Seeing two buildings springing up from the ground, Chu Yu grabbed Ding Shi, who had shown not a shred of hospitality, and asked, "What are the robots doing?"
"Paving a road."
Chu Yu mulled that over for a second, then asked in surprise, "Paving it how?"
Ding Shi explained, "I went to Sixiang City and bought a few things," and briefed her on the situation there.
"What Sixiang Teleportation Card?" Chu Yu asked in astonishment. "And how could you go to Sixiang City and still come back?"
Ding Shi waved a hand. "Xiao Ji, serve some tea."
"Yes, Master."
Ding Shi invited Chu Yu to take a seat and asked, "Yuyu, what was your rating?"
Chu Yu replied, "A-rank."
Ji Guan served the tea. At one dao for ten jin, the tea leaves were far from delicious, but they were real tea leaves nonetheless.
Ding Shi said, "There's something I need to tell you. After killing Fei Lang, I found a Fei Lang Card on him. Tearing up the card gives half a rating boost. My reasoning at the time was this: you're the team leader, and I believe my contribution was fairly significant, so the card should have been contested between the two of us. But Ritian and Brother Kai certainly wouldn't have been happy about that, so I tore the card up."
Chu Yu's expression remained unchanged as she waited for him to continue.
Ding Shi went on, "I planned to enter the no-signal zone again so everyone could get a card. But because of Mumu's death, you considered the risks and convinced me not to go back in."
Ding Shi slid fifty dao across the table and placed it before Chu Yu. "This is your compensation."
Chu Yu did not pick up the fifty dao. "What about Brother Kai and Ritian?"
Ding Shi said, "I don't believe they had any standing to compete for the Fei Lang Card."
Chu Yu didn't entirely agree, but she understood. Ding Shi had never regarded Brother Kai and Ritian as equals, and she figured her own standing had probably only been elevated because she had volunteered to cover the rear. At first glance, Ding Shi seemed quite arrogant, but on second thought, he genuinely had the right to be—he had resolved the vast majority of the team's crises.
Chu Yu considered how she would have distributed the Fei Lang Card had she gotten it. Drawing lots? Ding Shi certainly wouldn't have stood for it. Keeping it as team leader? Ding Shi might not have said anything, but the team's cohesion would have crumbled. As for giving the card to Ritian or Brother Kai, that would have made no sense at all.
Thinking it over, Ding Shi tearing the card directly had actually been the most beneficial choice for the team.
Chu Yu said, "As the team leader, I can't accept what you did, but I can understand it. I think the best approach would have been to speak with me privately and offer your views and suggestions. I'm glad you told me about this, so I won't take the fifty dao."
Ding Shi said, "My view is that you and I each had a fifty percent stake in that Fei Lang Card. I acted first and reported later, which was out of line, so this fifty dao is compensation."
Chu Yu pondered for a moment, then took the fifty dao. "You didn't actually have to say anything."
Ding Shi said, "I could also choose to tell you. By the way, after leaving the instance, I went to Mumu's revival instance."
Chu Yu asked in pleasant surprise, "Mumu was revived?"
Ding Shi nodded. "Yeah."
The two chatted for a while, and Chu Yu toured the martial arts hall, the wine cellar, and the library. She had originally planned to stay for a free meal and practice her saber skills, but upon discovering that using the facilities required payment, she sullenly returned to her valley villa.
The post-instance rest lasted forty-eight hours. Within those forty-eight hours, players had to decide the fate of their one-way teleportation ticket—whether to use it or tear it up. If no choice was made after forty-eight hours, using the ticket was the default.
...
Forty-eight hours later, at 7:45 in the morning, Ding Shi stepped into the teleportation array, but it did not activate.
Ding Shi felt around and looked all over, unable to make sense of the situation. Just as he was contemplating the possibility of buying a screwdriver to repair the teleportation array, Xiao Tangtang drifted lazily before him. Holding a grudge, Xiao Tangtang didn't even look straight at Ding Shi and said, "Origin Force training."
"What?"
Ignoring the villain, Xiao Tangtang asked, "Do you know what performance-enhancing drugs are?"
"Yes."
Xiao Tangtang asked, "You know protein powder and amino acids, right?"
"Yes."
Xiao Tangtang said, "Humans use various means to boost their strength or physical conditioning to surpass others. In your science fiction, there's something called neural chip implants that give the body certain digital capabilities. There are also mechanical arms, cybernetic bodies, and so on.
"Yita World will grant you a new ability: Origin Force."
Xiao Tangtang produced a hard-boiled egg and handed Ding Shi a pair of glasses. Ding Shi put on the glasses and looked at Xiao Tangtang, who gestured for him to look at the egg. Ding Shi saw the egg radiating a faint white glow.
Xiao Tangtang said, "The heat of the egg is constantly dissipating, eventually returning to room temperature. What if the heat didn't dissipate? What if there were a way to convert that heat into power? Do you understand?"
Ding Shi shook his head honestly.
Xiao Tangtang thought for a second. "You know hydroelectric power generation, right? Using the potential energy of water to drive a generator and produce electricity. Thermal power uses heat energy to generate electricity."
Ding Shi said, "Energy conversion."
Xiao Tangtang was very pleased. "The human body is also an entity that continuously produces energy. However, because you lack training, and because of protective mechanisms like sweating, that energy dissipates just like the egg's heat. Origin Force training is about retaining this energy within the body. You can think of Origin Force as internal energy, but without the need to unblock the Ren and Du meridians."
Ding Shi looked at Xiao Tangtang. "Origin Force doesn't actually exist, does it?"
Xiao Tangtang said, "No, it just doesn't exist on Earth. Yita World will grant you this bodily function so you can master Origin Force.
"Step one: Meditation. When humans think, electrical currents are generated in the brain. Meditation means thinking of nothing at all, completely emptying your mind to accumulate the very first wisp of primal Origin Force.
"Step two: Quiet sitting. Guide the primal Origin Force to close the skin's pores, preventing heat from leaking out, and convert it into Origin Force through the primal Origin Force.
"Step three: Integration. Merge the Origin Force into the bloodstream, allowing it to spread throughout the body via the blood vessels.
"Step four: Guiding. Static Origin Force cannot exist; it must flow evenly through the body in rhythm with your breathing. The keys lie in synchronization and uniformity."
Once these steps were completed, humans would have mastered Origin Force. The next stage was how to use it.
Origin Force was like water in hydroelectric generation; it needed to be converted into electrical power, which was the true strength. And that required professional instruction.
Xiao Tangtang said, "There are six relatively common Origin Force professions, and one rare profession.
"Category one: Pure Origin Force. It undergoes no conversion. The advantage is that it requires no professional instruction; the drawback is an inability to use advanced specialized skills.
"Category two: Ninjutsu. Converts Origin Force into chakra, allowing one to learn and use ninjutsu.
"Category three: Sword Qi. Imbues weapons with power, allowing one to learn specialized skills like Cross Slash.
"Category four: Magic Power. Enables the use of magical powers.
"Category five: True Qi. Enables the use of Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian arts.
"Category six: Internal Energy. Allows one to learn and use martial arts.
"Rare category: Ghost Force, also known as Soul Force. Through prayer, bargains, subjugation, or similar means, one borrows special powers belonging only to ghosts and spirits. This force is bizarre and sinister, typically carrying a backlash.
"Besides these, other powers might exist in Yita World, or different powers might be attained through advancements."
Xiao Tangtang waved the stick, and five teleportation arrays appeared, corresponding to five profession instances: Ninjutsu, Sword Qi, Magic Power, True Qi, and Internal Energy. Each instance lasted twenty-four hours; how much one could learn depended entirely on individual capability.
If one entered the Ninjutsu instance, they would no longer be able to learn or use the specialized skills belonging to Pure Origin Force, Sword Qi, Magic Power, True Qi, or Internal Energy.
Those wishing to pursue the Pure Origin Force path could not enter any of the five instances and would be unable to obtain long-term profession quests; without long-term quests, they could not exchange for advanced specialized skills.
Ghost Force was an extra profession that players had to acquire in regular instances. Once Ghost Force was obtained, it would drastically reduce the power of profession-based skills.
Chapter 64