Your Next Sentence Is

"Four hundred and thirty-three million, four hundred and ten thousand ounces."

The Crow said indifferently, "This time, the settlement is in Origin Essence Crystals, the most common currency among Ascendants. All of them are of the highest purity that can be mined from the border.

The Golden Palace, the largest Ascendant group in the Norse region, mortgaged an entire resource-type border under its name to exchange for so much money from those Dwarf Bankers to obtain it. The final winner is an Abyssal Archaeological Team belonging to the Technical Department of the Astronomical Society. They won't have to worry about funding for deep exploration for at least ten years.

Perhaps you don't quite understand what this price represents, so I'll put it plainly: 2.1 ounces of Origin Essence Crystal is exactly the amount of origin essence a standard adult possesses. According to today's reference exchange rate from the Astronomical Society, you can exchange it at any of their subordinate departments for over 2 million Dongxia Yuan—and this exchange rate is as exploitative as the money a game system gives you when it recycles equipment. The black market price will at least increase by two-thirds, and it's a case of having money but no goods.

Unless they are completely desperate, no Ascendant would exchange their Origin Essence Crystals for currency. This stuff is the hardest of hard currencies.

Now you can calculate how long you'll have to work as a Temporary Worker for the Astronomical Society to earn this much money."

Seeing Huai Shi, who was so poor he couldn't even imagine the number, the Crow seemed to smile and leaned close to his ear, whispering, "That archaeological team just got lucky in a Hell at depth 6 and picked up a fossil... Now, are you sure you still want to live a normal person's life?"

"..."

Huai Shi was silent for a long time, looking at the Crow in front of him with suspicion, "Why do I always feel like you're trying to trick me?"

This made the Crow, who had prepared the bait but couldn't sell it, very sad.

Huai Shi sighed, "Your next sentence will be, 'Would I, your sister, lie to you?'"

"..."

The Crow wanted to speak but stopped.

"Then I'll tell you," Huai Shi sighed again, "—Yes, you would."

"You've suddenly started self-learning, which makes it difficult for me, your sister," the Crow said, lighting a cigarette without any shame and shaking his head in exasperation. "I was kindly introducing you to a job to make money."

"Anyone with a little bit of sense would know that getting rich overnight is not advisable. The only jobs in this world that can be done by simply clicking a retweet at home are for echo chambers."

Huai Shi had already made up his mind not to be fooled. "No matter what you say, I won't risk my life for money."

The Crow rolled his eyes, completely unfazed:

"Warning: It'll smell good later.jpg."

Huai Shi really wanted to know what kind of silly things she looked at every day when she was online with her phone.

He reaffirmed his resolve, then got up and walked towards the kitchen. He had only eaten a little at noon, and it was only a little past three o'clock, but he was already hungry again.

However, when he opened the cabinet, he froze.

Where are my Dried Noodles!

I just bought them last week, where did that full row of Dried Noodles go!

"..."

The Crow, who was being stared at intently by Huai Shi, rolled his eyes. "Big brother, you're blaming me for losing Dried Noodles? Do I look like the source of all evil?

Besides, even a hundred pounds of Dried Noodles wouldn't be enough for your eating habits. You eat five meals a day, half a pot each time. You'd empty a mountain of rice and a mountain of noodles!"

She paused, revealing a smile that made Huai Shi a little uneasy:

"And, are you hungry again?"

"..."

"Congratulations, happy growth!"

The Crow raised its wings and clapped enthusiastically. "After a normal person becomes an Ascendant, they enter secondary development. The soul influences the body, and during this stage, the Ascendant's body will grow again, gradually reaching the limits of a normal person in all aspects, and even exceeding them in some aspects.

And you, at seventeen, were already in your developmental period. When your developmental period meets another developmental period, double the happiness awaits you—of course, also quadruple the hunger and eight times the needs.

So, if you don't want to have stunted growth or even muscle self-digestion, you'd better not be so stingy as to just boil Dried Noodles in plain water."

For some reason, Huai Shi felt increasingly uneasy.

"Then what should I eat?"

"Generally, it's high-calorie food. The higher the calories, the better. It's best to have the whole set of Happy Fat Otaku Biscuits, Happy Fat Otaku Chicken, and Happy Fat Otaku Water. Just stuff yourself.

This is also the cheapest. The downside is that you'll have to go to the toilet more than ten times a day, and you'll easily experience social death amidst your classmates' ridicule while also developing endocrine disorders, high cholesterol, and then suffering from high blood pressure, anorexia, and other diseases after half a year."

Huai Shi's legs went weak with fright. "Are all Ascendants this miserable!"

"Of course not, but other Ascendants have money."

Speaking of which, the Crow sighed helplessly, "Unfortunately, if there was a kind person like me to help you make a complete injection, that would be great."

She paused and blinked expectantly at Huai Shi. "But without money, I, your sister, can't even afford the raw materials."

"...You've been waiting for me here, haven't you!" Huai Shi asked expressionlessly, "Just say it if you want to scam me out of money."

"Taking from you and using it for you, how can that be called scamming?"

The Crow laughed twice and said unhurriedly, "One injection a day, one course a week. It will take about a month for your developmental period to end. Given how familiar we are, I won't even charge a processing fee. The cost price is 2,600 Dongxia Yuan per injection. For a month... hmm, 100,000 should be enough."

"Spend 100,000 yuan for a 'Happy Growth Package'?" Huai Shi pointed at his nose and asked, "Do I look crazy?"

"But this is truly a fair price. After all, no one would think an Ascendant wouldn't have 100,000 to spare." Speaking of which, the Crow glanced at Huai Shi. "Besides, don't you understand the difference between paying to play and not paying to play?

If you don't lay a good foundation during your developmental period, you'll be far behind later. If you can achieve the best results, purely in terms of physical fitness, you could become a soldier king.

By the way, the package provided by the Astronomical Society starts at 300,000, and the results are another matter. Of course, it can also be provided for free, as long as you sign a contract with them—if you believe there's a free lunch in this world."

"..."

Anyone with a brain would know that's absolutely impossible, right?

"So, try a little harder, kid. Ten thousand yuan, just a bit of effort and you'll have it?"

The Crow pulled a test tube from under its wing and dangled it in front of him, whispering in a tone that sounded like a demon's temptation, "We offer a try-before-you-buy option."

"You wish! Even if I, Huai Shi, starve to death, I'll jump from here... jump... jump... Gulp..."

The sound of him swallowing echoed at the end.

Huai Shi stared at the test tube before him. As the Crow swayed it, a tempting aroma slowly wafted from its open mouth. An indescribable hunger was awakened within his body, every cell in his limbs screaming with thirst.

His heart raced, saliva glands activated, pupils dilated, and stomach contracted.

The instinctual hunger kicked his freshly made, still-warm resolve to the side, then surged into the tube of pale green liquid, pulling at Huai Shi's head and screaming in his ear: Drink it! Drink it! Drink it!

Ten seconds later, Huai Shi let out a long sigh, feeling the rich, wine-like flavor spread through his mouth. His limbs felt as if they were soaking in a hot spring, and he couldn't help but shed tears of regret:

"It smells so good!"

"All done?" the Crow asked kindly.

"You're going to start demanding payment, aren't you?" Huai Shi became instantly alert.

"No, I mean, since you've finished eating..."

The Crow transformed into a silver-white brush and summoned the Book of Destiny from Huai Shi's soul.

"—How about a simple, fun little digestive exercise first."

Before Huai Shi could speak, a branch of phenomena pointed downwards.

Huai Shi's vision went black.

Then, he died again. And again. And again.

In that instant, Huai Shi saw torrential rain pouring from the sky, boundless, as if it had drowned the entire world, yet he was bathed in fire.

Viscous gasoline rose in flames, covering him inch by inch.

Amidst the massive explosion, he could feel his body being torn apart, but surprisingly, he felt no fear. Instead, there was a sense of peace, of finally being freed.

He even couldn't help but smile.

Never before had death been so peaceful, so peaceful that Huai Shi himself was afraid, not even harboring a shred of resentment or hatred.

He simply accepted it all with equanimity.

Closing his eyes, he waited for the end to come.

Even when the death record ended, Huai Shi didn't react, still lost in that state of near-numb calm.

This death was so profound.

So profound that he forgot to breathe, forgot that he was alive.

It wasn't until his face was almost blue that he reacted, gasping for air, coughing so hard he almost threw up the dried noodles he'd eaten last night.

He quickly covered his mouth, afraid he'd vomit.

He had just drunk a tube of medicine that cost thousands, and if he threw it up now, wouldn't it all have been for nothing?

Money calms me.

"Oh! It seems you've gained a remarkable insight!"

The Crow tutted in admiration. "This kind of liberating death is quite rare. Experiencing it more will do you good. I didn't expect that guy Red Glove to grasp an even higher level of essence when he died, you're really lucky. How do you feel now?"

"I just feel very hungry."

Huai Shi looked up at her, his expression blank. "I especially want to eat roasted crow. Boiled is fine too."

The thought of that peaceful death sent shivers down his spine. Although he could feel how rare such a tranquil and serene death was, the terror it brought him was more profound and powerful than any other death.

So calm and composed, almost indifferent.

Not a trace of attachment or reluctance. Before his death, he didn't even hate himself.

It was as if... his life had no meaning at all.

"What's so precious about something like this?"

He rubbed his forehead, trying to drive that state of peaceful stillness out of his consciousness. He had no idea what this sudden "sage mode" was.

"You can see for yourself."

The Crow directly flipped over the Book of Destiny, showing him the records on the title page.

The preceding entries were unchanged, except for the removal of the words "stress period." A new emblem, an eclipse, represented his successful sublimation.

The divine inscription and holy mark sections were blank. His skills below remained unchanged.

Except...

"The Death Sense skill is LV1?" Huai Shi exclaimed in surprise.

One death experience had solidified a skill that had previously been grayed out, no matter how many times he had died? Half of the reason he'd managed to survive this long was by using this skill to avoid misfortune, and it had leveled up just from dying once for no apparent reason?

"After all, it's a rare type of death. It probably has something to do with life experience. Let's put that aside for now. I see there's still plenty of time tonight..."

The Crow paused, then revealed that smile that made Huai Shi uneasy again. "So, would you like to experience the new functions of the Book of Destiny after sublimation?"

"No thanks!"