Chapter 80: Mastering Supernatural Powers
Congratulations to player "Ye Da," for obtaining the Guide to Superpower Cultivation!
"Ha!" Finally, he drew it.
When a thin, black book with golden edges appeared in Ye Da's hands, he let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness he managed to draw it at the last moment! Ye Da had been so worried that he would miss this treasure at the very last second. Even now, with the book in his hands, he still felt a sense of unreality, as though the book was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
Ye Da quickly opened the first page, eager to confirm whether the book was real. However, as he read the contents, his doubts faded away.
Following the instructions written in the book...
"Superpowers are a kind of flowing energy. You can think of it as a kind of ‘qi.’ When you focus your attention and guide this invisible ‘qi’ to condense into something tangible, you will be able to control your superpower.
"If you still don’t understand, then first guide the ‘qi’ to your palm. The palm is usually where your superpower first manifests, so condensing ‘qi’ there is much easier than elsewhere.
"Try to imagine ‘qi’ gathering from your arm into your palm!
"There will be a tiny ball of energy in your palm.
"Imagine turning the energy ball into a square cube, into an upright chopstick, into a sharp spike!"
As Ye Da followed the book’s guidance to manipulate his Stone Skin superpower, he saw the stone skin on his arm rapidly condense toward his palm. Soon, a stone sphere appeared in his palm—round, heavy, and solid!
Unfortunately, the stone sphere was tightly fused to his palm, so he couldn’t throw it. But when Ye Da imagined the sphere transforming into a square object, a cube-shaped stone—resembling a Rubik's Cube—appeared in his hand. Clearly, the cube was unstable, shifting between round and square, as if it possessed a sense of flow!
Ye Da ignored whether his Rubik's Cube was round or square and continued to follow the book’s instructions...
Swish!
A half-meter-long spike suddenly shot out from Ye Da’s palm. The tip of the spike was only one centimeter from his eyes—so close he could see the needle-like point rapidly enlarging before him!
Ye Da could even feel the gust from the spike, brushing against his eyelashes. He could sense the spike’s hardness and coldness.
The tip nearly blinded him as he stared down at his palm’s transformation.
Swish!
Startled, Ye Da watched the spike vanish instantly. Not only did the spike disappear, but all the energy he had painstakingly gathered in his palm dissipated and flowed back into his arm!
"So powerful!"
Though the spike was unstable, Ye Da’s mind was filled with only one thought. Who knew the Stone Skin superpower could be used like this! If he caught an enemy off guard and punched them while simultaneously deploying the spike skill, wouldn’t he be able to punch a hole straight through his foe?
He shuddered at the thought—a punch that could deliver a hidden weapon at the same time. Such an attack was far too covert, too sinister!
But with the guidance of the Guide to Superpower Cultivation, Ye Da finally understood that wielding superpowers was far more complex and skillful than he had imagined.
He turned to the next page, which read...
"When you try to control your superpower, your superpower will also try to control you.
"Never let your guard down. Treat your superpower as a companion—it can aid you, but it can destroy you as well!
"You must learn to control your superpower day and night. When you can make a nine-tiered tower appear in your palm in a second, that is when you enter the first stage!
"When you can train your superpower to leave your body, that marks the second stage!
"Do not read further. Wait until you reach the second stage before continuing. Otherwise, you will bite off more than you can chew!"
At the bottom of the page was a drawing of a nine-tiered tower—a square base stacked with eight spheres, topped by a long, sharp spike.
This meant that Ye Da had to release enough superpower in one second to transform it into various shapes: square, round, and sharp spike—all at once!
Ye Da tried, but even forming a square base was difficult, let alone stacking so many layers on top! After just a brief attempt, Ye Da felt his mental energy becoming immensely fatigued.
It seemed... training superpowers consumed a great deal of mental energy.
In only a short moment, Ye Da was feeling dizzy and lightheaded, forcing him to stop his attempts.
As Ye Da eagerly studied the Guide to Superpower Cultivation, the world announcement broadcasted his lottery results:
Congratulations to player "Ye Da" for drawing a Book of Medicinal Ingredients, a Monster Distribution Map, a Skill Learning Card, and a Guide to Superpower Cultivation.
Congratulations also to players "Lin Lingqi, Wang Yi, He Helü..." and others ranked fourth to tenth, for receiving a Black Iron Treasure Chest.
Congratulations to all winners!
The three-day novice competition has concluded. I now announce the start of the Ten-Day Survival Challenge for newcomers!
From today, the Novice Forest will no longer conceal players’ locations. Players may now plunder each other’s resources—the winner takes all!
Everyone, do your best! The newcomer leaderboard will update in real time.
Rankings are based on the level of your shelter, the materials you collect, and your combat power. The top ten will all receive rewards.
The top three on the newcomer leaderboard will get super prizes!
Deadline: 9 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 21 seconds from now.
Along with the lottery results, a new competition announcement appeared. The coming contest would no longer restrict player conflicts, and the game rules sounded far more ruthless.
But Ye Da understood why. For now, players remained in the resource-rich Novice Forest, but after a month, they would be plunged into the resource-scarce Abyss World. If they couldn't get used to fighting for resources, survival would be impossible!
Thus... the Ten-Day Survival Challenge for newcomers, though cruel, was merely a way to acclimate players to the harshness of the Abyss World.
Seeing the announcement made Ye Da even more determined to escape this cursed place! He had to seize every opportunity during the month-long novice period to gather as many resources as possible. Only then, once he entered the Abyss World, would he have enough capital to move toward its center, traverse the labyrinth, and leave this world!
The announcement had barely appeared before the chat channel exploded with messages. But Ye Da had little interest in their contents. After practicing his superpower, not only was his mental energy depleted, his stomach growled with hunger.
He glanced around his stone house, brightly lit by the fireplace and Sunworm Lamp, and spotted the Black Iron Treasure Chest he had brought back, still unopened!
He wondered if there might be some instant food inside to quickly fill his belly. He really had no energy to cook!
You have discovered a Black Iron Treasure Chest. Do you wish to open it?
Yes!