CHAPTER 70: CHAPTER 69: CULTIVATION BY TAKING PILLS?

Something’s off!

Lu Yan’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his expression became serious.

Since completing the version update, he had gone through a series of events including capturing a black man, touring the surface districts, and entering the underground cave, which took over five hours.

Normally, the version update progress is set with a limit of three months, meaning that 0.1% of the version update progress is roughly equivalent to more than two hours.

Yet, more than five hours have passed now, and the version update progress is still at 0.1%. This immediately made Lu Yan realize something was amiss.

"The charging speed of the world version update has changed, which means my stay in the Cyber Version will exceed three months!"

In the Apocalypse Version, extending the stay time, Lu Yan can extensively harvest zombie wandering souls, refining the Soul Refining Banner to earn merit.

If it were in the Xianxia Version, Lu Yan could also seize the time to accelerate cultivation and improve his cultivation.

But unfortunately, it is now the Cyber Version, a version that Lu Yan has lost control of, and yet, the version’s stay time has extended.

It seems as if from the start of the version update, something has been targeting him specifically.

This suddenly made Lu Yan think of the photo during the Xianxia Version that caused a 1% variation in the version value.

"Could it be that the commotion in the Xianxia Version caused me to be targeted by the Celestial Dao of the Xianxia Version?"

A bold idea came to Lu Yan’s mind.

This is just Lu Yan’s guess, and there’s no way to verify the reason.

However, the sense of crisis in his heart still made Lu Yan extremely cautious.

"The most urgent task is to quickly settle down and improve my strength, so I have the confidence to deal with potential crises at any moment."

Turning off the terminal, Lu Yan spoke to Quentin, who was still fiddling with the Spiritual Energy Battery:

"I need a place to stay."

Quentin hesitated a bit, then spoke softly:

"In the caves, residences can be freely constructed without any approval procedures.

As long as the construction is completed, based on the materials of the residence and the area it occupies, you pay a fee to the City Tax Bureau, and thereafter a fixed land tax every month."

Quentin’s words reminded Lu Yan of those shabbily constructed shanties he saw on the way over.

"Those shabbily constructed houses are..."

"Those are slums built to reduce the building fee and land tax, using the worst materials.

Some material thugs can even construct houses that only require a monthly land tax of 10 credit points according to the requirements."

Lu Yan couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He thought the cave residents lived under harsh conditions, but it turned out to be tax evasion measures.

The more he dealt with this Cyber Version, the more Lu Yan realized that it’s indeed impossible to move an inch without money here.

"No need to build, find me a ready-made residence, with a better environment."

While speaking, Lu Yan pointed to the Spiritual Energy Battery.

"Deduct the cost of the personal terminal and accommodation, and Lu Luo’s guide fee, from that Spiritual Energy Battery."

At Lu Yan’s words, Quentin became interested immediately.

He had originally thought Lu Yan was a dragon crossing the river from another city, and the personal terminal from before was just an expense to avert disaster.

But he didn’t expect Lu Yan to be so by the book, using the precious sixth-generation Spiritual Energy Battery for transactions, which made Quentin quite excited.

Quentin activated the personal terminal, projecting an electronic map on the terminal, presenting a three-dimensional cave of the Seventy-first Cave to Lu Yan.

"This is the map of the Seventy-first Cave, the locations marked in orange are all suitable residences for you to choose freely, sir."

Lu Yan studied the map for a moment, and suddenly a large building resembling a castle caught his eye.

This castle-like structure spans tens of thousands of square meters, looking out of place next to the surrounding old and small houses, yet it was also marked in orange and was a selectable residence.

Pointing at that building, Lu Yan asked:

"What is that?"

Quentin glanced and said:

"That used to be a pharmaceutical factory site underground, established by the Jiulong Group. After Jiulong Group was acquired by the Universal Giant Corporation, the underground pharmaceutical factory was exposed to the City Tax Bureau and was fined billions in penalties.

The underground pharmaceutical factory naturally declared bankruptcy as it couldn’t afford the hefty fines, and the factory was put up for auction by the court."

"Once the underground factory visible to the City Tax Bureau lost its value, and since the land in the caves wasn’t worth much, buying it for redevelopment held no value, resulting in multiple failed auctions.

Until a few years ago, the court announced that residents of the Lower City District could lease the underground pharmaceutical factory, simply by paying the land tax on time.

But due to the sheer size of the factory’s area, someone calculated that just the monthly land tax alone would be over 50,000 credit points, nobody was willing to pay that amount, and over time it remained vacant here."

After Quentin’s explanation, Lu Yan found himself intrigued.

Since he had set his mind on studying Array Patterns and Spiritual Ability Code, Lu Yan needed a suitable venue.

The Spiritual Ability Code is relatively accommodating with environmental requirements, but the Array Patterns from the Xianxia Version require much higher environmental standards.

Moreover, with the Spiritual Qi being thin in the Cyber Version, Lu Yan would need external Spiritual Qi supply regardless of whether for cultivation or studying Arrays.

A larger space would allow for the placement of Spirit Marrow Ore to form a lower-grade Spirit Vein, which can create a cultivation environment in conjunction with a Spirit Gathering Array.

At this point, Lu Yan suddenly realized a problem.

The thin Spiritual Qi in the Cyber Version nearly rivals that of the Urban Version, yet a Spiritual Ability System was born in such a sparse Spiritual Qi environment, along with Spiritual Ability Code comparable to Xianxia Arrays; this is extremely illogical.

It’s known that even with Spiritual Tattoos to harness Spiritual Energy, the premise of all this is to have an external supply of Spiritual Energy.

If there is no supply of Spiritual Energy, regardless of how powerful the Spiritual Ability Code or Spiritual Tattoos are, they are just ordinary pictures.

In the Xianxia Version, external Spiritual Qi can still be controlled, yet in the Spiritual Qi scarce Cyber Version, even drawing from external Spiritual Qi became a luxury.

Lu Yan furrowed his brow and suddenly realized he seemed to have overlooked a crucial piece of information.

Gazing again at Quentin, Lu Yan spoke:

"Let’s put the housing issue aside for now, I have a question for you to answer first."

Upon hearing this, Quentin’s expression also became serious as he awaited Lu Yan’s question.

"Where exactly does Spiritual Energy come from?"

Quentin seemed dumbstruck, as if he had heard a ridiculous joke.

He kept scrutinizing Lu Yan, and upon confirming Lu Yan wasn’t joking, he scratched his head in confusion and said:

"All the Spiritual Energy of the entire world comes from the Universal Giant Corporation.

Universal Giant Corporation controls all Spiritual Energy. People wishing to harness Spiritual Energy need to inscribe Universal Giant Corporation’s Spiritual Ability Code to borrow Spiritual Energy from them."

As he spoke, Quentin moved aside a machine on the counter and opened a switch bearing a Spiritual Ability Code.

Lu Yan noticed, the Spiritual Ability Code on the switch resembled a palm cradling a planet, which appeared quite peculiar.

In the next moment, an ample amount of Spiritual Energy erupted from the symbol like a fountain.

Watching the surging Spiritual Energy, Lu Yan instinctively activated his Cultivation Technique, after which the turbulent Spiritual Energy was directly absorbed by the technique, transforming into Magical Power and integrating into his Dantian.

"No Zhoutian operations needed, it directly merges into Magical Power?"

Lu Yan was a bit dumbfounded.

Even the high-quality elixirs from the Xianxia Version accelerated Spiritual Qi absorption and circulation to enhance Magical Power.

But this Spiritual Energy and Magical Power share the same roots, requiring just a slight transformation, thus eliminating the most complex Zhoutian operational procedures.

This effect isn’t like taking elixirs at all! It’s more akin to a senior master bestowing Magical Power directly!

A heap of bold ideas naturally popped up in Lu Yan’s mind, and just then, he heard Quentin continue:

"These are industrial Spiritual Energy, overly violent to be harnessed with Spiritual Tattoos, only useful for industrial production.

It’s said that in the Central City District and Upper City District, there are various pharmaceutical combinations with pure Spiritual Energy made into Spiritual Energy Extraction Injections. Just one injection not only enhances the physique but also replenishes the Spiritual Energy consumed by high-level Spiritual Ability Users."

Lu Yan’s expression froze, and an idea instinctively blurted out:

"Spiritual cultivation by injection?"