Eternal World

Qingshan Theological Seminary

It was a little past 10 a.m. when Zhang Yunxi arrived at Qingshan Theological Academy in a self-driving taxi. Today was the final day for registration at the academy, August 27, 2120. As Zhang Yunxi stepped through the school gate, he noticed a small group of students gathered on the playground. The number of students was not significant, suggesting that the enrollment situation was less than ideal.

At the entrance, with a black backpack on his back, Zhang Yunxi turned his head to survey the campus landscape, once again feeling profoundly shocked.

The size of the campus and the architectural style of the academy were completely different from the photos published on the official website. It was built harmoniously with the mountains and water, with functional buildings scattered throughout the campus. If Zhang Yunxi stood in his current position and looked up, he couldn't even see the edges of the campus. All he could glimpse were the faintly visible traditional Chinese-style courtyards amidst the green hills and clear waters.

There were no basketball courts, football fields, dining halls, dormitories, or functional facilities like libraries in sight. The only administrative building with a modern touch also differed from the photos on the school's official website. It was clearly photoshopped, lacking the twenty-story height, with cracked walls and faded paint due to rain, giving it a dilapidated appearance.

This place didn't resemble a college at all. Instead, it felt more like a cadre recuperation institution hidden deep in the mountains or a camping base. It looked desolate and barren, completely unrelated to a university no matter how one thought about it.

What's the difference between this and a scam? Shouldn't educational institutions regulate such fraudulent advertising of these bogus colleges?!

"Sigh."

Zhang Yunxi let out a soft sigh, carrying a slightly contradictory feeling, and followed the signs towards the new student reception area. He was dissatisfied with this place and felt like he might have fallen into a pit. However, the only thing that brought him comfort was the breathtaking natural scenery.

The sky was a vivid blue, lush vegetation stretched between heaven and earth, and colorful hues reflected on the mountains, waterfalls, and flowing clouds. Birds and animals flew overhead, and with every step he took, the refreshing fragrance of plants filled the air.

In the modern metropolis, all one could see was the rapid development of technology, towering skyscrapers forged from steel and concrete, and the peculiar vehicles darting through the streets. It was a bustling scene, but the essence of the natural world had long been lost.

Zhang Yunxi was a student of biology, and he loved the ecological environment here. He couldn't help but stop and take a few pictures with his wristwatch phone.

As he approached the reception area, Zhang Yunxi even saw the greasy man who had fought with him at the station, and to his surprise, the man appeared in the new student waiting area. Moreover, he seemed to be holding various items given to new students by the school.

Damn! This guy looks like he's at least thirty-five years old. Could it be... he's also a new student? This is truly absurd.

Zhang Yunxi withdrew his astonished gaze and walked into the new student reception area.

...

Three days prior to arriving at the academy for registration, Zhang Yunxi had submitted his high school teacher's recommendation letter and the letter of recommendation prepared by his foster father, Professor Zhang Zhitao. So, at the new student registration desk, he simply verified his information with the school and was informed to wait in the waiting area. They told him that someone would conduct an admission interview with him.

Zhang Yunxi couldn't understand why there would be an admission interview for enrolling in a university! He wasn't applying for a job position. Everything here seemed strange to him.

After waiting for about ten minutes in the waiting area, a handsome man in his mid-twenties, dressed in a suit, approached and softly asked, "Are you Zhang Yunxi?"

"Hello, teacher!"

"I'm Instructor Li Han, and I'll be conducting your admission interview," said Li Han, extending his hand with a smile. "Please follow me."

"Sure, Teacher Li!" Zhang Yunxi picked up his backpack and walked alongside him towards the corridor on the left side of the reception area.

The two walked for about fifty meters and reached the end of the corridor. Li Han looked up at the recognition device next to the metal door, blinked his eyes twice quickly, and the metal door slowly opened, revealing a bright and clean corridor in front of them.

"Let's go," Li Han invited with a smile, taking the lead.

Zhang Yunxi followed Li Han into the brightly lit corridor, his eyes filled with astonishment as he looked around.

This should be the institution's work area, with transparent offices on both sides of the corridor, where numerous busy employees can be seen. All the staff in the entire office area utilize holographic projection devices and a large number of AI-assisted terminals to carry out their work. Various data, templates, and information flow visibly within the office area.

Zhang Yunxi was dumbfounded, thinking about how much money must have been spent on setting up such an office area. Many government agencies don't even have this kind of setup!

"Bang, bang!"

Just as Zhang Yunxi was gawking around like a country bumpkin, he suddenly heard a few heavy thuds from the left side. He turned his head and saw a towering steel robot, made of composite metals, limping its way out.

"Oh, s**t!" Zhang Yunxi immediately stepped aside.

"Teacher Zhu Qizhen! Teacher Zhu Qizhen! Please don't wander around. Your leg needs to be re-welded. Let's go to the repair room... Shall I help you with it?" a man in a work uniform shouted as he caught up from behind.

"Bang!"

The robot known as "Zhu Qizhen" punched the transparent wall panel and angrily cursed, "Damn it! It must be those bastards from Team 2. They think they can't beat us in the basketball game next week, so while I was recharging, they stole the large cap screw from my leg and even sawed off my support frame. Damn it, I'll fight with Ye Xian sooner or later!"

Beside him, Zhang Yunxi listened in astonishment, his heart profoundly shaken. He exclaimed, "A fully titanium alloy body, 34R0111 STERNO piston neck, deep blue parallel 9 core propulsion... Holy crap, what kind of monster is this? How much money did it cost?"

"Do you understand this too?" asked Li Han.

"I love mecha and robots," Zhang Yunxi replied, looking at the imposing figure of Zhu Qizhen. Slowly recovering from his shock, he continued, "Someone just called him a teacher...!"

"Oh, he's one of your physical education teachers. His name is Zhu Qizhen," Li Han explained with a smile. "Some talented individual, during his initial programming, gave him a character profile that he loves history. So he gave himself a warrior-like name."

"That's awesome!" Zhang Yunxi exclaimed.

"Hey, weakling, are you a new student too? Why do you look as skinny and feeble as a stick?" Zhu Qizhen extended his heavy mechanical arm and lightly tapped Zhang Yunxi's head.

"Teacher, you got that right. I have a stick, but you... don't!" Zhang Yunxi retorted.

"You slippery-tongued brat, don't let me catch you!" With a limp, Zhu Qizhen walked away, looking somewhat foolish.

Zhang Yunxi looked back at him, and the inner shock could not be calmed down for a long time, because the inner scene here and the external appearance here were really completely different!

Judging from the information found before, this Qingshan Seminary is definitely like a third-rate university, and there are even elements of fraud. However, as soon as Zhang Yunxi entered the metal door just now, he felt the management atmosphere of the college, which was very advanced, very professional, with a sense of science and technology and capital.

Due to family relations, Zhang Yunxi visited Mingzhu University a long time ago. It is no exaggeration to say that many administrative work areas there are not as advanced here. At least Zhang Yunxi hasn't heard anyone say that the teachers there have strong emotional and personal-style robots, and at most AI-assisted teachers.

Most importantly, the "Zhu Qizhen" teacher, there are only a few big factory mothers in the world who can give birth to it! Zhang Yunxi couldn't understand why he saw this kind of monster in such a place. Although it looked like an auxiliary robot, it was scary enough.

This is so awesome!

At this moment, Zhang Yunxi's original idea of coming to Qingshan Theological Seminary gradually changed. He felt that in addition to investigating the doubts in his heart, he seemed to be good at studying here for a long time.

With a glimpse of the whole picture, such a working area has actually shown the potential and educational heritage of Qingshan Theological Seminary.

...

About five minutes later, Li Han took Zhang Yunxi to an office, which was not a transparent work area, and the privacy was very good.

"Coffee, drinks, water, what do you need to drink?" Li Han asked politely.

"No need, thank you." Zhang Yunxi shook his head.

"Okay, please sit down!" Li Han bent down and took out Zhang Yunxi's information from the AI intelligent information database: "Did you want to enter the Department of Biology of Mingzhu University before?"

"That's right." Zhang Yunxi nodded.

Li Han nodded slowly, put his hands in, and asked with a smile, "Do you know anything about Qingshan Theological Seminary?"

"To be honest, I hardly know anything about it, especially after entering this workspace with you, I am even more confused." Zhang Yunxi replied truthfully.

"OK!" Li Han paused for a moment and asked, "Do you know anything about the eternal world?"

"Of course there is." Zhang Yunxi immediately replied, "Now in the whole human society, who doesn't know about the eternal world? After all, it covers 99.99 percent of the world's users.

"Eternal World" is a globally networked virtual human community independently developed and launched by the world-renowned enterprise Lingjing Group since the concept of the metaverse was proposed.

Through neuron guidance, memory storage and other technical means, so that people's consciousness can live almost absolutely in the virtual world.

It's like Jobs' Apple, Bill Gates' Microsoft, Hangzhou Zhouma's XX, etc., changing the way of life of human beings in the whole world by changing technology or business thinking.

The explosion of the eternal world affects not only a generation.

In the interview room, Li Han corrected his question again: "What I said is, do you have an in-depth understanding of the management rules of the eternal world?"

Zhang Yunxi shook his head: "That's not true."

Li Han paused for a moment: "I take the liberty to ask, can you enter the eternal world with me? I want to see your basic values in the virtual community, which is very important for the interview.

"Yes, it's okay, but I don't bring any peripherals."

"That's not a problem." Li Han shouted at the microphone on the table, "Nissa, get me a set of portable brain machine connectors, brand new."

Five minutes later, Zhang Yunxi put on the holographic brain-computer connector, lay on the seat and asked, "Go to Liberty City, right? Then I'll enter?"

"Let's go!" Li Han also wears mobile phone peripherals on his head.

Three seconds later, the two closed their eyes, and a feeling of floating immediately came from their bodies. After hearing the sound of tinkling, the whole person had entered the eternal world...

...

In the real world, in the Pearl City.

The man who acted as Zhang Yunxi's defense lawyer in Li Yun's case is now kneeling in a very dark and dirty basement.

A handsome young man asked in a low voice, "Are you sure that Zhang Yunxi went to Qingshan Seminary with Zhang Zhitao's letter of recommendation?"

"Yes, sir, I'm not lying. Please let me go...!"

The handsome man slowly got up and walked out with a smile.

When the lawyer saw him leave, he was unconsciously relieved and sat on the ground.

The handsome man walked to the door, holding the doorknob in his left hand, but suddenly turned around and slowly raised his right arm: "I still think... the lawyer's mouth is not trustworthy."

"Bang!"

A beam of light shot from the mechanical palm of the handsome man's right hand, and there was a strong light and muffled sound in the room.