Chapter 376
The Astonishing Changes Brought About by the Breakthrough
Chapter 376 The Astonishing Changes Brought About by the Breakthrough
The message from Shi Jingyi was short, but its content was very impactful:
"When the upper limit of mental power exceeds one thousand, the mental network will automatically activate."
I can't believe it!
Guan Tong was shocked that Shi Jingyi had broken through the 1,000-point mental power limit, and also shocked that the conditions for reopening the mental network were related to the mental power limit.
Ever since humans learned from the nanobot swarms that one of the ways to identify parasites is through the mind network, they have been trying various methods to reactivate it.
No matter how I tried, I failed... I never expected that the key was here: its restart required reaching the hard threshold of 1,000 mental energy.
No wonder humans hadn't discovered it before; the threshold was simply too high!
Although countries consider the median mental strength cap of their Ascended to be classified data and never publish it, some online polls speculate that the mental strength cap of most ordinary Ascended is currently between 100 and 200.
Those who exploited the "World's Number One" rule to obtain a large amount of mental power limit rewards will reach several hundred, but they are still quite far from a thousand.
Take Guan Tong himself as an example. For almost two years after becoming an Ascended Being, he has been diligently cultivating. Along the way, he has had many fortuitous encounters and several opportunities to further increase his mental power limit. However, he is still more than ten points away from a thousand.
Shi Jingyi was even faster than him, even though she had mastered the flow of mental energy early on, greatly accelerating the natural growth rate of her mental energy. But she must have also had some extraordinary encounters to be able to grow so rapidly.
After the initial shock, Guan Tong understood why Shi Jingyi hadn't informed her via text message or phone call.
Their identities are important, and their messages and communications could be monitored. If the monitors are on the side of humanity, knowing this wouldn't be a problem... but if the Firebringers cult or the parasites have infiltrated some surveillance department and can quickly obtain surveillance information, then it would be troublesome.
Once the parasites learn that those who have surpassed a thousand points in mental power can reactivate their mental networks and successfully identify them, they will stop at nothing to eliminate those who meet the requirements!
For her and Guan Tong's personal safety, Shi Jingyi must act with caution.
After a few seconds of shock and quick thinking, Guan Tong replied to the message: "You may be the first person in the world to break through the 1,000 limit of mental power. It's best not to tell anyone yet."
Shi Jingyi: "I know. But it's okay to tell you. If I'm not mistaken, you'll be here soon, right?"
Guan Tong: "Yeah, I'm still a dozen points away, I should be able to finish by March. I didn't expect you to be so fast."
Shi Jingyi: "I have developed a new cultivation method that stimulates the rapid growth of spiritual power, which has been of great help."
Guan Tong: "Teach me!"
Shi Jingyi: "Okay, when are you coming?"
Guan Tong: "I'll return to Beixing as soon as I'm done with things here in Cissia. By the way, besides the mental network, have there been any other changes after breaking through a thousand?"
He had been thinking for a long time that once his mental power limit broke through one thousand, there should be new changes.
Now that Shi Jingyi is one step ahead of him, he doesn't mind being spoiled a little in this regard; it's good to know in advance so he's prepared.
Shi Jingyi: "In addition to the mental network, the natural growth rate of my mental power has also increased. Moreover, I can feel that my body has undergone a leap in comprehensive improvement, the magnitude of which is so great that it would not be an exaggeration to say that I have been reborn."
Guan Tong: "As expected... I guessed it would have this effect. Even a martial arts master like you, who has practiced martial arts since childhood, feels a complete transformation. The feeling must be even stronger for others after their breakthrough!"
Shi Jingyi: "It seems you're a little impatient."
Guan Tong: "Of course."
Shi Jingyi: "Oh, right. After breaking through 1,000, the comprehensive bioinformatics evaluation on the terminal panel will also change. It will change from 'Excellent' to 'Perfect'."
Perfect?
Guan Tong was slightly startled when she saw this word.
For humans, "perfect" is almost the highest compliment.
Does reaching this evaluation level mean that humanity has reached its limit? Is this also the reason why Shi Jingyi feels like she has been "reborn"?
Guan Tong: "Just reading your information, I still can't understand what that feeling is like. It seems I'll have to wait until I break through to truly understand it."
Shi Jingyi: "Hmm. Guan Tong, I have a question for you."
Guan Tong: "What?"
Shi Jingyi: "I don't know if I'm the first one to break through the 1,000-point mark. Even if I'm not, there must be very few who have achieved this breakthrough. Do you think I should contact the Countermeasures Research Lab in the next few days and try to use the Mind Network to help identify the parasite? I'd like to hear your opinion."
Guan Tong fell silent upon seeing the message from Shi Jingyi.
Logically, that's how it should be done, but he always felt that doing so was too risky.
The Countermeasures Research Office isn't impenetrable, and it's not without its share of incidents; there's no guarantee that information won't leak. If many Ascendants had broken through, it might not be a problem, but right now, we only know of Shi Jingyi…
If her information is leaked, she will become a thorn in the side of all parasites and groups hostile to humanity, and these beings will target her relentlessly and try to kill her.
By then, no matter how strong her individual combat power is, she will be powerless against enemies with hundreds or thousands of times more open and hidden attacks.
Perhaps the Countermeasures Research Office could provide her with protection and allow her to live within the base. But that would mean she could no longer enjoy her current relatively free life, where she taught at the academy during class time and cultivated on her own when she didn't…
Perhaps driven by personal motives, Guan Tong hesitated for a moment before replying, "Don't do that yet. I know you want to help, but your strength is limited, and you're too easily targeted... Let's discuss what to do after I complete my breakthrough and return to Beixing." Compared to his slight hesitation, Shi Jingyi was much more composed and quickly replied, "Okay, then that's settled."
Shi Jingyi: "Because the breakthrough was not long ago, some changes may not have been apparent yet. I will contact you again if there are any new discoveries in the next few days."
Shi Jingyi: "There's one more thing. This month, the academy distributed teaching rewards to the lecturers for the entire year of last year. It's quite a lot. I'll return the Shenghua coins I owe you."
Guan Tong: "...Save your breath. The information you gave me is worth more than ten times more than what I lent you. I should pay you more coins."
This was no mere politeness. Putting everything else aside, the information about the conditions for restarting the Mind Network alone could easily fetch a million if Shi Jingyi chose to sell it.
Shi Jingyi: "Haha, okay. I'm going to cultivate now."
Guan Tong: "Mm."
After learning the crucial information from Shi Jingyi, Guan Tong's desire for a breakthrough has only intensified.
He wanted to experience whether the restarted mental network was different from the previous rules; he also wanted to experience what a "rebirth"-like comprehensive physical enhancement would be like.
But he knew that being impatient was useless; no matter how urgent things were, he had to improve step by step.
"call……"
He took a deep breath and exhaled, suppressing the restlessness in his heart, and brought his attention back to what he needed to do at the moment.
……
In a private room at the Ye Ankang Club, Valery was gathered with several people.
These individuals were the key figures he spoke of who controlled the three major sectors of Sisyah: military, political, and financial affairs. Together with him, as the director of the Security Bureau, representing the "spies," they formed a powerful and intricate interest group.
At this moment, the group was holding glasses full of champagne, reveling in the anticipation of their imminent success.
“Once Sgorchin dies, those who still think Yelena can hold her position will naturally stop wavering and will only side with us. In this way, she will have no one to rely on and will only be a figurehead, while we will be in control.”
As soon as Valery finished speaking, the group burst into laughter, except for one person who remarked, "It's nothing to worry about, but I'm afraid Gutman might make a move."
"Gutman? Hmph, he's lost all his power since he stepped down as governor. Besides, he hasn't shown his face since that good-for-nothing Rijeka died. He's a useless man now, so what's there to worry about?"
"That's right. Now we just wait for news."
"Valerian, after this is all done, are you really planning to let 'Shadow,' a foreigner, join us?"
“How could that be?” Valery shook his head. “Have you ever seen anyone hang a dirty towel on a rack after wiping the floor? They just kick it away once they’ve finished their dirty work.”
"Kick him out? What if he's unhappy about it..."
"I'll take care of him when the time comes, you guys just enjoy yourselves."
As they were talking, the ever-present shadow had already infiltrated the club.
Guan Tong remotely controlled the room and discovered that a few rooms in the club were protected by mental energy barriers. He guessed that these were places where important people like Valery often stayed. These greedy guys were naturally much more afraid of death than ordinary people.
But they were lucky that Guan Tong wasn't there to kill them today; otherwise, even several more layers of barriers wouldn't have been enough to stop him.
Without alerting the enemy, Shadow conducted an exhaustive search of all the rooms in the club, except for those protected by barriers, and finally found the monitoring room on the second basement level.
One entire wall here is covered with surveillance screens, which clearly record every room in the club, and some of the images are quite obscene.
The several monitors stationed there seemed to have gotten used to it all, not even bothering to look, and each went about their own business.
Guan Tong didn't waste any time. Just like when he infiltrated the Yongzhou base of the Green Plum Society, he manipulated several hair-thin shadow lines to silently climb up the bodies of several monitors, and then suddenly tightened them when they reached their necks.
"Uh!!!"
The group instantly lost their breath. One of them raised his hand to press the alarm button on the table, but before his hand could land, it was entangled by the shadow threads and he was unable to move.
Soon, the group suffocated and fainted. Guan Tong teleported in and retrieved data from the memory of several computers.
He wanted not only the video of Valery's conversation with him that day, but also other preserved videos. Many of the people featured in these videos were people with inside knowledge of Sissia.
Undoubtedly, these videos were one of the methods by which Valery and his gang were able to control a large number of people involved in military, political, financial, and espionage matters.
First, set up a secluded, invitation-only club, then use its sensual and decadent atmosphere to corrupt the target, and finally, use the recorded videos to exert control over the target through both soft and hard tactics, making the target obedient to their will.
If they didn't listen, Valery would use his position as head of the security bureau to launch both overt and covert attacks on the target, using fabricated evidence to force them to submit.
However, these videos, which were weapons in the hands of Valery and others, could also be used as weapons in the hands of Yelena. They could be used not only for attack but also to provide the people of Sisyah with a plausible explanation.
(End of this chapter)