Hidden Moth

Chapter 633 369: Tea Talks Only About Matters Outside the Sect

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 time. As his Divine Sense scanned over, he noticed Mei Guyu next door doing the same.He had a sudden thought and said through Divine Sense, "Xiaomei, I visited Elder Li last night."

Sitting at her desk, Mei Guyu's demeanor remained unchanged, and she replied through Divine Sense, "I know, Elder Gu contacted me early this morning to confirm."

He Kao pondered for a moment and couldn't help but ask, "Have you heard of the Skin Painting Technique?"

Mei 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 Method. It's actually called the Body Painting Technique."

He Kao: "Do you know how to do it?"

Mei Guyu: "No, I specialize in Swordsmanship."

He Kao: "So, do these avatar techniques have any common flaws? Like vulnerabilities."

Mei Guyu laughed, "Don't you know?"

He Kao: "How would I know?"

Mei 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!"

Mei Guyu's tone shifted, "When are you going to invite me 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."

Mei 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 overtime, find a way to get a leave from your supervisor."

Mei Guyu suddenly said, "Engineer Zhou from Taiyi Technology needs to coordinate some technical issues on our side, and has arranged an online meeting. Can you join me to avoid going back and forth with feedback?"

Engineer Zhou from Taiyi Technology, isn't he the Zhou Chongming that Li Xiuyuan mentioned last night? This person is a Tier Six Artifact Master and is set to be the next Sect Leader of the Micro Realm Sect.

Mei Guyu didn't make this explicit, only arranging with He Kao to meet Zhou Chongming for a work discussion.

He Kao thought his work was all done for this period, but unexpectedly, Mei 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 development. Mei Guyu was part of the second division, which primarily handled the technical parameter adjustments of hardware content, including the development of various peripherals.

The group itself does not manufacture hardware; the manufacturing processes are all outsourced, with requirements provided for partner suppliers to produce. Taiyi Technology is one such supplier.

In recent years, Taiyi Technology has been focusing on the research and development 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 Mei Guyu, direct communication between them would be more convenient.

He Kao: "An online meeting, in the virtual world, perhaps?"

Mei 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?"

Mei Guyu: "It's his own avatar, built according to his personal information template, collecting his own data."

He Kao: "I didn't see his name on the user list."

Mei Guyu: "Engineer Zhou isn't a customer; he's a technical personnel involved in the project testing. Your department doesn't directly liaise with Taiyi Technology, so you haven't seen him in Digital Town."

That afternoon, He Kao and Mei 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 amusement park. The whole virtual scene of Digital Town was built based on Pugang Town, and not far from the amusement park was a bustling town.

Mei Guyu looked at He Kao and said, "Your avatar is quite handsome, but the expression is a bit stiff."

He Kao: "Virtual expressions can't be fully realistic yet, and they easily become as exaggerated as an animation. Being a bit stiff is more in line with reality."

Mei Guyu glanced around, "This place is quite suitable for meetings. Besides confidentiality, there's no chance of ambush..."

Lin Qingshuang had expressed similar sentiments before: everyone here meets under online virtual identities. Regardless of how high one's cultivation is, virtual avatars possess no Divine Techniques.

At that moment, Mei 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 same 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 immediately.

This milk tea shop may look small, but it can never be full, no matter how many people come, because this is a virtual space, and the area can be expanded, and tables added at any time.

Zhou Chongming first greeted Mei Guyu, then smiled and nodded at He Kao, saying, "Xiaohu, long time no see!"

He Kao also nodded and said, "It's the first time meeting here. Engineer Zhou's virtual avatar is very simple."

Actually, they had only met once in real life.

That was three months ago, when Zhou Chongming came from Shenwan to Qi Yuan on a business trip to represent a cooperative unit for a technical seminar with the project team. They worked overtime until past 2 am for several consecutive days, and He Kao was also there at the time.

Zhou Chongming is a key technical member of Taiyi Technology, with a Ph.D. in electromechanical 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 meeting... It was still the same 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. Mei 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 achievements... They talked about work topics, and neither mentioned their identity as sorcerers, not even hinting at it.

By the time 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 meeting 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 come 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 Mei Guyu, "Since Engineer Zhou can't treat us, let me invite you then."

Mei 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 meal, He Kao was waiting for Mei Guyu to mention something about Zhou Chongming, but Xiaomei 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 some 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 mentioned the beam-raising ceremony, everyone except Chang'an Residence seemed a bit puzzled.

Chang'an Residence grew up in the village and remembered 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 some firecrackers and scattering some 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 some 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 assumed 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, Mei Guyu arrived at He Kao's old family courtyard in Pugang Town. Upon entering, she heard He Kao laughingly ask, "Elder Mei, have you had breakfast?"

Mei 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 me feel a bit uncomfortable."

Mei Guyu: "You were the one who called me Elder Mei first."

He Kao changed his tone and said, "Xiaomei, have you eaten?"

Mei Guyu: "Yesterday's meal 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, namely "Tan Xian's Walking Stick Painting," and Mei Guyu immediately recognized its extraordinary nature.

**