Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"The world has restarted, and the rules are being rewritten."

The ethereal voice trailed off, and the scene shifted abruptly.

"Xinxiang Station has arrived. Please prepare to disembark."

This was a subway car from the old era, retired a decade ago.

The camera followed the player's movements, the perspective dipping as he squeezed through the doors and merged into the dense, surging crowd.

Just as he stepped out of the station and his eyes met the gray, overcast sky—

The ground gave a violent shudder.

"Earthquake!" The crowd instantly panicked.

The player staggered to regain his footing, and then he saw—

The ground across the entire city was blazing with a molten-gold light.

Countless intricate, indecipherable golden lines and runes rose into the air, forming a colossal sealing array that spanned heaven and earth, radiating an ancient, overwhelming aura.

Then, that magnificent golden array shattered as if hit by an invisible hammer.

Some kind of restraint had been shattered.

It was like a suffocating person gasping their first breath of pure oxygen—ailments swept away, the mind instantly clear.

What followed was a world turned completely upside down.

"Rumble!"

In the distance, towering mountain ranges thrust up from the earth!

Mist and clouds wreathed the peaks, with faint silhouettes of cranes circling overhead.

With a clear, melodious cry that pierced the clouds, a phantom phoenix swept across the distant sky.

Ordinary ornamental trees began to grow wildly, their leaves turning lush and verdant, giving off a strange fragrance. Low flower beds sprouted tender shoots, bearing crystal-clear fruits brimming with spiritual energy.

The greatest change happened inside the human body.

In countless people's dantians, spiritual roots began to grow—covering the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, as well as wind, thunder, ice, and other natural affinities...

These spiritual roots let humanity clearly sense, for the first time, the omnipresent yet previously unnoticed new energy—spiritual qi.

The pacing of the scenes sped up.

High in the misty clouds, massive floating immortal mountains hung suspended, with jade towers and pavilions nestled among them.

Above the city, streaks of light zipped nimbly between skyscrapers. Some rode swords with effortless grace; some stood on bizarre magical artifacts; others kept company with all kinds of spiritual beasts.

Cultivators joined forces to form arrays, attacking grotesque monsters with talismans; the glow of spells intertwined with the city's neon, painting a surreal tableau of a new world.

The final scene showed a metropolis from thirty years ago in the Federation.

The player stood alone atop a skyscraper.

Morning light pierced the clouds. Facing the rising sun, he slowly raised both hands, fingers dancing as he formed a profound and intricate hand seal.

In an instant, spiritual qi was pulled into a massive vortex.

Sunlight dimmed, the moon's shadow emerged, and the world changed color.

The image finally froze on the player's eyes, reflecting the new world.

Everything faded, leaving only a line of clerical script in the center of the pitch-black screen:

"Destiny has arrived; we await you, fellow cultivator."

Below it, a countdown pulsed.

"Global launch of *Floating Life Realm* in 30 days."

The trailer ended, and the meeting room went silent.

Someone asked incredulously, "This is the game we made?"

"Of course—many of the scenes were shot in-engine."

Wen Jueqian and the other company executives were all very pleased with the concept video.

He watched the flashing countdown at the end and murmured, "Finally."

"Yeah. Over three years—we took over the game's prototype from that previous company, renamed it *Floating Life Realm*, and now it's finally about to launch." Qi Yi's voice was heavy with emotion.

The two had been partners since the very start of their venture, supporting each other through all the hardships along the way.

And now, watching their work about to go public—

The excitement in their hearts was beyond words.

Wen Jueqian's optical communicator suddenly buzzed.

The name on the screen was his mother.

He frowned slightly, his earlier excitement fading a bit.

After the news of the Aegis Research Center attack broke, both his father, Wen Qishan, and his mother, Qin Jingqiu, called to check on him.

He had only brushed it off with a casual "a small incident, already handled."

They hadn't pushed further after that.

But starting this week, several members of the Wen family had been contacting him one after another, all hinting at the same thing—asking him to come home for a talk.

Wen Jueqian had put them off a few times, but with nothing else on his schedule today, he agreed.

After hanging up, he sighed softly.

After work, he headed to the Wen family home.

The Wen family now lived in an upscale residential complex they'd moved into three years ago.

Wen Jueqian's father, Wen Qishan, came from a long line of doctors, with several generations of ancestors all practicing medicine.

But after graduating from the Federal Medical College, he didn't follow the family's professional path. Instead, he founded Wenyuan Medical, a company that makes medical devices.

Initially, the company was tiny, just barely keeping the family's lifestyle a notch above middle class. It wasn't until they hitched onto Aegis's Ruiping Kanghe hospital chain that the scale gradually expanded, and they went public a few years ago.

Building a listed company from scratch, his accomplishments were already pretty impressive by most people's standards.

But next to a giant like Aegis, Wenyuan Medical was just one of its many downstream enterprises.

The public's skepticism about Wen Jueqian and Wen Yanxu's relationship came not just from the Beta-versus-Alpha dynamic, but also from the huge gap in where they came from. One was the heir to a monopoly empire, the other a regular guy whose social standing was barely a step above a nobody.

In some people's eyes, it wasn't even a question of "whether they were a good match," but rather "what gave him the right to reach above his station for Wen Yanxu."

The door was opened by the old family servant, Aunt Chen, who lit up when she saw Wen Jueqian. "The second young master is back."

Wen Jueqian walked into the living room. Everyone was present except his Omega sister, Wen Jueya, who was going to college in another state.

His father, Wen Qishan, was a textbook traditional Alpha, always putting on the family-patriarch act. He sat on the sofa watching financial news, while his mother, Qin Jingqiu, sat beside him, pouring him a cup of tea.

His older brother, Wen Juelang, and his wife sat on the other sofa, their toddler son, about a year and a half old, playing with building blocks on the carpet.

Wen Juelang was an A-grade Alpha. Wen Qishan had pinned high hopes on him since he was young, and the family's resources always went to him first.

He hadn't let his father down. After graduation, he joined Wenyuan and worked his way up from the bottom to deputy general manager, now serving as Wen Qishan's right-hand man.

His wife, Li Yi, was the heiress of the Xiyuan Group, a family-run personal care company of considerable scale, particularly known for its skincare and cosmetics. Li Yi, an A-grade Omega, had met Wen Juelang on a blind date, but the two had fallen hard for each other and had a kid not long after tying the knot.

Now the whole family was gathered in the living room, looking like one big happy family.

"Jueqian is back." Qin Jingqiu greeted him with a smile, her gaze glancing past him and pausing briefly. "And these two are?"

"They're my bodyguards," Wen Jueqian said simply.

Wen Qishan gave the two men a once-over but said nothing more, only instructing Aunt Chen, "Take the two guests to the side hall to rest and prepare some tea and snacks."

The two bodyguards looked at Wen Jueqian and only followed the servant out after he gave a nod.

Off in the corner, Li Yi was holding the baby, her eyes tracking the bodyguards as they left, a flicker of envy and resentment flashing through them.

Then she lowered her gaze and continued softly hushing the toddler in her arms, as if nothing had happened.

99: Your sister-in-law doesn't exactly look at you like she likes you.

Wen Jueqian occasionally sensed a subtle hostility from his sister-in-law, which was why he didn't like dealing with her much.

He had suspected it might be his imagination, but having it confirmed by 99 made him feel like "I knew it."

Dinner was soon served.

At the long rectangular table, Wen Qishan took the head, with Wen Juelang, his wife, and their kid on the left, and Qin Jingqiu and Wen Jueqian on the right.

The mood was friendly at first.

Qin Jingqiu kept piling food onto Wen Jueqian's plate, asking how he was doing, telling him not to forget to eat because of work, and bringing up clothes she'd spotted while shopping that would look good on him.

Back when he was young, she'd ignored him. Now Qin Jingqiu was warm and polite—almost too polite.

Her tone was affectionate, like any mother worried about her son.

Wen Juelang occasionally put food on Wen Jueqian's plate as well. "Try this braised venison. Mom remembered it's your favorite, so she made it herself."

Wen Jueqian thanked him in a low voice.

"The baby is amazing now—he can already take a few wobbly steps on his own," Li Yi said with a smile to Qin Jingqiu, then turned to Wen Jueqian. "Would you like to see him later, little uncle?"

Wen Jueqian looked at his nephew, Wen Xirui, sitting in the high chair being spoon-fed by a maid. The child had just turned one, with chubby cheeks, and had already undergone genetic testing, which showed he'd grow up to be an Alpha.

Wen Juelang reached out to play with his son. "Hey buddy, say 'uncle.'"

The kid babbled and waved his little hands, trying to copy in a baby voice, "Unc-uh."

"It's uncle," Wen Juelang corrected patiently.

"Uncle." This time it was clearer.

Qin Jingqiu took the chance to look at Wen Jueqian. "Jueqian, this is the baby's first time calling you uncle. Shouldn't you give him something for that?"

Wen Jueqian's chopsticks froze mid-air.

A familiar wave of annoyance washed over him.

Ever since Wen Juelang got married, Qin Jingqiu had changed.

The once carefree Omega housewife who only cared about shopping and tea had turned into a mother and grandmother scheming for her son and grandson.

If Wen Jueqian didn't know that Wenyuan Medical was pulling in steady income from long-term contracts with Aegis's Ruiping Kanghe hospitals, he'd think the family was about to go broke.

Wen Qishan cleared his throat, interrupting his wife. "Let's just eat. Why bring all this up?"

Qin Jingqiu's smile froze, and she shut her mouth.

Wen Qishan turned to Wen Jueqian, smoothly changing the subject. "Jueqian, isn't your company's game about to launch its open beta? I heard the latest funding round went pretty well?"

"Soon," Wen Jueqian said flatly. "But the investment in full-dive games is massive—every aspect is a long-term expense."

Wen Juelang chimed in, probing. "Didn't Wen Yanxu invest quite a bit? With him around, how could you be short on money?"

Wen Jueqian gave his brother a cold look. "I don't want to rely on him for everything."

The table went quiet for a beat.

Wen Qishan and Wen Juelang exchanged a glance and said no more.

Li Yi lowered her head to wipe the child's hands, a smug smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Qin Jingqiu silently ladled herself a bowl of soup, moving so quietly you could barely hear her.

The rest of the meal was pretty quiet. Only the occasional babbling of the child and the clink of utensils broke the silence of the dining room.

Throughout the entire meal, the plate of braised venison set right in front of Wen Jueqian remained untouched.

==========Author's Note:==========

I tagged this as a game story, yet it took over twenty chapters to actually get to the game.