ISMW Chapter 96.3

“Good. During this time, practice well in the insectoid home planet simulation battlefield, and don’t just focus on romance all day.” Seeing her brother, who usually opposed her at every turn, being unusually obedient, Yun Xunguang still didn’t release her grip. Her gaze moved down, staring at the blue gemstone on Yun Xunlan’s tongue tip that appeared and disappeared when he spoke: “I don’t even want to mention it, but what is that shiny thing on your tongue?”

 

Yun Xunlan had never removed his tongue piercing since getting it, and he never avoided displaying it in front of others. However, apart from Yun Xunguang, even if others saw it, they didn’t dare discuss the tongue piercing in front of Yun Xunlan. They could only learn from Fu Yanxi and glare at Yu Chen with jealous and envious eyes.

 

When Yun Xunguang brought it up now, she originally intended to say that as a prince, getting a tongue piercing was improper.

 

Who knew that after hearing this, Yun Xunlan started showing off his love: “This is the crystallization of love between Yu Chen and me.”

 

Yun Xunguang: “…”

 

Yun Xunguang couldn’t stand it anymore. She let go and showed a disgusted expression: “Take your crystallization of love and get out of here.”

 

Yun Xunlan left.

 

He had been living in the North Palace recently, without needing people around him at all times. Even Yu Chen wasn’t there, since Yu Chen was only dating him, not retired. Apart from duty time and leave time, they wouldn’t be stuck together all day during the day.

 

Today happened to not be Yu Chen’s duty day, and Yun Xunlan wouldn’t return to the base until next week. So after returning to his residence from Yun Xunguang’s place, he went to the study to get the simulation battlefield access helmet, planning to see what the insectoid home planet simulation battlefield was like.

 

Normal virtual battlefields have memory blurring programs. Users entering as “test subjects” cannot retain their complete memories, and there are many intelligent NPCs inside. The insectoid home planet simulation battlefield is completely different.

 

After entering the insectoid home planet simulation battlefield, Yun Xunlan’s landing point was the mecha bay of an empty war mothership. But in the vast mecha bay, there wasn’t a single mecha, only a blue setting panel light screen. Test subjects could freely choose and set the type and number of mechas they wanted to pilot through the light screen, or make non-structural modifications to mechas according to their piloting habits.

 

For example, the 3S mechas Yun Xunlan piloted must use cocoon chambers, so he could add a cocoon chamber device to his mechas through the light screen and change the close-combat weapons to his preferred mo dao.

 

Once everything was set up, test subjects could activate “forced landing training” mode and immediately begin experiencing the forced landing plan.

 

The “forced landing training” mode was further subdivided into training modules: starship pilots, starship heavy gunners, medics, close-combat mecha pilots… Different military branches and different combat personnel numbers corresponded to different training modules. The secret key permissions Yun Xunlan possessed could only open two training modes: single-person mode or squad mode mecha pilot training—single-person mode could only activate one mecha, while squad mode could activate up to twelve simultaneously.

 

He couldn’t open any other training modes. Presumably, these coordinated combat training modules for entire forced landing armies would only open to him after joining the third Dandelion plan.

 

Yun Xunlan roughly scanned the mode descriptions and began adjusting the configuration of the 3S mechas he would pilot on the light screen.

 

The system also had its first conversation with Yun Xunlan in the virtual battlefield, but sounded like a treacherous minister sowing discord: “What if you pass the special exam but your Imperial Sister suddenly goes back on her word and still doesn’t agree to let you participate in the third forced landing plan?”

 

“Impossible.” Yun Xunlan trusted Yun Xunguang completely. “Imperial Sister wouldn’t lie to me.”

 

The system snorted: “Don’t I know what you’re thinking?”

 

Yun Xunlan didn’t look up: “If such a situation really occurred, there would be only one possibility: I didn’t pass the special exam.”

 

“How could you not pass?” The system immediately retorted. “It’s only ten 3S mechas. Just open your consciousness sea to the Unity stage.”

 

Yun Xunlan said: “But if I want to simultaneously pilot ten 3S mechas and make them all exert maximum combat power, I need to open my consciousness sea to the Great Ascension stage to ensure no mistakes at all.”

 

If we compare the vastness of cultivators’ consciousness seas in the cultivation world to the mental power strength of omegas in the interstellar world, then a Nascent Soul stage consciousness sea would exactly equal 3S-level mental power, which is just enough to achieve perfect resonance with one 3S mecha.

 

When Yun Xunlan simultaneously controlled three 3S mechas and other lower-level mechas at the Fifth Space Station, fighting against the mecha group led by Kos Telo, he had opened his consciousness sea to the Spirit Transformation stage. After Spirit Transformation, there were still three more realms: Unity, Great Ascension, and Tribulation Transcendence.

 

Each advancement through these three realms would double the breadth and depth of the consciousness sea, putting it in a completely different league from the previous realm. Yun Xunlan had never opened his consciousness sea to the Tribulation Transcendence stage in this life. If he really opened a Tribulation Transcendence stage consciousness sea, even he couldn’t calculate how many 3S mechas he could pilot.

 

Therefore, the system also said: “So what? Above Great Ascension is still Tribulation Transcendence. Your consciousness sea is at Tribulation Transcendence Great Perfection, just half a step away from becoming an immortal.”

 

“Tribulation Transcendence Great Perfection…” Yun Xunlan smiled. “Back then, I only reached this realm in cultivation and consciousness sea, but I never actually passed the lightning tribulation, so it doesn’t count as Great Perfection.”

 

The system said “oh”: “I’m in your consciousness sea. If I say you have it, you have it. Besides, ten 3S mechas don’t require a Tribulation Transcendence stage consciousness sea.”

 

“Mm, I’m preparing to start the forced landing.”

 

Yun Xunlan finished setting the mecha data and used the system’s previous words to instruct it: “Be good. In another month and a half, we can break out of the galaxy and dominate the entire universe. You can’t hold me back at such a critical moment.”

 

“I would hold you back?! You’re the one who’s been holding me back!” The system felt wronged and flew into a rage. “Slander! This is slander! I’m getting angry too!”

 

“Then I won’t coax you.” Yun Xunlan also showed off his love to the system. “That’s a privilege only Yu Chen has.”

 

System: “…”

 

System: “I hate you.”

 

Yun Xunlan stopped chatting with the system. He entered the cocoon chamber inside the 3S mecha, opened his consciousness sea to the Unity stage, and first tried using a Unity stage consciousness sea to pilot ten 3S mechas.

 

Five minutes later, Yun Xunlan looked at the four large characters [You Have Died in Battle] on his display screen and fell silent.

 

The system said sarcastically: “How did you only last five minutes? Even faster than Yu Chen~ If Yu Chen came, he’d at least last fifteen minutes, right? I won’t say who’s really holding whom back~”

 

Yun Xunlan turned the tables: “You’re holding me back.”

 

System: “?”

 

The system couldn’t believe it: “What did I do?!”

 

Yun Xunlan said righteously: “You just talked nonsense and disturbed my dao heart.”

 

The system was furious: “You said yourself that simultaneously piloting ten 3S mechas requires opening the consciousness sea to Great Ascension stage to ensure no mistakes, but you only opened it to Unity stage. If you died, that’s your problem. What does it have to do with me?”

 

So for the second simulated forced landing, Yun Xunlan opened his consciousness sea to the Great Ascension stage.

 

However, ten minutes later, Yun Xunlan looked at the four large characters [You Have Died in Battle] on his display screen and fell silent again.

 

The system came out with more sarcastic remarks: “Keep it up~ Maybe if you open your consciousness sea to Tribulation Transcendence stage, you can be as fast as Yu Chen~”

 

“…There are quite a lot of king insects on the insectoid home planet.”

 

Yun Xunlan said this while opening his two combat replay records to see exactly where he had problems.

 

—After checking, he found everything was problematic.

 

First was the fighting style problem.

 

This problem had been clearly exposed during that draw with Yu Chen on the mecha combat platform. Yun Xunlan learned from Yun Qihe—they piloted mechas with pure offense and no defense. So strictly speaking, Yun Xunlan had only one way to protect himself: kill all enemies, and with no one left to kill him, he could protect himself.

 

But how could a mere ten 3S mechas possibly kill all the king insects on the insectoid home planet?

 

Among the ten mechas, only the one Yun Xunlan is in is manned. He doesn’t care much about the “life or death” of the other unmanned mechas. When necessary, they should be sacrificed. However, this attack-only, no-defense strategy leads to rapid mecha destruction and loss. As the number of mechas decreases, there isn’t enough firepower to resist the insectoid tide, which is why Yun Xunlan dies quickly.

 

To solve this problem, there are two ways: change the way of piloting mechas or increase the number of mechas piloted.

 

But this leads to another problem: no matter how many mechas are increased in squad mode, the maximum limit is twelve.

 

During Yun Xunlan’s third simulated forced landing, he maxed out the number of mechas piloted simultaneously to twelve, but he still died in ten minutes, not even lasting eleven.

 

The system couldn’t stand it anymore: “Three times is enough. Can’t you change your strategy? Be a bit more cautious.”

 

Yun Xunlan frowned: “Defense is not my strength. Changing strategy rashly will limit me everywhere, and I’ll die faster.”

 

“If you’re not good at it, then learn. Do I have to teach you?” The system was speechless. “There are ready teachers. I think Yu Chen’s strategy is pretty good. Go learn from him quickly.”

 

“Learn?” Yun Xunlan pressed his temple. “I only have one month left. How much can I learn in a month?”

 

It’s hard for a person’s habits to change in a short time. He asked the system back: “Am I some genius mecha pilot?”

 

The system also wilted: “…No.”

 

Yun Xunlan really isn’t a genius mecha pilot.

 

He has never been good at fighting others. It’s been like this since his previous life. Otherwise, why is he the world’s top medical cultivator and not the top sword cultivator?

 

In this life, he has been learning to pilot mechas with Yun Qihe since childhood for many years. In single mecha combat, he drew with Yu Chen. Using the same strategy against Yun Qihe, he never won a game. He only relied on his high mental power to overwhelm others with numbers.

 

Without this mental power, he is nothing.

 

Some might think he’s a genius for achieving this at only eighteen, but is he really “only eighteen”?

 

—He is over 2,400 years old.

 

With such a long age and experience, losing or drawing in mecha combat against someone not even a fraction of his age is embarrassing even to Yun Xunlan.

 

“Sigh…” The system sighed long. “Actually, your Imperial Sister doesn’t want you to participate in the forced landing plan because, ultimately, she fears you’ll die. But you have me. How could you die?”

 

“Yes, I have you.” Yun Xunlan hit the nail on the head. “But she doesn’t know about your existence.”

 

The system thought this problem was easy to solve: “Just let her know.”

 

**

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T/N: Merry Christmas everyoneee <333

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)