Chapter 382: This World Is Too Abstract

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

The forum offered a wealth of relevant data provided by lore-expert players on this very subject.

Yet Bo Yan still chose the most convenient method.

He asked the miraculous Guidance.

After obtaining the desired information, he summoned the Player Mall interface and purchased a batch of spirit crystals.

Every expenditure of sacrificial power made his heart ache immensely.

As an exploration-focused player, his income relied mainly on picking up Enlightenment Information Orbs along the way, harvesting spiritual plants to list on the Trading Hall, and even collecting various scraps encountered en route, all sacrificed to Di Zhao.

There was no stable source of income whatsoever; every bit of sacrificial power earned was stained with dust and wind.

But for the sake of potential opportunities, this sacrificial power naturally had to be spent.

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

Sacrificial power could be saved up again if lost, but opportunities would not wait once they expired.

The next time such a chance appeared might be in the distant future.

Following the Guidance's instructions, Bo Yan first took out the "Reveal-Hide Powder" he had bought from the Trading Hall.

This was a silver-gray powder crafted by lore-expert players, mixed with various spiritual materials, specifically designed to reveal hidden environments.

He raised his hand and gently flicked it toward the empty space in the center of the stone chamber; the powder drifted down like fine snow.

The moment it touched the ground, it shimmered with a faint light, as if countless tiny fireflies were wandering within the dust.

As the powder settled, faint golden array patterns became visible to the naked eye on the previously empty ground.

They gradually aligned with the array outline he saw under the Spirit Eye trait.

The interwoven lines of the array seemed to come alive, pulsing slightly with the rhythm of spiritual energy in the air, while the dim crystal at the array's eye glowed with a mist-like halo.

Bo Yan took a deep breath and retrieved the spirit crystals he had just bought from the Mall from his travel bag.

Flowing with pearlescent white energy, each of these rhombic crystals cost 2,000 points of sacrificial power; if this failed, he would likely feel the pain for several days.

Following the Guidance's prompt, he took out an engraving knife and began carving the shape of the spirit crystals.

After confirming everything was correct, he embedded the spirit crystals one by one into the grooves along the array's edge.

Filling them completely would consume 86 spirit crystals, but he only needed to ensure activation; all other issues were simplified.

Therefore, he purchased only 12 spirit crystals.

Even though doing so meant the teleportation carried a risk of death, it was better than spending excessive sacrificial power to fill the array.

If worst came to worst, he could just die a few more times to try again.

Problems that could be solved with one's life were not problems at all.

But if a problem required spending sacrificial power to solve, then it was a major issue.

Moreover, he would likely use this teleportation array only a few times.

Any unused crystals retrieved could only be sacrificed to Di Zhao at a discounted rate.

As for selling them to fellow countrymen, that would also have to be at a discounted price.

After all, everyone had the permission to open the Player Mall; if they needed something, they could just buy it directly from the Mall. No one would want them without a profit margin.

The twelve spirit crystals corresponded exactly to the twelve main nodes of the array.

The moment the last spirit crystal was put in place, the entire stone chamber suddenly trembled.

The spirit crystals embedded in the grooves simultaneously burst forth with intense light; energy surged wildly along the patterns into the array eye, causing the originally dim crystal to hum and glow, projecting pale golden light onto the chamber ceiling and weaving a complex star map upon the bone walls.

At this moment, he stepped into the center of the teleportation array and, following the steps given by the Guidance, traced patterns above the array with his spiritual sense.

Before long, the light and shadow in the center of the array began to rotate, spinning faster and faster.

Finally, it tore open a deep rift.

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

The treasure-hunting mouse on his shoulder, terrified, burrowed into his arms; Bo Yan instinctively hugged the little creature tightly as a sensation of weightlessness washed over him like a Black Tide.

He felt as though grabbed by an invisible hand, dragged into the interior of the rift.

A howling sound rang in his ears; the stone chamber, bone walls, and the glow of the spirit crystals all receded rapidly, eventually shrinking into blurred points of light.

Then his figure shot quickly through the twisted tunnel.

Countless fragmented scenes flashed past: the Rib Archway of the Giant Beast Mountain Range standing tall amidst thunderstorms, a fluorescent blue Firefly Lake rippling, and blurry figures running through the jungle.

The frequency of these flashing images grew faster and faster until his eyes could no longer capture them, and finally, white became the only background color.

I don't know how long passed, but the sensation of weightlessness suddenly vanished, replaced by an intense feeling of falling.

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

Wind howled past his ears, and Bo Yan instinctively looked down.

Below was a churning sea of clouds.

Once his figure pierced through the cloud sea, a magnificent giant city unfolded upon the earth.

The city's edges seemed to extend endlessly; gray-green walls wound like a giant dragon, and the city interior was studded everywhere with glowing crystals that refracted iridescent colors under the light.

The most conspicuous feature was a massive white tower in the city center, piercing straight into the clouds.

Suspended at its peak was an artificial "light source," casting rays bright enough to illuminate the entire city.

Countless flying boats shuttled between the buildings; viewed from high above, they resembled a school of glowing fish swimming in mid-air.

In terms of layout, with the central white tower as the center, streets radiated outward; the road surfaces were paved with jade, beneath which flowing spiritual veins could be seen, pulsing like the city's blood vessels.

The architectural style resembled the ancient Chinese aesthetics he had learned about in history books from early eras.

There were elegant pavilions with upturned eaves and simple, angular structures.

Beyond the most prosperous districts, large tracts of farmland planned within the city were visible.

A shimmering green light glowed between the furrows, clearly indicating improved spiritual fields.

Further out lay artificially created mountain ranges within the city, shrouded in a thin mist, with the outlines of countless palaces faintly visible atop the peaks.

At the foot of the mountains, a waterfall cascaded down, plunging into a Firefly Lake glowing with blue light, upon whose surface several houseboats were moored.

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

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

It was somewhat similar to A Le.

The speed of his descent increased, making the details within the city ever clearer.

It became apparent that the entire city was divided into two parts.

With the white high tower as the center, the buildings to the west of the city were predominantly black-toned, while those to the east were predominantly gold-toned.

Bo Yan decisively released his spiritual sense, converting it into telekinetic force to support his body and slow his descent.

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

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

If that were truly the case, his early investment would be all for nothing.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur.

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

To avoid being killed, Bo Yan decisively activated "Twilight Shadow," one of the Soul Souls that exploration-focused players must inevitably embed.

His figure transformed into a shadow, concealing his aura within his body.

Looking down again toward the direction where the two factions faced off, the scene presented before his eyes caused Bo Yan's brain to crash.

On the stone-paved road at the boundary between the city's east and west, two groups of figures were confronting each other.

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

Suddenly, the humanoid lifeform leading the black-robed side stepped forward and flicked a rhombic crystal coin from his fingertip.

The crystal coin exploded in mid-air, transforming into a stream of energy that surged into the leader's body.

Someone from the golden-robed camp immediately responded, waving a hand to fling out a string of copper coins; the coins linked together in mid-air and then likewise transformed into beams of energy surging into their bodies.

The two figures met fist-to-fist in mid-air.

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

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

They were respectively: -13048 and 12839.

Just after the two numbers appeared, the figure from the golden-robed camp, whose head displayed the number 12839, seemed struck by an invisible giant hammer; he let out a muffled groan, flew backward, then his legs gave way and he knelt on the ground, his Iron Face as pale as paper, seemingly lacking even the strength to lift a hand.

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

"Huh?"

Seeing this scene, Bo Yan was somewhat bewildered.

He completely failed to understand what was happening.

Thinking he might have missed some detail, he brought up the recorded playback, reviewing it in slow motion repeatedly to confirm whether he had overlooked anything.

Could it be that both sides had exchanged countless collisions in an instant too fast for his naked eyes to capture?

But the fact was, there was no exchange of spells nor any exchange of punches and kicks.

The moment the two sides made physical contact, a string of numbers jumped above their respective heads, and then the golden-robed figure was drained of all strength, collapsing to the ground.

What kind of fight was this?

Yet the subsequent conflicts were all equally abstract.

Every time either side attacked, a string of numbers would float above their heads.

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

The so-called battle required no spell exchanges or clashing weapons; victory or defeat was determined entirely by that string of numbers above their heads.

His figure landed in a small grove within the Borderlands, and Bo Yan immediately turned to look at the guiding water sphere hovering beside him:

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

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

[This is a world of cultivation civilization, but unlike the Ascension Minor Worlds controlled by the Ascension Clan... You can understand it as a world purely governed by rules and comparing numerical values. Unlike the outside world where victory depends on technique, talent, life intensity, and multiple other factors, here every existence is quantified into specific numbers. Cultivation value is the core combat power. They call cultivation 'wealth'; the higher the wealth value, the greater the strength. Even resources and industries can be converted into wealth figures that increase or decrease.]

[The numerical collision you just witnessed was essentially a collision of financial power. When the gap between numbers exceeds a threshold, the weaker party is directly suppressed by the rules without any extra movement; the side with lower numbers is bound to collapse... This is the law of this world, and no living being in this realm can defy it....]

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

Instantly, a light screen appeared before Bo Yan.

Displayed on it was a progression table for cultivation realms (financial power).

Bo Yan finally understood what that abstract scene had been about.

According to the Guide's explanation, the Jin Quan Space was a world where wealth reigned supreme. It possessed a growth system similar to cultivation civilization, but instead of cultivating realms, one cultivated wealth.

Everything a cultivator possessed, including magical artifacts and cultivation... would be measured as wealth value and wealth realm.

The method of engagement between two parties was also simple: upon contact, they would instantly display their wealth values and then compare the magnitudes.

The side with the higher wealth value would inevitably be stronger than the side with the lower wealth value.

Therefore, increasing one's own wealth value was the direction of growth pursued by all living beings in this world, meaning simply stacking numbers to become stronger.

This was because there was no possibility of winning through technique here.

The entire world was shrouded by the "Jin Quan Rules," and living beings from the outside entering it also had to act according to the logic of these rules.

Their strength would automatically be converted into "wealth value," and their fighting style would change to a comparison of numbers.

For example, if he went up now to fight a cultivator from this world.

The moment their bodies touched, numbers would also float above their heads.

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

The method to increase strength in this world was also very simple: make money.

All spiritual substances entering the Jin Quan World would be converted into wealth value and injected into the holder's personal account.

This gave rise to cultivators specializing in cross-realm hunting; they formed groups to leave the Jin Quan World, traveling through various teleportation arrays connecting to the outside to explore the Monster World.

They sought prey, spiritual plants, and various spiritual resources, then brought them back to the Jin Quan Space to be automatically converted into wealth value.

One could understand it as the Monster World being the "secret realms" in the eyes of the Jin Quan World's cultivators.

Different teleportation arrays connected to different secret realm scenarios.

Secret realms were filled with various unknown risks; a single misstep could lead to eternal damnation.

But the returns from exploring secret realms were also extremely substantial; all sorts of heavenly treasures, inheritances, opportunities, and ruins of powerful clans... bringing obtained opportunities back to the Jin Quan World could turn them into "wealth cultivation."

Secondly, there was internal management to create value.

For instance, the vast spiritual fields within the city were means of production capable of regularly generating wealth value.

The produced spiritual plants could be directly exchanged for wealth value or sold to other cultivators to be refined into spiritual pills and spiritual artifacts, thereby increasing wealth.

Intelligence, transportation, entertainment consumption... cultivators in the space could earn wealth by providing services, and the wealth obtained would directly transform into their own strength.

Similarly, every expenditure would cause one's wealth value to drop.

This perfect growth system also gave birth to special institutions similar to banks in this world.

They earned interest spreads by absorbing deposits and issuing loans.

Institutions similar to stock exchanges and fund models also existed.

Cultivators could increase their wealth through financial activities such as depositing, investing, and lending.

For example, the Tian Xiu Alliance in the Jin Quan World decided to explore a secret realm (Monster World) soon.

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

To increase the success rate of this exploration, the Tian Xiu Alliance would launch a fundraising campaign to the outside, borrowing wealth values provided by other cultivators to enhance the strength of their own exploration team members.

For instance, they would publish a "Secret Realm Exploration Plan" at the "Wanxiang Tongbao Pavilion" in Tianquan City, detailing the project content, risk level, etc.

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

For example, if each share was worth one million wealth, cultivators could subscribe to one or more shares based on their own financial power.

Then, the return mechanism needed to be clearly defined.

The commonly adopted model was fixed income plus profit sharing.

After the exploration ended, regardless of the harvest, the Tian Xiu Alliance would first take a portion of the returns and repay it to investors according to their shares, guaranteeing their basic income.

The remaining profit portion would be distributed as dividends according to the investment ratio; the more one invested, the more dividends one received.

But this investment model, while bringing in external wealth, also carried risks.

If the exploration failed and the secret realm exploration team was wiped out, then the principal of all investors would be completely lost.

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

In this model, the Tian Xiu Alliance was the financing party.

By giving up a portion of future returns, they borrowed investments from the populace and other powers to strengthen the exploration team.