Matt Chao, about to enter the Grade-A intersection, was stunned for a moment.
–What’s wrong?– A bald man beside him turned and asked.
–Nothing.–
Standing before this door, Matt Chao twisted around to gaze deeply at the ruined city cloaked in darkness, convinced that Yang Zicang was hiding in one of the buildings inside.
The mark he had planted could actually be cleansed.
The method of removing the mark—whatever it might be—must never be allowed to spread.
A red halo materialized on Matt Chao’s chest, and a line of Quad refracted outward.
……
Half a day later in reality, Morris woke up from a wooden bed piled high with stuff.
The window of the room was wide open, a gentle night breeze billowing the curtains, while the smell of alcohol had already dissipated.
–You’re awake.– Popoli was sitting on a small stool nearby, slurping instant noodles, speaking in halting Chinese.
Morris pointed to the noodles and asked, –Where did this come from?–
–Just now, boss who ordered ‘Chinese’ came over to see me and brought it along.–
Popoli forked up some noodles, blew on them, and said:
–See, I’m chowing down on the noodle nightmare. Want a bite?–
This was a classic joke folks in Hubville loved to crack—devouring food before any nightmare spawns equals eating the nightmare itself.
Morris looked at the skinny youth with disheveled blonde hair, clad in pajamas, and chuckled, –Stop eating.–
–Ahh, it smells so good. I haven’t had anything this delicious in ages.–
–I told you to stop eating, you idiot.–
Morris sat up and snatched the bowl from his hands.
–Hey, what are you doing? I still need to eat so I can get back to studying Chinese faster.–
–If you’d studied this hard on Earth, you’d have no need for boosting jobs.–
Thinking about how many times this guy had tried to learn Chinese reminded Morris of just how absurd it was.
To the youth, it was sheer mental hell—yet still one of the few places he could truly put his abilities to use.
Popoli’s learning speed was increasing rapidly. Fortunately, people from other countries always appeared in this place, or else this guy Popoli would have starved to death long ago.
A hint of anger flickered across Popoli’s face.
–Oh yeah, you’re a lecturer from a prestigious university, but look at you now—so much better than a fool like me, right? You know Chinese, but when I asked you to help me learn a Chinese dialect, you refused. And now you come to snatch my instant noodles.–
–It’s not that I refused; I was busy at the time, and you know that. Besides, they won’t buy dialects with huge differences, and those with small differences don’t count.–
–Busy? Ha, you were just getting conned. Idiot, moron, tramp!–
Boboli reached for his bowl, but Morris grabbed him by the wrist.
–I said stop eating. We’re going out for a feast later.–
Boboli looked up at him: –What do you mean? You hit the jackpot? You scammed me out of hundreds of years of Chronos just a while ago. If I die this month, you can pay the damn rent yourself!–
Morris gave a soft snort, a mysterious smile curling at his lips.
The Moxel on his chest flickered, and a contract sheet materialized in his hand—a shimmering, translucent apparition of light.
Boboli’s face twisted in shock as he swept a glance across the bed—not a single ability orb had disappeared.
–When did you—–
–Just now.–
Morris tossed the phantom contract onto the bed, then opened his palm over the blanket—with a flash of light, a cascade of similar contracts showered down with a soft rustling.
–Holy shit!–
Boboli dove toward the edge of the bed, dropping to one knee as he gathered the pile into his arms, snatching up one contract to scan it.
Boosting Contract: Night of Whispers, 82 Years of Cultivation Experience, Completion Rate 100%
–Ah!–
The kid frantically grabbed another one.
Boosting Contract: Frostblade Art, 108 Years of Cultivation Experience, Completion Rate 100%
–Commission Contract: Blaze Blade Dao, ninety-four years of cultivation experience, completion rate 100%.–
–Huh? T-this… can my ‘Commission Contract’ really do this?!–
The young man felt his blood surging, leaving his skin hot and parched. This was his power, the crystallized essence of his own ability!
Popoli was completely dumbfounded.
Weren’t these books hastily collected from town just a few hours ago? How, how in the world…?
–My God, what have you done? Is this for real or what?–
Morris let out a smug snort, practically sticking his chest all the way up to the sky.
–All thanks to me finding a powerful person.–
–Who?–
–A weirdo named Yang Zicang.–
Popoli’s entire attention was now fixed on these paper slips that seemed to leap into focus. He flipped frantically through the stack of documents.
Each book had multiple corresponding commission contracts.
–Why are there so many for these two books?–
Popoli picked up –The Night of Murmurs– and –Lucid Sense.–
–Speaking of which, I’m glad we got our hands on these two books.–
Morris’s expression turned serious as he whispered, –Do you know what mages are?–
Popoli’s eyes lit up instantly. Of course he knew what mages were.
–Are you saying these books contain records of magic?–
–Not exactly, but it greatly aids mental strength. For instance, take this『Still Night』. Guess what? The first person to practice this book just sat in his room and could clearly perceive every movement within a two-kilometer radius. Even with his eyes closed, he could move around as effortlessly as an ordinary person.–
–Wow! Perception magic? What does that have to do with‘Still Night’?–
–‘Still Night’ means he can communicate deeply with all things—tigers, wolves, jackals, even trees and flowers—and he can make all things block out those he wishes to shield.–
What Morris didn’t elaborate on was that, in battles against nightmares, a cultivator of this technique could concentrate alone to block the perception of lower-level nightmares within a radius of dozens or even hundreds of meters, rendering them as aimless as flies with no heads.
Popoli pondered for a moment.
–If someone practicing this technique led an army into battle, they’d surely be an invincible general. And this one,『Lucid Sense』? I think that other book should really be called something like’Perception’.–
–The title of this book is indeed a bit confusing, but its ability is still very powerful. You should be able to get a sense of it from looking at their details.–
Popoli picked up a few copies of『Lucid Sense』and glanced over them, immediately grasping Morris’s meaning.
–Training Contract: Lucid Sense, 104 years of practice experience, completeness 100%–
–Boosting Contract: Lucid Sense, One Hundred and Ten Years of Training Experience, 100% Completion–
–Boosting Contract: Lucid Sense, One Hundred and Seven Years of Training Experience, 100% Completion–
All six portions of Lucid Sense in hand were over a hundred years of lifespan!
–Perfect! It’s all thanks to me!–
Popoli felt utterly blissful.
–You little fool, take a look at this one.–
Morris grinned as he stretched out his hand, where a contract materialized from condensed light.
–Boosting Contract: Lucid Sense, Blaze Blade Path, One Hundred and Twenty Years of Training Experience, 100% Completion–
–Th-this is… training two arts at once?–
–Back there, many would master one art after sixty or seventy years. But forcing them to tackle a second was too grueling—some even regressed in their original training. So, most just stuck with one.–
Morris sighed:
–Only those with exceptional talent could pull off mastering two arts at once. This person here—he cultivated ‘Lucid Sense,’ which allowed his body to regenerate from non-lethal wounds. But losing a limb? No, that takes more to regrow.–
–What in the world did you both do to that powerful fellow?!–
Popoli stared up at Morris with her jaw dropped: –How did you pull it off—just by sleeping?–
–Remember the Wish Amulet I bought cheaply from that unlucky bastard? I used it to enter that person’s Yore-Realm. Anyway, we’re set for life now. Pick a reward for yourself from these.–
Boboli jumped up excitedly, –So that’s how it was!–
Five contract sheets, each containing two techniques, materialized in Morris’s hand.
–Whoa, let me see. While Flame excels in aggression, the effects of Frost and Snow could be applied in more situations.–
Boboli didn’t hesitate and chose the contract sheet containing both 《Frostblade Art》 and 《Lucid Sense》.
[I begin using the Training Proxy Contract.]
The youth gripped the contract sheet and squeezed it hard; without needing to activate any Moxel ability, the contract dissolved into light and merged into his hand.
Countless streams of extraneous knowledge rooted themselves into his being like instinct.
Boboli felt a vast, ancient aura envelop him, his thoughts churning, splitting, then fusing together.
Shaking figures performing various sword strikes, battles against saber-toothed tigers, snakes as thick as buckets, herds of rhinoceros-like monsters, prehistoric beasts towering like mountains—even Tyrannosaurus rex—and swarming demonic shadows descending like hell itself, all poured into his consciousness.
His muscles began to swell slightly, and the blood pounding from his heart became far more vigorous.
[Current synchronization proficiency: 5%, Mental energy consumed: 90%]
After a few minutes, Bopoli opened his eyes. He gazed at his opening and closing fingers, flames of ambition seething in his chest, and struck out with a claw.
Bang!
The bed snapped in two at once, and Morris, who had been sitting on it, crashed to the floor with a clatter.
–Ah…–
Morris knew exactly how to avoid that strike, but he simply couldn’t execute any of the martial arts techniques he had honed for centuries.
–Are you trying to kill us? That’s the landlord’s bed!–
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