Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 433 Two Immortals from One Family (3k)

Crisis Era 212

Earth, Tsinghua University.

Seven years have passed since the 'Doomsday War'.

"Will Luo Qing be back in three years?" Zhuang Yan asked Luo Ji, who was meditating in the room, while wearing an apron and cooking.

Following the cultivation method given by Luo Qing, Luo Ji circulated the spiritual energy within his body and replied without opening his eyes, "More or less. He's been gone for five years already. Judging by the time, he should have finished dealing with things by now. He might be on his way back."

The room was empty except for the two of them.

Luo Zhenxing, who is already six years old, is of primary school age, but he hasn't finished school yet.

Meanwhile, Hypatia, a former ETO member who had been hibernating since the Common Era and was given the title of 'stepmother' by Luo Qing on a whim, but was actually the 'personal maid' of Luo Ji's family, also left a letter and disappeared without saying goodbye when Luo Zhenxing was five years old.

The house became a bit quiet as a result.

But Luo Ji was already quite satisfied.

He's been having strange dreams lately, dreaming that Zhuang Yan keeps leaving him while holding the child.

Every time Luo Ji had this kind of dream, he would wake up from the nightmare and then be unable to sleep for many nights in a state of anxiety.

Luo Ji didn't know what he was anxious about.

This led Luo Ji to develop a habit of replacing sleep with meditation, which, apart from occasionally causing his wife dissatisfaction, didn't cause him any discomfort.

"It's good that you came back soon. With Luo Qing gone, you'll have to bear the pressure. I'm not used to this kind of life. I wish we could be like we were in Eden before, where nobody knew us and nobody could control us, just like a beautiful dream."

Zhuang Yan came over carrying a plate of shredded pork with green peppers. The dish was crystal clear and steaming slightly.

If only my molars weren't here, otherwise I would have spun the whole dish, plate and all, into my mouth.

"What do I have to withstand pressure for? Luo Qing has arranged everything. At most, the reporters are a bit annoying, and the [World Luo Ji Organization] is also a nuisance to me. Everything else is fine."

Zhuang Yan chuckled, "Who told you to be the second cultivator? People these days love to create all sorts of messy protection organizations. Alright, let's eat, Immortal Luo."

Luo Ji blushed and voluntarily withdrew from his cultivation state.

"Don't talk nonsense. I've only reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The late-Foundation Establishment stage requires more than ten years of cultivation. I'm far from becoming an immortal."

Soon the table was filled with four dishes and a soup, as well as large steamed buns made from pure wheat flour that Zhuang Yan had specially bought. It's no exaggeration to say that the method of steaming buns is almost lost in this world. Even in restaurants that claim to have the characteristics of the Yuan Dynasty, the buns are usually made directly from synthetic materials.

Zhuang Yan was often proud of her ability to steam perfect buns, and even called herself the "Steamed Bun Immortal".

That means their family now has two immortals!

"Do you think Luo Qing has reached the level of an immortal?" Zhuang Yan asked, her mouth bulging as she served Luo Ji meat.

"I don't know," Luo Ji replied honestly.
"However... but according to the detailed classification of the various realms he gave me, if he is at the Nascent Soul stage, I will take this plate."

Luo Ji pointed to the ceramic plate in front of him.

Zhuang Yan: "..."

Zhuang Yan swallowed the food in her mouth with difficulty: "Don't say things like that. Isn't it said that cultivators should be consistent in word and deed, otherwise they are prone to developing inner demons or something? What if Luo Qing really is a Nascent Soul cultivator? Are you really going to eat the plate?"

Luo Ji said loudly, "Why not?"

After saying that, Luo Ji took a bite out of the plate.

The plate was bitten with a tooth mark, the broken ceramic pieces were crushed into powder by the teeth, and then rolled down the esophagus and into the stomach.

Zhuang Yan was greatly alarmed.

"Ptooey, ptooey, spit it out! What are you doing?"

"It's alright, I can digest it. You don't know, according to Luo Qing, some cultivators even eat metal. The food you made smells so good, I want to eat the plate too," Luo Ji said, chewing on the plate.

"Then you can just eat the vegetables, why are you eating the plate?" Zhuang Yan ran behind Luo Ji and patted his back, afraid that he would choke.

She was a little tired. Recently, she noticed that her husband was doing more and more abstract things, as if cultivating immortality could make people's brains abnormal. He was completely different from the mature and steady immortal cultivators portrayed in TV dramas.

What exactly happened?
Zhuang Yan could only attribute it all to Luo Qing's influence.

Luo Qing, your crimes are heinous! You have corrupted the morals of the cultivation world!
Zhuang Yan quickly changed the subject away from whether the plate was edible or not. "I'm just worried about Luo Qing... and that guy Li Bai. They're both all alone. What if something happens to them on the side of the Trisolaran civilization... After all, the Trisolarans have advanced technology. What if there are traps or ambushes?"

Zhuang Yan's words reminded Luo Ji of the "cosmic flicker" incident that happened a year ago, and he was still a little worried... You know, that was exactly when Luo Qing and his group had just arrived in the Trisolaran system, so it was hard for Luo Ji not to make the connection.

However, apart from himself, no one in the world, including the most advanced technology, detected the "cosmic flicker" phenomenon described by Luo Ji, which made Luo Ji wonder if he had just imagined it for those few seconds.

Luo Ji interrupted Zhuang Yan's worries.

"That's impossible. Let's not even talk about Luo Qing. Do you know what kind of strength Li Bai, who's with him, has?"

Zhuang Yan said, "Didn't the news say that these two are good friends in the cultivation world? Li Bai seems to be a real immortal." Luo Ji grinned and said, "You believe that? From beginning to end, the only one who really came from the cultivation world is Luo Qing. That Li Bai is a god-level civilization individual similar to Mr. Risk Remover. And according to Luo Qing, this poet named Li Bai is powerful enough to extinguish stars. How could someone with that kind of strength possibly fail on the Trisolaran planet?"

Zhuang Yan thought about it seriously, "It's better to be safe than sorry. Wasn't Mr. Shanqing very powerful? In the end, he was still annihilated by the antimatter of the dinosaurs. Now he's just a soul and he's having a platonic relationship with the Pojiang girl."

"That's because Shan Qing's strength is not enough. Shan Qing's strength is the true Nascent Soul stage, not Luo Qing's fake Nascent Soul stage. So, Shan Qing would be injured if hit by a nuclear bomb, and would die if hit by an antimatter weapon."

Zhuang Yan said worriedly, "What if you get hit by a nuclear bomb?"

"Wife, hope I'm doing well."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Zhuang Yan apologized frantically to Luo Ji.

Luo Ji felt that Zhuang Yan seemed to have been influenced by him to become somewhat abstract... Thinking back to the time more than two hundred years ago in the Garden of Eden, how respectful they were to each other.

But for now, it's not bad.

"Who will pick up my son from school later?" Luo Ji asked after he had finished eating and drinking.

A cleaning robot quickly tidied the table, then left humming music while carrying a plate.

Zhuang Yan slumped in her chair, grease still lingering at the corners of her mouth, seemingly lost in a daze after a large meal: "Let Xia go..."

Hypatia never used her real name; the couple always referred to the diligent little maid as 'Hya'.

"It's been a year since Xia left, have you forgotten?" Luo Ji reminded him helplessly.

"Oh...sigh, how come I always forget about this?" Zhuang Yan pursed her lips, seemingly a little unhappy.

They had lived with Hypatia for a long time, from when their son was just learning to crawl... until their son was five years old, they had spent five years together. Zhuang Yan had almost gotten used to this short Norwegian girl with light freckles on her face and a shy smile.

To put it bluntly, when the couple was enjoying their time together, Luo Zhenxing was practically raised by this capable and efficient "maid," so calling her "godmother" wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Even though Xia had been gone for a year, Zhuang Yan still had the illusion that Xia was still there.

"Why would she leave when she was living comfortably in our house?"

Luo Ji sighed as well: "What a fine young woman she was, what's the point of her staying by our side all this time? Didn't she say in her farewell letter that she wanted to follow her own life and find the meaning of her own life..."

“I’ve always supported her going out... but she’s even deleted all our contact information, and I still feel a little sad.”

Luo Ji thought for a moment and said, "When I have the chance in the future, I'll ask Little Moss if I can find her. It's really hard to understand why she left without saying goodbye."

Just as the two were chatting, Luo Ji suddenly felt the soundproof array covering the entire Tsinghua Garden be slightly disturbed.

A sophon suddenly flew into Tsinghua University, passed through the array, and landed in front of Luo Ji. Then, it unfolded in six dimensions, forming a mirror sphere with a diameter of one meter.

Only one line of text is displayed on this mirrored sphere.

Mr. Luo Ji, the Wallfacer:
Urgent notification to you: After a year of inactivity, the Trisolaran Second Fleet has exhibited unusual activity today, primarily manifested as fluctuations in the thruster spectrum, minor formation adjustments, and a suspected increase in attitude control signals. The fleet is currently still pointing towards the solar system's center of mass, with no clear signs of turning or accelerating.

Solar System Federal Government

The breakthrough in sophon technology was achieved a year ago, and the Solar System Federation government was also established a year ago. These two things, which are less than a year old, suddenly appeared in Luo Ji's home in this special combination.

To be honest, Luo Ji was a little taken aback; he subconsciously thought it was the Sophon from the Trisolaran world.

After reading the contents of that line, the couple looked at each other in bewilderment.

"It... moved again?" Zhuang Yan was a little scared.

Since Luo Qing and Li Bai arrived in the Trisolaran system, the Second Fleet has been on emergency braking and has since fallen into complete silence, maintaining a distance of 3200 astronomical units from the solar system.

What could cause such a sudden change after a year of stagnation?
"Luo Qing will be fine..." Zhuang Yan covered her mouth.

"Don't overthink it." Luo Ji's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of worry.

"I have control of the formation. If they dare to take another step, they'll be eating Starfire Spears. I want to see if their light-speed spaceship is tougher or if the sun's total output power is higher."

Luo Ji had just finished speaking.

Nachiko's sphere flickered slightly, and the subtitles changed instantly.

Hello Mr. Luo Ji:

After a year of inactivity, the Trisolaran Second Fleet exhibited unusual activity four minutes ago, including fluctuations in its thruster spectrum and minor adjustments to its formation, indicating a highly uncertain situation.

An emergency meeting on solar system defense will be held at 14:00 Earth time on April 15th at the Joint Command Center in the Sea of ​​Tranquility on the Moon. If you are unable to attend in person, please participate via Zhizi Live. We will adjust our defense deployment based on your suggestions.

Initiating Organizations: Solar System Federal Government, Solar System Fleet Joint Council, Solar System Planetary Government, and the governments of the five major international powers on Earth.

April 14, Crisis Era 212

Solar System Federal Government

(End of this chapter)