Chapter 392 - 194: The Last Day, the Power of Creation
Chapter 392: Chapter 194: The Last Day, the Power of Creation
The group didn’t linger in the Martial Arts Hall.
Back in his own quarters, Lin Ye immediately focused his mind and checked his system panel.
[Martial Arts Spirituality Awakening Progress: 25.67%]
This was the progress he had painstakingly accumulated over this period by swallowing an Asking Dust whole every day.
Then, his attention fell on the challenge quest he had just completed.
[Quest Rewards: Spiritual Awakening Progress +78.66%, 300,000 EXP, Skill Points x5]
The rewards from the system were even more generous than Lin Ye had anticipated.
He had originally thought the final progress reward from the system would only be a little over seventy percent.
He hadn’t expected the final calculated value to be even higher.
If he claimed the rewards now, his Martial Arts Spirituality would awaken on the spot.
Tomorrow was the last day of the training camp.
As was customary, he could still go to the Spirit Core Hall to receive one final Asking Dust.
The overflow progress from the quest rewards wouldn’t disappear; it would accumulate toward the next awakening.
Lin Ye knew very well that awakening a second Martial Arts Spirituality would be far more difficult than the first.
This extra progress of nearly 5% was priceless.
He made a decision in an instant.
’There’s no rush.’
’Tomorrow, after I swallow the last Asking Dust and push my progress up a little more, I’ll claim the rewards.’
’I have to maximize my gains!’
...
The night passed quietly.
The next morning, Lin Ye arrived at the resource management office bright and early.
To his surprise, a long line had already formed.
Everyone wanted to exchange their remaining credits for tangible resources before leaving.
The training camp’s resources were not unlimited. Many rare materials were available in limited quantities on a first-come, first-served basis.
By the time it was the turn of those at the back of the line, even if they had plenty of credits, all the good stuff would have already been taken.
"Mr. Lin, over here!"
A familiar voice called out.
Lin Ye followed the sound and saw Dongfang Zhen waving frantically at him.
Zhang Daoxuan was also standing beside him and gave him a nod.
The two of them were right at the very front of the line.
"We saved a spot for you. Come on."
Without taking no for an answer, Dongfang Zhen pulled Lin Ye over and shoved him directly in front of himself.
Lin Ye felt a little embarrassed.
He was cutting in line, after all.
He almost instantly felt a dozen pairs of eyes from behind him lock onto his back, filled with resentment and indignation.
But that was all.
No one dared to say a single word of protest.
They couldn’t afford to offend Dongfang Zhen, and now, they certainly couldn’t afford to offend Lin Ye.
Dongfang Zhen paid no mind to the surrounding stares. He shoved a printed list into Lin Ye’s hands.
"Mr. Lin, look at this. The Nourishing Evil Elixir. It’s refined from the concentrated core substance of a special Spiritual Object from the Celestial Abyss. It can greatly increase and compress the quality and total amount of your Gang Sha."
"Once you’re in the Gang Condensation Realm, those old potions for replenishing Qi and Blood will have a negligible effect on you. This stuff is the real deal. I suggest you spend the bulk of your credits and then use whatever’s left to get these."
Dongfang Zhen’s finger slid across the list.
"There’s also this. Elemental Spirit Shards are good too. Although their effect isn’t as potent as Asking Dust, they can slightly strengthen an already-awakened elemental Martial Arts Spirituality. I saw you used Wind Attribute Gang Sha during your fight with Qin Wushuang yesterday. This will be beneficial for you."
"Then there are the various Spiritual Object materials brought back from the Celestial Abyss. These are all limited-quantity exchanges. The prices and corresponding effects are listed, so take a look yourself and see what suits you best. You can prioritize exchanging for those."
After speaking, he paused and added,
"You might have also noticed other benefits on the list, like martial arts classes and vouchers for custom weapons forged by top masters."
"To be honest, I don’t really recommend you exchange for these."
"This is all stuff you can get your hands on outside, as long as you have money."
"Mr. Lin, you may have come from an ordinary background, but please believe me, with your current strength and reputation, making money won’t be difficult for you anymore."
Lin Ye listened intently, a warm feeling spreading through his heart.
Dongfang Zhen truly regarded him as a friend and was genuinely looking out for his best interests.
He nodded, his gaze sweeping quickly over the list, and soon made up his mind.
...
When Lin Ye walked out of the resource exchange office carrying a huge, custom-made metal case,
the countless eyes waiting outside instantly fixated on him.
[Ding! You have received negative emotion points from Wang Tao: Jealousy +451!]
[Ding! You have received negative emotion points from Li Xiang: Resentment +388!]
[Ding! ...]
The system’s notifications spammed his mind relentlessly.
The negative emotion points he’d harvested in these few short minutes were far more than what he’d gotten from defeating any opponent in his previous assessments.
The progress bar for the "Infamy" weekly quest, which he hadn’t paid much attention to for a long time, filled up almost instantly.
’Come to think of it, the system hasn’t issued this type of routine quest in a long time.’
As if sensing his thoughts, the system’s notification sound chimed again.
[The Host is no longer a weak Goblin Soldier. Such quests were designed to help the Host smoothly navigate the initial period of weakness.]
[Future quests will be more challenging and difficult, but the rewards will also be more substantial.]
Lin Ye understood.
A short while later, he went to the logistics office at the training camp’s entrance and had all the resources he’d exchanged for mailed directly home through the military’s encrypted channels.
After finishing all this, Lin Ye took a deep breath.
’It’s time. Time to let my first Martial Arts Spirituality truly awaken.’
Without any delay, he went straight to the instructors’ living quarters and found Yin Liulan.
Yin Liulan was in the courtyard, trimming an unfamiliar potted plant. When she saw Lin Ye, her movements paused slightly.
"What is it?"
Lin Ye got straight to the point. "Chief Instructor, I feel my Martial Arts Spirituality is about to awaken, possibly today."
"To prevent an incident like last time, I’d like to ask you to notify the higher-ups."
Yin Liulan’s hand, holding the shears, froze mid-air. She turned around, and though her expression was calm, her mind was stirring with waves of emotion.
"Today really is the last day. I thought you wouldn’t get the chance to awaken during your time at the training camp."
"Alright, I’ll contact the disaster prevention department. You go to the Spirit Core Hall. I’ll have someone send you today’s final quota of Asking Dust shortly."
...
「Inside the Spirit Core Hall.」
Lin Ye sat cross-legged, waiting quietly.
Dongfang Zhen, having finished his own business, came over as well, a look of mystery and curiosity on his face.
"Mr. Lin, that Asking Dust..."
He lowered his voice.
"What does it actually taste like?"
"I want to try swallowing it whole, too. I feel like the effect would be the most potent that way."
Lin Ye’s heart skipped a beat.
He was certain that, unlike his ability to swallow Source Crystals which was due to his constitution,
his ability to swallow Asking Dust was a special power granted by the system.
When such things entered his body, the system would directly extract their energy for its own use.
If anyone else dared to do the same, they would absolutely be courting death.
"The process is very painful, and I’m not sure if the effect is actually better. Mr. Dongfang, this... probably isn’t suitable for you."
Lin Ye’s reply was tactful.
Hearing this, Dongfang Zhen shrugged and laughed. "I was just asking casually. Even if I were to try, I’d have to make sure it was completely foolproof first. I’m not an idiot."
A short while later, Zhou Yan personally delivered the final Asking Dust.
Lin Ye waited until everyone in the Spirit Core Hall except for Zhang Daoxuan and Dongfang Zhen had left. Only then did he slowly rise and walk over to the giant All-Seeing Instrument.
Just as he sat down, the figures of Yin Liulan, Nie Cang, and Su Yunjin appeared at the entrance.
Yin Liulan’s gaze fell on the Asking Dust in Lin Ye’s hand.
"Swallow it. All preparations are in place."
"I’d like to see just how big of a commotion you’ll cause when you formally awaken your spirituality."
Lin Ye nodded and hesitated no longer.
He tilted his head back and tossed the grain of sand, which shimmered with a seven-colored light, directly into his mouth.
BOOM!
The instant the grain entered his mouth, a storm of Spiritual Factors, far more violent than any before, exploded within his body!
Lin Ye closed his eyes and entered a state of inner vision.
「One minute later.」
[Martial Arts Spirituality Awakening Progress: 27.19%]
The progress bar’s growth stopped at this number.
’Now is the time!’
Lin Ye’s thoughts stirred.
"System, claim the challenge quest rewards!"
[Ding! Rewards have been distributed!]
[Martial Arts Spirituality Awakening Progress has been supplemented to 100%!]
[Remaining 5.85% progress has been stored and can be used for the next Spiritual Awakening!]
[You have obtained 300,000 EXP and 5 Skill Points!]
The very instant the system’s notification faded,
through his inner vision, Lin Ye saw the once chaotic and violent sea of Spiritual Factors inside him get pressed down by what seemed to be a giant, invisible hand!
Under the system’s forceful intervention, all the Spiritual Factors began to rapidly arrange themselves and construct an array with unimaginable efficiency!
After just a few breaths,
an incomparably complex, profound, and fantastically beautiful array had already taken full form within his Sea of Consciousness!
It was a miniature cosmic vista.
A massive spiral galaxy, composed of hundreds of millions of points of light, floated silently in the center of the boundless darkness.
Its core was none other than Lin Ye’s own consciousness!
He himself was the singularity!
Several brilliant spiral arms extended from the core of his consciousness, each arm composed of countless, even finer particles of light.
They followed some supreme law, revolving around him slowly but surely.
An indescribable, all-dominant attractive force emanated from him.
He was no longer an observer; he was the master of this galaxy formed from Spiritual Factors!
As he watched it, Lin Ye felt his mind and will merge with this galaxy.
He could feel the mass of every "star" and sense the fine, yet unbreakable, gravitational strings between them!
The moment this array fully formed,
the scene before Lin Ye’s eyes changed abruptly!
He found himself in a void of absolute chaos, where there was no time, no space, no matter.
The next moment, an incredibly violent big bang erupted from him as the origin point, sweeping silently outward in all directions!
This was not just a release of energy, but the birth of the universe and reality itself!
A massive amount of matter was created from nothing.
At first, it all just floated aimlessly.
It was as if Lin Ye had arrived at the dawn of the universe.
He became an observer.
Silently, he watched this scene of creation from a perspective where hundreds of millions of years passed in an instant.
Then, under the immense power of a nameless will, these floating materials began to attract, approach, collide, converge, and collapse into one another...
The entire process was unstoppable, irreversible!
Lin Ye could almost hear the silent roar that tore through the cosmos as the first star was born!
Then came the second, the third...
Hundreds of millions of stars were brought into existence by an invisible hand!
A brilliant sea of stars was gradually created, expanding madly into the endless darkness.
Afterward, Lin Ye saw these substances, starting from their basic atomic forms, also begin to approach and combine, forming new elements.
The most primitive elements of life gradually came into being.
Suddenly, a realization dawned in Lin Ye’s mind.
He was beginning to understand what his ability was...
An ability intrinsically linked to creation, and to all things!