I Can Control Resources

"Gao Neng?!" Upon hearing the announcement, the guard in charge of the entrance immediately looked over. And there he saw an incredibly handsome young man.

It really was Gao Neng!

Just as the guard was about to approach, he noticed something was wrong. A nearly tangible Spiritual Power Long Saber was condensing above Gao Neng’s head.

Moreover, he could feel intense Spiritual Power fluctuations from all directions.

"???" The guard froze. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: ’This is bad! Gao Neng’s gone mad with excitement!!!’

In ancient times, before the Great Cataclysm, there was a classical story called *Fan Jin Passes the Imperial Exam*.

It told the story of a scholar named Fan Jin who, after repeatedly failing the imperial examinations, finally passed at the age of fifty.

The overwhelming shock drove Fan Jin completely mad.

And Gao Neng was now in a similar state...

His Spiritual Power was extremely unstable!

Guarding the entrance to the Underground City, the guard had seen many incidents of people losing mental control due to overexcitement.

It happened to one or two people every month.

Most importantly, the guard remembered that Gao Neng was from the Forgotten Land. Someone with that background might be able to restrain himself while on the Dragon List, but it would be much harder to do so upon actually arriving in the Underground City.

"Gao Neng, snap out of it! Don’t get so excited!" The guard knew there was only one solution in a situation like this: shake Gao Neng with all his might. If necessary, he could even give him a slap.

A slap to bring him to his senses?

It was a time-honored method!

’Excited? I’m not excited at all, I just can’t control it!’ Gao Neng could hear the guard’s voice, but he found it difficult to speak.

Besides, his current field of vision... was far too vast.

It was like facing hundreds of different security monitors at once. You wouldn’t know which one to look at; you could only see a jumble of images.

For instance, after the medicine barrel exploded, Yi Qinglian was frozen for a moment before desperately clutching her chest.

But could she really cover herself?

Clearly not!

Or, for example, several figures were rushing toward him from a distance. There was a middle-aged man, an old man, and even a young woman with a veiled face?

In short, the scene was chaotic.

Gao Neng no longer knew which scene to focus on.

Then, he felt a pair of strong, powerful hands grab him and start shaking his body relentlessly.

The images before his eyes blurred and shook violently.

Gao Neng felt as if his head was about to explode.

But even so, he felt a piercingly cold gust of wind whistle past his ear.

’Is someone trying to harm this emperor?!’ Gao Neng instinctively jerked his head to the side and delivered an upward kick to the groin.

"AH—OHH!!" A pained scream rang out.

The scream was another jolt to Gao Neng’s mind.

His Spiritual Power continuously connected to the ’magnetic clusters’ in the air. After linking to one, his power would frantically seek out the next.

As he kept making these connections, his field of vision grew ever wider.

As a result, more and more images flooded his sight...

’What is that strange building in the middle of the Underground City?!’

’It looks like a ruin!’

’And in the distance...’

’What is that area in the distance?’

’Why is it pitch-black?!’

’Wait, I think I can see clearly now. Is that the sound of water?’

’Could someone else be bathing?’

’Let me just take a peek...’

’No!’

’It’s a river?!’

’An underground river?’

’It doesn’t seem like an ordinary one, either. Something is moving on the riverbed. Could there be other creatures living in the Underground City?’

’That’s impossible!’

’The Human Alliance has occupied the Underground City for so many years. How could they tolerate other creatures?’

As the images continued to multiply, countless thoughts rose in Gao Neng’s mind. They surfaced in a chaotic jumble, giving him a splitting headache. Most importantly, his Spiritual Power was still expanding outward.

Cold sweat drenched his body.

As his vision continued to expand, he spotted another figure.

It was an old man, sitting alone on the ground with his eyes closed.

Surrounding him were stones of extremely bizarre shapes. They looked like sculptures, yet they didn’t seem to be artificially carved.

The old man wore tattered clothes.

He just sat there quietly on the ground.

Behind him was a massive, pitch-black cavern entrance. It was like an abyss leading to another world, its depths impossible to see.

This entrance wasn’t a cave in a mountain.

It was a giant chasm leading straight into the earth.

’Where does this chasm lead? Could it...’ Gao Neng instinctively tried to probe it with his Spiritual Power, wanting to see what was inside and where it led.

This wasn’t a conscious decision.

It was pure instinct!

He couldn’t really think at the moment; all his thoughts were just natural impulses, born from his personality and instincts.

But the instant his power entered the chasm,

a powerful suction force surged out from within.

Gao Neng was horrified.

He felt his Spiritual Power being seized by massive, unseen hands. They were trying to pull him in—not just to hold his Spiritual Power, but to devour it entirely.

’Useless System, save me!’ This, too, was an instinct. He felt he was in extreme danger and that maybe he could trigger a life-saving mission.

"Ding! Host’s distress signal detected!"

"Host has not issued a new mission for two months. Detecting Host’s determination to not issue missions. System’s favorability toward Host has plummeted."

"Calculating..."

"Still... a rescue is in order."

’The hell? I don’t want any life-saving mission!’ Gao Neng’s instinct was to let the system save him, but his conscious thoughts suddenly rebelled.

He absolutely did not want to get bogged down with a mission the moment he set foot in the Underground City.

That would be a total scam!

"Detecting Host’s determination to refuse the mission. System’s favorability toward Host has decreased again!"

"Ding! Initiate forced breakthrough?"

’What breakthrough?!’ Gao Neng’s mind was running at a crawl. He had too much to think about, including why that girl, Yi Qinglian, still hadn’t put on some clothes.

’It’s the middle of winter!’

’Your medicine barrel exploded!’

’Why don’t you put your arms down and go change?’

’Aren’t you cold?!’

As he was thinking this, the mechanical voice sounded again.

"Breakthrough!"

And then, Gao Neng felt a ball of fire ignite within his organs.

His body’s energy began to pour out uncontrollably.

His two magnetic cores began to spin almost simultaneously.

’This really is a forced breakthrough!’ Gao Neng trembled. He never imagined such an accident would happen the moment he arrived in the Underground City.

’This isn’t how the story is supposed to go!’

’The Underground City...’

’Is this place cursed or what?’

Before Gao Neng could think any more, another scene appeared in his vision.

The old man who had been sitting quietly at the cavern entrance suddenly opened his eyes. The moment they opened, they shone like starlight in the darkness.

The old man looked up at the sky.

"Hmph! Who dares spy on the forbidden zone?!" With a grunt, the old man shot to his feet, and a massive, illusory figure materialized behind him.

"..." Gao Neng was speechless.

’A forbidden zone?!’

’The huge cavern behind that old man is a forbidden zone?’

’The Underground City has forbidden zones?’

Gao Neng vaguely recalled something Li Tiannan had once told him: once you’re in the Underground City, never get curious, because it could get you killed.

’So, does this count as being curious?’

"BOOM!"

The scene before Gao Neng’s eyes shifted again.

He saw several figures flying toward him at extreme speed. They were the Rank Eights and Rank Nines he had sensed in the Underground City earlier.

They were here!

There were six of them in total!

"What’s going on?!"

"What happened?!"

The first two to land spoke almost simultaneously.

"It’s... It’s Gao Neng! He... he’s gone crazy! I tried to shake him awake, and he kicked me in the crotch... my crotch... Ouch, it hurts so much!" the guard cried out, clutching his groin and hopping in pain.

"Gao Neng?!" one of them exclaimed, looking at him.

"Such powerful Spiritual Power!" another remarked, his brow furrowed.

Then, the other four figures landed.

They, too, sensed that the source of this immense Spiritual Power was the young man before them. The violent energy was so strong that even they felt threatened.

This was terrifying!

Most importantly, this Spiritual Power was also extremely unstable.

And not only that...

Gao Neng also seemed to be in the middle of a breakthrough.

Energy poured from his body, forming an aura around him like a net of blades that prevented anyone from getting close.

It was utterly chaotic!

Everything seemed to be happening all at once.

"Gao Neng’s Spiritual Power seems to be entangled with the Magnetic Mountain in the sky!" a white-bearded old man said, looking up.

"He can actually sense the Magnetic Mountain?" another exclaimed.

"What should we do? He’s breaking through. If his Spiritual Power goes out of control, he’ll likely explode and die. Should we sever his spiritual connection to the Magnetic Mountain?"

"We can’t! If we sever it, his Spiritual Power will suffer a massive blow!"

"So we’re just supposed to watch him die?"

"We have to find a way to guide his Spiritual Power back!"

"Then what are we waiting for? He’s lost control. Let’s act together!"

"Right!"

The six of them reached Gao Neng’s side almost simultaneously.

Then, six pairs of hands grabbed onto Gao Neng. Their own Spiritual Power surged, latching onto the connection between Gao Neng and the Magnetic Mountain, trying to forcibly pull his Spiritual Power back.

"Ah, no, don’t!" Gao Neng suddenly yelled.

In his extended vision, he was watching the old man who had stood up at the cavern entrance. Right now, the illusory figure that had emerged from the old man’s body was raising a longsword.

"How dare you spy on the forbidden grounds! Watch as this old master slays you, fiend!" The old man roared. The longsword held by the phantom blazed with light and stabbed straight toward Gao Neng’s spiritual "eyes" in the sky.

’How thrilling!’

Gao Neng couldn’t even dodge!

"Useless System! Gan Liniang! Didn’t you say a forced breakthrough would save my life?!"