The next day,
Upon opening his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
Fang You blinked before realizing he was already inside the Xin Huo base.
The bedroom was spacious.
He had slept soundly last night; at least within the base, there was no need to worry about safety, unlike outside... Thinking of the invisible anomalies he encountered yesterday, Fang You frowned.
If he were at home, he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.
He figured An Jian You and Hei Tong must also be sleeping very soundly here.
Fang You picked up his phone and opened the item list.
"Novice Weapon (White): 10"
"Physical Stamina Potion (White): 12"
"Skill Cultivation Card (White): 32"
"Skill Cultivation Card (Green): 6"
"Double Yield Card (White): 1"
"Seed of Skill (Blue): 2"
"Ghost Crystal: 12"
"Destiny Points: 58.7"
Among these, the Double Yield Card could not be used in the previous special mission, so he had saved it until now.
He wasn't sure if it could be used for a three-star mission, as it was just a white-grade yield card. He couldn't demand too much and would try it when a three-star mission appeared.
If not, he would use it on a two-star mission.
Fang You opened the mission module.
Compared to his screenshot from yesterday, several new missions had appeared today, including one two-star mission. He looked at it; the location was remote, which was acceptable and not a big problem.
He would let Brother Hei Dao handle it later.
Yes, from today onwards, there was no need for teleportation. The base entrance had already been opened, allowing special apostles like Brother Hei Dao to step out of the base, which had been verified yesterday.
This way, Brother Hei Dao would no longer be restricted by the one-hour teleportation time limit.
Work efficiency could at least multiply several times.
He was reclaiming his status as Xin Huo's top laborer, and the efficiency of earning Ghost Crystals would surge significantly. The fourth and fifth Destiny Apostles were within reach.
Of course, the top priority was to select the sub-apostles.
Fang You prepared to leave.
Before going out, he glanced at his status panel.
"Savior of Destiny (Second Awakening)"
"Physique: 11.4"
"Spirit: 6.7→6.8"
"Mystery: 0.33"
"Life Energy: 9.1+5"
"Equipment: Novice Wooden Sword, Lantern Robe, Sealed Treasure Box"
"Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Proficient: 37.8%), Anomalous Tracking (Proficient: 5.6%), Palm Thunder (Expert: 5.1%), Detection (Skilled: 0.6%), Anomaly Control (Skilled·Temporary), Blade Slash (Untrained: 7.2%), Anomaly Control (Untrained: 7.3%)"
"Ability: Fiery Conviction"
"Special: Hei Tong"
Among these, Anomalous Tracking had been upgraded to Proficient last night.
The cost was 3 Skill Cultivation Cards, leaving him with only 32.
32 cards seemed like a lot, but considering it took 3 cards to go from "Untrained" to "Proficient," and 9 cards from "Proficient" to "Expert," it would take at least 27 white cultivation cards to advance from Expert to the next level.
It would also require a card to break through the bottleneck, possibly a green-grade or blue-grade one.
It was too expensive, and he couldn't use it for that.
These Skill Cultivation Cards couldn't be used carelessly; some needed to be saved for training new recruits. Even for himself and Brother Hei Dao, the maximum they could reach would only be Expert level.
Anything higher was out of the question.
He would have to rely on his own arduous training. One had to be tough; being tough would save many cultivation cards.
But he had to leave now and would train upon his return.
Fang You opened the map navigation and charted a route for himself.
Today's task was to screen targets, and he couldn't neglect eliminating anomalies either. Accumulating small gains would prevent his wallet from becoming empty.
...
Outside Baijiang City, Jiangming Temple.
Master Ming Deng, clad in loose clothing, had just shattered another sandbag.
The young acolyte Jian Xing muttered, "Master is too wasteful. Why pick on the sandbag?"
He looked at his own slender arms and legs, then at his master's muscles, and had to admit that his master's arm was thicker than his waist.
But what could be done? It was no match for a string of prayer beads.
Alas, the young acolyte began chanting scriptures to himself. However, his Buddhist teachings were not as profound as his master's, and the money he earned was less. Alas, Master, Master, you are wasting your profound Buddhist teachings.
However, Master Ming Deng was resolute, stubborn as an ox.
Chanting scriptures could not save the world; Master Ming Deng was even more certain of this after the battle in the southern suburbs.
Firstly, the Investigation Bureau had already developed fire beads and thunder talismans, making scripture prayer beads a substitute.
Whether he chanted more or less scriptures no longer mattered as much.
Secondly, whether it were fire beads, thunder talismans, or scripture prayer beads, they could only deal with weaker anomalies. Powerful anomalies had to be dealt with by powerful awakened individuals.
Master Ming Deng's blood boiled as he watched the black-clothed expert slice through anomalies with his swords.
The thunderbolts flashing in the angry sky showed him light and hope! This path was not wrong; only through awakening could there be hope to save the world.
However, this was merely his wishful thinking. The Investigation Bureau still did not wish for a talented individual like him to go to the battlefield.
Master Ming Deng enjoyed extremely high welfare benefits at the Investigation Bureau, but he was ultimately not part of the bureau and did not have the authority of an investigator. He had managed to convince Director Zhou to allow him to chant scriptures on the southern battlefield, which was the limit.
Anything else, like eliminating anomalies?
As a free individual, a pháp sư who could persuade with reason, the Investigation Bureau could not stop him. Master Ming Deng had also considered eliminating anomalies himself.
He had prayer beads and a lamp; he could deal with most ordinary anomalies.
Only,
Without the clues provided by the Investigation Bureau, he couldn't find the anomalies! And even if he found them, he couldn't see them!
Master Ming Deng was not lost regarding his future path; he was firmly pursuing the path of awakening power to pacify anomalies.
However, how could he eliminate anomalies, embrace the mysterious, and touch upon awakening?
Master Ming Deng continued to strike the sandbag, deep in thought.
...
"Twelve investigators touched upon awakening; only four succeeded."
In the office, Director Zhou sighed.
A one-third awakening rate might seem not low, but the consequence of failed awakening was death, or at the very least, turning into an anomaly.
The death of elite investigators weighed heavily on everyone.
These twelve investigators were not all from the Baijiang branch; most were not. The entire Baijiang, including Director Zhou, had only fifteen official investigators.
This time, two of them touched upon awakening, and one succeeded.
"Old Wei even awakened, but why haven't I?"
Jiang Tingqiu was going mad.
Was the awakening process dangerous? He believed he could overcome the tribulation of awakening without a problem. The issue was that he just couldn't awaken!
This was unreasonable!
Even though the chance of touching upon awakening was very low, there were many first-class investigators who participated in the southern suburban battle this time, but despite his excellence, he hadn't awakened, which made Jiang Tingqiu very frustrated.
For the past few days, he had been going to bed early and waking up early to maintain his spirit, yet nothing had happened.
He wasn't an awakened person, so how could he seek advice from Brother Hei Dao?
In his anger, Jiang Tingqiu grabbed a handful of Director Zhou's treasured tea leaves and brewed a cup, gulping it down.
So hot!
Director Zhou's face turned increasingly pale, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
These symptoms seemed to be...
"Old Zhou..."
"Holy crap, Old Zhou is touching upon awakening!!"