68: Chapter 68 Development Path

Zhen Lu took a sip of water and told Matthew about what happened during the day.

Two people came to get their chips injected, and their attitudes were arrogant.

After the injection, he picked them up one in each hand to intimidate them, and only let go when Sun Yi's call came through on their communicators.

Matthew listened and looked at him. "Why did you suddenly grab them by the throat? It wasn't just because of their bad attitudes, right?"

"Someone has been following me for the past two days." Zhen Lu set his water cup on the stone bench.

"I only noticed it once, by chance. It's highly likely that these two were the ones tailing me."

"So you gave them a lesson. To make sure your face is etched into their minds."

"Not just that." Zhen Lu looked up. "I've heard that a person's gaze has weight. If they have no emotion toward me and are just mechanically executing a surveillance task, their eyes are blank when they look at me, and it's hard for me to perceive their presence. But if they hate or fear me, and there's an emotion weighing on their minds every time they look at me, that gaze must be very heavy. My Mental Power is much higher than theirs, so I can feel that pressure pushing against me."

Matthew leaned against a stone pillar, listening to him, and didn't reply immediately.

"This way, I can take the initiative. Who is watching me, when they started, and how long they've been watching—I can sense it all just through perception," Zhen Lu said.

Matthew was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"You're right, but only those with perceptual abilities can do that. It seems you have a talent for this as well."

Zhen Lu did not deny it.

Zhen Lu set his water cup on the stone bench, his tone sinking into a more serious register.

"There's one more thing. I want to conduct an experiment." He looked at Matthew. "How much can the chip monitor? Everything I've known before came from you or The Resistance, just information. I want to figure it out for myself."

Matthew leaned against the stone pillar, waiting for him to continue.

"Just now, when I grabbed those two, their vital signs fluctuated, and headquarters called in less than half a minute. This reaction speed was a bit slower than I estimated. If it were happening to my own body, I need to know for myself just how intense it has to be to trigger a response."

Zhen Lu raised his left hand; that needle mark on the inside of his forearm didn't exist in the game.

"Strenuous exercise, heart rate spikes, adrenaline surges—at what threshold will they call, at what threshold will they just log the data, and at what threshold will they ignore it? I have to test these out myself. With this benchmark, when the time comes to actually take action, I can control my physiological responses to stay within a range that won't trigger an alarm, or know when I need to prepare in advance."

Matthew was silent for a moment, then spoke. "How do you want to test it?"

Zhen Lu lowered his arm. "Go out and find a place to run a few laps, push my heart rate to the limit, and test it step by step."

"But truth be told," Zhen Lu set his water cup on the stone bench, his mouth twitching slightly,

"The Resistance pays really fast. I just released those two this afternoon, and a million was already in my account."

Matthew leaned against the stone pillar and raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do with so much money?"

"Buy Skill Scrolls." Zhen Lu looked up at Matthew, his tone calm but candid,

"Buy them early, practice them early. Holy Light Enhancement, Holy Light Barrier, and the path for my future development—I can secure them now.

You know my background. I'm just a commoner, with no family backing me, and no one to pave the way for me.

I can only rely on this money, and on myself, to speed up my progress."

"Do you have any other suggestions for my future Holy Light advancement?"

Zhen Lu looked at Matthew, his tone serious,

"What general direction should I take, what skills do I need—please tell me clearly once and for all. I'll take advantage of having money in my account now to exchange for the corresponding Skill Scrolls before I get loose with my spending later."

Matthew leaned against the stone pillar, thought for a moment, then spoke.

"You need to practice your current Holy Light, plus learn Holy Light Link and Holy Light Barrier. There is already enough to learn and practice. I can tell you about the next steps: once your foundation in Healing-oriented Holy Light is stable, there are three directions: Purification, Enhancement, and Range."

"Purification is a horizontal extension of Holy Light, specifically for clearing toxins, curses, and negative status effects. Enhancement is vertical; it temporarily boosts the target's physique and strength while Healing, falling under the buff category. Range goes without saying; you can currently connect up to three people with Holy Light Link, but later you can expand the coverage to an entire squad or even a larger area."

"As for priority," Matthew tapped his finger gently on the stone pillar twice,

"Purification comes first. You know best about the chip issue; Purification-type skills provide an extra layer of insurance when a meltdown is triggered. Instead of waiting for toxins to be released and then using Healing to block them, you can purify them directly in advance. Enhancement is second. In the future, whether you're on missions with Guardians or dealing with The Resistance, just Healing others isn't enough; making them stronger than they were before they were injured is a truly rare ability. Range is third; expand it once the first two are stable."

"You should be able to find Purification-type Skill Scrolls in the church's side hall; just ask at the counter for the names. For Enhancement, you can start with Holy Light Blessing. Don't worry about Range for now."

Matthew leaned against the stone pillar, was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"Regarding the positive extension of Holy Light, you already have Barrier and Link. Continue practicing these two skills; there is still room for improvement in both. There is also a direction for reverse extension, called Holy Light Backlash. It involves reversing the flow of Healing energy to cause a brief conscious shock to the target, resulting in interruption and control. This ability requires an application to learn, and the Skill Scrolls in the game aren't easily sold; they require an application."

"Regarding Mental Power, we usually advise Healers to train their Mental Power simultaneously, as many Holy Light skills rely on it for activation. Further up, there are several branches: when facing psychics or mental interference, Mental Power defensive capabilities are crucial. Building on that, increasing the upper limit of the Mental Power pool can support longer high-intensity battles. Afterward, it's about the delicate application of externalizing Mental Power. How you combine these depends on your actual situation."

He withdrew his arm and crossed them over his chest again. "My advice is to prioritize shoring up your weaknesses against mental control and hallucinations. In the future, when dealing with various factions, the probability of encountering psychics or mental interference is no lower than that of encountering knife wounds. As for other directions, you can decide for yourself. That's all the advice I can give you for now."

Zhen Lu listened silently; Matthew had only told him what forks in the road lay ahead.

He calculated in his mind: Purification must be obtained as soon as possible, as the things in the chip are no joke; Mental Resilience must also be added, as one can never have too many life-saving items; Holy Light Blessing is very useful for operations, so that can be secured first too.

As for the rest, he would wait until this batch was in hand before deciding.

"I'm going to buy the Skill Scrolls first." He stood up.

Matthew nodded. "Go ahead."

Zhen Lu came out of the Training Room, walked along the corridor, and turned into the side hall.

The young monk was still behind the counter, wiping the light screen, and looked up when he heard footsteps. "What do you need?"

"Purification, basic-level Skill Scroll. Holy Light Blessing, basic-level Skill Scroll. Mental Resilience, basic-level Skill Scroll."

The young monk pulled them up on the light screen one by one: Purification for 250,000, Mental Resilience for 220,000, Holy Light Blessing for 200,000, totaling 670,000.

Zhen Lu transferred the payment, took the three Skill Scrolls, and tapped them onto his body one by one.

White light flashed in succession, and three more appeared in his skill bar.

Purification removes toxins and curses; Holy Light Blessing temporarily increases the target's physique or strength; Mental Resilience blocks mental attacks and hallucinations.

He left the side hall, passed through the light curtain portal in the main hall, and returned to the Main Star Plaza.

He had Xiao Guang pull up the list he had previously bookmarked at the auction house: Basic Psychokinesis, 300,000 credits, bought at the fixed price.

With the Skill Scroll in hand, he didn't use it in the Main Star Plaza but stowed it away directly.

The account balance shrank significantly again.

He had spent 970,000 tonight; the speed of spending was faster than earning, but the new skills neatly lined up in his skill bar made him feel that every cent was well spent.

He closed the panel and stood in the plaza, looking at the deep purple starry sky slowly rotating overhead.

Time to go make more money.

[Temporary Summoning] World: Fucui · Requirements: Mastery-level melee combat capability · Number of people: 5 / 5 · Reward: 20,000 credits · Duration: 8 hours · Included Skill: Headlong Charge