Multiversal Moonlight Clan

An hour later.

With Yang Chunsha's magic, they moved diagonally upward.

This woman was quite skilled with earth magic. She could excavate rock layers and compress the soil.

Naturally, the broken rocks and dirt she dug out were piled behind them, making them more like a hollow cavity moving through the earth.

They dug ahead and filled in behind.

Because of this, her Multiversal Force was nearly depleted.

"You've only worked for an hour and you're already done? How did you dig such a huge tunnel?" Wu Zhong complained.

Yang Chunsha said resentfully, "I only work two hours a day—one hour digging in the morning, one hour hauling rock and soil in the afternoon. Five kilometers a day, every day. It took a full seven years to dig it."

Wu Zhong did the math and cried out, "You dug more than 12,700 kilometers?"

Yang Chunsha snorted and ignored him.

Wu Zhong was truly amazed by her perseverance. Digging dirt day after day for seven years.

The total length of railway lines in all of Jiangxi Province was only 4,700 kilometers. A single woman had dug nearly three times that.

"Impressive, impressive..."

Wu Zhong asked, "Then how long do you need to rest before your energy is fully restored?"

Yang Chunsha rubbed her little hands together and glanced at Endless Summer. "The key to Multiversal Force is the credit limit. It refers to how much energy you can borrow from other multiverses each day."

"When people say their Force is depleted, it actually means they've used up today's borrowing limit..."

"Unless I can repay the energy I borrowed, I can't use Multiversal Force again today."

Wu Zhong's mouth twitched as he looked at Endless Summer. "Huh?"

Endless Summer nodded. "That's how it works..."

Impatiently, he placed a hand on Yang Chunsha's shoulder. "How much do you owe?"

Yang Chunsha answered softly, "Four... four hundred..."

Endless Summer was stunned. "How much? You can borrow four hundred in a day?"

"No... I can only borrow twenty a day." Yang Chunsha waved her hands. "Isn't it almost the end of the month? I only repay it after owing for an entire month."

Wu Zhong mocked, "I know this one. You're paying in monthly installments now?"

"I'll only repay twenty for you. You can repay the rest of the energy yourself," Endless Summer said flatly.

With that, he removed his hand.

Yang Chunsha closed her eyes and focused. Then she was refreshed, light shone from her chest again, pages flipped, and she resumed manipulating the rocks and soil.

Wu Zhong followed behind her and asked Endless Summer a few questions. Only then did he understand how Multiversal Force worked.

It turned out this system was not simply about cultivating a certain amount of energy. Its primary function was a credit limit.

Suppose one possessed one hundred bits of Multiversal Force. Each day, they could borrow an equivalent amount of special energy from their counterparts in other universes—whether internal energy, spiritual energy, Ripple energy, or crystalline particles.

"Counterparts in other universes?" Wu Zhong asked in surprise.

Endless Summer nodded. "What Awakened Ones sense are living beings in other universes who are most similar to themselves—usually someone who looks the same and has the same or a similar name."

"Afterward, an entangled connection forms between you, allowing energy to be transmitted between you. We call them a 'host body.'"

"A Level One Awakened One only has one host body, so the first host body randomly sensed is largely a matter of luck. Whether they're impressive determines whether you're impressive."

"If they're useless, if their world has nothing unique, or if they're even weaker than you, then that Awakened One is basically useless through the first two levels."

Wu Zhong understood. If another version of himself in the multiverse was an ordinary person repairing cars, what use would it be to sense them? There would be nothing worth borrowing.

But if his multiversal self was some martial arts prodigy, grandmaster mage, or sect leader, then naturally they could elevate him. Borrowing even a little power from them would be beneficial.

"If I've already used up the energy I borrowed, how do I repay it?" This was what Wu Zhong mainly failed to understand.

Endless Summer explained, "You just repay them with energy from our world."

"Multiversal Force is a universal intermediary energy. You can repay it with anything, so long as it is energy within your body—electricity, solar energy, even your own stamina."

"If you're desperate enough, you can even repay it with your lifespan, vitality, mental power, and so on."

"As the saying goes, repay what you borrow, and borrowing again is easy. If a host body is drained dry, left weak for a long time, and develops strong resistance, they can refuse to lend any more."

"Some Awakened Ones who want to grow stronger first nurture their host bodies. Every time they repay, they deliberately add many times the interest, giving the host body the illusion that they have some kind of cheat and making them enjoy lending energy out."

"If you fatten up a promising host body and let them develop better in another universe, that is also a good thing for the Awakened One."

"Awakened Ones and host bodies complement each other and help each other succeed."

Wu Zhong took a deep breath. What kind of cultivation system was this? This was a goddamn multiversal credit card.

He understood. "So restoring Multiversal Force is simple. You just inject energy into your own body."

"Charging up or basking in the sun can replenish small amounts. If that doesn't work, you can even drain your own energy and physical strength, refining bioenergy from flesh and blood."

"However, there is an upper limit to the storage capacity. Carrying Bitcoin can increase that upper limit."

"It's like an external energy storage device. Whoever holds it owns it, so Bitcoin is hard currency among Awakened Ones."

"Then how do you increase this credit limit?"

"The simplest way is to borrow more and use more. Borrow enough, and the limit naturally rises," Endless Summer said.

"Huh? This woman worked diligently for seven years, and her limit is still only twenty bits?" Wu Zhong was astonished.

Endless Summer sneered. "Because she often defaults. She only repays once a month. Over seven years, she's only repaid eighty-four times."

"With a 'Force repayment' cycle like that, her Multiversal Force improves extremely slowly."

"And if I'm not mistaken, she probably pays no interest, or very little interest. That makes it even slower."

Wu Zhong looked at Yang Chunsha. "Is twenty bits that hard to repay? Why do you have to delay it for an entire month every time?"

Yang Chunsha said resentfully, "One bit of Multiversal Force contains energy equivalent to more than ninety thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity."

"How do you expect me to repay that? What you said about charging the human body is simply impractical."

"Even if I restricted the current to the dangerous level of 30 mA, it would take ninety days to put a single kilowatt-hour of electricity into my body!"

"That efficiency is worse than accumulating fat. One kilogram of fat contains energy equivalent to more than ten kilowatt-hours."

Wu Zhong was dumbfounded. "Then how do you repay it?"

Yang Chunsha sighed. "I searched through the forums, and they said that for beginners who haven't eaten Lightning-Struck Wood to increase their electrical resistance..."

"If they owe too much Force, then purchasing Kun Blood from the platform marketplace is the best option."

"Kun Blood contains enormous energy. The human body can absorb energy equivalent to one hundred thousand kilowatt-hours from just one gram of it."

Wu Zhong said, "Then isn't that great? Roughly one gram of Kun Blood can repay one bit of Multiversal Force."

"Don't tell me you can't afford it. No, that can't be right. You repay every month, which means you can still afford it."

Yang Chunsha said gloomily, "It isn't expensive. One gram of Kun Blood only costs ten thousand yuan now."

"The price is incredibly consumer-friendly, but even something this cheap is too expensive to eat..."

Wu Zhong was baffled. "What do you mean, too cheap to afford? Are you insane? One gram only costs ten thousand yuan? That's practically cheaper than electricity!"

Yang Chunsha explained, "It's cheap because there's too much Kun Blood, and only living creatures can absorb it. No industrial method can extract the energy inside."

"And who delivers one gram of Kun Blood? There are no club stations in the country. They only establish stations outside the five great nations. You need to pay at least several million in shipping before a mercenary will deliver it."

"Most importantly, the minimum quantity of Kun Blood sold on the platform is a jin package. Under normal circumstances, it can't be divided further. In other words, I have to buy five hundred grams of Kun Blood in one go, and it comes as one giant lump!"

"Kun Blood is a solidified, jelly-like substance. They say it contains incredibly powerful electromagnetic interaction forces..."

"In short, with my strength, I can't cut off even a scrap with a knife, smash it with a hammer, drill it with an electric drill, blast it with detonators, or crush it beneath an excavator."

"I can only swallow an entire jin at once... Afterward, it melts inside my body. The energy it contains is so immense that if I don't quickly convert it into Force to repay my debt, I'll definitely explode and die."

"That's why I need to accumulate an entire month's debt before I can consume Kun Blood each time..."

Wu Zhong finally understood after hearing this. No matter where one went, those at the bottom had it miserable.

He could not help imagining this woman helplessly sitting in an excavator, trying every possible method and still failing to break apart a single piece of scarlet jelly...

Endless Summer asked from the side, "Oh? Why don't you eat Kun Blood every day?"

"When repaying Force, you can pay many times the interest. Even if you only use one bit, you can repay five hundred times that amount at once. You can't possibly not know that."

"Wouldn't consuming Kun Blood that way also nurture your host body? Why save it up and slow your own progress?"

Yang Chunsha's mouth twitched.

She looked at Endless Summer as if he had asked why she did not simply eat meat porridge.

"Brother, Brother Summer... You make it sound so easy. Eat five hundred grams of Kun Blood every day? Was I born into such wealth and privilege?"

"When I first repaid my debt, I did exactly that. My host body was stunned. Their magic power surged overnight, and they were mistaken for a genius, allowing them to enter the elite class at their magic academy."

"But... my Multiversal Force only increased by 0.5 bits. Eat it like that again the next day? How could anyone afford to cultivate that way?"

"Later, I gradually started cutting back. In the end, I could only eat one meal of Kun Blood every one or two months just to maintain my life."

Wu Zhong nodded. He fully understood that helplessness.

Yes, Kun Blood was cheap, but Yang Chunsha could not afford it even at that price. She was forced to eat an entire jin at a time. Buying it jin by jin was no longer cheap, and eating it every day was unrealistic.

That meant she really could only save up and eat it once a month.

Endless Summer's question was clearly the question of someone who had never been poor. Yes, Kun Blood was cheap. Even Wu Zhong thought it was absurdly cheap when he heard that a miraculous substance containing one hundred thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity cost only ten thousand yuan.

But one meal cost five million yuan. That was far too expensive.

Endless Summer's cultivation as an Awakened One had likely been supported by sufficient wealth from the beginning, leaving him unable to understand the careful calculations required of those at the bottom.

Wu Zhong deeply empathized with her, but then he froze.

Suddenly realizing something, he said, "Wait, no. Hold on. You spend sixty million yuan a year just using Multiversal Force?"

Yang Chunsha continued digging the tunnel as she casually replied, "More or less. Is there a problem?"

"I... you... huh?"

Wu Zhong's scalp went numb. This woman had made it sound so pitiful that he had even gotten emotional over it.

In reality, even the most miserable person in the Calamity Realm would never lack food or clothing. They were wealthy beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

No wonder Brother Summer had said, "Why use Multiversal Force if you have no money?" This thing really burned through cash.

If a Bronze-ranked mercenary like Yang Chunsha used up her Force every day, she would need tens of millions of yuan every year just to settle her debt.

Wu Zhong swallowed. "No wonder it's called 'yuan' force. It really costs yuan."

"Didn't you say you were poor enough to die? How can you make this much money? Sixty million! That's sixty million!"

Yang Chunsha curled her lips. "Just grind more Black Iron missions. Usually errands like delivering packages and goods, gathering materials, and so on. Completing one pays hundreds of thousands, and I occasionally do Bronze missions worth a few million."

"Cash currency is the lowest-value circulating medium in the Calamity Realm."

"With investments, earning fifty or sixty million a year isn't difficult. But because I have to dig tunnels, and because I need to borrow and use more Force to increase it..."

"All the money I earn goes toward repaying debt. I'm part of the 'moonlight clan' too..."

Wu Zhong scratched his head. Good heavens, someone earning sixty million a year was part of the moonlight clan...

Delivering packages and running errands paid hundreds of thousands? He wanted to deliver packages too!

Yang Chunsha said it in the same tone as someone saying, "I only make three thousand a month."

He looked at Endless Summer. "Brother Summer, do you settle your debt this way too?"

"I don't need to. Eating Kun Blood is the most convenient method. I have an entire swimming pool full of Kun Blood," Endless Summer said calmly.

"Also, my Void Exosuit can absorb energy on its own. Absorbing while using it is rather inefficient, but I've eaten plenty of Lightning-Struck Wood as well, so I can withstand a current of one hundred thousand mA."

"I have twelve private 1,000 kV ultra-high-voltage power stations around the world. Whenever I have free time, I can charge directly. I can charge while sleeping, and absorbing one kilowatt-hour only takes 0.0036 seconds."

Wu Zhong was speechless, while Yang Chunsha's face filled with shock and envy.

A goddamn private power station. A swimming pool full of Kun Blood.

This was what it meant to be powerful. Whether it was an ability that could naturally withstand high energy or the Lightning-Struck Wood mentioned on the forums that increased electrical resistance...

In short, the strong had countless methods. Only weak people like Yang Chunsha had to calculate every penny.

Hearing that Endless Summer only needed 0.0036 seconds to absorb one kilowatt-hour, Yang Chunsha realized that meant he could replenish eleven bits of Multiversal Force every hour.

She was practically drooling with envy.

Experts like him mainly relied on Bitcoin to increase their upper limit of Multiversal Force. They would not activate Multiversal Moment every day, instead keeping their credit limit in reserve for emergencies.

Therefore, unless something major happened, they only needed to charge every day and use it occasionally.

Her consumption was so great because she cast spells continuously.

In truth, an Earth Formation Wall only required 0.001 bits.

"You can withstand one hundred thousand mA? Do you eat Lightning-Struck Wood like food? How can a Gold-ranked mercenary be this rich?" Yang Chunsha was shocked, but also puzzled.

Based on what she knew of Endless Summer's past record, he should not have been this wealthy.

"None of your fucking business. Keep digging!" Endless Summer said coldly.

Yang Chunsha shrank back, adjusted her glasses, and continued casting spells to excavate.

Wu Zhong was already beginning to feel dizzy. The carbon dioxide concentration was too high.

Because the cave was blocked and sealed, the oxygen level was constantly dropping.

Fortunately, with the woman digging desperately, they finally entered the interconnected Dark Tunnel before the oxygen ran out.

Their original route had definitely been thrown off, but Yang Chunsha knew the paths she had once dug like the back of her hand.

She easily identified their location and led everyone on foot.

But before long, a rumbling sound came from ahead. Another area had collapsed!

"Ah, again?" Yang Chunsha was on the verge of tears. This place had originally been quite safe.

But because a Night Wanderer was causing trouble, it had become a dangerous zone leaking everywhere.

"Hmph!"

Endless Summer gave chase at extreme speed—and in the opposite direction, because the Night Wanderer had returned to somewhere behind them to cause more destruction.

With a boom, Endless Summer unleashed a stream of purple fluid that sprayed outward in a fan.

The two saw a ghostly figure get corroded by it, instantly losing more than half its body. The remainder vanished in an instant, slipping into a crack in the rocks and disappearing.

Endless Summer did not pursue it. Worried that something might happen to Wu Zhong, he returned in frustration.

At the same time, Yang Chunsha had already repaired the collapse ahead and reopened the path.

But without question, they would encounter this sort of thing countless times along the way.

"This is too slow," Endless Summer said.

Wu Zhong took a deep breath. "It's not just the Night Wanderer. With Brother Summer here, the Night Wanderer can only harass us. It can't amount to much."

"But it has been following us in the shadows and knows our location. If 985 completes a deal with the ghost gods, then things will get bad."

Wu Zhong's tone was worried. He had seen Captain Lu negotiate with Ji Meng.

Ji Meng's meaning had been very clear: as long as Wu Zhong died, it did not matter how he died or who killed him.

Now that the Night Wanderer's assassination had failed and 985 also wanted to capture him, the two might make some kind of deal.

"Brother Xia, if Night Wanderer reports our location, 985 will know wherever we go."

Wu Zhong's words made sense, and Endless Summer gave it serious thought.

But after thinking it over, Endless Summer still shook his head. "Making deals with ghosts and gods isn't that simple. Ji Meng wants you dead, but 985 doesn't. They must have guessed that you can seal the Heavenly Gate, so after learning all this, they definitely won't kill you. They'll use you to seal the Heavenly Gate instead. Of course, what happens after the seal succeeds is another matter."

"In short, if the ghosts and gods report your location to 985, you really won't be able to escape. But that does them no good. It might even be like seeking the tiger's skin—digging their own graves."

"Better to let you escape for now. Once the ghosts and gods grow stronger, they can find another chance to kill you."

Wu Zhong nodded. That was true. The ghosts and gods weren't idiots either.

Endless Summer added, "But we still need to move fast. This is their home ground. The longer we stay, the more likely something will go wrong."

Yang Chunsha listened closely. She was already tied to Endless Summer's pirate ship.

She had practically begged to be brought aboard, so she not only couldn't cause internal strife now—she had to do everything she could to get everyone out of the country together.

"Um... can you teleport and get us a car?"

Endless Summer nodded slightly, but he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he called out, "Chicken Gizzard, come out."

He pulled open the back of his collar, revealing the tattoo on his back. It depicted Chicken Gizzard's gruesome death.

Then the tattoo on his back vanished, transforming into Ghost Gizzard.

"Go find Night Wanderer and get rid of him." Endless Summer intended to eliminate Night Wanderer first, so that bastard's consciousness could crawl back to Mount Lu Heavenly Gate to revive instead of getting in the way here.

With a whoosh, Chicken Gizzard burrowed into the rock wall.

But not long afterward, Endless Summer suddenly shuddered. He tugged open his collar, exposing the back of his neck and shoulders.

Wu Zhong took one look and saw that a Ghost Tattoo had reappeared on his body.

"You came back so quickly? Is Night Wanderer dead?"

Endless Summer muttered as he summoned him again, the tattoo turning back into a ghost.

But Chicken Gizzard only widened his eyes and charged into the distance without even looking at him.

"Where are you going? What's wrong with you?" Endless Summer asked in shock.

Wu Zhong understood, though. Chicken Gizzard still wanted to find Tangle.