The physical changes brought about by an increase in Mind Power upper limit were usually a gradual, imperceptible process.
Most Ascendants slowly grew stronger and naturally adapted to the period of physical enhancement without conscious awareness or sensation.
But there were also a few moments where the perception was distinctly clear.
For instance, when an Ascendant’s Mind Power upper limit broke through one thousand points, they would clearly and concretely perceive a rapid, all-around strengthening of their body.
This enhancement would surge forth along with the restart of the Mind Network, giving everyone who experienced it a feeling of being completely reborn.
After that occasion, Guan Tong had only experienced a slight physical mutation when he obtained the [Impermanent Tax] Authority, but the perception still wasn’t clear enough.
It wasn’t until now, when his Mind Power upper limit broke through two thousand points, that this incredibly distinct sense of physical abnormality appeared once again.
Guan Tong had been sitting in his chair at first, but he quickly couldn’t remain seated and had to stand up.
He felt the muscle fibers throughout his body spasm uncontrollably, an internal numbing sensation flowing like an electric current through his body.
The light before his eyes also became blurry, as if his vision had suddenly become severely nearsighted. But the next second, it was as if his eyes had transformed into high-powered microscopes, clearly seeing even the specks of dust floating in the air.
His hearing also developed problems at the same time. Guan Tong heard a deafening “crashing” sound, like a massive waterfall plunging and roaring before him.
But he quickly realized that this “waterfall” was located inside his body, produced by the blood flowing through his veins.
This left him confused. His senses kept switching between the macro and micro levels. This feeling was difficult to describe in words, and it lasted for nearly three full minutes before gradually subsiding.
And when those sensations stopped, an unprecedented feeling of “control” descended upon him.
Guan Tong raised his palm. He spread his five fingers, then slowly closed them. His gaze seemed to penetrate the texture of his skin, directly “seeing” the winding blue veins inside.
He also “saw” the flowing Mind Power. It moved in the form of tiny, glowing specks on the outer layer of his skin, giving him a strangely dreamlike feeling.
Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, muscles... At this moment, Guan Tong was incredibly familiar with his own physical body. It was like a writer seeing every line of their own article, or a programmer seeing every line of code in their program...
At this moment, he realized he had completely mastered this body, every single detail clear and unmistakable.
Then, with a thought, the [Wordless Book] appeared in his palm.
At this moment, the book emitted a faint, eerie glow. Just as Guan Tong opened it, a speck of light silently detached from the book and shot into his brow.
In an instant, a piece of information surfaced in Guan Tong’s mind: Meltstar.
Meltstar?
After the information was fully transmitted, the eerie glow on the [Wordless Book] slowly dissipated, returning to its usual state.
Guan Tong pondered for a moment, gradually figuring out what had happened.
“It seems that when the Mind Power upper limit breaks through two thousand, the Ascension enters the third stage... Only by reaching this stage will the [Wordless Book], this key, give its first hint related to the Authority.”
Guan Tong already knew from the Life-Hunting Demon and the Mysterious Gambler that the [Wordless Book] was the key that sealed the Mysterious Authority. But back in the Gambling Space, the Life-Hunting Demon tried to devalue the stakes by saying, “The book hasn’t truly opened yet,” but the Fire Thief didn’t agree.
Perhaps now, at this very moment, when his Mind Power broke through two thousand and he entered the third stage of Ascension... no, when he entered the “Awakened” stage, this “key” would truly open.
And the symbol of its opening was the clue provided by that speck of light, or perhaps a route guide?
As for why he called it the “Awakened” stage, it was because when his panel evaluation first changed to “Awakened,” his body hadn’t shown any significant changes.
This didn’t match the situation of previous evaluation upgrades.
And this breakthrough made him realize that his previous “Awakening” was a false awakening, or rather, a bug-induced awakening.
Because the conditions for a true Awakening were likely related to the Authority—the information given by the [Wordless Book] after Guan Tong’s Mind Power upper limit broke through two thousand was also connected to the Mysterious Authority it could unlock.
This showed that breaking through the two thousand upper limit of Mind Power was a prerequisite for obtaining the Authority and achieving the Awakening evaluation—unless, like Guan Tong, one happened to win the Life-Hunting Demon in the Gambling Space by chance and seized the latter’s Authority, thereby entering a state of “false Awakening” ahead of time.
‘So it seems, the most direct change of the third stage of Ascension is to allow the Ascendant to completely master their own body, even down to the micro and recovery levels.’
Guan Tong extended his left hand and broke the ring finger of his left hand with his right. In just a few seconds, the broken bone was restored to its original state under his microscopic-level manipulation.
“Sure enough... After gaining control over the body at the microscopic level, even if severely injured, one can use Mind Power to quickly repair it.”
Aside from this control, an Ascendant who entered the Awakened stage truly had the opportunity to peer into and obtain an Authority.
This wasn’t the “evil path” of seizure like Guan Tong’s, but the righteous path of acquisition.
“... I remember Shi Jingyi said earlier that she had recently been dreaming of that giant star tree covered in Authority fruits. Maybe that’s a sign. And her Mind Power upper limit is indeed already close to two thousand.”
Previously, Shi Jingyi’s Mind Power upper limit had been higher than Guan Tong’s for a long time. But after Guan Tong made up for the weakness in faith power, and then achieved a temporary overtaking through a series of high-intensity battles, he was able to break through the two-thousand mark before her.
However, as for how to obtain this special ability of Authority through the righteous path, he currently had no clue.
Perhaps every Ascendant’s exclusive item would also give its holder information, just like the [Wordless Book]?
Guan Tong wasn’t sure. He planned to ask Shi Jingyi about it after she broke through.
But the information given by the [Wordless Book] just now, he remembered it very clearly, and he knew it was important.
“Meltstar... Could the Mysterious Authority be on Meltstar? Or is it that only on Meltstar can we find more clues?”
Guan Tong didn’t know, but he knew he had to go investigate.
If different Authorities also had grades of superiority and inferiority, then the Authority corresponding to the [Wordless Book] key—the one crafted by a super civilization capable of breaking the Cosmic Cycle, the one the Life-Hunting Demon coveted so much—must be a top-tier, or even the highest-level Authority!
Guan Tong had a faint feeling that perhaps the key to clearing the Doomsday Rules lay with this very Authority.
Because even the [Wordless Book] alone was just a “key,” yet it possessed the power to contend with the Doomsday Rules and the Fire Thief. What about the Authority it corresponded to?
If he could obtain that Mysterious Authority, perhaps he could completely resolve the threat posed by the Fire Thief, saving humanity from extinction and allowing them to continue surviving.
But if the target location was on Meltstar...
“That’s a very, very faraway place.”
Guan Tong sighed, but he wasn’t discouraged.
He knew that ever since the “Dialoguer” in the [Debate of the Oracle] Rule told humanity that a “magnetic substrate” substance existed on Meltstar that could break through the foundation of human materials science, humanity had decided to launch a spaceship to travel to Meltstar.
Recently, Beixing had poured all its resources into the space domain. Apart from building a space survival base, the goal was to prepare for next year’s Meltstar exploration plan.
Combined with the engineering super-iteration brought by this [Emergence Acceleration] Rule, perhaps there really would be an opportunity next year?
Guan Tong thought to himself, then he might be able to see if he could catch a ride to Meltstar.
It didn’t matter whether he himself got on the spaceship. As long as Shadow, or any of his Mind Power items, could get on board... he could use Body Swap to teleport over directly once the spaceship arrived at Meltstar.