"This is finally the last stroke. I wonder what will happen."
Guan Tong looked at the page before him. After half a month, he was finally about to finish the last stroke of the two words, "Sublimation Coin."
He calmed his nerves, picked up the pen, and channeled his Psychic Power against the [Wordless Book]'s resistance, slowly and precisely writing the final vertical stroke of the last character.
After finishing, he put down the pen and watched for any changes on the page.
Soon, the page began to flutter, though there was no wind.
Just like when he had first written the two words "Guan Tong" on the first page, the characters he had written began to spread and lift off the page itself.
Guan Tong's eyes widened slightly at the sight. 'Could it actually work?' he thought.
The two words, "Sublimation Coin," lifted from the page and intertwined, twisting like strands of a rope before compressing into a stream of data.
The next moment, this "data stream" shot toward Guan Tong.
WHOOSH!
Guan Tong watched as the black stream of data slammed into his body. An indescribable sensation spread through his brain, as if something had been altered.
He didn't hesitate, immediately opening his personal terminal to check.
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Shadow]
[Title: Orderkeeper]
[Psychic Power: 114]
[Sublimation Coins: 110 (10)]
[Comprehensive Bio-Info Assessment: Excellent]
Guan Tong's gaze was fixed on the Sublimation Coin count.
The sight made his breath catch.
"110… I really got 10 more coins. This is…"
Guan Tong couldn't believe that such a far-fetched idea of his had actually succeeded.
'The [Wordless Book] is powerful enough to let me generate my own currency just by consuming Psychic Power… This is just…'
In his excitement, Guan Tong also noticed the number "10" in the parentheses after the Sublimation Coin count.
He had originally thought it represented the number of Sublimation Coins produced by the [Wordless Book], but after checking, he found that these 10 "homemade" Sublimation Coins had limitations.
[Sublimation Coins: 110 (10)]: The Sublimation Coins within the parentheses are personal Binding Coins. They can only be used to purchase items in the Sublimation Store and cannot be used in trades with other people.
"...So that's how it is."
After reading the details, Guan Tong smiled anyway.
'Even though the coins produced by the [Wordless Book] are a bound version that can only be used in the terminal's store, it's still ridiculously overpowered!'
This way, Guan Tong could exclusively use his self-produced Binding Coins for purchases in the store, saving all his other Sublimation Coins for trading with other people.
"I never thought the [Wordless Book]'s power would be this incredible." After the excitement subsided, Guan Tong stared at the ordinary-looking book on his desk. "Just what is the origin of this thing…"
At this point, he'd have to be an idiot not to realize how extraordinary his [Wordless Book] was.
Although he didn't know how effective the items other people had bought at the start were, he was certain very few could compare to his [Wordless Book].
He had only used two of its pages so far, and they had already produced the powerful and distinct functions of "Shadow" and "Sublimation Coin generation." Who knew what else he could develop by using the remaining pages.
"But… unlike with 'Shadow,' the words written on the second page are gone now."
Guan Tong looked at the now-blank second page. The two words "Sublimation Coin" that were written there had turned into a data stream and flowed into his body, leaving the page completely empty again.
In other words, creating the bound Sublimation Coins was a one-time thing. After creating them once, he would have to consume Psychic Power to write the two words "Sublimation Coin" all over again if he wanted to make more.
"...Even so, it's worth it."
Guan Tong did the math. With his current Psychic Power cap and recovery rate, he could write the two words once every half a month to obtain 10 Binding Coins. That meant he could do it twice a month to get 20.
The production rate seemed low, but that was only because his Psychic Power cap was relatively low. If it increased in the future, the situation would improve greatly.
And so, over the next half a month, Guan Tong repeated the process.
On the final day, he successfully wrote the two words "Sublimation Coin" again, obtaining another 10 Binding Coins in the same manner.
Furthermore, a month's worth of this consumption-and-recovery cycle had increased his Psychic Power cap by 2 points, bringing it to 116.
This rate of increase was undoubtedly faster than before. Previously, it had taken him over twenty days to increase it by just 1 point. This time, it had increased by 2 points in thirty days, showing a gradual acceleration.
Guan Tong had seen someone online speculate that the speed at which one's Psychic Power cap increased was related to their Comprehensive Bio-Info Assessment.
The higher the assessment, the faster the increase.
Although this theory hadn't yet been included in the white papers, Guan Tong felt it made a lot of sense.
After his assessment was upgraded to "Excellent," he clearly felt much stronger than when it was "Ordinary."
It wasn't just the growth rate of his Psychic Power cap; his body also seemed to be subtly strengthening.
This enhancement wasn't apparent over a day or two, and was barely noticeable on a weekly basis, but when measured on a monthly scale, he could feel subtle changes in all aspects.
Guan Tong figured that since the overall proportion of people with an "Excellent" assessment was small, there wasn't much discussion about it online yet.
But as the gap continued to widen, this fact would surely become widely acknowledged.
Guan Tong thought to himself, 'It seems the officials and those private giants are quite forward-thinking. Spending vast resources to recruit High Spirit Users in advance seems like a high-investment, zero-return gambit right now, but it will definitely pay off handsomely later on.'
But this also raised a worrying possibility. If the gap widened too much, would ordinary people be left completely behind, while the top-tier High Spirit Users became a new class, isolated from the common person?
On the last day before the third Apocalypse Rule arrived, Guan Tong didn't expend any more Psychic Power. He slept until just after eight the next morning, ate breakfast, and then sat quietly in his living room, waiting.
At that moment, countless people around the world were also waiting, their hearts filled with tension, fear, or even excitement.
Some even held onto the vain hope that the rules would suddenly stop being issued, or that the government had secretly developed a countermeasure against the Fire Thief.
But these were just wishful fantasies. At 9 a.m. sharp, the Fire Thief arrived on schedule with the new rule, not a second early or late.
[The Third Apocalypse Rule has been issued]
[Apocalypse Rule Three: Fasting Therapy]
[Rule Content: From the time of this rule's issuance, you may only drink water for 15 days. You cannot consume food.]
[Success Reward: 150 Sublimation Coins, First Ascender Challenge Invitation Letter]
[Failure Penalty: Psychic Power cap reduction]
[Note: If you wish to participate in the Challenge, you must pass this rule.]