Zero thought to himself, 'So that's why.'
No wonder Eric had said, "Everything I want will be mine..."
No wonder he had been so certain.
From beginning to end, the key to ascending dimensions had always been the Higher-Dimensional Invader.
If he took part in the plan as a researcher, he could lead the lower-dimensional world to ascend.
It sounded simple, but it actually came with many prerequisites.
First, he had to obtain a large amount of resources that he could freely control.
Second, he had to participate in the ascension plan together with Zandar.
Only by becoming someone in power, becoming the one who made the rules, then stepping down from that position, picking up his books again, and continuing his studies, could he achieve both.
In Eric's plan, the most important part was the Game system.
Looking back on his past, he had reached out to help a friend who was being bullied because he thought, 'I saw it, so I should help.'
At the graduation ceremony, separated by long-distance communication, that friend had cursed him out.
He was too young, and too arrogant.
He went to a vacation planet to celebrate with his classmates.
While he laughed together with everyone else, one of the universe's star systems was destroyed.
After learning the truth, Eric's first thought was, 'He couldn't find anyone easier to fool than me.'
Whether it was insults or cutting ties...
Eric would rather believe that person had found a new friend who could bring him greater benefits.
Later, he killed Zandar with his own hands.
Then he met Akivili and saw with his own eyes the ruins left behind by war and the people suffering within them.
More than disasters, he hated himself.
That's right.
He had seen it.
So why had he stood by and done nothing?
He was capable.
So why hadn't he acted?
So he said, "I want people to become people."
He wanted people to live as human beings.
Later, Eric learned the truth behind Zandar's death, and his emotions completely collapsed.
He wanted to end the war.
He wanted to save Zandar.
He wanted to ascend and return home.
A ruler could not have humanity.
Only by separating himself from emotions could he make the most correct decisions.
The system would guide the next cycle's version of himself.
Fortunately, he still kept a trace of reason.
His home planet didn't need a tyrant of the stars.
Nor did it need to be ruled by him.
He wanted to leave himself a backup plan.
Only after stepping down from power and reuniting with Zandar could he obtain the higher-authority Game system and ascend home.
Zero stayed silent for a long time.
Before Eric ended his own life...
He had managed to do all of this?
If he had been given another chance, Zero wasn't sure he could have done better than Eric.
Back then, he had completely forgotten Shuhu and only wanted release.
Zero had been thoroughly fooled by another version of himself.
He began reviewing everything, going through Eric's entire plan from the beginning.
Aside from the fact that it wasn't very friendly toward himself...
It was an almost perfect plan.
'That's right.'
'Everything you want will be yours.'
'Just as you wished.'
He ended the universal war and stepped down from power.
He kept his humanity and would not rule his home planet.
He reunited with Zandar.
Now, only the final step remained.
Zero closed the system messages, left the library, and after walking for more than ten minutes, arrived at the building where Zandar was.
He reached the correct floor and watched Zandar through the window.
After an unknown amount of time, Zandar finally put down the materials in his hands.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zero. He frowned slightly, stood up, and walked over.
"What's wrong?"
Zero looked at him for a while before explaining why he had come.
He had found a system with higher authority and learned that the key to ascending dimensions lay in himself and the number of doctoral degrees he earned.
Zandar fell silent for a moment before sighing.
"My dear student, you need to have a proper understanding of yourself."
"If you really earned dozens of doctorates, what do you think you'd tell yourself?"
Zero answered without thinking, "I'd tell him to earn hundreds."
Zandar spread his hands.
"So, do you know the answer now?"
Zero, "..."
Zandar spoke earnestly, "It's not as difficult as you think. At worst, you'll only have to earn a few doctorates."
He waved a hand.
"Alright. I'm giving you a seven-day vacation. Go home and get some rest."
Zero nodded.
During these seven days, he planned to use the system interface to check Jingliu's and Yingxing's conditions.
Both of them had come into contact with his blood.
'If what Eric said was true, and the complete Game system had greater authority...'
'Could the system identify their physical condition?'
In previous cycles, he might not have cut his own flesh and bled for people from a lower-dimensional world.
He should take a look.
Only then would he feel at ease.
Then what about the data from previous cycles?
Could the things inside the Ten Lords Commission be reused?
Zero boarded a starskiff and returned home.
It was still working hours.
Jingliu was away at the Cloud Knights' camp, so only Jade came to greet him.
He picked up the cat with one hand and took out his jade abacus with the other to message Guanliang.
[Zero: You still alive?]
[Guanliang: Do you want it?]
[Zero: ?]
[Guanliang: A pet.]
Gentle, affectionate, doesn't wreck the house.
[Zero: I don't want it.]
[Guanliang: Too late. Open the door.]
The corner of Zero's mouth twitched.
He opened his chat with Matthias instead.
[Zero: Is everything going smoothly?]
[Matthias: Very smoothly ovo]
Zero relaxed and casually transferred Matthias some Patrol Tokens.
He put away the jade abacus and rubbed Jade all over until the cat pressed a paw pad against his palm. Only then did he stop.
After cleaning the cat fur off his hands and clothes, his jade abacus rang.
It was the group chat with Jingliu and the other four.
[Dan Feng: Shared location: Luofu Alchemy Commission.]
Our Luofu's best pilot managed to fly herself into the Alchemy Commission.
Dan Feng also sent the ward number, saying they could come by if they had time.
The others instantly relaxed.
Baiheng was safe now.
Otherwise, Dan Feng wouldn't be joking about her in such a casual tone.
Zero immediately went to find Jingliu.
After meeting his lover, he used the system interface to check her status.
Jingliu would not fall into Mara.
Zero fell into thought as he headed to the Alchemy Commission with her.
The entire way, Jingliu remained silent.
Whether Baiheng was safe or not, words always seemed powerless in the face of illness.
Zero simply held the hand of the person beside him as they discussed what flowers to bring.
With a bouquet in hand, they arrived outside the ward.
The room was packed.
Someone sighed.
"Baiheng, this was a disaster you were destined to face. It's good that you made it through."
Someone else stood beside the Foxian and cried.
Dan Feng stood beside the hospital bed.
Having seen scenes like this countless times before, he reminded everyone with a cold expression, "The patient needs rest."
Zero and Jingliu waited and waited until there was finally some room inside.
Jingliu crossed the room in a few quick steps and stopped beside the bed.
Without blinking, she carefully looked Baiheng over.
The Foxian lowered her eyes.
Sensing Jingliu's gaze, she twitched her ears and looked up with an unusually obedient smile.
Jingliu immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Zero carefully examined the Foxian. Seeing that she was unharmed, his gaze quietly shifted to Dan Feng.
If something had happened to Baiheng...
Would Dan Feng act again?
Would what happened at Scalegorge Waterscape... happen again?
Dan Feng knew nothing of this.
He mechanically repeated, "The patient is no longer in danger. Next, she just needs to rest for a while."
He raised a hand and pointed toward the corner of the room.
Zero and Jingliu looked over.
The table was covered with fruit and nutritional supplements.
There was no room for flowers, so they had been placed on the floor.
At first glance, this looked more like a flower shop than a hospital room in the Alchemy Commission.
The two of them, "..."
As expected of Baiheng.
Dan Feng added, "The patient doesn't need supplements. The Alchemy Commission will take care of her recovery."
Baiheng gave a light cough, blinked, and said to Jingliu, "Jingliu, I remember something you once told me."
"You said I had to be careful whenever I flew a starskiff..."
"I did it."
Jingliu's expression softened.
Seeing this, Dan Feng immediately let out a cold laugh.
"Don't believe her."
"She just doesn't want us to scold her."
"When no one was around just now, she was using her jade abacus with the IV needle still in her hand."
"Luckily, I confiscated it."
Jingliu's face turned cold as she looked back at Baiheng expressionlessly.
"I wasn't playing with it. I was replying to messages."
Baiheng first defended herself quietly before giving an awkward smile.
"Come on, I was just worried you'd be worried about me..."
She patted her chest.
"See? I'm fi... cough, cough..."
Every time Dan Feng saw a patient refusing to follow medical advice, he wanted to scold them.
But the manners ingrained in his bones wouldn't allow such rude behavior.
He could only walk over with a dark expression and adjust the pillow behind Baiheng.
The Foxian naturally skipped over the topic.
She couldn't stand seeing others embarrassed.
She couldn't stand awkward silences in conversation.
Now, she especially didn't want her friends to be sad because of her.
Baiheng let out a long breath, her face full of lingering fear.
"Jingliu, you have no idea how terrifying it was..."
Jingliu held her breath.
But Baiheng wasn't talking about today's accident.
She was talking about Yingxing in the operating room.
"I was lying there in surgery. I opened my eyes, and guess who I saw?"
The Foxian gestured with her hand.
If one of them hadn't had an IV needle in it, she probably would have been using both hands.
"Yingxing!"
"I was scared out of my mind! I thought he'd pull out a forging hammer the next second!"
Jingliu, "..."
Zero tried putting himself in her place.
You're seriously injured and rushed into surgery.
Then you turn your head and see your close friend, the one you know inside and out, standing in the operating room...
'Yeah.'
'That really would be terrifying.'
Dan Feng was just about to defend Yingxing when Baiheng beat him to it.
"Dan Feng, don't start talking to me about Vidyadhara secret arts or the High Elder's power..."
"Seeing Yingxing there... was terrifying!"
A few meters away, Yingxing walked into the ward carrying a lunch box.
He joined in the complaint.
"Seeing you scared me too..."
Zero looked at Yingxing and opened the system interface.
Zero, "..."
It really did make up for the Vidyadhara race's weakness of infertility.
Afraid Yingxing would mention her injuries, Baiheng's eyes darted to the lunch box in his hand.
She immediately found a new topic.
"Wait, what's that? Tonic soup?"
The Foxian became wary.
"I'm not drinking it."
"I've already had one nosebleed."
Yingxing, "...I used Vidyadhara secret arts, not thousand-year ginseng."
The two looked at each other before simultaneously turning toward the real culprit.
Facing their obvious stares, Dan Feng was silent for a moment before saying, "It's not thousand-year ginseng."
Yingxing was speechless.
The corner of Baiheng's mouth twitched.
"So... ten-thousand-year ginseng?"
Seeing Dan Feng remain silent, her eyes widened.
"It really is ten-thousand-year ginseng?!"
Baiheng tried resisting.
She argued for quite a while, but no one gave in.
Dan Feng said the ginseng hadn't expired and hadn't gone bad.
Yingxing agreed, saying it was one of the High Elder's treasured collections and that Baiheng absolutely shouldn't miss it.
Finally, there was the person Baiheng had placed all her hopes on... Jingliu.
As for Zero?
He was completely under his wife's thumb.
No point expecting anything from him.
But Jingliu simply said she trusted Dan Feng.
Baiheng sighed.
She looked at Dan Feng on her left, then Jingliu, Zero, and Yingxing on her right, and said weakly, "Let's... not tell Jing Yuan about this."
"By the time he comes back, I'll already be fully recovered."
It's not a big deal.
There's no need.
No one spoke.
Baiheng immediately had a bad feeling.
Zero said, "That's not fair to Jing Yuan."
After a brief pause, he added, "Why don't... you check the group chat?"
Dan Feng cooperatively took out the jade abacus he had confiscated.
Baiheng accepted it.
After taking one look, she gave up, obediently picked up her chopsticks, and quietly started eating.
Dan Feng carefully explained the details of today's emergency treatment to Zero and Jingliu, adding that tonight was his shift.
He would personally remain at the Alchemy Commission.
They chatted a little longer.
Just before leaving, Zero kept looking at Dan Feng.
Dan Feng had no idea why and soon forgot about it.
Baiheng packed up the lunch box and bowls before handing them to Yingxing.
Once only she and Dan Feng remained in the ward, she flashed him a grin.
She carefully chose her words, first chatting about random things.
Dan Feng had little interest in the topics she brought up, but still humored her with a few replies.
After talking for more than twenty minutes, Baiheng brought up her views on life and death.
"I've never really thought about... things like life and death."
"I don't really care about them either."
"How should I put it? Not just life and death."
"I don't think about anything that makes people feel negative emotions."
She thought to herself, 'So don't worry about me.'
The Foxian shrugged, her tone light.
"For example... my shortcomings?"
"I've never thought I had any."
"You only live once. How can you trap yourself in your emotions? If you're always thinking about unnecessary things, wouldn't you miss out on lots of interesting experiences?"
Dan Feng was briefly dazed.
'Was Baiheng... comforting him?'
She changed the subject at just the right moment.
Putting her hands together, she looked pitifully at Dan Feng.
"Alright, alright, Lord High Elder. Please don't use your ten-thousand-year ginseng tomorrow, okay? If you keep feeding me that stuff, how many more nosebleeds am I going to have?"
Dan Feng answered with an "Oh."
Got it.
Use codonopsis instead.
He said goodbye to Baiheng, returned to the Cauldron Master's office, and took out his jade abacus.
He looked at it carefully.
Then he fell silent.
[Zero: Shared an article with you: "Let Go of Your Obsessions, Let Yourself Go."]
Shared an article with you: "Only by Accepting Your Emotions and Letting Them Exist Can You Become Friends with Them."
Dan Feng, "..."
He opened one of them.
If you accept it, it will disappear.
If you fight it, it will always remain.
Dan Feng suddenly realized they were two pieces of inspirational self-help writing.
Dan Feng, "..."
For the first time, he truly felt Zero's age.
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