Gamers Are Fierce

Special Affairs Bureau, Headquarters Building, Medical Department Experiment Center.

Beep——

Under the watchful eyes of two security personnel, Scholar Zhu slid his identification card through the card slot outside the ward door and pressed his palm against the scanner.

This scanner is the latest product of the research department at the Special Affairs Bureau,

capable of detecting not only fingerprints but also the unique energy fluctuations of each Transcendent, even soul waves—which are much harder to replicate or disguise than fingerprints,

If a Transcendent can perfectly mimic someone else's soul wave...then the security door might not mean much to them, and there would be more stringent defense measures to counteract it.

After the automatic audit of energy fluctuations and soul characteristics, the isolation door of the ward opened,

Scholar Zhu stepped inside, went through the entire body disinfection procedure, and passed through two isolation doors to enter the ward.

The ward was exceptionally spacious, the floor clean and tidy, and the four corners of the room deliberately made into curves to reduce dust accumulation. On the floor stood numerous complex medical instruments with unclear functions, presumably experimental products of the research department,

and around the medical instruments, there were many Talismans and Magic Artifacts, adorned with intricate Ritual track patterns,

Is this considered a fusion of technology and mysticism?

Scholar Zhu stepped away from the bulky medical instruments and the multitude of Ritual track patterns on the ground,

A person was already standing in the ward.

Cold Waterstone,

He was completely wrapped in dark cloth, holding a Long Knife made of green jade stone in his hand, the tip of the knife resting against the surface of the hollow glass column at the ward's center,

continually emitting gentle and peaceful energy, penetrating the glass surface and merging into the light blue liquid within the column.

Inside the hollow glass column floated Ju Tianfu, who was missed by thousands of fans.

His current state wasn't good at all; a respirator was covering his mouth, and beneath his neck was a bloody and skinless upper body,

while the bones and flesh of his lower body continued to receive experimental medicine and Cold Waterstone's treatment.

Scholar Zhu stood by and waited quietly for a while,

the electronic clock embedded in the wall sounded, Cold Waterstone glanced at the clock, and today's treatment time concluded, he then put down the Jade Long Knife, nodded at Scholar Zhu, and turned to leave the ward.

"How are you feeling?"

Scholar Zhu walked up to the front of the glass column, abiding by the ward's rules that non-medical personnel should not use Transcendent powers to prevent affecting the Ritual track of the Heterodox Academy within the ward, moved a chair, and sat down.

"Uh..."

Ju Tianfu's eyes slightly opened, a string of bubbles emerged from beneath the respirator, and a slightly weakened voice came through the speaker atop the glass column, "Brother Zhu, why are you here."

"Asked by someone to come and check on you."

Scholar Zhu shrugged helplessly, "Ever since the battle for the gateway ended, you haven't shown up, didn't attend the special episode release event for 'Wind Chaser,'

Though the bureau made a realistic CG saying you were digesting the gateway battle results, but this can't be overdone—there are organizations, like Whale Song, able to spot the flaws in realistic CG."

"Ha."

Ju Tianfu smiled wryly, after the gateway battle ended, he teleported back to a personal medical pod in the real world, only to find his body rapidly dissolving and decaying before the pod could be opened,

The medical pod's emergency freezing wasn't able to save his body,

Accurately speaking, the body manufactured by the insect nest.

Fortunately, the technical prowess of the Special Affairs Bureau and the Heterodox Academy was sufficiently strong to use medical pods and spells to urgently sustain Ju Tianfu's life.

With only his head left, Ju Tianfu's "injury" couldn't be fully healed even with Life Potion—the healing mechanism of Life Potion involves activating the body's self-healing potential to close wounds, not creating flesh from thin air.

If he consumed multiple bottles of Life Potion, it would likely draw out the essence of life contained within Ju Tianfu's head to forcibly regenerate a body—the strength of the torso and limbs, as well as the compatibility with the head, would present quite a problem.

After repeated meetings and deliberations, the Special Affairs Bureau's medical team devised over a dozen solutions, which even included sending Ju Tianfu to Game Square to receive medical services from other institutions,

such as the Demon Scientist Alliance, Gen-Sys Biotech Company, and a shop named Immaculate Furnace—rumor has it that Li Rising runs it, and its body modification project receives unanimous praise from lower to mid-level players, but it doesn't quite align with Ju Tianfu's needs.

Ultimately, the medical team decided to have Ju Tianfu follow a Heterodox Academy tome titled "Heavenly Mystical Maiden Body Refining Method," assisted by Cold Waterstone, medical instruments, and the Ritual track of the Heterodox Academy,

to slowly self-heal using Mysterious Dark Divine Power.

"Heavenly Mystical Maiden Body Refining Method" is likewise an ancient tome acquired by the front-line scout squad from the Demon Prison,

Its principle views the human body as lead-mercury elixir,

Placed within a crucible to roast and refine, repeating the lead-mercury reversal composition, washing bone and hair, refining essence into energy, settling into the void and creating the Cave of Marvels, consolidating hundreds of meridians to return to their source.

The ultimately refined body has strength comparable to a body cultivation Cultivator,

And the operation of Spiritual Power runs smoothly without hindrance, the sea of qi vast and boundless, with limitless potential.

The prerequisite condition of "Heavenly Mystical Maiden Body Refining Method" involves the soul departing from the body to oversee the reconstitution process in the Yin God state. Throughout the process, power significantly diminishes, hence requiring companions for protection.

Though slightly different from Ju Tianfu's situation,

But as times progress and mysticism advances,

The Heterodox Academy extracted the essence of the tome, combined it with the latest technology, and successfully replicated the effects of "Heavenly Mystical Maiden Body Refining Method" on Ju Tianfu.

Now, with skinless upper body and hollow lower body state, it may look rather miserable,

but once the body is reconstituted, the power can still maintain its original range and might even increase—the scope of manipulation for the artificial body is much larger.

"In any case, it's best if you focus on recovering."

Scholar Zhu sighed, "The projects you were involved in have been taken over by fellow disciples, ensuring no issues for the time being.

The most critical matter is..."

"The gateway."

Ju Tianfu frowned deeply, after the gateway battle ended, Su Ni Sheng who returned to the real world received a Class-C gateway, while Cold Waterstone acquired a Class-D gateway.

Regarding the gateway's ultimate ownership, the think tank within the Special Affairs Bureau had many speculations.

Su Ni Sheng only took third place, and the first place likely goes to Michael, while the second place...involved significant efforts against Otherworldly Players from Tai Hao, Side Truth, Hoenhem, Lose Control among others, are quite likely,

Other players considered to have contributed less might also be contenders for second place,

for instance, Ant King, suspected of collaborating with the insect nest.

After all, the System Detector can only capture a portion of the scenes,

Certain players can utilize the refresh mechanism of the detectors to accomplish many tasks in intervals, unseen by anyone, anybody, or any organization.

Ju Tianfu himself, through his final outbreak of Mysterious Dark Divine Power to resist the tentacles of a Mutated Starfish, achieved a top-twenty ranking and acquired a Class-D gateway,

but due to his injuries remaining unhealed, this gateway has yet to be opened.

"Well..."

Scholar Zhu wore a peculiar expression, "As for the gateway, it's manageable.

As described in tomes left by ancients,

The gateway indeed is an interdimensional tunnel leading directly to Otherworldly.

The Class-C gateway opened by Senior Su Ni Sheng leads directly to Shang Yuqing Pingdong Heaven, which happens to be the cave dwelling of our Heterodox Academy's ancestors, or rather a medium-sized experimental base established in subspace that's been abandoned for a long time.

The scout team has already used the Heterodox Academy Token to deactivate the Puppet Security Guard System still operational within the cave heaven, and is now deploying on a large scale—the preservation level of Shang Yuqing Pingdong Heaven is slightly higher than the Demon Prison, this time it's expected many archives and treasures can be found.

The Class-D gateway opened by Cold Waterstone also leads to a new continent with an indigenous civilization. That indigenous civilization remains at Earth's medieval level, has Transcendent powers but not great in strength, nor is its history long.

The think tank is meeting to discuss how to develop it.

Currently, the biggest trouble isn't the gateway, but our own planet..."

"Hmm?"

Ju Tianfu was stunned by those words,

Scholar Zhu didn't mince words, retrieving a phone and playing a video before Ju Tianfu.

The video was shot inside a Stone Cave, the cave walls adorned with murals containing grand and dense compositions, with completely different Stone Statue sculptures placed within, a group of modern-clad tourists walking, exploring, and taking photos inside.

Ju Tianfu instantly recognized this as Ajanta Stone Caves in Maharashtra, Central India.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Look closely."

Scholar Zhu enlarged the phone screen, "The Buddha in the mural is smiling."