Dream of the Universe!

Wu Pifu went completely numb.

Baseline Reality 0.1, Baseline Reality 0.2—those were practically fairy tales to him, things he did not even dare imagine.

Not to mention that Baseline Reality 0.8 already possessed supernatural powers. The farther down one went, the more it deviated from reality, and the more terrifying it became.

He did not even dare casually set foot again in the Baseline Reality 0.7 world where he had established the Historical Event Sanctuary. A place like that was bound to contain curses, genuine spirit-medium rituals, witchcraft, monsters, and the like.

This was not some fight between martial artists. It was a terrifying world where, if things went wrong, you could rot to death all over in the next second. In a world like Baseline Reality 0.7, things like Ju-on and Sadako were merely normal horrors.

And that was only Baseline Reality 0.7. He did not dare imagine what kind of ultimate terrors Baseline Reality 0.1 and 0.2 contained!

"Main Brain, how quickly does the Mark improve?" Wu Pifu asked in a low voice.

The Main Brain was silent for several seconds before replying, "Currently unknown. At least three Dream Worlds must be experienced before the Mark's average growth rate can be calculated."

Wu Pifu's expression shifted uncertainly for a long while before he finally let out a heavy breath and temporarily set aside the matter of the Mark.

As the saying went, too many debts were no burden. His affairs were already a complete mess. Besides the Mark dragging him into the worlds of Baseline Reality 0.1 and 0.2, his personal information panel still displayed the words "virtual personality," and there was also the negative backlash. He only had a little over a hundred days left—no more than one hundred and seventy.

The threat posed by the Mark did not even rank anywhere near the top anymore.

The most imminent threat now was... the "Week" End!

Every sixty-six days, six hours, six minutes, and six seconds constituted one week. Once the time arrived, the "Week" End would begin.

Wu Pifu collected himself and said, "Main Brain, how long until the 'Week' End?"

A virtual screen appeared before Wu Pifu, displaying the countdown to the "Week" End.

"Twenty-one hours, sixteen minutes, fifty-one seconds."

Wu Pifu stared at the countdown, his heart growing heavier. Less than a day remained.

"Main Brain, repeat all currently available information on the 'Week' End," Wu Pifu said.

"Information retrieval... retrieval complete. 'Week' End."

"Source of Dream Network aberrations. Beginning of Gaia's lockdown state."

"...Unable to describe. Can only be summarized."

"First, you will not die. Any injuries or death suffered during the 'Week' End will be restored after the 'Week' End concludes."

"Second, loss. Death during the 'Week' End accumulates loss. Once loss exceeds a certain limit and you forget who you are, you will vanish within the 'Week' End and never return."

"Third, corruption. During the 'Week' End, confronting certain transcendent events, objects, living beings, or nonliving things will accumulate corruption. Once corruption reaches a certain degree, irreversible aberration will occur. Once you become neither human nor living, you will vanish within the 'Week' End and never return."

"Fourth, certain unrecorded special circumstances will cause you to vanish within the 'Week' End and never return."

"Fifth, certain bizarre objects can be obtained during the 'Week' End. Bringing them back will manifest them into useful items."

Wu Pifu silently listened to the information, comparing it with the two "Week" Ends he had experienced, before finally exhaling.

Both times, he had nearly failed to return. Among the original seniors, four had vanished during those two "Week" Ends. His survival through two "Week" Ends had been due to luck, and the seniors who survived had likewise relied on luck.

"However, I'm at least ten times stronger than before. I'm far stronger than those seniors were. The strongest among them had merely learned the basics of spirit possession; looking back, he was probably only around the level of someone newly entering Dark Force. So... my survival rate should be somewhat higher."

Wu Pifu silently considered this, then took out the Yellow Lotus Fragment. "Main Brain, display this fragment's information."

"Yellow Lotus Fragment."

"...After escaping from %#*, its body transformed into five lotuses, simulating the five foundational structures of the Heavenly Dao, Buddhist Realm, Prison of Sin, Void, and Mortal Realm, ultimately forming the True Emptiness Homeland. Among them, the Yellow Lotus is the control hub of the Mortal Realm and possesses the power to project a world of living beings."

"The holder can unilaterally see through illusions at and above the limit of Baseline Reality 0.8. Ineffective against illusions below the limit of Baseline Reality 0.8. When held by multiple parties, the effect will be enhanced."

Wu Pifu froze, carefully weighing the Main Brain's information word by word.

"Unilaterally see through... does that mean it won't trigger a situation like, I see something, and that something sees me too?" Wu Pifu asked.

"Correct."

Having received the answer, Wu Pifu immediately found a thread, wrapped and tied up the Yellow Lotus Fragment—which resembled transparent yellow crystal—and hung it around his neck.

In a sense, this was practically a divine artifact. Even if it could only be used in the worlds of Baseline Reality 0.9 and 0.8, it was still an absolutely invaluable item!

After finishing all that, Wu Pifu looked at his personal interface and opened the expandable entries for Body Tier 2, Soul Tier 1, and Inspiration Tier 2.

Body Tier 2 had five major categories: muscle strength, genetic strength, neural reaction speed, hematopoietic and immune function, and self-healing ability. Each of these could be further expanded. Muscle strength, for example, was divided into toughness, explosive power, muscle fiber ratio, endurance, and more.

Of the five attributes, muscle strength was 1.4, genetic strength 1.0, neural reaction speed 1.6, hematopoietic and immune function 1.8, and self-healing ability 1.2. The standard was that 1.0 represented an ordinary person's level, while every additional 0.2 doubled the demonstrated strength. In other words, his muscle strength was four times that of an ordinary person's, his neural reaction speed was eight times greater, his hematopoietic and immune function sixteen times greater, and his self-healing twice as strong. His overall evaluation was Body Tier 2.

However, this referred only to demonstrated strength, not raw numerical strength. For example, his muscular toughness and resistance could not possibly be four times that of an ordinary person.

Wu Pifu was fairly satisfied with the strength of his Body Tier 2, but when he saw the expandable entries for Soul Tier 1, he froze. The entire section was filled with ???.

"Main Brain, what does this mean?" Wu Pifu asked in confusion.

"Evaluating... evaluation complete. You have not unlocked the various soul data categories, so they will not be displayed."

Wu Pifu was instantly embarrassed. He had thought himself very strong, only to discover that he had not even reached the threshold to unlock the soul's various data categories.

He then expanded the Inspiration category, which was likewise filled with long stretches of question marks. Only two entries displayed data.

Bizarre Perception 2.2, Barrier-Breaking Perception 1.4.

These matched Wu Pifu's own feelings. The other entries were all question marks, presumably because he had not yet unlocked them.

Then came the real highlight!

"Martial Arts: Dark Force Mastery, cultivation progress 42.6%. Detailed information expandable."

"Tiger Demon Art: Masterful Perfection, cultivation progress 93.1%. Detailed information expandable."

This was the greatest use of the datafication limit on personal information: detailed datafication for cultivation systems, techniques, and the like. Especially after seeing the cultivation completion rate, every time he circulated his blood and qi, sensed Dark Force, comprehended his body, or practiced the Tiger Demon Art, he could make fine adjustments based on the increase in cultivation progress. This alone was already a tremendous stroke of fortune for him!!

Wu Pifu silently examined the cultivation progress of his Martial Arts and Tiger Demon Art. He had originally believed he was only one step away from Transforming Force, yet his Dark Force Mastery was only at 42.6%, with over half his cultivation still unfinished. On the other hand, the Tiger Demon Art truly required growth and breakthroughs between life and death. He needed less than 7% more progress to break through to Peak Perfection.

After looking over everything, Wu Pifu fell into deep thought.

He still had one unused reward: raising any one attribute by a tier.

That included his status with the Main Brain. As a Level 1 Maintenance Personnel, he was evaluated as a consumable... If he rose a tier to become Level 2 Maintenance Personnel, he alone would be able to order the Main Brain to open certain unimportant isolation alloy walls.

It also included the three fundamental attributes of body, soul, and inspiration. Naturally, Dark Force could be directly raised to Transforming Force, while the Tiger Demon Art could be directly elevated to Peak Perfection.

Yet Wu Pifu hesitated.

His original plan had naturally been to improve the Tiger Demon Art, because it concerned his life. Raising the Tiger Demon Art to its limit as soon as possible so it could suppress the negative backlash that might erupt at any moment—that was the path to survival.

But now, his Tiger Demon Art was less than 7% cultivation progress away from Peak Perfection. Raising it a tier at this point would be a tremendous waste.

At the same time, there was another extremely important issue: he was out of carbon-based nanounits!

Only 0.2 carbon-based nanounits remained, enough to treat a minor injury. Yet there were countless dangers in the Dream Worlds. He would have no choice but to fight desperately, trading injury for injury and life for life. This was what he needed most urgently.

Moreover, Yamadai and Xu Shilan desperately needed this stuff to save their lives and revive them.

But opening a single isolation wall required at least ten Level 1 Maintenance Personnel, so... unless he improved his own status?

Wu Pifu considered it carefully for a long time but could not make up his mind. In the end, he set the matter aside for now, practiced a set of boxing techniques, adjusted himself for a moment, then trained for several more hours. His Dark Force Mastery progress rose to 42.8%, an increase of 0.2%, while his Tiger Demon Art rose to 93.2%, an increase of 0.1%.

Afterward, Wu Pifu ate a meal of steamed buns and dropped straight into sleep.

Time passed second by second. When only one hour remained until the "Week" End, Wu Pifu awoke. Without hesitation, he used the attribute increase on his status. He was now Level 2 Maintenance Personnel, evaluated by the Main Brain as a low-level employee. At last, he was no longer some kind of consumable.

"After the 'Week' End, I'll open the isolation wall and clear a path to the medical station!"

Wu Pifu ate steamed buns, drank fresh water, relieved himself of the three urgencies, and even took a bath. Then he sat cross-legged in the center of the hibernation pod, closed his eyes, and quietly focused his mind.

Finally, the countdown on the virtual screen reached zero days, zero point zero seconds. At that instant, the lights throughout the hibernation pod turned crimson.

"Warning, unidentified..."

"Warn..."

The Main Brain's resounding voice gradually faded. Everything around him began to disappear. The metal floor vanished, the metal walls vanished, the metal ceiling vanished, and even Wu Pifu's own body disappeared. Only his senses could clearly perceive everything around him. Though he could not see his own body, he could see the dark void of space around him...

An endless darkness, yet within it, countless stars glittered. Not too far away, a star radiated light. Then his vision continued to stretch outward, looking beyond that star...

A colossal eyeball, so enormous it occupied nearly half the visible universe, existed in space!

Its pupil turned, looking toward the region where Gaia was located!!

And sixty-six days, six hours, six minutes, and six seconds... happened to be Gaia's rotation period, caused by some unknown reason!

The side where Wu Pifu was located began to fall beneath the gaze of the Eye of the Universe!

In the next instant, Wu Pifu completely vanished.