Chapter 110: Perfect Artificial Soul

With all matters concluded, Wu Chang and the others left the Crimson Wave Dimension with Zhao Yan, returning to the Haiwang City Administration Bureau.

As they left the Crimson Courtyard, he saw a bald man approach Zhao Yan and say something with a smile.

The bald man looked familiar to Wu Chang, but he couldn't recall when he had seen him before.

Back in the real world, Wu Chang asked the question he cared about most.

"Instructor, we've all been confirmed as permanent staff—does this count as civil service now?"

Zhao Yan sent the confirmation application forms to Wu Chang and the others, telling them to fill them out: "Yes, and it's a special position—you'll get special care for your family, priority rescue rights under law, and state special allowances."

Wu Chang asked: "Housing?"

As a coastal city, Haiwang's prices weren't cheap; a regular undergraduate, after graduation, might never finish paying off a mortgage even if they worked until retirement.

Wu Chang had only asked casually, but Zhao Yan replied seriously: "Yes."

Zhao Yan opened a city overview map, revealing all districts of Haiwang City before them.

Each district had over a dozen housing complexes—these were the residences allocated by the Countermeasures Bureau to official members.

"You may freely choose any you like—floor level, lighting, interior style—all can be previewed directly. Once selected, you gain full usage rights; after one year in the Bureau, ownership transfers outright."

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, everyone's eyes lit up, and they began selecting their preferred residences.

Everyone present came from ordinary families—either living with family or sharing rentals with strangers—and owning their own home held immense appeal.

During residency, you may apply to change housing at any time, so there was no need to be overly cautious; they quickly picked their targets.

Wu Chang chose a complex in Heping District, where Haiwang University was located—near a commercial street, with excellent transportation and convenience.

To facilitate the Bureau members' movements, the allocated complexes were mostly adjacent to one another.

But the complex he selected was at least three to four kilometers from the nearest other Bureau complex, greatly reducing encounters with other members.

After selecting their complexes, Zhao Yan briefly outlined additional benefits for official members, then dismissed them.

Leaving the Bureau, Wu Chang headed straight for the Jinjing Garden he had chosen.

The housing handover process went smoothly—the Bureau had prepared everything in advance.

When he arrived at the entrance of Jinjing Garden, the community's property system had already registered his data, allowing automatic facial recognition entry.

Following the provided address, he reached his chosen unit, pressed his thumb against the electronic lock, and the door opened automatically.

Jinjing Garden was a new development from early last year, with excellent floor plans and suitable for living.

Unfortunately, Haiwang City's housing prices had dropped; before even opening, prices fell 10% within half a year.

People always chase rising prices and flee falling ones—the lower the price, the harder it was to sell; rumors said that after over a year, the complex's occupancy rate was only 30%.

With units unsold but quality solid, that was likely why the Bureau selected it.

The first thing upon moving in was to use his Insight to scan the surroundings for cameras or surveillance devices.

The room was spotless; he sensed nothing suspicious.

But then again, it made sense—this was dormitory housing for Abyss players, whose skills varied wildly, and detection abilities were countless; ordinary listening devices were hard to hide.

Better not install any at all than risk being discovered and removed—better to leave a good impression from the start.

With everything settled, Wu Chang finally turned his attention to the reward from Ebert's Blood Testament.

Ebert's Blood Testament granted him two Energy points, two Insight points, and one Will point.

In addition, there was a golden rhombus-shaped crystal.

"Item Name: Perfect Artificial Soul"

"Item Type: Consumable"

"Item Rank: B"

"Item Description: Professor Ebert's masterwork, the pinnacle of artificial souls. Fusing the artificial soul with a selected item awakens a sentient spirit within the item."

"Note: You're already a mature item—learn to control yourself."

After claiming Ebert's Blood Testament reward, Wu Chang's current stats were:

Player Nickname: NoBeef.

Player Level: 12 (6300/2600) (3700/3000) (700/3400)

Title: Perfectionist, Breakthrough Master.

Health: 21 Strength: 20 Agility: 16 Endurance: 16 Energy: 16 Insight: 94 Will: 69 Free Stat Points: 10 Corroded Silver Coins: 65500.

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms Proficiency (Proficient).

Cultivation Techniques: Thunder Technique Fragment (D), Basic Space Magic (F).

Items: Silver Dawn, Favor of the Goddess of Luck, Whisperer's Echo ×1, Poison of the Commoner, New Recruit Rules of the Secret Knight Order, Soul-Purifying Flag, Four-Sided Flame Lamp, Saint's Remnant Mask, Healing Type I ×3, Small Recovery Potion ×2, Proof of Pride, Perfect Artificial Soul.

Talents: Transcendence, Misfortune, Ocean-Favored Transformation.

With ample Corroded Silver Coins, he spent 20,000 to upgrade Thunder Technique Fragment to C-rank.

As the Corroded Silver Coins were deducted, lightning energy surged through his body, leaving tingling and searing sensations wherever it passed.

He felt his internal energy pathways expanding, his flesh strengthened by electric refinement.

When the transformation from the technique upgrade faded, he found that not only had he unlocked his ultimate technique "Summon Thousand Lightning," but the C-rank Thunder Technique Fragment also granted him +5 Health, +5 Strength, +5 Will, and +5 Energy.

Of course—cultivation techniques are cultivation techniques; who ever heard of learning one without gaining stats, only skills?

When upgrading Thunder Technique Fragment to C-rank, he'd thought 20,000 Corroded Silver Coins for a C-rank skill was overpriced. Now, looking back, it was a steal.

Against opponents without cultivation techniques, the 20 stat points from the technique alone equated to a four-level advantage.

Had it not been for the 50,000 Corroded Silver Coins needed to upgrade from C to B—which he couldn't afford—he'd have leveled Thunder Technique Fragment to max right now.

A single glimpse reveals the whole picture: if a major faction's core player had the best cultivation technique, the best hidden class transformation, and pre-raid stat points, by level 30 they could easily outpace a solo player by hundreds of stat points.

But there was nothing to be done about it.

A Thunder Technique Fragment capped at B-rank required 70,000 Corroded Silver Coins to max.

An A-rank or S-rank cultivation technique would demand astronomical sums of Corroded Silver Coins.

Such a massive investment won't make sense unless it grants dozens or even hundreds more attribute points than a regular player's.

After the Lightning Art fragment, he spent 15,000 Rotten Silver Coins to upgrade Space Magic to Intermediate Space Magic (D).

Perhaps it hadn't reached the threshold for qualitative change—the upgrade to Space Magic didn't add extra attribute points.

It merely increased the "Efficient Space Utilization" value from +50% to +200%. The "Inner World" skill gained a scene editor.

After the upgrade, his portable backpack had expanded to three cubic meters in size.

Next, he spent 500 Rotten Silver Coins to buy over a dozen occult artifacts from the trading zone, then spent the entire afternoon arranging an Inner World inside his residence.

The marker to enter the Inner World was the reverse-flow incense burner placed beside his bedroom bed.

When he lit the incense cone, the smoke flowed like a cloud-waterfall, cascading down the mountain scenery and pooling beneath the burner.

Ding-dang~

As the bell beside the burner rang, the smoke suddenly dispersed, filling the room.

When the mist thinned, Wu Chang had entered the Inner World he had arranged.

The 90-square-meter room, under the boost of "Efficient Space Utilization," became 270 square meters in Inner World state.

Using the Inner World's scene editor, he imported a home renovation blueprint he'd liked online—within a second, an ordinary residential home transformed into a luxurious penthouse.

The practicality of Space Magic was evident here: beyond combat, its enhancement to quality of life was visibly apparent.

He shook his head, banishing the thought of relaxing in the home theater room, and muttered to himself: "You didn't create an Inner World to play—you created it for secrecy."

He took out the Saint's Mask; as the skill activated, Eileen appeared before him, still asleep.

This was the secret he had to preserve.

Eileen quickly woke, gazing bewildered at the unfamiliar surroundings, and asked:

"Mr. Sycos, where is this?"

Wu Chang said: "When no one else is around, call me Wu Chang. Before I answer your question, you must first tell me—do you remember what happened before you fainted?"

Eileen recalled: "I remember you drew a circle and told me not to leave under any circumstances. After that, I don't remember anything."

Wu Chang nodded—it matched his expectations.

"Wait a moment."

He turned his back, spent a moment cultivating emotion, practiced a few times, felt his demeanor was sincere enough, then turned and said: "Eileen, there's something I must tell you—I am not a native of your world. I am a time-traveling wanderer, dedicated to thwarting the evil schemes of villains across different planes and protecting the peace of all realms."

"You didn't faint—you were possessed. Hidden within 'The Great Mother's Blessing' was a projection of the Great Mother's consciousness. She forcibly seized control of your body, seeking to claim the evil artifacts left by Count Jemaine and dominate the entire world."

"With Professor Ebett's help, I shattered the Great Mother's plot and successfully expelled her from your body."

Eileen's eyes widened. She stared fixedly at Wu Chang, her beautiful pupils filled with question marks.

The saintess, renowned for her wisdom, felt her mind momentarily freeze.

The content Wu Chang spoke was so absurd that she believed this Knight of Arcane Arts had gone mad—she considered using Holy Light to soothe his mind.

But when she enveloped Wu Chang in Holy Light, she discovered every word he spoke was true.

Dammit—now she thought she herself had gone mad.

Watching Eileen, who had chosen to abandon thought, Wu Chang finally said: "Professor Ebett feared that if you remained in your original world, you'd be controlled again by the Great Mother. He entrusted you to me and asked me to bring you to my world."

"If you don't believe me, try sensing—can you still feel your Lord, or the will of the Great Mother?"

Eileen, like a drowning woman clutching at a straw, closed her eyes to pray—but soon opened them again.

Gone. All gone.

The warm, gentle gaze, the kind voice, the wise revelations and encouragements she'd always felt during prayer—gone entirely! She felt neither her Lord nor the ever-responsive Great Mother.

At this moment, she should have felt negative emotions—anxiety, unease, confusion—but under the soul's constraint, she couldn't even generate such emotions as outlets.

Yet the information she'd heard forbade her from continuing to think rationally or positively.

Wu Chang watched Eileen struggle, then took out the Perfect Artificial Soul, embedded it into a pendant, and hung it around her neck.

The next moment, a prompt appeared before his eyes.

"Equipped Perfect Artificial Soul. Eileen's soul has changed—she has regained all missing emotions."

"With her soul completed, Eileen has become a complete deity—her future path as a deity now has no upper limit."

"Eileen's divine true form duration has doubled; cooldown time reduced by 50%."

"Eileen's faith has been shaken."

Third update today—for a Two-Update Beast, three updates are truly difficult.

(End of Chapter)