"You said you not only sensed the opportunity for sublimation, but the Soul-Switching Device also malfunctioned, causing your mental power to change?"
In the private machine shop, Han Xiao turned his head and looked at Fording with a strange expression, his face indescribably interesting.
"Yes, I was surprised too. The soul connection level has increased significantly, and some of the characteristics of the Soul-Switching Device have been added to my mental power. In addition, I vaguely sensed the existence of a Secondary Dimension, and my intuition guided me there."
Fording shook his head helplessly.
... What's with that helpless look on your face? You're having a wonderful adventure and you're still complaining about the trouble? Is this what it means to be a chosen one? I love it!
Han Xiao mentally scoffed and began to ponder.
Speaking of which, he had previously used [Bold Explorer] to look up the origins of the Soul-Switching Device. It wasn't anything particularly strange; it was an artificial creation, but perhaps it made contact with a Secondary Dimension when it mutated into Cosmic Wonder.
He speculated that once a suitable individual reaches the Beyond Grade A ascension, this hidden benefit would be activated, which seemed quite likely.
No wonder that little hussy, Soul-Switching Device, was so eager for Fording's favor; it turns out she saw an opportunity to unlock new positions for herself in Fording.
Han Xiao's mind raced, and he casually gave Fording an injection. Fording's main purpose in running over to report was to undergo his "physical examination."
After the needle was inserted, the battle information popped up on the panel.
Han Xiao glanced at it and found that Fording had gained a new strength attribute related to the soul, as well as two new feats. One was a new bonus brought about by the mutation of the Soul-Switching Device, which increased a series of attributes such as psychic power, and the increase was quite considerable. The other feat was a question mark and was still in an inactive gray frozen state.
Sitting at home, a talent falls from the sky... Tsk, what kind of world is this?
Han Xiao felt a pang of jealousy, coughed lightly, and said:
"Since your intuition is guiding you to that Secondary Dimension, go and take a look. Is the guidance you received a sense of direction or specific coordinates?"
"Coordinates." Fording nodded in response.
"Oh, that's convenient. It saves a lot of time on the road. But most people rely on their sense of direction. Your coordinates are probably hidden information recorded by the Soul-Switching Device. Let me get ready, and then we'll set off."
With that, Han Xiao prepared to put away the technology he was researching and summon a vehicle.
But Fording shook his head, indicating his refusal.
"Black Star, I have a feeling this is a test for me. If you come with me, I won't feel any sense of crisis. I'd better go alone."
Han Xiao paused, then said thoughtfully:
"Since you're so insistent, fine. I'll give you one set of the Sovereign, and you can also take another set of the Throne. If you encounter any problems you can't solve, just ask me for help..."
Seeing that Fording was about to say something, Han Xiao waved his hand, interrupting him.
"You're my good friend. I can't possibly let you take risks without any way out. That's my bottom line."
"... Alright then." Fording smiled helplessly.
Han Xiao took out the corresponding equipment and pulled out a small vehicle specifically for use in the Secondary Dimension. He had the mechanical assistant take it to the starting point, and Fording thanked him before following along.
Watching Fording's the Sight of Father's Back disappear from sight, Han Xiao withdrew his gaze and gently shook his head.
For Calamity Grade, the Secondary Dimension are still quite dangerous. Han Xiao was worried about Fording's safety and originally planned to accompany him, but Fording wanted to solo the dungeon, which involved Beyond Grade A ascension opportunity, so he respected Fording's premonition.
However, given Fording's luck, he can usually turn misfortune into good fortune and overcome adversity. If his own luck Black Hole were to neutralize it, there might be some setbacks, so not going would actually be a good thing.
However, Han Xiao wouldn't sit idly by and watch his precious child take danger. Just now, he secretly placed an Observation Mark on Fording, preparing to monitor the risks continuously. After all, Fording had coordinates, unlike Harrison, so it wouldn't take him long to find him.
Han Xiao turned to look at the research equipment that was analyzing the new technology, temporarily freezing its progress and stopping it.
Each Beyond Grade A has their own training plan. Han Xiao brought out more blueprints from the Sanctuary this time, and has been mainly studying these technologies, while also resetting his attribute points and improving his stats. In the words of the Mechanic, this is called optimizing resource allocation, putting attribute points into areas with higher cost-effectiveness, and accumulating them little by little can also improve combat power.
This time, upon entering the First Sanctum, my access level was raised to level nine, my memory capacity increased compared to last time, and the number of empty spaces on the Sanctuary message board decreased somewhat. However, the last few paragraphs, which were the most recent, still had large gaps in their content.
Last time, the valuable information about the "Information State Stripping Plan" appeared in the fourth to last paragraph, but this time it was in the penultimate paragraph that the content caught his attention. Han Xiao couldn't help but recall:
[... The previous iteration of Project ███ was on the right track, but failed due to some bugs. We decided to add a control valve to the ███ device to reduce the processing cost of ███'s rampage. We just don't know what form the control valve will take after ███'s mutation...]
Since leaving the Sanctuary, he has been pondering this information. It seems that the recent iteration agreed with the plan of the iteration before that and made improvements on the basis.
Generally speaking, civilizations facing Great Restart do not place all their hopes on the paths taken by their predecessors. After all, the failures of their predecessors have shown that their plans were ineffective and can only provide some lessons learned.
However, the fact that the previous iteration was willing to believe in the plan of the previous iteration shows that subsequent civilizations would not have made this decision if the plan had not been quite valuable. In this case, the plan, which has been improved by two iterations, is very valuable for reference, and Han Xiao secretly took it to heart.
"I'll have to visit the First Sanctum more often in the future. I wonder what level of access I'll need to unlock these two latest messages."
Han Xiao composed himself, left the mechanical workshop and returned to his top-floor office. He first glanced down at the other Calamity Grade combat training sessions before entering the Observation Mark's field of vision.
At the private airport terminal, a mechanical assistant moved in and out of a small vehicle, quickly completing the commissioning.
Fording took the pilot's seat, recalled for a moment, input the Secondary Dimension coordinates from the revelation into the navigation system, and then started the shuttle engine, immediately feeling the spaceship vibrate slightly.
"Locking in Secondary Dimension coordinates... Warming up the shuttle engine... Activating internal space stabilization devices..."
The spacecraft's AI continuously broadcasted information, and a large number of flight parameters were displayed on the control screen.
Fording set the autopilot, took out the Soul-Switching Device, pressed it to his chest, took a deep breath, and slowly calmed himself down.
Not long after, the spaceship completed its pre-flight self-check, and the vibration suddenly disappeared. Fording felt a sudden weight on his body, as if he had been pushed back into his seat by a strong force. The view of the dock outside the window shattered in an instant, turning into endless streams of light. The spaceship officially entered shuttle mode.
After what seemed like an eternity, the spaceship jolted again, exiting its shuttle mode, and the outside scenery changed completely.
This was a pitch-black space with no known boundaries. A gray nebula vortex, of immeasurable size, slowly rotated outside the window, above the spaceship. He looked up, but couldn't see the vortex in its entirety, and couldn't help but feel a tremor in his heart.
A gigantic, white beam of light shot out from the center of the vortex, stretching out of sight, with no end in sight.
At the same time, wisps of gray air currents drifted in from all directions, drawn by the nebula vortex, like rivers flowing into the sea, all merging into it. This is the main substance that constitutes this vortex.
Before Fording could even gasp in surprise, he noticed something peculiar: in this space, his mental energy seemed to become more active, and the Soul-Switching Device was vibrating slightly, though he didn't know what it meant.
"Where is this place...?"
Fording looked around; there seemed to be no signs of life. He released his psychic power, which was becoming increasingly difficult to control due to its high activity, and tried to detect a gray current passing by to determine its composition.
After a careful examination, Fording's expression suddenly changed, revealing a look of astonishment.
"This is... a soul?!"
He abruptly turned his head, looking at the endless gray currents, his eyes filled with disbelief.
This nebula vortex is actually composed entirely of souls?!
At that moment, Fording suddenly remembered some information and muttered to himself:
"In the imagination of some spiritual beings, when a living being dies, the soul seems to completely dissipate, but in reality, there are still unobservable fragments left behind. Some of these fragments become the Psionic Undercurrent, while others drift in the universe."
There should exist places in this world that receive the remnants of wandering souls from across the universe, filter and pulverize them, extract the remaining thoughts, condense them into Universal Pan-Consciousness, and then allow them to sink further into the ' Pan-Consciousness Substratum ' dimension. Some spiritual beings call these places ' the Remnant Soul Terminus ', ' the Spirit World Sanctuary ', or ' the Guixu '.
But to this day, no one has ever found any similar Secondary Dimension. Could it be that the legends are true?
Fording looked astonished, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this might be one of the "Remnant Soul Terminus" mentioned in the Tu Shu's legends.
During the development of the Shattered World, Black Star led a group of executives on a journey. Fording once had the opportunity to meet a Mind Flayer from the "Pan-Consciousness Substratum," which he used as nourishment to strengthen his own psychic power. Therefore, he paid special attention to the theories and conjectures in this regard.
The Three Universal Civilizations know the coordinates of the Pan-Consciousness Substratum, but endless Mind Flayer reside there, possessing extremely strong xenophobic tendencies, making it difficult to establish a stable outpost there with current technology.
The Mind Flayer feeds on the Universal Pan-Consciousness, so in a sense, the Remnant Soul Terminus is like its kitchen, where the remnants of souls are all unprocessed "ingredients."
"The Soul-Switching Device actually guided me here. Could it be connected to this dimension in some way?"
Fording pondered silently.
The effects of the Soul-Switching Device have far exceeded the original design. Perhaps it's because mutating into Universal Treasure leads to the Remnant Soul Terminus, which is why the Soul-Switching Device possesses its current extraordinary power...
After speculating for a while, Fording carefully sensed the surrounding gray airflow and smiled wryly.
These gray currents are the remnants of souls, and the center of this nebula vortex is constantly melting and refining these remnants, continuously "feeding" them.
Mind Flayer are a great tonic for the soul, but the side effects take a long time to resolve.
These remnants of the soul are even more mixed and complex. Although one can absorb the soul energy within them to refine one's mental strength, most of the effort must be used to deal with side effects such as schizophrenia and personality disorder.
Furthermore, the energy contained in the remnants of the soul has an almost imperceptible effect on improving mental strength, with extremely low conversion efficiency, and the input far exceeds the output.
As for the Universal Pan-Consciousness after smelting, it has already eliminated soul energy, and not only are the side effects more Berserk, it also brings him no benefit whatsoever.
"Speaking of which, this place is actually quite suitable for Hila. Her Power of the Dead can quickly purify soul energy; this might be her sacred training ground..."
Fording was talking to himself when he suddenly paused, startled.
I almost forgot I had Soul-Switching Device. If the target is merely soul remnants, the Soul-Switching Device should be able to separate the remnants from the soul energy, refining and purifying it, right?
Does that mean I can absorb these countless soul fragments without any side effects?!
Fording immediately understood and was overjoyed.
Could this be the reason the Soul-Switching Device Instrument led me here?!
If I cultivate here for a period of time, I'll have an 80% chance of advancing to a higher level. My intuition has been right; it truly is an opportunity for advancement!
"Awesome..."
On the other side, Han Xiao, who was secretly watching, twitched at the corner of his mouth, his feelings complicated.
I thought I was already pretty amazing with my cheat codes, but I never expected you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, to be even more outrageous!
The opportunities from decades ago and the current fortuitous encounters are somehow linked; the power of High-Level Lucky Halo is terrifying.
Compared to the Lucky Halo of Harrison and Nero, who mainly relied on him for support, Han Xiao felt that Fording's Lucky Halo of self-reliance was the most impressive.
Moreover, not only did I have a lucky encounter, but my teammates also benefited... It was worth it that I touched you first when I was trying to touch someone, and I've always regarded you as my chief mascot!