CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 290: STRANGE CREATURES, HIGH ENERGY AHEAD

Between breaths and exhalations, the Qi Cyclone circulated.

Ren Suo could feel his Qi Cyclone continuously growing stronger. It absorbed Spiritual Energy with only a small amount dissipating, making it twice as efficient as before.

Ren Suo knew that the meal he had eaten at the Ghost Stall had taken effect.

Cultivators are actually similar to athletes. The growth of one’s Qi Cyclone is akin to an improvement in physical condition, and having different affinities for types of Spells is like being better suited to different sports.

However, the difference between athletes is also significant. With the same amount of training, some could represent their country in world competitions, while others, due to their physical limitations, would have to give up sports altogether.

Ren Suo recalled a saying: For some people, their efforts are so meager that talent isn’t even a factor.

But in reality, talented people can effortlessly reach heights that those without talent strive for, much like the difference between world-class athletes and spherical couch potatoes.

Is there a huge genetic difference between top athletes and couch potatoes, or any movement only the former can do, but not the latter? No, they could even interbreed. Theoretically, the latter could reach the former’s level with sufficient training.

But theories and formulas are so beautiful precisely because reality is often too ugly.

According to the internal network theories, as long as Cultivators cultivate for a long enough time, their Talent could also progressively improve; perhaps even surpassing geniuses would not be impossible. Moreover, as long as there is enough Spiritual Energy, anyone of any Talent should be able to cultivate—at least, that was the theory.

But in reality, those with slightly inferior Talent find it very difficult to advance to the second turn. According to internal network surveys, most Cultivators with a Talent rating above 2.5 can quickly bridge the bottleneck from the first turn to the second turn; only those between 1.8 and 2.3 get stuck at the peak of the first turn.

What about those below 1.8? Sorry, there are currently no reports of Cultivators with Talent below 1.8 cultivating to the peak of the first turn...

Ren Suo estimated that his Talent was around 2.0 before. For him, who initially had a Talent of 1.25, this was already a significant upgrade. But back then, his cultivation progress was as slow as a tortoise. Most of the Spiritual Energy he absorbed during a full Circulation dispersed, and he had no idea how much more effort would be needed to advance to the second turn.

Now, having eaten the meal from the Ghost Stall, his Talent had broken through 2.3, and cultivation became as smooth as diarrhea, with no leaks anymore.

The advantages he gained from the game were not wasted. After all, these days, he had spent more time gaming than cultivating, yet to have achieved such progress was almost scandalous.

Now, Ren Suo’s cultivation progress was "first turn 96%," and he should be able to break through in a few days.

The alarm on his phone went off. Just as Ren Suo was preparing to put on his slippers and go for a meal, he suddenly froze, then turned around, put on his clothes and shoes, and went out.

These days, Dong Chengling had started to get busy with the school’s Heavenly Mystery Entrance Ceremony. This was a confidential matter at the school, with the principal participants needing to plan and prepare continuously for several days. As for peripheral logistics personnel like Ren Suo, they were simply notified not to leave the school and not to leak any information about the ceremony, and were left to wait for the time being.

Dong Chengling always took her teaching duties seriously, busy until she only returned home at night. So, these days Ren Suo had no choice but to fend for himself for lunch and dinner.

Ren Suo originally planned to settle for the cafeteria, but then he remembered he needed to buy something and simply decided to eat out.

Once he arrived at the shopping mall closest to Heavenly Lotus Academy, Ren Suo easily found a place selling sunglasses—shops aimed at coaxing money from young girls were everywhere—then quietly opened "High Energy Ahead" on his phone.

He’d died right at the start when playing "High Energy Ahead" yesterday. Although dying while pioneering a new game area was to be expected, Ren Suo had never encountered such an inexplicable death before.

Then Ren Suo equipped the adventurer (from the "Equipment Interface") with "Mysterious Sovereign’s Secret Record Chapter One," "Flame Overlord," "Seeker of the Dao Correction Hat," and "Goddess Jade Pendant."

But it was of no use. The adventurer still died right as he was about to leave the cave.

After restarting, Ren Suo randomly pressed some buttons, only to see the tutorial text change:

"This area seems quite interesting. Do you want to explore, take something out of the backpack, or continue moving forward?"

The game offered three choices: "Explore," "Retrieve an item from the backpack," and "Proceed."

For "Explore," ’I’ would start to rest right there, drink some water, pick fruits to eat, or just look around at the scenery. At this moment, the screen would show the ’energy points’ increasing.

However, if ’I’ chose to retrieve an item, ’I’ would open the backpack, and then the game would prompt the player to turn on the camera and other tools.

So, Ren Suo logged into the game using his smartphone, aimed the camera at the water glass on the coffee table, and the phone displayed an item analysis:

"Double-layer thickened heat-resistant filtered glass: Rare Level Item, can hold Fiery Flame Water without changing temperature, requires 13 energy points. Would you like to scan it?"

Describing a water glass in such an epic way, but isn’t it still just a glass?

However, Ren Suo then remembered the game’s introduction. Could he bring real-world items into the game?

Energy points needed to be earned through exploration, which takes time—basically an idle activity. By gaining energy points, players could scan real-world items and obtain the same item for the adventurer.

At this moment, Ren Suo suddenly had a clever idea—because he remembered that the game’s exclusive reward was any single item from the backpack.

If Ren Suo casually scanned some trash, it would not only waste the idle-gained energy points, but the exclusive reward he would eventually receive could also end up being trash. Ren Suo scanned the game controller, and immediately his heart raced:

"Hell 4 Game Controller: Epic Item, press a button at the target to slow their movement for 5 seconds, requires 110 energy points."

The ’High Energy’ in ’High Energy Ahead’... could it mean that items grant supernatural effects? Just like the Desire Gifts obtained in ’Midnight Monsters’?

But unlike the gifts, this time, the extraordinary item was chosen by me!

With this in mind, Ren Suo decided to let the adventurer explore while he would go out to the mall the next day to find an item that could solve the opening kill.

The adventurer had encountered strong light and temporarily lost vision before meeting his end. Ren Suo naturally thought of one thing—what if he made the adventurer immune to strong light?

Of course, Ren Suo also considered scanning a flashlight. However, the adventurer hadn’t been killed due to darkness *in* the cave, but had died from the strong light stimulus just as he was about to leave.

Does the thing that attacked the adventurer fear light? I don’t know. But I’m sure of one thing—it’s afraid of the adventurer having full vision.

Opening his phone, Ren Suo saw the adventurer’s exploration log:

"These fruits are a bit sour but surprisingly tasty (energy points +1)"

"The stream water is very cold, I’m not thirsty anymore (energy points +3)"

"There’s a beautiful red flower cluster on the other side of the stream, but there are only flowers with no leaves. I’ve never seen this type of flower before (energy points +5)"

"There are fish in the stream; it’s a pity I don’t have any tools (energy points +2)"

"There are carvings near the entrance of the cave. Were they left by a friend before? (energy points +5)"

After a dozen or so entries like this, the rest were all "Exploration complete. The air here is quite fresh (energy points +0.01)."

The adventurer now had a total of 27 energy points. It seemed the cave entrance was a small area, with limited gains.

Ren Suo instructed the adventurer to open their backpack and enter scanning mode. Then Ren Suo used his phone to aim at the sunglasses on the shelf—

"Toad Black Sunglasses: Rare Level Item, can block light and protect against one instance of eye damage, requires 11 energy points."

"Stylish Simple Round Frame Sunglasses: Rare Level Item, can block light and slightly enhance charm, requires 10 energy points."

"Photochromic Square Frame Sunglasses: Rare Level Item, can block light and enters a fading state after being static for 5 minutes, requires 13 energy points."

The photochromic square frame sunglasses were nice, but after scanning a few, Ren Suo found a better one—

"Red Heart-Shaped Sunglasses: Extraordinary Tier Item, can block light and immunize against one fatal damage, requires 22 energy points."

These red heart-shaped sunglasses seemed at best suitable for a naive girl who hadn’t learned about quadratic equations yet. But since it wasn’t me who would be wearing them, I naturally didn’t mind.

Energy in "High Energy Ahead" is limited. If I care about the completion rewards, I need to scan the most practical items.

Begin scanning!

"Please keep the item aimed at the camera and continuously rotate and adjust its position."

When Ren Suo picked up the sunglasses, the store clerk who had been watching for a while came over and said, "These sunglasses cost twenty yuan. Would you like to pay with cash or Alipay?"

Ren Suo glanced at the scanning progress; only 1% had been scanned in 3 seconds, so he had to say, "...Alipay."

After the scanning was complete, Ren Suo walked around the mall with his phone and sunglasses, observing any changes in the game:

"I took a pair of red heart-shaped sunglasses out of my backpack."

"How silly, why would anyone have this? Who the heck put it in here?"

"But the sunglasses possess a mysterious power, and the cave is dangerous, so I should wear them."

Ren Suo saw an icon of red heart-shaped sunglasses appear on the left side of the screen, indicating the adventurer had put them on.

"I entered the cave through the entrance. Initially, it was very narrow, only wide enough for one person, and I couldn’t see anything. After walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly became open and bright."

"The light was blinding, but because I was wearing the sunglasses, I could still see clearly."

"At that moment, I heard rustling sounds behind me. I turned around."

Suddenly, an outline appeared right in front of the screen, resembling a monkey’s face but with unusually large eyeballs and pupils that seemed set deep within its head.

Ren Suo nearly dropped his phone in fright, but fortunately, the Evolution of the Cat and the Agility of a Cultivator allowed him to quickly catch the falling phone.

At that moment, Ren Suo tapped the screen, and game choices appeared.

"It noticed me looking at it and got scared and ran away."

"This area seems pretty interesting. Should I explore a bit? Or should I take something out of my backpack first? Or should I keep going? Or should I chase after and flatten this beast that scared me?"

Options: "Explore," "Take something from the backpack," "Proceed," and "Kill it."

Ren Suo paused for a moment, then chose "Kill it."

"I rushed back to hit it, but it ran very fast, and I soon lost sight of it, so I had no choice but to keep moving forward."

"I emerged from the cave to see a vast and flat land: rows of neat houses, fertile fields, beautiful ponds, featuring mulberry trees and bamboo among other plants. Intersecting paths ran through the fields, and the sounds of chickens clucking and dogs barking could be heard from one place to another. People, both men and women dressed like those outside, were driving tractors back and forth, working the land. Everyone, both old and young, seemed happy and content."

"There was a group of frolicking dogs on the road. A little dog ran over and wagged its tail in front of me, seemingly asking for food."

Ren Suo watched the screen, and it took him three seconds to realize this might be a chance for him to interrupt the adventurer’s action.

However, the moment passed, and the text read: "The little dog became very angry."

The next second, the dog on the screen suddenly grew larger, turning into a skeletal hound. Shockingly, the dog’s head had no eyeballs or nose, just a serrated gaping mouth, and it fiercely attacked the adventurer!

"This dog is strong!"

"It bit me!"

"It killed me! (The icon of the red heart-shaped sunglasses on the left side of the screen disappeared)"

"It killed me!"

"I died."

Ren Suo watched, stunned. The battle had ended too quickly; he hadn’t even had time to react.

But now the game didn’t just restart. Instead, it presented two options:

① "By chance, a Peach Blossom Forest"

② "After a few dozen steps, a clearing suddenly opened up"

This must represent two levels. The Peach Blossom Forest is the first, and emerging from the cave is the second.

He chose to start from the second level, and then the little dog ran over wagging its tail again.

Ren Suo quickly tapped the screen, and the adventurer said to himself:

"This area seems pretty interesting. Should I explore a bit? Or should I take something out of my backpack first? Or should I keep going? Or should I kill this dog first, so it doesn’t bite me?"

Options: "Explore," "Take something from the backpack," "Proceed," and "Kill it."

Again? Initially, Ren Suo had planned to use the "Unlimited Fried Chicken Set" to see if it could handle the skeletal hound, but this time he still chose "Kill it."

Then the adventurer quickly raised his fist, which blazed like a torch. The dog was quick, but midway through transforming, after its whole body had turned to a skeleton, the adventurer blew its head up with a punch!

"Huh? How did I manage to fight like that? Oh well, as long as I could kill it (energy points +7)."

...Dude, are you an adventurer or a Berserker? This ’High Energy Ahead,’ is it a warning for me, or for the monsters here...?