"An Jianyou (Second Awakening)"
"Physique: 4.1+2.6"
"Spirit: 5.3+6.0"
"Life Energy: 9.46"
"Mystery: 0"
This time, the awakening was successful. Fang You didn't have to wait long before An Jianyou woke up, forgetting her embarrassment and filled with excitement.
"Mentor! Mentor, I succeeded!"
"My Profound Insight Eye seems to have undergone a special change too."
The second level of awakening could raise the upper limit of awakened abilities, and sometimes bring about some additional changes, developing different uses.
Talents also, as the awakened individual improved, talents could unlock more functions.
An Jianyou's Profound Insight Eye, its basic effect was to grant an unparalleled advantage when learning 'Netherworld' skills, while also allowing her to exert extraordinary power when using skills from this category.
In An Jianyou's hands, the Ghost Control skill gave her more 'pet slots' and a higher control limit… Fang You had tried to get some free practice with An Jianyou's proficient Ghost Control, but controlling even one two-star ghost was slightly strenuous, and two was the limit.
Three? Even if he had enough pet slots, he couldn't control them.
It was beyond his capabilities.
And his mental power was stronger than An Jianyou's during her first awakening.
The Netherworld Eye, on top of being super enhanced in its 'native category,' had also derived the functions of 'seeing' and 'perceiving.'
An Jianyou could see ghosts that were deeply submerged beneath reality, existing in another world, and she could do so without being affected by sanity. Furthermore, she could pull a specific ghost into the real world.
For this reason, Fang You assigned An Jianyou a daily task of 'observing ghosts.'
This allowed the young woman to occasionally delve into the deeper layers of her Profound Insight Eye, observing those powerful and terrifying ghosts. As a result, the organization's compendium had collected a vast amount of information on ghosts.
Many tasks on the game interface also had more detailed information because of this.
The White Bone Knight and Eight-Eyed Giant Lizard from yesterday were already recorded in the compendium, and after yesterday's battles, their information had been further refined to 90% and 100% completeness.
An Jianyou, as the 'Compendium Collector,' contributed just as much as any other task.
"My proficient Ghost Control used to allow me to control four ghosts, but with the change in my Profound Insight Eye this time, it seems I can control one more!"
"And, I think…"
An Jianyou described her own changes with some uncertainty.
Before, her Profound Insight Eye allowed her to exist in the gap between reality and what lay beneath it. While she could see ghosts, it also meant there was a risk of being discovered by them.
Of course, that was in the beginning.
Now, her strength had greatly increased, and through constant practice, her application of her talent had reached a much higher level. Situations like almost being discovered by the Flesh Giant were no longer a constant threat, and at least she could now enter and exit the spectral realm with great proficiency.
She could return to the real world at any time.
Based on An Jianyou's description and the status panel Fang You had reviewed before she woke up, he made an approximate judgment, "Your Profound Insight Eye might no longer be limited to yourself, but can be applied to others."
…
The next morning,
An Jianyou, having grown accustomed to her body and practiced her talent for a while, found Fang You early, expressing her desire to try what they had discussed last night.
Fang You was also very curious.
Today's attempt would verify a conjecture of his, a highly important one.
If it were true, the importance of An Jianyou's Profound Insight Eye would be elevated another notch.
The two of them walked out of the base and onto the rooftop of an external building.
The wind whistled around them.
Below, on the training ground, young people were sweating and reveling in their youth.
An Jianyou opened her Profound Insight Eye and scanned their surroundings. The glow in her eyes receded, returning to normal. She said, "Mentor, please hold onto me."
Fang You extended his hand, paused, and then placed it on An Jianyou's shoulder.
He added afterward, "This is a simple test, don't try to interact with any ghosts."
"Mm-hmm, I understand!"
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them suddenly after a moment.
Deep within her bright, large eyes, a faint, ethereal glow bloomed, profound and mysterious, as if connecting to another world.
Profound Insight Eye · Activate · Stage One!
Instantly,
The world in An Jianyou's eyes changed.
Fang You's world changed as well.
His hand on the girl's shoulder seemed to be transported with her into this strange yet not entirely unfamiliar world.
He had seen this scene through An Jianyou's vision before, but the view on his phone screen was incomparable to seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it firsthand.
The sky suddenly grew overcast, a faint gray mist rising. Outside streets and the training ground below were now filled with countless figures shuffling along.
Like walking corpses.
Yet they were bizarre corpses, wandering, passing through people like Ming Deng and the others on the training ground below, as if they were mere phantoms.
An Jianyou paused, the ethereal glow in her eyes deepening.
Profound Insight Eye · Activate · Stage Two!
The sky before them became even more somber, shrouded in gray mist. In addition to the shambling figures, many enormous shapes appeared, wandering aimlessly, emitting thudding sounds or the roars of great beasts.
Profound Insight Eye · Activate · Stage Three!
Hooo~！
Sunlight completely vanished. The world was enveloped in thick gray mist, the wind howling, and terror spreading. All sorts of horrifying sights presented themselves.
Fang You saw a Flesh Giant, its footsteps cracking the ground.
Looking further into the distance, there were many more monsters even more terrifying than the Flesh Giant!
Giant figures hidden within the gray mist.
Horrifying monsters clinging to the tops of distant buildings.
Colossal beings flying through the sky, resembling airships.
And so on, and so on!
At this moment, like An Jianyou, his sanity was not affected, but facing such terrifying monsters, his mind still endured waves of impact like surging tides.
Fang You's expression remained impassive.
An Jianyou was still adjusting her Profound Insight Eye.
She had not entered the highest 'Stage Four'; it was too terrifying. She had taken one glance before and dared not enter again.
However, after her second awakening, in addition to being able to affect others, the 'perceiving' aspect of the Profound Insight Eye was no longer limited to bringing ghosts into the real world.
It could also…
Within An Jianyou's eyes, the glow was faint.
Gradually,
The buildings in her vision became dilapidated. The figures running on the training ground, the vehicles on the roads outside, all disappeared.
The entire world, apart from the ubiquitous ghosts, seemed to have only Fang You and An Jianyou left, in this world filled with immense dread.
…
"Ding!"
"Notification: Touched by the Mist of the Ghost Realm, Mystery +0.6."
"Notification: Currently lacking sufficient conditions, unable to enter the Ghost Realm."
Of course, he had no intention of entering.
He was merely verifying.
After today's attempt, it was confirmed that the world An Jianyou saw was the Ghost Realm, lurking beneath reality and inhabited by countless ghosts.
Currently, Blue Star was like a person with a weakened immune system, its defenses riddled with holes, constantly seeping.
The ghosts that were spawned were like water seeping from the Ghost Realm.
This water ran deep.
They had not yet managed to grasp its depth.
Naturally, they couldn't enter either. An Jianyou seemed to be the key to entering the Ghost Realm, but certain necessary conditions were still missing.
With her double awakening, his 'little blacks' could undergo an update.
Fang You then arranged for Black Saber and Silver Bell to accompany An Jianyou outside the city to find suitable ghosts… Capturing a three-star ghost within the city would be a disaster.
After they left, Fang You returned to the base to continue his daily arduous training.
He swung his sword all morning, his basic swordsmanship transforming in his hands, each move imbued with a sharp killing intent.
After a while,
Fang You exhaled a long breath and brought up his status panel.
The skills section displayed:
"Basic Swordsmanship (Proficient: 99.9%)"
"Relying on my own training to break through was indeed too naive. If that's the case, I can only…"
"Training Card, break through for me!"
…
ps: The little author weakly asks, is there a guaranteed monthly ticket~