Life Guide

[Welcome to the Abnormal Community Life Guide]

About this app:

[Life Guide] is dedicated to becoming a lifestyle services platform exclusively for the anomalous community, regulated under the "ether control protocol."

▷[Myriad Merchants] Over 3,000 anomalous and hypertech service providers from 35 countries and regions have joined [Life Guide] (Diva and Aolieting are blocked). You can make reservations, place orders, and more through [Life Guide]. The app's integrated navigation plugin will help you find entrances to shops outside this dimension.

▷[Multiple Partnerships] Industry giants such as Vortex Music, Wand People Communications, Dimension Express, and Ambrose Restaurant have entered into official partnerships with [Life Guide].

▷[Safe and Reliable] All registered merchants have been certified by the Veil Maintenance Agency and undergo annual safety qualification reviews. When using services through [Life Guide], you will receive free personal and conceptual safety insurance provided by [Wand People Communications]. (Heaven lineage excluded)

▷[Meme Encryption] The anti-muggle meme included with [Life Guide] will ensure that your screen's contents remain concealed.

▷[Emergency Rescue] Suffered a backlash during an exorcism? Discovered a dangerous entity in a densely populated area? Press and hold the app icon, and [Life Guide] will provide one use of [Ether Emergency Teleportation] (new customers receive one free use/heaven lineage excluded).

▷[Generous Benefits] New users receive a discount voucher worth 10 standard Thaumaturgy Stones upon logging in. Users from major lineages also receive monthly gift packs! (Heaven lineage excluded)

Once [Life Guide] finished installing, a flood of app information popped up. Xia Xiu scrolled to the bottom and tapped the button to use the app.

[Your account nickname: ______]

Xia Xiu casually entered his nickname.

[Nickname confirmed: I'm Not an Undercover Cop]

[Confirming lineage-]

[Welcome, [I'm Not an Undercover Cop] of the heaven lineage. Remember to leave us a five-star review!]

Of course Xia Xiu wasn't going to leave a good review. Stupid app, discriminating against Heaven users. Just you wait-you'll get taken down sooner or later.

He looked at the new-user benefits he couldn't claim no matter what he tried, then silently gave the app one star.

[@I'm Not an Undercover Cop: ★☆☆☆☆]

[Comment: This is blatant discrimination against Heaven users. Why should Heaven suffer unfair treatment? I'm shaking with rage and freezing all over. What's wrong with society? When will Heaven finally be able to stand tall? {Angry}]

[Developer reply: Hello! We have forwarded your feedback to the developers. We apologize for the inconvenience.]

After leaving his review, Xia Xiu opened [Life Guide]'s main interface.

[Community Marketplace]

[Ether Navigation]

[Focus Forum]

[Dimension Express]

Xia Xiu opened the Community Marketplace. Most of the things sold there were restricted goods unavailable on the open market. He had already spotted several memetic drugs with effects equivalent to Soma's.

Xia Xiu opened the user search and entered the product he wanted to find.

[Species search: Petroshapian Species DNA template]

[Description: The Petroshapian Species is a living crystalline organism. Crystals extend from various parts of its body, and upon contact with the floor, it can also make crystals erupt from the floor. Its arms can launch crystals resembling ice, crystal, and diamond.

It can endlessly restructure the crystal diamonds released from its body. The crystals on its body are highly reflective and resilient.

Its weakness is that powerful sonic attacks cause it to lose its ability to grow crystals, develop cracks in its body, and become weakened.]

[Price: 20,000/dose {Youyang Currency}]

[Delivery fee: 5 standard Thaumaturgy Stones]

Xia Xiu tapped to place the order. The Red Book floated open before him, and a [Reverse Summoning] Magic Circle appeared on its pages. He placed the money and Thaumaturgy Stones on it.

[Order placed. Estimated delivery in three days!]

After confirming the order, Xia Xiu closed the app and disconnected from [Life Guide]'s connection frequency.

He had secured what he needed. It was time to head back.

Deer College · Anderson Dormitory.

By the time Xia Xiu returned to Deer College, night had fallen over Three Portlands. Out of consideration for its citizens' biological clocks, Three Portlands had implemented synchronized weather, keeping the weather inside in sync with the weather outside.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Xia Xiu returned to his dormitory.

[Sir, you have a lineage app on you that Deer College has flagged as high-risk.]

"I know, Jarvis. Activate the [Sword of Judgment] and run a purge for me."

[Activating-]

While Jarvis ran the purge, Xia Xiu lay on the couch, letting its soft cushions swallow him.

The Petroshapian Species DNA template was taken care of. It was the first species Xia Xiu had chosen for his shapeshifting.

The [Flesh Sculpting] trait granted by Third Return was an incredible skill. Its [Shapeshifting] function transformed its owner's original body into other [paranormal species], and it could collect and archive the cellular genes of all [paranormal species] with extraordinary efficiency.

It allowed its owner to become one of them and use that [paranormal species]'s superpowers. It could also combine with the user's DNA and match it accordingly.

As long as he knew the appropriate ritual and inhibitor, Xia Xiu could theoretically use [The Boundless Covered by It] to transform into any paranormal species.

That was the anomaly spectrum-an outrageously powerful existence.

The anomaly spectrum differed from the normal state. Ultimately, normal-state lineage thaumaturgy could be summed up as:

Analysis, combination, arrangement, experimentation, application.

All five elements required by the Thaumaturgy Applications Research Institute were covered.

Naturally, this also corresponded to the All-Knowing One in the Chronicles of the Paranormal and one of the principles of the "Emerald Tablet": "Infinity."

The five major normal-state applications depended heavily on the Four Great Seals.

The Four Great Seals served as Thaumaturgy Source Structures. They extracted EVE particles from matter within their range and converted them into thaumaturgic energy to power thaumaturgy.

Ancient-school Thaumaturgists had believed that the [material realm] consisted of the Four Elements—air, fire, water, and earth—plus [ether], the mother of all things in the material world, regarded as the first of the five fundamental elements and the creator of the Four Elements.

But with the rapid progress of modern Terra's basic sciences, people came to understand that the world consisted of countless tiny, divisible particles. Apart from the hypothetical particle-ether-the other theories of the ancient schools had all been disproven.

The third of the three laws of thaumaturgy was the driving force that constantly urged Thaumaturgists to change and accept change. Different methods of observation could tap different amounts of energy from the [ether sea].

The closer one's understanding came to the truth, the more one could tap into the [ether sea].

That was the normal state: constant innovation, constant progress.

The anomaly spectrum, on the other hand, was completely different. It did not even follow the three laws.

Reality benders, wielders of divine thaumaturgy.

Those were the ancient names for anomalous practitioners. When divine Thaumaturgists used EVE particles to cast spells, they unconsciously projected their faith in their god onto their spellwork. This method required no Four Great Seals whatsoever. They simply took the power and used it.

Those of the anomaly spectrum were also the most likely to distort the present world.

They were the chief culprits behind its collapse.

Non-Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioners, Normal-State Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioners, Anomaly-Spectrum Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioners.

All three were users of thaumaturgy.

But the differences between them were enormous.

Non-Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner was generally used to refer to beings who used thaumaturgy through "learning"-that is, by changing their "worldview." Most human thaumaturgy users, for instance, fell into this category. They were also disparagingly called "Wild Mages" or "Wanderers."

Normal-State Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner described beings with an innate affinity for EVE particles and exceptionally high talent. Some were human; others were beings from places far beyond Terra.

Anomaly-Spectrum Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner described beings directly granted power by high-ranking entities of demigod level or above. They were usually very dangerous to cross and had limitless potential for growth. They were jokingly called "gods walking the world."

There was a joke that went like this: a Non-Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner, a Normal-State Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner, and an Anomaly-Spectrum Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner took a magic exam. The Non-Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner passed because he had studied hard all along; the Normal-State Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner passed because he was a genius who understood everything at a glance; the Anomaly-Spectrum Lineage Thaumaturgy Practitioner passed because he had slept with the examiner for a night. Absurd as it sounded, it illustrated their abilities and where those abilities came from to some extent.