Chen Yu, Have You Lost It Too?

To create an action Dreamscape, the help of a Body Cultivator was indispensable.

The human body was remarkably strange. If things were not deliberately emphasized in a Dreamscape, many bizarre details would simply be overlooked.

But once they were emphasized even slightly, the inconsistencies in the Dreamscape would immediately be noticed and continuously magnified, eventually forcing people out of the Dreamscape.

Therefore, action Dreamscapes were the most difficult of all Dreamscapes. Few Dream Makers outside could do them well, and there were even fewer in Heaven Origin.

After learning the key points from Teacher Zhao, Chen Yu asked in confusion, "When I was looking up information before, I noticed it. Is our Heaven Origin really this weak? Why do we have nothing? No Dreamscapes, no access to Dreamscapes from other regions—we're completely isolated."

"Heaven Origin used to be prosperous too. Back then, Spirit Stones were discovered underground in Heaven Origin—jade stones containing vast amounts of spiritual energy that could be absorbed with exceptional efficiency and speed. Because there were so many Spirit Stones, all the major companies swarmed in. They hollowed out the earth veins for thousands of meters, and you can still see the sinkholes now. But once the Spirit Stones were exhausted, the remaining land became worthless. The companies immediately pulled their investments and fled, leaving behind nothing but a mess."

At that point, Teacher Zhao sighed and said regretfully, "Not long after I was born, the Spirit Stones were mined out. You haven't seen what those major companies were capable of. They scraped the sky three feet bare, like locusts passing through. One Golden Core cultivator after another sucked the place dry, digging away every bit of soil without leaving even a hair behind. The Tianyuan Cultivators Committee back then was also a bunch of idiots. They sold off every last Spirit Stone in Heaven Origin and then ran away. In the end, a group of cultivators established a new Cultivators' Committee."

"I see. Then, Teacher Zhao, you..."

"I'm on the Cultivators' Committee's side too, though I'm not an official member, just an outside affiliate. The principal and dean, meanwhile, are from outside. All the principals of the five major high schools were parachuted in from elsewhere. Their heads are full of ways to rake in money. They're rotten to the core."

With a long sigh, Teacher Zhao waved his hand. "Forget about all that. Let's make the Dreamscape you want first. I understand your idea. We'll create all twenty basic scoring points for Body Cultivators, then sort them into levels one through five, for a total of one hundred movements. That part is simple, but how are you planning to integrate them?"

"Integration is simple. We'll use action frames. Although twenty scoring points can be combined into a lot of composite moves, there actually aren't many with real reference value. As long as we put effort into creating this part, it'll be fine."

"Mm... that's true."

"After that, we can create variations and feints based on the composite moves. Then the movement side will basically be complete."

"Mm... well said!"

Teacher Zhao looked at Chen Yu approvingly, feeling that the student before him truly had talent.

A Dream Maker did not need to understand every single detail perfectly. After all, human effort was limited, while the charm of Dreamscapes was limitless.

If a Dream Maker wanted to handle every part personally, they would only drag their Dreamscape into mediocrity and ultimately gain nothing.

Beginner Dream Makers often wanted to take care of every stage themselves. One or two geniuses might emerge among them, but most would fade into obscurity.

Even geniuses would eventually become mentally exhausted and consume themselves from within, unless they realized the power of a team.

Thinking of this, Teacher Zhao said sincerely, "Chen Yu, you really do have some skills."

"Of course I do. Wait, I'm heading out for a moment. Teacher Zhao, keep recording the movements!"

Chen Yu hurriedly slipped out and looked at his Constitution interface, drawing a sharp breath.

Why was Positive Emotion rising so quickly?

The current emotional cap was fifty thousand. Once it reached fifty thousand, he would be forced into a state of training himself to death, then begin tormenting himself like mad.

He had thought he still had time, but Positive Emotion was now rising rapidly. Art High School was probably pulling some new stunt again!

"I swear I can't coexist with those art students! It's already hit ten thousand after so little time. Do I have to cultivate again?"

Just as Chen Yu felt he was doomed, he saw that an "Extract" button had appeared beside Positive Emotion.

Then the corresponding function surfaced in his mind, making him understand its purpose.

It allowed him to extract the corresponding emotion in advance and convert it into mana.

When accumulated mana reached twenty percent, fifty percent, and eighty percent of the cap, he would respectively gain one extraction opportunity. He could extract the corresponding amount of emotion without triggering the effects of his Constitution.

After learning of this Trait, Chen Yu realized that his Constitution was a massive collection of functions. The Heavenly Demons of old had gathered functions of hope into their bloodlines and passed them down to their descendants.

This Trait was clearly something the Heavenly Demons had prepared to keep their descendants from going astray and lead them onto the proper path.

The painstaking care behind it was worthy of Chen Yu taking the time to write a little essay praising it.

Letting out a long breath, Chen Yu immediately used Extract and pulled out that mana.

But the moment it was extracted, his relieved heart rose again.

Although it had been extracted, this mana still carried Positive Emotion and was still taking up his quota.

If he did not spend it quickly, he would still be contaminated by Positive Emotion and start cultivating like mad.

"Calm down, Chen Yu. You need to calm down. The problem now is that Positive Mana has to be spent, while Negative Mana has to be saved up and spent. If I don't spend it, I'm finished. But where am I supposed to spend it now?"

He had thought ten thousand mana could be spent quickly, but Chen Yu practically tore through his phone and still could not find anywhere to spend it.

The new Tianyuan Cultivators Committee lacked the authority to purchase goods from outside, so there were many things he could not buy.

Tutoring classes did not cost enough, and it was already too late to enroll anyway!

Who would have thought that one day he would have trouble figuring out how to spend money? This was outrageous!

Then Chen Yu suddenly had an idea. He immediately ran back to Teacher Zhao's dormitory, grabbed Teacher Zhao's hand, and asked, "Teacher Zhao, how much is your monthly salary?"

"Why are you asking that? Fifteen hundred yuan."

"That little?"

"It may be little, but I earn it honestly and with a clear conscience! Though it is pretty little. More than half of it goes toward buying protein powder for you every month..."

Seeing Teacher Zhao lower his head, Chen Yu was overjoyed. He said excitedly, "Teacher Zhao, how can this be allowed? Do you get paid while suspended?"

"Not only do I not get paid, I also have to cover the principal's medical expenses. Not only is this month's salary gone, they'll deduct another thousand from me."

"How can that be allowed? You ended up like this because you were helping me make a Dreamscape, so I'll cover the medical expenses. Not only that, we need to include his lost wages, office damage, and your emotional damages. I'll round it up to five thousand yuan. You can pass it on yourself later."

"No..."

Cutting Teacher Zhao off, Chen Yu continued, "You're helping me make a Dreamscape, which counts as extra overtime. I need to pay you overtime wages. Five thousand for overtime isn't excessive, right?"

"Chen Yu, what are you talking about?"

"Also, I need to listen to your explanations throughout this process, so that counts as tutoring me. Teacher Zhao, you're skilled in both academics and martial arts, and you're renowned as the Math Prince, so five thousand isn't excessive, right?"

"...Have you lost it?"

"Then there are meal and travel expenses. Let's call that another five thousand. Twenty thousand total, which converts to two thousand points of mana."

"Your exchange rate is a bit low. It's already one to fifteen now."

"I don't care. I'm using the official rate. This is two thousand points of mana. Take it, and if it's not enough in the future, just ask. I definitely won't be stingy. All right, I'm going back to sleep. Bye."

Without giving Teacher Zhao a chance to refuse, Chen Yu handed him two thousand mana and strode quickly toward the door, feeling immensely relieved.

Just as he stepped outside, he thought of something and turned back. "Teacher Zhao, our time is tight and our task is heavy, so please work some overtime. I'll calculate your overtime pay at triple rate. Keep it up."

"Oh..."

Teacher Zhao watched Chen Yu skip away and finally missed his chance to return the money.

Looking at the additional two thousand points of mana in the Energy-Storage Formation on his phone, Teacher Zhao pinched his face, feeling as if the world had become somewhat absurd.

Chen Yu, had he lost it too?