From-DIDIDA Novels
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gu Jianbo told Meng Chao and Ma Hong about how when he stayed in the university to become a lecturer, he was full of vigor and displayed his splendor. He was just like Griffin Li Yingzi.
Zong Ye had just passed away, so his influence remained. Many new students came over after hearing about his fame and were willing to join Project 1024.
The new students were fearless due to their ignorance. They brought with them new ideas and gave him a lot of inspiration. By sheer coincidence, they managed to come up with a brand new formula for a medicine which could increase the speed at which branch meridians absorbed spirit energy by three hundred percent.
Gu Jianbo tested it repeatedly and came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with it. He was overjoyed and believed that the project had gained a major breakthrough.
Under his guidance, a few students trained and improved significantly. They won repeatedly against students who practiced the Beast Soul Style.
But just when Gu Jianbo was compiling his experiment data and prepared to release his article so that he could help Zong Ye rest in peace, an accident happened.
The spirits of three students who took the medicine and practiced the brand new cultivation method deviated. Their cultivation dropped, and they nearly became cripples.
One of their lives was even endangered. He needed a lot of metal joints and machines to replace his normal limbs and organs. His path as a martial artist was destroyed.
After the tragedy, Gu Jianbo made repeated experiments, only to find out that there was a very strange side effect to this medicine. It slowly accumulated a special poison in a person’s body. The first few times a person cultivated, nothing strange happened. It was only when the poison reached a certain degree that it would explode fiercely.
The path of cultivation was filled with unexpected dangers. All the people who stepped into the world of superhumans, regardless of whether they were students or soldiers, had a certain degree of resolution to face death with a smile.
The national college examination was not the only place with a cripple and death index. All universities had a certain cripple and death index each year as well.
Hence, the university did not punish Gu Jianbo. They only sent him to the refresher course so that he could calm down and polish himself for a few years.
But Gu Jianbo could not get over his trauma. He could only think about how his research had gone wrong and how he had destroyed three students’ futures.
He was tied down by guilt and self-doubt. In his dejection, he terminated Project 1024 and put all his drafts and research data into the shelf so that he could focus on becoming a lecturer for the refresher course.
“Xu Fang, Zhou Tianrui, and Li Feiyu were youngsters as outstanding as you are. They also had great enthusiasm when it came to researching martial arts. They trusted me as well, which is why they joined Project 1024, but I let them down.” Gu Jianbo smiled bitterly.
“I’m sorry, Meng Chao, I’m not a martial arts genius who can shock the world like Zong Ye. I’m just a normal person with undeserved fame. Even if Project 1024 has a slight chance of succeeding, it won’t become reality in my hands.
“You don’t have to try and go all chicken soup for the soul and give me motivation, saying that God will reward the faithful. I’ve overestimated myself before and tried to walk down the path Zong Ye created. In the end, you heard what happened.”
He opened another experiment record.
The first thing that entered Meng Chao’s sights was a bloody picture.
The left half of the person’s body looked like it had been torn off by a meat grinder. He was also struck by high-voltage electricity on top of that, which had roasted him.
Even if the youth’s face and body were covered by a mosaic, Meng Chao’s heart still skipped a beat.
“This is Zhou Tianrui, the one who was injured the worst among the three students.” Gu Jianbo’s cheeks trembled, and he said hoarsely, “Sometimes, I wish I was the one whose spirit had deviated. Why did it have to be Zong Ye, Xu Fang, Li Tianyu, and Zhou Tianrui? They were all genii with bright futures ahead of them.
“Did you know, Meng Chao? When you were waving your arms and speaking with an excited face just now, you looked just like Xu Fang, Li Feiyu, and Zhou Tianrui. When I saw you, I remembered them, and I don’t doubt that you are just as smart as they are. In fact, you have the chance to reach Zong Ye’s heights.
“It’s precisely because of this that I won’t become your personal tutor, and I absolutely won’t launch Project 1024 again so that the tragedy can repeat itself. I won’t let you end up like them!”
Meng Chao’s expression changed.
The path for the truth of martial arts was just like a war against the monster hordes in the wild. Many pioneers had to sacrifice themselves for humanity to gain final victory.
Zong Ye, Xu Fang, Li Feiyu, and Zhou Tianrui were all pioneers of the Ultimate Style. They deserved to be remembered by people.
And in Mebg Chao’s previous life, Gu Jianbo stepped on the path of those pioneers as well. He used his life as fuel to light up a brightly burning flame so that martial arts could further develop.
But how did all this happen?
Meng Chao was puzzled. His nose twitched. Suddenly, he smelled a different scent in the air.
He swiped his finger over the seemingly smooth table and rubbed his fingers together. He brought them to his nose to sniff, and a strange light shone in his eyes. “I see. Mr. Gu, so this lab hasn’t been used for a long time, right?’
“I told you not to call me Mr. Gu. I don’t have the right to be called a lecturer,” Gu Jianbo said bitterly. “Ever since that accident, Project 1024 has been completely abandoned. I will occasionally come down here to clean up the place to remember and honor my friend and students.
“Even if I wanted to continue with the research, though, I don’t have the resources, money, and manpower. The cultivation machines have not been maintained for years, and the research data is from a few years ago. You won’t be able to use them. It’s best that you give up!”
“Is that so?” Meng Chao seemed to be deep in thought. “So, why is it that I can smell a very faint scent from Bronzecup Flowers, Bluesilver Grasses, and Mysterious Scorpion Venom?
“They’re ingredients for very powerful painkillers and stimulants. They should have been taken orally or injected into a person when conducting experiments here.
“This medical report from Senior Zhou is from five years ago. If the project has been abandoned until now, there’s no way that residue from the medicine back then would still be here after five years, right?”
Gu Jianbo was stunned. He averted his gaze.
“Also, these cultivation machines don’t have a single sign of corrosion or rust. By the looks of it, someone has been constantly cleaning them so that they shine as brightly as new.”
Meng Chao squatted down in front of the terrifying cultivation machine that looked like an electric chair. He carefully investigated the leather straps on the back of the chair and the handles that were used to tie a person down.
The leather straps were made from the toughest monster tendons. They could even tie down Iron-armored Rhinoceroses.
But they were covered in thin cracks, and Meng Chao could smell the faint but pungent smell of sweat and blood.
“And what’s going on with these leather straps? The smell of sweat and blood on them is fresh. It’s clear that someone has been sitting here and going through incredibly painful experiments. To avoid jolting, they even tied themselves down. While they struggled against the bonds, their sweat and blood flowed out and seeped into the straps.”
Meng Chao looked back to stare at Gu Jianbo. “Also, I just found powder on the table. If my senses are correct, it’s bone powder from superbeasts, and they were all above Grade Three. The bone powder of Hell Beasts is not cheap.
“If this place has really been shut down for years and you just come down here to clean, why would there be such things on the table?”
Gu Jianbo was speechless. His face varied between shades of white and red.
“Wait…” Meng Chao suddenly thought of a possibility and said in disbelief, “Big Brother Bo, could it be that you’ve ended this dangerous project on the surface to chase away all your students while you took the reins in the dark and trained using this crazy method?”
Gu Jianbo slowly sat down on the cultivation machine that looked like an electrical chair and shed all his disguises. He seemed to have lost his strength.
“No wonder.” Ma Hong, who had been quietly listening to their dialogue suddenly spoke up. “Big Brother Bo, sometimes, you’d suddenly disappear for a few days and even ask us to provide you with cover. When you reappear, you look exhausted as if you had all your blood drained.
“We thought that you went to have a good time with a girl, so we even tried to advise you to control yourself a few times. We told you not to act so wantonly just because you have supernatural powers, but you never listened to us. Once every few days, you’d come back weakened. Could it be that you never went to look for girls but had been here, cultivating?
“Also, you always act so greedily and think of all sorts of ways to get money. You used us to form connections, and always act like you want to ride the coattails of major business tycoons. But even after you’ve gotten so much money and bought so many cultivation resources, your qi never increased. You didn’t buy yourself a luxurious car or a mansion either.
“Did you throw all that money into Project 1024?”
“Of course I didn’t. Quit your yapping! What do you mean by training madly? I went to look for women. As for the money, I saved it because I’m a scrooge. Is that illegal now?” Gu Jianbo refused to admit even after facts were thrown at him.
A thought flashed in Meng Chao’s head.
Gu Jianbo’s descriptions, the stories the lab told him, Ma Hong’s words, and the future he remembered from his memory fragments gelled together and allowed him to understand everything.
As he looked at the fatty with oily skin, he became full of emotion.
So, this was the truth.
He suspected that he was not good enough and was worried that he would harm even more students, so he shouldered his friend’s dying will alone and continued moving forward quietly in the dark. And then, in the end, before his life burned out, he lit up with the most brilliant flames. This was Gu Jianbo, the master of the Ultimate Style!
Perhaps it was just like he said. He was not an incredibly smart genius like Zong Ye but a normal person with nothing but a normal talent and great determination.
But if the constant dripping of water could wear away stones and ropes could saw away wood, the quiet determination allowed the pioneers’ genius to turn into reality.
Meng Chao teared up.
“Big Brother Bo, I didn’t expect that you would be a good man who values your relationships, is loyal to your friends, and perseveres to the end even if their bones are crushed!
“What a coincidence. I’m also a guy who doesn’t care about fame and only loves contributing to society. Let’s turn Senior Zong Ye’s dying will into reality and make it into the most brilliant light of hope in the future!” Meng Chao said firmly.
Gu Jianbo felt really irritated. “Are you all mad?! I’m not that type of person!”
“If you insist on not taking me in, I’ll have to go to Ms. Li and tell her what I discovered here,” Meng Chao said. “I don’t think Ms. Li knows about it; otherwise, she would have stopped you. Isn’t that right, Big Brother Bo?”
Even though Meng Chao felt really mean doing this, if he did not hurry up and join the project, Gu Jianbo would die soon after coming up with the Ultimate Style.
Meng Chao felt that even if Gu Jianbo was not a heroic citizen like Principal Sun, he would not be too far behind .
How could he watch Big Brother Bo walk the path of self-destruction just like Zong Ye?