Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 373 Application and Breakthrough

On Terra.

On the third day after the release of Rule Sixteen, Wei Xuan and other astronauts who chose to stay and continue their mission moved to the Imperial Pioneer.

Six people, including him, chose to stay, while the others boarded the "Dream Boat One" to take Robert and others in a state of special stress back for treatment.

As for the rules, they are irrelevant to them.

Everyone has a score of "1" above their head. In this environment, no one is interested in stealing other people's scores. There are only a few people in total. Even if one of them kills everyone else, the total score will still be in the single digits, and it will be impossible to get the ranking rewards.

After everyone moved in, Wei Xuan held a meeting where he encouraged everyone: "Those of us who chose to stay have undoubtedly made the decision to sacrifice for humanity. But as the team leader, I assure you that I will do my best to protect you if we encounter any danger."

"Team leader, no need to say anything, we all understand!"

"Yes. Since we've chosen to stay, we won't regret it."

"It would be too cowardly to go back like this. Even if I die, I'll die on Terra!"

The remaining team members were all in high spirits, and their courage inspired Wei Xuan, who nodded emphatically: "I'm relieved to hear everyone say that. So let's continue to carry out the mission as planned, improving the construction of the survival point while exploring Terra."

Someone asked, "Team leader, aren't we going to investigate the existence of that 'demon'?"

"Ignore that thing. We have too little intelligence right now. Instead of wasting energy on speculation, we should focus on completing our assigned tasks. However, we still need to be cautious. When we carry out missions, we shouldn't all be together. We should leave some people in the rocket so that we don't put all our eggs in one basket. If..."

[Beep, ground control center is calling]

A sudden notification sound from the command console's communication equipment interrupted Wei Xuan, and he went to answer it.

"This is Wei Xuan. How can I help you at the command center?"

The voice of the command center personnel was heavy, yet tinged with barely perceptible fear: "This is a notification: A suspected serious incident has occurred on the 'Dreamboat-1' spacecraft, which took off and returned two hours ago, and contact has been lost."

"!!"

Wei Xuan and the others were shocked to hear this.

The crew of Dream Boat No. 1 have gone missing due to a serious incident? What happened?!
"Dreamboat One is now in orbit around Terra. Your mission has changed. Immediately board the rocket and leave Terra, returning to Tianshui."

Wei Xuan asked in astonishment, "Go straight back to Tianshui Star? The exploration mission in Terra... and the people on Dream Boat One, are we going to abandon it all?"

“We have to give up.” The helpless voice of the director of the North Star Space Agency came through the communication. “This mission has already lost too many elite astronauts. If you go to rescue them, there is a high chance that something will happen again. Humanity cannot accept the cruel result of total annihilation... At least a few of you should come back alive.”

"..."

The astronauts aboard the Imperial Pioneer fell silent.

Just a moment ago everyone was full of enthusiasm, but now it has all turned into meaningless declarations.

"Wei Xuan, obey orders."

"Director, I'd like to submit an application," Wei Xuan said after a moment of silence.

"What application?"

"After the rocket enters orbit, send the team back. I will pilot the ejection capsule alone into Dreamboat-1 to investigate what happened. Many of my team members are there. Please grant me your permission!"

"Team leader..."

The other team members looked complicated upon hearing this. After a moment of silence, the director of the space agency sighed and said, "Alright, I approve your application."

"Thank you!"

After the call ended, Wei Xuan turned around, and the other team members saluted him. Everyone knew that what he was doing might be his last.

Wei Xuan retorted, and then, without a word, he and his team launched the rocket and lifted off according to procedure. Once in orbit, they located Mengzhou-1. No matter how they called to it, there was no response; it felt like a silent coffin.

Once they were close enough, Wei Xuan piloted the small cabin, which could only carry one person, and launched himself onto the Dream Boat No. 1.

The moment it was launched, the team members all looked reluctant to part, knowing that this farewell might be forever.

Compared to others, Wei Xuan himself was quite calm at this moment. He wasn't overly sentimental, nor did he feel that his actions were particularly noble; he was simply fulfilling his duty as a team leader and wouldn't abandon his team members.

As the ejection bay swept in front of Dream Boat No. 1, Wei Xuan decisively exited the cabin, using the gas jets on his back to adjust his body and propel himself to the door of the external compartment of Dream Boat No. 1.

He skillfully turned the handle, verified his permissions, opened the outermost hatch, entered, turned around and closed it. After gravity returned, he opened the second hatch and entered the rocket's inner cabin.

As soon as he stepped into this place, he felt as if he had stepped on something sticky.

Looking down, all I could see was a large pool of blood on the ground...

"You shouldn't have come."

A voice came from ahead.

Wei Xuan looked up abruptly, incredulous: "Robert?!"

……

Mind Power Development Academy.

In a peaceful little courtyard, Shi Jingyi sat cross-legged on a futon, her eyes slightly closed and her breathing long and even.

If anyone else were here, they would be astonished to see her in this state. Around her body, a large amount of radiant matter was burning!

Experienced Ascended beings can see that the radiance is flowing spiritual energy, but they cannot understand why this spiritual energy is "burning" like flames.

Shi Jingyi has always been a pioneer in the in-depth development and application of spiritual power, leading the way.

Aside from attending classes and answering questions, she spends her time on self-cultivation, with little social interaction or entertainment. Or rather, self-cultivation itself is the best form of entertainment she has cultivated since childhood.

It is this diligence and perseverance that has enabled her to keep making progress.

From the initial development of the flow of spiritual power, to the application of spiritual power as external energy, countless ascendants have benefited immensely and hold it in high esteem.

However, she did not rest on her laurels and become complacent. Instead, she went a step further and deeply integrated mental power with martial arts, creating several sets of incredibly powerful mental martial arts techniques.

After that, she did not stop, but continued to delve deeper, and now she has come to understand a special application of mental power.

She named it "Condensation".

This is a way to refine mental power. In layman's terms, it involves consuming a great deal of mental power per unit of time to challenge the "mental power pipeline" theory proposed by Guan Tong, thereby stimulating the accelerated increase of the upper limit of mental power.

The outward manifestation of this cultivation method is that her mental power seems to burn like flames... Through continuous "condensation," she further accelerated the rate at which her mental power limit increased.

Originally, her rate of naturally increasing her mental power limit by 1 point every two days, or even 1 point per day, would have already astonished countless Ascension cultivators. Now, having mastered the "Condensation" refinement method, after several days of practice, she can now increase her mental power limit naturally by 3 points per day!
This terrifying speed was something even Guan Tong couldn't match. After cultivating for so many days, today was a special day for Shi Jingyi.

In a single instant, the burning mental energy around her vanished without a trace.

She opened her eyes, and a golden light flashed in them.

An invisible and immeasurable aura silently spread out. She was still herself, yet she was not herself; some profound change had occurred within her body...

"The upper limit of mental power has finally...broken through one thousand points."

(End of this chapter)