Chapter Seven: The Genius Younger Brother

What happened with Lu Fang was nothing more than a small interlude.

Jiang Taichu, having eaten and drunk his fill, returned to his cultivation. Meanwhile, Tang Yu and Zhang Jing set out in the middle of the night to search for treasures in Lu Fang’s sector. They weren’t the only ones—others had gone as well.

Jiang Taichu wasn’t so generous as to share his pills with Tang Yu and Zhang Jing; these pills were far too precious to him. If he gave them away this time, what about next time? He was willing to lend a hand in searching, but he wouldn’t hand over what was his.

There were only three days left before their holiday. Each month, they had two days off.

He purposely saved two pills to bring back for his younger brother, Jiang Taixuan.

After refining the pills, he continued with his mecha and firearms training. As his mecha proficiency improved, he was able to channel even more energy into his suit.

Sixteen percent!

The next day, he first visited the sectors where Tang Yu and Zhang Jing were stationed.

Unfortunately, those two had no luck at all; by the time the holiday arrived, they’d come up empty-handed.

The three of them returned to the Star Hall and used the celestial gate’s projection to travel back to Blue Star.

They rode the psionic bus back to their residential community.

Jiang Taichu bought a braised goose, which he shared with his brother.

Jiang Taixuan came home every night; he didn’t board at school, saving a tidy sum on lodging.

Today was Saturday—his day off. When he returned home, dinner was already prepared.

As soon as he entered, a voice called out, “Big bro, your timing is uncanny.”

“Haha, I knew you’d make breakfast, so I didn’t bother buying any.” Jiang Taichu grinned.

Jiang Taixuan was a sensible boy, never reckless with money. As for his older brother, lazy as he was, he preferred to leave the household chores to him.

“How’s work? Are you adjusting well?” Jiang Taixuan asked.

“Of course. Look what I’ve got.” Jiang Taichu took out two pills and placed them before him.

Jiang Taixuan stared at the pills in shock, a trace of anxiety in his voice. “Where did you get these?”

As a top student, he’d advanced to internal cultivation in his third year of high school—a prodigy. The school had once rewarded him with a single Fivefold Profound Qi-Nourishing Pill.

“Your brother is the Empress Nuwa’s favored son. This time, I found three mineral stones in a row—saved two just for you.” Jiang Taichu smiled.

He had no secrets from his own brother; there was simply no need.

“Three mineral stones? There’s that much to find on Earth No. 10?” Jiang Taixuan was incredulous. “When Dad was stationed there, he complained endlessly—not even the dogs cared for that place.”

Their father, Jiang Hai, had also worked on Earth No. 10, but naturally found nothing of value.

“Just lucky, I guess. Here, take these two pills and make good use of them,” Jiang Taichu said, then continued, “What kind of university are you planning to apply for?”

Universities on Blue Star fell into three categories. The first focused on warfare—Special Operations Universities—with the largest number of applicants; the most prestigious was Beidou University.

The second specialized in computation, artifact patterns, and the crafting of magical tools, the best among them being Sanqing University.

The third concentrated on the path of creation—prolonging life and modifying living beings—such as Nuwa Life University.

Of course, all three offered courses in computation and life sciences, but their emphases differed.

“I’m definitely aiming for Sanqing University. I want to build a mecha like no one’s ever seen—one even stronger than the Qitian Mecha,” Jiang Taixuan declared, his youthful face brimming with ambition.

Ah, the dreams of youth—always pure, always grandiose.

The Qitian Mecha was the most advanced on Blue Star, a guardian at the frontier, its presence deterring incursions from other cultivation realms.

“Aim high,” Jiang Taichu said with a laugh. “When you become a master of computation, you’ll have to design a custom mecha for your big brother.”

“Of course. The finest mecha I ever build will be for you,” Jiang Taixuan replied with a grin.

The brothers chatted as they ate breakfast together.

Jiang Taichu proposed that they splurge on a feast with his four-thousand-yuan bonus.

Jiang Taixuan wanted to refuse, but when his brother pointed out that Tang Yu and Zhang Jing had spoken on his behalf without any thanks in return, he finally relented.

After breakfast, Jiang Taixuan went to his room to refine his pills and review his computational studies.

Jiang Taichu returned to his own room and summoned the household spirit array. “Xiaoyun, pull up the detailed specs for the Mountain Patrol Mecha.”

The Mountain Patrol Mecha was a common model; all kinds of information were available online, including explanations of its artifact patterns.

But refining magical tools was a complicated art. To inscribe and combine artifact patterns required extensive computational knowledge.

Without sufficient skill, even with all the materials in hand, he wouldn’t be able to craft one.

The spiritual particle radar array could detect lifeforms and the fluctuations of spiritual particles.

The particle gathering array allowed the mecha to recover its own energy.

The particle dispersal array ensured that the gathered energy was distributed throughout every part of the suit.

Auto-oxygen supply, freshwater conversion, energy engines, tunneling patterns, edge-sharpening, reinforcement patterns, flight patterns…

As he reviewed them one by one, Jiang Taichu’s head grew muddled.

With his current knowledge, he simply couldn’t make sense of these arrays and patterns. Combining them was like trying to untangle a hopeless mess.

But at least he had a good little brother!

After lunch, Jiang Taichu pulled his brother aside and asked him to explain the Mountain Patrol Mecha.

Most of what he’d learned about mecha, he’d already forgotten, and what he had studied was all too general. When it came to the Mountain Patrol Mecha, he was far from a specialist.

His brother Jiang Taixuan, on the other hand, was a prodigy. Both their parents worked for the Earth Corporation, so Jiang Taixuan had grown up immersed in mecha lore. He’d even sought out teachers for advice.

“What do you want to learn, big bro?” Jiang Taixuan asked. “You’ve already graduated. If you’re not planning to get certified, I don’t think there’s any need to study everything.”

“I just want to understand enough to operate the mecha better,” Jiang Taichu replied honestly.

“Then focus on mecha operations. You just need to know the artifact patterns, the arrays, and how the spiritual particles function. You don’t need the advanced theory,” Jiang Taixuan said. “For example, the Mountain Patrol’s particle gathering array is based on the Zhang 9505 Gathering Formula, which involves the basic theory of gold and earth particle flow.”

“All you really need to know is that activating this array lets the mecha recover energy.”

Jiang Taichu nodded slightly; his brother made sense—no need to go overboard.

“These artifact patterns direct the particle flow. Different routes yield different results,” his brother explained. “The edge-sharpening pattern is mainly gold particles, with earth as a supplement. The reinforcement pattern is the opposite…”

As he spoke, he brought up both patterns and sketched a rectangle on the psionic web.

“I’ll use gold for gold particles and black for earth particles. Here’s the Zhang particle formula: particles as points, connected to form lines, and the arrangement of these lines follows a set pattern…”

“Edge-sharpening is like an arrowhead, reinforcement like a rectangular shield…”

“The Mountain Patrol’s spiritual radar uses a unique particle arrangement. As long as you alter the surrounding particles, you can evade detection…”

As his brother explained, Jiang Taichu suddenly realized his mecha and firearms proficiency had increased by two percent!

Noticing the progress, Jiang Taichu asked, “Do firearms use the Zhang particle formula too?”

“Yes, the Mountain Patrol Mecha’s gold and earth particles are based on the Zhang formula—it’s just the arrangement that varies,” Jiang Taixuan replied. “Different patterns produce different results. You can think of the mecha as a human body, the artifact patterns as meridians, and the particle formula as cultivation techniques…”