Chapter 174 Ascension of Strength <TOC> Chapter 176 Sunset and the Distant Road
Translator: SumTLMan
Li Mu stood atop the Tower of Spectral Energy, spreading his palms and feeling the wind blowing against his face. His complexion was pale, as white as wax, with hardly a trace of color.
He picked up his water bottle, took a big gulp of water from the Sun Spring, and a faint flush finally appeared on his face.
He now experienced a peculiar sensation, with both weakness and strength coexisting within his body.
Twenty psychic energy pathways spread throughout his body formed a perfect cycle. Psychic energy circulated within them at an almost ceaseless high speed, flowing through his limbs and returning to his brain, nearly unending.
After completely refining the Dan and constructing his psychic energy pathways, Li Mu could finally understand what psychic energy looked like through the eyes of a shaper-type awakened individual.
Raising a finger, pitch-black psychic energy gathered into a mass above his fingertip, resembling viscous flames flickering slightly.
With a flick of his finger, the flames shot out like a fire meteor, and with a hook of his finger, the psychic energy flew back to his fingertip.
With the assistance of his psychic energy pathways, Li Mu could now control psychic energy remotely, within a range of about a hundred meters. This achievement was already on par with weaker shaper-type awakened individuals.
This was a far cry from his previous predicament when he couldn’t even separate his psychic energy from his body.
He could feel that psychic energy had become organically integrated with his body. It was no longer an energy awakened by external stimuli but more like an innate organ, such as blood.
Next, he needed to follow the secret technique on the Dragon Roar Golden Bell Barrier, creating intricate branches on his psychic energy pathways. This required a long and arduous process, only possible after the psychic energy pathways had solidified.
Newly constructed psychic energy pathways needed long-term circulation of psychic energy to be thoroughly solidified within the body. It was best to do this during combat, as the extreme tension of battle put a tremendous strain on the psychic energy pathways, resulting in a solidification effect that could not be compared to a calm state.
There would be no shortage of opportunities for battle in the future.
Li Mu gazed at the distant town, lost in thought for a rare moment. Soon after, he cast aside his hesitation and weakness.
He prepared to attempt using the secret technique of the Ourobin Five-Eyed Race.
The essence of the secret technique was to transform a certain exotic object into an external psychic energy organ, allowing one to possess certain characteristics of the third energy level in advance.
Furthermore, due to the inanimate nature of the exotic object, its endurance far exceeded that of living organs. Psychic energy organs formed from exotic objects were usually very powerful, far surpassing ordinary psychic energy organs.
Upon reaching the third energy level, enhancer-type awakened individuals needed to modify their own tissue organs with psychic energy and holy relics. These psychic energy organs could bring various incredible magical powers to the awakened individuals, providing them with a crushing advantage over fourth-energy-level awakened individuals.
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The Eleventh Night Festival is an important celebration in the Xindu Federation, held at the juncture of the rainy and dry seasons. After the Ten Victories Festival, the terrifying and dark rainy season arrives in full force.
As no one can guarantee their safety during the rainy season, most people indulge in non-stop revelry for these three days, immersing themselves in the grand festivities, attempting to forget the dangers of the season.
However, in the impoverished Orissa jurisdiction, the entertainment options for the common folk are limited. Even during the Ten Victories Festival, they can only drink some alcohol and watch traveling circus performances in the town square.
But today, there is another crucial task at hand: igniting the Fire of Plutonium.
The monsoon of the rainy season will blow away the radioactive dust hovering over the wasteland. After humanity lost the protection of the Child of Plutonium, the descender would destroy one settlement after another like anteaters, consuming humans like ants.
The Fire of Plutonium serves as humanity’s last refuge during the rainy season. Each settlement pays a hefty price to purchase Seeds of Plutonium from the governor, and then ignites them on the final day of the Eleventh Night Festival, hoping to survive the lengthy rainy season.
Only written applications signed by both the Pancaya Council and the security officer can request the purchase of Fires of Plutonium from the governor.
This is also the means by which the governor controls settlements within the jurisdiction. If they wish to punish a settlement that has expelled the Pancaya Council and the security officer, there is no need to deploy armed forces; simply denying the purchase rights for the Fire of Plutonium will suffice.
After a rainy season, those settlements attempting to break free from the governor’s rule will vanish into the wilderness.
Inept craftsmen created seven or eight bizarre-looking descender figures from paper and wooden sticks and piled them in the center of the square.
As a representative of the council, Tabor exerted all his strength to throw a torch into the midst of the paper-crafted descender figures. Orange-yellow flames swiftly engulfed them, blazing fiercely.
The onlooking townspeople cheered, tossing various firecrackers into the blaze. Amidst the crackling sounds of the firecrackers, fireworks burst in all directions.
In the roaring flames, the paper-crafted descender figures were quickly reduced to ashes. Tabor picked up a fresh torch coated with grease and ignited it with the dying embers on the ground.
The Seed of Plutonium, a fist-sized silver-white metal, was placed on a copper vessel engraved with sun patterns.
Upon contact with the open flame, the entire Seed of Plutonium instantly emitted a dazzling, multicolored glow. Although the glow was faint, it evoked a strong sense of danger.
Simply staring at the flames for a moment would induce an intense dizzying illusion.
The townspeople gazed fervently at the Fire of Plutonium. With the cultists of the Soul Cult eliminated by the security officer, their only hope for survival during the rainy season lay in this tiny Fire of Plutonium.
A single piece of Seed of Plutonium could burn for six months, sheltering Orin Town through the perilous rainy season. For this, Orin Town had spent a total of eight hundred gold lasus. The councillors of the Pancaya Council contributed one hundred and fifty, while the remaining amount nearly drained the townspeople’s savings from the dry season.
Li Mu stood aloof from the crowd, watching the bustling scene.
Civilians from various settlements in the entire Orissa jurisdiction were migrating with their families in tow. They dragged large and small bundles, accompanied by the elderly, their wives, and children, setting up tents outside the town.
The tent area was chaotic and smelly, with sewage flowing unchecked.
The power of the Fire of Plutonium had already weakened to its limit here, providing only a slight psychological comfort.
The gunmen under the councillors were collecting fees from each tent, requiring a payment of thirty silver takas to set up camp outside the town, or else they would be driven out.
Even for the councillors, this was a significant income.
There were not a few people like this, who held on to a glimmer of hope that the new Pancaya councillors might be more compassionate. Due to water shortages and marauders, this year’s cotton harvest had not been good, and many people could not afford the required amount.
The dark muzzles of the guns utterly extinguished these people’s hopes.
Chapter 174 Ascension of Strength <TOC> Chapter 176 Sunset and the Distant Road