Chapter 185: Chapter 184: Time Slow · Shattering Void · Melt Devour · Soul Split

Ma Ran raised an eyebrow, noticing that the girl called “Sister Xixi” by Qian Xixi was surprisingly compatible with all three Victory Stones.

However…

In the end, only one Victory Stone was attracted to her, absorbed and digested by her.

At the same time, in the Octagonal Stone Well, a new Victory Stone materialized out of thin air.

The girl left the Shengyu Stone Well, her face full of excitement: “My superpower is [Rejection]!”

As she spoke, she closed her eyes, and within a two-meter radius around her, all dust and pebbles were repelled by an invisible force, the air currents surged, and her feet gradually left the ground, floating up.

Not long after, the girl, who was previously full of excitement, turned pale, her lips turned cyan, and with a thud, she fell to the ground.

After taking a few breaths, she quickly returned to her normal state, and said excitedly: “In simple terms, I can use repulsive force to expel any matter and energy within a two-meter radius that I can mentally comprehend.”

“Including but not limited to sound waves, light, bullets!”

“Overusing the ability comes at a cost…”

“Losing my sense of presence.”

“Because I just awakened the ability and don’t quite know how to use it, I accidentally repelled the oxygen, so I couldn’t breathe, and I had to stop.”

Old Huang nodded solemnly, and on the tablet in his hand, the evaluation from the think tank was displayed — [Pillar] level.

“Pillar level, next!”

In the crowd, Ma Ran nodded slightly.

Out of three choices, this girl got the best ability.

The other two Victory Stones corresponded to [Dust Exorcism] and [Cleansing] respectively…

Although it’s hard to see the deeper aspects, just from the names, it’s clear that they’re not on par with [Rejection].

The side effect of [Rejection] is also very mild, much like the superpower of disappearing presence, which Ma Ran had encountered once before — it was a chūnibyō girl aiming to become “Earth’s Strongest Assassin.”

Unfortunately, by that time, Dong Huaiming had already suffered genetic collapse and body-mind distortion due to blindly researching You Civilization texts, otherwise, they would’ve had quite a bit in common.

If “losing presence” wasn’t a controllable ability but a phenomenon of superpower erosion, the side effects would merely be being bumped into by people, hit by cars, cut in line, or forgotten on the battlefield after completing a mission.

As long as there’s a slight noise made or the other person is touched, they can draw attention.

After all, it’s not a causality-level ability where you can slap someone across the face and they wouldn’t react — that’s called a [Paralysis Aura], not [Loss of Presence].

Moreover, when ordinary people cultivate to the seventh or eighth stage of Inner Qi, their spiritual power naturally grows, allowing them to detect lifeforms with zero presence.

Currently, at Grass Hut Academy, besides Ma Ran and Su Qiangwei, Wan Haihao can also find this girl within the “zero presence.”

Although it’s unclear what kind of devil training Wan Haihao went through recently, Ma Ran could clearly feel his vastly different spiritual outlook and belief will from before.

After the initial success, the subsequent ability awakeners paled in comparison.

Whenever a newcomer made a choice, the Victory Stones in the Octagonal Well seemed unchanged, but in fact, their internal properties were entirely refreshed, becoming “new awakening items” that were more compatible with the attributes of the ones to awaken.

Most of the newcomers lingered between strong under development level and weak pillar level.

The one who caught Ma Ran’s eyes was Li Xing.

In his past life, Li Xing awakened a superpower named [Extreme Cold], whose cost was the exact opposite of Song Chu’s [Blood Flame]; it involved a drop in body temperature, but with slightly fewer restrictions, and unlike Song Chu, it did not need blood or similar mediums to exhibit its power.

Among the Pillar levels, it was considered quite potent.

To be honest…

With Li Xing’s luck, awakening such a level of superpower had always been an unsolved mystery in his past life.

The topic was often teased by comrades and turned into banter material.

Rebirth does not mean omniscience and omnipotence.

The most typical example was the Demon Mountain incident; in the past life, no one knew that the Interstellar talents from the White Mane were the real masterminds, regarding them instead as inconsequential small fry in the larger scheme.

Originally, Ma Ran thought that as time passed, the truth behind many secrets would eventually be revealed.

Now, it seems possible to unveil the mystery of Li Xing’s ability ahead of time.

Ma Ran’s eyes flickered, focusing on the two Victory Stones most compatible with Li Xing.

One was called [Time Slow].

The other was called [Extreme Cold].

He could only see a rough outline.

To glimpse more detailed information, perhaps he would need further enhancement in spiritual power and You Civilization text proficiency.

Just the names suggest both seem strong.

However…

The former seems somewhat time-related and could likely be evaluated as a [National Guardian] level ability.

A grand lottery pool, a choice of two.

One top-notch ability, one advanced ability.

Li Xing chose the advanced one, which didn’t surprise Ma Ran in the slightest.

Ma Ran did want to help him select [Time Slow], but the problem was…

It seemed that due to the existence of [Roleplay], all the Victory Stones had zero compatibility with Ma Ran, breaking at the slightest touch.

As long as he didn’t hinder, that was acceptable…

Moments later, Li Xing officially awakened the [Extreme Cold] ability.

He emanated a chilling aura, his hair froze, standing erect, and a layer of white frost covered the ground beneath his feet; the phone he intended to use for recording also froze into an ice lump.

In the Octagonal Stone Well, the Victory Stone’s attributes were cleared, and the presence of [Time Slow] was no longer visible.

In a daze, Ma Ran vaguely sensed a pair of cold and indifferent inky eyes locking with his own.

A mechanical, genderless voice echoed beside his ears.

“Character label — ’Prophet’.”

“Experimental failure of ’Superpower Civilization Inheritance Conversion Test’.”

“Brief: [Shattering Void] compatibility 100%, [Melt Devouring] compatibility 93%, [Soul Split] compatibility 85%, strong rejection reaction, superpower load failure, unique material wasted, classified as superpower-incompatible physique.”

“Analysis: Target suspected of obtaining a broken super civilization legacy similar to [Future Observation], proposed dispatch of interstellar fleet for capture, or engage in civilization trade.”

“Proposal denied, denial reason — Idiot, scram! You think [Future Observation] is something you can handle? If Ma Ran isn’t a senior intelligence officer for a super civilization, I’ll eat ten billion tons of You people’s excrement on the spot! If you want to die go ahead, don’t drag others with you!”

“Data disrupted.”

“Disregarding the legacy value of [Future Observation], the experiment target has zero potential, unlikely to create variables.”

“Proposal to abandon some monitoring channels under construction, detailed list as follows: ’Prophet’, ’Martial God’, ’God’, ’Yin Yang Master’, ’Blood Flame’, ’Yukong’, ’Unity’, ’Caged Gaze’, ’Healing’, ’Pain Eater’, ’Expel Disease’, ’Extreme Cold’, ’Bone Melting Phosphorus Fire’, ’Rejection’….”

“Proposal approved.”

Beep!

The sight and sound vanished simultaneously.

Strangely enough.

The language used by the other party was one Ma Ran had never heard, yet he understood it directly.

In his previous life, Ma Ran knew that superpower awakened individuals were akin to human-shaped signal transmitters…

He initially thought it was a means for some outer star civilization to locate Earth.

Now it seemed, the situation was not as simple as that.

The grade of superpower civilization might surpass that of White Mane Civilization.

Just how many levels higher it was, wasn’t something that could be easily discerned.

However…

During this brief interaction, Ma Ran gained a lot of valuable intelligence.

First, superpower civilization seemingly obliterated supernatural civilization.

They’re trying to digest the non-material resource heritage of supernatural civilization.

Victory Stones are one of their experimental outcomes.

Second, superpower civilization is more timid than the White Mane Civilization.

Upon mistakenly labeling him a “super civilization’s intelligence officer,” they unhesitatingly abandoned dozens of surveillance channels directly related to him under construction.

Third, there exist certain past and hidden connections between superpower civilization and You Civilization.

The former’s level may be slightly higher than the latter’s.

“…”

Although uncertain about the principles behind eavesdropping on these messages, even somewhat doubting their authenticity and credibility, however…

In Ma Ran’s eyes, the previously chaotic cosmic situation suddenly became much clearer.

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