Version Change Value

After ending his first encounter with Ji Xingyao, Lu Yan returned home.

Over the next few days, there was no news online of Li Zhaoheng or Gongyang Xuanming's deaths. It was as though no one knew about the major case that had claimed more than a dozen lives.

Even the Maple Orchid Grand Hotel, the scene of the murders, remained silent. It merely released a public notice claiming that electrical issues in the presidential suite had forced it to suspend operations.

According to Lu Yan's guess, Gongyang Xuanming's identity must have been unusual, and coupled with the bizarre manner in which everyone at the scene had died, Luo City's upper echelons had suppressed the matter.

On the surface, Luo City was calm as still water, but beneath it, undercurrents had long been surging. If another similar case appeared, it would inevitably draw a large-scale crackdown from the higher-ups.

As the chief culprit, Lu Yan naturally understood this perfectly. After dealing with the threat of Gongyang Xuanming, that Demonic Path Cultivator, he had stayed home these past few days, continuing his cultivation without going outside.

So long as he did not make another move and leave behind traces, Luo City's upper echelons would have no way to investigate, given the Soul Banner's concealment.

After cultivating like this for several days, Lu Yan discovered that he had hit a bottleneck.

However, this bottleneck did not come from Lu Yan himself, but from the environment he was in.

When he had first begun cultivating, Lu Yan had noticed that the spiritual energy in his surroundings was extremely sparse. Absorbing even a wisp of spiritual energy took a great deal of time, so he had used some Spirit Stones to accelerate his cultivation before successfully stepping into the First Level of Qi Refining.

His cultivation after advancing to the First Level of Qi Refining also confirmed Lu Yan's previous suspicions.

After entering the First Level of Qi Refining, one could rapidly draw spiritual energy from the outside world and refine it into mana. In the cultivation world, advancing from the First Level of Qi Refining to the Third Layer Qi Refining was merely a matter of steady grinding, with no bottlenecks whatsoever.

Yet Lu Yan could clearly sense that his speed of refining mana over the past few days had been exceedingly slow. The spiritual energy in the air was so thin that it could barely support the use of spells, let alone normal cultivation.

Only by using Spirit Stones could he maintain a normal cultivation speed.

This problem gave Lu Yan quite a headache. Though he possessed several hundred Spirit Stones now, they were all windfalls seized from Steward Chu. For an ordinary First Level of Qi Refining cultivator, having one or two Spirit Stones on them was already quite good.

Spirit Stones were more often used to assist in breakthroughs, set up formations, and purchase precious cultivation resources.

Cultivation itself was a gradual, accumulated process. Most of the time, it relied on the blessed lands and Spiritual Veins where one resided. Converted into Spirit Stones, even breaking through from the First Level of Qi Refining to the Second Layer Qi Refining required dozens of Spirit Stones—enough to buy a decent low-grade magic artifact.

Using nothing but Spirit Stones for cultivation was extravagance even disciples of great sects would not indulge in.

Left with no choice, Lu Yan could only temporarily halt his daily cultivation.

In truth, Lu Yan suspected that spiritual energy density might be related to the urban environment. He wanted to visit the famous mountains and great rivers of the Urban Version to confirm whether those places had abundant spiritual energy.

Otherwise, if he could not cultivate during every Urban Version, it would undoubtedly waste a great deal of Lu Yan's cultivation time.

However, the time for the Version Update was already drawing near. Traveling to famous mountains and great rivers would inevitably consume his precious remaining time, so he could only wait until the next Urban Version to investigate.

Unable to cultivate a Cultivation Technique and refine mana, Lu Yan tried condensing the Red Lotus Karma Fire again.

Logically speaking, after killing more than a dozen people in one go at the Maple Orchid Grand Hotel, Karma should have gathered around Lu Yan. He had already met the conditions to condense the Red Lotus Karma Fire, yet for some reason, he still could not successfully use this Supreme-Grade Spell.

After trying for several full days, Lu Yan finally gave up. He ended his cultivation and began preparing for the coming world Version Update instead.

Having already experienced two Version Updates, Lu Yan had gained some understanding of them, though it was limited to the Urban Version and Xianxia Version.

Lu Yan could only choose one out of three possible Version Update directions. He could not determine whether the three options would include a relatively stable environment like the Xianxia Version.

If he encountered a version lacking supplies and filled with environmental dangers, Lu Yan might not necessarily hold an advantage with his current strength. He had to make preparations early.

He had not forgotten that the Apocalypse Version and Cyber Version had appeared among the previous options.

Over the remaining dozen or so days, Lu Yan used his savings to purchase a large amount of supplies, then crammed them all into the Storage Bag.

These supplies included large quantities of water, food, and daily necessities. Fortunately, Steward Chu's Storage Bag was of decent quality, with more than ten cubic meters of space.

These things would be enough to cover Lu Yan's daily needs for three months.

Besides that, Lu Yan had also considered getting some firearms or the like.

Although he had quite a few talismans on hand, every one he used cost Spirit Stones. They were far less cheap and convenient than firearms.

Unfortunately, Xia Nation banned guns, so Lu Yan could only abandon the idea.

Still in that same old room, Lu Yan stood before the window, quietly watching the progress bar before him, which had reached 99.9%.

As the number flickered once more, a string of text appeared before Lu Yan's eyes.

This Urban Version has ended. Version Change Value: 3%

Lu Yan could not help raising a brow. This was the first time he had seen data called Version Change Value; it had never appeared during the previous two Version Updates.

"Version Change Value? Taken literally, it seems to measure the changes brought about by a version?"

Thoughts raced through Lu Yan's mind.

"There was no Version Change Value in the first two instances because both my strength and influence were too weak. I simply was not enough to affect the Version Change of the entire world.

"Then why did this Urban Version undergo such a major change? Was it because I killed Gongyang Xuanming, that Demonic Path Cultivator?"

The instant that thought surfaced, Lu Yan rejected it.

"Not right! Gongyang Xuanming may have been an important figure in Luo City, and his father behind him may have had some influence, but in the entire Urban Version, he was nothing more than an insignificant ant.

"His life or death was utterly inconsequential to the entire world. It could not possibly bring about a 3% Version Change Value.

"In that case, there seems to be only one explanation.

"The source of the Version Change Value is that I broke through to the Qi Refining Stage in the Urban Version and became the only cultivator in this world!"

Lu Yan came to a sudden realization, but an even greater question followed.

"But what changes will this Version Change Value bring?"

Unfortunately, the text before him did not answer Lu Yan's question. More information popped up.

Version Update Progress is full. You may choose one of the following versions to update.

Mysterious Version: After the Old Ones fell and the True Gods slumbered, only madness remained upon the path to transcendence!

Myth Version: The world is a gigantic myth game, and everyone is a player forcibly dragged into it.

Apocalypse Version: After the end of the world, what remains?