The dormitories assigned to official members of the Shen Hua Branch were standard suites of about 90 square meters, featuring two bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom, fully furnished with all necessary furniture, including a computer and Wi-Fi. The bedding and sheets were brand new, ready for immediate occupancy.
Considering the inconvenience of commuting daily and the potential risks it might pose to his family, Yu Zhibo chose not to return home. Instead, he proceeded to the Human Resources department to complete the necessary procedures and move into the apartment allocated to him by the Shen Hua Bureau.
Fresh from his training session, carrying a wooden dummy for the Body Replacement Technique, he had a meal of spirit beast meat at the canteen. Then, enduring the fatigue and soreness throughout his body, he took a shower and lay on the bed, embracing the life of a lazy fish.
Not long before, he had completed two thousand push-ups, one thousand squats, and a thousand 100-meter sprints, all without using a single trace of spiritual energy, pushing both his endurance and stamina to their limits.
Fortunately, he had acquired Rock Lee's physique from Naruto. The spiritual energy within his body, his innate vitality, and the energy and protein contained in the spirit beast meat he had just consumed were rapidly repairing his muscle fibers and dispelling the various negative effects brought on by the extreme training.
All it would take was a good night's sleep, and tomorrow, he would once again be a vibrant, spirited youth.
However, Yu Zhibo did not opt to sleep immediately. Instead, he immersed his consciousness into his mind.
When his clone had disappeared, the resulting intense pain and the flood of information had caused him to forget about the reward of the Summoning Scroll. It wasn't until he was showering that he remembered.
Soon, he had processed the information package of the Summoning Scroll floating on the system panel in his mind.
Instantly, a wealth of information poured into his consciousness, including the precise material ratios for creating a Summoning Scroll and the method for signing a summoning contract.
Furthermore, a glowing orb in the shape of a Summoning Scroll now resided in his mind.
Upon a slight touch of his consciousness, he understood the orb's function: as long as he gathered the materials and burned them, they would automatically form a Summoning Scroll after melting, and the orb-scroll would then disappear. "Brilliant!" Yu Zhibo couldn't help but exclaim, feeling it was somewhat similar to a blueprint in Dungeon Fighter Online; with the blueprint and the materials, a simple click would create a weapon and place it in his inventory.
Having understood everything, he shifted his attention to the information regarding signing the contract.
The method for signing a summoning contract was quite simple: after the Summoning Scroll was created, the summoner's true name had to be written on it, followed by a thumbprint using their own blood.
The summoned beast also required a drop of blood to be placed on it, along with a mental imprint.
However, unlike the summoner, the summoned beast's blood would be absorbed into the Summoning Scroll, appearing alternately bright and dim, echoing the summoner's blood and symbolizing interdimensional teleportation.
Summoning Scroll: To create, one requires a piece of Void Dark Beast hide at least 50cm long and 20cm wide, 20ml of Void Dark Beast blood, 60 grams of cinnabar, and one pound of refining stone. Once the materials are gathered, they must be roasted with spiritual energy fire for five minutes to obtain the Summoning Scroll.
Yu Zhibo immediately logged into the Shen Hua App Store and quickly searched for the relevant materials.
From the reviews, he learned that the Void Dark Beast was a C-class Eternal Night creature. Its combat power was not strong, but it could conceal itself within the void.
Its skills were Mental Shriek and Void Dark Stab. It was very difficult to capture, and its numbers were relatively scarce.
Moreover, its body was the primary material for Daoist priests in crafting teleportation talismans and other space-related inscriptions.
Upon reaching B-class, a Void Crystal would form within the Dark Beast, a crucial material for refining storage magic treasures.
Materials related to space were, naturally, not cheap. Yu Zhibo checked the prices, and processed C-class Void Dark Beast hide cost a staggering 50 Merit Points per square centimeter. For a 1000 square centimeter scroll, it would directly cost 50,000 Merit Points.
Adding to that, the Void Dark Beast blood cost 100 points per milliliter, totaling 2,000 Merit Points for 20 milliliters.
The refining stone, used for material fusion, was a unique mineral from the Eternal Night world, costing 500 Merit Points per pound.
The price of cinnabar was negligible; even with the premium after the emergence of the extraordinary, it was directly available on Taobao for only 50 yuan per pound.
Therefore, the materials for creating one set of Summoning Scrolls would cost 52,500 points.
Yu Zhibo quickly calculated his pending Merit Points. The rewards for selecting awakened seeds, killing dark creatures, and his existing 99 Merit Points totaled 74,855 points.
After deducting the various foods already selected in the mall, the talismans chosen for his parents, sister, and Chen Bo, as well as the newly purchased training equipment, he had 47,390 points remaining.
Immediately, Yu Zhibo began to frown and ponder:
Was it really appropriate to buy such good talismans for his sister? Girls should be nurtured richly; the more expensive, the better.
As for Chen Bo, as a man, with such excellent talismans, could he stand undefeated in battles of the same rank, hone his combat skills, and improve his ambition?
With such expensive talismans, wouldn't he be showing off every day and potentially get himself killed?
What if he was robbed and his body disposed of halfway?
Thinking of this, Yu Zhibo broke out in a cold sweat, feeling he had almost endangered his close friend. With a clear conscience, he clicked on his shopping cart and changed the talisman originally intended for him to a set of Level 1 talismans worth 400 Merit Points.
Level 1 talismans were still quite affordable. This way, he saved 6,145 Merit Points. Combined with the remaining 47,390 points, it was just enough to meet the requirement, even leaving a surplus of 1,035 Merit Points for unforeseen circumstances.
With this thought, Yu Zhibo couldn't help but sigh slightly. His Merit Points had once been so abundant that they could have allowed him to live a life of extravagant luxury as a top-tier tycoon.
That was why he had casually prepared lavish gifts for his family and friends.
However, the cost of one Summoning Scroll had brought him back to his original intentions.
Shaking his head.
After placing the Summoning Scroll materials into his shopping cart, Yu Zhibo remembered the light and shadow in the black cat's space and asked the black cat to take him in.
"Meow!" Mo Yu tilted its head and looked at him for a moment, then opened its mouth, and Yu Zhibo vanished from his spot.
Inside the space, the number of dark energy spirit crystals remained unchanged, but the crucian carp had been eaten by the black cat at some point. After a brief inspection, Yu Zhibo focused his attention on the light and shadow at the center of the space.
However, no matter how he touched it, how he called out, or even dripped his blood onto the light and shadow, it remained completely unresponsive.
Ultimately, Yu Zhibo could only leave the space with a bewildered expression.
He then marked the wooden dummy with a Body Replacement imprint and had the black cat swallow it, to see if the Body Replacement Technique could be used from the outside.
The attempt failed.
Was it due to the different dimension? Or had the space itself severed his connection with the Body Replacement imprint?
Yu Zhibo rubbed his chin, pondering, but one thing was undeniable: he truly could not enter the black cat's space using the Body Replacement Technique.
Checking the time, it was already eleven o'clock at night. He put his phone aside and, succumbing to fatigue, drifted off to sleep.