[Rule ti has ended]
[Congratulations, you have passed the test of the eighth Doomsday Rule]
[Rewards have been delivered to your Storage Box]
[The Ascension Store has stocked more items, check via your Personal Terminal]
[The ninth Doomsday Rule will be released in fifteen days]
...
Guan Tong sat in the small courtyard. As the Fire Thief’s voice finished, he imdiately opened his Personal Terminal.
[Na: Guan Tong]
[Nickna: Administrator]
[Title: Victor]
[Mind Power: 309 (309) (2410)]
[Ascension Coins: 765220]
[Overall Biotric Rating: Excellent]
When Guan Tong saw his Mind Power value, he felt montarily stunned.
Although he had already learned the content of the Hidden Rule, seeing the results in person after the rule ended still made it hard to believe.
During the eighth rule, he had gotten thirty-three first-place finishes in total, which added 160 points to his Mind Power upper limit — all clearly reflected on the terminal panel.
Guan Tong was delighted, but he also had so worries.
On one hand, he realized so small foreign states had set up large-scale official support systems; certain Ascendants there might obtain a huge number of first-place finishes and, after final accounting, many could raise their upper limit to 500 points, producing a batch of high-end combatants.
What worried him more, though, was whether vastly raising the Mind Power upper limit this way ca with so unknown cost.
He had already discovered that Hidden Rules didn’t reveal everything.
Like the first Doomsday Rule’s Hidden Rule, Plunder Clarity, which only said you could obtain an Alertness Mint by knocking soone unconscious, but didn’t explain that those who ate the mint would generally have a lower upper limit when they later activated Mind Power.
Nor did it say that those who knocked others unconscious would later open chests and obtain the Rule Breaker title.
These kinds of truly “hidden costs” made Guan Tong uneasy. But for now he pushed those thoughts aside and continued checking the panel.
Through selling intelligence, his Ascension Coins had reached 760,000, roughly comparable to the total amount a mid-sized group of several hundred people could mobilize.
With so many coins to himself, he could buy needed items on the Market instead of only ogling pricey goods like before.
He also noticed his personal information rating at the bottom of the panel had changed from “Good” to “Excellent.”
A Mind Power upper limit below 80 is poor, 80 or above is average, reaching 100 is good; now, after breaking 300 points, the rating had advanced further to “Excellent.”
Guan Tong didn’t know if this rating had any concrete use or was just a summary of an Ascendant’s overall strength.
He closed the terminal for the mont and checked his body condition.
After Mind Power surged by over a hundred points, there was no imdiate, obvious change. Like before, the increased Mind Power would likely subtly transform and strengthen his physiology.
Guan Tong opened his Storage Box. It listed all his items.
[Wordless Book], [Corpse Whistle], [Basic Food Box · Bronze Tier]1, [Multi-Functional Lockpick]2, [Small Reconnaissance Drone]3, [Multi-Functional Protective Suit], [Communication Scroll]9, [Communication Scroll · Tradable]*3, [Passerby Transformation Device], [Burning Defense Shield], [Mind Power Stimulus Syringe]
Plus several items already worn.
[Constant Temperature Tech Underwear] (worn), [Multi-Terrain Marching Boots] (worn), [Greataxe Warrior Hoodie] (worn), Storage Ring (worn)
This ti there were no chest rewards; the two new items he had were traded to him by Liu Yuqiang before his suicide.
[Burning Defense Shield]: Creates a fla shield in front of the user that can block up to three attacks not exceeding the user’s Mind Power upper limit. Single-use item, tradable.
[Mind Power Stimulus Syringe]: After use, the user’s Mind Power recovery rate increases by 100% for 30 seconds. Single-use item, tradable.
Both items were decent. They weren’t ga-changing for Guan Tong, but sothing was better than nothing.
He then opened the Ascension Store on his terminal to see the new arrivals.
After the seventh rule ended, the store hadn’t been restocked, which led many to make wild guesses. When the eighth rule finished, everyone realized — each person creating their own challenge didn’t require the store to refresh anything.
This ti the store had listed one new item.
[Biological Signal Detector]: Detects large biological signals within a 200-ter radius
[Price: 30 Ascension Coins]
[Purchase Limit: 20]
“Detect large biological beings...”
Guan Tong found the detector’s description a bit odd.
Could the ninth rule involve so kind of large creature?
There wasn’t enough information to be sure, so he spent 600 Ascension Coins to buy twenty of them and set them aside.
After handling the terminal matters, Guan Tong stretched, then took out his Wordless Book.
“With a 309-point Mind Power upper limit, I should definitely be able to write on page five now.”
He flipped to the book’s fifth page and stared at the blankness, unsure what to write.
“...Maybe wait a bit.”
Guan Tong didn’t want to waste the opportunity by rushing or write sothing unnecessary.
The Wordless Book had one particular feature: once sothing is written and activated, it cannot be erased.
Except for one-ti effects that must be rewritten every use — like the early “Ascension Coins” entry he had written — non-one-ti content, once written, couldn’t be deleted or altered.
So he needed to think carefully about what to put down. Especially since writing on later pages required progressively higher Mind Power upper limits, he couldn’t scribble whatever popped into his head.
Guan Tong thought for a while and couldn’t identify any imdiate, indispensable need, so he left it unwritten for now.
But when he flipped back to page four and saw the existing [Fully-Functional Shelter], an idea occurred to him.
“When I originally manifested that shelter, I happened to spend all my Mind Power... the result was a neutered version, probably like the early Shadow — it must’ve been due to insufficient upper limit. What if I try again now?”
He acted on the thought and retracted the small wooden cabin back into the book.
This startled the black cat Coal Ball crouched beside him; for so reason its bed suddenly vanished.
Guan Tong recalled it and summoned again.
He opened the panel and watched his full Mind Power of 309 drop instantly to just a remainder of 9.
The summon cost 300 points?
Guan Tong was surprised. He looked up, and his eyes brightened.
The previous wooden cabin had beco a sturdy stone house, looking solid and durable. Its overall volu had also increased by roughly half, and new rooms were visible from the outside.
Guan Tong couldn’t wait and scooped up Coal Ball. “Co on, let’s go see the renovated new ho.”
“ow?”
The man and cat entered. The forr one-room-with-bath layout had beco a brand-new two-bedroom layout with a small hall and a bathroom — a serious expansion.
Guan Tong had wanted a dedicated storage room for odds and ends so the bedroom wouldn’t be cluttered. Now his wish was granted.
Using the Storage Ring’s stow-and-retrieve function, he quickly moved so miscellaneous items over, leaving only a large bed and a desk holding his computer in the bedroom.
In the newly added small hall, Guan Tong noticed a built-in little fireplace with eternally burning logs. Strangely, he hadn’t seen a chimney from the outside; it was probably another piece of the shelter’s black-tech.
“All that’s missing is a comfy sofa and a big TV.”
Guan Tong loved the expanded shelter. The only sting was that its Mind Power cost had more than doubled, but it was still acceptable.
The biggest improvent, he felt, was defense.
He didn’t know what stone material the shelter used now, but it was definitely much sturdier than wood — if it were attacked, it would hold out far longer.
Guan Tong didn’t imagine his shelter being besieged. If that ever happened, he’d either eliminate the attacker or retract the shelter back into the book and use Body Swap to escape; there was no need to die fighting.
After his excitent subsided, Guan Tong returned to the bedroom and turned on his computer.
He wanted to check the outside situation. As soon as he logged into the Ascendant Ho website, he saw many private ssages.
“Hello Administrator, we’d like to pre-order hidden intelligence regarding the next rule.”
“Administrator of Ascendant Ho, greetings. I am an instructor from the Tulip Nation’s Chosen Team. I hope to have an in-depth discussion with you.”
“Our Majesty wishes to cooperate further with the Administrator and is willing to provide full compensation for you to act as a foreign consultant. Are you interested? Paynt is negotiable.”
“Does the Administrator’s intelligence withhold details? Why didn’t it ntion the Mind Power upper limit cap?”
Looking at those ssages, Guan Tong already understood what was happening.
“After the rule ended, these people found the intelligence ca true, and so discovered the maximum 500-point increase...”
The eleven accounts that had bought intelligence from him all ssaged him, signaling they wanted to continue cooperation for the next rule — they had personally verified his intel’s reliability.
That ant specific Ascendants cultivated within their organizations had also received large Mind Power upper limit increases. Ecstatic, they would certainly want more rule-related intelligence.
Beyond those eleven accounts, many large organizations and groups that had been observing without buying previously also sent private ssages requesting cooperation.
So didn’t just want to buy intelligence; they wanted deeper partnerships. People appearing to be from the Suroma Empire’s official ranks wished to hire Guan Tong as a consultant — that kind of offer couldn’t be paid off with a few ten-thousand Ascension Coins.
Guan Tong refused to be dazzled by those snowballing invitations.
He understood one key reason his website and intelligence sold well was independence.
If he announced joining an organization or even cooperating closely with one, word would spread and his independence would be questioned — a loss that outweighed the benefits.
From the beginning, his intention in creating the site was to build a platform where individual Ascendants could speak freely, exchange, and accept commissions, while he made so profit along the way. That was his original intention.
He would not abandon it now for so financial gain.
Silently, he closed the ssages that sought deep cooperation. As for those asking to pre-order ninth-rule hidden intelligence, he didn’t reply either.
The ninth rule didn’t exist yet, and whether he would sell anything depended on what the Hidden Rule was and whether it could be sold. He wasn’t in a hurry to make money for sothing half a month away.
He opened the Casual Chat board and found the entire section debating the Mind Power upper limit.
One poster claid the Tulip Federation’s alpha wolf had used this opportunity to push past 600 points, but no source was provided, so authenticity was uncertain.
What concerned Guan Tong more was a prophetic post whose title hit his hidden worry squarely.
“All gifts fate bestows have their price secretly marked. I have foreseen: those who seize others’ Mind Power will suffer the mind’s punishnt.”
Mind’s punishnt...
Guan Tong felt the poster might know sothing, and clicked into the thread to read more.
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