Chapter 110 – Testing

It was a fascinating and incredible process.

Soil and rock shaped themselves according to his will. Vast stretches of ruins and debris gradually melted into the earth and were swallowed up, like chocolate dissolving in hot milk. In the distance, the outlines of farmland had already been sketched out, and where the ruined temple once stood, a clearing as level as if it had been graded by machinery was rapidly taking shape.

Then, stone blocks floated up from the center of the clearing, forming into a large platform hovering roughly ten-odd centimeters above the ground.

Yu Sheng felt his connection to the valley growing tighter and tighter, and with it, his control was becoming second nature. He focused his concentration further, attempting to refine the details of the platform while continuously increasing its strength and the “depth” of its roots underground.

The process was like gradually getting to know one’s own limbs.

He had planned to use this valley as a base of operations. He’d wanted to do this ever since the day they confirmed this Otherworld had been rendered harmless — this place could serve as farmland for him, a “testing ground” for Eileen, a space for Hu Li to run free and “cultivate,” and in the future, any “projects” that weren’t suitable for the outside world could all be carried out in this valley.

He just hadn’t expected the “construction” process to begin in quite this way.

Hu Li’s eyes were wide open as she stood curiously to the side with the two Eileens, watching Yu Sheng work. Her gaze was full of admiration, and after a long while she finally let out a sigh of wonder: “Benefactor could be a Civil Engineering Immortal…”

“So everything back where you’re from has an immortal for it, huh,” Eileen finally couldn’t hold back — she’d been wanting to roast this for ages. “Do you guys also have a Stir-Fried Noodle Immortal, a Braised Noodle Immortal, and a Beef Noodle Board Immortal?”

“Those are collectively called Cooking Immortals,” Hu Li rebutted with a perfectly straight face. “If they all registered separately, wouldn’t that take up too many social resources? The Immortal Alliance would never approve it.”

Eileen’s face was a picture of astonishment: “…Holy crap, there really are Cooking Immortals!”

Just then, Yu Sheng finally finished laying his foundation and, building upon it, had shaped a small shelter in one corner of the platform — enough to keep out wind and rain (though this valley didn’t seem to have wind or rain). He walked over to Hu Li and Eileen and asked curiously, “What were you two chatting about?”

Both puppets raised a hand simultaneously and pointed at the fox-spirit girl: “The dumb fox says you could be a Concrete Immortal.”

“No, a Civil Engineering Immortal.” Hu Li immediately corrected them with utmost seriousness.

The corner of Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched, but he managed to suppress it. He turned and introduced them to the fruits of his labor: “Look, from now on this place will be our second ‘headquarters’ outside of No. 66 Wutong Road. I have a very grand architectural plan — I’m going to build a massive structure on the site of that old ruined temple, the kind that looks like an ancient civilization’s temple, all magnificent and imposing and mysterious. It’ll be the official headquarters of our ‘Inn’ organization…”

“Three people claiming a whole fortress, huh? You sure dream big,” Eileen roasted without a moment’s hesitation, then pointed with some curiosity at the grayish, blocky “box” at the edge of the platform that looked like a giant matchbox. “Is that a temporary outhouse?”

Yu Sheng stood there with a frozen expression for a while before finally speaking in a reluctant mumble: “…That’s phase one of the architectural plan. You can think of it as Temple Mark One.”

Eileen: “…”

For the first time ever, this chatterbox was actually at a loss for words.

Yu Sheng quickly seized the opportunity to change the subject: “I’m just getting some practice in, starting with basic geometric shapes for construction — anyway, let’s not talk about that. Let’s get down to business and test the ‘remote control range’ of your new body.”

Sure enough, Eileen’s attention was immediately diverted. Both puppets looked up at Yu Sheng simultaneously: “How do we test it? Do I start running in two directions now and see when the connection cuts out?”

“With those little stubby legs of yours, how long would it take you to run anywhere?” Yu Sheng glanced at both Eileens, then before she could blow up, he reached out and picked up the puppet body carrying the painting frame (the main unit). He then pointed at the other one. “This body pairs up with Hu Li. You two run in that direction, all the way to the end of the valley. I’ll take your main body and open a door straight to that ‘mountain range border’ we reached last time. Let’s see what happens.”

While he was still speaking, Hu Li had already run ahead about ten meters, dropped to the ground on all fours, and then — amid swirling immortal energy and shimmering auspicious light — a nine-tailed fox the size of two vans emerged from the luminous haze. She looked expectantly at Eileen (secondary body) on the ground: “Eileen! Come on, let’s run together!”

Eileen instantly recalled the experience of tearing across the valley with this rocket-boosted supersonic fox last time, and her little face immediately scrunched up into a ball: “Can’t we go with a different plan…”

Yu Sheng immediately held out the puppet in his arms — the one carrying the painting frame: “Then let’s switch. This one goes with Hu Li, and you come with me.”

Both puppets froze for a moment, then reacted the next second, glaring at Yu Sheng in perfect unison: “That’s still me either way, you idiot!”

Even as she spoke, the Eileen on the ground was already wobbling her way toward Hu Li, muttering as she walked: “Fine, this body will go with the dumb fox. At least this body’s senses are duller, so maybe the reaction won’t be as bad.”

Hu Li laid one of her tails flat on the ground and watched as Eileen scrambled up along the tail onto her back using all four limbs. She even turned to remind her: “Sit toward the back and hold onto the fur. Don’t fall off when I accelerate.”

Eileen carefully grabbed a tuft of fluffy fur on Hu Li’s back while trying to negotiate: “Go a little slower this time, okay? Don’t just launch straight into the air like last time…”

Hu Li didn’t even wait for the puppet to finish before nodding eagerly: “Mm-hm, don’t worry, my acceleration curve is super smooth!”

She clearly hadn’t listened to a word the puppet said. Her mind was filled with nothing but the joy of getting to run wild, her massive tails swishing back and forth behind her, kicking up clouds of sand and gravel…

Then she turned around, took a few trotting steps in the direction Yu Sheng had pointed out, and began to accelerate.

Accompanied by a scream from Eileen that rapidly receded into the distance, the great fox roared off into the horizon… The Fox Fire behind Hu Li’s tails had even produced Mach rings.

“A full belly really does make a difference.”

Watching from afar as Hu Li streaked across the valley floor, listening to the continuous thunder-like roar, Yu Sheng couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

Then he heard Eileen on his shoulder start complaining loudly: “I never should have believed she’d go slower! I feel like I’m about to fall apart!”

“No worries, if you do fall apart I’ll glue you back together,” Yu Sheng said with a grin, then casually opened a door to the other side of the valley. “Come on, let’s go wait on the other side.”

The rocket-boosted supersonic fox was fast, but no matter how fast she was, she couldn’t beat Yu Sheng pulling open a teleportation door.

By the time Yu Sheng arrived at the mountain range boundary carrying Eileen, Hu Li and the other Eileen were still only halfway there.

Looking down from the mountaintop, he could see a beautiful silver-white streak tearing through the valley like a gale. The pale blue Fox Fire had converged in its blazing eruption into a long trailing flame, propelling the great fox all the way toward the mountain range at the far end. The violently erupting booster flames kicked up sand and stone all along the route — quite a spectacular sight.

“…I suspect she really could fly with those tails as boosters,” Yu Sheng muttered, rubbing his chin. “Not this kind of ground-hugging flight — I mean actually flying up to high altitude.”

A moment later, Eileen suddenly pressed up against his ear and shouted: “The dumb fox says she really can!”

Yu Sheng quickly held the puppet on his shoulder at arm’s length: “Don’t yell in my ear, I can hear you just fine!”

Eileen dangled in midair by the strap of her painting frame, swaying back and forth: “Oh, there’s too much noise around the other body. I got a little confused switching between them for a moment.”

“So how is it? Do you feel any signs of the connection with the other body cutting out?”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Eileen maintained her swaying posture in the air, one hand propped against her chin as she concentrated on sensing. “And forget about signs of cutting out — I don’t even feel the slightest weakening.”

As she spoke, Yu Sheng could see the bright booster trail in the distance had risen to mid-mountain height and was rapidly approaching the mountain range boundary at the valley’s far end.

“The connection is still very strong. There’s no delay at all between me and the other body,” Eileen reported before Yu Sheng could even ask. “No attenuation either.”

“Not even any attenuation…” Yu Sheng furrowed his brow, muttering as he thought. “That means even if there is a limit to the connection between the two bodies, the maximum range might be absurdly far…”

“This whole Otherworld is pretty big when you include the surrounding mountains,” Eileen said, then did a nimble crunch to sit up, hooked her legs around Yu Sheng’s forearm, and clambered onto his arm using all four limbs before looking out toward the distance. “Alright, Hu Li’s reached the mountaintop on the other side now. She’s asking what to do next.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then broke the silence: “Right now, all we can confirm is that within the same space, the ‘communication’ range between the two bodies is long enough. We still can’t be sure what happens if they’re in different spaces.”

Eileen’s face was full of curiosity: “Oh, so…?”

Yu Sheng reached out and pulled open a door.

Beyond the door lay a nameless, dense forest.

It was one of the locations he had discovered during his countless door-opening tests.

Utterly unremarkable — and he had “stockpiled” many, many coordinates for similarly unremarkable places.

“Want to try something more extreme?” Yu Sheng looked at the puppet perched on his arm. “See just how far apart your two bodies can be separated.”

“…Is it safe over there?”

“I took a look before. It’s a bit hot, but nothing dangerous.”

Eileen was clearly a little hesitant.

But after a moment, she gritted her teeth and nodded: “Okay.”

(End of Chapter)