Before he left, Lin Chuan gave Meng Chao two chains created from the spines of a Grade Five superbeast Multi-headed Fire Lizard and dozens of unique alloys.
Meng Chao had a good eye. He knew that the spine of the Multi-headed Fire Lizard alone would empty a person’s bank account if they were to buy it on the market, and Lin Chuan had even asked a craftsman to carefully carve hundreds of runic symbols in it after fusing it with unique alloys, so it were both tough and malleable. It could stretch and retract as Meng Chao wanted, and it was much tougher than normal metal chains.
If he attached the two chains to his Surging Lightnings, his attack range would increase five times, and he could bring out the agility and mobility of the Ultimate Style even better than before, along with its characteristic of running if the user could not win.
Meng Chao’s gratefulness toward Lin Chuan was evident on his face.
Lin Chuan laughed, saying that he could already tell that Meng Chao’s achievements in the future would definitely be greater than his. At that time, no matter how Meng Chao wanted to repay him, he would definitely accept it shamelessly.
But Lin Chuan also mentioned that weapons were external objects, and the most important thing for a superhuman’s cultivation was still their own understanding of spirit energy.
“The greatest difference in spirit energy and the heat energy, electricity, and nuclear energy on Earth is that… spirit energy is an energy that has emotions and even a soul.”
On the last day, Lin Chuan helped Meng Chao practice his Thousand Moon Slash with his chain-sabers in the wild.
Meng Chao decided to splurge and used five thousand contribution points to increase his Skillfulness and skillfully imitated every one of Lin Chuan’s movements.
Lin Chuan gasped at his comprehension abilities and said that he had nothing else to teach him in terms of skill, but Meng Chao could not reach Heaven Realm just by learning and understanding new skills. He had to search for what would move his emotions so that the spirit energy in his body would resonate with the spirit energy in the world.
“There is a saying: Spirit energy is the soul of countless powerful, intelligent life forms that existed in ancient times.”
Lin Chuan spread his palms, and raging spirit flames gushed out of his palms. He stared at them and mumbled, “Imagine it. This is the Other World. It’s a planet with resources far richer than those on Earth. Millions and even tens of millions of years ago, there were incredibly powerful and intelligent life forms here, and they created a super civilization.
“But due to some reason, this super civilization was destroyed, and all intelligent life forms died. They only left the brain waves and vitality magnetic fields that signified their unwillingness to accept death. Then, due to the unique structure of this planet… or some other reason we don’t understand, they were forced to stay or imprisoned in the planet, and they turned into the spirit energy that we know today.”
Lin Chuan’s stern expression caught Meng Chao’s attention. He thought about Lin Chuan’s words carefully and shuddered.
Lin Chuan laughed and retracted his spirit flames before he said, “Of course, that’s just a hypothesis. What is the nature of spirit energy? Why is there spirit energy in the Other World but none on Earth? Why is it that even though there is no spirit energy on Earth, we, as creatures from Earth, still retain the organs to absorb and cultivate spirit energy, which are organs from ancient times? These are all questions to which we have no answers, and no one knows the truth behind it.
“But no matter what the real nature of spirit energy is, there is something we can be certain of, and that is that it can produce the strongest emotional resonance with humans.
“If you are satisfied with your current state, then you can go along with Mr. Gu’s teachings and use the Ultimate Style to continue refining your 1,024 branch meridians. That will definitely be sufficient.
“But if you want to continue moving down the path of a superhuman and reach Heaven Realm or an even higher state of life, you must find the emotion that grants you the strongest power.
“For me, the emotion that grants me the strongest power is sadness, because as I went down my path as a superhuman, I saw many comrades fall before me. Death is usually incredibly brutal and tragic, and I feel like I am moving forward with their destinies on my back. Hence, when I fight, I shed tears without my own knowledge. It helps me release my strongest strength.
“Naturally, I’m not telling you to fight while remembering the most tragic way your comrades died and crying hysterically. After all, if you don’t have my looks, you’ll look pretty horrid if you cry while fighting.”
Meng Chao laughed at the last part.
Lin Chuan smiled as well. Once he was done laughing, he continued. “Your desires, your joy, anger, sadness, happiness, and all the extreme emotions and urges can resonate with your spirit energy and increase your power endlessly.
“The path of cultivation is very long. You’ll have to figure out just which one of your emotions can stimulate your fighting will the most!”
Meng Chao could tell that Lin Chuan was bidding him farewell, so he could not help but say, “Big Brother Lin, are you leaving tomorrow?”
“That’s right. I’ve been healing my wounds for a month in Shattered Starlake, and I’m feeling restless from all the inaction. It’s time for me to go back and work in Graveyard Forest.”
Lin Chuan thought for a moment, then said, “I was supposed to bring you to the perimeter of Graveyard Forest and let you test Thousand Moon Slash a few times in real combat so that you can become familiar with the skill and your chain sabers, but I just received a mission.
“I’m to head into the depths of Graveyard Forest. I might even need to get close to Raging Waves or head deep underground. It’s just too dangerous and not suitable for someone in Spirit Tattoo Realm. So, wait for my return, and next time, I’ll definitely fight with you!”
“Big Brother Lin, you don’t have to bother about me, but don’t you think you’re working too hard?”
When Meng Chao heard the word “dangerous”, he could not help but frown and say, “Everyone calls you Reckless Daredevil and says that you spend at least two hundred days a year in the depths of the wild. Most of the Heaven Realm elites don’t cultivate and fight as hard as you do.
“You were just badly injured because you were fighting against the Multi-headed Fire Lizards. I heard from Ms. Li that your heart stopped for a full three minutes! Now that you’ve just recovered, you’re going back into the battlefield and the most dangerous place possible on the planet! Is there a need for you to do that?”
“Of course there is. Poor kids who came out of public renting houses like us don’t have the support of our families nor good foundations. If we don’t work hard, how can we step on the shoulders of those aristocratic children and stand out?”
Lin Chuan smiled in a nonchalant manner and patted Meng Chao’s shoulder. “Little Meng, thanks for your kindness. I know that you’re worried about me, but I’m already used to life in the wild, and I don’t like being in Dragon City.
“Every time I go back, I see all the cars and lights, markets full of people, banquets with people toasting each other, and I feel empty and cold. When I look up, all I see are my deceased comrades. They’re shredded, torn up, just like when they died. They stare at me as if asking why I can enjoy life while they had to die.
“But when I’m in the wild and listen to the howls of the monsters and lie in stinky swamps, I can sleep well. The souls of my deceased comrades become my guardian angels and help me continue forward on my superhuman path, even though it’s full of blood and turmoil.”
Meng Chao frowned and said hesitantly, “Big Brother Lin, have you ever thought that this is… some sort of mental illness, like PTSD or combat stress?”
“Being a superhuman means that you will be using rampaging spirit energy to continuously stimulate the brain so that it can display all sorts of abnormal abilities. If you look at it from this angle, all superhumans have mental disorders. The higher their realm, the worse their mental disorder is.” Lin Chuan tapped the center of his brow and said with a smile, “Of course I know that I’m sick, that’s why I vent my emotions by crying every time I fight. What about you? What’s your mental disorder?”
Meng Chao instantly found himself speechless.
Lin Chuan laughed and said, “Alright, Little Meng. I’ll listen to you. Once I’m done with this mission, I’ll definitely go back to Dragon City to rest for a few months. I’ll visit our homeroom teacher and language teacher in our elementary school. We’ll also eat Grandpa Wang’s fried lizard skewer. But don’t tell him beforehand. We’ll queue up with the elementary school students. It’ll only taste good if we fight for them!”
“That’s a promise!” Meng Chao immediately said. Then, a thought appeared in his head, and he said with some unease, “Must you go on this mission? I feel like this sort of ‘We’ll go back and visit our homeroom teacher in elementary school after my mission finishes’ is as big of a death flag as ‘After I finish this mission, I’ll go back to my hometown to get married.’”
“Ah, damn you. Are you cursing me?!”
Lin Chuan kicked Meng Chao.
The depressed, handsome Weeping Reaper who caught the hearts of countless girls was acting increasingly more informal in front of Meng Chao.
“I must go on this mission. I’m employed by Sky Pillar Corporation, and I have to be the guide for their exploration team,” Lin Chuan explained seriously.
“Sky Pillar Corporation?” Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath.
Sky Pillar Corporation was a mega corporation that existed before the Survival Committee was set up. It started off as a mining and energy production company. Then, it went into the research and development of top-tier machines and the creation of firearms. It was a true giant in the business industry.
During the dark age when viruses mutated, zombies roamed the land, monsters appeared, and order was destroyed, Sky Pillar Corporation had risen to power. They provided a small sanctuary for the citizens in despair and contributed greatly to the formation of the Survival Committee.
During the past few decades, Sky Pillar Corporation discovered dozens of crystal mines one after another and provided a solid base in terms of materials for the continuous perfection of runic symbol technology and the spirit energy cultivation system.
If Lin Chuan was employed by this giant, he had to receive a large salary
“I’ve always had a dream. I want to renovate the four public renting housing areas to provide sufficient cultivation resources and the best cultivation facilities for the children. I wish we could hire ace teachers and veteran fighters to build their foundations.
“Why should the children of the poor be forced to learn in dilapidated schools and stare at boring textbooks while wondering just what the ‘amazing martial arts’ are while the aristocratic children can bath in superbeast blood from the moment they’re born and train using the VR systems created by the superbrains? Why should they be able to start so far ahead of us?”
Lin Chuan’s eyes shone. It was as if he could see the children in Blessed Happiness Street Elementary School sitting in a school building with clean windows while eating nutritional lunches filled with spirit energy. They could also meditate in crystalline, high-end cultivation cabins.
He smiled and mumbled, “If I want to fulfill this dream of mine, I need a lot of money. That’s why I have been fighting so hard over the years and have been accumulating money. I’ve been saving everything until now, and with the high wage I’ll get from this mission, I’ll have about enough money. Tell me then, how can I give up on it?”