The Third Apocalypse Rule

"At last, the final stroke. I wonder what the result will be."

Guan Tong looked at the page before him. After half a month, he was finally about to complete the last stroke of the three words "Ascension Coins."

He steadied his nervous heart, picked up the pen, and summoned his Mind Power to resist the [Wordless Book]'s resistance, slowly and precisely completing the final vertical stroke of the character for "coin."

Once he was done, he set down the pen and watched the changes on the inner page.

Very soon, the page began to flutter without wind.

Just like when he had first finished writing the two characters "Guan Tong" on the first page, the characters written on the inner page began to spread outward, separating from the page itself.

Guan Tong's eyes widened slightly. Could it really work?

The three words "Ascension Coins" twisted together after leaving the page, coiling like a braided twist before compressing into something resembling a stream of data.

The next moment, that "data stream" shot toward Guan Tong.

Boom!

Guan Tong watched as the mass of black data flow "crashed" into his body. An indescribable sensation spread through his mind, as though something had been altered.

Without hesitation, he immediately opened his Personal Terminal to check.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Order Keeper]

[Mind Power: 1]

[Ascension Coins: 110 (10)]

[Comprehensive Biological Information Evaluation: Excellent]

Guan Tong's gaze fixed on the number beneath Ascension Coins.

One look was enough to make his breathing quicken.

"110... There really are ten more coins. This actually..."

Guan Tong could hardly believe that such a wild idea of his had actually succeeded.

The [Wordless Book] was powerful enough to let him produce currency on his own merely by consuming Mind Power. This was simply...

Even in his excitement, Guan Tong noticed the "10" in parentheses after the Ascension Coins.

He had initially thought it represented the number of Ascension Coins produced by the [Wordless Book], but upon checking, he discovered that these ten "self-made" Ascension Coins had limitations.

[Ascension Coins: 110 (10)]: The Ascension Coins within the parentheses are personal Binding Coins. They may only be used to purchase items in the Ascension Shop and cannot be used in transactions with others.

"...So that's how it is."

After reading the detailed information, Guan Tong still smiled.

Although the coins produced by the [Wordless Book] were bound versions and could only be used in the terminal shop, that was still outrageously powerful!

This way, Guan Tong could use only the Binding Coins he produced himself for purchases in the shop from now on, while saving all his other Ascension Coins for trading with others.

"I never expected the [Wordless Book]'s power to be this great." Once the excitement faded, Guan Tong looked at the utterly ordinary book on the table. "Just what is this thing...?"

If he still failed to realize that his [Wordless Book] was anything but ordinary by now, he would truly be an idiot.

Though he did not know how effective the starting items purchased by other people were, there definitely were not many that could compare to his [Wordless Book].

It had only used two inner pages so far, yet it had already produced the two different and powerful functions of "Shadow" and "producing Ascension Coins." Once the pages that followed were put to use, who knew what else could be developed?

"Still... unlike 'Shadow,' the words written on the second page are gone now."

Guan Tong looked at the second blank inner page. After the three words "Ascension Coins" written on it had transformed into something like a data stream and poured into his body, the page had become entirely blank again.

In other words, creating Binding Ascension Coins was a one-time process. After creating them once, if he wanted to make more, he would have to consume Mind Power and write the three words "Ascension Coins" all over again.

"...Even so, it's worth it."

Guan Tong calculated that with his current Mind Power Cap and recovery rate, he could write those three words once every half month and obtain ten Binding Ascension Coins. He could write them twice in a month and obtain twenty.

The production efficiency seemed low, but that was only because his Mind Power Cap was still small. Once it increased in the future, the situation would improve dramatically.

Thus, over the following half month, Guan Tong repeated the process once more.

On the final day, he successfully wrote the three words "Ascension Coins" again and obtained another ten Binding Coins in the same manner.

Moreover, the continuous consumption and recovery over the month had raised his Mind Power Cap by two points, bringing it to 116.

This rate of improvement was undoubtedly faster than before. Previously, it had taken over twenty days to increase by just one point. This time, he had gained two points in thirty days—a gradually accelerating process.

Guan Tong had seen people online mention a theory that the speed at which one's Mind Power Cap increased was related to one's Comprehensive Biological Information Evaluation.

The higher the evaluation, the faster the improvement.

Though this theory had not yet been recorded in the White Paper, Guan Tong found it very reasonable.

After his evaluation had risen to "Excellent," he could clearly feel that he was far stronger than when it had been "Ordinary."

It was not just the rate at which his Mind Power Cap improved. His body also seemed to be growing stronger little by little, without him even realizing it.

This strengthening was not apparent over a day or two, nor was it particularly obvious when measured by weeks. But if stretched over months, he could sense subtle changes in every aspect.

Guan Tong felt that, for now, the overall proportion of people receiving an "Excellent" rating was still relatively small, so there was not much discussion of this issue online.

But as the gap continued to widen, this reality would inevitably come to be recognized by the public.

Guan Tong thought to himself that whether it was the authorities or those private-sector giants, their foresight was still quite advanced. They had spent vast resources laying the groundwork early and recruiting High Mind Power Users. It might look like high investment with no return right now, but later on, it would surely prove "worth every penny."

Still, it was hard not to worry. If the gap kept growing wider, would Ordinary people eventually fall completely behind, while that elite group of High Mind Power Users became a new class isolated from Ordinary people?

On the final day before the third Apocalypse Rule descended, Guan Tong did not expend any more Mind Power. He slept until after eight the next morning, ate breakfast, then silently sat in the living room and waited.

At that moment, countless people across the world were waiting as well, filled with tension, fear, and even excitement.

Some even harbored their own expectations—perhaps the rules would suddenly stop being issued, or perhaps the authorities had developed a way to deal with the Fire Thief without anyone knowing.

But those were all beautiful fantasies. The moment the clock struck nine, the Fire Thief arrived as scheduled with the new rule, not a second early or late.

[The third Apocalypse Rule has been released]

[Apocalypse Rule Three: Fasting Therapy]

[Rule Content: From the moment this rule is released, you may only drink water and may not eat for 15 days]

[Success Reward: 150 Ascension Coins, First Ascendant Challenge Invitation]

[Failure Penalty: Mind Power Cap decay]

[Note: If you want to participate in the challenge, you must pass this rule]