NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77 - Please Have a Seat
On her way back to the army group, General Su received a message from Prince Arthur.
“She is indeed a promising talent. Not only does she have excellent comprehension, but her character is also very resilient—she can endure hardship and take a beating,” General Su said with satisfaction.
This was completely different from her earlier, more reserved demeanor in front of Mai Dongzi, where she seemed to be evaluating her with a ‘let’s see how it goes’ attitude and considering accepting her as a disciple if she passed the assessment.
“Being under your guidance, she will surely achieve great things in the future,” Prince Arthur’s voice also expressed his happiness.
“That goes without saying. Isn’t that the whole point of you persuading me to take her on as a student?” General Su responded bluntly, then softened her tone, “You’re not bad yourself—loyal and caring.”
Prince Arthur’s request for General Su to mentor Mai Dongzi did not require much effort, as he knew General Su was eager to find a disciple to inherit her sect’s legacy.
When General Su learned that Mai Dongzi’s potential in unconventional cultivation was likely at the S-level, she was already half-willing. After further reviewing Mai Dongzi’s information, only about 20% uncertainty remained.
General Su not only reviewed Mai Dongzi’s resume but also found and watched some videos of her participation in the Survivor Games.
Unlike others who might think Mai Dongzi’s young age and deep concealment indicated overly scheming behavior, General Su saw that despite the challenges she faced, she didn’t resort to revenge. Instead, she used her own abilities to free herself from control and seek a better future, demonstrating neither blind forgiveness nor lack of principle.
General Su had always admired those who were both brave and strategic, and while Mai Dongzi was still young and lacked sufficient ability in those areas, she demonstrated the right mindset.
The only uncertainty for General Su was that Mai Dongzi seemed like a different person before and after participating in that survival show, which was quite puzzling.
Even though the Xi family didn’t suspect her identity and Prince Arthur had assured her on that matter, General Su wasn’t ready to make a firm commitment.
She had initially planned to carefully investigate further. However, upon receiving Mai Dongzi’s newly obtained cultivation potential assessment, which was even better than Prince Arthur had estimated, she immediately changed her mind and decided to personally fly to the training center to meet Mai Dongzi.
The potential was so remarkable that if Prince Arthur took this assessment to consult others, those old-timers would certainly rush over to snatch the disciple.
This was also a major reason why General Su gave Mai Dongzi such a tough initial test before meeting her.
She had doubts about Mai Dongzi’s past experiences but was also concerned about losing an outstanding disciple if she delayed. So, she used her own method to assess Mai Dongzi.
Finding that the results were even better than she had expected, General Su was naturally pleased.
—
After Prince Arthur ended the call with General Su, the initial excitement in his voice quickly subsided. Tapping his index finger lightly on the table, he turned to Vice Admiral Chen and said, “Please brief Maimudongzi on the teacher-student relationship in this world.”
“Is that necessary? The aristocratic young masters and young ladies all know about it. Little… Mai Dongzi surely knows as well,” Vice Admiral Chen replied.
When Little Lucy’s information was updated yesterday, they found out about it. They roughly understood the reason for Little Lucy’s name change, but since they were already accustomed to the name Little Lucy, the name Mai Dongzi felt awkward and unfamiliar to them.
Only Prince Arthur seemed to say Mai Dongzi’s name with more familiarity and ease than when he mentioned Lucy.
“Inform her and also tell her about General Su’s background,” Prince Arthur maintained his decision.
—
Under General Su’s guidance, Mai Dongzi gradually corrected her mental meditation technique.
She then became deeply immersed in her practice.
Whether in her past or present life, after Mai Dongzi’s mental abilities reached level six, she always experienced a subtle sense of stagnation during her cultivation. While it didn’t significantly affect her practice, it gave her an uneasy feeling.
After correcting her technique with General Su’s guidance, the subtle sense of stagnation disappeared during her practice. Although the cultivation speed slowed down a bit, it gave her a sense of relief and comfort, making her feel very at ease.
It wasn’t until noon the next day, with the reminder from General Su’s guard, that Mai Dongzi remembered that while she was at the training center, not only were all expenses waived, but she could also eat expensive natural food for free.
Feeling hungry, Mai Dongzi immediately ended her practice and went out to enjoy the food.
In the interstellar world, people generally spend half their lives relying on nutritional supplements for their meals. Although these supplements meet nutritional needs, they are not very friendly to the digestive system and other organs. Therefore, humans must periodically consume real food.
Thus, when people have the time and money, most prefer actual food over supplements to maintain the health of their internal organs.
However, due to the large interstellar population and the limited number of agricultural planets, most fruits and vegetables on the market are grown hydroponically and are known as artificial produce.
Artificial fruits and vegetables have advantages such as controlled environment, location, and rapid growth, making them relatively inexpensive.
Fruits and vegetables grown on agricultural planets are referred to as natural produce. Due to factors like cultivation methods, transportation, and time, these are more expensive.
Similarly, meat from artificially farmed animals is cheap due to mass production, whereas wild game, which comes from mutated creatures in nature, is naturally more expensive.
Artificially cultivated ingredients are moderately priced and have decent flavor, so most ordinary people choose them.
Natural ingredients not only taste better but also contain trace amounts of energy not found in artificial produce. For cultivators, long-term consumption is very beneficial for their practice. Even for non-cultivators, it’s good for their health.
However, natural ingredients are scarce and therefore expensive, so ordinary people can only afford to eat them occasionally, while the wealthy and nobility can enjoy them more frequently.
In Mai Dongzi’s memory, the Xi family provided a meal made from natural ingredients every day.
Since General Su’s guard could not partake in the natural food provided by the training center, Mai Dongzi went out of the small villa alone. She didn’t need to look around; with a sweep of her mental power, she “saw” that the cafeteria was right next to the villa area.
Upon entering the cafeteria, Mai Dongzi found it to be quite small, with only a dozen or so tables in the main hall. At that moment, it was empty except for five mechanical servers standing by the wall, waiting.
As soon as Mai Dongzi walked in, the closest mechanical server seemed to activate, gliding towards her. After briefly scanning her face with its sensors, it said in a pleasant female voice, “Welcome, Student Mai Dongzi. Please have a seat.”