Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Normally, tier-one through tier-four Curse Cores corresponded to one-star through four-star anomalies.
Take Song Lingyan of Clear Spring Academy. She possessed a tier-four Curse Core and lacked experience fighting anomalies, yet her strength already allowed her to crush some ordinary three-star anomalies.
After several more years of growth at tier four, she might obtain the power of a four-star Anomaly Hunter.
Geniuses like her were uncommon, but plenty must have appeared over so many years.
Luan Zimo was another example.
In only a year or two, she had gone from awakening her Talent to becoming invincible among her tier-four peers. Given several more years, reaching tier five might not have been difficult.
Logically, the passage of time should produce more and more tier-four experts, and some among them should ultimately enter tier five.
Therefore, several five-star Anomaly Hunters must have appeared by now.
Yet Qin Lan had never seen or heard of anyone possessing true five-star combat power. Not even a single name.
There was no record even in the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s archives.
Five-star Anomaly Hunters, or people with five-star power, seemed to exist only in myths–divine dragons that revealed their heads but never their tails.
But upon closer thought, if humanity truly possessed such experts, why not publicize their achievements?
Wouldn’t that be inspiring news for all humankind?
If Yin Manqing’s claims were true, however, the phenomenon made sense.
No one could genuinely reach tier five.
Even a peerless prodigy who touched the doorway to a higher level would be forcibly stopped.
Those who had reached tier five first didn’t permit more people to threaten their authority or allow any unstable factor to exist.
Without Ascension, one remained mortal.
No matter how powerful a tier-four expert became, they stood no chance against those beings. They could be easily controlled and turned into tools that reinforced their rulers’ power.
“Why would things be like this…?”
“Wasn’t the United Government established to rebuild human civilization and repel the anomalies…?”
“Yet it restricts the growth of humanity’s other geniuses…”
Qin Lan’s mood grew heavy.
But perhaps not that heavy.
This wasn’t the first time he had learned what the United Government was truly like, was it?
As the saying went, a crooked beam above produced crooked beams below. The United Government in Safe Zone 088 had been rotten beyond belief, enough to demonstrate how thoroughly corrupt the organization had become.
“What about the Anomaly Hunter Bureau?”
Qin Lan suddenly asked, “The Bureau should also have experts who achieved Ascension, right?”
Yin Manqing hummed in acknowledgment.
“Yes. Two.”
“Because those two exist, the Anomaly Hunter Bureau can remain independent of the United Government. It answers calls for aid but not commands.”
“But the United Government possesses more Ascendants. I know of at least three.”
Yin Manqing’s voice shifted slightly, carrying a faint flame of hatred.
“The person who attacked me was one of the United Government’s three Ascendants… Fortunately, I noticed something wrong and prepared a contingency in advance.”
“Experts specializing in mental power are rare, and they didn’t understand the full extent of my abilities. Otherwise, this uniform probably wouldn’t exist.”
“With only one palm, that person completely suppressed my Curse Core, leaving me almost no different from an ordinary mortal.”
Fear entered Yin Manqing’s voice as she remembered the battle.
“Within the domain under that person’s control, even the curse energy inside my Core no longer belonged to me. It obeyed that person instead.”
“With one move, my body disintegrated, and even my soul was erased…”
Hearing this, Qin Lan looked at the combat uniform.
“You weren’t wearing it at the time?”
Yin Manqing sighed softly.
“Correct. This combat uniform accompanied me for many years. I wore it from the day I joined the Anomaly Hunter Bureau until I became a three-star Anomaly Hunter. It held extraordinary meaning for me.”
“I patched it again and again, only replacing it and keeping it as a memento when it could no longer serve its purpose.”
“That was why I chose it as a vessel for a fragment of my soul.”
Bitterness colored Yin Manqing’s voice. “It was merely an insurance of questionable value. I never expected it would genuinely save my life…”
“After my body exploded, the contents of my storage bracelet scattered. This uniform was among them.”
Understanding dawned on Qin Lan.
“I see… That’s why it was collected along with the other objects as garbage inside an instance and put up for auction…”
“Then a shopkeeper selling old clothing happened to buy it, and I happened to find it.”
Yin Manqing added,
“And your mental power happened to be strong enough to detect the fragment I left behind, and you happened to obtain Pure Hearts.”
“Otherwise, this fragment of mine would simply have faded with time.”
Indeed, countless coincidences had converged to allow this conversation across more than a decade.
Qin Lan fell somewhat silent.
What he had learned didn’t merely overturn his understanding. It also filled him with an intense sense of powerlessness.
His enemies weren’t only anomalies or the Abyss. They also included powerful beings who were human yet harbored entirely different intentions…
They stood at the end of the road, having reached heights others couldn’t touch, but selfishly blocked the path of those who came later…
Even if that meant sacrificing one genius after another who might have benefited humanity.
“By the way, are you cultivating the Soul Tower?” Yin Manqing asked curiously.
Her question didn’t surprise Qin Lan. She also specialized in mental power, so there was nothing strange about her knowing that Curse Codex.
But Yin Manqing’s next words left him dumbfounded.
“When I compiled the Soul Tower, I intended to create an unprecedented top-tier codex. The Soul Tower was only the first step. Combined with the later [Body Tower], it would become the complete version.”
Yin Manqing sighed with emotion. “Unfortunately, I only achieved significant mastery in mental cultivation. My understanding of tempering the physical body was somewhat lacking.”
“Otherwise, I might have achieved Ascension sooner and avoided this fate.”
Qin Lan stared blankly.
Only after a long while did he ask weakly,
“Sister Yin, you wrote the Soul Tower?”
“Seriously? You’re not fooling me?”
Compared with the Stairway to Godhood and the dark methods of the United Government’s strongest experts, this revelation shocked Qin Lan even more.
Tier four and tier five both seemed distant from him.
But the Soul Tower was a Curse Codex he genuinely cultivated.
“Of course I wrote it… When it comes to cultivating mental power, I rank first in the entire Central Region, and no one can claim second.”
Yin Manqing’s voice overflowed with confidence. “Even those Ascendants possess less than half my accomplishments in the study of mental power!”
Qin Lan had nothing to say. He could only squeeze out two words.
“Fucking awesome.”
Then Yin Manqing’s tone suddenly turned enticing.
“Since you cultivate the Soul Tower…”
“Would you like to learn advanced methods of using mental power?”