Chapter 181 - 139 Spirit Realm

Chapter 181: Chapter 139 Spirit RealmBefore Ling Yufei entered, Ji Xinghuo had already noticed this female Mutant. She was the kind of beauty that would turn heads wherever she went, but her gaze was cold, and her face remained expressionless when she spoke, giving off an impression that she was difficult to get along with, like a black rose with thorns. Her magnetic field strength and Ether Energy fluctuations were very high, almost similar to Tan Jichun’s, but she was much younger than Tan Jichun, probably around thirty-five years old. At this age, to have reached the pinnacle of a Super Mutant, both strength and talent could be considered top-tier globally. However, her intentions did not appear to be friendly. "Yes." Ji Xinghuo narrowed his eyes and replied, "What advice does Ranger Ling have?" Colleagues from the Sword Bureau, if not in a superior-subordinate relationship and not well-acquainted, could address each other as Swordsman. "I dare not advise," Ling Yufei spoke indifferently. "You are a Mutant from the Star Ladder, and also the last on the list, perfect for testing my strength." Ji Xinghuo was taken aback, "What do you mean?" Tan Jichun hastily spoke up to stop her, "Yufei, don’t be rash. Xinghuo is someone Zhou Bureau has specifically instructed us to look after. I asked you to train him, not find an opponent for him." "I mean no harm, I just want to try and see if I also qualify for the Star Ladder." Ling Yufei ignored Tan Jichun and looked at Ji Xinghuo, tilting her chin up slightly, and said proudly, "Swordsman Ji, do you dare to spar with me for a few moves?" Confidence, and even a hint of arrogance, filled her eyes. Ji Xinghuo roughly understood. The Swordsmen of the Sword Bureau had to keep their identities secret, which meant that, despite their strength, they couldn’t participate in the Star Ladder. Some didn’t care, but it mattered to others. Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo asked, "Section Chief Tan, are you sure that Ranger Ling is the ace of the Sword Bureau?" Anger flashed across Ling Yufei’s face. "Of course," Tan Jichun said earnestly. "Yufei is a Shadow Dancer, skilled in Stealth and Assassination, with top-tier combat capabilities. She’s also an expert in firearms, proficient in all types of thermal weapons, with a Master level of Archery Skill, and her combat strength is equivalent to a whole Sword Team." So, she is a Shadow Dancer. Ji Xinghuo was somewhat surprised. This advanced profession was a combination of Ranger and Shadow Blade, with flexible and fast moves, talented in long-range shooting, and formidable in close combat. Rangers have a unique feature that other professions don’t have: they are stronger on Earth than in the Star Realm! The reason lies in firearms. Since the Star Gate opened, technology made leaps and bounds. Earth’s nations developed numerous formidable thermal weapons, with Precision, fast firing rates, long ranges, and various supportive accessories. Rangers who switched from bows and arrows to firearms saw a surge in strength. The lower the Rank of the Ranger, the higher the increase in strength on Earth. A suitable thermal weapon can allow a Ranger to wield a destructive power far beyond their own Rank. With both Stealth abilities and Ranger Archery Skills, there are no more terrifying Assassins on Earth than Shadow Dancers. No wonder Ling Yufei was so proud; she truly had the credentials. Ji Xinghuo’s interest was suddenly piqued. These days, fighting those Martial Artists on the Martial Arts Platform, he had always won, finding little challenge and becoming somewhat bored. He hoped that Ling Yufei would bring some variety. "How shall we spar?" he inquired. Seeing Ji Xinghuo agree, Ling Yufei’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded, "I know you haven’t used firearms, so let’s use bows and arrows, no limitation on abilities. The training department has a projection chamber. We’ll simulate a real battle in the Spirit Realm, fighting to the point of death to determine the winner, best two out of three rounds." "Agreed," Ji Xinghuo readily accepted. The two quickly agreed, not giving Tan Jichun a moment to intervene. However, when he heard it was only a simulated battle, he breathed a sigh of relief but still promptly reported the situation to Zhou Yishang. Ji Xinghuo followed Ling Yufei into the combat training room. There was a row of projection chambers here, similar to virtual login pods in appearance but several times larger, and fundamentally different from them. The virtual login pods enter a world made up of digital constructs, where every object is made up of zeros and ones, converting digital signals into neural signals fed into the brain, tricking one’s senses to feel as if they had stepped into another world. The projection chamber, however, was a piece of Ether Technology. Its core component is called the "Spirit Realm Stone," a rare and wondrous object from the Star Realm. The Spirit Realm Stone contains a "real" world within. To this day, scientists have not figured out its material and principles. Using technology akin to that of the virtual login pods, it’s possible to project people’s consciousness into the world contained within the Spirit Realm Stone. In there, everyone can have a body identical to their real one, with Star Power, Ability, Weapon Equipment, no different from the real world. You can also get injured, feel pain, and even die within the Spirit Realm. But once you leave the Spirit Realm, you’ll be fine. Dying within the Spirit Realm can cause some damage to one’s psyche, requiring two to three days for Recovery. If one dies too many times, it can leave psychological scars. Spirit Realm Stone is the best method for simulated combat, greatly enhancing the strength of Mutants. Because Spirit Realm Stones are exceedingly scarce, they cannot be widely distributed. Using a Spirit Realm Stone also consumes "Ether Crystals," without which the world inside would dissipate. And Ether Crystals are an even more precious resource, so only wealthy organizations can afford to use Spirit Realm Stones to train Mutants. Usually, it’s the armed departments of nations or the top tycoons, big corporations, or groups. On Earth, the most common application of Spirit Realm Stones is in top-tier professional leagues, especially the Super League, where every match takes place inside the Spirit Realm. At the moment, there were Swordsmen in the combat training room engaged in battle. "First, select your weapon and equipment." Ling Yufei walked into the nearby armory and picked a recurve bow, along with dozens of arrows, and hung a long sword and a short one at her waist. Ji Xinghuo’s Invisible Stab was in his Dimension Stomach; of course, it couldn’t be taken out now. He had brought the Demon Sound today. He also chose a composite bow from the armory, a Superpower One Star, with a draw weight of about 180 kilograms, its overall performance comparable to the "Wolf Teeth" series of the Green Field’s Fairy Bow. Although it couldn’t compare to the Invisible Stab, it would do, and after pulling the string a few times, he had mastered the bow’s performance. Neither of them wore armor, displaying great confidence. Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As Ji Xinghuo and Ling Yufei were selecting their weapon equipment, the swordsmen from the training department heard the news and came to watch the excitement. The swordsmen were very familiar with Ling Yufei. But no one recognized Ji Xinghuo. The matter of Ji Xinghuo skipping class over a year ago was highly confidential, and even inside the Sword Bureau, few were aware. The swordsmen waited quietly, without whispering, displaying extremely high discipline. At that moment, several people rushed into the combat training room. "Director Zhou." "Captain Min." "Chief Tan." The swordsmen greeted them one by one. Besides these three, there were a few captains of the Sword Team who, after entering, were all sizing up Ji Xinghuo. With their rank, they naturally knew about Ji Xinghuo’s situation. Ji Xinghuo keenly noticed that among them, two looked at him with some hostility, guessing it had something to do with Yan Xiao. But with Zhou Yishang present, no one dared to make a fuss. Zhou Yishang looked at Ji Xinghuo and Ling Yufei and said authoritatively, "A spar is just a spar, regardless of the outcome. Leave any emotions in the Spirit Realm and don’t bring them into reality to affect the work of the Sword Bureau." "Yes, Director Zhou," Ling Yufei said, bowing her head to Zhou Yishang, no matter how proud she felt. Ji Xinghuo nodded. Soon, two swordsmen exited the projection pod, startled to see so many people standing around. The world within the Spirit Realm Stone is fixed and unchanging, with each projection pod connecting to the same world. Others had to wait for those inside to come out before they could use it. "You two go in," said Zhou Yishang. Ji Xinghuo and Ling Yufei, carrying their weapon equipment, lay down in the projection pods. A silver helmet-like cover went over his head, fitting closely to his skull, and as he heard the countdown to activation, the scenery instantly changed when the countdown ended. Ji Xinghuo found himself standing by a river, with not-too-dense forests on both sides, undulating terrain with flatlands and mountains but no signs of wildlife. He took a few steps and felt it was completely the same as reality. Star Power and Abilities could be exerted normally. The sensations coming from his body were almost indistinguishable from reality. He said almost because when Ji Xinghuo closed his eyes to concentrate, he immediately noticed something was off. "It’s still illusory!" "But it’s so much more real than a virtual world made of digital signals." "If the virtual world has a reality fidelity of 80%, the Spirit Realm’s fidelity reaches 99%, imperceptible to most people compared to reality." Ji Xinghuo exclaimed to himself. Scientists had long speculated that the Spirit Realm Stones were man-made but probably not products of the Star Realm nations, more likely coming from a higher civilization in the Milky Way, a miraculous sci-fi creation made by combining technology with Ether! Without opening any interface, Ji Xinghuo could feel that the Wanxiang Star Pupil was equally effective in the Spirit Realm. His Microscopic Perception was not weakened either. Looking far off, Ji Xinghuo immediately saw the end of the Spirit Realm, which was about ten square kilometers, slightly smaller than his magnetic field perception range, perfect for complete coverage. Outside the Spirit Realm was emptiness with nothing in it. He immediately spotted Ling Yufei. They were not far from each other, only about six hundred meters apart. Ling Yufei had already entered Stealth State, sneaking through the opposite side of the forest, clearly, she had also spotted him standing by the river. Ji Xinghuo looked up at the sky. The scenes from the Spirit Realm were projected onto the screens in the combat training room, showing a bird’s-eye view of the entire area. Every move he made was now being watched by the swordsmen of the Sword Bureau. "It’s time to show my real Archery Skill." Ji Xinghuo, holding the composite bow, walked into the forest unconcerned with hiding his tracks, heading straight for Ling Yufei’s location. The distance between them closed rapidly. There were still over three hundred meters between them, with thick forests and underbrush in between, completely obscuring each other’s figures. However, Ji Xinghuo had already drawn his bow, shooting an arrow.