He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 74 Authority·override-Perfect·EGO

"Spirit Spine".

Ai repeated the word, staring at the crystal worm in front of her, a sudden chill running down her spine. She asked cautiously, "This—how do I use it?"

A bad feeling crept over him, and he abruptly took a step back, his hair standing on end: "Are you going to devein me?!"

"Relax—"

Yeats looked at the fox's cowardly appearance and chuckled mischievously, "In the very beginning, it would indeed have required a special operation to cut open your spine and shove the whole thing in. But now that it's been updated to the eleventh generation, such inconvenient designs have long been swept into the dustbin of history — open your mouth."

As the encapsulation was removed, the crystal worm seemed to break free from its mysterious and silent environment, and its seemingly hard body began to slowly wriggle—within its multi-segmented transparent structure, a series of light spots lit up one after another, flickering faintly like a breathing light in energy-saving mode.

"It's obvious the food isn't much better!"

Although they protested verbally, they thought that the foundation always treated newcomers well, and Xiaobai was there to back them up.

Ai, forcing herself to remain calm, took the hard, worm from Ye Zhi's hand, suppressing her nausea as she brought it to her mouth. She swallowed hard, then asked blankly, "How do I eat this—swallow it whole? Can I chew it?"

"You talk too much nonsense."

Unable to bear it any longer, Yeats slapped the fox hard on the back, startling Ai Yi so much that his hand trembled and the two-finger-thick crystal worm fell directly into his throat—his eyes widened suddenly, and then he froze in place for a moment.

"It seems like everything's alright?"

A strange sensation—or rather, no taste at all.

The thick crystal insect, though hard and heavy in the hand, melted instantly in the mouth, bursting into an invisible mass.

Next, the sensations that came through were obscure and indescribable, like ice blocks encased in boiling oil, or creatures that had already taken shape but had not yet broken free—dissolved crystal worms flowing in his throat with their legless bodies, pushing open the flesh along the "edge" of his body and soul, and slowly crawling toward his spine.

He tilted his head, feeling as if his red liquid surface had experienced a shock, creating a brief ripple.

In the blink of an eye, this sense of unreality vanishes, like bubbles rising to the surface of a carbonated drink.

Notification: A new Secret Essence Module is being integrated.

"The 'Spirit Spine' has been deposited in your vessel. Do you wish to initialize the configuration?"

"Yes," he replied blankly, then unconsciously reached out to scratch his spine, where there was clearly nothing there.

Yeats's voice drifted over, filled with resentment: "You came here knowing absolutely nothing, you didn't even read the email the system sent you when you were promoted—if every new employee was like you, I'd probably be working myself to death in the duty room today."

"Mistake, mistake."

This was indeed the fox's mistake; the time since returning from the dungeon was too short, and Ai was too busy figuring out how to make money.

Although frustrated, Yeats was still very patient with a "kid" who was not yet old enough to graduate. After giving a symbolic scolding, he started to remotely configure and initialize Ai Yi and casually threw a file into his think tank.

"Take a look at this first, and I'll teach you how to use the module in practice."

Ai quickly browsed the document Ye Zhi had sent him, while the elf skillfully completed the initialization for him. As a "Setup Complete" light appeared in the fox's eyes, Ye Zhi's unhurried explanation came from the side: "First, its first function: to expand your original secret essence storage. Larger modules all have this storage function. The spirit spine you are installing now is—"

Ye Zhi took out a pen hanging from his breast pocket and, while recording the supplies to be shipped out on the form, said leisurely, "As the most widely applicable module, it has a built-in secret essence pool, which can provide qualified users with a storage capacity of 2 to 3 times more than the upper limit —"

Seeing the fox's increasingly dazed expression, Ye Zhi assumed he wasn't satisfied with the increase and clicked her tongue, saying, "What kind of look is that? This is the only number! It's to prevent newbies from mobilizing too much mystical power and causing 'mystical overload' symptoms—believe me, you don't want to experience that kind of pain—lying on the ground and having half a lifetime flash by in five seconds."

"More painful than losing control?" Ai blinked.

"That's not necessary—if overload symptoms are treated promptly, there won't be any long-term effects, it'll just be a bit uncomfortable, and if it gets out of control, you'll most likely kick the bucket."

Yeats coughed twice and continued, "You've already mastered 'skills,' and you should have already discovered the commonalities among these skills—compared to techniques—the way 'skills' are presented is perhaps more suited to analytical methods. They're more like a methodology for understanding the world than tangible skills that can be used to influence the external environment."

"I can understand a little bit, but not much."

Ai's eyes turned into mosquito coils, and Yeats tried his best to explain the nature of "mystical arts" to him using simple examples.

"You can use skills to decipher mystical knowledge or exert a certain amount of influence on the outside world—the process of using skills is like when you forget the formula while studying a math problem, you will look up a reference book—skills are this reference book that is always open in your soul, providing you with the medium to understand mystical power."

—Oh—a special ability that is strongly related to the main storyline, right?

Just like when dealing with an event, you need to fill the card slot with specific cards that meet certain conditions—"Mystic Arts" can serve as these cards.

Ai nodded, seemingly understanding. He recalled his current eclectic skills, most of which stemmed from "Principles," and tentatively replied, "Are 'skills' a manifestation of the power of Principles?"

"clever."

Yeats snapped his fingers happily, nodded, and continued, "Mystical arts objectively exist in the Nest World. They are manifestation techniques for using the power of 'Criteria,' and are also containers for the principles of 'Criteria.' Their function is almost fixed because the areas favored by a principle are fixed—just like the Silence spell you currently possess, which, using the principle of 'Ember's' silence as a benchmark, can temporarily silence a person."

He looked at Ai with piercing eyes, and after a brief moment of thought, he posed a question: "If you were a qualified individual who only possessed the mysterious skill of 'Silence,' and I were asked to remotely kill an enemy at the same level as you in a sudden encounter without using firearms, how would you do it?"

All of these conditions exclude the possibility of "cheating".

Ai thought for a moment, recalling the "curse-killing ritual" that Veldin had demonstrated to him earlier —

But it was clear that without prior preparation, a hasty ceremony could not possibly kill an apprentice of his own rank.

Seeing Ye Zhi's high spirits, Ai decided to play her supporting role and politely shook her head: "I don't know."

"That's understandable. After all, you haven't experienced a real mysterious battle yet, and you don't like looking at the documents that the hairdresser gave you."

Yeats, while grumbling, continued in a gentle voice, "This is when 'secret arts' come into play. Secret arts are the most common and direct combat method used by mystical scholars."

Under Ai's expectant gaze, the elven raised his index finger, and the next second, a cluster of flames naturally ignited from his fingertip, quickly solidifying into a palm-sized fireball, displaying a dangerous orange-red color.

He laughed and said, "You can throw a fireball at the other side."

"Magic?"

Ai looked at the cluster of flames and cautiously approached, but could not sense any temperature.

He placed his hand on it, touching the ethereal phantom.

"It's somewhat similar. The principle is the utilization of energy—the secret essence is the energy born from your red liquid. The red liquid surges in the invisible realm, creating ripples. Energy is transmitted in these ripples, and once the energy undergoes a certain process of transformation and shaping, it can be used to influence the present world."

Yeats snapped his fingers, and the previously cold ball of fire was suddenly shaped from the pool, its intense heat instantly creaking the air nearby.

Ai's face contorted in the scorching air. He quickly took a step back and watched as the ball of flame was gently flicked from the elf's fingertip and shot onto the wall to the side.

"Pfft—" The fireball squeaked and went out.

Then no trace was left.

"Don't laugh—the walls of the Construction Department are all made of 'dull gold,' maintaining a mysterious shield to prevent those research fanatics from blowing this place up. The fact that this attack managed to hit the target intact is already a testament to your skill, and besides, I'm not good at ranged attacks."

Faced with Ai's strange, barely suppressed laugh, Yeats, unfazed by his failed attempt to impress, calmly continued, "'Art' is a quantifiable, standardized power, a fixed and rigid force. 'Secret arts,' on the other hand, are skills in the conventional sense. From fireballs to the finger of death, from laws to words of power, from elements to positions—its forms are so diverse they exceed your comprehension, enough to challenge the limits of every mystic's imagination."

He launched into a long speech.

"And when combined with different occult knowledge, a whole host of branches can emerge, such as 'ritual esoteric arts,' 'inscription esoteric arts,' and 'musical esoteric arts.' Wow, it's truly vast and profound—"

"Stop!"

Ai raised her hands to interrupt Yeats, who was shaking his head, "Get to the point, what does this have to do with the spirit ridge I'm installing now?"

"Of course."

Ye Zhi smiled mysteriously, then led Ai Yi away from the small warehouse and back to the previous room. Along the way, he kept saying, "Before you begin to become apprentices, the Foundation suggests that you focus your energy as much as possible on climbing to the next level. At this stage, there is generally no time to study secret arts, which is not conducive to the comprehensive development of newcomers."

"So, to let you have a taste of something new, starting with the ninth generation of the Secret Essence Module, we've added a simplified version of the compilation system—within the scope of the think tank's coverage, the [Large Group Matrix] can replace you in completing the transformation and shaping of the Secret Essence."

"This way, even the most foolish apprentice can fill your skill bar with pre-edited arcane spells," meaning even if you know nothing, you can still conjure fireballs like a mage.

—Got it, spell slot, right?

—The second function of the Mystic Module: Mystic Compiler.

With Russell absent, Yeats had already let loose, ignoring the "No Smoking" sign right next to him. He lit a cigarette, lit a flame from his fingertips, crossed his legs, and squinted, saying, "The study of secret arts is a very time-consuming and laborious process. We can't expect everyone to 'customize their own secret arts,' so we recommend that younger generations use the already well-developed techniques."

"And for those most classic arcane frameworks, we've compiled the optimal algorithms," input them into the intelligence database, and installed them onto the universal arcane module, ensuring that combat personnel can use them to slice open the enemy's skull as soon as they get their hands on them."

He exhaled a puff of white mist, then gently blew it away: "The simplest principle: you know the four elements of alchemy, right? Water, fire, air, and earth. Among them, the attack techniques related to air and fire are the most complete and popular. If you want to produce the same destructive effect, throwing a fireball and an ice spike respectively would consume completely different amounts of secret essence—"

After saying this, Ye Zhi raised his fingertip again, looking at the small patch of sharp ice crystals that had appeared before him. "After all, the latter can be considered a creation in a sense. Even if it relies on a clever algorithm to optimize the arcane logic into condensing and freezing nearby water vapor to create ice," the consumption is still more than three times higher than that of a fire elemental arcane spell of the same level. It's a version issue; ice magic is just weak."

After finishing his long speech, Yeats busied himself with the coffee machine on the side of the room for a while, then hurriedly brought out two steaming cups of coffee—and handed one of them to Ai.

"Thank you." The fox nodded politely.

By now, the lazy dog ​​elf was getting tired of talking, so he lay down on the table and continued, "Of course, because qualified individuals have limited blood capacity, and in order to prevent you from being distracted by trivial matters, newcomers' modules are generally only equipped with a few basic secret arts, such as small fireballs, wind creation, and paralyzing currents—you can't afford to consume that level of secret essence for anything involving the generation of matter."

—It doesn't feel as good as American-style iaido.

Ai sighed, thinking that for those who had not yet developed the necessary skills, secret arts were indeed more for fun than practical use.

Yeats, unusually somber, emphasized again: "It still comes down to this: the study of 'secret arts' cannot be put into disarray. Even if you become a master of secret arts, mastering thousands of spellcasting techniques, if you can't keep up with the level advancement—in the eyes of those big shots, you're just performing acrobatics, and they'll crush you with sheer numbers."

—Remember this: when building a build, the acrobatic mage is not recommended.

"There's one last thing I want to say."

Yeats also summarized this popular science article:

—The fundamental characteristic of the Secret Material Module: strong plasticity.

There are many types of modules, some are installed on the physical body, some are in the soul—they directly replace your organs or attach themselves to your body.

The highest level of the Secret Essence Module does not rely on product integration or upgrades.

一—

Ascending is a state of mind, but sometimes, ascending may come at a price. What is reborn from the fertile soil of the mind that has been burned and shattered once may be more than just a rebirth.

Perhaps there will be something called "the transcendent self".

Yeats said softly, "This is the pie every newcomer gets to eat. I'm drawing you one too. If one day, when your soul undergoes a complete cleansing, an inner upheaval—there is a very low probability that a situation will occur, a mutation whose cause the Foundation has yet to summarize, which we call 'Spiritual Manifestation.'"

The intangible substance will grow from within, spreading outward, transforming into the branches and limbs of your soul.

"This is also a type of module."

This level of module has completely shed its "tool" nature and become the shape of your soul growing outside the body. It is incorporated into the essence of "self" and grows along with your red fluid, thus gaining a tangible "spiritual power".

It is called "EGO".

Yeats looked at him and said softly:

Full name: "Authority·override—Perfect·EGO"

"Authoritative Body, Transcendent Type, Striving for a Complete and Fulfilling Self"

Another name: "Shinbi".

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