The continuous overcast days in Baijiang City had miraculously cleared today, and gentle sunlight cascaded upon the land.
However, the streets were still sparsely populated.
The liveliest spots were likely the various supply points for essential goods.
Fang You deliberately made his way to these places, using his ‘Detect’ skill to probe them one by one.
Information regarding physique, spirit, personal condition, and even aspects of their lifestyle, occupation, and profession, all appeared before his eyes.
The Detect skill was somewhat akin to a scanner, probing the inner substance through outward appearances.
Detecting one's occupation, lifestyle, and mental state was far easier than detecting potential. If he were to become a detective, his case-solving rate would likely be exceptionally high.
In a crime scene with four or three suspects, the Detect skill would pinpoint the culprit with absolute certainty.
For instance, an older brother standing in line ahead of him, with sunken eyes, indicated a life of unhealthy indulgence, his body drained.
The shifty-eyed individual not far away, alas, Fang You didn’t need the Detect skill to recognize a professional thief. He was already in the act, evidence undeniable! Fang You casually mentioned it to a security guard.
The two security guards exchanged glances, stepped forward, and apprehended the suspect from both sides, capturing him on the spot.
Fang You, meanwhile, had already waved his sleeves and quietly departed.
Soon,
He meandered through the second, third, and fourth supply points, employing his Detect skill to scrutinize each one.
He encountered a wide array of people, broadening his horizons, yet not a single one possessed the ‘Green’ potential deemed suitable for the Salvation Game.
Most were colorless.
A minority were white.
The game's potential ratings weren't entirely fixed; they largely depended on innate factors, with a small portion improvable through acquired cultivation.
For example, if one diligently studied to enhance intellect or trained to strengthen physique and willpower.
With intelligence and a robust physique, learning and training efficiency would be higher, leading to a higher potential rating.
It wasn't solely a matter of innate predisposition.
Fang You had assumed that Green potential wouldn't be that difficult to find; the challenge lay in selecting and assessing them after discovery.
But now…
He had detected at least a thousand people, and not a single one was Green.
"This means that my potential, above Green, is quite rare."
"As expected of me."
The Detect skill could only ascertain ‘None,’ ‘White,’ and ‘Green’; anything higher would display ‘Above Green.’ It was the same when detecting himself, Hei Dao, or An Jianyou.
Fang You was curious about his own potential rating, but the system didn’t display it.
Within the Apostle list,
Hei Dao's character box was blue, An Jianyou's was purple, while his own was black.
There was no such rating as black.
"Even if Green potential is hard to find, it shouldn't be a one-in-a-hundred-thousand, or even one-in-a-million, situation. It’s just that…"
It’s just that such a search required him to continuously use the ‘Detect’ skill.
The skill's consumption varied with the target's strength. Detecting an ordinary person consumed a negligible amount, almost ignorable.
However, this was a single-target skill, requiring repeated use. When this number scaled to hundreds or thousands, the situation changed entirely.
After detecting over a thousand people, with breaks in between, his life energy was already more than half depleted. If this continued, he’d have to stop after detecting a few hundred more, which was too inefficient. It would take ten to half a month to find a suitable target, which wouldn’t do.
"Perhaps I need to change my approach."
"I can’t detect them one by one. I should first use my eyes to filter out obviously unsuitable targets, reducing the skill's resource expenditure."
For example, the middle-aged man whose body was drained, and the shifty-eyed thief.
These were not worth using his detection on.
Furthermore, from a general theoretical standpoint, young people, boys and girls, might possess more potential… Wasn't there a saying that martial arts training should start from a young age?
Youngsters had more vitality and were more malleable, increasing the probability of higher potential.
Recalling the white-potential individuals he had detected earlier, they were indeed mostly young people or elite professionals… He would focus on these two groups.
…
"Meow~!"
In a narrow alley, Fang You extended his hand, dispatching his pet, Hei Tong.
The silly cat, with its head drooping, slowly advanced. Upon reaching its target, it swiftly extended a paw and swatted the little spectral entity, extinguishing it.
This lazy cat wasn’t diligent enough in its work.
Couldn’t it be more hardworking like him, like Hei Dao!
"I still need to conserve my life energy. The next spectral entity is also your responsibility."
The cat resisted.
But the resistance failed.
Fang You traversed from the alley to the main road, and then from the main road into various secluded alleys. Sometimes he would enter a dead end and simply leap over the wall without backtracking.
When running at full speed, he was much faster than riding his electric scooter. Nowadays, he relied entirely on walking.
Yet,
He still hadn't found a suitable target.
He had probably screened two to three thousand people by now.
The current number of pedestrians on the streets was insufficient, making the screening efficiency low. Fang You changed his method, climbing high to survey the distance. With his current eyesight, standing on a tall building, he could use Detect to observe passing targets from afar.
He pondered for a moment, then activated his ability ‘Burning Faith.’
Centering on him, beliefs and emotions within a radius of one to two kilometers appeared like starlight.
Most were faint and insignificant, but a few were slightly stronger.
It seemed he had found the correct method of searching!
Fang You entered his ‘Luminous’ state, leaping between buildings. Burning Faith acted like a radar sweeping the surroundings.
He occasionally combined it with the Detect skill, and the proportion of detected white potentials at least increased.
At this moment, a rather strong wave of faith appeared within his perception.
…
Baijiang City.
An old, rundown bungalow on the outskirts of the city was the home of siblings Xu Tian and Xu Yun.
Though small and impoverished, it had once been a warm place.
Until recently, their mother, who had raised them, suddenly collapsed and died not far from their home.
For no apparent reason!
It was ruled as sudden cardiac arrest!
But Xu Tian didn't believe it. He had vaguely seen a dark figure. Even though the neighbors told him he was seeing illusions due to grief, he was adamant it wasn't!
There must be a murderer; he had to find them!
However,
"Dong~ Dong Dong~ Dong Dong Dong~ Dong Dong Dong Dong~"
A sound like a heartbeat, approaching from afar, growing faster and slower.
Resonated in their ears.
It was that thing! He remembered; he had heard a similar sound that day!
Xu Tian’s face was filled with hatred.
But the sound grew louder in his ears, and with it, his own heart, and his sister’s, began to beat faster and faster. He could hear his own heartbeat synchronizing with the increasing rhythm of the sound.
Xu Tian’s hand, gripping a cleaver, trembled.
He hated that thing, and he hated his own fear at this moment.
He turned his head to look at his sister, who was clutching a broom. He couldn't lose any more loved ones.
He gritted his teeth, drawing blood.
His gaze was fixed on the door.
The "dong dong dong dong dong" sound had already arrived, close at hand, right beside them.
*CRASH*—
The door burst open as if blown by a fierce gust of wind.
There was no figure outside.
No, perhaps an invisible dark shadow was standing there!
Xu Tian raised his cleaver.
His hand trembled incessantly, his blood seemed to freeze. He wanted to fight desperately but felt increasingly despairing, as if his limbs were gradually losing their ability to obey.
Suddenly,
A flash of lightning erupted.
Illuminating the desperate faces of the two siblings.
In their horrified, desperate eyes, a pitch-black shadow appeared, roaring, and in an instant, it was annihilated within the azure lightning arcs.
Only radiant light remained.
Many years later,
Xu Tian said in an interview, "On that day, light appeared in my life."