Mystical Department

Chapter 39: Mysterious Type?

As the terrifying pressure receded, An Rongru relaxed for a moment, only for an overwhelming wave of exhaustion to surge over her. Her limbs went weak, and she slumped limply into the chair, gasping for breath. Fragrant sweat drenched her as though she had been washed in water. Her slightly plump, luscious lips were stained with blood—she had clearly bitten them open unconsciously while desperately holding on.

Mu Xiao glanced at her. Not wanting the pressure to leave a shadow on her mind, he explained, "Now that the feeling of facing my pressure is still fresh, take this chance to properly sense the existence of your mental power. As long as you grasp how to synchronize your mental power with your thoughts, your control will improve to a certain extent. At the very least, you'll be able to wield it freely. Also, while you were resisting, the mutated meat you ate for dinner caused countless thoughts and emotions to arise, accelerating your heartbeat and naturally speeding up your blood circulation. In turn, that accelerated your absorption of the mutated meat's abundant nutrients. You should be able to feel that the burning sensation in your blood is gone now. Once you recover your strength, kill a few more zombies tomorrow. When your Gene Resonance count increases, your physique may undergo a breakthrough."

"I know you mean well." A gentle smile bloomed on An Rongru's exhausted face. She could clearly feel that her vitality had strengthened by a few degrees, and her mental power had become far more proficient, lacking the raw, awkward feeling from before. Naturally, she understood that although Mu Xiao's methods seemed somewhat extreme, they held tremendous significance for her.

A man who acted coldly but was meticulous at heart—his tenderness was hidden behind that cold exterior.

That was An Rongru's assessment of Mu Xiao.

Although An Rongru had done her utmost to withstand Mu Xiao's pressure, she had still failed to awaken another ability. From beginning to end, it had only been the mental power of "Life Detection," constantly forming a barrier against Mu Xiao's pressure and reducing the burden on her body. No second ability had emerged to resist it.

That proved her other ability was not of the mental type, but belonged to another category. Perhaps it required some sort of opportunity to appear.

Mu Xiao furrowed his brow, his thoughts constantly turning over what kind of ability possessed such characteristics.

"What is a Gene Resonance count?"

Mu Xiao's words had piqued An Rongru's curiosity. She did not quite understand what it represented.

"You come from a wealthy aristocratic family, so you should have encountered military figures. You probably know about the Earth Federation's classification of human physique levels, right?" Mu Xiao prepared to explain from the basics.

"Mm." An Rongru nodded. "C-rank is for ordinary people, while 3S-rank represents the strongest people in the world."

"That used to be true, but it may not be in the future." Mu Xiao explained the physique progression of New Humans. "Peak" physique was merely a foundation; beyond it lay several major realms, each containing smaller stages of its own.

He did not want An Rongru to take in powers that were too distant too quickly, so he only explained the old human system. An SSS-rank physique had to break through into the new level of "Peak" physique before one could be considered a true New Human. After that, he did not elaborate further and returned to the matter of "Gene Resonance."

"Gene Resonance is the number of times your bloodline genes are optimized. Once you complete the Foundation Establishment realm, you can cultivate 'Source Force Martial Arts' or 'Soul Secret Arts' to strengthen your combat power. If you keep raising your realm, you can evolve into an immortal energy being and exist alongside the universe." Mu Xiao smiled faintly. "Put simply, it's like becoming an immortal or a god in novels—creating all things and forming a world of your own."

Changing the subject, he continued, "Of course, aside from those vast and distant realms, Gene Resonance also brings many benefits. For example, it slows aging and extends lifespan. The more your bloodline genes are optimized, the greater your physique's compatibility becomes. The more abilities you can accommodate, the more your combat power will increase."

"So that means my beauty can remain forever?" Joy flickered in An Rongru's beautiful eyes, as though the exhaustion on her face had faded by several degrees.

"..."

Mu Xiao had overlooked just how much women cared about their appearance.

"You could put it that way." Mu Xiao said, "You currently have fifteen Gene Resonances. As long as you do not suffer any severe injuries, you can probably live another fifteen years while maintaining your current appearance for those fifteen years. Only then will your bloodline begin to age. If you break through to a higher realm, you may even return to your youthful years."

"One resonance represents one year of lifespan?" An Rongru asked in surprise.

"Don't think Gene Resonance is so simple. You'll understand in the future." Mu Xiao reminded her, "At the beginning, one Gene Resonance means one additional year of life. But after you cultivate to other realms, perhaps one realm will represent ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years... Once your realm reaches a certain point, life is practically eternal. But truly achieving immortality is not such a simple matter."

"That really is far away," An Rongru sighed. Then she asked, "How did you know I currently have fifteen Gene Resonances?"

"By observing a person's blood vitality and aura, combined with the information returned by mental detection, I can roughly guess their level of evolution—as long as their evolution level is not much higher than mine. Actually, you can also detect your own physical condition. Calm your mind, sink your mental power into your body, and scan inwardly to observe the activity of your bloodline genes. Feel the frequency of your bloodline genes' resonance. That is one kind of information representing your own evolution level." Mu Xiao had long been able to understand his own evolution level with a single thought. After all, he had already experienced one rebirth; no one knew the path of evolution better than he did.

"I'll try." An Rongru closed her beautiful eyes and began her first attempt at meditation.

In truth, as long as one repeatedly familiarized oneself with the workings of one's body, a single thought would be enough to determine the resonance frequency of one's bloodline genes. After all, it was activity within one's own body. Once one became accustomed to it, the brain would naturally receive the information.

Since it was her first time trying to understand the resonance frequency of her bloodline genes, she could not avoid being somewhat unskilled.

Taking advantage of this time, Mu Xiao took a bottle of high-proof liquor from the counter. He poured all the blood beads he had harvested today into a plate, washed them with liquor, and then sorted them according to quality.

Blood beads could strengthen one's physique, but their effects were not great. They were more effective for healing injuries and restoring blood vitality.

However, Mu Xiao's memories contained many mature formulas for potions from the future era. As long as precious medicinal herbs and a large quantity of blood beads were used together, the effects of both could be brought to their fullest, creating valuable potions that were exceedingly rare even in the future era.

That was why he had temporarily stored these blood beads away. Once he returned to their residence, he would move all the precious medicinal herbs stored there back to the law firm, then properly prepare potions suitable for himself and strengthen his physique to the greatest possible extent.

With a sweep of his mental power, he assessed the blood beads' quality. Using telekinesis, he sorted the large number of blood beads by grade in less than a minute.

"Three hundred eighty-eight inferior brown blood beads, one hundred ordinary vermilion blood beads, seventy-eight high-quality dark red blood beads, and twenty-five precious purplish-red blood beads. What a pity there aren't any blood crystals..." Mu Xiao muttered, placing the blood beads into separate bags according to grade. Just then, An Rongru opened her eyes as well, clearly having gained something.

"Just like you said, there's a faint vibration frequency in my bloodline." Curious yet certain, An Rongru asked, "Within that frequency, I found fifteen faint vibrations with the same rhythm. After each vibration ended, my bloodline and genes resonated once, and then the next vibration began. Does that prove my evolution level is fifteen Gene Resonances?"

"Mm." Mu Xiao nodded. "It's like a heartbeat, except the vibrations of the resonance frequency are even more subtle. Ordinary people cannot discover such minute details within themselves. Only we New Humans can sense this kind of bloodline gene resonance frequency."

"Oh. My evolution level is fifteen Gene Resonances, so what is my physique level?" An Rongru asked.

"You can assess yourself based on your own strength using the Earth Federation's established comprehensive values. But judging from your physique strength, you're only around S-rank. Still, you ate quite a lot of mutated meat today, so you may possess the strength of a double-S-rank physique." Mu Xiao said, "Actually, once your Gene Resonance count increases tomorrow, your physique should be able to break through to double-S-rank."

After having her will tempered by Mu Xiao's terrifying pressure, An Rongru was mentally exhausted. Yet she still forced herself to stay alert and asked, "Did you discover my innate New Human ability just now?"

She, too, yearned for power.

Seeing how weary she was, Mu Xiao noticed the bloody tooth mark on her lower lip, an injury she had unconsciously inflicted while resisting the pressure. He took out two cups from beneath the counter, crushed an inferior blood bead into the liquor, and poured her half a cup. "Drink a little to refresh yourself. It can ease your physical fatigue. Besides, your lips are a little damaged. It doesn't look very good."

"Mm." An Rongru held the wineglass and took a light sip. Her jade-like, lovely face was as radiant as a peach blossom, looking particularly moist and luminous.

"I didn't discover your innate ability. It may not belong to the mental type..." Mu Xiao paused, poured himself a cup of strong liquor as well, and took a small sip. The sharp taste of alcohol filled his mouth as he said, "It may be a passive ability from another type. I can't determine it for now."

"A passive ability?" An Rongru asked in confusion.

"It means that unless the right opportunity comes, this ability will not reveal itself," Mu Xiao replied.

After chatting over half a cup of wine, An Rongru's spirits had improved considerably, and her strength had returned somewhat. However, the fragrant sweat on her skin had soaked into her outerwear, clearly outlining her incredibly voluptuous figure before Mu Xiao's eyes. Once she noticed it herself, she was too embarrassed to continue talking with him and hurried off to the bathroom to wash up.

An Rongru's body was certainly alluring, but Mu Xiao paid it no mind. His thoughts remained focused on a certain speculation.

"Could her ability be of the mysterious type? That would mean she has the potential to cultivate 'Soul Secret Arts'..."

He had reason to suspect it, because only the mysterious type possessed such strong hidden qualities—it would not reveal itself without the right opportunity. It was a system filled with the unknown; otherwise, it would not be called the mysterious type. Moreover, the mysterious type had the greatest talent and potential for cultivating Soul Secret Arts.

The other types, however, all possessed more or less some distinctive characteristics.

For instance, the "Constitution-type" enhanced defense and close combat, but a beautiful mature woman like An Rongru had nothing to do with close combat. The "Source Energy-type" was most clearly characterized by energy attacks, much like Mu Xiao's telekinesis—formless and invisible. But she could not possibly have concealed herself so deeply. Although the remaining systems—the "Mental-type," "Transformation-type," "Intelligence-type," and "Space-type"—had their hidden aspects, none of them could have allowed her to remain so calm beneath Mu Xiao's terrifying pressure.

Of course, the "Intelligence-type" was an auxiliary ability, and likewise could not be detected through conventional methods. However, anyone who had obtained an "Intelligence-type" ability would definitely know what kind of knowledge they possessed, rather than being like An Rongru, as though she had grasped nothing at all.

The "Space-type" also had certain distinguishing traits. At the very least, it required an understanding of space and the ability to trigger spatial fluctuations. If she possessed a spatial ability, she would not have been able to withstand Mu Xiao's pressure for only this long.

Mu Xiao understood the "Mental-type" better than An Rongru herself through his "Pure Mental Power." He knew the extent of her mental strength and what characteristics her mental abilities had. As for the "Transformation-type," it was also one of the most obvious abilities; there was no way she belonged to that system.

That left only one possibility: the "Mystery-type."