly calculating in her heart whether there was more news reporting on her this time, or more news reporting on her sister last year.

She did not forget to carefully look through the comments.

Because someone had revealed that she and her sister, who confirmed Spiritual Power last year, were sisters, people in the comments inevitably compared her to her sister. When seeing these comments, the young girl's mood was like riding a roller coaster; at times her brows were tightly furrowed, strongly disagreeing, and at times her brows relaxed, like clouds clearing after rain.

Taken as a whole—

Her sister is tall and good-looking.

Sister gets a point.

Her sister didn't skip grades, while she skipped four grades, graduating four years earlier than her sister, achieving such great success four years younger.

She gets a point.

After all, this year is her home field.

She gets a point.

Generally speaking, she still has a slight advantage.

The young girl triumphantly put away her Mobile Phone.

At this moment, the phone vibrated; there was a message in the "Jade Capital Ghoul" group.

Brother-in-law: Ordering food, same old rules.

Sister: /smile

Brother-in-law:?

Brother-in-law: What's wrong?

The tenth day of the third lunar month, the flowers in the courtyard were in full bloom.

The day the flowers in the courtyard bloomed best was always this day every year, regardless of whether the year was cold or warm, or whether spring came early or late; it didn't matter.

This had nothing to do with the season; it was controlled by Ning Qing.

This day happened to be Chen Shu's birthday.

It was still those same people, still ordering food in advance in the "Jade Capital Ghoul" group. Early in the morning, Chen Shu and Qingqing went to buy groceries and started preparing, and then this birthday was just a very ordinary meal.

There weren't many people, no need for gifts, no need for awkward singing; it was simple, ordinary, and close people having a meal, passing by so easily.

This had already become the norm for their birthdays.

All of them liked this state very much.

That night, Jinguan Secret Realm.

"Sigh, in the blink of an eye, I'm already twenty-six," Chen Shu sighed leisurely, "Already an old man."

Ning Qing was beside him, looking at him coldly.

She is only one month younger than him.

"Aren't you going to comfort me?"

"Didn't you say you've always been 22 years old?"

"Makes sense!"

Chen Shu cheered up, straightened his chest, and sat cross-legged.

In front of him were three Small Jade Bottles.

One of them contained the auxiliary Pill for advancing to the Ninth Stage; Pills refined by traditional methods are roughly made by extracting the essence of many top-tier natural treasures that catalyze Spirit Power and can briefly enhance the performance of the Spirit Sea, then fusing them together.

The cost price alone is ridiculously high.

But for a Cultivator attempting to reach the Ninth Stage and stepping toward the top level of the mortal world, the effect is still minimal, and it serves more as a psychological boost.

The remaining two bottles are Ninth-Rank Restoration Pills.

Chen Shu's Spirit Sea is different from ordinary people; he used a Ninth-Rank Restoration Pill when advancing to the Eighth Stage, so now that he is advancing to the Ninth Stage, he prepared two.

There are no Beast Pills this time.

However, Chen Shu can vaguely feel that this advancement will not be too difficult—under the influence of Divine Power, he has already touched the limit of his Spirit Sea, and even the Spirit Power Quality in his Spirit Sea now is probably not much different from that of an ordinary Cultivator who has just entered the Ninth Stage; as long as he puts in the effort and breaks through the shackles of the Spirit Sea in one go, the possibility of advancing to the Ninth Stage is very high.

"Let's begin."

Ning Qing's calm voice sounded, paused for two seconds, and then added: "The person next door is also about to attempt the Ninth Stage, don't let me lose."

Chen Shu couldn't help but smile.

Ning Qing is referring to a bet they made before.

A bet on who would advance to the Ninth Stage first.

That group of shameless people in the group chat actually all bet on themselves; only Chen Shu, out of wise and rational judgment, chose himself, and thoughtfully helped Qingqing make the correct choice as well.

Chen Shu stopped talking nonsense and took out the Pill.

It is a bit larger than a large honey pill, about the same size as the loquat he ate yesterday; it has to be bitten bit by bit, it is bitter, and the flavor is complex, as if many messy things have been crushed and fused together, containing both high-concentration potent Spirit Power and actual matter and fibers.

So it must be chewed and swallowed.

This is a different texture from the modern agents of the previous stages and the traditional agents of the later stages.

For a moment, he felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

He swallowed it in two or three bites, and the Spirit Power in the medicine began to take effect, giving his Spirit Sea a little boost, so he quickly closed his eyes and used this small boost to mobilize the Spirit Power in his Spirit Sea, stirring up waves.

This time, the Spirit Sea is truly like a vast ocean.

A gale is blowing, with a thousand layers of waves.

……

The next day, March 11th.

Near noon.

Chen Shu opened his eyes in exhaustion.

Ning Qing sat cross-legged, watching him silently.

"Cough..."

Chen Shu reached out to her, his voice hoarse: "Quick... give me... my Mobile Phone... take me out..."

Ning Qing remained unmoved, still looking at him coldly, and only said one sentence:

"Zhang Suannai won't start her attempt for a few more days."

"Then never mind... thank you..."

Chen Shu retracted his hand and looked at the Restoration Pills.

The two bottles shook slightly, clinking as they collided, but it was Ning Qing who took the two Pills inside out from a distance and stuffed them directly into Chen Shu's mouth.

"Ugh..."

To treat him like this!?

Chen Shu stared at her with dissatisfaction.

The medicinal effect gradually took hold.

For the same reason, the Ninth Stage is already the end of cultivation in this world, and the effect of the Restoration Pill is no longer very comprehensive, making recovery always feel difficult. Chen Shu only felt a wave of fatigue and dizziness, which, added to the exhaustion from the all-night attempt, gave him the urge to sleep, but if he really didn't want to sleep, he could completely stay awake under the influence of the Restoration Pill.

This means that the medicinal effect of the Restoration Pill and the pharmaceutical technology of this cultivation world are already beginning to look weak when facing a Ninth-Tier Cultivator.

"I'm going to sleep..."

"Mm."

Chen Shu lay down and closed his eyes, and the darkness fell before him.

The extreme fatigue and Qingqing guarding by his side made him sleep exceptionally peacefully.

Vaguely, he seemed to have a dream.

In the dream, he turned back into his past-life self, and for some reason came to Jinguan again, only to find that this city had become an empty city, so empty that it was frightening, and in this city, he couldn't make a sound when he opened his mouth, nor could he inhale air when he exerted force; he was suffocating, yet he wouldn't die, which added a bit of Fear.

Chen Shu had no choice but to walk alone through this empty city, bewildered and helpless.

Gradually, he realized that this was likely a dream, and he soon discovered that it was truly like a dreamscape. In this dream, he seemed to have infinite strength; he only needed to bend his legs and leap to easily jump to the top of a building dozens of stories high, and with another light leap, he could bounce and travel between the high and low buildings, and even if he fell, it didn't hurt or itch; for a time, he was very happy.

Until he woke up in the Mijing.

"Ugh..."

Even after taking the Restoration Pill, Chen Shu still felt that he had not reached a "full health" state, but these were no longer problems of insufficient medicinal effect; it was the limitation of the Restoration Pill's effect when facing a Ninth-Tier Cultivator, and eating a few more would be useless.

Chen Shu quickly regained consciousness and looked around; he was no longer in the original place, and there was no sign of Qingqing by his side.

Memories slowly surfaced and were compared with reality.

So that wasn't a dream...

Come to think of it, the Ninth-Rank Restoration Pill has limited restorative effects on a Ninth-Tier Cultivator; correspondingly, it is also very difficult to make a Ninth-Tier Cultivator lose their sanity, so it is quite interesting that he actually managed to hit such a low probability.

And what he had not expected even more was that after Qingqing regained her consciousness, she actually left the Mijing directly, leaving him to walk and frolic in the Mijing alone.

It was as if, to her, he who only possessed memories of a past life was merely a stranger.

This woman's way of thinking is also interesting.

"..."

Chen Shu shook his head and left the Mijing.

The first thing he did was get his Mobile Phone.