After saying goodbye to Li Xiuyuan, He Kao went to work at the office as dawn broke. His work was actually already completed; he was just idly passing ti. As his Divine Sense scanned over, he noticed i Guyu next door doing the sa.
He had a sudden thought and said through Divine Sense, "Xiaoi, I visited Elder Li last night."
Sitting at her desk, i Guyu's deanor remained unchanged, and she replied through Divine Sense, "I know, Elder Gu contacted early this morning to confirm."
He Kao pondered for a mont and couldn't help but ask, "Have you heard of the Skin Painting Technique?"
i Guyu: "I've heard of it. It was improved upon by the Micro Realm Sect's founder, based on the Puppet Body Technique, and it incorporates essentials from the Xingshen Sect's Illusory Body Technique and the Qi Observation Sect's Talisman thod. It's actually called the Body Painting Technique."
He Kao: "Do you know how to do it?"
i Guyu: "No, I specialize in Swordsmanship."
He Kao: "So, do these avatar techniques have any common flaws? Like vulnerabilities."
i Guyu laughed, "Don't you know?"
He Kao: "How would I know?"
i Guyu: "I heard you're quite familiar with Steward Wei from the Lingxi Sect. Whether it's Illusory Body, Puppet Body, or Painted Body, the Lingxi Skill can see through them almost at a glance."
He Kao: "I see, thanks for the guidance!"
i Guyu's tone shifted, "When are you going to invite to visit the Floating Colors Grotto Heaven?"
He Kao: "This weekend, the Master Hall is putting up the main beam and holding a beam-raising ceremony. All disciples will attend."
i Guyu: "A beam-raising ceremony? As the saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. It should be done well; I'll go and broaden my horizons."
He Kao: "It's settled then, the ceremony is at noon on Saturday. If you have to work overti, find a way to get a leave from your supervisor."
i Guyu suddenly said, "Engineer Zhou from Taiyi Technology needs to coordinate so technical issues on our side, and has arranged an online eting. Can you join to avoid going back and forth with feedback?"
Engineer Zhou from Taiyi Technology, isn't he the Zhou Chongming that Li Xiuyuan ntioned last night? This person is a Tier Six Artifact Master and is set to be the next Sect Leader of the Micro Realm Sect.
i Guyu didn't make this explicit, only arranging with He Kao to et Zhou Chongming for a work discussion.
He Kao thought his work was all done for this period, but unexpectedly, i Guyu found him new tasks last minute.
The first division of the Digital Life Project He Kao was part of mainly focused on virtual program developnt. i Guyu was part of the second division, which primarily handled the technical parater adjustnts of hardware content, including the developnt of various peripherals.
The group itself does not manufacture hardware; the manufacturing processes are all outsourced, with requirents provided for partner suppliers to produce. Taiyi Technology is one such supplier.
In recent years, Taiyi Technology has been focusing on the research and developnt of intelligent simulation robots, and Tengxin Group has invested heavily in the company for this purpose. The project's next step is to collaborate with them to embed virtual life data into real-life humanoid robots.
In the normal workflow, the second division liaises with Taiyi Technology, then feeds back technical issues to the first division He Kao belongs to. However, according to i Guyu, direct communication between them would be more convenient.
He Kao: "An online eting, in the virtual world, perhaps?"
i Guyu: "Yes, in the Digital Town."
He Kao: "Does Engineer Zhou have his own digital avatar in our project, or will he log in with a temporary account?"
i Guyu: "It's his own avatar, built according to his personal information template, collecting his own data."
He Kao: "I didn't see his na on the user list."
i Guyu: "Engineer Zhou isn't a custor; he's a technical personnel involved in the project testing. Your departnt doesn't directly liaise with Taiyi Technology, so you haven't seen him in Digital Town."
That afternoon, He Kao and i Guyu each applied for an operation room, donned their peripherals, and entered Digital Town.
Their login location was still beside the Ferris wheel at the amusent park. The whole virtual scene of Digital Town was built based on Pugang Town, and not far from the amusent park was a bustling town.
i Guyu looked at He Kao and said, "Your avatar is quite handso, but the expression is a bit stiff."
He Kao: "Virtual expressions can't be fully realistic yet, and they easily beco as exaggerated as an animation. Being a bit stiff is more in line with reality."
i Guyu glanced around, "This place is quite suitable for etings. Besides confidentiality, there's no chance of ambush..."
Lin Qingshuang had expressed similar sentints before: everyone here ets under online virtual identities. Regardless of how high one's cultivation is, virtual avatars possess no Divine Techniques.
At that mont, i Guyu received a signal. She input a coordinate, saying, "Engineer Zhou has arrived, table number two at the Queen's Milk Tea Shop."
He Kao also input the sa coordinates, and the two vanished from their spot one after the other. In the next instant, they appeared in a milk tea shop.
Virtual avatars don't need to drink milk tea, of course, but they can place a cup in front of them as a gesture.
In the shop, they can also see introductions to various milk tea products, which are basically products of large chain organizations. If you leave a real-world delivery address and order a cup here, the nearest chain store within the delivery range will send it over imdiately.
This milk tea shop may look small, but it can never be full, no matter how many people co, because this is a virtual space, and the area can be expanded, and tables added at any ti.
Zhou Chongming first greeted i Guyu, then smiled and nodded at He Kao, saying, "Xiaohu, long ti no see!"
He Kao also nodded and said, "It's the first ti eting here. Engineer Zhou's virtual avatar is very simple."
Actually, they had only t once in real life.
That was three months ago, when Zhou Chongming ca from Shenwan to Qi Yuan on a business trip to represent a cooperative unit for a technical seminar with the project team. They worked overti until past 2 am for several consecutive days, and He Kao was also there at the ti.
Zhou Chongming is a key technical mber of Taiyi Technology, with a Ph.D. in electrochanical engineering, and also holds a Level 8 machinist certificate. However, his role in the company is similar to He Kao's, as he is just a frontline engineer without any leadership position.
One of them is into software, and the other is into hardware; they happen to need to cooperate at work, and they felt like old friends upon eting... It was still the sa today—they got along very well.
Many technical details can only be clearly explained by frontline R&D personnel.
The two talked for over three hours, occasionally using virtual facilities for graphic and animation demonstrations, not even taking a sip of water. i Guyu barely joined the conversation and sat nearby with a cup of virtual milk tea.
Although the group placed the next key business focus on the integration of digital life and intelligent humanoids, Zhou Chongming still found the virtual town more interesting and promising, and he greatly appreciated He Kao's work.
He Kao, on the other hand, was very humble and instead admired Zhou Chongming's technical achievents... They talked about work topics, and neither ntioned their identity as sorcerers, not even hinting at it.
By the ti they finished, it was already past seven in the evening. Zhou Chongming apologized slightly, saying, "I didn't realize it got so late. If we were eting offline, I should have treated you to dinner."
He Kao laughed and said, "No rush, we'll have the chance. When we go to Shenwan, we'll co find you to treat us then."
Zhou Chongming: "Alright, it's a deal!" After speaking, he disappeared from his seat and logged off.
He Kao then said to i Guyu, "Since Engineer Zhou can't treat us, let invite you then."
i Guyu said frankly, "Sure, then I need to find a good restaurant."
What's a good restaurant? She wasn't polite and found the most expensive restaurant within walking distance from the office. During the al, He Kao was waiting for i Guyu to ntion sothing about Zhou Chongming, but Xiaoi didn't bring it up at all.
Instead, she asked about the beam-raising ceremony over dinner, seeming more interested in that topic.
...
There are so differences between the real-world ceremony and the situation in the Illusion Realm.
In the Illusion Realm, when He Kao proposed organizing the beam-raising ceremony, none of the disciples were surprised; everyone agreed it should be done. But in the real world, when He Kao ntioned the beam-raising ceremony, everyone except Chang'an Residence seed a bit puzzled.
Chang'an Residence grew up in the village and rembered that in the past, there was a beam-raising ceremony for building a house, but he didn't know how to go about it either, just recalling setting off so firecrackers and scattering so candies... Back then, nobody was affluent.
As for Ye Liangchen, Lan Jiwan, and Erji, none of them had even heard of it.
It's understandable for Lan Jiwan not to know, but Ye Liangchen's family was previously in the real estate-related industry, and Erji, despite being an elderly expert, was also unaware?
He Kao had taken certain things for granted.
Ye Liangchen was originally involved in interior decoration, and it was all modern buildings he worked with. He only knew that topping out a building would be celebrated with so fireworks on the construction site.
Erji, though older, had been working at the Academy of Fine Arts after graduation, so he wasn't familiar with these customs either.
How did He Kao know about it? His family had been carpenters for five generations, and he had heard all sorts of practices since he was a child.
The differences between the Illusion Realm and reality often stem from cognitive biases; the things He Kao assud they should know, they were truly unfamiliar with or never even heard of.
He Kao explained the procedure of the beam-raising ceremony and instructed everyone to prepare various things to bridge the gap between reality and the Illusion Realm, although the date was still a few days off and would occur over the weekend.
On Saturday noon, i Guyu arrived at He Kao's old family courtyard in Pugang Town. Upon entering, she heard He Kao laughingly ask, "Elder i, have you had breakfast?"
i Guyu replied solemnly, "Replying to Sect Leader He, Tier Seven Cultivation allows for fasting."
Fasting? Who was it that chose the restaurant and ordered the dishes last night, costing He Kao over two thousand! He Kao smiled wryly, "The way you talk is making feel a bit uncomfortable."
i Guyu: "You were the one who called Elder i first."
He Kao changed his tone and said, "Xiaoi, have you eaten?"
i Guyu: "Yesterday's al was quite good, so I'll fast today."
In fact, Tier Five Cultivation allows for fasting, at least for ten to fifteen days without issue, but it can't achieve absolute fasting, while Tier Seven Cultivation can fast year-round.
As they entered the house, they saw a painting hanging in the living room, naly "Tan Xian's Walking Stick Painting," and i Guyu imdiately recognized its extraordinary nature.
**
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