"Um... would you believe me if I said I didn't know either?"
Under Zong Zheng Nanmo's baffled gaze, Jiang Hou said somewhat "blankly," "After I 'awakened' two days ago, I noticed that my physique grew stronger every day."
"At first, my arm strength was only about twice that of an ordinary person. Then on the second day, I suddenly realized I had become much stronger. My strength had doubled."
"Then when I woke up this morning, I felt like I'd gotten a little stronger again..."
Although Jiang Ruochan had said yesterday that every Evolutionary Awakener was a genius, a child favored by fate, and that many secrets were insignificant before the various paths of inheritance.
For Jiang Hou, however, some secrets were still better kept to himself.
Under these circumstances, he had no way to explain why his physique improved every day. All he could do was play dumb. After all, he was merely a "newbie" who had just awakened Extraordinary Power.
"Damn, I want that too." Zong Zheng Nanmo looked utterly envious.
Yesterday, when he heard that Jiang Hou was only at the middle stage of First Order, a minor realm below him, he had felt a little regretful.
Regret his ass. All he felt now was envy, okay?
After awakening the ability to control wind a few days ago, aside from becoming a little more familiar with it, his strength had not improved or changed in the slightest.
Even the incomplete cultivation "technique" that had inexplicably appeared in his mind produced no reaction after he cultivated for half a day. That was also why he had suspected that he had encountered a ghost and was hallucinating.
At that moment, Jiang Ruochan thought for a moment before slowly speaking. "Jiang Hou's situation is relatively rare."
"Our world does not possess extraordinary energy like Spiritual Power Elemental Power, so there is no foundation for extraordinary evolution."
"Even if someone awakens as an extraordinary individual and obtains some inheritance from the Ancient Era, they cannot cultivate it. To improve their strength, they must rely on corresponding resources."
"For example, Energy Crystals corresponding to the Deity Era, or Demon Power Crystals useful only to Heavenly Demon Era Awakeners. These all come from ruin relics."
"And those are only low-level resources. Breaking through from Third Order to Fourth Order requires inheritance items corresponding to one's path. After Fourth Order, improvement becomes even more troublesome."
"However, compared to the inheritances of those two eras, Witch Mark Era Awakeners have it even worse. They need Nether Energy to improve their strength."
"This stuff can only be extracted from certain forbidden zones deep within ruins, or by killing powerful Ancient Ferocious Creatures."
"Therefore, under normal circumstances, after an extraordinary individual awakens, their strength will not change further without corresponding resources. Zong Zheng Nanmo is an example."
"Of course, nothing is absolute. A small number of people still have energy contained within the pollution source in their bodies that has not fully been released after awakening, and their strength will rapidly increase for a period of time."
"Then there are those whose awakened abilities are strange, allowing them to devour flesh and blood to temporarily increase their strength..."
As she spoke, Jiang Ruochan looked at Jiang Hou and pondered slightly. "For now, we don't know whether your daily physical improvement is temporary or continuous. We need to observe it."
"Also, there are no traces of energy pathways in your body. You haven't awakened any talent or ability, which makes you somewhat unusual. I can't figure it out right now."
Jiang Hou nodded, his expression remaining calm.
But inwardly, he was already considering what excuse he could use later to cover up the fact that his physique was improving every day.
"Wait, President."
Zong Zheng Nanmo suddenly realized something. "Our world doesn't have any extraordinary energy. If we exhaust our energy while fighting Pollution Monsters in the future, how do we recover?"
"Do we fight while taking 'pills' like in a game, or hold an Energy Crystal to recharge ourselves?"
Jiang Ruochan nodded. "That was indeed the case at first. But after more than thirty years of ruin corrosion, our world's air now contains faint energy."
"It's just that this energy is extremely thin and cannot be sensed. The body can only slowly absorb it through instinct when depleted."
"When a Third Order Awakener exhausts all their power, it takes about a day to fully recover. The stronger they are, the longer it takes."
"Then... since the body can instinctively absorb energy from the air, why can't we cultivate?" Jiang Hou found it a little strange.
Jiang Ruochan shook her head. "People researched this question long ago. The reason is that this energy lacks the power traits corresponding to the systems of the various eras."
"It's like drinking water. It can quench our thirst, but without nutrients, we cannot grow."
"Another verified hypothesis is that the laws of ancient eras lose their effect in the current environment. The same applies within ruins."
"In ruins rich with energy, circulating cultivation techniques can only restore expended energy faster. They cannot increase one's cultivation even a little."
"That is why so many extraordinary individuals, including experts from the Sky Punishment Division, risk danger to venture deep into ruins and explore relics."
"Alright, we'll stop this topic here. If I say too much, you won't be able to understand it all at once."
"We'll observe Jiang Hou's situation for a few more days. If the rate of your physical strengthening slows, it means the energy from the unknown pollution source in your body is nearly finished releasing."
"If your physical strength continues to grow rapidly..."
Jiang Ruochan paused there, then waved them aside when the two still wanted to ask questions.
Still, she really had said quite a lot today. If they had not met Jiang Ruochan, Jiang Hou and Zong Zheng Nanmo would have had nowhere to access such information.
Every Awakener's inherited knowledge was incomplete. Once they reached Third Order, they had no further path forward and had to delve into ruins to find the corresponding inheritance resources in order to break through.
But Jiang Hou was different from them. He already possessed a complete path of advancement.
The passive talent Devouring Evolution allowed his behemoth body to continuously evolve by devouring the flesh and blood of powerful ferocious beasts. At least before reaching gods and demons, he would not need to search for matching resources.
Aside from that, however, Jiang Hou was no different from other Awakeners. After all, the ferocious beasts he consumed could only be found there as well.
After briefly sorting through this information, Jiang Hou turned his attention to the Smart Watch.
Their original purpose today had been to ask Jiang Ruochan for permission to log into the Combat Power Ranking and see how other extraordinary individuals' data differed from theirs.
Curious, Jiang Hou opened the Combat Power Ranking app, and a ranking-like interface immediately appeared.
Yidu Heavenly Punishment Branch Reserve Force Rankings, 18 people listed No. 1, Jiang Wanshan, hybrid type, overall level Third Order Peak, physique strength 67, energy value 1321, combat power 18375 No. 2, Fu Hongyu, Energy Side, overall level Third Order Peak, physique strength 6, energy value 1254, combat power 13850...
As Jiang Hou scrolled through the rankings, Zong Zheng Nanmo had already cried out, "Damn, the top combat power is over eighteen thousand, while I'm only at 490. Is the gap really that huge?"
"Jiang Hou, I suddenly realized how weak the two of us are."
"We are a little weak." Jiang Hou nodded, his gaze falling on his own name.
No. 18, Jiang Hou, Physical Body Side, overall level late First Order, combat power 485...
Although Jiang Hou did not know what standards were used to calculate combat power, he was not surprised that he ranked last.
Among the eighteen members of the Yidu Heavenly Punishment Branch Reserve Force, everyone except him and Zong Zheng Nanmo was Third Order.
And among the only two First Order members, he had not even awakened an ability. His body was merely several times stronger than that of an ordinary person.
But he wondered, how much combat power did he have when he transformed into Behemoth Form? Second update, more to come.
Before you continue