spiritual scholar

Su Xiao woke up again from a severe headache. "Hah... hah... hah..." He gasped heavily, his forehead drenched in sweat. In the pitch-black room where one couldn’t see their own hand, Su Xiao picked up a large bottle of mineral water beside his bed and poured it into his mouth. Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp. Ah... Sitting up in bed, Su Xiao drank his fill, but his head still throbbed with pain. Pain! As soon as Su Xiao closed his eyes, he seemed to see the puppet from his dream, performing strange dance moves in the darkness: Right hand raised, elbow twisted, wrist bent downwards, left hand dragging down, arm vertical, palm facing outward. Enduring the pain, Su Xiao reached for his phone on the pillow. After finding it, Su Xiao pressed the power button with his thumb. On the screen, a lively girl brightened up the whole room. Her neat short hair was adorned with a cute white four-leaf clover hairpin. In the lower left corner, today’s date was displayed: 5:04 Monday, July 2nd Year of Yi Mao, May 27th Su Xiao tossed the phone aside and lay back down, the inexplicable pain in his head easing a bit. He missed her so much. Pulling the blanket over himself, Su Xiao fell back into a deep sleep with the help of his drowsiness. In his dreams, vague scenes flashed by: a Victorian-style clock tower casting its shadow at dusk, orange gas lamps flickering on the dim water. A small puppet reappeared in the scene, dancing its peculiar dance. Graceful as a startled swan, yet so eerie. ... A girl's clear singing flowed by Su Xiao's ear. Struggling, Su Xiao opened his eyes and swiped the alarm off on his phone with his fingers. "It's seven thirty..." Su Xiao muttered, "I have things to do today." Dressed and out of the community gate, two old men were guarding the entrance. One of the old men, dressed in a blue cultural shirt, wore an exoskeleton, holding a fan in one hand and a special silver instrument in the other, scanning the people entering and leaving the gate. Su Xiao walked over, frowning, "Uncle Li, we have to get checked even when going out now?" "Oh, Xiao Su, heading out so early." Uncle Li asked cheerfully, "Going to work?" Su Xiao didn't want to talk to him anymore. It was really hard to explain! As a recent graduate of one of the top six universities in Zhongxia, "Zhongdao University", after turning 22 and completing his thesis, Su Xiao sadly found that he couldn't find an ideal job. Thinking back to the praise he received after the college entrance exam for his high scores, the ambitions when filling out his application, and the aspirations when just entering university... Reality, like a bitter bile rain, had mercilessly beaten him down. Su Xiao had majored in the relatively niche Psionic Theory, known as the "cultivator's major", teaching the study of malevolent entities, mysticism, meditation, and catalyst magic... Once graduated, a cultivator with a solid theoretical foundation could do anything, research techniques, study malevolent entities, use theory to guide their own cultivation, join a club or sect to participate in Daoist competitions, join the military... But the problem was, Su Xiao was not a cultivator! In four years of college, he hadn't become a cultivator! “Not going to work, going to pick someone up,” Su Xiao answered sullenly. Seeing Su Xiao like this, Uncle Li understood and didn’t press further, having Su Xiao take off his orange glasses and scanning him with the instrument. "Pupil detection complete." "Body temperature detection complete." "Psionic detection complete." "Identity confirmed, no signs of possession, no infectious disease threat." "Personal data updated. Travel QR code updated." "Hongjun wishes you good health and a safe journey." The instrument emitted a pleasant female voice, and Su Xiao glanced at his phone, receiving a text message. Uncle Li sighed, "Recently, a cultivator adept in prophecy warned of an emergency risk in our area, so everyone is on high alert. Not only entering, but also exiting requires checking." "Emergency risk?" Su Xiao was slightly surprised, he hadn't received this news. Perhaps the risk level wasn't high enough to warrant informing everyone. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed out! Putting on the orange glasses he took off for the check, Su Xiao entered his destination on his phone. Thinking back to earlier, Su Xiao felt a wave of depression. A cultivator, a cultivator! Who wouldn’t want to be a cultivator! Becoming a cultivator, fighting malevolent entities, participating in Daoist competitions, being directly recruited by top institutions... Su Xiao had always dreamed of becoming a cultivator, awakening the "life curse" deep within, illuminating the boundless darkness of his mind. But... Reality was very harsh! The gap between dreams and reality was enormous! In Zhongxia, experts collectively compiled the "Universal Meditation Method" as part of compulsory education. In theory, the "Universal Meditation Method" directly pointed to sage-level strength, with a difficulty level so low it was absurd, requiring only some meditation before sleep to utilize sleep time for cultivation. But every time Su Xiao practiced the "Universal Meditation Method", he would dream. Strange, fragmented dreams! And at the end of each dream, a bizarre puppet would appear, bringing Su Xiao intense pain. Practicing the "Universal Meditation Method", in theory, even if one couldn't awaken the life curse, should improve sleep quality and enhance mental strength. But for Su Xiao, it had no such effect. Only intense pain! Su Xiao was stubborn and didn’t stop practicing. But there was still no effect, instead, as he got older, the pain became more intense, and the scenes in his dreams became clearer. Recently, he could even dream of the puppet making movements. “Destination confirmed, Shuangle North Station…” “Hongjun is transmitting the optimal route for you, please wait.” The ends of the orange glasses emitted a focused sound only Su Xiao could hear. Moments later, Su Xiao's world had changed. Among the real high-rise buildings and streets, virtual directional arrows appeared. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the street trees, illuminating the ground below the arrows. “Uh…” “Looks like there are no taxis nearby.” “Have to walk to the subway station.” Thinking this, Su Xiao started walking. As he walked, he suddenly thought of the puppet’s strange posture in the dream. “Maybe I can try to mimic that puppet’s posture!” A thought emerged in Su Xiao’s mind. Su Xiao didn’t want “Hongjun” to record a video of him doing a nerdy posture, even if no one would watch, it was still embarrassing, so he found a spot without surveillance in the middle of the street, recalling the puppet’s posture in his mind. The posture was clearly very complex, but Su Xiao remembered it exceptionally clearly, as if he had practiced it himself. Right hand raised, elbow twisted, wrist bent downwards, left hand dragging down, arm vertical, palm facing outward... Gradually, Su Xiao seemed to enter a magical state, sensing his perspective slowly rising, looking down on himself from above!