69: Quietly retreat, surprise everyone

“I can lie flat!”

At the Sixth Academy, after Lin Chen’s main body learned of this harvest, the first thing he thought of was to lie flat.

Half of the Virtual Singer's net worth was enough for him to use until the Lower God stage with some left over; for the next few hundred or thousand years, it wouldn't be a big problem if he didn't earn a single penny.

“Good heavens, Lin Fan is the true Treasure Hunting Mouse!”

Lin Chen’s second thought was that Lin Fan was the true Treasure Hunting Mouse; his treasure-hunting ability was too strong. Without any backing, he could always find treasure locations with enormous profits.

He was also lucky enough to live in the same city as Lin Chen, become his classmate, and then his good brother.

As a result, Lin Fan's treasure-hunting ability could be maximized and monetized through Lin Chen's channels. Not only did he always reap full rewards, but his path was also more stable than other types of Sons of Fortune.

With resources, strength naturally followed.

With strength, the difficulty of acquiring resources would only decrease, and the quantity acquired would only increase.

The next time Lin Fan invited Lin Chen to explore ruins again, perhaps they would all be Ascension to God level big shots. The harvest at that time might even make Gods envious.

Of course, this was just a hypothesis; the future was uncertain.

At the same time, on the unknown planet where Lin Chen's three converged.

Lin Chen put away his spatial ring, indicating that this expedition was about to end and it was time to part ways.

“Xiao Fanzi, Dongfang, are you two planning to return to the academy for closed-door cultivation?”

“Brother Chen, with resources on hand, I can’t wait to immediately go into closed-door cultivation and digest them. Our main bodies came out for this expedition, unlike Brother Chen, who is so light and easy, so only by returning to the academy will this expedition be truly over.”

“Have a safe journey. When you run out of money, remember to come find me; I’ll take you to earn big money.”

“Brother Chen, that’s for sure. Without Brother Chen, I wouldn’t even want to go out on expeditions. The previous expeditions, their gains were nothing, not even a fraction of this one.”

“Alright then, I’m available anytime.”

“Brother Chen, we’re leaving first.”

“Have a safe journey. Remember to let me know when you reach the academy.”

“Brother Chen, we know.”

Lin Chen watched Lin Fan and Oriental Red Sleeve leave in a small battleship, knowing they still had a part of their story to go through, and he didn't need to get involved in that.

Lin Chen wasn't worried about their safety at all.

If two guys with astonishing human luck encountered danger within the Human Race Territory, it would be a complete slap in the face of human luck itself.

Lin · Treasure Hunting Mouse · Fan and Dongfang · Astonishing human luck · Hongxiu left, and Lin Chen felt a bit empty inside. The next time he could pick up money so easily might be a long time from now.

Essence Clone: What a hearty and exhilarating expedition.

Qi Clone: Indeed.

Gods Avatar: What are you two so happy about? When we go back this time, we'll probably have to endure year after year of freshman life.

Copy Body: Damn it, that's something the main body would do. Compared to staying at the academy to study, I'd rather go out on an expedition. Dying a few times is easier than studying.

Essence Clone: You're such a spoilsport.

Qi Clone: Indeed.

Gods Avatar: You guys aren't going to beat me up, are you?

After a hearty and exhilarating group beating, the Essence Clone, Qi Clone, and Copy Body felt refreshed, while Gods Avatar lay on the ground, bruised and swollen, like an injured little beast, staring blankly at the starry sky.

Gods Avatar: What are we still waiting for here?

Essence Clone: I don't know either.

Qi Clone: No idea.

Gods Avatar, who had been playing dead for a while, asked the question.

The Sanbao Clone looked at Lin Chen (Copy Body) who was making the decisions.

Copy Body: I don't know either. After all, the three big shots are still inside. It wouldn't be good for us to leave first.

Gods Avatar: The big shots might be in closed-door cultivation for decades or even a century. What's the point of us waiting? Let's go back and study.

Essence Clone: … … …

Qi Clone: … … …

Copy Body: Your personality has severely deviated. Why are you so prone to getting beaten now? You should be melted down and reforged.

Gods Avatar: Hehe :-P

Lin Chen was speechless and sent a message to the three old seniors.

Red Thread Lord replied first, telling them to leave ahead of time. The Virtual Singer was projecting her Projection Divine Spark from false to true, which would likely take another ten-plus years. While the two were acting as protectors, they were also observing the laws to improve their own cultivation.

Having received accurate information, Lin Chen led the team back to the academy.

The closer they got to the academy, the less enthusiastic the four became. The thought of endless studying made their scalps tingle.

After dawdling for five days, the Copy Body team finally returned to the Sixth Academy and met the main body, who had been waiting for their return for a long time.

“Gentlemen, is the academy that terrifying?”

“………………”

“You have half a month off to do whatever you want. After that, Copy Body, you will hone your martial arts, Martial Domain, and professional skills. As for you Sanbao Clone, you will study knowledge for 12 hours every day, and use the rest of the time to collect various information and climb the Virtual God Tower rankings.”

Lin Chen wasn't some capitalist who had to exploit his Copy Bodys. Now that he could lie flat for a period, he and his Copy Bodys wouldn't have to be so tired.

The treasures harvested this time would allow his full innate aptitude to increase by about 45 points. In the next few years, he would spend his time in a cycle of refining resources and improving his aptitude.

Before graduating from university, he would barely be able to raise his aptitude to its current limit, but it wouldn't be far off.

The subsequent two-year military service period would be the critical period for converting aptitude into strength. War was always the fastest way to improve cultivation.

Having determined his cultivation tasks, Lin Chen entered a state of closed-door cultivation.

He wanted to quietly cultivate and amaze everyone.

At this stage, Lin Chen's physical body, vital energy, and spiritual power were all at the late Eighth Order level, making him a balanced Eighth Order life form.

Cultivation was the foundation, the root of existence.

Improving cultivation was always the top priority.

The ten life stages below Demigod, in their essence, had only one purpose: to increase the quantity and quality of the three treasures (Essence, Qi, Spirit), thereby enabling them to carry divinity and step into the threshold of evolving into a life form like a God.

Therefore, regardless of the cultivation system, all were aimed at cultivating a vessel capable of carrying divinity.

All-round Martial Arts, which emphasized the physical body in the early stage, vital energy in the middle stage, and spiritual power in the later stage, was a very comprehensive cultivation system. This is why it was widely spread within the Human Race and became a part of Human Race education.

Mentalists, a specialized spiritual martial art, primarily focused on the spirit, first maximizing the spiritual attribute, then using the spiritual attribute to influence vital energy and physique, thereby obtaining a vessel capable of carrying divinity.

Besides these, there were also Energy Martial Artists and Physique Martial Artists, two types of specialized cultivation systems that no longer had much inheritance.

Facts proved that these two types of martial arts only had some advantages in the early stages, but in the middle and late stages, they were far inferior to All-round Martial Arts.

Mentalists could be passed down simply because spiritual power originated from the soul, and its essence was high enough that even All-round Martial Arts could only contend with it in the later stages, reaching a level of equal strength.

Cultivation was the foundation, while combat power was the means of protection.

Combat power was the concrete manifestation of cultivation.

Martial arts and psychic abilities, relying on the physical body, vital energy, and spiritual power as their foundation, could directly demonstrate the strength of one's cultivation.

Martial arts and psychic abilities are divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, corresponding to below Demigod. At the Demigod level, there are Demigod skills; at the Ascension to God level, there are Ascension to God skills; and at the God level, there are God skills.

Martial Domain, a characteristic of martial arts, is a supportive ability.

It is also a preliminary, inferior version of the power of rules.

Professional skills function by relying on the professional system.

Professions are fixed inheritances and shortcut routes created by human ancestors to ensure a minimum combat power.

All of the above, combined with cultivation, form a person's combat system. The more proficient one is in various methods, the higher their combat power.

Besides these, there were also auxiliary methods.

For example, the formations Lin Chen chose to study, the Spiritual Stealth Technique he cultivated, the Copy Body technique, external weapon and armor equipment, and internal treasures—all these could affect combat power levels but would not affect the fundamental cultivation.

Lin Chen’s closed-door cultivation had only two goals.

Improve cultivation and hone combat power.

Everyone was like this, and Lin Chen was no exception.

Due to the increase in his aptitude, Lin Chen estimated that he would be able to break through to the Demigod level after his military service, which was 3 to 4 years earlier than he had anticipated.

The three major stages of Human Race Martial Arts are: the Transcendent Stage from First to Tenth Order, the Ascension to God Stage of Demigod and Ascension to God, and finally the God Stage.

The first stage is simply about accumulating numerical values and gaining a slight understanding of the essence of power.

The second stage involves condensing divinity, evolving towards a God, and initially grasping a few rules.

The third stage involves wielding rules, with Gods being immortal.

PS: The latter part of this chapter is an introduction to the system settings. The setting system of this book is written based on this system.