Chapter 258: The Current Situation of the Divine Envoys: Tang San Becomes Withdrawn, Xiaogang Stinks

Those who were to become gods have already become gods, all immersed in the joy of becoming divine beings.

Under Jerry's persuasion, they all began to go into seclusion to familiarize themselves with their post-divinity powers as quickly as possible.

Speaking of Tang San and the others, quite a few things have happened recently.

Every day, Tang San rote-memorized various materials; apart from his normal work, he spent all his remaining time in the library.

Finally, a colleague could no longer bear to watch and, out of kindness, gave Tang San a reminder.

That day, Tang San received the first mobile phone that truly belonged to him.

Following what his colleague said, he opened the Cultivation Encyclopedia app and found the books under the data category.

Seeing the clearly categorized e-books inside, Tang San couldn't help but want to curse.

After working so hard to rote-memorize for so long, he could have just viewed them directly on his mobile phone.

Ever since mobile phones came out, the books in the library were mainly for collection; very few people went to borrow them.

Previously, Tang San only knew that students could borrow books to read, while other staff members, lacking student IDs, could only read in the library, so Tang San had never thought of anything else.

He had always thought these students were foolish, but in reality, the truly foolish one was himself.

With a mobile phone, all the books in the library were in the app, and there was even a search engine; why would anyone still need to come to the library in person to read?

Those not used to mobile phones could also purchase tablets, which were slightly larger than physical books, with a viewing experience similar to that of physical books.

Students could register in the app using their student ID numbers, and staff could use their employee ID numbers, after which they could view all materials.

Other people from the outside world could also register using their Identity Card numbers, though permissions were set, and some materials requiring personal instruction could not be viewed.

Moreover, the Spirit Hall Academy didn't treat these materials as a big deal at all; even after students graduated, they could still view the materials.

After learning this, Tang San really wanted to slap himself; he had infiltrated the place specifically to secretly study some materials.

Once he started his job, he could have used his mobile phone to view all the materials, and it wouldn't have been "secretly studying," but studying openly and aboveboard.

It was just that, in order to keep a low profile and not attract others' attention, he rarely interacted with other colleagues, which led to him working so hard to memorize for so long.

Furthermore, there was a thing called a Spirit Guidance printer that could directly print out the needed materials.

He had been rote-memorizing them anyway, which was no different from printing them out.

As for the library, Tang San would never come again.

After using the mobile phone, Tang San discovered how convenient this little gadget was; after binding his identity card, he could use mobile payment directly for purchases.

Even his salary information could be seen on the mobile phone every time, without needing to go to the Wuhun Bank specifically to check his balance.

Now that he didn't need to rote-memorize materials himself, Tang San began to set his mind to learning.

The first thing he learned was the professional materials for a Soul Guidance Master.

Tang San could be said to have always been very interested in Soul Guidance Devices, because he could achieve the functions of some simple Soul Guidance Devices using his knowledge of mechanical triggers.

With so many Hidden Weapons of his own, he couldn't let them go to waste; Tang San had always wanted to craft a Soul Guidance Device capable of firing Hidden Weapons.

That way, he wouldn't need to practice Hidden Weapon techniques anymore.

It was a pity, though; Tang San was far too conceited.

Being a Soul Guidance Master is a profession, with materials ranging from introductory levels to Level 9 Soul Guidance Master.

But wanting to learn it just by reading some materials is very difficult.

Although the books had picture introductions.

As for why it had to be done that way, it wasn't written at all.

The knowledge used for a Level 1 Soul Guidance Device was only introductory, but the few examples in the books were not written in great detail.

Why must these Rule Runes be used?

How large should these Rule Runes be carved each time? How deep?

None of this was written in the books.

Actually, this was because Tang San had not systematically attended school at the Spirit Hall Academy.

Because these Rule Runes were very important, they counted as a language; Soul Guidance Masters needed to learn them, and Array Masters needed to learn them too.

Who knows if other professions will emerge in the future that will also need to learn them.

It was for this reason that Jerry separated the Rule Runes and made them a new course directly.

Tang San had never taken the Rule Rune course, so even the runes needed for a very simple Level 1 Soul Guidance Device looked like gibberish to him.

He copied the Rule Runes from the book's examples mechanically.

With no one to teach him, Tang San tried to do it himself.

The result was that Tang San spent all his savings, bought various materials, spent a massive amount of time, and in the end, didn't even manage to make a single Level 1 Soul Guidance Device.

This result made Tang San feel a bit desperate.

He was a peerless genius in his own right; in the Tang Sect, he could craft many Hidden Weapons that others couldn't, yet on this path of becoming a Soul Guidance Master, he couldn't make any progress.

As everyone had said before, the number of Soul Guidance Masters was scarce, which was why the quantity of Soul Guidance Devices was always in short supply.

But Tang San had never thought he wouldn't be able to become a Soul Guidance Master.

Did he really have to give up?

Did he lack the talent for being a Soul Guidance Master?

Tang San was so discouraged that he became withdrawn; he had the knowledge and the materials, yet he couldn't even make an introductory Level 1 Soul Guidance Device.

This plunged Tang San into deep self-doubt.

Give up? Continue?

Giving up was actually the best choice, but Tang San was unwilling in his heart.

Continuing might still lead to no results, and it would also cost a large amount of money.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't been exposed to it for long; if he persisted, he would learn it sooner or later.

The cruel reality finally made Tang San bury his Soul Guidance Master aspirations deep in his heart—he had no money.

The materials used by a Soul Guidance Master are all attribute-based materials, and the prices are not cheap; many Soul Guidance Masters cannot succeed in their crafting on the first try and need to practice many times, all of which are initial investments.

Therefore, Soul Guidance Masters are very poor at the beginning, which is also the reason why Jerry was able to trick a whole academy of Soul Guidance Masters into helping him craft Soul Guidance Devices just by using materials at the start.

Compared to Tang San's situation, Yu Xiaogang was even more distressed.

Yu Xiaogang did not research Array data; he had been researching food that permanently increases attributes.

After Tang San informed him about the Mobile Phone, he immediately used a fake identity to purchase one.

He held the Mobile Phone and looked at data every day; he had to hold the Mobile Phone and look at it while walking, eating, and before sleeping.

He completely and utterly became a "phubber."

Yu Xiaogang was very conceited; seeing so much data, he wanted to learn it all and did not research the use of the Mobile Phone's programs.

If he had researched it a little, he would have discovered a search box on it, and by directly inputting the words "permanently increase attributes," he could have found the data regarding these things directly.

But Yu Xiaogang, who was buried in his studies, had not thought of these things at all.

Because the position of this search box was too obvious, and one would understand it just by researching it a little, Tang San did not specifically mention it; he felt that with Yu Xiaogang's intelligence, playing around with a Mobile Phone would be quite easy.

Yu Xiaogang had now fallen into a crazy state, and he no longer even bothered to groom his own image.

His original crew cut had long since become shoulder-length hair, but it was messy, very greasy, and even had an odor; he had not washed his hair for at least a month.

If he were to wash it now, he would need to wash it at least a hundred times.

His originally black clothes were now also shiny with grease, as if they had been waxed; one could smell the stench on Yu Xiaogang's body from two meters away—he was a walking odor weapon.

However, Yu Xiaogang did not care about these things at all; he was still holding the Mobile Phone, wandering in an ocean of knowledge, only this ocean was a bit smelly.

Because he often forgot the time, he simply ordered a year's worth of takeout; every time it was time, the delivery person would knock on the door, at which point Yu Xiaogang would be startled awake and then start to eat.

Later, the delivery people all felt that this person, Yu Xiaogang, was too smelly—so smelly that they wanted to vomit; every time they knocked twice, they would directly leave the takeout at the door and then run away.

Sometimes when they knocked, Yu Xiaogang did not hear it, and he would directly miss his meal.

So much so that Yu Xiaogang's current appearance was a bit gaunt and emaciated; he had completely lost his former look.

At the beginning, the Five Great Envoys would still gather often, but later, Yu Xiaogang was too smelly, and the others could simply not stand it; they directly told Yu Xiaogang to tidy himself up properly, but Yu Xiaogang still went his own way and ignored their opinions; after the others said it too many times and Yu Xiaogang still wouldn't listen, they couldn't be bothered to say anything more.

Eating with such a smelly person was off-putting; there was no mood to eat the originally delicious food, and it felt like one could vomit it all out.

Gradually, the gatherings were canceled.

Moreover, Yu Xiaogang's situation was spread around; people nearby all knew that a man lived here who didn't go out much, always looked at a Mobile Phone, didn't tidy himself up, and emitted a stench from his whole body.

Some people even educated their children that they must study hard, otherwise they would be like Yu Xiaogang in the future.

As for Dugu Yan, she was doing relatively better; because she was proactive in her work, had outstanding ability, and looked quite good, she was noticed by her superiors and was promoted before long.

On one accidental occasion, while escorting prisoners to the Spirit Hall Transformation Field, she discovered a person inside who looked very much like her grandfather.

His appearance was seven or eight parts similar to her grandfather, but his personality and such were completely different, which made Dugu Yan herself not dare to be certain.

Dugu Yan wanted to retrieve this prisoner's data, but she discovered that the data level was SSS-level; ordinary people were not qualified to retrieve or view data of this level.

Whether it was the Law Enforcement Team or the management personnel of the Spirit Hall Transformation Field, none were qualified to view it.

Every time she sent prisoners over for handover, it was always on the perimeter, and they wouldn't let her go inside either; she had never had the opportunity to confirm it face-to-face.

Therefore, Dugu Yan used the convenience of her position to frequently send prisoners here for transformation; through coming and going, she became familiar with the people here.

It also allowed her to hear a piece of news: this old man had been transforming here for a very long time, and they didn't know the old man's situation either; they were only responsible for guarding the prisoners during transformation and did not have the qualification to interrogate prisoners.

Moreover, they also knew that the prisoners who could be sent here for transformation were mostly heinous, but the things they had done were not very big.

Although their soul power was sealed here, they would still be released after the transformation was completed, so they basically would not offend these prisoners.

Furthermore, the old man Dugu Yan was asking about had been here for a long time, and it looked like his sentence was very long; judging from the fact that this old man could easily complete his tasks every day, his cultivation was definitely not low.

Once the old man finished his sentence and was released, it would be none of their business, so why go and stir up trouble?

Most of the Spirit Hall Transformation Field was outside, and because the prisoners all had their soul power sealed, the strength of the guards was not high.

If they offended a powerful Spirit Master, what would they do if the prisoner came back secretly to take revenge on them after they finished their sentence?

Therefore, being a guard also has its tricks; otherwise, if one suddenly disappeared one day, one wouldn't even know the reason.

Dugu Yan wanted to meet with this old man, but the guards did not dare to let her in.

They had thirty guards here, and one of their rules was mutual supervision, with rewards for reporting.

Letting Dugu Yan see a prisoner was a clear violation of the regulations.

Prisoners sent here, unless they had finished their sentence, had no visitation rights at other times.

Because all visitations were to prevent visitors from secretly passing data to prisoners, or other weapons and such.

After all, there was such a thing as a Storage Ring; sometimes, if one wasn't careful, the ring would be handed over to a prisoner.

Once, a prisoner took a flying Soul Guidance Device handed to him by a visitor and directly tried to escape.

This matter attracted the attention of those above, because visitors were not prisoners and it was not easy to search them, and since there were both men and women, it was also inconvenient, so they directly issued an order prohibiting anyone from visiting.

Not being able to meet face-to-face, not being qualified to view the data, and not daring to directly confirm if it was her grandfather, this left Dugu Yan stuck here for a time.

There was one way to see the prisoner, which was to apply for a transfer to become a guard; if it were her grandfather, transferring over wouldn't be bad, and even if she couldn't release her grandfather now, she could at least take care of him a little.

But if it wasn't him, it would be very difficult for her to transfer again.

Therefore, Dugu Yan did not dare to gamble.

However, if Dugu Bo inside knew that his granddaughter wanted to save him, he would definitely stop her.

The Soul Guidance Shackle he wore had a tracking function; don't let his granddaughter get caught along with him when the time comes.

The material of this Soul Guidance Shackle was also very hard; once, a prisoner created an accident, wanting to see if he could destroy the Soul Guidance Shackle, but the result was that there wasn't even a scratch.

Dugu Bo really didn't want to take off the Soul Guidance Shackle now, because this Soul Guidance Shackle drained his soul power that carried deadly poison, and from then on, the situation of soul power backlash never appeared again.

Dugu Bo could be considered the earliest prisoner, and he had worn the Soul Guidance Shackle for a relatively long time; recently, he discovered that his martial soul had started to mutate.

Because there had been no toxin injection for a long time, and the toxins in the martial soul itself were also constantly being drained, the martial soul had actually started to mutate.

Although the mutation was very slow, it truly and realistically made Dugu Bo feel that his martial soul was mutating.

He didn't know the result of the mutation yet, but Dugu Bo had already prepared for the worst; the worst case was that it would no longer be poisonous after the mutation, which was actually helping him.

As for Oscar and Ma Hongjun, they still explore shops every day; if live streaming were introduced now, the two of them could probably become shop-exploring streamers.

They are very familiar with many delicious things and fun places.

They have also met many like-minded drinking buddies; a whole crowd of them, doing nothing all day, just searching for good food and fun places.

Moreover, the two of them even developed this group, directly creating a chat group with over a thousand members, with Oscar as the group owner and Ma Hongjun as an administrator.

Ever since Oscar became the group owner, he has also experienced the benefits of power; previously, among the few of them, he felt he had always been a foil.

Therefore, he is very addicted to it.

……

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(End of this chapter)