Chapter 381: This World Is Too Abstract

To activate the abandoned teleportation array, the energy supply system had to be restored.

The forums had plenty of relevant data provided by lore-hunter players.

But Bo Yan still chose the most convenient method.

Asking the wondrous Guide.

After getting the information he wanted, he summoned the player Marketplace interface and purchased a batch of Spirit Crystals.

Every expenditure of Shou Shou Jili made his heart ache unbearably.

As an explorer-type player, his income mainly came from picking up Enlightenment Orbs along the way, harvesting spirit plants to list on the trading board, and even various scraps along the route, which he sacrificed to Beneath Di Zhao.

He had no stable source of income at all; every bit of Shou Shou Jili earned was stained with the dust of travel.

But for a potential opportunity, this Shou Shou Jili naturally had to be spent.

As a player, the most painful thing is missing out.

Shou Shou Jili can be saved up again once spent, but opportunities wait for no one.

The next time he might encounter one could be far in the future.

Following the Guide's instructions, Bo Yan first took out the "Revealing Concealment Powder" purchased from the trading board.

This was a silver-gray powder crafted by lore-hunter players, blended with multiple spiritual materials, specifically used to break through concealed environments.

He raised his hand and lightly tossed it toward the open ground in the center of the stone chamber; the powder drifted down like fine snow.

The instant it touched the ground, a faint glow arose, as if countless tiny fireflies were wandering through the dust.

As the powder landed, pale-gold array patterns materialized on what had been empty ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Gradually, they overlapped with the array outline seen under his Spirit Eye trait.

The interwoven lines on the array seemed to come alive, pulsing faintly with the rhythm of the spiritual energy in the air; the dim crystal at the array's eye also took on a mist-like halo of light.

Bo Yan took a deep breath and took out the Spirit Crystals he had just bought from the Marketplace.

These rhomboid crystals contained flowing, lustrous white energy; each one cost 2,000 points of Shou Shou Jili, and if he failed, he'd probably feel the pain for several days.

Following the Guide's prompts, he took out an Inscription Knife and began carving the Spirit Crystals into shape.

After confirming everything was correct, he embedded the Spirit Crystals one by one into the grooves at the array's edge.

Filling them all would consume 86 Spirit Crystals, but he only needed to ensure activation; everything else could be kept simple.

So he only bought 12 Spirit Crystals.

Even though doing so would mean the teleportation carried a risk of death, it was still better than spending too much Shou Shou Jili to fill the array.

At worst, he'd die a few times trying.

Problems that can be solved with lives aren't real problems.

But problems that require Shou Shou Jili to solve — those are big problems.

Besides, he probably wouldn't use this teleportation array more than a few times.

Unused crystals retrieved could only be sacrificed to Beneath Di Zhao at a discount price.

As for selling them to fellow players from back home, that would also have to be at a discount.

After all, everyone has access to the player Marketplace; if they want them, they can just buy directly from the Marketplace — no one would take them without profit.

Twelve Spirit Crystals corresponded exactly to the array's twelve main nodes.

The instant the last Spirit Crystal slotted into place, the entire stone chamber suddenly trembled.

The Spirit Crystals embedded in the grooves erupted with intense light simultaneously; energy surged wildly along the patterns into the array's eye, and the dim crystal lit up with a "hum," casting pale-gold radiance onto the ceiling of the stone chamber, weaving a complex star chart across the bone walls.

At this moment, he stepped into the center of the teleportation array and, following the steps given by the Guide, used his spiritual sense to trace patterns above the array.

Before long, the light and shadow at the array's center began to spin, faster and faster.

Eventually, it tore open a deep, dark rift.

A powerful suction force surged from the rift, and his feet immediately left the ground.

The Treasure-Hunting Rat on his shoulder was so startled it burrowed into his chest; Bo Yan instinctively held the little creature tight as a wave of weightlessness crashed over him.

He felt as if grabbed by an invisible hand and pulled into the rift

A roaring sound rang in his ears; the stone chamber, the bone walls, the glow of the Spirit Crystals all receded at tremendous speed, finally shrinking into blurry points of light.

Then his figure shot rapidly through the twisting passage.

Countless fragmented scenes flashed past — a rib-arched gateway of a giant beast mountain range standing amid thunderstorms, a fluorescent-blue lake rippling, blurry figures running through a jungle.

These scenes flickered faster and faster; his eyes gradually failed to track them, until white became the only background.

He didn't know how long passed before the weightlessness suddenly vanished, replaced by a strong sensation of falling.

Leaving the spatial rift, he found himself high in the sky.

Wind whistled past his ears; Bo Yan instinctively looked down.

Below was a churning sea of clouds.

As his figure pierced through the clouds, a magnificent giant city spread out across the land.

The city's edges stretched out of sight; blue-gray walls snaked like giant dragons, and glowing crystals were embedded throughout the city, refracting iridescent colors under the light.

The most eye-catching feature was a white giant tower at the city's center, piercing straight into the clouds.

A man-made "light source" hovered at its peak, casting radiance bright enough to illuminate the entire city.

Countless flying shuttles weaved between the buildings; viewed from high above, they looked like a school of glowing fish swimming through the air.

In its layout, with the central white tower as the center, streets spread outward radially; the roads were all paved with jade, and beneath them flowed spirit veins, pulsing like the city's blood vessels.

The architectural style somewhat resembled the ancient Chinese style he had learned about from history books.

There were elegant pavilions with upturned eaves and pointed corners, and angular, austere buildings.

Beyond the most prosperous districts, large tracts of farmland could be seen laid out within the city.

A faint green glow shimmered across the ridges of the fields — clearly improved spirit fields.

Beyond that lay an artificially constructed mountain range within the city, shrouded by a thin mist, with countless palace silhouettes faintly visible atop the peaks.

At the foot of the mountains, a waterfall plunged straight down into a lake glowing with blue light, where several boats were moored on the surface.

The scene before him made Bo Yan realize he had arrived at a secluded paradise.

This civilization most likely parasitized the Monster World through spatial docking, extracting resources from the Monster World without directly participating in its resource wars.

It was somewhat similar to A Le.

The speed of the descent increased, and the details of the city grew clearer.

It could be seen that the entire city was divided into two parts.

Centered on the white Gao Ta, the buildings to the west of the city were dominated by black, while those to the east were dominated by gold.

Bo Yan decisively released his spiritual power, converted it into telekinesis, and used it to support his body, slowing his descent.

What worried him now was whether this city possessed a defense system.

He feared that before he even entered the city, he would be killed by invisible barriers and hidden defensive measures.

If that were truly the case, the initial investment would be wasted.

Fortunately, the worst thing did not happen.

As he continued to fall, he noticed that in the border zone between the east and west of the city below, two forces were engaged in combat.

To avoid being killed, Bo Yan decisively activated "Twilight Shadow," one of the Painful Painful Minghun that exploration-party players must embed.

His form turned into shadow, and he suppressed his aura into his body.

Looking down again toward the direction where the two forces faced off, the scene before his eyes made Bo Yan's brain freeze.

On the stone road at the border between the east and west of the city, two groups of figures were facing each other.

One side wore black robes, while the other wore golden robes.

Suddenly, the humanoid life form leading the black-robed side stepped forward, flicking a diamond-shaped crystal coin from his fingertip.

That crystal coin exploded in mid-air, transforming into a stream of energy that surged into the body of the leading figure.

Immediately, someone from the golden-robed camp responded, waving his hand to fling a string of copper coins; the coins linked together in mid-air and then likewise transformed into a beam of energy surging into his body.

The two figures locked fists in mid-air.

Instantly, a string of complex characters appeared above each of their heads.

As the characters twisted, they transformed into clear numbers in Bo Yan's mind.

They were: -13048 and 12839.

Just after the two numbers appeared, the figure from the golden-robed camp with 12839 above his head seemed struck by an invisible giant hammer; he let out a muffled groan, was sent flying backward, then his legs went weak and he collapsed to his knees, his face pale as paper, seemingly lacking even the strength to raise a hand.

The black-robed figure, however, remained motionless and landed steadily.

"Huh?"

Seeing this, Bo Yan was a bit stunned.

He completely failed to understand what was happening.

Thinking he might have missed a detail, he pulled up the recorded footage and repeatedly reviewed it in slow motion to confirm whether he had overlooked something.

Could it be that both sides had clashed countless times in an instant too fast for the naked eye to capture?

But the fact was, there were no spells colliding, nor any exchanges of fists and feet.

The two sides merely made physical contact for an instant, a string of numbers jumped above each of their heads, and then the golden-robed figure was drained of all strength and collapsed to the ground.

What kind of fight was this?

But the subsequent conflicts were all this abstract.

Every time either side made a move, a string of numbers would appear above their heads.

As long as one side's number was lower than the other's, they would disintegrate the instant they made contact.

The so-called battle required no clashing of spells or collision of weapons; victory was determined entirely by the string of numbers above their heads.

Landing in a small grove within the border zone, Bo Yan decisively turned his head to look at the guiding water sphere floating beside him:

"Brother Guide, I don't understand; what are they doing?"

Facing the question, the guiding water sphere slowly opened its eyes and explained:

【This is a cultivation civilization world, but unlike the Ascension Small Worlds controlled by the Ascension Clan... you can understand it as a world purely based on numerical comparison under the cover of rules. Unlike the outside world, which requires comparisons of skill, talent, life strength, and Deng Duo Zhong factors, everything in this world is quantified into specific numbers. Cultivation power numbers are the core combat strength; they call cultivation power 'wealth.' The stronger the wealth number, the higher the strength. Even resources and industries can be converted into wealth numbers that can increase or decrease.】

【The numerical collision you just saw was essentially a collision of financial power. When the gap between numbers exceeds a threshold, the weaker side is directly suppressed by the rules without any extra action; the side with the lower number will inevitably be defeated... This is the law of this world, and no creature in this world can defy it...】

As the Guide spoke, it conjured an arm and gently tapped.

Instantly, a light screen appeared before Bo Yan.

It displayed a progression chart of cultivation realms (wealth).

Bo Yan finally understood what exactly had happened in that abstract scene just now.

According to the Guide's explanation, the Gao Ta Space is a world where wealth is supreme. Here exists a growth system similar to a cultivation civilization, but what is cultivated is not realms, but wealth.

Everything a cultivator possesses, including magical artifacts and cultivation power... will be measured as wealth numbers and wealth realms.

The method of engagement between the two sides is also simple: the instant they make contact, they display their wealth numbers to each other, then compare the magnitude of the numbers.

The side with the higher wealth number is definitely stronger than the side with the lower wealth number.

Therefore, increasing one's own wealth number is the growth direction pursued by all creatures in this world, which is simply stacking numbers to become stronger.

Because there is no possibility of winning through skill here.

The entire world is covered by the "Golden Authority Rules"; creatures from the outside world entering it must also act according to this rule logic.

Strength will automatically be converted into "wealth numbers," and the method of combat will change to a numerical comparison.

For example, if he went up now and engaged a cultivator from this world.

The instant their bodies made contact, numbers would appear above their heads.

Once the wealth number comparison ended, if his number was not higher than the opponent's, he would be instantly defeated and lose the ability to fight.

And the way to raise one's strength in this world was also very simple: earn money.

All spiritual materials brought into the Gold Power World would be exchanged into wealth values and injected into the holder's personal account.

This gave birth to cultivators who specialized in cross-boundary hunting; they would form groups and leave the Gold Power World, traveling through the many teleportation arrays that connected to the outside to explore the Monster World.

They sought prey, spirit plants, and all manner of spiritual resources, then brought them back to the Gold Power space where they were automatically exchanged into wealth values.

One could understand it this way: the Monster World was the "Mi Jing" in the eyes of Gold Power World cultivators.

Different teleportation arrays connected to different Mi Jing scenes.

Mi Jing were rife with all kinds of unknown risks; a single careless moment could lead to utter ruin.

But the returns from exploring a Mi Jing were also extremely considerable—various heaven-sent treasures, opportunities for inheritance, ruins of powerful clans… bring back an opportunity to the Gold Power World and it could become "wealth cultivation."

Next came internal operations that created value.

For example, the large tracts of spirit fields in the cities were means of production that could regularly output wealth values.

The spirit plants produced could be exchanged directly into wealth values, or sold to other cultivators to be refined into spirit pills and spirit artifacts, multiplying the wealth.

Intelligence, transport, entertainment consumption… cultivators in the space could earn wealth by providing services, and the wealth obtained was directly converted into their own strength.

Likewise, every expenditure caused the wealth value to drop.

The well-developed growth system also gave rise to special institutions in this world similar to banks.

They earned the interest spread by taking in deposits and issuing loans.

There also existed institutions modeled on stock Jiaoyisuo and funds.

Cultivators could grow their wealth through financial activities such as deposits, investments, and lending.

For example, the Tian Xiu Alliance in the Gold Power World decided to head to a Mi Jing (Monster World) for exploration.

It was certain that the process of exploring the Monster World carried enormous risk.

To raise the success rate of this expedition, the Tian Xiu Alliance would launch a fundraising drive to the outside, borrowing wealth values provided by other cultivators to boost the strength of its own exploration team members.

For instance, they would publish a "Mi Jing Exploration Plan" at the "Wan Xiang Tong Bao Pavilion" in Tian Quan City, detailing the project's contents, risk level, and so on.

During this period, the total capital required for the entire project would be split into equal "profit shares."

For example, each share worth 1,000,000 in wealth; cultivators could subscribe to one or more shares according to their own financial means.

Then the reward mechanism had to be made clear.

Commonly adopted was a fixed return plus a share of the profits.

After the exploration ended, regardless of the harvest, the Tian Xiu Alliance would first take a portion of the returns and return it to investors by share, guaranteeing their basic return.

The remaining profit portion would be divided according to investment ratio—the more invested, the greater the dividend.

But this investment model, while bringing in outside wealth, also carried risk.

If the exploration failed and the Mi Jing exploration team was wiped out, then all investors' principal would be entirely lost.

Everything the Tian Xiu Alliance itself had invested would likewise be lost.

In this model, the Tian Xiu Alliance was the fund-raising party.

By ceding a portion of future returns, it borrowed investments provided by civilians and other factions to strengthen the exploration team's power.