"After reading posts all night, I didn't find anyone who said they could see the eerie things all over the streets. It seems that I am the only one in the world who can see them."
Fang Xiu fell into deep thought. The forum claimed that the strange phenomena appeared out of nowhere, with no discernible pattern. However, he knew that the strange phenomena had always been present. The so-called "appearance out of nowhere" was merely the fulfillment of certain conditions, allowing them to manifest in reality.
To outsiders, this was simply an appearance out of nowhere.
"These free posts don't contain much information. My next goals are to make money and grow stronger!"
He began recalling the basic techniques for manipulating spiritual energy he had just seen in his mind—all the most fundamental techniques.
They taught how to quickly command spiritual energy and perform daily exercises, which were somewhat useful but not very much.
However, Fang Xiu's greatest gain was the knowledge about strange artifacts.
So-called "mysterious tools" are tools imbued with mysterious power. Some are weapons, like swords and knives, while others are common tools, like mirrors and bracelets...
Regardless of their form, these tools carry mysterious power and possess various unimaginable functions.
Each one is extremely valuable, and some powerful artifacts can even sell for over a hundred million.
However, using mysterious artifacts comes at a cost. The more powerful the artifact, the stronger its ability to corrupt the mind, much like radiation.
Frequent use of mysterious artifacts inevitably leads to mental corruption, ultimately transforming one into a monstrous creature akin to a mysterious entity.
When Fang Xiu read about mysterious artifacts, he immediately thought of his surgical knife.
There was no doubt that the scalpel was a weird artifact; having cut through countless weird entities, it had long been corrupted by weird forces into a weird artifact.
He wasn't concerned about the mental corruption caused by weird artifacts, as his mind was already twisted beyond recognition.
This meant he could use weird artifacts without hesitation, fearing no mutation.
In addition to the description of the strange artifact, the post also briefly explained how to control it.
The most basic method of control is to infuse it with spiritual energy to activate its power.
However, to make the artifact as responsive as an extension of one's arm, requiring it to move in sync with one's thoughts, one must use spiritual energy to penetrate its core and establish a connection, thereby maximizing its power.
This is akin to the concept of a divine artifact recognizing its master in fantasy novels.
However, the risk of having the artifact recognize its master is extremely high. Once spiritual energy establishes a connection with the artifact, it is as though you have abandoned all defenses. Each time the artifact is used, its corrupting properties penetrate directly into the mind, greatly increasing the risk of mutation.
At this point, Fang Xiu glanced at the time—it was already five o'clock, with over three hours remaining before the Investigation Bureau arrived.
"There should be enough time."
Saying this, he took out the scalpel, channeled his spiritual energy, and began to delve deeper into the scalpel's interior.
Gradually, his consciousness seemed to enter a vast darkness, where countless eerie screams echoed. They charged at Fang Xiu's mind with intense ferocity.
Countless waves of brutal, murderous, and despairing negative emotions surged into his body, attempting to warp his mind into a monstrosity.
However, Fang Xiu's mind was like an abyss, allowing these negative emotions to flood in while remaining calm.
The scalpel's purpose was to twist Fang Xiu's mind, but what if the mind was already twisted?
It was like killing someone—if the person you were killing was already dead, how could you kill them?
"Is this all the despair there is?" Fang Xiu said calmly.
In the next moment, he channeled his spiritual energy directly into the scalpel, leaving his own mark within it, instantly establishing a connection between them.
When he withdrew his spiritual energy, he discovered it had grown stronger!
Another one percent had been activated.
This meant his spiritual energy was now two percent activated.
"It seems the scalpel's power helped activate part of my spiritual energy."
This made Fang Xiu even more satisfied with the scalpel.
Besides the enhancement of his spiritual essence, he also discovered the scalpel's true abilities.
The scalpel has two abilities. The first is its basic ability: cutting.
As more spiritual essence is infused, the cutting ability continues to strengthen.
The second ability is to harness the strange power contained within it to enhance oneself.
However, since the surgical knife contained too much mysterious power, this power was extremely chaotic. When enhancing oneself, one would basically lose rationality and impose a significant burden on the body. If one remained in this state for an extended period, there was a high likelihood of direct mutation.
Fortunately, Fang Xiu was not concerned about losing rationality; he only worried that his body could not withstand it.
He glanced at the time again; it was already past seven o'clock, so it was time for breakfast.
He stepped out of the bedroom to prepare breakfast.
His wife approached him with a gentle smile: "Honey, it's time for breakfast."
Fang Xiu walked right through her and went to make breakfast himself.
An omelet, two slices of bread, and a glass of milk.
As he was eating, Zhao Hao's call came in.
"Xiu Ge! Xiu Ge! I know what my ability is now!" Zhao Hao's excited voice came through the phone.
"Hmm, it's about ability." Fang Xiu bit into his bread, speaking calmly.
"Hehe, I'll tell you something that'll scare you... Ah!? How did you know?" Zhao Hao was stunned.
Fang Xiu didn't speak; he continued eating his bread. He didn't want to answer such a stupid question.
A moment later, Zhao Hao snapped out of it.
"Xiu Ge, did you foresee this?"
"Hmm."
"Sigh, how boring! How boring! I was planning to show off to you, but you already knew in advance. Xiu Ge, I've discovered the flaw in your ability to foresee the future—there will be no more surprises in life from now on."
"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up. I have two guests coming over shortly."
"Wait, don't…"
Click.
Fang Xiu hung up the phone and continued eating his breakfast.
...
...
Outside the residential area, on a black business vehicle, Li Wenhao, who was eavesdropping, looked shocked. The eavesdropping device in his hand fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.
Shen Lingxue frowned beside him: "What are you doing?"
Li Wenhao snapped out of it, not bothering to pick up the device on the ground. He exclaimed in shock: "I heard Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao's abilities!"
"Oh?" Shen Lingxue showed a hint of interest. "What abilities could possibly make you so flustered? Tell me one by one, starting with Zhao Hao's."
"Zhao Hao's ability is his surname ability."
Shen Lingxue: "..."
Her expression darkened visibly. "That's indeed shocking."
"No, Zhao Hao's ability isn't important. What's important is Fang Xiu! " Li Wenhao said urgently.
"What ability does Fang Xiu have?"
Shen Lingxue couldn't help but take it seriously. She knew that although Li Wenhao was an ordinary person, he had received professional training and had seen many spirit masters and even strange phenomena. Ordinary matters wouldn't make him lose his composure.
"Predicting the future!" Li Wenhao said solemnly.