"It seems I've grasped a bit of the door to understanding..."
After finishing the call with Wang Yan, Guan Tong, though somewhat concerned about Chen Na's situation, realized there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, so he refocused his attention back on his original Circulate Qi practice.
He had been holed up in the shelter studying since the Blood Plague rule period. After half a month, by today, he had nearly memorized all the numerous acupoints of the human body.
He was even surprised by his own memory. He figured it was due to his continuously improving Mind Power; all aspects of his physical constitution were subtly enhancing. It wasn't easy to notice normally, but when actually put to use, the extent of the change became apparent.
Guan Tong felt that if a world sports event were held now, even if participants didn't use any abilities and relied purely on physical fitness, they could still break all historical records across every event.
"According to what Shi Jingyi said in the first overview class, the first step is to memorize the acupoints all over the body. Then you can try Circulate Qi, transferring it between these acupoints... Only after mastering this is it possible to make Mind Power cover and flow across the body surface in a manner similar to 'Qi'."
Currently, the online course didn't seem to have progressed to this stage yet; it was still stuck on memorization techniques for acupoints and some boxing and kicking exercises.
That's right. Before students mastered techniques like acupoints and Circulate Qi, Shi Jingyi also taught some boxing and kicking skills from her "Guiyun Martial Arts School" in class, saying that practicing them regularly could promote blood circulation and invigorate the meridians, aiding subsequent cultivation.
Guan Tong couldn't go out before, so he hadn't practiced this much; practicing boxing and kicks in a small room was just too stifling. Now, however, he had the conditions—the entire Mingdao Mountain could serve as his training ground; he could practice wherever he wanted.
He just knew that no matter how much he practiced, he could never reach the effortless proficiency of Shi Jingyi. She said she had practiced martial arts for over twenty years, probably starting from a few years old as foundational training from childhood. It wouldn't be easy for others to catch up.
So, rather than perfecting his boxing and kicks, Guan Tong preferred to leverage his own strengths and advantages, spending more time researching the [Wordless Book]. As for "martial arts," being able to achieve Mind Power Flow would be sufficient.
Because his progress was ahead of the course, he somewhat wanted to call Shi Jingyi and ask for tips and tricks on Circulate Qi practice. But glancing at the time—it was already 10:30 PM—he decided not to disturb someone else's rest and would ask tomorrow.
With a thought from Guan Tong, the Wordless Book appeared before him.
Opening to the fifth page and looking at the blank page, he didn't know how much Upper Limit of Mind Power would be needed to put pen to paper.
Considering the shelter on the fourth page, when it was materialized on Holy Grail Island back then, it instantly drained all his Mind Power. The fifth page would only be more extreme, perhaps... requiring 150 points Upper Limit, or even higher, to write.
"My current Upper Limit is 137. It naturally increases by about 1 point every 7-8 days on average, about 4 points per month... still a bit slow."
Four points a month, less than 50 points a year, really wasn't much to look at.
Considering another fast method to increase the Upper Limit was intense combat, but what was the reason intense combat increased Mind Power?
According to one of the academy's main lecturers, Ouyang Shanyue—that is, based on the content from the course "Philosophical Reflections on Mind Power"—he mentioned that Mind Power is related to emotions and spirit.
Referencing the first [Sleep Deprivation] rule, why do some people have high spiritual power? And some low?
According to post-event statistics, those who used external aids to pass had lower spiritual power. Whether using "Alertness Mints" or receiving psychiatric medication injections in hospitals, etc., all affected the Mind Power Upper Limit.
Those who didn't use external aids and relied purely on their own willpower to endure generally had higher Mind Power Upper Limits. Among these, there were still variations; big data indicated teenagers tended to be higher, while older people were lower.
Viewed this way, the Mind Power Upper Limit seems to reflect an individual's potential at the level of mental willpower.
However, according to Ouyang Shanyue's theory, he believed the rate of increase in Mind Power Upper Limit is also related to emotions. When people are in combat, facing threats, their emotions undergo intense fluctuations.
Worry about one's own abilities, high tension facing a powerful enemy, immense fear of defeat and death... these emotions are intense and complex, ones that wouldn't likely arise while living in a stable, peaceful environment.
Ouyang Shanyue also gave some examples in class, primarily targeting some relatively famous Ascendants, many of whom were celebrities from the pre-Doomsday Rules era, including well-known athletes and stars.
The examples included a former famous young boxer. After the first rule, the latter proactively disclosed his Mind Power Upper Limit on his social account—105 points, very high.
There was also a film and television star whose publicly disclosed Mind Power Upper Limit also exceeded 100 points. This star, though hugely famous, had numerous scandals, so they were constantly insulted by izens year-round. However, the latter was completely unfazed, dubbed "thick-skinned as a mountain."
Among the examples Ouyang Shanyue gave in that class was also someone Guan Tong had heard of: the Go champion, Wenren Yizhi. She exploded in popularity beyond her original circle because she live-streamed consecutive 72-hour matches during the rule period, gaining countless followers.
But she didn't proactively disclose her Mind Power value; it was officially disclosed. It seemed the authorities, recognizing her explosive fame, recruited her into the organization, leveraging her fame for promotional work.
According to the official announcement, Wenren Yizhi's Mind Power Upper Limit after passing the first rule was 117 points. When this news came out, it caused huge waves online because it was simply so much higher than everyone else's.
Others were happy if they had around 80 points, enough to be rated ordinary. Her 117 points exceeded the excellent rating threshold of 100 points by a large margin, truly terrifying.
Ouyang Shanyue cited these examples precisely to illustrate that the increase in Mind Power Upper Limit is related to emotions. Whether it's fiery, explosive emotions or emotions steady as Mount Tai, as long as they are taken to the extreme, they can benefit the increase of the Mind Power Upper Limit.
Returning to Guan Tong himself, his personality could be described in two words: placid.
He has all the emotions normal people have, but none are very intense. So, the path of increasing Mind Power Upper Limit through extreme emotions doesn't seem very suitable for him.
"...Forget it, what's there to rush about? Take it one day at a time."
Guan Tong thought carefully; he didn't need to be too anxious. His goal was simply to keep completing the rule challenges, to see if he could reach the end and learn the truth, not to become endlessly stronger.
At 11 o'clock, he went to sleep. The next morning, after waking up, there was an additional message on his phone from Wang Yan, sent in the middle of the night.
"The Peace Officers checked the surveillance; Nana took a car to the outskirts. They haven't found her yet; they're still investigating."
Seeing the message, Guan Tong's heart sank slightly.
If that's the case, then Chen Na might not be coming back anytime soon...
No matter who that organization is or how much influence they have, they would certainly worry about exposure.
Even if Chen Na passes the selection, if they let her go back, at her young age, she might say something, exposing some of the organization's secrets.
Looking at the message, Guan Tong inexplicably thought of the multi-city serial kidnapping case targeting High Mind Power Individuals that he and Xu Xiaotian were both involved in back then.
Although Shen Zuohu and others locally in Yunhua had long been arrested and were probably sentenced to death by now, whether the mastermind remotely controlling them had been captured remained unclear.
Guan Tong only knew that Li Meng, the director of the Yunhua City Police Department, had been transferred to the capital, Yong'an, precisely to continue tracking and investigating this matter.
...Could this organization recruiting Xiao Na have some connection with those people back then?
Guan Tong couldn't be sure, and he was also somewhat worried about Wang Yan now.
The latter was already seriously ill with not much time left. Now with her daughter missing, the blow to her was likely extremely heavy...
Guan Tong thought for a moment and replied to the message: "Sister Wang, even if Xiao Na is missing, she probably won't be in life-threatening danger. Her ability is very rare. No matter who took her, they are unlikely to harm her."
All he could do now was comfort Wang Yan with words like this. As for other matters, whether Chen Na's whereabouts or Wang Yan's late-stage cancer, he couldn't really help.
Wang Yan replied to the message not long after: "Thank you, Xiao Guan. I also believe Nana will be fine. I must persevere; I will definitely find her!"
Guan Tong sighed and stopped thinking too much about it. After eating breakfast, he called Shi Jingyi, who answered quickly.
"Hello, Guan Tong. Is there something you don't understand and want to ask me?"
Shi Jingyi got straight to the point as soon as she spoke. Probably she also knew that Guan Tong wasn't the type to call her for idle chit-chat for no reason.
"Yes." Guan Tong mentioned the Circulate Qi problem he had been pondering last night. After hearing it, Shi Jingyi was quite surprised.
"You've already started trying Circulate Qi? Progress is that fast? Have you memorized and thoroughly learned all the acupoints?"
"Memorized thoroughly."
Shi Jingyi specifically asked a few tricky test questions; Guan Tong answered them all correctly.
"I didn't expect your memory to be so good! Truly worthy of... hmm." Shi Jingyi almost blurted out "truly worthy of being the world's number one Shadow."
"Your progress is so fast; the online course really can't keep up. Alright, I'll send you part of the subsequent course material about Circulate Qi later. You can study it on your own first."
"Okay, thank you."
"By the way." Shi Jingyi suddenly remembered something. "Even if you hadn't called me, I was planning to call you in the next few days."
Hearing this, Guan Tong asked curiously, "Is there something?"
"On the 10th, the whole country is entering a wartime state. You should know, right?"
"I know."
"At that time, everyone will have to register and be assigned shelters. After I found out, I was thinking, you probably won't go to a shelter, right?"
Shi Jingyi knew Guan Tong's Shadow identity and also knew the latter had been concealing his identity without registering. But once the wartime state begins, concealing it won't be so easy.
"...Actually, I've already left the city." Guan Tong said.
"Haha, I knew it." Shi Jingyi seemed to have guessed, laughed a few times, then said seriously, "The reason I wanted to call you is to give you an invitation."
"An invitation?"
"Yes! From our previous calls, I noticed you learned my course material very quickly. This time confirms it even more; your progress is a step ahead of the other students in my class. So, if you're willing, you can come to the academy to be my course teaching assistant."
Course teaching assistant...
Guan Tong didn't expect Shi Jingyi to have this intention; he was quite surprised internally.
"If you come, after the wartime state begins, I can register you under the identity of a specially invited teaching assistant. Then, apart from spending some time each day helping other students, you'll have most of your time free to arrange as you wish. Also, you won't have to live in a collective shelter; you can live in the academy's faculty dormitory, all single rooms, no privacy issues."
After hearing Shi Jingyi's words, Guan Tong thought carefully.
If registered as a teaching assistant, he would have a legitimate identity to move around within the city reasonably. Otherwise, if he remained unregistered, living in the wilderness would be fine, but once he needed to enter the city, he would face a lot of trouble.
Moreover, Shi Jingyi specifically mentioned that being a teaching assistant meant living in a single faculty dormitory, not a collective shelter... This also met his requirement for privacy.
The price to pay for obtaining these things was dedicating part of each day to shoulder the responsibilities of the teaching assistant identity, helping Lecturer Shi Jingyi organize course materials, assisting students with learning, etc.
"No need to decide immediately." Shi Jingyi said. "My invitation is long-term effective. Whenever you want to come, just call and tell me—but it's best to decide before the 10th. After entering the wartime state, unregistered personnel entering the academy might face some trouble."
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