8mi Chapter 21 Swiping the Card
Chapter 21 Swiping the Card
The so-called "cognitive isolation" refers to weakening or strengthening people's awareness of a certain aspect through information control.
A very simple example:
Just like how people don't only die when they get old, but can die anytime, anywhere.
在吕尧穿越前，出生时足足有2.1亿的90后，到2025年就剩下1.8亿了，而出生时只有2.0亿的70后，到2025年还剩下1.6亿。
Despite being born later and having a younger physical condition, those born in the 90s have a higher mortality rate than previous generations.
Faced with such a terrifying reality, most people born in the 90s still feel nothing and continue to live their lives as before.
This is the impact of "cognitive isolation".
Under the influence of this cognitive isolation, people subconsciously ignore many things in their daily lives, which manifests as most people focusing only on what is in front of them.
When Lü Yao suddenly realized this, he began to feel that something was wrong.
The world is never as calm and peaceful as it appears.
With this in mind, after returning to his dormitory, Lü Yao did not wash up and go to bed as usual to meditate and study. Instead, he took out his phone to search for information online.
After searching for a while, Lü Yao discovered that the Internet in this world, like the one at Dongda University before his transmigration, had a firewall covering the entire area.
A lot of information can only be accessed by bypassing the Great Firewall.
Thinking of this, Lü Yao asked in the dormitory, "Hey guys, does anyone have any circumvention software?"
Xu Pingan immediately grinned mischievously: "Dude, are you planning to go online and race some cars? You just wait!"
A few minutes later, Xu Pingan sent Lü Yao a circumvention software and sat down at Lü Yao's desk to help him set it up. After the circumvention software finally connected to the external network, Xu Pingan gave Lü Yao a knowing look: "Go play with it."
Lü Yao: "..."
really.
The people in this world are not much different from the citizens of the gluttonous empire before Lu Yao's transmigration.
Most people who use VPNs to access the internet do so to find study materials. This tireless spirit of learning has led to the bankruptcy and closure of many VPN companies with impure motives.
Once he finally connected to the internet, Lü Yao began searching for cases of superhuman crimes on "Odyssey," the largest social media platform on the internet. The system then intelligently pushed more and more relevant information to him based on his search.
This is quite different from the domestic Internet.
Lu Yao had spent over an hour searching the domestic internet, but found almost no information related to superhuman crimes.
The content pushed to you is either product promotions, or various jokes, short videos, or borderline videos and live streams.
However, on the social media platform "Odyssey" on the foreign internet, after searching for only a dozen minutes, the homepage began to be filled with various superhuman crime incidents.
There was also a lot of negative information targeting the Eastern Continent Alliance, but anyone with a brain could tell that it was slander, so Lü Yao basically ignored this kind of information and only looked for information that was reasonable, well-founded, and credible.
After a thorough search, Lü Yao finally filled in the gaps in his predecessor's understanding of this world.
Superhuman crimes do exist, and there are many of them.
Even though the Eastern Continent Alliance is relatively safe and stable, superhuman crimes still occur frequently in various places.
Individual criminal acts are relatively easy to solve; what's truly troublesome are those organized and premeditated criminal plans lurking in the shadows, like the illegal trades that Lu Yao encountered before crossing Dongda's territory.
Before Lu Yao transmigrated, Dongda, where he lived, was already one of the safest countries in the world.
Even so, there are still many black industries within the territory of Dongda University, and these industries have even developed many modern slang terms.
For example, "resurrection of the dead" is actually getting someone out of prison, "possession of a corpse" is actually forging documents, "time travel" is actually illegal immigration, "seeking a child for a large sum of money" is actually human trafficking, and "pet turning into human" is actually registering a bought child's birth...
In this world where everyone cultivates and there is a supernatural system, there are even more of these black organizations.
Such messages are not available on the East Continent Alliance's internet.
But on Odyssey, the largest social media platform outside the US, various black organizations are incredibly active.
Some organizations have even begun to have a semi-official identity or background.
In just a short while, Lü Yao saw many superhuman organizations openly posting recruitment notices on "Odyssey," promoting their doctrines, and even attacking other superhuman organizations.
It was truly a scene of prosperity and chaos.
"call--"
After exiting the circumvention software, Lü Yao couldn't help but rub his temples.
The internet is indeed too free.
Freedom bordering on madness.
After calming himself down a bit, Lü Yao began to think about the malice he had felt earlier. Although the Eastern Continent Alliance was not as free and unrestrained as overseas, there were indeed many black organizations within its borders.
So, I've been targeted by some shady organization?
But I haven't shown anything special lately, and my exclusive profession, Alchemist, hasn't even officially started production yet.
Lü Yao was very confident in his intuition.
The sudden malicious spying that appeared tonight made Lü Yao feel a little nervous.
The world is still very dangerous, and the knowledge and skills taught in universities are not enough to deal with the chaotic and complex situations outside. Fortunately, Lü Yao has his own professional alchemy scholar!
Alchemists have no shortage of ways to deal with all kinds of situations. In terms of comprehensiveness alone, even arcane sorcerers are not as comprehensive or convenient as alchemists.
In the section on "General Knowledge of Alchemy Cultivation," in addition to introducing the basic cultivation of alchemists, there is also a lot of basic knowledge about the mystical side. And all systems inevitably compare themselves to each other.
The book "General Knowledge of Alchemy" clearly states that alchemists are the bridge between the mundane and the mystical, and the controllers of all things in the world.
The improved and developed alchemist school is capable of handling situations that even the most comprehensive arcane sorcerers, the most mysterious hermit monks, and the most unpredictable curse practitioners cannot match.
Alchemists, provided they have sufficient funds—in fact, alchemists rarely lack funds—can single-handedly withstand attacks from all factions.
This statement is indeed a bit arrogant, and it may be just the alchemists' faction boasting, but it's not hard to see from this content that the alchemists' faction is indeed very strong.
Lu Yao put down his phone and summoned the alchemist's study materials in front of him.
Alchemist Lv2 primarily focuses on knowledge of various basic recipes, including potions, constructs, and flesh.
Originally, Lü Yao planned to learn how to make potion formulas first, and then slowly learn alchemy knowledge. However, the sudden appearance of malicious perception made Lü Yao want to make some changes ahead of time.
Putting away the Alchemist's panel, Lü Yao looked at Xie Wendong in the dormitory: "Wendong, what are the requirements for matches at your boxing gym?"
Xie Wendong, who was lying on the bed texting on his phone, looked up in surprise when he heard Lü Yao's voice: "Brother Donkey, you're going to fight in an underground boxing match? Why?"
The boxing matches at their gym are essentially a gray industry.
Gambling is illegal in the Eastern Continent Alliance, and most people are indeed mortal enemies of gambling and drugs. However, life can be boring, and many people want to find fun in life. Gambling is the least costly and least harmful of all the exciting activities.
For gambling games involving small sums of money and having little impact, the authorities often turn a blind eye.
Against the backdrop of the growing popularity of physical cultivation, boxing matches have become a new favorite form of gambling.
The brutal, hand-to-hand combat in the iron cage, the pheromones released by men and women in the confined space due to the most primal violence, are very intoxicating.
But it's enough to just watch the show in these kinds of industries; it's hard to say who would actually get involved.
Xie Wendong doesn't box much anymore, and he's even planning to give up his position as a boxing coach so he can focus on business with Xu Ping'an and the others.
Therefore, Xie Wendong was quite surprised when Lü Yao asked about this.
Lü Yao laughed and said, "I want to have some fun."
Xie Wendong was speechless: "Brother Donkey, this is really not something to be taken lightly; it's a very complicated situation."
Lü Yao laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm just playing around. I'll quit if it doesn't feel right."
Xie Wendong thought for a moment and said, "If you really want to do this, you'll need to train specifically. Here's what we'll do: my boxing gym instructor hasn't retired yet. Come to our gym and I'll train you."
His idea was simple: let Lü Yao practice and get a feel for it, then he would give up when faced with difficulties.
Hearing this from inside the dormitory, Xu Pingan immediately shouted, "Old Xie, don't worry about training Brother Donkey. I'll take care of your problems."
Lü Yao laughed and said, "Thanks a lot, brothers."
……
The following morning.
After getting up early, Lü Yao woke Xie Wendong up as well: "When are we leaving?"
Xie Wendong was sleeping soundly when Lü Yao woke him up groggily and asked in surprise, "So early?"
Forget it.
The higher the initial enthusiasm, the faster the student will give up later. Xie Wendong has seen too many students like this.
After getting up and tidying up briefly, Lü Yao drove to the boxing gym where Xie Wendong worked. The boxing gym where Xie Wendong used to work was located on Xinjie Road in the city center of Shangnan, which has always been a landmark commercial center in Shangnan.
The top three large luxury shopping malls in Shangnan are all located here.
Because of its commercial prosperity, this area has naturally become the main place for Shangnan residents to consume and show off.
Xie Wendong works at a boxing gym on Hanzhong Road next to Xinjie Road. The gym is called "MMC," which means "Mixed Martial Arts Championship."
The name sounds intimidating.
It's actually a mixed martial arts training ground for both training and real combat.
In addition to combat training, there are exciting boxing matches every night, and various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are also available on site.
In terms of business model, it's somewhat similar to the billiard hall that Lü Yao used to frequent.
Billiard halls also have coaches who can play with you and place bets on the game. At the same time, the sale of alcoholic beverages is a major source of profit for billiard halls.
After parking the car, Lü Yao saw that the entire exterior of the boxing gym was covered with a huge black stone wall, with the three huge English letters MMC standing out impressively, becoming the most eye-catching "GG" in the room.
These three huge English letters are not only the brand name of this boxing gym, but also their visual hammer.
From a marketing perspective, the owner of this boxing gym has a lot of ideas.
After following Xie Wendong into the boxing gym, Lü Yao discovered that the inside and outside of the gym were very different.
The exterior features a massive black stone wall with white lettering, creating a striking contrast. Inside, the interior is decorated with a high-tech feel, with a huge screen covering the entire entrance, capable of displaying different content as needed.
The gym's interior decoration is also very distinctive, with a variety of visually appealing decorations, making it a place that girls would love to visit and take photos.
As Xie Wendong led him inside, Lü Yao did see quite a few scantily clad girls with good figures and looks.
Lu Yao, standing beside Xie Wendong, teased, "Wow, your workplace is so awesome, and you're still thinking about doing business with Ping An and his group?"
Xie Wendong smiled wryly and said, "The glamorous image is all for the customers. In reality, our coaching team's KPIs are outrageous. If I really wanted to make money as a coach, would I go and fight in the ring?"
That's true.
Xie Wendong continued, "How about I take you to a trial class first? The trial class is only 68 yuan per class, and I've already bought it for you."
Lü Yao was amused.
Is Xie Wendong completely convinced that he can't keep going?
Lu Yao didn't say much. He went into the boxing gym, changed into some simple equipment, and started training with Xie Wendong.
Xie Wendong did learn a lot here.
He started teaching Lü Yao mixed martial arts from scratch. Xie Wendong skipped the physical training part and immediately had Lü Yao practice specific techniques with him, from basic straight punches and hooks to combination punches, footwork, and defensive techniques. Xie Wendong led Lü Yao through these basic and monotonous things repeatedly.
Xie Wendong only taught this for an hour.
Although these specialized technical movements are basic, they are also very physically demanding. In particular, the combination of footwork and punches is so intense that even though Lü Yao has reached the fifth level of physical fitness, his heart and lungs still felt the strain.
An hour later, Lu Yao said breathlessly, "Damn, this feels even more strenuous than training in the gravity chamber."
Xie Wendong, also panting, wiped his sweat with a towel and said, "The pressure in the gravity training room is all on the muscles, and the actual consumption of the heart and lungs is not much. Although the physical body realm of human cultivation has comprehensively strengthened the human body, strengthening the heart, lungs and other internal organs is inherently difficult and consumes a lot of energy. It is normal to not be able to keep up in the training of specific combat techniques."
After explaining, Xie Wendong laughed and asked, "So, are you still going to the competition?"
Lü Yao brought up his control panel.
In just one hour of training, he gained 300 general experience points—and that was only one hour!
In other words, he only needs to train for nine hours a day to gain the same amount of experience as he did in a previous day.
During the training process, his level of human body cultivation also improved slightly.
If he goes to the competition later, he can gain a certain amount of reputation by winning a single match, which will bring him one step closer to unlocking the "Life Winner Lv3" title.
This kills three birds with one stone!
A three-fold return on investment—this is not a scam.
This is plunder!
So Lü Yao took out the supplementary card that his senior had given him from his bag and said, "Swipe the card."