One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The next morning.

Inside the business class carriage of the Fuxing bullet train at Beijing South Railway Station.

"Hey Lao Wang..."

Zhang Chulan casually placed his feet, clad in slightly yellowed sneakers, on the footrest in front of him, holding a bottle of Evian mineral water that the flight attendant had just brought him, and looked at Wang Ye, who was sitting on the other side of the aisle, with a mocking expression:

"That's not very fair of you, is it?"

"We're going to Tianjin on business; we're going to do legitimate business."

"Why don't you go back and inherit your vast fortune? Why give up your comfortable life as the heir to the China Overseas Group? Why do you insist on squeezing onto this beat-up train with us?"

"What's wrong? Is the Simmons mattress at home uncomfortable? Or is the housekeeper's cooking not to your liking?"

Wang Ye was wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled low, almost covering most of his face.

Hearing Zhang Chulan's teasing, he sighed with despair, pushed up his hat brim to reveal a pair of huge dark circles under his eyes.

"Zhang Chulan, you son of a bitch."

"Do you think I want this?"

Wang Ye slumped in the leather seat, looking completely drained.

"You have no idea, after what happened yesterday, my old man went crazy."

"They've really gone mad."

"He used to force me to go back to work, but now he thinks I'm some kind of reclusive master, and that my useless behavior is all part of his 'hiding his talents and biding his time'."

"This morning, he called all the company's board members to his home and insisted on announcing on the spot that he would pass the chairmanship to me."

"What else is there to say... 'I didn't understand you before, but it turns out you've already reached the summit.'"

Wang Ye imitated Wang Weiguo's tone, and after speaking, he shivered, his face filled with bitterness and resentment:

"If I hadn't run away, I'd probably be signing the equity transfer agreement by now."

"I am a Taoist practitioner, I am a monk!"

"You want me to manage a large corporation with tens of thousands of employees? I'd rather be killed."

"puff--"

Zhang Chulan almost spat out the water he had just drunk.

He slapped his thigh, laughing so hard tears were almost streaming down his face.

"Hahahaha! Versailles! This is Versailles in its purest form!"

"If those overworked office workers outside heard you say that, they'd drown you in their spit."

"But then again..."

Zhang Chulan's smile faded, his gaze drifting to the rapidly receding scenery outside the window, and he asked in a low voice:

"Uncle-Master, who exactly are we going to see in Tianjin this time?"

"Didn't Chairman Zhao already have the documents delivered yesterday?"

"Although that fat guy was dishonest, I glanced at the list he gave me; it's quite thick, so there must be some missing, right?"

Zhang Taichu, who was sitting in the seat closest to the window, was resting with his eyes closed.

The morning sunlight streamed through the car window, casting a faint golden glow on his unusually young face.

Upon hearing Zhang Chulan's question, Zhang Taichu didn't even open his eyes, simply uttering a few words:

"You're lucky if you can believe half of what Fatty Zhao gives you."

"Those are official archives, 'history' that has been embellished and abridged."

"The Jia Shen Rebellion back then involved too many people, and the company didn't dare to keep records of many things, or rather... didn't want to keep records of them."

Zhang Taichu's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, producing a rhythmic sound:

"To know the truth, you have to find someone who truly understands."

"The person who truly understands?"

Zhang Chulan was stunned for a moment:

"Who is it? Is there anyone in this world more capable than the All-Encompassing Intelligence Network?"

"have."

A playful smile curved Zhang Taichu's lips:

"A ghost that lives entirely within the internet cable."

After saying that...

Zhang Taichu's fingers, which were resting on the armrest, suddenly stopped.

"arrive."

"What? We've arrived? We haven't even reached Tianjin yet?"

Zhang Chulan glanced at the display screen at the front of the carriage, looking completely bewildered.

"I mean..."

"We've arrived at the place I'm looking for."

next second.

An extremely mysterious fluctuation emanated from Zhang Taichu's body.

"Keep an eye on my health."

"Don't let the flight attendants think I'm dead."

Before he could finish speaking...

Under the shocked gazes of Zhang Chulan and Wang Ye.

Zhang Taichu's breathing instantly became shallow and long, as if he had fallen into a very deep meditative state.

But in dimensions that ordinary people cannot see.

A dazzling golden humanoid figure leaped out from the top of Zhang Taichu's head!

Astral projection!

But this time, Zhang Taichu's primordial spirit did not remain in this real world.

Instead, it instantly darted into the Wi-Fi signal transmitter on the carriage wall!

boom--!!!

The world before my eyes changed in an instant.

No longer is it a cramped train carriage, no longer is it the fields outside the window.

Instead, it is a vast, boundless, and bizarre galaxy!

only.

This galaxy is not composed of stars, but rather formed by an endless torrent of data.

Countless fiber optic channels, emitting a deep blue light, crisscrossed like galaxies traversing the universe, filling the entire field of vision.

0 and 1.

These two simplest numbers have built magnificent data skyscrapers and a virtual world so vast it's unimaginable.

This is the essence of the Internet.

This is the ocean of information.

Zhang Taichu's primordial spirit floated above this vast ocean of data, radiating pure and yang golden light.

Here, he was like a star that suddenly burst into the dark universe, so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at him.

The surrounding data streams, which were originally surging endlessly, actually gave way under his golden light, as if they had come to life and were showing submission to him.

"That's interesting."

Zhang Taichu looked at the bizarre and fantastical world beneath his feet, and his divine sense stirred slightly:

"Is this what they call cyber cultivation?"

"Although it lacks spiritual energy, isn't this massive flow of information another manifestation of the 'Tao'?"

He didn't express much emotion.

The powerful divine sense spread out instantly like radar, centered on this place, along the fiber optic network, and at the speed of light in all directions.

Beijing...Tianjin...Hebei...

Countless pieces of information flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

Some people are watching videos, some are chatting, some are playing games, and some are conducting clandestine transactions.

There is even a lot of obscene information that cannot be brought to light.

Zhang Taichu frowned slightly, and his divine sense trembled slightly.

The noisy, useless, and filthy information was instantly filtered out.

His goal was very clear.

Find that special soul that has lost its physical body but parasitizes this online world in a strange electromagnetic wave form.

"Found it."

Less than three seconds had passed.

Zhang Taichu's gaze then locked onto a data node in the "northeast" direction.

In that area that should have been made up of cold, hard program code.

There was an unusually active data stream, with obvious "human" fluctuations, huddled in a corner surrounded by a heavily encrypted firewall.

Whoosh!

Zhang Taichu's figure vanished instantly.

In this world, distance has lost its meaning for him.

next moment.

He was already above that corner.

This place seems to be a carefully constructed "home".

The virtual room, built with countless pieces of advanced code, is filled with various virtual dolls, furniture, and even a "window" that allows you to see the outside world.

And in the center of that room.

A girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, radiating a faint pink glow, was curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees.

Her body is not made of flesh and blood, but of countless tiny pixels and wavelengths.

at this time.

She was looking idly through that "window" (camera) at the bustling traffic on a city street.

His eyes revealed a heartbreaking loneliness and longing.

Gao Erzhuang.

She is the daughter of the head of the Northeast region of Nadutong, and also the only "electronic elf" in the world of supernatural beings.

Because of a mutation in her innate ability, she lost her lower body and had to keep her soul in the internet for a long time, becoming both a god and a prisoner of this virtual world.

The moment Zhang Taichu arrived.

The previously quiet virtual room suddenly began to shake violently.

"Who?!"

Gao Erzhuang suddenly raised his head, his eyes, made of data, filled with terror.

She sensed it.

An unprecedented and powerful aura, so strong that it made her tremble, suddenly invaded her territory without warning.

It was like an ant suddenly seeing a giant dragon descending from the sky.

The oppressive force, originating from the level of her soul, prevented her from even having the thought of running away.

"Warning! Warning! Unknown data intrusion!"

Firewall started! Antivirus started!

Out of instinct.

Gao Erzhuang suddenly swung both hands.

Countless streams of red data appeared out of thin air like sharp swords, carrying enough destructive power to destroy any virus, and blasted towards the golden figure above.

at the same time.

More than a dozen layers of what are touted as the world's most robust military-grade firewalls stood in front of her.

however.

Faced with this overwhelming counterattack.

The man, bathed in golden light, simply waved his sleeve.

wow-

Those red data swords, the moment they touched the golden light, were like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, instantly disintegrating and dissipating, reverting to the most primitive gibberish.

And those dozen or so firewalls that make countless hackers tremble with fear.

They couldn't even stop him for a second.

Zhang Taichu passed through all the defenses as easily as passing through a thin layer of smoke.

step.

Two steps.

He walked up to the trembling girl.

At this point, Gao Erzhuang was terrified.

She huddled in the corner of the sofa, her hands covering her head, her body trembling uncontrollably, emitting a series of garbled fluctuations representing extreme fear.

"No...don't kill me..."

"I meant no harm... I just... I just wanted to take a look..."

She is a goddess of the internet.

In this world, she can go anywhere, see any secret, and even paralyze a country's financial system in an instant.

But at the moment.

In front of this man, she felt as weak as a newborn chick.

Zhang Taichu looked at the pitiful little guy in front of him.

A hint of tenderness flashed in his previously indifferent eyes.

He slowly squatted down.

"Don't be afraid."

This thought was transmitted directly to the depths of Gao Erzhuang's soul.

Gao Erzhuang's trembling body paused slightly. She cautiously raised her head and timidly looked at the man in front of her through her fingers.

“Who…who are you?”

"How did you get in?"

Who I am is not important.

Zhang Taichu smiled slightly, pointed to the cold, coded walls around him, and then to the only visible "window":

"The important thing is..."

"Little girl."

"Is it fun for someone to hide in this box all by themselves?"

Gao Erzhuang was stunned.

Is it fun?

Of course it's not fun.

There is no temperature, no touch, no taste here.

There is only endless data and an ever-present loneliness.

Although she possessed information from all over the world, she was like a fly trapped in a glass bottle, able to see the light but never able to fly out.

I saw the sadness in the girl's eyes.

Zhang Taichu extended his hand, palm up, in an inviting gesture.

His voice echoed slowly in the silent data space, carrying an irresistible magic:

"Do you want to come out?"

"Not through these cold, impersonal cameras."

"It's not about using these fake data to cover things up."

"But..."

Zhang Taichu looked into her eyes and said, word by word:

"Use your own eyes to see the sun outside."

"Go and smell the flowers."

"Go and have a hot steamed bun."

"Do you want to?"

Hearing these words.

Gao Erzhuang's body, which was originally composed of data, began to fluctuate violently.

Two lines of glistening data streamed down her cheeks.

Those were tears.

It was the first call from the light she had heard during those long, dark years.

"think……"

The girl's voice trembled, filled with endless grievance and longing:

"I think……"

"I want to go out..."

"it is good."

Zhang Taichu nodded, stood up, and his golden Taoist robe fluttered in the virtual world.

"Then come with me."

"This humble Taoist will take you to see..."

"The real world."