Chapter 706 Love and Zhuzhou Bomb (14,000 Words, Super Big Chapter!)

The autumn night was cool with a hint of lingering summer heat, just like the city that never quieted down, even after dark.

This bustling metropolis, which had been roaring and running all day, was still lively and prosperous in the early hours of the morning. The streets were crowded with people, shops overflowing, and not a trace of fatigue from a day's work could be seen on their faces. The bright lights made the city even brighter than during the day.

For a moment, it was hard to tell the difference between day and night.

Gazing at the city center from a quiet place, the clamor of voices gave one the illusion that this city, humanity, and even the Earth itself would never stop. They would always be in motion, continuing until eternity.

This wasn't surprising.

Since the popularization of cultivation, the most immediate sign of change in the world was in sleep.

With increased strength and the nurturing effects of cultivation techniques, the human need for sleep was greatly reduced. While those in the Awakening Stage might still need to sleep every few days to adjust, cultivators in the Transcendent Stage could almost completely abandon sleep, using deep cultivation as a way to regulate their soul and body.

This seemed unremarkable.

But for human society, this smallest of changes was enough to create an entirely different world.

Just like the Earth now.

Deep in the night, Su Beiluo stood on his balcony, seemingly waiting for someone to arrive, but also gazing at the night view of Hong City.

In the present-day Earth, the saying "a day apart feels like three autumns" might not refer to people, but to cities. With increasingly powerful infrastructure, many cities had reached the point where people would wonder if they had unknowingly moved house if they hadn't left for a day or two.

"Where is this? And where is this?!"

This was the bewildered cultivator who had emerged from a few days of closed-door cultivation to find a new overpass in front of their home and the road completely rebuilt.

"What, this is my home?!"

This was the confused cultivator who turned around to find that the building they lived in had been completely reinforced with the Art of Gold and Iron Fortification, emitting a gentle spiritual light and completely renovated on the outside.

Although Hong City wasn't a first-tier city, the changes over the past few years had been terrifying. Not to mention the super-tall buildings that had sprung up on both sides of the river, the elevated sky bridges that connected the city, and the flying cars that traveled back and forth at an altitude of five hundred meters, using spiritual light as their rails. These were enough to make some older people, unable to accept the new world, exclaim in shock and unable to recognize this as the city they had lived in for decades.

There were even huge airships floating three thousand meters in the air, projecting huge news and advertisements downwards, visible to half of Hong City.

Neon lights and projected advertisements floated in the air, with many flying cultivators weaving through them like schools of fish swimming in the sea.

This was a spectacle that had never existed even in the age of immortals and gods.

The rapid development of technology since the revival of spiritual energy, driven by the massive increase in productivity and supply and demand brought about by universal cultivation, resulted in an explosion of surplus labor. This explosive productivity, driven by hyper-speed development, was all channeled into various aerial rails, underground vacuum pipelines, maglev trains, and other infrastructure, in addition to establishing fortresses and mass accelerators in the Mount Everest area and various spatial realms.

Su Beiluo could see that next to those towering skyscrapers were wide, well-connected roads, where traffic was no longer congested. This was because the flying cars in the sky and cultivators who could fly, or who could move with the aid of auxiliary aerial wings, could divert the flow. Even on the ground, internal combustion engine cars were rare, replaced mostly by electric vehicles or those using the new spiritual energy engines.

The man had been to Tiandu and knew that, compared to the science-fiction-like prosperity of Tiandu, Hong City was still quite backward. It lacked a protective array covering half the city, and it didn't have a nuclear fusion power generation cluster built into a *dongtian* (pocket dimension). The flying car lanes in the sky were only two layers high, not yet a truly three-dimensional city.

However, in terms of vitality, it was no less impressive.

Without the constraints of sleep, people had almost doubled their activity time outside of eight hours of work. Although cultivation also took time, it was much less than sleep.

In addition, the Revolving Immortal Art popularized by a certain living immortal further allowed people to almost photosynthesize—even better, they didn't even need to sleep, just bask in the sun and be full of energy.

So now, almost any city could be considered a city that never sleeps. Whether day or night, the crowds on the long streets would not diminish, and the traffic in front of shops and commercial buildings would continue to flow.

In theory, the long-term gathering of large crowds could cause many civil and even criminal incidents, and the constabulary should increase their efforts and manpower, maintaining a state of alert day and night.

But in reality, thanks to universal cultivation, many things no longer happened.

For example, car accidents, theft, fare evasion, and many other crimes and civil cases were no longer a problem.

Even an old man leaning on a cane on the roadside might have *gongfu* (martial arts) harder than a car, and those who were robbed in the past could not detect the theft simply because they were not concentrating. Now, everyone had a certain level of cultivation and spiritual energy, making theft and robbery almost impossible.

Why?

It was simple. Everyone was a Qi Refiner, immune to heat and cold, with skin like iron and bones like steel. Ordinary guns were not very effective. Without spiritual weapons, no one could hurt anyone.

Everyone was a turtle in a shell, so why be afraid of being robbed?

Although universal cultivation had spread cultivation techniques, it had not spread lethal *xianwu* (immortal martial arts) and Daoist arts, nor had it spread the method of refining magical artifacts. It was equivalent to a gun ban; anyone wanting to learn had to pass a political review.

In this way, those with martial strength had good morals, while the vast majority of ordinary people did not have the ability to harm each other.

Even if someone was exceptionally talented and could comprehend the art of aura concealment on their own, successfully committing theft, or if they could comprehend fighting techniques and injure people... what couldn't someone who could do such a thing do?

They would never resort to theft or robbery!

As for ordinary personal disputes, they would simply go to the nearby arena to settle the matter. After the fight, there would be a special referee to comment, and usually after the fight, the anger would subside, and they would reconcile, without the need for the constabulary to intervene.

Unless, the Transcendent Sickness.

Therefore, constables in the new era had become elite soldiers, specialized law enforcement suppression forces for dealing with patients of "Transcendent Sickness" and "Abnormal Awakeners." Other minor incidents could be handled by the street administration.

In recent years, Su Beiluo had been patrolling various places, suppressing Transcendent Sickness and Abnormal Awakeners. He had even fought with some pioneer adventurers, teaching those dependents who thought they were hot stuff just because they had been to a pioneer space a good lesson.

His strength had now reached the high stage of Transcendent, which, in other worlds, was considered a top master of the Innate Stage. Especially after eating the Wisdom Fruit given by Su Zhou several times, he had unique insights into martial arts cultivation. In the past few years, he might have a chance to step into the Commander Stage and become a Human Immortal.

This was considered top-tier on Earth today.

Seven years after the revival of spiritual energy, aside from Su Zhou, an exception who had touched the Heavenly Venerate realm, the top tier of cultivators was composed of the heads of major forces around the world, a total of more than a hundred "Overlord Earth Immortals."

Yes, a hundred.

Most of these hundred or so Earth Immortals had deep foundations before the revival of spiritual energy, having cultivated their own paths to the limit. They were characters who transformed into dragons when the opportunity arose, geniuses comparable to immortals and gods.

These figures would have been worthy geniuses even in the hundreds of thousands of years of the Immortal God Era, worthy of being received and encouraged by the Heavenly Venerates.

The remaining minority had various opportunities, either obtaining inheritances from the Heavenly Venerate Divine Tree Demon Gods, or joining pioneer spaces and obtaining the power of other ancient Primordial Lords. In short, they were characters who had cheated.

They formed the high-end military force of Earth's civilization. Each one, when going to other worlds or some primitive planets, could become the lord of the planet. In other alien civilizations, they were also considered truly upper-class figures.

The next tier was the backbone of high-end strength in various countries, with more than fifteen thousand Commander Stage individuals.

This sounded like a lot.

However, the vast majority of this tier was at the initial stage, with many still groping for the essence of their divine powers.

Their achievements were merely the result of widely inherited Immortal God cultivation techniques and abundant resources. The divine powers they cultivated were also guided by the Immortal God cultivation techniques. Therefore, to go further, they needed to thoroughly understand the knowledge of these Immortal Gods.

Without the opportunity to forcefully comprehend, it would take at least decades just to decompose the divine powers and reorganize them into something of their own. More complex ones could even take a lifetime. Therefore, the vast majority of people were unlikely to cultivate to the peak, let alone break through the limit and achieve the Overlord Earth Immortal level.

Those with deep foundations who had a chance to impact the Earth Immortal level within ten years did not exceed a thousand, and those who were truly confident in breaking through were even less than one in a hundred.

But this number was already extremely exaggerated. Even the Cenostians were stunned and couldn't believe it after learning about the density of cultivators on Earth.

Indeed, Cenostians could reach the Commander Stage after adulthood, but one also had to consider the population and reproductive capacity of Earthlings compared to Cenostians!

For ordinary civilizations, not to mention top-tier powerhouses, the proportion of spiritual energy users was simply a fraction of that on Earth. They were completely relying on their massive size to accumulate.

However, after the revival of spiritual energy, the number of newborns worldwide decreased.

Especially with the gradual popularization of cultivation, the number of newborns even experienced a cliff-like drop.

Governments around the world desperately encouraged various policies, but unfortunately, they were of little use—not to mention opening up second and third children, but those who have immortality just don't want to have children. Reality is not a game; opening up policies does not necessarily have an effect.

In short, Commander Stage figures formed the high-level personnel of all aspects of the global cultivation stratum. Figures like Shao Qiming, Jiu Ming, and Tang Yuan, as high-level personnel in the New World Exploration Department and Dragon Kings, were at this level.

Beneath that were the Innate Transcendent, whose numbers were even greater, numbering in the tens of millions, with nearly one in a hundred having completed the metamorphosis of spiritual organ cultivation.

Even so, this step was not simple.

The process of cultivating spiritual energy into internal organs was essentially reshaping the body. Carelessness could result in severe physical damage and the collapse of spiritual energy organs, requiring a rebuilding of the foundation.

Since cultivation was not a speedrunning game, there was no natural involution.

Therefore, many ordinary people sought stability and took each step steadily.

Spending twenty years to break through the peak of Awakening, and then another seven or eight years to slowly wear down the Innate barrier, was not excessive. On the contrary, it could be said to make the foundation more solid.

After all, the average human lifespan was now approaching two hundred years, and reaching the peak of Awakening could add a lot of lifespan.

Spending two or three decades, or even forty years, to break through a realm was truly safe, worry-free, and very cost-effective.

Su Beiluo cultivated the "Heavenly Battle Suppressing Tribulation," derived from the White Emperor's Art "Taibai Subduing Calamities and Breaking Tribulations."

This art drew from the vastness of heaven and earth, with a law net that missed nothing, suppressing all evil and sinful people in the world. It was one of the common high-level cultivation techniques used by the Zheng Guo National Security Bureau and the Patrol General Department.

For him to have cultivated to the high stage of Transcendent in seven years with this technique, approaching the Commander Stage, which was not even achieved by many in a capital city, and becoming one of the top 100,000 experts in the world, required not only resources, cultivation techniques, and talent, but also a certain level of combat understanding, a clear understanding of one's own positioning, and a calm and unhurried state of mind.

And most importantly, a firm goal.

Why did he have this state of mind and goal?

To outsiders, Su Beiluo would say that he was a constable, and only a constable. All he had to do was arrest those patients with Transcendent Sickness and protect the people. Of course, he needed to cultivate diligently to protect his home and country.

This perfectly matched the standard of the Heavenly Battle Suppressing Tribulation, and if Su Beiluo could persist in this path, he would have a chance to cultivate into a Overlord Earth Immortal.

It was also a fact that this kind of cultivation technique would not allow him to break through even after decades or hundreds of years, and he might not succeed in his entire life.

But in reality, Su Beiluo's true thoughts were very simple.

"Anyway, I can't catch up with that brat at home no matter what, so instead of being rash, it's better to be steady and unhurried."

He could no longer guide his child forward, so he could only fulfill his responsibilities as a man, be worthy of his job and beliefs, and be worthy of the Su family's nine generations of constabulary family motto.

In the night sky, there was a flicker of light.

Ordinary people might think it was a twinkling star, but Su Beiluo raised his head, his eyes showing surprise.

Sure enough, soon, without a sound, a young man's voice appeared on the balcony, walking towards the man with a smile.

"Dad, I'm back."

The black-haired youth had long hair tied behind his head and a handsome face.

Although he spoke friendly words with a smile, his eyes were like two stars, shrunk and forged, containing an aura of grandeur that, no matter how concealed, was still vast and mighty.

It was easy to imagine that if the owner of these eyes became angry, what a terrifying majesty would flow from them.

"You're finally back, two years without leaving a word to the family..."

In response, Su Beiluo simply raised his hand and patted his son's shoulder heavily.

But Su Zhou was more direct. He took a step forward and gave his father a generous hug, smiling and saying, "Looks like you're still in good shape. When are you going to give me a younger brother or sister?"

"You brat..."

Being hugged proactively, Su Beiluo was a little stunned, but faced with his son's straightforward enthusiasm, he sighed and then hugged his son, patting him hard on the back: "Forget it, forget it... just be safe... just be safe..."

For the man, this hug explained many things.

As a father, he knew better than anyone that if it were the Su Zhou of the past, no matter how gentle, there would be an almost 'scrutinizing' and 'indifferent' aura, as if he were a judge of heaven and earth, high above, examining everyone with a terrifying aura.

That was the natural majesty of an immortal god, a deity walking in the world.

At that time, Su Zhou, his own son, would also hug him, loving him as always, but with a kind of unconscious arrogance, a kind of careful care.

As if he were touching something fragile, delicate, and needed to be protected and cherished with all his strength.

But now, the youth's aura had returned to simplicity.

If it weren't for those eyes, Su Zhou at this moment would really just be a handsome, sunny boy next door, with a bit of a free and unrestrained aura.

His hug was just a hug, because he wanted to express his feelings after a long reunion with his parents.

"He has changed a lot, grown a lot."

Su Beiluo thought in his heart: while he didn't know, while he was still worried, his child had embarked on his own path.

A very good path.

At this moment, the man had many things to say, but in the end, he just raised the corners of his mouth, shook his head, and said, "Your mother is cooking. Let's have a drink together today, father and son."

"Drink!"

Su Zhou grinned, he took the lead in opening the door to the balcony, walked into the kitchen, and then laughed loudly at his mother Ning Shiyu's exclamation, hugging her tightly.

The lights were not turned off.

Even the night banquet at two in the morning was not quiet and tranquil, because the surrounding buildings were also brightly lit, with families playing, chatting, and entertaining.

Earth had long become a world without night, where the stars in the sky were not as bright as the lights on the ground.

And because the time spent together outside of work was longer, the understanding between people would also be deeper. This had a great impact on family relationships, but it was not so obvious in this generation.

After a few generations, perhaps a new family relationship would be born, which would be the cornerstone of new ethics.

In the Su family, a family dinner naturally went without saying.

"The taste is very good."

Picking up his chopsticks, Su Zhou was surprised that even a simple dish like quinoa with cured meat could become a spiritual plant dish. He chewed and said, "The taste and spiritual energy... are not inferior to some of the world's elixirs!"

The spiritual energy in this dish was just a tiny amount to the youth now, but he knew that for cultivators around the Transcendent Stage, if they could enjoy this kind of delicacy every day, their cultivation speed would be more than twice as fast.

No wonder ordinary people on Earth cultivated faster than in many other worlds. The Zheng Guo Agricultural Department's popularization of spiritual plants was not just bragging, but a solid reality.

In fact, this was something Su Zhou had not known for the past two years.

Since he left the Nine Profound Realm, went to the Fire Dusk Star, fought the Star Devourer, and then fought in the Milky Way for tens of thousands of light-years, the Lord of Life Great Tree and Shao Qiming had cooperated with the Zheng Guo Agricultural Department to restore the ecology of the Nine Profound Realm to about seventy or eighty percent.

During this process, the entire Nine Profound Realm, the entire planet's land, was experimental soil, an excellent testing opportunity, with the secret assistance of a Divine Tree Creator.

The Zheng Guo Agricultural Department's technology had achieved extraordinary practical breakthroughs here.

Almost all daily edible crops had basically been spiritualized. Although this caused great damage to the spiritual energy in the soil, the new generation of spiritual energy gathering arrays could ensure the stability of the spiritual energy.

In addition, soilless cultivation had long been practical, with vertical cultivation spaces in buildings using artificial spiritual energy sources. A single skyscraper could produce more spiritual plants than ten cities needed.

This technology was originally prepared for lunar colonies, Martian bases, and Jupiter ports, but since it had been determined to be mature, it would naturally be popularized on Earth first.

And the most wonderful thing was the popularization of the Revolving Immortal Art, due to Su Zhou's efforts.

Almost everyone in the world, especially in Zheng Guo, knew how to grow vegetables!

Whether it was on balconies or in gardens, growing vegetables had become a trend, with everyone trying to cultivate their own spiritual plants, comparing whose scallions and garlic were more fragrant, and whose eggplants and cucumbers tasted better.

There were even planting competitions for this purpose, hosted by the Zheng Guo Agricultural Department, which discovered many good seedlings from the people.

"Come on."

At this moment, Su Beiluo raised his glass, and Su Zhou naturally raised his glass to drink.

The dishes were good, and the wine was even better.

This glass of wine was brewed with Pan Peach, which could be called *qiongjiangyulu* (jade liquor) even in the age of immortals and gods.

Drinking it in one gulp, there was no alcohol, but a mellow spiritual energy flowed through the body along the esophagus, making the blood circulate and the body feel hot, as if someone was massaging and relaxing the muscles inside the body. It could heal internal injuries and nourish the body.

But if the cultivation level was not high enough, the soul would be impacted by the spiritual energy, giving a wonderful feeling of being "drunk." When one woke up, one would feel refreshed and could relieve mental stress.

Rather than a drink, it was more like some kind of body-strengthening magic potion. In the Aean World, it could even relieve demonic disease, and in a tabletop role-playing fantasy world, it could strengthen the physique and invigorate the spirit.

At least it would have a 【Constitution +3】 【Immunity to Fear】 effect.

After drinking and sleeping, one would wake up with a 【Spirit Revived】 【Perception +2】 【Remove Negative Status】, selling it for a few thousand gold coins would not be difficult.

But in today's Earth, it was just an ordinary mid-to-high-end drink.

Su Zhou quite liked this taste.

It reminded him of the days five years ago when he first met Jin Qiong and killed the Divine Bird Peacock.

The Kunlun Realm and the Beast God Realm, thinking about it, although it was only a few years ago, it felt like a long time had passed... The youth took a sip of immortal wine and couldn't help but smile.

He asked his father about the recent situation in the Beast God Realm and the Kunlun Realm, and what those spirit beasts and divine beasts were doing now, with great interest.

"Ha, you asked the right person."

Su Beiluo's face was slightly red, after all, he was only at the high stage of Innate, still a line away from "Human Immortal." Drinking too much of this immortal wine was still too much for him.

But because Su Zhou had returned this time, the man was full of energy.

He turned his head and smiled at Ning Shiyu, who was picking dishes for Su Zhou: "Some time ago, your mother and I went to the Beast God Realm for a trip. That place has become a super-large Otherworld Park, where many people go camping and enjoy the rural scenery. It's very popular."

"Because of Concord City, although the class of divine beasts and spirit beasts has not been completely broken, it's almost there. Although I don't know the specifics, at least I haven't heard of any scandals."

Su Zhou listened carefully, and Su Beiluo spoke happily. He raised his head and clinked glasses with the youth again. After drinking, he said, "On the contrary, you're a brat who doesn't come home to visit... There's a statue of you at the gate of Concord City. Although you haven't been to the Beast God Realm for a few years, the locals still remember you fighting for them and giving them dignity."

"Your cultivation technique, that Five Virtues Qilin Art, and some spells related to the Demon Lord Devourer, even the bloodline of Zhuzhou, have become fashionable there—being able to cultivate into 'Zhuzhou', cultivate your spells, is revered there!"

"There are many scale-tribe dragon beasts who are single-mindedly earning citizen points just to exchange for the cultivation technique 'Zhuzhou True Body'!"

Hearing this, Su Zhou was slightly stunned.

He put down the glass in his hand, his eyes flashing with light, seemingly a little surprised.

But soon, he laughed: "That's all good."

"But I still hope they can remember the reason they admire me, and not just admire becoming me."

Su Beiluo shook his head, he obviously didn't care about Su Zhou's pretentiousness.

The old man took out his personal terminal and showed it to Su Zhou: "As for those divine beasts... they're doing this now."

Su Zhou looked at his father's personal terminal and raised his eyebrows.

The screen showed some martial arts competitions and recordings of various special competitions—many talented spirit beasts with special abilities participated in these weightlifting, eating contests, and martial arts arena projects, and seemed to have occupied a fairly stable share.

"Starting from this aspect? That's also a good choice."

Su Zhou wasn't surprised, after all, if divine beasts wanted to integrate into the human circle, they did need an entry point. Using this kind of competition project that didn't look at birth, but only at ability, could indeed transcend prejudice to a certain extent.

But soon, he heard a familiar singing voice.

"Huh?" Su Zhou was very surprised, he looked at the screen, and couldn't help but be stunned: "Isn't that Bingyin... and Gu Zechuan?"

"How did these two guys start singing?!"

Gu Zechuan was a Qingqiu Celestial Fox that Su Zhou rescued on Qingqiu Star. He followed Su Zhou all the way to quell the Heavenly Demon Rebellion, and later chose to follow Su Zhou, and currently worked in the New World Exploration Department.

Bingyin was one of the Qingqiu Five, those descendants of the Celestial Fox who sealed the Nine Li War Lord.

Bingyin had many descendants in his fox form, but his age was only that of a first year junior high school student—now he should be in high school. After Su Zhou rescued the Binghu line, he asked Gu Zechuan to take care of him. The two of them were doing quite well in the New World Exploration Department, and with the good foundation of the Celestial Fox, they contributed a lot to the propaganda department.

But now... Su Zhou watched strangely on the stage as the two silver-haired male foxes showed off their talents with the demeanor of singers, earning cheers and cheers.

Vaguely, he even heard cheers like 'Grandpa sings well!' 'Great-grandfather, go!' which were quite inexplicable.

This was simply a superstar! The kind that had both idol status and strength!

"...That's right, if you want to be a public star, who can be stronger than a Celestial Fox?"

Su Zhou could also hear that this was not just singing. Gu Zechuan was fine, but Bingyin was really talented in singing. His voice could move the rhythm of spiritual energy, obviously a Daoist inheritance that could apply "blessings" on a large scale.

In some ways, this was similar to the bard inheritance in Europa, which could entertain others, prove oneself, and also verify one's own Dao.

"What is not cultivation?"

Su Zhou watched the faces of his acquaintances who were seriously living and working on the screen, and smiled sincerely: "This world is really good."

"Yes."

Su Beiluo was obviously a little drunk. He stared intently at the youth in front of him and said with a heavy sigh: "You kid... you're really promising."

"And, most importantly, until now... you're still a good son of the Su family!"

The Su family's history was not long.

It originated during the hundred years of civil strife in the An Dynasty, when the Zheng Guo predecessor of the Alliance of Factions was rising up in various places, during the years when there was still the *jianghu* (martial world).

The Su family's ancestor was an unremarkable person, who said he wanted to be a knight-errant, but in reality, he just didn't want to farm or mine, and wanted to live a free life. He didn't have any great martial arts skills, nor did he have any special bloodline.

It was just that this vagabond had principles. He would do what he promised, and he would help those who needed help and were able to be helped.

Most of the time, he actually survived in the wild, living in the mountains and forests, eating dew, hunting beasts, eating grass, and picking berries, calling himself a mountain man.

But even if his clothes were tattered and covered in mud, he never looted. He would even help caravans walking in the wild to drive away beasts, in exchange for new clothes and salt.

Until one day, while wandering in the wild, he couldn't find food for a long time. Just as he was about to faint from hunger, he was invited over by a caravan called the Shao Clan Caravan and shared a meal of meat.

Although the marinated beef was cold, it tasted special when brushed with a layer of saltwater and roasted in a lotus leaf. Naturally, he had to eat heartily.

"I've long heard that there is a mountain man living in seclusion in the mountains around Linjiang, who likes to help others. I didn't expect that when he eats meat, he looks like an ordinary person, without any immortal aura."

The leader at that time chatted and joked with the mountain man, but the mountain man raised his head and said seriously: "I am an ordinary person. I'm doing things that ordinary people would do, just like you helping me is also the behavior of ordinary people."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the Shao Clan leader was actually a little dissatisfied—he admired the other party's reputation and kindly helped him, but received a 'ordinary' evaluation. How could he be happy?

So after the mountain man finished eating, the two sides quickly parted ways without much conversation.

Three years later, the Shao Clan Caravan, which was being chased and looted by a team of defeated An Dynasty soldiers, encountered the mountain man again while fleeing in the forest.

He threw stones and shouted, drew his bow and shot arrows, and shook the vines, as if a group of mountain bandits had appeared, causing the team of defeated soldiers to panic.

Then, the mountain man personally stepped forward and used wood as a spear, stabbing to death a soldier who had left the army formation, scaring away this group of soldiers who thought they were ambushed.

The price of the mountain man's adventure was being hit by several arrows, and one arrow even hit his knee.

"This, Brother Su, why bother?!"

It was still that leader back then. He carried the mountain man on his back, shouting for the caravan that was about to disperse to gather again, and rushed towards the big city. He was both moved and puzzled: "Taking risks with your life is not worth it, not worth it!"

The mountain man had lost too much blood at that time, his face was pale, but his voice was still serious: "Three years ago, you helped me, a meal's worth of kindness. So today, I will help you too."

"Ordinary people will do things like this."

"By the way, the marinated beef was delicious, I want to drink wine too."

The leader didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You'll have it all, you'll have it all!"

Naturally, the mountain man with an arrow in his knee could no longer live in the mountains. After entering the city with the Shao Clan Caravan, ten years passed, and the Su family could be considered to have flourished in the city.

At first, they could only help some people in trouble, find missing children, and drive away the beasts around.

Then, they could teach the local bullies a lesson and rebuke the evil neighbors who bullied others.

Then, they could investigate cases, return justice to the wronged, and hunt down criminals.

These were the most ordinary things that ordinary people would do.

These were the right things.

So the Su family had been doing this all along.

Su Beiluo stared at the youth in front of him, his face flushed, but his eyes were bright.

The man seemed to see himself in this face, and his father, and his father's father, generation after generation.

He was now just a high-level patrolling officer who could capture and suppress patients with Transcendent Sickness, ensuring peace in one place.

And Su Zhou could already eradicate all crime for this world and go to the outer heavens to help other civilizations resist the crisis of destruction.

"Good... good child..."

Muttering, he got drunk and fell on the table.

"Hey, this dead ghost, he doesn't even know his own weight..."

Sighing, Ning Shiyu reached out and patted Su Beiluo's shoulder—the doctor's spiritual energy permeated, stimulating muscle nerves, and the man who had already passed out stood up on his own and walked towards the bedroom.

On the way, Su's mother cast a few more spells: Cleansing Art, Dust Removal Art, Cleansing Curse, and a Small Wind Curse, respectively removing the smell of alcohol, debris, and some dust from Su's father's body, and blowing it into the trash can with the wind.

Then, a gust of wind carried Su's father to the bed, and then a sleep array automatically activated from the bedside, making him snore loudly.

Su Zhou stood at the door, while Ning Shiyu straightened her son's collar.

She smiled lightly and patted Su Zhou's face, saying, "Remember to come home often."

But after saying that, she sighed again. The mother reached out and hugged her son tightly. She said with some heartache: "You're still so young... and you're already able to do such great things."

"Mom, it's hard to imagine what you'll do in the future. Maybe it'll be bigger and more dangerous than what you've done in the past two years."

"Sometimes, I'm really worried and scared, why you would do these dangerous things, why is it you?"

Letting go, Ning Shiyu raised her head, looking at her child with worry and pride. She murmured: "Hey, but you're doing the right thing. Thinking about it carefully, it's really hard to ask for anything. I can only say that we're all proud of you."

"But, son, don't force yourself. Some things can't be forced."

"I will, I will... Mom, I was out for so long this time, it was completely an accident."

Su Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he was also touched. He let Ning Shiyu sit on the sofa and massaged his mother's shoulders: "What I want to do... is to make you, and everyone else in this world, not have to be nervous and worried, and be able to realize your dreams."

"This is not forced, it never is. This is the path I chose."

"Is that so... That's good, as long as you're happy, that's good."

After that, the mother and son discussed some more topics.

They watched a TV show together, Su Zhou helped wash the dishes, cleaned up the house, and watered the flowers and plants on the balcony.

Finally, when they were tired of chatting, Ning Shiyu went back to rest, and Su Zhou gave the elders a few more layers of protective blessings.

He turned off all the lights, stood on the balcony of the building by the river, and stared at the city lights, the countless sparks.

At this moment, countless lights in Hong City were shining brightly, and even the stars in the sky seemed a little dim. What was brighter than the stars was the rows of giant space stations hanging in the sky, these artificial stars shining with silver-white light were so huge that they could be clearly seen even in the flowing clouds in the night sky.

In the distant future, the Earth's starry sky might be mostly covered with these man-made stars, right?

That might not be a romance that was bigger and more vast than the real starry sky and the Milky Way.

Su Zhou closed his eyes.

Then he smiled, and when he opened his eyes again, all the divinity in the youth's eyes, the light that was like a star, disappeared, and all the power was restrained and gathered in his heart, within a wisp of his heavenly soul.

"In the past, I didn't really understand why people always said that God loved the world, and some people said that immortals and gods protected the human world, because I didn't understand this broad dedication, it seemed like a losing act—I do this because I'm a little stupid, it's impossible for everyone to be stupid, right?"

Su Zhou said to himself: "Until I went to the universe and many worlds, and understood the development history of civilization and intelligent life, I finally understood that love is not a simple, one-sided dedication. Love is also an attack, a powerful force."

"Just like the cold north wind can only make people wrap their clothes, but the warm light can make people actively take off their cotton coats."

"Without mutual help, knowledge shared with each other, without wisdom, techniques that can be passed down, without love and wholehearted teaching, expecting another person, blessings for their descendants to become better, there would be no civilization in the world, no immortals