Chapter 998: Will Compression

Will Compression】」

「Skill Level: None, Special」

「Skill Effect: After using this skill, you will lose all mental power, the lost mental power is converted proportionally into spiritual energy, and when suffering a mental attack, use spiritual energy for defense。」

「After compression, the minimum unit of single-use spiritual energy is increased to 0.1, and you gain the 【Spiritual Energy Shield】 effect. (Your spiritual energy control effect will be strengthened.)」

「【Spiritual Energy Shield】: When suffering any attack, prioritize consuming spiritual energy; before spiritual energy is exhausted, you will be immune to any damage and negative effects。」

「【Spiritual Energy Shield】's defensive range is body surface ±10cm; when activated, it consumes 1 point of spiritual energy per second, and can be actively deactivated。」

「Note: This skill is a special skill; after use, it cannot be reversed. After mental power is converted into spiritual energy, you will permanently lose abilities such as mental detection。」

The skill description is somewhat complicated.

After a quick glance, Lin An couldn't help but show a hint of hesitation.

Unlike the skills he had obtained before, he originally thought the Will Compression skill was to enhance mental power.

But he never expected that this skill actually cancels mental power.

Exchanging mental power for spiritual energy...

Simply put, once this skill is learned, one can no longer use mental power to detect distant enemies.

For him, who is accustomed to using mental detection at any time, this is undoubtedly a weakening.

Relying solely on sight and hearing, once encountering an obstacle or the search target is underground, one is practically like a blind person.

After all, even if the Awakened Ones' vision is extremely strong, they cannot penetrate objects, not even with the True Eye.

But similarly, once mental power is compressed into spiritual energy, the gained enhancement is extremely tempting.

Besides that, one's spiritual energy reserves will greatly increase; thereafter, one only needs to focus on increasing spiritual energy.

Furthermore, after Will Compression, the ability to control spiritual energy is enhanced; for Lin An, this means the application of Cataclysmic Power will be smoother.

You should know, the strengthening attribute of his self-created Cataclysmic Power essentially uses mental power to simulate a scalpel, slightly stimulating one's own cells to strengthen one's structure.

The current strengthening looks simple, but in the middle stage, if precision is insufficient, once a problem occurs during brain strengthening...

That is like dancing on the tip of a blade—either death or injury.

Moreover, the additional Spiritual Energy Shield is even more enticing to him.

Before spiritual energy is completely exhausted, being immune to all damage and negative effects is stronger than the Infinite State. The difference is one passive, one active, each has its merits.

He doesn't really care about immunity to damage; the key point is immunity to negative effects.

Against ordinary enemies, Lin An can crush them all the way, relying on his terrifying regenerative ability; even if he just drags it out, he can wear the opponent down to death.

But these few times problems arose, they were all due to non-physical damage.

Crystal Skull, Dream Meme...

Being immune to all negative effects, isn't it almost invincible when facing various events?!

At least, before spiritual energy is completely used up, the Spiritual Energy Shield can buy enough reaction time, rather than being caught off guard and capsizing in a gutter.

Clutching a skill scroll like a sheepskin scroll, Lin An couldn't help but feel torn for a moment.

To exchange or not to exchange?

After hesitating for a moment, seeing the ancient sheepskin scroll continuously emitting a silver light like flowing water, Lin An took a deep breath and decisively activated the scroll.

One drawback, three benefits—it's definitely worth it.

Less mental detection, then so be it!

Even if ordinary enemies charge head-on, he's not afraid; what he fears is an attack that he can clearly see but cannot defend against.

Rather than that, it's better to ensure that in all situations he has the capability for direct combat!

「Hum—」

The body shuddered violently upon activation, and in an instant it sank into the chest like flowing water.

His eyes briefly lost focus; in his mind, Lin An felt that the inner brain core where his mental power was stored suddenly exploded like a galaxy, the dense mental power instantly compressed into substance, transforming into a tiny white fragment that slowly rotated in his mind.

The pain of mental power compression surged like a tidal wave.

For a moment, Lin An couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, and even the air in the cabin shuddered violently.

「Lin Dui, are you alright? ！」

Seeing the veins suddenly bulging on Lin An's forehead, Yun Tian, who had been standing nearby guessing anxiously, suddenly became flustered.

A moment later.

The fragment stabilized and slowly rotated.

And as the fragment rotated, waves of spiritual energy continuously spread outward to the body's surface, enveloping Lin An's entire body like a shockwave.

Drenched in sweat.

The sensation of mental power exploding was like a dagger being stabbed into the brain; even though Lin An's will was extremely firm, he momentarily felt somewhat weak.

Is it over?

Propping himself up, Lin An waved his hand while taking deep breaths, indicating to Yun Tian that he was fine, and then eagerly opened his system interface.

At a glance, the original blue mental power bar had indeed disappeared, replaced by a surge of spiritual energy increased by one-third.

Moreover, after recovering, Lin An instinctively raised his right hand.

I don't know if it's because the will was compressed, but now he feels he sees the world more clearly, as if originally using mental power to scan—dust in the air, fluorescent powder in the light tubes, and ripples like faint transparent threads filling his surroundings.

Everything, everything, is clear as if directly projected into the mind.

The right fist slowly clenched, and a large amount of more detailed data surged into consciousness like a flood.

Exerted muscle groups, maximum punch force, bone condition, blood flow speed...

What a wonderful feeling...

Like a blind man regaining sight, a deaf man hearing the world.

The effect of Will Compression is far better than Lin An initially imagined.

He lowered his head, Lin An tapped the invisible ripples on his body with a hint of curiosity.

Although it only covered the body surface, upon contact a strong resistance immediately appeared. With slight force, the invisible barrier instantly turned into highly elastic rubber, blocking his touch.

It seems this is the effect of the spiritual energy shield.

After several trials, Lin An, quite satisfied, deactivated the spiritual energy shield.

Under the protection of the spiritual energy shield, he clearly felt as if wrapped in an absolutely safe 'eggshell', any external substance could not freely pass through.

If he activated the Death God's Mask, he wouldn't even need to breathe, completely isolated from the entire world.

Unranked special skill... indeed somewhat interesting.

With a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, after Lin An relaxed his mind a bit, he subconsciously glanced outside the hanging window.

Now he felt his condition was very good.

The surging spiritual energy and the newly added defensive measures each could bring him great improvement.

The only pity is that, after using mental power detection for so long, he probably can no longer use it.

Just as Lin An was about to say something to Yun Tian, the Second Will side also seemed to have just finished drawing a skill.

Within the Thought Space, the Second Will expressionlessly traded for an identical scroll, then vanished.

("If you think it's a trap, you can choose not to learn.")

Having regained the tone from its first appearance, the Second Will's words carried little emotion, merely adding a hint of provocation.

Without giving an answer, one second later Lin An saw the system notification from the Second Will's trade.

"Ding, player Lin An, I offer you the unranked special skill: Night Healing."