Chapter 123 - 123 106 Life and Death

123: Chapter 106: Life and Death 123: Chapter 106: Life and Death “Lu Ping’an didn’t lie, you really did make a profit, and a big one at that.” After Lu Ping’an left, the two members of the Venus Mutual Aid Society naturally discussed all the gains and losses. Facing the sudden and enormous debts, Miss Lululu did not blindly comfort her disheartened partner slumped over the table. Instead, she analyzed the pros and cons. “Before, I had some understanding of Lu Ping’an’s abilities. Using ‘Plant Acceleration’ is simply too much of a cheat for a Gardener. But just now, I’ve guessed something about his abilities.” With that, she flipped the card open again, and the “-138” on it was strikingly prominent. “Life-points, I haven’t heard of such a thing, but it’s obviously a high-end Rule System product customized from ‘Self-made Rules’. If we were to understand it as a ‘super-level Life system power’, then Lu Ping’an’s abilities would be explained… at least most of them can be explained if Life-points are a highly concentrated compressed life force.” Because it’s a highly concentrated life force, diluted nutrients can force plant acceleration… but don’t plants need environmental factors and nutrients? “It tramples over most of what I have learned, but it is theoretically sound. After all, extraordinary power can do anything in the world of the Extraordinary, and a high-level pollution can cover and crush low-level pollution.” In that case, part of Lu Ping’an’s abilities had been exposed. “His ability should be centered around ‘Life-points’, granting and harvesting them. I have to admit that this is a simple and practical ability, with its upper limit determined by Life-points… ” At this point, Miss Lululu, a scholar and gardener with stronger scholarly abilities, looked at her sister with a bit of expectation in her eyes. “… In this sense, it’s actually a good thing that you paid off only one point for so much money. This means that each Life-point has exceptionally high value, and every time you ‘invest’, you are actually getting substantial returns. Unbeknownst to you, you’ve made a lot of money, which is why your progress during this week reached the level of several months, and even used the president’s privileges in the society at all costs to secure Lu Ping’an. He’s worth the price.” The Venus Mutual Aid Society put in great effort and sincerity to secure Lu Ping’an, and the “Gift” they offered far exceeded the standard for ordinary Newborns. “But with things developing to this extent, we must adjust our attitude towards him. He is not a ‘talented Newborn’ as we had imagined but a ‘potential Strongman who can trade on equal terms with us’. He showed great sincerity and demonstrated his abilities to us. We should respond, or we may become enemies. At best, we might go our separate ways and miss out on this opportunity for development.” At this point, Hua Xueyi, who was originally a good student, was somewhat puzzled. “Isn’t it just a high-level Life system power? Does it have such a high value?” “Yes, it does. You don’t understand. The more one is a Life system power-user, the more one understands how counter-intuitive it is to grant ‘life’ to others. The ‘life’ of each individual is finite, and when it runs out, it should come to an end. This is the most fundamental natural law.” “But Lu Ping’an broke the most basic natural rules! And each time he ‘invested’, you actually gained extra life. That’s a huge return that even I didn’t dare to think of before… ” There were some things Miss Lo was still pondering and couldn’t say too clearly. She was able to determine that “Life-points” were the key to everything. Lu Ping’an’s ability to rewrite life rules using “Life-points” had a decisive piece of evidence. “Cancer, I just got Lu Ping’an’s basic information from my mentor. He used to be a terminal cancer patient, and then he suddenly ‘got better’… This is completely incredible.” “What’s so difficult to understand about this? Isn’t it just another disease cured by Life-system abilities? Isn’t that what Healers are best at?” “But cancer isn’t a disease! At least in the understanding of Life system, cancer is merely a choice of self-evolution and change of life cells, not a disease at all. Theoretically, it cannot be cured!” In the era of both supernatural and scientific understanding, incurable diseases are becoming increasingly rare, but cancer has made supernatural systems give up on treatment. According to the Life system’s definition, the problem with cancer is that a large number of cancer cells draw too much life force from life, and the cancerous organs may lose their original design function… This is also the root cause of most cancer patients dying emaciated or due to some functional failure. However, the continuous replacement and change of life cells are the instincts of living beings. The evolution and mutation themselves are not wrong; the cancer cells everyone has, whether more or less, occasionally produce a superior mutation that evolves the entire group. It is just the “change itself” that is good or bad for the individual. The basic principle of the Life system is to encourage evolution and encourage more and more changes to occur. Allowing cells to stop mutating and return to their original state? Well, let the Death system handle it; perhaps they can stop all mutations by killing all the cells. “I personally suspect that his cancer actually hasn’t been cured, and he’s using his Life-points to maintain his life. This power can forcibly buy life! Now, do you understand the value of these versatile Life-points?” “Actually, the debt you owe might be a good thing. It gives us an opportunity to catch a ride. We should adjust our attitude towards him. He should be a collaborator rather than a junior, or even an investor with a slightly higher status than us… ” After signing the confidentiality agreement, the Venus duo accepted reality and quickly adjusted their strategy, actively helping Lu Ping’an collect more materials and information, at least forming a good relationship. As for Lu Ping’an himself, he wandered around the campus, wasting his precious life-points and time. Indeed, the girl’s guess was not wrong, on the system panel of Lu Ping’an, there was indeed such a mark at the top. [Current cycle life maintenance cost: 6,000 points. The next cycle will be calculated in half a year. Please prepare sufficient balance for the host to deduct fees.] Yes, Lu Ping’an’s cancer was not cured, so he said “The hospital can’t detect any cancer cells,” rather than “The cancer is already cured.” In that ceremony, he gave up all his life… Not much, probably worth only a few life-points, but it also resulted in his life being reset to zero. So to continue living, according to the rules of the Life Bank, he would only need one point a day, which would be 365 points a year. Why did he borrow six thousand points and repay one thousand each month – that’s a 20-year burden! “Heh, this disease is ruthless, burning through 20 years of life-force in half a year.” This was actually just the beginning… “In the next cycle, I might need even more, maybe double. Even if I find a way to make money, I’ll eventually fall behind in making payments.” If Lu Ping’an’s guess was correct, the next node would re-calculate the “life maintenance fee” according to the situation. Cancer cells would only multiply, and the maintenance costs would only get higher with each cycle. Perhaps, in the end, he would become a monster with every cell in his body being a cancer cell (uncontrolled mutant cell). However, just thinking about the next time, there probably won’t be any more loans. Lu Ping’an must earn more to prepare for the deduction balance. Even Big Cat admired his mental resilience. The sound of death lingered in his ears constantly, but he could still sleep peacefully and treat it as a lullaby. Each time he used his ability was like taking a step towards death, yet he could still laugh so happily, live so joyfully, and casually throw away points without heartache. “Really, he must be crazy already…” At this moment, Lu Ping’an swallowed the remaining “Time Poison” and suddenly aged in front of everyone, squinting his eyes and feeling the pain and pleasure near death, “…It’s a bit, not enough. Tsk, not strong enough.” After paying the “price”, he shook his head and the aging on his body disappeared without a trace. It wasn’t that the effect of Silver Poison had come to an end, but rather after taking the poison, Lu Ping’an felt that the “aging” on his body was merely an illusory image and could be easily broken free with a little effort. So, he tore it off as if tearing a thin piece of paper. “This is one of the reasons I recommended you acquire the sub-concept of the Death system. These curses that ‘bring life closer to its end’ are just vacuous falsehoods for someone like you who has handed their life over to the bank for management. Pollution in front of stronger pollution can only be covered and eroded.” Lu Ping’an immediately understood. Was it because he had already cursed himself that these “weaker fellow curses” could only wear a weak shell? “This makes it sound like the Death system and the Life system are similar.” “Heh, there are many concepts in academia, and no one can convince anyone. But in my opinion, there is no such thing as a Death system in this world, only the ‘state of losing life’ system. Without life, there can’t be a state of death…” Looking at the quietly rising “Taboo Knowledge,” Lu Ping’an silently gave it a thumbs-up. “No wonder there’s no Death system in the Six Great Systems, but only a Life system… is it directly included?” “Don’t take the Six Great Systems too seriously, they’re actually just rough classifications based on functionality, not scientific at all. However, as tools for understanding, the Six Great Systems are qualified. Each system actually represents two opposing concepts: life and death, rules and anti-rules, changing others and changing oneself, passing on seeds and devouring harvests, protection (isolating oneself) and restraint (others)…” “Stop, stop, my Taboo Knowledge is about to break 7! I’m not a (taboo) Scholar yet!”