"Any unusual influence that makes me forget the existence of the 'panel' will trigger my instincts, reminding me of it, limited to 40 Skill Points."
There's no response; it seems I don't have enough points.
But she already has 40 points, and she only has 80 points now. She can't raise the price any further; she needs to use it to evolve her Digestion ability!
However, it didn't take long for Wen Jing to figure out the reason: Could it be because identifying 'abnormalities' is very expensive?
That makes sense. After all, she didn't notice anything wrong each time she was affected. Being able to detect the anomaly is itself a sign of successful resistance.
Wen Jing floated into the air, looking down at a cluster of red mushrooms, and made up his mind.
We must take them today!
The core is the control panel; if we don't consider the issue of identifying anomalies...
After thinking carefully for a while, Wen Jing's eyes suddenly lit up.
[The direction of evolution has been determined...]
[Evolve by consuming points...]
[80→79]
[Evolution complete]
[Gained Trait: Directed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) ]
Having evolved new characteristics, the little bug approached the crimson mushroom once more, tore off a bit of mycelium, and then created some distance between itself and the mushroom.
Then, I ate a little more of the mycelium.
A wonderful feeling washed over her again... but just as Wen Jing was about to immerse herself in it, she suddenly remembered the control panel and snapped back to reality.
This was different from the accidental association she had when she was just experiencing hallucinations; this time it was a completely automatic physiological instinct.
Wen Jing developed a new obsessive-compulsive disorder: every now and then, while she was eating, she would instinctively think of the control panel.
If I had to describe the feeling, it would be like a working person who needs to get up at 8 a. m., whose body will suddenly wake up before the second alarm goes off, even after turning off the first alarm.
Although it might be a bit annoying, she could totally accept a little bit of "mind pop-up" compared to the positive effects.
She has limited this obsessive-compulsive disorder to only occurring during eating, so it doesn't affect her daily studies or concentration.
Who says evolution has to be about positive traits? Negative traits can be just as effective if used correctly!
Upon discovering the success of the attempt, Wen Jing didn't waste a moment and immediately rushed back to the location of the Crimson Mushroom.
The little insect viciously bit the red umbrella.
Wow... that's amazing! I'm awake!
Wonderful... amazing!
female...!
Wen Jing woke up faster and faster, and by the time he ate mushrooms again, he was no longer experiencing hallucinations at all.
Meanwhile, the mental attribute, which had lagged behind for a while, began to grow rapidly on the panel.
32.5, 33, 33.5...
That's truly ingenious!
Chapter 54
After enjoying a sumptuous feast of snake meat and mushrooms in the lower level of the giant tree, Wen Jing's attribute values on the panel increased once again.
Lifespan: 63
Strength: 60
Speed: 36
Spirit: 48
Snake meat enhances life and strength, while crimson mushrooms uplift the spirit.
Looking at it this way, speed has become a weakness again. Next time, I'll have to feed them some Red and White Birds to improve it.
After the first two attributes broke through the 60 mark, similar to the speed increase, Wen Jing's exoskeleton texture underwent a significant change.
It exudes an indescribable lustrous sheen, and its molecular structure becomes more compact, giving it a translucent texture even when not in stealth or Mimicry.
It seems that once attribute values exceed a certain threshold, they will directly manifest as a qualitative change in the body.
I just don't know what the threshold for spiritual understanding is.
Having gone through this exploration and added the red mushroom to his diet, the creatures on the upper and lower levels of the giant tree were no longer a concern for Wen Jing; only the queen ant on the middle level remained.
Even during her mushroom hallucinations, she didn't forget the queen ant, which shows how much she missed her.
However, Wen Jing was not in a hurry to challenge her. Her newly evolved Directed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder was ineffective against the Queen Ant's mental control. Perhaps when her mental attributes broke through to the next stage, that would be the time to go and find the Queen Ant.
*
" Wen Jing! What a coincidence!"
Upon returning, Wen Jing encountered a man and a woman who had also just returned in the square.
Upon seeing her, the two looked surprised, and then greeted her.
Wen Jing also recognized two classmates. Although he wasn't as familiar with them as he was with Yu Yang Wan Ling, the memory of Awakened made it easy for him to remember his classmates.
"You just got back too!" she greeted with a smile, then expertly packed the black snake fangs she had brought back into a sealing box.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two watched Wen Jing leave with his spoils, their eyes filled with envy.
"I wonder what rank Wen Jing will get in this grade-level competition? Her credits are already on the grade-level leaderboard."
"Top ten is a sure thing, right? The winter semester is guaranteed a top ten finish; I never even dared to dream of that before..."
Academic credits cannot reflect a student's full combat strength, but those with high academic credits are definitely not weak in combat.
For the students in the winter class, if anyone was still jealous of Wen Jing in the first month, after she broke the Trial Tower record and completed her elective course the fastest, the entire winter class, or rather most of the first-year students, looked up to her.
When the gap in strength is too large, it prevents people from even feeling jealous.
Moreover, even her classmates who have the most contact with her can't say for sure what her actual abilities are.
With the grade ranking competition approaching, more freshmen are exploring the Ancient Wilderness in order to seize the time to improve their strength. However, the highest frequency is no more than three times. They have heard that Wen Jing has entered the Ancient Wilderness Land more than five times, which is more than some spring semester students can match.
"We also need to work harder. If we can break into the top 1,000 in our grade in our employment contracts, our future salary and performance bonuses will increase by 10%."
"Speaking of which, it seems Wen Jing hasn't signed a contract with any group?"
"Her condition is a bit hard to say..."
When it came to contracts, the two students finally regained some of their confidence as Awakened.
After becoming Awakened, students typically sign employment contracts with various companies and groups shortly after entering the academy. Their academic achievements serve as their resumes, which can improve their future job prospects.
But if we give Wen Jing too little, it wouldn't be worthy of her achievements; if we give her too much, she's only an F-rank.
Therefore, almost everyone in the winter class has already signed a contract, except for Wen Jing, who is the strongest in the class and has not signed with any group company.
Inside the research institute, Xie Ming calmly awarded Wen Jing 10 Integral upon her Wen Jing, who was carrying a pair of black snake fangs.
After seeing the red and white bird's beak, his tolerance level skyrocketed; he wouldn't be surprised unless she brought back a pair of ivory tusks next time.
The next day, Wen Jing went to challenge the Trial Tower for the month. After lowering her profile, no one noticed her.
It wasn't until five golden announcements rang out that people belatedly realized she had already completed the Trial Tower, achieving an S-rank rating on every single floor.
This time, the gatekeeper's " Mystifying Tracks Movement Technique," which many students found extremely difficult to deal with, seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever.
Having earned 75 credits, Wen Jing's name jumped from 97th to 31st on the grade ranking.
This news immediately ignited a frenzy on the campus forum.
Wen Jing had been focusing his attention on the Ancient Wilderness during this period, so he was unaware that his rise to the top of the grade rankings had caused quite a stir among the students, especially the first-year students.
There were many discussions and speculative posts on the campus forum about her results in the grade ranking competition and her grade ranking after the competition. Many people believed that she could make it into the top ten this time.
After all, Wen Jing hasn't even played the Trial Tower this month yet, and he's already in the top 100. If he breaks the record of one or two more floors, he can improve his ranking by a lot.
Most freshmen have accepted this fact, with only a small number of top students from the spring semester still persisting—there's no other way, otherwise it would seem like their first six months of study have been completely useless.
Therefore, facing the year-end ranking competition, the most pressing issue for this year's freshmen is the spring semester students, which is completely opposite to the situation in previous years.
At this moment, with Wen Jing's grade ranking skyrocketing, those previously trending posts were dug up again.
It wasn't until someone seemingly connected to the Student Council posted—[Instead of guessing how well Wen Jing will get, why not worry about how well you yourself will get after the new competition format this year!]
This post immediately shifted the focus of discussion to this year's new competition format.
Unfortunately, no further details about the connections were revealed, or rather, even if they wanted to, they couldn't. The forum's AI administrators wouldn't allow such posts to be published until an official announcement from the academy was made.
However, in the following days, the atmosphere in the academy became noticeably more tense than before.
Even when Wen Jing went to retrieve the Empowerment Stone, Dean Bai encouraged her with a mysterious look. "Prepare well for this ranking competition; the reward for first place is something great!"
Xie Ming nodded in agreement, his expression pained.
Upon Wen Jing exclaimed, "That's definitely something good!"
Unlike the top ten guesses on the forum, Dean Bai and Xie Ming set the goal for Wen Jing as first place.
The next day, Wen Jing took the newly acquired Empowerment Stone to the Ancient Wilderness to use it.
After consuming the Empowerment Stone on the giant tree, all her attributes increased by five points, and she also gained a new superpower.
[Gained Trait: Giantification ]
The next moment, energy surged from the little bug's body, accompanied by a slight 'crackling' sound, and she instantly transformed from a tiny bug the size of half a finger into a 'giant bug' the size of a washbasin.
"Uh... is this the maximum size?"
Wen Jing observed herself. Although this ability was called Giantification, her current size was only slightly larger than that of the Red and White Bird.
As for other aspects, firstly, maintaining the Giantification requires energy, and because of the Gigantification, the presence also increases, requiring more time and energy to maintain the stealth state.