New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 174 Pink Hair: Nightmare Smuggling is Unacceptable
The aesthetic activities that cultivated his spirit continued until noon. Only after feeling hungry did Yuan Zhu decisively leave the large square in District 16. Instead of going to eat lunch, he boarded the subway on an empty stomach and headed straight for the university area where Meng Xiyue lived.

Well, he plans to start by freeloading from today's lunch and not spend a single penny of his own money.

We've been through thick and thin together, and I've come all this way to meet you in person. You can't expect me to pay for your food and drinks for free, can you? That's not how you treat a guest.

Inside the crowded subway car, Yuan Zhu failed to secure a seat. Under the smug, cold gaze of an old woman, he could only stand there, holding onto a metal railing, lost in thought.

At this moment, he mentally organized and divided the fruits of his labor this morning. He would either turn the high-quality performances of beautiful human girls into desktop wallpapers or edit them into short videos, storing them in the database of the [Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture] as one of the most precious parts of his life experience.

If it weren't for the scarcity and limited capacity of Soul Crystals, she would undoubtedly have partitioned them and created a "Learning Files" folder to inscribe all these precious memories, experiences, and advanced aesthetic materials into her soul. To become an indispensable part of her soul during resurrection!
In particular, a new folder will be created specifically for our future partner, [A-Miao].

...

Spicy Strips: "Hey boss, this Taixi City is really great, with so many beautiful girls to admire. I've successfully compiled and archived them, do you want to see me dress you up and change your mod?"

Yuan Zhu resolutely refused: "No! I am very satisfied with how you look now. You are no worse than anyone else. Don't belittle yourself and lose yourself. If you pretend to look different, it will only damage the image of these women in my mind and make me think of them as treacherous and wicked officials. The more you pretend to look different, the more unbalanced my impression of 'beautiful women' will become."

Spicy Strips was heartbroken: "Oh! I get it. You're afraid that every time you see a beautiful woman, you'll subconsciously treat her as a villain, and that this will cause your perception to become unbalanced over time? Is my place in your heart really that insignificant?"

"No, it's not that. Actually, you're too good, so good that it makes people wary and question your every move. It's like seeing something too cute and wanting to destroy it. It's entirely due to the brain's self-balancing mechanism, a binary expression of positive emotions. Don't be sad, this is what recognition and affirmation of you is."

Little Spicy Strip: "Then feel free to question me, I can take it. I'll also back up and save these images of pretty young ladies to contribute to the future [Cockroach Fairy Dance Troupe]."

As her boss's most loyal "personal steward," despite being questioned, she never forgot the idea her boss had while listening to music in the brothel of Huangliang Township: to form her own dance troupe.

Enduring the grievances, they would still transplant the 'high-quality character images' collected today into the future dance troupe. In this extraordinary world, such trivial matters could always be resolved, driven by the desire to satisfy their boss's spiritual needs. The answer is loyalty!

……

At 1:30 p.m., Yuan Zhu, who was unfamiliar with the area and had just exited the subway station, took out a 'mechanical mouse' and started dialing a number while looking around curiously.

The prosperity of District 1 far surpasses that of District 16. More accurately, every sector near the city center is incredibly prosperous. And the 'Taixi University' that Mengxi Yue attends is located in the area of ​​District 1 near the city center.

Looking up from here, you are directly below the floating island. However, due to its high altitude, the floating island doesn't look very big, and it doesn't cast any shadows. It looks more like a black, round spot suspended in the air.

Besides the sky island suspended high in the sky, there is also a straight [construct] in Zone 1.

Only now, observing it up close, can one truly appreciate its grandeur and immense size. Towering into the clouds, it resembles a 'cosmic elevator' from a science fiction movie, standing upright with a 'solidity' that defies the common sense of physics.

Just as he was staring blankly at the hexahedron [construction] waiting, a hand suddenly appeared behind him and gently patted his shoulder.

Hey! What are you daydreaming about? Were you stunned?

Meng Xiyue's voice came from behind him. He turned his head and saw the pink-haired girl wearing a casual outfit with bubbles on the screen, matching her hair color. She paired it with black trousers, and her backpack was bulging. A 'cyborg dead rat' was hanging on the side of the backpack as a decoration.

Seeing Yuan Zhu looking over, the mouse even raised its head, met his gaze, and waved in greeting. Yuan Zhu's shoulder bag also split open from the inside, and a mechanical-eyed mouse crawled out, waving back.

Mengxi: "Didn't you leave a message saying you were coming yesterday? Why are you only contacting me now? Do you know I've been waiting for your message since yesterday afternoon? Did you get into an accident on the way?"

Yuan Zhu shook his head: "No, it was quite late when I arrived yesterday, and I didn't want to bother you, so I found a hotel nearby to stay overnight."

Meng Xiyue complained, "You didn't have to arrive at this hour, did you? You made me waste my whole morning waiting for you. I couldn't concentrate on any of my experiments. I took half a day off for nothing."

“I haven’t had a moment’s rest this morning. As you requested, I found a buyer for the arms and successfully obtained the supply order. Then I came straight here to discuss with you how to purchase the goods.”

As he spoke, he took out the 'shopping list' provided by A-Miao and handed it to Meng Xiyue, making no mention of the fact that he had spent the whole morning looking at her legs.

The latter took the list, glanced at it, and exclaimed in admiration at the dense array of various weapons: "Oh? You're incredibly efficient! It's only been a week since the last mission ended, and you've already contacted all the arms dealers? I even went to [Happy Home] the day before yesterday, only to find out that the captain said the space anchor wasn't ready yet."

Yuan Zhu: "It's not just weapons; I've prepared all sorts of other supplies. Keep this list safe and check off the items as needed. But since this is our first time transporting goods, we don't have much experience, so let's not pack too much. Our transport capacity is limited; who knows if there will be extra charges for bringing goods from [Happy Home] into [Foam World]?"

Meng Xiyue nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, I've thought of that. I won't bring too many the first time. It's a pity, though. I even invited senior students from other departments to dinner a few days ago to gather information for you. But I was told that the school's Nightmare School is very strict about the vetting of unknown 'Nightmare Dimensions.' Even though I wanted to offer myself up and contribute the coordinates of your 'Dreamland,' acting as a guinea pig for the academy's research for free, I was rejected."

At this point, the pink-haired boy shrugged with a regretful expression.

In Meng Xiyue's plan, she intends to replicate her experience of "sacrificing herself for the academy's research," once again contributing Yuan Zhu's coordinates for "Pastoral Village (Shadow Domain. Dreamland)," and coordinating with the academy to send signals to the "Nightmare Layer," allowing the academy to accept them and open the 'Nightmare Path' for research. Ultimately, this will open a smuggling route between "Spirit Reality" and "Underground Insect City."

However, they were told that it was all wishful thinking! The Nightmare School of Taixi University has a large number of experimental projects in the Nightmare Layer, and each one is 'absolutely clean and safe'.

As for her question, "I have a path in the Nightmare Layer. The profit is a bit low, but the risk is very high. Are you interested, school?" it was naturally rejected immediately.

Yuan Zhu asked doubtfully, "That doesn't make sense. I remember you said that your college and your advisor were very interested in your experiences and the Bubble World. How come it was rejected when it came to [Dreamland (Cockroach Land)]? Isn't that a contradiction?"

Meng Xiyue retorted: "Actually, there is no contradiction. What we, the [Knowledge School], are interested in is the [Bubble World], not the [Nightmare Layer] superimposed on the [Bubble Layer]."

The two walked through a crowded street, chatting as they went, with the girl explaining things in a concise and clear manner.

In the extraordinary worldview, the Nightmare Bubble Layer is the same spatial layer, representing chaos, disorder, distortion, confusion of time and space, and reversal of cause and effect.

Within it, "bubble" and "nightmare" are two distinct concepts. "Bubble" represents the chaotic and disordered 'material world,' while "nightmare" is the distorted and disordered 'mental realm,' somewhat reminiscent of wave-particle duality.

If we compare the Nightmare Bubble Layer to a vast ocean in a chaotic state, then the Bubble World is more like a series of isolated islands, while the Nightmare Layer is an ever-changing ocean current.

In the real world of the planet Duling, the Nightmare School is widely distributed throughout the world. They can penetrate the Nightmare Layer through the 'dreams' possessed by every intelligent life form, exploring unknown Nightmare dimensions.

In contrast, the [Foam World] can only be entered after breaking through the edge barrier of the [Spirit Realm] and completing a 'second ascension'.

Entering the Nightmare Layer is easier and has a lower barrier to entry; it can be done from anywhere. However, entering the Bubble Layer has strict requirements, requiring the strength to break through the super firewall of the Spirit Realm Layer.

The [Knowledge School] behind Mengxiyue is interested not only in the bubble world within the [Foam Layer], but also in the [Gods Space], an anti-law god and demon club.

The school of thought behind her is more interested in exploring and researching the "Gods' Space, Happy Home, and Bubble World" by studying her as a guinea pig.

As for opening a path through the Nightmare Dimension, I have absolutely no interest in that!

"Our Nightmare School at Taixi University is subject to strict supervision by the Security Bureau, and we are only allowed to explore known and safe 'dream passages.' Any other 'dangerous nightmare paths' must be sent to other regions for research, in order to prevent them from endangering Taixi's public security."

Yuan Zhu finally understood: research on the [Nightmare Layer] was extremely risky. Therefore, the [Nightmare School] on Taixi's side was hesitant and dared not cross the line, fearing that if things went wrong, it would threaten this economic and cultural center of the west coast and cause enormous damage.

In contrast, Running's Nightmare School is much more adventurous, willing to undertake many high-risk explorations. In fact, Running's side is specifically tasked with undertaking risky explorations by Taixi. Even so, Rain Academy wouldn't randomly accept 'nightmare smuggling' jobs.

In the other party's explanation, Yuan Zhu also learned that the Nightmare Path was not only difficult to open, but also difficult to maintain, and always quickly became ineffective as the Nightmare Dimension changed.

It's like this: an old pervert works hard and finally manages to create a high-quality adult website without pop-up ads. But after less than two weeks, it suddenly becomes a 404 error and can never be found again.

This is a common challenge faced by the Nightmare School: opening a high-value Nightmare Path is actually a matter of chance. Soon, the path disappears, or it connects to an even more dangerous abyss.

As for the garbage site 'Cockroach Village' spawned by the [Shadow Domain], it sounds like a very rudimentary, low-class, and Trojan-ridden barren website. The academy has no interest in wasting time and effort searching for signals and opening up paths that might fail at any time, only to gain nothing in return.

Yuan Zhu: "This is really too difficult!"

Meng Xiyue nodded: "Who says it isn't? Before I consulted my senior, I didn't expect the Nightmare School to be like this. Only the passage opened from the Foam Layer is relatively stable and safe. The paths in the Nightmare Layer are all illusions and castles in the air."

Yuan Zhu: "So how does the Nightmare School usually cultivate?"

“I’ve also done some research. The Nightmare School is a bit like our employees in the Gods’ Space. They don’t have a general guild (space) above them; they’re all individual entrepreneurs. They focus on developing and refining their mental power, then constructing a mental body that can move within dreams, absorbing enough nightmare contamination to forge a Nightmare Body. Then, through their own ‘dream edge,’ they enter the ‘safe dreamland (buffer zone)’ built on the edge of the Nightmare Bubble Layer.”

"Then, using the [Safe Dreamland] as a springboard, they cautiously venture into the shallow areas of the 'Nightmare Dimension,' much like beachcombing on a sandy shore. They wait for the seafood (nightmare creatures) to wash ashore from the ocean (Nightmare Layer) to kill or collect. Only when they are strong enough will they enter the shallow sea area to randomly explore the unknown chaos. Each time the Nightmare School ventures into the sea, it is a randomly refreshed new world, which cannot be fixed. Occasionally, they will encounter a stable [Dreamland], which is the 'Nightmare Path.'"

"The Nightmare Entity has a chance to bring back to its 'dream' any Nightmare creatures it kills, the knowledge it acquires, or the resources it collects in the Nightmare Layer, and then retrieve them into reality. However, this behavior is always accompanied by an unknown high risk of contamination. Therefore, the Nightmare School is strictly monitored and managed, and requires the establishment of isolation observation rooms. These are usually established in the Spirit Realm or in a safe and stable Dreamland."

"Finally, there is something called the [Gap of Eclipse], which is the [Dream Hole] you created in Insect City. The [Gap of Eclipse] is a powerful nightmare entity that breaks through the barrier between 'reality' and 'dreamland', connecting and fixing them through tiny holes. It is roughly similar in strength to nails or expansion bolts. People used thousands or tens of thousands of nails to nail [Yellow Millet Village] to the edge of the Spirit Tablet, so that ordinary people can easily enter the dream and log in."

"Similarly, a powerful Nightmare entity can use tens of thousands of nails to temporarily fix the 'Dreamland' and 'Wilderness Village' deep within the Nightmare Layer, creating a road, which is the 'smuggling route' we crave. But the 'Dream Hole' you created in the Insect City is like puncturing a large hole in a wall, allowing the 'Nightmare Contamination' from the outside to flow back into it, or tilting outward from the inside of the 'Foam World'... The difference is quite significant."

(End of this chapter)