Weapon Systems Chapter 3: Beyond All Expectations (1)

After all, Zhang Yidao was Zhang Mingjing’s father—Zhang Mingjing knew all too well his father’s obsession with cultivating immortality. He had no desire to argue with him, especially since it was already dinnertime. To get to dinner sooner, he simply went along with his father’s wishes.

But the most important thing was that today, Zhang Yidao was in an exceptionally good mood. Zhang Mingjing thought to himself, “There’s bound to be a feast tonight! For a good meal, I mustn’t ruin his spirits.”

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Zhang Yidao finished teaching him the basics of meditation. Then, standing up with joy, he called out, “Xiao Nuxia, order a feast for us with Zhenren. Tonight, we’ll celebrate!”

Ha! Zhang Yidao’s so-called “feast” was nothing more than fries and hamburgers—a true display of stinginess.

Yet when it came to meals at home, Zhang Mingjing could write a whole book of complaints. Three meals a day were almost always vegetarian.

It wasn’t just because Zhang Yidao, as a Daoist, followed a vegetarian diet; he also wanted Zhang Mingjing to inherit his path, so he couldn’t let him develop the “bad habit” of eating meat.

“Isn’t this just blatant abuse? What kind of parents are you? I’m still growing!” How could Zhang Mingjing not complain?

At times like this, Zhang Yidao would roll out his irrefutable theory: “You’re mistaken. I’ve eaten vegetarian since I was one, did you see it hinder my growth? My master’s been vegetarian since childhood and now he’s ninety-nine—has it ever held him back?”

Xiao Mingxia would usually echo from the side, “Vegetarians are kind-hearted; it’s a form of soul cultivation. This is precisely what schools lack nowadays, so it’s our duty as parents to fill the gap.”

“Come on!” Zhang Mingjing would protest, but the only one at home who could be counted as an ally was Zhenren.

Alas, Zhang Yidao was shrewd—Zhenren would barely get a word in before being shut down.

Zhang Yidao would add, “If you hear enough wrong ideas, you’ll become superstitious.”

So even if the big meal at home was just fries and hamburgers, Zhang Mingjing was genuinely delighted!

With such a miser for a father, it was no wonder that when Zhang Mingjing asked for twenty thousand yuan, his father’s face changed instantly.

Yet all the family’s finances were really in Xiao Nuxia’s hands, and when it came to pinching pennies, she was every bit as formidable.

That was why the two of them had lasted together so long. In Zhang Mingjing’s words, their appearances were at odds with their hearts.

Zhang Mingjing was nothing like them—however much pocket money he got, that was it. He often felt lucky to get any at all.

But his allowance was probably the lowest in class. Xiao Nuxia’s standard for him was five yuan a day.

“You know how expensive everything is nowadays. What can you do with five yuan a day?” Zhang Mingjing argued countless times.

Every time, Zhang Yidao and Xiao Mingxia would glare at him in rare unity and ask coldly, “And what exactly do you want to do?”

Unable to get more money, Zhang Mingjing would spend his weekly allowance all at once—just thirty-five yuan! And over the years, that number—thirty-five—became an astronomical figure in his mind.

This had a bigger impact on him than the vegetarian meals. Looking shabby was one thing, but at his age, there were always girls he wanted to pursue. And for that, you needed to have a bit of cash in your pocket.

He didn’t, so he kept missing his chances.

Because of this, there was always a mournful tune blowing through his heart, like the autumn wind lamenting his fate.

In truth, Zhang Yidao’s “well-intentioned” plan was behind it all: he hoped Zhang Mingjing would inherit his dreams of Daoist cultivation and deliberately weakened his son’s ability to pursue romance.

Xiao Mingxia, while generally opposing her son’s path of cultivation, also believed that men turned bad when they had money. Thus, she joined in depriving Zhang Mingjing of financial freedom without hesitation.

Before the “feast” was delivered, Zhang Yidao asked Zhang Mingjing to go practice the meditation technique he’d just taught in the small meditation room.

Xiao Mingxia gave Zhang Mingjing a look, signaling him to comply.

Zhang Mingjing immediately understood. He knew when Zhang Yidao was being stubborn, no one could sway him—today was clearly one of those days.

He also understood that his father’s stubbornness was the only outlet for the frustration that came from being under Xiao Mingxia’s control for so long. He mustn’t block that outlet, or the household would erupt tonight.

Ah, sandwiched between the two, Zhang Mingjing needed all his wits to survive as their son.

“Meditation it is, then,” he grumbled inwardly, but he sat down and did it seriously.

For some reason, as soon as he sat, that model in his mind seemed to rejoice. His focus instantly drew inward, and within a minute, he entered what could only be called a deep meditative state.

“Is this even possible?” The elders of the five-dimensional space were all astonished.

Elder A muttered, “The cognitive model from five-dimensional space is actively developing its functions for this boy from three-dimensional space.”

At that moment, the food delivery arrived—the doorbell rang “ding-dong,” and the sound sent a violent tremor through Zhang Mingjing. It was as if a flower bud in his heart suddenly burst into bloom, and just like that, he gained a new supernatural ability.

He opened his eyes and focused on his slippers. With a point of his finger, a ray of light shot out, flattening the slippers until they were as thin as paper.

“A two-dimensional membrane!” the five-dimensional elders cried out in unison.

“He’s actually developed the two-dimensional membrane function!”

“Incredible!”

“Yes, unbelievable!”

At that moment, Zhang Yidao was sipping tea. Hearing Zhang Mingjing call, “Zhang Yidao, your teacup,” he looked up just as a beam of light shot from Zhang Mingjing’s finger to his cup. Instantly, the cup and the water inside were flattened to a paper-thin sheet.

Zhang Yidao stared blankly at the paper-thin cup in his hand for twenty seconds. Xiao Mingxia stood frozen, fries and burgers in hand, also staring. Then Zhang Yidao lifted his head towards Xiao Mingxia, his voice gentle and tense, “So much has happened today—do you believe me now? Transcendence is real.”

In truth, from the moment Zhang Mingjing displayed his superpowers, Xiao Mingxia’s excitement matched Zhang Yidao’s, but she was better at hiding it. Even now, she kept a composed face and nodded.

After she nodded, she and Zhang Yidao both looked at Zhang Mingjing. More than twenty seconds passed, and not a word was spoken, so stunned were they all.

Zhenren suddenly spoke up, “Now’s the perfect temperature for the meal!”

“Oh, dinner!” Zhang Yidao exclaimed, finally snapping back to himself. But as he stood up, he added, “Wait! I need to bow a few more times to the Grandmaster!”

“And me too,” said Xiao Mingxia. Married for seventeen years, this was her first time bowing to the Grandmaster.

Zhang Mingjing sat in the small meditation room, utterly dumbfounded, yet he realized that from this moment on, there would be no more barriers between Xiao Mingxia and Zhang Yidao. He was genuinely happy.

What made him even happier was the sense that he could finally sweep away the long-standing gloom and malaise that had haunted him.

Since middle school, his classmates had seen him as the male version of Lin Daiyu—introverted and melancholic, all because he lacked confidence.

Today, he’d leveled up, and immediately felt he ought to open a new chapter in life.

After dinner, Zhang Mingjing, Xiao Mingxia, and Zhang Yidao chatted for another three hours. Zhang Mingjing noticed Xiao Mingxia treating Zhang Yidao with unusual deference.

Zhang Yidao, for the first time, regained his dignity as a man in front of his wife, and it felt as though the household was on the verge of a new era.

“They’re getting along so well, I’m starting to doubt reality,” Zhang Mingjing thought. “But if there’s really going to be a change of regime at home, won’t there be chaos? Xiao Mingxia would never willingly hand over real power.”

“Then again, what didn’t make me question reality today?” Zhang Mingjing still felt as though he was drifting in a dream.

After Xiao Mingxia and Zhang Yidao went to bed, Zhang Mingjing took the chance to lock himself in his room and meditate once more.

Just as before, the moment he sat, the model in his mind rejoiced, his focus immediately turning inward. Within a minute, he again entered the so-called meditative state.

“His five-dimensional cognitive model is once more actively developing its functions for him,” the five-dimensional elders exclaimed with excitement. “We must study this carefully—what on earth is going on?”

This time, Zhang Mingjing felt everything around him with perfect clarity, as if even sounds merely drifted through his awareness without ever catching his attention—a mind utterly free of distractions.

What he didn’t expect was that the sounds suddenly transformed into information that could be read with his eyes.

At first, he was slightly startled, but soon he understood and marveled to himself, “Sound is just information—this is its true nature! Everything in this world is information.”

He never expected that this tiny realization would seem to open up all the meridians of his mind, and his entire vision was suddenly filled with information.

The information began to converge, quickly forming an extremely thin line, its origin and destination unknown.

He patiently read the information along this line, interpreting it directly with his consciousness, and the sensation made him feel as if he could soar into the clouds.

“His five-dimensional cognitive model is developing the function to decode information—this is simply miraculous!” The elders of the five-dimensional space were beside themselves with excitement.