Chapter 10
The theoretical classes at the Academy of Supernatural Powers are as boring as chewing gravel.
On the podium, Professor Zhou was explaining the [Theory of Critical Points for Breakthroughs in Superpower Levels].
"...Supernatural power levels are divided into 100 levels, with every 20 levels being a major hurdle. Reaching level 20 is relatively easy, as the academy's resources are sufficient. However, to break through from level 20 to level 21, you need basic breakthrough materials like the Origin Core, which are usually found in E-level dungeons..."
Professor Zhou's voice was steady, but it was like a blunt knife cutting into Lin Yao's nerves.
He lowered his eyes, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the source crystal fragment in his sleeve under the desk.
The cold touch reminded him of the cruelty of reality. In the old world, strength meant survival, and the top spot was a throne built with countless corpses.
The sword of Damocles hanging high in the sky will ruthlessly wipe out the bottom ten players in the standings every week.
He is firmly at the top of the list, the embodiment of rules, and the ultimate obstacle for all those who covet a way to survive.
That carefully planned siege, the joint efforts of twelve super S-level masters, was only to completely wipe him out at the moment when his strength periodically weakened, to buy themselves a chance of survival.
After narrowly escaping, they were plunged into this resource-scarce new world. Their power cores shattered, and their levels plummeted from the unfathomable heights of the old world to the bottom, forcing them to re-adapt to the rudimentary 1-100 level system.
The source crystals needed to repair the core may only exist in the E-427 high-risk area.
The Origin Core required to break through level 20 also seems to need to be obtained by entering the dungeon.
"Student Lin Yao?" Professor Zhou's voice brought him back to reality. "What do you think about the self-preservation strategies of F-level psychics in low-level dungeons?"
The classroom fell silent, all eyes focused on him, filled with undisguised contempt and curiosity. Wang Rui sneered in the corner.
Lin Yao raised his pale face, and a trace of confusion and cowardice appeared in his blue eyes at the right time: "I... I think... following the team closely and not leaving the protection is the most important thing..." His voice was weak, perfectly fitting the image of an F-level "waste".
"That's a very sound idea." Professor Zhou nodded and didn't embarrass him. "Teamwork is the foundation of survival. Everyone must keep this in mind during next week's E-level dungeon experience class."
When the bell rang, Lu Cheng immediately walked through the crowd to Lin Yao's side and took his book naturally. "Are you tired? Pharmacist Su said you need more rest."
His movements were gentle and his tone was caring, but in front of Professor Zhou and other teachers, he always maintained the propriety and politeness expected of the son of the city lord.
"Professor Zhou, my father has some suggestions regarding the protective plan for the trial class. When would be convenient for you?" Lu Cheng turned to the professor and nodded slightly, his attitude respectful but not humble.
"You're welcome anytime, Mr. Lu." Professor Zhou smiled approvingly. "Your father's advice is always valuable."
Lin Yao stood quietly aside, playing the role of a dependent, but he was sneering in his heart.
The rules of the new world are just as cruel, but they are dressed in the cloak of civilization.
Outside the dome is a land of death, and inside the dome, the fight for resources, the climbing of levels, the right to explore dungeons, which one is not the law of the jungle?
The only difference is that the annihilation here is more covert, in the form of natural elimination due to lack of resources or accidental death in the copy.
After Lu Cheng exchanged greetings with Professor Zhou, he took Lin Yao and left.
As soon as I walked out of the teaching building, a middle-aged man in a logistics uniform hurried over and said, "Master Lu, the expedited supplies from the City Lord's Mansion have arrived. You need to sign for them in person and count them."
Lu Cheng frowned and looked at Lin Yao with embarrassment in his eyes.
"You go ahead and do your work. I'm fine." Lin Yao gently pushed him and gave him a knowing smile. "I'll go sit in the library for a while and wait for you."
"Really?" Lu Cheng was worried.
"Yeah." Lin Yao nodded. "The library is very quiet, it's a good time to read."
Lu Cheng looked at his face carefully and confirmed that there was nothing unusual before he compromised and said, "Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible. Don't run around, just wait for me in the library." He gave a few more instructions before quickly leaving with the logistics staff.
After confirming that Lu Cheng had gone far away, the gentleness on Lin Yao's face immediately disappeared.
The library? That was just an excuse. His goal was the storage warehouse for supernatural materials on the west side of the academy.
…
The storage vault was located in a nondescript gray building, guarded by two B-level power users. To ordinary people or low-level users, this place seemed impenetrable. But to Lin Yao, it was full of loopholes.
He circled to the rear of the building, a blind spot for surveillance and an access point for the energy pipeline. Like the most sophisticated probe, his spiritual thread silently penetrated the security rune circuits within the wall.
These runes are based on the basic principles of mental detection. In the eyes of those who possess the mental ability of soul control, they are as simple as children's graffiti.
"Frequency interference...node shielding..." Lin Yao muttered to himself, his fingertips drawing subtle traces in the void.
The runes on the outer wall of the storage warehouse flickered imperceptibly for a moment before returning to normal, but the detection function had been temporarily paralyzed.
Like a ghost, he climbed through the high window and landed inside the storage vault. The air was filled with the faint but complex scent of various energy materials.
A variety of resource boxes were arranged in categories on a huge metal rack, clearly labeled: D-level copy crystal core, C-level beast bone powder, E-level origin core, F-level energy dust...
Lin Yao’s goal is clear: E-level Origin Core.
This is the most reasonable requirement for his current disguise level.
He needed a few as cover while preparing for possible breakthroughs.
More importantly, he wanted to experience up close the difference between the breakthrough materials of this world and his understanding of the old world.
His spiritual perception, like mercury flowing across the ground, quickly locked onto a box labeled "E-427 Instance Output." Inside, neatly stacked were two dozen pigeon-egg-sized crystals emitting a faint white glow—Origin Cores.
Just as he was about to use his mental power to take something from a distance, he heard footsteps and conversations coming from deep within the warehouse.
"...This batch of high-quality Origin Cores was sent directly to the deep end of the storage warehouse for separate storage. The City Lord's Mansion has specially approved this for the potential S-level talents to use in preparation for their breakthroughs."
A slightly shrill voice said.
"Understood, Manager Wang. The one of ordinary quality..." another rough voice responded.
"Ordinary quality items will be put into storage as usual. Hurry up and lock the door after the inventory!"
Lin Yao instantly hid in the shadow of a row of tall shelves and held his breath.
Manager Wang? Wang Rui's uncle, a small leader in the college's logistics department.
He carefully extended a strand of spiritual thread.
I saw Manager Wang and a strong man pushing a small cart. On the cart was a small metal box that was obviously more refined and had stronger energy fluctuations.
They put it in a safe that required double verification, and then began to count the box of ordinary Origin Cores that Lin Yao had taken a fancy to.
Lin Yao's eyes locked on the safe. A high-quality Origin Core? Its energy purity was surely far superior to ordinary stock. If he could obtain one, it would be a significant aid in repairing his core and restoring his rank. However, with the dual verification of biometrics and a dynamic password, and the two nearby B-level guards, forcing his way in was too risky.
His mind raced as he scanned the warehouse environment, and a plan took shape instantly.
Manager Wang and the strong man finished the inventory, locked the ordinary material box, and prepared to leave.
Just as they turned and walked towards the door, Lin Yao's fingertips moved slightly.
“Snap!”
High on a shelf, a glass jar of F-class energy dust suddenly shattered without warning, and the dust instantly spread like smoke.
"Ahem...what's going on?!" Manager Wang screamed.
"The jar is broken! Get out quickly, it's uncomfortable to inhale too much dust!" The strong man was also choked and coughed.
Taking advantage of the moment when the two were in a hurry and rushed towards the door with their vision blocked, Lin Yao's spiritual thread was like the most dexterous fingers, completing the following operations at milliseconds.
1. Accurately copied the fingerprint information that Manager Wang pressed on the access lock in a panic.
2. The sound pattern with specific frequency fluctuations caused by the strong man's cough was captured.
3. He took in five ordinary Origin Cores through the air and silently slid them into his specially made inner bag.
The entire process took less than three seconds, and no one noticed amidst the cloud of dust.
When Manager Wang and the strong man rushed out of the storage warehouse, coughing and cursing outside, Lin Yao had already slid out of the high window like a gecko, landed silently on the ground, and merged into the shadow of the building.
He held five warm, ordinary Origin Cores in his hands, and the mental imprint had firmly locked onto the location of the safe.
The harvest was decent, but the real goal was the high-quality Origin Core. We needed to wait for a more opportune time to collect it.
…
Lin Yao didn't go to the library, but instead took a detour to the college's small garden. He needed to get rid of the dusty smell. Just as he sat down on a bench, ready to "read a little" while waiting for Lu Cheng, a sarcastic voice rang out.
"Hey, isn't this our Young Master Lu's beloved one? Why is she sitting here in a daze? Has she been abandoned?"
Wang Rui swaggered over with two followers. It was obvious that he had not learned enough lessons from the previous incident, or rather, his resentment was even deeper.
Lin Yao didn't even raise his eyelids, twisting a silver-blue leaf with his fingertips. This is a plant unique to the New World, exuding a faint fragrance similar to the blueberries in the Old World, which can calm him down.
"I'm talking to you! F-level trash!" Wang Rui was furious when he was ignored. He took a step forward and was about to grab Lin Yao's collar.
Just when Wang Rui's hand was about to touch Lin Yao, Lin Yao raised his hand to block it casually, seemingly because he was "frightened".
An inconspicuous thorn on the fingertip, stained with a trace of F-level energy dust, gently scratched the skin of Wang Rui's wrist.
"Ah!" Wang Rui pulled his hand back suddenly, feeling as if his wrist had been burned by fire. A small red dot instantly appeared, and it felt numb and itchy. "You...what did you use to prick me?!"
“I…I didn’t…”
Lin Yao hugged the book and huddled to the other end of the bench, tears welling up in his blue eyes, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
His movements perfectly concealed the moment when the thorns were ejected into the nearby flowers.
"Brother Wang! Your hand!" a follower exclaimed.
The small red spots on Wang Rui's wrist spread rapidly, and abnormal rashes began to appear on the surrounding skin, and the numbness and itching intensified.
"You poisoned me?!"
Wang Rui was shocked and angry. Looking at Lin Yao's pitiful appearance, he became even more furious. He raised his hand and tried to condense the special energy.
"Wang Rui! Stop!"
A sharp shout came from the patrolling disciplinary teacher, an A-level wind-type esper.
He instantly appeared between the two of them, and the invisible wind pressure caused Wang Rui's half-condensed energy to instantly dissipate.
"Teacher! He poisoned me!" Wang Rui pointed at his wrist which was rapidly becoming red and swollen.
The discipline teacher frowned and looked at Lin Yao: "What's going on?"
Lin Yao raised his tearful face and choked up, "I... I don't know... Classmate Wang suddenly came over and tried to grab me, and I raised my hand to block it... Maybe I touched the itchy vine in the garden... I didn't mean to..."
He pointed to a small, thorny vine nearby. This plant could indeed cause skin allergies, with the same symptoms Wang Rui was experiencing now.
The discipline teacher checked Wang Rui's wrist, then looked at the itchy vines, and compared Lin Yao's fragile appearance that could be blown down by the wind and his F-level identity. The conclusion was obvious.
"Wang Rui! It's you again! Provoking classmates for no reason and even trying to use your supernatural powers outside of the training area!"
The discipline teacher sternly reprimanded him, "Go to the medical center immediately. Then report to the disciplinary office. If you do this again, you'll be punished severely!"
Wang Rui was speechless, his wrist itchy and painful, so angry that he almost vomited blood. He left in disgrace with the help of his followers. Before leaving, he looked at Lin Yao with a look of hatred that almost made him bleed.
The discipline teacher looked at Lin Yao and said in a softer tone, "Student Lin, are you okay? Do you need to go to the medical center?"
"I... I'm fine. Thank you, teacher." Lin Yao replied softly, wiping away the tears of shock. "I want to wait for Ah Cheng..."
"Okay, be careful." The discipline teacher nodded and turned to leave.
The garden returned to silence. The tears on Lin Yao's face instantly disappeared, and his blue eyes were cold.
He spread out his palms, and five ordinary Origin Cores gleamed warmly in the sunlight. The fragments of Source Crystal in his sleeve pulsed more clearly, faintly echoing the energy fluctuations at the entrance to the E-427 instance in the distance.
Although the sword of Damocles of the old world is no longer there, the survival game of the new world is equally deadly.
He needed strength, and needed to recover quickly. High-quality Origin Cores… E-427 High-Risk Zone Essence Crystals… and more high-level materials that would allow him to recover his strength quickly…
"Yaoyao!" Lu Cheng's anxious voice came. He ran over quickly with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, "I'm sorry for the delay. You...why are your eyes red? Who bullied you?" He held Lin Yao's face in his hands with heartache.
Lin Yao leaned into his arms, buried his face in his chest, and said in a muffled voice with just the right amount of fear: "No...no...it's just that a bug flew into my eye just now..."
He felt Lu Cheng's strong heartbeat and warm embrace, but there was no ripple in his heart, only calm calculation.
This "lover" who treats him sincerely is his best umbrella and springboard.
For next week's dungeon experience class, you must use Lu Cheng's authority to extend the time to enter the E-427 high-risk area.
As for Wang Rui's itchy wrist? That little inconvenience wasn't even an appetizer.
The fragment of source crystal in his sleeve was greedily absorbing the weak energy emitted by the ordinary source core in Lin Yao's hand. He also used the absorbed energy to repair the power core that was severely damaged by Lin Yao's self-explosion.
The road to restoration is long, but the first step has been quietly taken.
The fangs of the top of the Old World are being sharpened bit by bit under the shadow of the New World.
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