Chapter 390
Sublimation Stage 2
Chapter 390 The Second Stage of Sublimation
March 1st, 6:00 AM.
Inside the shelter, Guan Tong sat on the floor, with Shi Jingyi standing behind him, her hand on his right shoulder.
Her mental energy flowed through Guan Tong's skin, guiding Guan Tong's mental energy like a road sign.
With her assistance, Guan Tong successfully activated her mental power through external stimulation, causing it to burn like a flame.
This kind of refinement, called "sublimation," requires an extreme level of control over mental power to use.
Guan Tong is not yet able to do this, so she has to rely on Shi Jingyi's external help to guide her and help her complete the condensation.
Only in this way can he break through the shackles of the 1,000-point mental power limit before the new rules are released.
He wasn't originally in such a hurry, but his experiences over the past few days have made him realize that he can only keep moving forward, and he can't slack off or stop.
At Suzuki's farewell party, Uehara Yukari told him to prepare himself for losing those around him. But he didn't want to get used to it, so he could only become stronger so he wouldn't have to face situations where he was powerless due to his own lack of strength.
"Focus," Shi Jingyi's voice rang out. "Your mental energy flow is a bit chaotic; don't think about anything else."
Guan Tong pulled her attention back, stopped thinking about it, and focused on condensing the massive amount of mental energy.
Silver Fox had previously given him five mental energy container items, which together could store a total of 20,000 mental energy.
He was willing to spend an extra 20,000 Ascension Coins every day to buy Mental Power at a 1:1 ratio, but the problem was that Black Star couldn't handle it.
Previously, Black Star had been able to acquire 12,000 units of mental energy for Guan Tong with ease, thanks to his connections.
But with an additional demand of 20,000, it becomes difficult to collect 32,000 per day.
Guan Tong could only change the time he collected spiritual energy twice a day to once a day, so that he could collect a total of 26,000 spiritual energy every day.
The 26,000 is converted into reserve spiritual power at a ratio of 10:1, which amounts to 2,600 per day.
The collected mental energy is being rapidly consumed by the sublimation process.
This was Guan Tong's own choice; in order to break through as quickly as possible, he preferred to have less mental energy stored up.
Today is March 1st, and the new rules will be released in three hours.
With several days of external assistance from Shi Jingyi, Guan Tong's mental power limit has now reached 999, just one point away from breaking through. He needs to complete the breakthrough within three hours.
"coax!"
At this moment, the spiritual energy within those condensed forms ignited intensely, causing Shi Jingyi's pupils to contract and her hand to retract from Guan Tong's shoulder.
She could sense that Guan Tong's mental energy was resisting her guidance. It was as if they knew their master was at a crucial moment and couldn't be disturbed by external forces.
"Your breakthrough seems a bit unusual... It looks like you'll have to rely on yourself from now on."
After she finished speaking, she walked out of the shelter.
Guan Tong did not hear what Shi Jingyi said.
From that moment on, his consciousness was completely trapped in a vortex.
What is that...?
At this moment, it seems that he has both a first-person perspective and a third-person perspective.
It allows one to view the vortexes from the outside as a whole, while also seeing oneself trapped within them, unable to extricate oneself.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the vortexes were composed of numerous bright spots, dazzling yet awe-inspiring—a feeling that arises only when humans confront something truly magnificent.
What exactly are these vortexes? And why am I seeing them?
Guan Tong was confused. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He wanted to regain his senses and open his eyes to see reality, but he couldn't.
His consciousness was simultaneously trapped deep within and far removed from the vortex of bright spots on the outside. This feeling of division was indescribable, and he even wondered if his consciousness might split into two separate pieces.
At that moment, his external consciousness suddenly saw his internal consciousness, which was stretching continuously in the vortex, like an infinitely long noodle.
Time...time?
A thought suddenly arose simultaneously from two ideas.
He immediately realized: these vortexes of bright spots were galaxies! And his two split thoughts were existing in different times!
When he realized this, the two thoughts merged into one in an instant.
His eyes snapped open. His wordless book had somehow materialized, floating before him, shimmering with starlight. "What are you...?"
Guan Tong looked at it with a complicated expression. He knew that the scene he had just seen must be related to this "wordless book".
He reached out his hand, and the book seemed to sense his presence and fell into his grasp.
At the same time, the voice of the fire-stealer echoed in his mind.
[Your mental power limit has reached 1000, and you have entered the second stage of sublimation.]
The second stage of sublimation...
As the voice of the fire-stealer rang out, Guan Tong felt her body undergoing rapid changes.
This was somewhat similar to his experience when he took the [Gene Optimization Essence] before, but the changes were much greater than that time.
The surrounding air seemed to be compressing his body, making it even more condensed.
At this moment, the brain becomes exceptionally clear, drawing away all emotions and leaving only a consciousness for observation.
This feeling didn't last long, disappearing after about ten seconds, and the detached emotions slowly returned.
A peculiar feeling arose in his mind.
He knew what it was, he had felt this way before—it was a mental network.
Shi Jingyi had told him before that once his mental power broke through one thousand, the closed mental network would reopen.
Guan Tong silently said, "Open the terminal panel."
Name: Guan Tong
Nickname: Shadow
[Title: Civilization Observer]
[Psychic Power: 1000 (1000) (6251)]
[Ascended Coins: 7010280]
Overall Bioinformatics Evaluation: Perfect
"The evaluation has become 'perfect,' just as Shi Jingyi said..."
When Guan Tong saw that review, combined with her feelings just now, she did indeed have the feeling of being reborn, as Shi Jingyi had described.
This feeling cannot be reflected on the panel, but physical fitness is reflected in the most intuitive way.
He threw a punch with speed and power several times greater than before; this leap in power was something that no prop or ability could compare to.
Moreover, his brain seems to have undergone some kind of qualitative change or evolution, with faster thinking speed and extremely sensitive perception of subtle emotions.
Perhaps the reactivation of the mental network is due to the evolution of the nervous system brought about by the breakthrough, which allows the brain of the ascendant to access a higher-dimensional information interaction system.
Aside from these improvements in physical attributes, his natural growth and recovery speed of mental power limits, though not yet tested, must have also seen a significant leap forward.
However, Guan Tong was more concerned about the images that appeared in his mind when he broke through.
A swirling galaxy... different stretches of time... a wordless book shimmering with starlight... what do all these represent?
Is the "Wordless Book" some kind of medium? Or an unknown key? If it is a key, what door can it open?
There's also the Firebringer's "sublimation into the second stage"... In other words, "perfection," the highest praise for humanity, is not the same for the Firebringer.
Beyond "perfection," there may exist an even more transcendent level.
Could that transcendence begin to turn humans into "non-humans"?
Too many unknowns left Guan Tong feeling somewhat lost.
But that feeling quickly disappeared.
He knew that as long as he kept moving forward, he would eventually get the answers to all his questions.
(End of this chapter)