49 Apocalypse Rules

Late February, three days before the end of the ninth Apocalypse Rule.

In the morning, Guan Tong woke up and infused his fully restored 309 points of Psychic Power into the Wordless Book to make one last push.

The moment the data stream from the character for "open" on the fifth page surged into his body, the Mind Lock that had been just one push away from breaking was finally shattered!

In that instant, Guan Tong felt his mind become crystal clear, and an indescribable sense of release spread through his entire body. Even without actually seeing a change in his stats, he knew he had broken through the restriction and regained the ability for his Psychic Power cap to grow naturally.

"I finally did it."

A smile appeared on Guan Tong’s face. He was finally back on track and no longer had to worry about his power cap being locked.

What made him even happier was that he had just proven one of his theories.

Namely, that the power of the Wordless Book could break the restrictions imposed by the Fire Thief.

This might not seem like a big deal for now, but it opened up a new line of thinking.

From now on, when faced with new rules, he could try to find solutions from outside the established framework, instead of being like a game character forced to operate within the rules set by the ’programmer’—the Fire Thief.

Guan Tong reflected for a moment. Nearly two months had passed between the end of the eighth rule and now, the tail end of the ninth.

He wondered if anyone else affected by the Mind Lock had found a way to break it during this period.

He was also curious about one other thing: did his method only work for him, or could it be used to help others break their restrictions as well?

If it could, that would be a huge business opportunity. But for now, Guan Tong had neither the opportunity nor the intention to test it.

His current focus was still on collecting all five Puzzle Fragments related to the Qimo Star Chronicles.

’There are only three days left until the rule ends... I’ve been neglecting my Psychic Power Flow cultivation.’

Shi Jingyi had even called him to say that cultivating this method to a deep enough level might be effective in breaking the Mind Lock.

But since Guan Tong had discovered his own method was effective, he had of course stuck with it. All the Psychic Power he’d recovered during this time had been poured into manifestation, leaving none to spare for practicing Psychic Power Flow.

’Now that the Mind Lock is gone, I can pick that training back up.’

’I also need to build up my reserve Psychic Power.’

First, there was the battle at Yongzhou Base, then writing on the fifth page of the Wordless Book, and covering his body with Shadow Armor for long periods while exploring the Mist... All of these had consumed a lot of his reserve Psychic Power.

He was spending far more than he was recovering; his reserve Psychic Power had nearly dropped below two thousand. Compared to its peak of almost four thousand, it had been cut nearly in half.

Considering his plan to go abroad soon to find and acquire the Puzzle Fragments—a process that was bound to be troublesome and would surely consume reserve Psychic Power—he had to start saving up.

...

Once his Psychic Power recovered to its cap, Guan Tong began a session of Psychic Power Flow cultivation.

Previously, when his Psychic Power cap was only a little over one hundred, he would either lose control and have his power dissipate midway through the process, or he would run out of Psychic Power and be forced to stop.

But now, after the boost from the eighth rule brought his cap to 309, cultivating again suddenly felt effortless.

To be more precise, his margin for error was much greater.

Previously, wasting even a little Psychic Power during the circulation would affect the final outcome. But this time, on his very first attempt, he successfully circulated it through most of the acupoints in his body, consuming about 200 Psychic Power.

He recovered, then tried again. Recovered, then tried again.

On his fourth attempt, using 304 Psychic Power, he finally completed a full circulation through every acupoint in his body for the first time.

The instant he succeeded, he felt incredibly refreshed, as if every pore on his body had opened up, expelling heavy, turbid substances and leaving him feeling much lighter.

’So this is what a complete circulation feels like? It’s amazing.’

Guan Tong thought to himself, ’No wonder Shi Jingyi looks so healthy. It must be the result of long-term circulation like this, expelling impurities from her body.’

Besides, his circulation was still leagues behind Shi Jingyi’s. He was only manipulating a tiny bit of Psychic Power, whereas she had a massive amount of it constantly flowing, blanketing her entire body.

Thinking of this, Guan Tong realized something he had never considered before.

’Shi Jingyi... her Psychic Power cap must be incredibly high.’

He was certain of it, even without having asked her. It would be far too difficult to maintain a continuous, full-body circulation with a low Psychic Power cap.

After completing his first full circulation, he didn’t notice any changes other than feeling very comfortable.

Guan Tong knew that change wouldn’t happen overnight. As long as he completed one circulation every day, he figured he would start to see results after a month.

Thus, the final days of the ninth rule passed with Guan Tong following his new, clear-cut routine.

On the first day of March, at nine in the morning sharp, the Fire Thief’s voice rang out.

[The rule period has ended.]

[Congratulations on passing the trial of the ninth Apocalypse Rule.]

[Your reward has been sent to your storage.]

[The tenth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in thirty days.]

...

Guan Tong stepped out of his shelter and watched the dense fog dissipate, his mood brightening considerably.

He had always found rules that changed the environment to be particularly unpleasant, as he loved taking daily walks and sunbathing and disliked being cooped up in a room all day.

He sat on a wooden stump and opened his Terminal Panel to check for changes. There were some, but they weren’t major.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Victor]

[Psychic Power: 310 (310) (2275)]

[Sublimation Coins: 685,620]

[Comprehensive Biological Evaluation: Excellent]

The biggest change was his Psychic Power cap, which had increased from 309 to 310. This proved two things.

One, that he had truly used the power of the Wordless Book to break through the Mind Lock imposed by the Fire Thief, verifying for the first time that the book possessed the power to defy the rules, at least to some extent.

Two, the natural growth rate of his Psychic Power cap had nearly doubled, which was a huge, hidden improvement.

Previously, it had taken an average of seven to eight days for his cap to increase by a single point. But from the moment he broke the Mind Lock until today, only four days had passed. A one-point natural increase in four days meant the rate had nearly doubled.

The cause might be related to the significant increase in his Psychic Power cap, but Guan Tong also suspected it had something to do with him performing a complete Psychic Power Flow every day for the past few days.

He decided he would ask Shi Jingyi later. If her natural Psychic Power growth rate was extremely fast, it would prove that practicing Psychic Power Flow really could increase the natural growth rate of one’s Psychic Power cap.

If that were the case, this Cultivation Method would be even more valuable than he had originally thought.

As for Sublimation Coins, he had no other expenses besides the eighty thousand he’d spent on a protective suit.

After checking his panel, Guan Tong opened his storage.

Inside were a Silver Level Survival Treasure Chest and an Invitation Letter.

He looked at the Invitation Letter first.

[Second Ascender Challenge Invitation Letter]: The holder of this Invitation Letter may participate in the Second Ascender Challenge, which will begin after the conclusion of the fifteenth Apocalypse Rule.

’The Second Challenge won’t start until after the fifteenth rule?’ Guan Tong hadn’t expected such a long wait. The next rule was the tenth, which meant the competition wouldn’t start for another six rules.

Guan Tong didn’t dwell on a competition that wouldn’t start until after the fifteenth rule and turned his attention to opening the Survival Treasure Chest.

[Obtained Random Item: Life-Saving Pendant]

[Life-Saving Pendant]: When you sustain a fatal attack, this pendant will shatter, negating the damage. This is a single-use, non-tradable item.

’My luck is pretty good this time.’

Guan Tong was very satisfied with the effect of the item from the chest.

He would, of course, do his best to avoid life-threatening situations, but if he did run into trouble, this item could genuinely save his life.

He immediately put the pendant on, feeling a bit more secure.

After checking his rewards for the rule, Guan Tong went for a rare, long walk.

He took a turn around the mountain, then walked down to its base, making a special trip to the small campsite belonging to Yu Hong and Zhao Yu.

Both had perished during the ninth rule. Guan Tong gazed at the extinguished, collapsed bonfire in the camp, which had been empty for a month, and sighed.

In the era of the Apocalypse Rules, human life was cheap. Whether strong or weak, anyone could die at any time during any given rule.

Even Guan Tong himself, who seemed to have many tricks up his sleeve—including his versatile Shadow and a portable shelter—never felt a true sense of security.

In this era, it could be said that no one, from a King to a beggar, could find any real peace of mind. One could only suffer and endure, waiting until all forty-nine Apocalypse Rules were over to perhaps, finally, find release.

But no one knew how far they would make it, or what the "Apocalypse Operation," which the Fire Thief had mentioned at its first arrival would begin after the rules ended, truly was.

"Just live in the moment," Guan Tong said softly.

’If you don’t want to be crushed by the grim future, you have to live in the moment. Focus on dealing with each rule as it comes and use every means at your disposal to survive.’

...

After the ninth Apocalypse Rule ended, the Strategy Research Room held a debriefing meeting.

The atmosphere at this meeting wasn’t as heavy as usual; it was relatively relaxed. This was partly due to the extremely low number of casualties during this rule and partly because it was the first time humanity’s advantage in firepower had been put on full display.

A data analyst reported, "The number of verifiable casualties during this rule is around ten thousand. However, it’s worth noting that casualties among people in the wilderness were extremely high, but due to a lack of registration, we cannot produce an accurate count at this time."

This was more or less what everyone had expected. The cities were guarded by modern soldiers who used superior firepower to annihilate countless Nightmare Beasts, greatly reducing the difficulty of survival for the populace.

But those in the wilderness had no such protection and had to find their own enclosed shelters to survive. The outcome for them was bound to be far more tragic.

"It seems that after this rule, many of the survivors who left will be flowing back into the cities."

"Only when you’re caught in a storm outside do you realize how dependable a safe roof is. It’s only natural they’d come back to the city."

"That’s for the best. With more people returning, the data we can collect will be more precise."

At that moment, Gao Liangwei suddenly spoke up. "There was another anomaly during this rule that you all might not be aware of yet. In the tropical nation of Largan Country, the Mist has not yet dissipated."

As soon as he said this, everyone in the research room turned to look at Gao Liangwei in shock.

"The Mist hasn’t dissipated? What’s going on? The fog should have cleared after the rule ended!"

"That’s right. Special phenomena that appear during the Rule Stage always disappear when the rule ends. It was the same with the blizzard and the virus before."

"Is there a special reason this time?"

Gao Liangwei looked at the others and said grimly, "I don’t know the specific reason myself. We only have one theory at the moment... Dr. Zhang, why don’t you explain."

"Certainly." Zhang Minglu took over. "According to a report from Squad One, they discovered a Fog Gate while exploring the Mist. Inside was a cave. ’Shadow’ was the first to enter and most likely took something before leaving."

"And according to reports from our intelligence department, similar Fog Gates have also appeared in the Soloma Empire and the Sakura Prayer nation. However, we have no information on what the personnel who entered took from inside."

Zhang Minglu paused for a moment before continuing. "We speculate that the reason the Mist in Largan Country hasn’t dissipated is that a Fog Gate likely appeared there as well. But since no one has taken the item from inside, the Mist has remained even after the rule’s conclusion."