When the security guard looked back at the surveillance footage, the video wall was still empty.
What a boring night.
Gu Xiaorou pressed the electronic keypad a few times, and only after the red light turned green did she use the six-sided stainless steel key to open the beautifully decorated bronze security door. The two entered the living room. Ling Yun casually turned on the ceiling light, and bright yet soft light instantly filled the huge fifty-square-meter living room.
All the apartments in Tiantongyuan are duplexes. This particular apartment occupies the 25th and 26th floors. It is a six-bedroom, three-living-room duplex suite with a usable area of 240 square meters. The entire apartment is luxuriously decorated by a top-notch home furnishing company.
"Is your rented place nice? How much does it cost per month?" Seeing such a high-end and luxurious residence, Ling Yun's eyes were immediately opened. His own house was just an ordinary two-bedroom apartment. Ling Yun had always dreamed of living in one of those duplex suites of hundreds of square meters that he had seen on TV.
Gu Xiaorou glanced at him: "I bought this, I didn't rent it."
Ling Yun clicked his tongue: "Bought it? In this location, it must have cost at least three million."
"It seems to be five million, but I found it too much trouble, so I just paid for the renovations together. The total came to seven million RMB, which is very cheap," Gu Xiaorou said casually, as if seven million RMB was nothing more than a one-yuan coin to her.
"Are you very rich?" Ling Yun looked the girl up and down, her face now back to normal, and couldn't tell at all that she looked like a millionaire tycoon.
"Money is just a symbol to me," the girl said. "Do you want it? One hundred million or two hundred million, it's up to you."
"No need, I can still live, thank you." Ling Yun was speechless with frustration. He thought that becoming a special employee of Sihai Group and earning a weekly salary of 100,000 was already amazing, but he didn't expect that they didn't even care about 100 or 200 million.
"For beings like you and me, all worldly material things mean nothing." Gu Xiaorou looked into Ling Yun's eyes, her ordinary face regaining its original indifference and calm. This gave Ling Yun the illusion that the beautiful girl inside the barrier and the ordinary girl before him were completely different people.
Of course, Gu Xiaorou exudes more charm and strength when disguised as an ordinary girl. However, when her true self is revealed, her fragility and inner emotions are laid bare. Ling Yun naturally prefers the latter.
Chapter Eighty Transfiguration
"The greater the power, the more one can possess, and the weaker the constraints of the rules become. At the same time, the greater the psychological gap and difference between oneself and weaker beings—this is an immutable truth," Gu Xiaorou said softly. "Luxury material enjoyment that is unattainable in the eyes of ordinary people is simply something easily obtained by those with superpowers. Different levels and realms determine different pursuits."
“But in doing so, people’s desires will grow stronger, and if they cannot be controlled or balanced, they will eventually destroy themselves,” Ling Yun said after thinking for a moment.
"Isn't there a famous saying that goes, 'Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad'?" Gu Xiaorou smiled faintly. "Those with superpowers possess strength beyond the ordinary, so their mentality is even more difficult to control. Without a balance between their abilities and their physical abilities, they die even faster than ordinary people."
Realm... Power... Balance
Ling Yun pondered carefully, a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he had vaguely realized something.
Gu Xiaorou walked to the bright French windows on the balcony and stared blankly at the city lights outside. "These next few days won't be peaceful. I've tried it. The Holy Healing Technique can break down the miniature barrier in my body, but during the process, the miniature barrier releases the strongest shockwaves, enough to pinpoint my exact location. The pursuers from the Heavenly Eye Society will find this place very soon."
"I'll distract them. Just focus on recovering. Nothing will happen." Ling Yun walked behind her.
Gu Xiaorou turned to look at him, a thin mist appearing in her bright, clear eyes: "You'll protect me, won't you, Ling Yun... You've become stronger, much stronger than when I first met you."
Ling Yun smiled and raised his clenched fist: "Yes." He had indeed become stronger. After returning from the fifth stage of the simulation, Ling Yun felt a huge change in himself, not only in his strength and special abilities, but also in his perspective, which was much broader than before he entered the simulation.
“But the shockwave originated from my body, and you’re going to have to carry this burden on your shoulders,” Gu Xiaorou said, frowning.
Ling Yun extended his index finger and gently touched Gu Xiaorou's brow. An invisible spiritual field formed a soft probe thread that flowed into her body.
Gu Xiaorou opened her eyes wide, confused, but when she saw Ling Yun waving at her, she stood still.
A soft, smooth sensation spread through Ling Yun's fingertips, causing a slight flutter in his heart, but he quickly focused his attention. As his mental field probe penetrated deeper into the miniature barrier, the replication technique was transmitting back a large amount of data. Ling Yun closed his eyes, carefully experiencing the structure of the miniature barrier. His intention was to simulate the same miniature data, thus altering the source of the shockwave and allowing Gu Xiaorou to evade the Sky Eye Society's tracking.
A moment later, Ling Yun withdrew his index finger. After glancing at Gu Xiaorou, his appearance began to slowly change. His figure gradually shortened, and the position and shape of his facial features also slowly changed. A few minutes later, Ling Yun had completely transformed into the ordinary-looking Gu Xiaorou.
After coughing twice, Ling Yun opened his mouth and said, "How is it?" When he uttered the first word, it was still his own voice, but the next two words turned into Gu Xiaorou's female voice.
Gu Xiaorou took a step back, covering her mouth with her hand. She stared in shock at Ling Yun, who looked exactly like her. Her mental energy field had swept over Ling Yun, but she hadn't detected any trace of disguise. This meant that Ling Yun was indeed a genuine shapeshifter, not just a simple illusion.
Disguise is only a common supernatural ability, allowing one to transform into another's appearance. However, it has significant flaws. Even if two supernatural beings simultaneously use disguise to impersonate the same person, close inspection will reveal considerable differences. This depends on each individual's eyesight and skill in controlling their ability. Furthermore, even the most sophisticated disguise can be easily detected by another supernatural being, as a simple scan of their mental field can reveal the telekinetic fluctuations of the disguise. This is unless the two supernatural beings have a vastly different level of strength or are completely unsuspecting. For example, Gu Xiaorou almost fooled Ling Yun when disguising herself as Xia Zhen, only giving herself away through her words.
Every supernatural ability has its value; the key is how it's applied. However, Ling Yun's transformation is clearly far beyond mere disguise. Gu Xiaorou couldn't find a single flaw in his physique or appearance. This is true transformation, meaning Ling Yun can deceive anyone, including those with supernatural abilities.
No one has ever been able to do this in Gu Xiaorou's countless adventures.
"How did you do that?" Gu Xiaorou asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
Ling Yun slowly transformed back to his original form: "I copied your facial features and body data, and then simulated it by deforming your muscles and bones. So it will look very similar and without any flaws. However, maintaining this transformation is very strenuous and consumes a lot of my supernatural energy. I can't maintain it for very long, so it's far from perfect."
Gu Xiaorou sighed softly, "You've done a perfect job. Disguise is a means to lull the enemy into a false sense of security. It doesn't actually take much time; sometimes just a few seconds is enough."
“Hmm.” Ling Yun nodded in agreement. “I also copied the structural data of the miniature barrier inside your body and changed the source of the shockwave to my body. If the people from the Sky Eye Society come after us, they will only find me first.”
"Can't you change it onto someone else?" Gu Xiaorou asked, as this was the first time she had ever seen such a magical technique.
Ling Yun gave a wry smile, spread his hands, and said, "Who should it be changed to? Do you have other candidates? If there were enough time, I could study the cause of the shockwave in detail, but we don't have time now, and I'm not confident that I can completely block the shockwave of the micro barrier before the pursuers arrive."
Gu Xiaorou fell silent, knowing that what Ling Yun said was true.
"By the way, is there a phone? I left my phone in my dorm." Ling Yun looked around the living room.
“There’s one, but I’ve never used it before.” Gu Xiaorou walked into the bedroom, took out a white wireless landline phone, and handed it to Ling Yun.
Ling Yun answered the phone and dialed Xia Zhen's number. He hadn't expected to waste so much time on the fifth simulation exercise; a week had already passed since he came out. He had to explain to Xia Zhen, otherwise the school might have already expelled him and reported him as a missing person to the police station.
If this disturbs your parents who live far away, it would be even less worthwhile.
It's almost midnight, and I wonder if Xia Zhen is resting yet. Although ability users don't need sleep, Xia Zhen is in her dormitory, so she only pretends to be asleep each night while actually cultivating, which is equivalent to resting. Ling Yun thought to himself, and put the phone to his ear.
The phone rang only once before it was answered, and Xia Zhen's very soft voice came from the other end: "Hello."
"Xia Zhen, this is Ling Yun. Is everything alright at school?" Ling Yun asked somewhat nervously.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Ling Yun heard Xia Zhen's voice suddenly become excited and high-pitched: "Ling Yun, where are you? What have you been doing these past few days? I've been looking for you everywhere! If you have something to do, you can at least tell me beforehand! The school almost called the police, but luckily Xia Tian called the principal from abroad and everything was fine. You're such a worry..." Xia Zhen kept talking, not giving Ling Yun a chance to speak at all.
Ling Yun awkwardly held the phone, looking at Gu Xiaorou. Xia Zhen's voice came through the receiver clearly; even an ordinary person could hear it clearly, let alone Gu Xiaorou, who was a superpowered individual.
Gu Xiaorou turned her head away expressionlessly and walked into the bedroom.