"Mutual Observation Law..."
After reading the Hidden Rule, the first thing Guan Tong thought of were the two words often implied in hidden rules: crisis.
In the past, many hidden rules provided an opportunity tinged with danger. If one could seize the opportunity, they would gain additional rewards.
But if they failed to grasp it, they would also face the risk of utter ruin.
The current hidden rule, the [Mutual Observation Law], was a typical example of such a rule.
Did the information in the Star Sea Court database have value? Certainly, and greatly so.
Those pieces of information might not only be valuable to individuals, but could also greatly advance human civilization as a whole, or serve as a guide to some extent.
But the risk of querying it was equally high.
"If I use the query authority to perform a deep consciousness dive, my Mind Power signature code and precise coordinates will be integrated into an identity signal and sent to the database through the Terminal Panel... This is far too dangerous."
Guan Tong pondered with a grave expression.
The meaning of "Mind Power signature code" was easy to understand. Every Ascendant's Mind Power was unique, a fact human society had long known.
Guan Tong's ability to continuously purchase Flowable Mind Power with money was closely tied to his Wordless Book's reserve conversion capability. Otherwise, other methods of absorption would also require corresponding Mind Power items to complete the conversion.
Additionally, Chen Na's [Perception Domain] ability had developed a "Mind Power Marking" function, capable of distinguishing different Ascendants' Mind Power and applying special marks to them.
And now, in the universe, no, within the Star Sea Court's system, the uniqueness of Mind Power seemed to manifest in the form of a "signature code."
This meant every Ascendant would have an exclusive signature code, but as long as it wasn't integrated into a signal and sent through the Terminal Panel, this code would not be recorded into the Star Sea Court database.
Furthermore, using the query authority would turn all of human civilization into a "reachable civilization coordinate" displayed on the cosmic star map.
If one understood this "cosmic star map" as a universal map in space, then this marker was like sending a signal on the map—transmitting the message "I am here, I am reachable" to other civilizations viewing the map.
The duration was the entire Rule Period, which was fifteen days... If one performed the deep consciousness dive on the very first day, then during those fifteen days, what if a malicious high-level civilization saw this signal on the cosmic star map?
Take the known evil existence, the Demon Race, for example. What if a similarly malicious civilization discovered and planned to attack human civilization?
Don't say the universe is too vast and the probability of this happening is extremely small. Remember, the appearance of the "Coordinate Resonance Anchor" in the previous rule meant that Spatial Folding technology existed.
Humanity still needed anchor points to build passageways. What if a higher civilization had a more convenient method of folding space?
Moreover, if humanity truly suffered an invasion from an alien civilization, would the Doomsday Bringer or the Star Sea Court intervene to stop it?
Guan Tong was quite doubtful about that.
He did not want to stake something as critical as his personal safety on the unpredictable Doomsday Bringer, or on the enigmatic Star Sea Court.
And returning to himself, Guan Tong didn't really want his Mind Power signature code to be recorded into the Star Sea Court database.
Because the query rules for this "Star Sea Court database" were extremely vague.
Aside from knowing that the query method was a "deep consciousness dive" and that one could only query sections corresponding to one's civilization-level authority, he knew nothing else.
Could Ascendants from all cosmic civilizations query that database? Could one only query their own civilization's data, or could they also view other civilizations' data?
Would higher civilizations have higher-level authority, allowing them to casually query information about lower civilizations?
Perhaps Guan Tong was being paranoid. Perhaps higher civilizations looked down on lower civilizations and had no interest in understanding them at all. Perhaps the Star Sea Court, as a cosmic power, would guarantee the rights of every registered civilization...
But Guan Tong dared not gamble, especially when he possessed the [Wordless Book].
Whether higher civilizations were interested in lower civilizations, he didn't know.
But what he did know was that the Life-Hunting Demon was very interested in his [Wordless Book], or rather, in the mysterious Authority corresponding to that key. Interested enough to bet his own source essence blood on it.
If the Life-Hunting Demon desperately desired that mysterious Authority, why wouldn't other higher civilizations have the same desire?
If his Mind Power signature code were recorded into the Star Sea Court database, would it expose the secret of possessing the [Wordless Book]? Would other high-level civilizations be able to find out?
Guan Tong let his brainstorm run wild. After pondering this issue for a long time, he decided to temporarily give up this query opportunity.
At least until his various concerns were resolved to a certain degree, he would not perform a deep consciousness dive.
But selling this information was still fine.
This way, everyone would realize that this Doomsday Rule with no failure penalty still concealed major dangers.
It was just that from now on, he would be raising his prices for selling information.
The Fire Thief had mentioned in the rule notes that humanity had opened the door to the real universe, which gave him a feeling.
That from this rule onward, future Doomsday Rules would likely involve more and more of the "real universe."
Whether this was good or bad for human civilization could not be determined. But what could be certain was that the challenges would only grow more numerous and greater.
Guan Tong was currently a top Ascendant, that was true, but those three words "Tianshui Star" had to be added in front.
It was like before he crossed over, he liked playing badminton and was undefeated in his middle school class, but when he went to a professional badminton hall, the coach directly beat him 21 to 0.
In other words, the current top Ascendants of Tianshui Star probably didn't amount to much on the scale of the Star Sea Court or the universe.
So, facing an increasingly dangerous situation, he had no choice but to start stockpiling large amounts of bullets in advance—that is, Mind Power and Ascension Coins.
Although there was currently no evidence or clue, if Mind Power reaching a certain level could awaken and inherit the Authorities of other civilizations... this might mean that Mind Power and Ascension Coins were the universal energy and currency of the cosmos, and perhaps even two sides of the same coin.
Then the money he was saving now wasn't just a single planet's currency, but universal cosmic currency. The potential value of Ascension Coins was undoubtedly higher than their current apparent value.
After realizing this, Guan Tong naturally had to increase his "wealth accumulation" efforts.
So, not long after, when a new post appeared in the Administrator's Domain channel of Ascendant Home, everyone in the comments section couldn't hold it in.
"Sale of Hidden Intelligence Related to the Twenty-Sixth Doomsday Rule"
Details: Intelligence price 1,500,000 Ascension Coins.
"Price went up again? How did it double outright?"
"The Administrator can't possibly be short on Ascension Coins, right? How much has been sold cumulatively by now..."
"Actually, 1.5 million per piece is expensive for ordinary Ascendants, but it's nothing for official organizations."
"Don't forget that the rewards for passing a rule have also increased now. If passing one rule rewards three thousand, then five hundred Ascendants' rewards combined would be enough—that's definitely no pressure for large organizations."
"White-pants party here, waiting for the official announcement, hehe."
That's right, Guan Tong had doubled the intelligence selling price, selling at 1.5 million per piece.
Even so, under the seller's market, his several core clients still purchased immediately, without any of them sending private messages to bargain.
Just as Guan Tong finished selling the information, Shi Jingyi's voice asking a question rang out in his mind at that moment.
"Xiao Tong, in your panel's Authority functions, did the entry for the Star Sea Court database appear?"
"It appeared." Guan Tong replied through the Mind Network. "Jingyi, you didn't use the query authority, right?"
He knew that with Shi Jingyi's personality, she wouldn't use it directly. The two of them were quite similar in this regard, both being more cautious.
Shi Jingyi: "No, I was worried there might be unknown side effects."
Guan Tong: "There indeed are."
He informed her of the hidden rule's information, and Shi Jingyi was quite surprised to hear it.
Shi Jingyi: "If that's the case, querying information might actually bring disaster to Tianshui Star."
Guan Tong: "Exactly, so we need to consider this matter carefully. Jingyi, listen to me, here's what I'm thinking."
Guan Tong: "My current idea is to stay put for now, because we don't know what consequences having the Mind Power signature code recorded in the database might bring, and there's also the cosmic star map marking issue... Even if we were to do a deep consciousness dive, we should wait until the final moment of the last day of the Rule Period."
Shi Jingyi: "Indeed. Using this function on the last day of the Rule Period would minimize the time Tianshui Star is exposed on the cosmic star map."
This strategy shared the same core logic as when they established the Truth Oath on the last day under the Thirteenth Rule [The Liar's Self-Punishment]—both dragged things out to the end to minimize risk.
Guan Tong: "Right. And Jingyi, you'd better not expose your identity as an Awakened One. We all need to be careful about this matter."
Shi Jingyi: "Alright, I understand."
After the two ended their conversation, Guan Tong noticed that Zhang Minglu had sent him a private message, wanting to learn more details about the explosion prophecy, and also asking indirectly and euphemistically whether he was an Awakened One.
He didn't know the answer to one question and didn't want to answer the other, so he simply closed the private messages. At the same time, he remembered something.
"Wait, could that painting be..."
He took out the several prophecy paintings Moon Key had previously given him from his storage ring.
There were four prophecy paintings in total. Aside from the one depicting large numbers of war mechs queuing up to walk into a massive teleportation gate, the other three were too abstract for him to understand at all.
But after this rule was released, the content on one of them gradually became clear...
On this painting, there were many irregular black dots. These dots varied in size and shape, connected by messy lines, outlining a somewhat elliptical spiral dot pattern.
Guan Tong stared at this painting he had previously been unable to decipher, muttering inwardly: "Could this be the cosmic star map that Moon Key prophesied..."