Ch 185: Is There Really Such a Good Thing? [QT]

Not only did the soldiers in the Armed Forces Division need to practice qinggong, but Elder Xu and the others who frequently traveled through different dimensions also had to train. As Shen Yunxuan taught them, she was essentially practicing repeatedly herself, mastering the technique even more thoroughly.

Just last month, they were still coaching her in physical training, and now, within a month, she was the one teaching them. It was truly unpredictable how many surprises these dimensions could bring her. She had undeniably taken quite a few shortcuts.

Besides qinggong, Shen Yunxuan also taught them how to cultivate internal energy—meditating to sense the flow of qi within their bodies and attempting to guide it through their meridians. However, this was much more mysterious and elusive. Most of them struggled to grasp the concept and couldn’t perceive any qi flow. Only two of the special forces soldiers suddenly had a breakthrough and managed to circulate their qi.

In reality, even in the martial arts world, it was difficult for ordinary adults to learn martial arts so quickly. Talent played a significant role—it required someone naturally suited for it. This also highlighted how exceptional Fragrant swan steps was. It didn’t require much selectiveness; everyone could train in it at different speeds, but at least they could all learn it.

In her spare time, Shen Yunxuan meticulously studied the martial arts manuals she had brought back, going through them repeatedly. The books were the first items to be fully organized. The original copies were securely stored in a protected archive, while several digital copies were distributed to various departments. Meanwhile, her office bookshelves held all the printed versions.

As she studied, she modified them—filtering out the mediocre ones, selecting the best, comparing them with her current practices, and analyzing their differences. Eventually, she merged and rewrote them into a new foundational martial arts manual that would be most suitable for laying a strong base. At this moment, her 180 IQ came into play—her ability to comprehend and innovate was unparalleled. Like a scientist discovering the principles of electricity, she studied martial arts theories meticulously. Finally, after ten days, she developed a new internal energy cultivation method tailored for special forces soldiers.

When she introduced the new technique to them, they finally experienced the sensation of qi circulation and immediately threw themselves into relentless training. Before this, they had been frustrated by their inability to make any progress. No one wanted to lag behind. Once they learned that Shen Yunxuan had personally devised this new method, they were utterly convinced of her abilities.

A person who was intelligent, proficient in martial arts, and capable of creating cultivation manuals—who wouldn’t want to follow such a leader?

The two soldiers who had initially shown exceptional talent in internal energy cultivation became Shen Yunxuan’s close training partners, practicing the manual she had acquired from Qingyun Sect alongside her. They were a man and a woman—Gao Lang and Dong Yue. Others even joked that they would become the left and right guardians of the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion’s young master in the future.

They were indeed the fastest learners, demonstrating extraordinary aptitude for martial arts. They became Shen Yunxuan’s core protectors.

Someone teased Gao Lang, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to come here? Looks like you ended up taking the top spot.”

Gao Lang, tall and rugged, scratched his head and laughed. “Wasn’t I scared of ghosts? I thought the Special Affairs Bureau was about catching ghosts and monsters. That’s how it’s always written in novels! Luckily, you told me to believe in science, so I decided to come.”

He paused and then laughed again. “Actually, wait a minute—dimensional travel isn’t exactly scientific either, is it? Hahaha! Anyway, coming here was the best decision! Learning martial arts from Xiao Shen is just too awesome! Every day, I feel myself getting stronger!”

Shen Yunxuan also felt herself growing stronger each day. She suddenly understood why Zhang Yang had been able to involve himself with the criminal underworld in her past life. She had originally thought it was because he had saved Fang Ding, the leader of the underworld, and maintained a deep bond with him. But now, she realized that Zhang Yang must have acquired formidable skills in the other world, securing his place in the underworld purely through strength.

However, Zhang Yang was naturally suspicious, selfish, and unwilling to share his benefits with others. Whenever he brought people into the other world and encountered danger, he would sacrifice them without hesitation. He never believed anyone would willingly risk their life to protect him. His paranoia and fear of secrets being exposed limited his opportunities and growth.

Shen Yunxuan felt incredibly fortunate that she had aligned herself with the nation. This gave her a powerful backing, something she could never have achieved alone. Otherwise, no matter how hard she worked, she wouldn’t have been able to bring back so many martial arts manuals for research, let alone develop her own.

Thinking of Zhang Yang, she decided to visit the underground prison to check on him.

Through the one-way glass, she saw Zhang Yang muttering to himself, looking as if he had lost his mind. She frowned in confusion. “What’s wrong with him?”

Xu Wenyu replied, “He’s faking it. We interrogate him in shifts every day, scrambling over a hundred questions in different orders and rephrasing them to get him to reveal more details. He was overwhelmed and ended up slipping out some information. After realizing his mistake, he started pretending to be insane to avoid answering any more questions.”

Xu Wenyu chuckled and added, “Based on what he let slip, it looks like he has a strong ability to predict business trends, but not much insight into national security matters.”

She then joked, “If he does have some kind of future prediction system, it’s probably just a business forecast system.”

Shen Yunxuan laughed as well. That made perfect sense. In her past life, Zhang Yang had likely been deeply affected by childhood poverty. He had an extreme obsession with money, luxury, and being surrounded by beautiful women. For over a decade, he had focused solely on making money in the business world, with everything else being secondary. Naturally, his memories of future commerce were much clearer.

She asked, “So, is the business information he predicted actually useful?”

Xu Wenyu wasn’t an expert in economics, so she shrugged. “I compiled the information and sent it to the relevant department. Their response was that it’s all standard business forecasts, unrelated to government policies. But overall, the data does indicate that the real estate market will rise rapidly over the next ten years before plummeting sharply.”

Two years from now, there will be an economic attack from foreign countries on the domestic economy, five years later, a flood will impact business in the southern city, and ten years from now, a mutated influenza will cause severe economic damage. All of these serve as valuable warnings for the relevant departments, allowing them to investigate and make preparations in advance to minimize losses.

The most immediate concern is an earthquake predicted to occur in two months. Of course, no one is entirely sure if Zhang Yang’s predictions will come true, so they are only making precautionary preparations. That in itself is already beneficial—if the earthquake does happen, the impact will be significantly reduced.

Shen Yunxuan hadn’t expected them to extract so much useful information from Zhang Yang’s predictions. This was good news for her—she no longer had to worry about how to warn them about the earthquake or the influenza outbreak.

“So, will Zhang Yang be kept here indefinitely?”

“No, once he provides clear explanations for all the suspicious information, he will be released. However, he will still be monitored in secret for at least a year and a half to ensure that he is not a spy or involved in any terrorist activities. Only after confirming his innocence will the surveillance be lifted.”

Shen Yunxuan nodded. She wondered how Zhang Yang would feel if he knew she was here, thriving with the system he had given up. Would he regret handing it over to her?

Having a system and not having one—both paths led to different lives, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, success depended on oneself. In all the worlds she had lived through, those who had been reborn and tried to steal her life were people who had failed in their past lives. They assumed her life was smooth sailing and wanted to take over and enjoy it without effort.

What they didn’t know was that her life before reincarnation had been full of struggles. If they couldn’t even handle an ordinary life, they certainly wouldn’t be able to handle the hardships she had endured. In the end, they never learned from their mistakes. They remained the same as before—people who never grew or changed.

Just like how some old people can be utterly unreasonable and absurd, a person who doesn’t grow will remain the same no matter how many years pass. Wisdom and ability do not automatically increase with age. She and those reborn individuals represented two extremes—a stark contrast.

Among them, there were probably all kinds of different reborn individuals. Rebirth itself was filled with uncertainties. Some could improve their lives, while others could make things worse. All they gained was additional memory, which didn’t guarantee accuracy. A second chance at life had to be treated as a completely new start, without any sense of superiority.

The world had many intelligent people, and the butterfly effect was massive. Just being reborn didn’t guarantee an invincible position.

When Shen Yunxuan had just been reborn, she watched The Butterfly Effect multiple times and deeply resonated with the protagonist’s tragic struggle. However, her nature was positive and optimistic. She wouldn’t burden herself with the happiness of others. Instead, she cherished her rebirth and wanted to live a better life.

From her initial fear and rejection of binding with the system, to her cautious adaptation, and finally to her current situation—growing stronger alongside the country—she realized she had found the best possible path. There was nothing to fear anymore; she just had to keep walking forward.

After increasing her intelligence, Shen Yunxuan began reflecting more deeply on her life. In her past life, Zhang Yang had been an endless source of irritation. If he were to bother her in this life, she now had countless ways to make him suffer. But when she saw him again, she found that she no longer felt any anger.

She didn’t feel the need to take revenge or set traps for him—she simply felt indifferent. He was nothing more than a stranger to her now.

After that, Shen Yunxuan never went to see Zhang Yang again. She had far more important things to do. She instructed the logistics department to prepare various supplies tailored to different dimensional environments, organizing them into small color-coded packages, which were then stored in a larger bag and placed in her system’s inventory.

From the items given to her in the last mission, she selected a few useful ones and stored the rest in the office’s secure vault. This vault was something she had specifically requested—it functioned like a large-scale safe and could only be opened with her fingerprint and iris scan.

Her collection of items would only grow over time, and she couldn’t store everything in the system’s inventory forever. Having a secure vault was far more convenient.

With only a few days left in the month, Shen Yunxuan began actively preparing for the next mission. Since the next dimensional travel would likely be to a completely different type of world, she used summaries of various fictional worlds compiled by civilian researchers to simulate possible scenarios.

These foreign dimensions couldn’t be studied in depth while on Earth, so she could only get a general understanding of their structures. However, thanks to the multiple lifetimes in her memory—experiencing ancient court intrigue, harsh survival eras, metaphysical fortune-telling, and more—she was able to systematically review these experiences.

Having an IQ of 180 truly made her a genius. Her ability to recall and analyze information had become incredibly efficient. Reviewing her past-life experiences was now effortless, and she could directly utilize the skills from those memories.

When Xu Wenyu came to call her for a gathering, she was startled to find her office desk covered in yellow talismans. She asked in surprise, “Why did you buy so many of these?”

Shen Yunxuan walked over with a cup of coffee and replied, “I didn’t buy them—I drew them myself.”

“Huh? You drew these?” Xu Wenyu picked up one of the talismans, examined it, and then burst out laughing. “Yunxuan, what are you doing? Are you afraid that we might travel to a world full of ghosts next? Even if we do, you haven’t learned proper techniques—just doodling won’t help!”

Shen Yunxuan took a sip of coffee and smiled. “It’s just precautionary. I compiled all the information I could find from films and online sources and experimented with drawing them. Even if they’re incorrect, at least I’m practicing and getting used to drawing talismans on yellow paper.”

Xu Wenyu couldn’t stop laughing. For the first time, she realized that Shen Yunxuan was still just a young girl, playing around with these things in her office. She teased, “So what else have you prepared? Do you have a money sword? Tortoise shells?”

Shen Yunxuan’s eyes lit up. “Auntie, how did you know I was just thinking about getting those? But I don’t know where to buy them. Can you arrange for someone to get me a set?”

Xu Wenyu’s smile froze. “You’re serious about this?” But it wasn’t a big deal. If the kid wanted to play, why not get her some toys? Not only would she buy them, but she would make sure they were the best ones available.

Pulling Shen Yunxuan along, she said, “I’ll have someone buy them right away. You just wait to play with them. Now, let’s go eat. Everyone’s been too busy for the past twenty days. If we stay wound up too tight, it won’t be good. There are only two days left until the first. Let’s have a gathering, sing some songs, and relax a bit so we can keep up our energy for the next mission.”

“Sounds good!” Shen Yunxuan went downstairs with her, seeing that everyone was already waiting. She smiled and said, “I’ll cook two dishes for everyone today. Let’s see how my cooking skills are.”

“Great! That’s amazing!”

“Xiao Shen can cook? We’re in for a treat!”

“Go ahead and make whatever you like. We’ll make sure to clear our plates!”

Everyone enthusiastically played along. Xu Wenyu followed her into the kitchen, curious. “You can cook?”

If she was confidently offering to cook for everyone, she must be pretty good at it. Xu Wenyu hadn’t expected that a young girl fresh out of school would also have this skill.

Shen Yunxuan’s cooking was just home-style dishes—not bad, but not exceptional. But now that her intelligence was at 180, she felt incredible. She had fully absorbed the cooking knowledge from “Chef Shen Yunxuan” in her memories. Her cooking skills felt terrifyingly strong!

She figured cooking was an easy way to show off her skills, so she picked two dishes that suited everyone’s tastes and made them in large portions since there were many people to feed.

When the two dishes were served, everyone gathered around enthusiastically, whispering among themselves.

“If it’s not good, don’t let it show. The girl has her pride.”

“We’ll just say it’s good, no matter what.”

“Relax, we’ve eaten all kinds of things on the battlefield. We can even eat bugs. No matter how this tastes, I can find something nice to say.”

Shen Yunxuan and Xu Wenyu brought two smaller plates over to Elder Xu’s table. Seeing the lively scene, she smiled and said, “Everyone is really giving me face. Grandpa, Elder Chen, Uncle, Auntie, you all should try some too.”

Xu Wenyu eagerly sat down. “It smells so good—I’ve been craving this. Yunxuan really has some serious skills!”

“Well, I have to try it. Elder Xu, come on!” Elder Chen handed chopsticks to Elder Xu. The two elders each took a bite, their eyes widening in surprise.

“This is really good!”

“Yes, it’s better than the food in the cafeteria.”

As the two elders dug in, Xu Wen’an, Xu Wenyu, and the others followed suit. At the same time, the group on the other side erupted in exclamations.

“This is amazing!”

“Are you sure Xiao Shen made this? No way, you’re messing with me!”

“Don’t hog it, just one bite each!”

“One bite isn’t enough! Move over, I haven’t even gotten mine yet…”

The group started scrambling for the food, too busy eating to say anything else. Within minutes, the two dishes Shen Yunxuan had made were completely devoured.

Someone shouted, “Is there any more? Any at all?”

Shen Yunxuan called back, “No more! I’ll cook again after our next mission.”

“Promise?”

“Xiao Shen, how is your cooking so good? If you weren’t here, you could open a restaurant and make a fortune.”

“You’re incredible! Is there anything you can’t do? I heard you talking about stocks yesterday, and you sounded like an expert. How are you so amazing?”

Shen Yunxuan grinned. “Stop praising me! If you keep going, I’ll float up to the sky!”

“Hahaha, you’re just too humble.”

“Xiao Shen is a treasure—always full of surprises.”

“If you float away, don’t worry—we’ll follow you wherever you go.”

The foodie Gao Lang said, “I can’t wait to travel to another dimension now. When we come back, there’ll be more good food waiting!”

Dong Yue teased, “You’re looking forward to it so much. Watch out—this time, we might end up in a ghost world. You won’t be laughing then.”

Gao Lang waved his hand dismissively. “Impossible. Martial arts are all about science. Space travel, post-apocalyptic worlds, giants—it’s all science! We have to believe in science!”

Everyone ganged up on him, deliberately telling him ghost stories. He was so scared that he sprinted away at top speed using his qinggong, disappearing in an instant. He only dared to come back when it was time for karaoke, making everyone laugh again.

Xu Wenyu thought to herself—if he saw what was in Shen Yunxuan’s office, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Shen Yunxuan spent the whole night singing and jumping around with everyone, feeling like all the exhaustion from the past month had vanished. It was as if she had fully recharged, filled with passion and energy.

When she returned to her office, she found a large package at the door. Inside were the money sword, tortoise shells, soul-calming bells, and other metaphysical tools that Xu Wenyu had arranged for her. Everything was of top quality—funding was never an issue in their department.

As the first of the month approached, everyone geared up and gathered in the teleportation chamber, waiting for the mission. This time, they waited until 3 AM—just as everyone was at their sleepiest, they were suddenly transported!

Darkness surrounded them. They couldn’t see a thing, not even their own hands. The only way they could confirm their team was still together was through their wristbands.

Shen Yunxuan whispered, “Shh, don’t use any lights yet. Keep your voices down. Turn on the thermal imaging and check for any people nearby.”

Zheng Song and Liu Heng quickly activated two thermal imaging devices, scanning the surroundings. There was no one—no heat signatures at all. Everyone exhaled in relief.

Gao Lang, standing next to Shen Yunxuan, said, “We have no idea where we are. Let’s put on our night vision goggles and explore.”

As he lowered his head to put on his goggles, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation on the back of his neck. Everyone had been messing with him about ghosts lately, so he instinctively swatted behind him and joked, “Dammit, who’s messing with me now? Cut it out.”

Dong Yue, standing on Shen Yunxuan’s other side, frowned. “Everyone’s focused on scouting ahead. Who would mess with you?”

Gao Lang froze. Just then, he heard a faint, ghostly female voice whisper beside his ear: “Do you want to play? Be my husband, okay? Let’s play together…”

Gao Lang whipped around. Behind him stood a terrifying female ghost dressed in a blood-red wedding gown!

“Holy sh—! GHOST!”

🌸˚˖𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒✧🩷˚⋆