49 Apocalypse Rules

Guan Tong had always circulated his Psychic Power according to Shi Jingyi’s "Body Acupoint Flow Method," but it always felt a little awkward.

The method worked, sure, but it always felt very inefficient to him.

Shi Jingyi herself could master it with ease because she had practiced martial arts and techniques like circulating energy through acupoints since she was a few years old, allowing her to make a seamless transition when Psychic Power appeared.

But for the vast majority of people who lacked such experience, learning to identify the body’s acupoints from scratch and slowly open them up for circulation was truly arduous work.

Although Guan Tong had managed to learn it through rote memorization, he had never truly grasped the key principles. If Shi Jingyi could get a 10-point return from this method, he felt he was getting 5 points at most, maybe even less.

He believed everyone else learning the method was in the same boat, their efficiency varying based on talent and experience.

However, through a stroke of luck, he had unleashed hundreds of thousands, even millions of points of Psychic Power at once, which allowed him to truly understand how this energy should be used.

It didn’t need to be rigidly channeled according to Shi Jingyi’s "Acupoint Flowing Technique." For Psychic Power, the human body itself was one large channel that it could flow through and permeate at will.

Once he grasped this, there was no need to get hung up on acupoints. As long as he widened the channel, he could increase the efficiency of his Psychic Power’s circulation.

And the way to widen the channel was to output a massive amount of Psychic Power in a short period. Guan Tong would never normally have such an opportunity. His cap of just over three hundred and his reserve of a few thousand were a far cry from hundreds of thousands or millions.

Instantly outputting millions of points of Psychic Power would stretch the channel wide open in a flash. Even if it contracted afterward, there would be some residual expansion. On a data level, this manifested as an increase in his Psychic Power cap.

’If I’m not mistaken, my Psychic Power cap must be increasing significantly... A wider channel for the Psychic Power to enter and exit allows it to circulate faster and increases its efficiency. It’s like how people with wider blood vessels are less prone to blockages and similar diseases.’

Guan Tong summoned his Terminal Panel. Just as he expected, his Psychic Power cap had increased by a large margin.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 386 (386) (21641)]

[Sublimation Coins: 3,686,120]

[Comprehensive Bio-information Evaluation: Excellent]

’It increased by nearly thirty points... It seems my judgment was correct.’

Guan Tong now understood the logic. The normal process of inputting and outputting Psychic Power was, in essence, a constant widening of the "channel." But that small trickle of water eroding it away was just too inefficient.

But now, flooding it with hundreds of thousands or millions of points of Psychic Power at once yielded an improvement several, or even dozens of times greater than normal. And that was to be expected!

’As long as I make good use of the output opportunities from the upcoming level 8, 9, and 10 earthquakes, it shouldn’t be a problem to raise my Psychic Power cap past the 500 mark... I might even be able to increase it by more than I think.’

Guan Tong believed that the result of destroying a level 7 Earth Vein Pillar in under thirty seconds was so stunning that the government would be completely resolved to gather every Ascender they could and have them transfer their Psychic Power to him.

That way, he would be able to convert even more reserve Psychic Power in the future—several million, or even tens of millions, was possible!

If he could output ten million points of Psychic Power at once... Guan Tong couldn’t even imagine how much that would widen the channel. He felt that with a single output of ten million, an increase of 100 points to his cap wouldn’t be impossible.

...

The destruction caused by the level 7 earthquake was no longer the minor skirmish of the previous six levels.

Countries around the world reported casualties, and many homes and roads were destroyed. Some cities near the epicenter had even mostly collapsed.

Because Guan Tong had destroyed its Earth Vein Pillar in less than half a minute, North Star’s losses were the lowest. This was impossible to hide, and combined with previous information leaks, the matter sparked a discussion at the Human Federation conference.

Commissioners from several nations pleaded with Gao Liangwei, the North Star representative, hoping that Shadow could not only handle the Earth Vein Pillars in North Star Country but also help deal with those in other nations.

After all, if teleportation-type items were used, distance wouldn’t be an issue. If Shadow could destroy one Earth Vein Pillar in a minute, he could destroy at least four in five minutes, preventing four major earthquakes.

Gao Liangwei expressed his sympathy and understanding, but ultimately refused.

Destroying the Earth Vein Pillars required Shadow to expend a colossal amount of Psychic Power, and this power didn’t come from nowhere—it was provided by North Star’s Ascenders.

North Star Country itself didn’t even know if it could transfer enough Psychic Power to Shadow before the level 10 super-quake hit. How could they possibly have the spare capacity to deal with other countries’ Earth Vein Pillars?

One commissioner offered to have his country’s Ascenders provide Psychic Power to Shadow in exchange for his help.

However, Gao Liangwei pointed out that their country had a total population of just over a million, with fewer than one hundred thousand Ascenders. Even if every single one of them transferred their Psychic Power to Shadow, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of destroying a single high-level Earth Vein Pillar.

It was a harsh thing to say, but it was the truth.

It was true that the nations of the Human Federation should help one another, but the prerequisite was ensuring the safety of one’s own people first. Only when they had resources to spare could they help other countries.

For this reason, the other commissioners could only grumble in dissatisfaction; they couldn’t directly condemn Gao Liangwei.

Just then, however, Commissioner Mary of the Soloma Empire offered to provide assistance.

"Soloma’s mechanical and artificial intelligence technology is highly advanced, as you all know. Much of it can be used for disaster relief and rescue operations. If any commissioners here are in need, we can provide it."

"Really?" a commissioner from a smaller nation asked in pleasant surprise. "We need it, thank you!"

"Not so fast. These technological creations are very valuable; we can’t just give them to you for free," Mary said. "If you need them, you’ll have to buy them. We only accept Sublimation Coins."

"This... Alright, I will discuss it with my specialists."

Upon hearing they had to be purchased with Sublimation Coins, many of the eager commissioners looked troubled. Sublimation Coins had become the ultimate hard currency, necessary for everything, and not even a national government could afford to spend them recklessly.

"Chairman Gao, your North Star is rich and powerful. Aren’t you going to order some?"

"We have no need for them at the moment," Gao Liangwei said. "We’ve done some research on these kinds of robots ourselves and can be self-sufficient."

Mary pursed her lips and looked toward the commissioners representing Fahe and Sakura Prayer.

"What about you two? If you need security-type robots, we can provide those as well."

The two commissioners both looked a little awkward. Mary’s words had hit a sore spot; both of their nations were currently facing serious public security problems.

Fahe had been plagued by constant riots ever since the major chaos in its central plaza. On top of that, the Ascender with the "Brain Control"-like ability had yet to be caught and was still controlling people to cause trouble and attack government departments. The domestic situation was deteriorating, and some high-level officials had even begun to secretly flee to other countries.

As for Sakura Prayer, its problems stemmed from the national relocation. Although many citizens had moved, after the transfer was complete, they struggled to adapt to everything from the food to the new environment. Catalyzed by stress, this discomfort quickly turned into mania, with a large number of lone-wolf-style attacks occurring daily.

The earthquake disasters brought on by the rules were already difficult to handle. These man-made disasters on top of them were like pouring salt on a wound.

But even under immense pressure, both commissioners refused Mary’s offer. They all knew that Soloma would demand an exorbitant price at a time like this.

The value of Sublimation Coins, a special currency whose production humans couldn’t control, was immense. Any country that was still being cautious was unwilling to excessively consume its Sublimation Coins, lest their expenses outstrip their income and they end up bankrupt.

If a national government ran out of Sublimation Coins, that government was basically not far from dissolution.

After the meeting, the various nations made their own preparations based on the latest model data. Three days passed in a flash. The level 8 earthquake arrived, once again bringing immense destruction to the world.