Chapter 10

Thinking about this, Zhuochuan did not confess. He said, "Yes, now that you mention it, I also remember that my predecessor left some things behind. After all, he was a B-level figure. Once I study them thoroughly, I should be able to understand a soul attack skill. Sigh, I really am absent-minded; I only remembered this because of your reminder."

"Hmm, you don't have to tell me what it is. Friends are friends, and privacy is privacy. As long as you're fine," Lao Xu said happily, and he didn't ask any more.

He thought for a moment and said to Zhuochuan, "In these three months, I'm not completely idle. I'll go to your teacher and ask for leave, so you can put aside all the messy cultural knowledge and focus on training your combat skills with me. Your physical strength and instinctive reactions are already the best, but you still need to learn combat techniques. This is a good opportunity for me to teach you properly, which will increase your chances of winning."

"Right, in these three months, I will definitely work hard," Zhuochuan said. He was a workaholic and a learning enthusiast; otherwise, he wouldn't have achieved his position at a young age in the modern world.

"By the way, you should also use the internet to find some knowledge about souls. It might be helpful to you. I'm not interested in these theories, so I can't teach you," Lao Xu reminded him and continued, "This kind of knowledge about souls is rarely taught by teachers in the underground. Most of it is general theoretical knowledge, and students have to learn and understand it based on their own situations. Souls are personal, and everyone's situation is different, making teaching very difficult. Only in the surface world do they have such educational conditions, and it's hard to get in."

Zhuochuan naturally accepted this advice. They talked for a while longer, and as it was getting late, Lao Xu said he would go back and make a plan, setting a three-month training schedule for Zhuochuan. Zhuochuan said he would go back and look for the techniques left by his predecessor. They parted without wasting any more time.

Back at his home on the 377th underground floor, room 243, Zhuochuan entered the storage room, grabbed the dead rabbit, shook its head, and pinched its ears, trying to wake it up.

But the rabbit remained motionless, still looking dead, completely unaware of the crisis its owner was facing.

"Forget it, what can you do?" Zhuochuan put the rabbit down, placed it neatly, and sighed. This was the biggest secret left by his predecessor, but what good was it?

Next to it, the instruction manual clearly stated, "Soul Intelligent Guide for Citizen B47995. User is locked. Others cannot use. Currently in hibernation. Activation requires at least one high-quality soul crystal to maintain one year of normal operation."

In the past month, Zhuochuan had also disbelieved the manual and tried many methods he had seen in the modern world, such as blood recognition, but none of them worked. The only thing he confirmed was that the rabbit was not completely dead. Although it was in hibernation, it was still performing some basic functions, as the bloodstains he dripped on it were automatically cleaned.

"Maybe if I were the true successor of this body's soul, I would know where to find a high-quality soul crystal. But I'm just an intruder, so it's only right that I can't use it," Zhuochuan didn't blame anyone. After all, he understood cause and effect. Most of the time, to get something, you have to pay for it. He had taken over someone else's body for free and couldn't expect to enjoy the original benefits without effort.

As for his home, he had already searched it thoroughly. Apart from the rabbit, there was nothing special.

Zhuochuan sat for a while. "Forget it, don't think too much. I'll follow Lao Xu's advice and focus on training myself and improving my strength in the next three months. I'll start by looking for some related information online to have a better understanding."

He stopped thinking aimlessly and went to the study, where a computer was prominently placed. The label read "Qitian 4321." The appearance, case, screen, keyboard, mouse, and microphone were almost identical to the desktops he had used in the modern world.

This was the standard model computer used by the underground people. Compared to the computer hardware from a thousand years ago, there had been no fundamental improvement, a fact Zhuochuan already knew.

But this was not the true level of computer development in the new world. If one became a citizen, they would have access to the virtual network, which was built on quantum computers and soul theory. Souls could directly enter this virtual world, requiring no mouse or keyboard, and the sensory experience could be set to be almost identical to reality.

However, the virtual network required soul crystals to maintain, and the underground reserve citizens could not produce soul crystals, so they didn't have this privilege. They could only use these antique computers, which only required conventional energy to operate and maintain, and thus had been used for a thousand years. In that time, software had advanced rapidly, but hardware had not fundamentally improved, only slightly enhancing performance.

Zhuochuan, of course, had no time to think about these things. He logged onto the network and began searching for information on understanding soul skills.

In the past month, he hadn't focused much on this aspect. Instead, he had familiarized himself with the various common knowledge of this new world and tried to integrate into it.

Regarding soul power and soul skills, which were crucial for personal combat strength, he had only glanced at them casually, without any urgent need. One reason was the habit from a peaceful world, and the other was that his physical strength alone was enough to overwhelm his classmates.

But now, after three months, he was forced to duel with an E-level citizen, so he needed to understand this better. As He Qiang had said, if he could understand a soul attack skill left by his predecessor, it would be enough to crush Jie Cheng.

Soul power was the core of this world, and understanding soul skills was impossible without it. Zhuochuan had long known this common knowledge. The internet had a wide variety of explanations on this topic, with the basic theory being consistent, but the various insights and techniques varied from person to person.

Zhuochuan found a post specifically discussing soul power. It had the highest click and search rate on the network, with the number of views measured in trillions, far exceeding the most popular posts in the modern world.

The author signed their real name, taking responsibility for the content. The author's name was Chris Tang. Zhuochuan searched for this name and was surprised.

Citizen ID B1, name Chris Tang, age 965, position: Dean of the Qingyun Soul Academy.

The Qingyun Soul Academy was often mentioned by Wang Xin and the other kids. It was the largest and most famous training institution for surface citizens, a place they dreamed of going to.

However, despite his high position, Chris Tang's citizen ID was only B-level. Zhuochuan's predecessor, with the citizen ID B47995, was also B-level, indicating he was a significant figure, though it was unclear if he held any important positions.

Zhuochuan put aside his thoughts and quickly read through the post's content.

"How can one master soul power? And how can one master soul skills?"

"Whether one has mastered soul power is the dividing line between citizens and reserve citizens. Soul power is composed of three elements: courage, resilience, and wisdom. The levels of these three elements determine the total amount of soul power. Everyone has a soul, but to master soul power, the three elements must reach a peak, allowing the total soul power to break through a threshold and become easily perceptible by consciousness, thus gradually mastering it."

"Once soul power is mastered, one can identify their soul attributes and then master various soul skills, from the basic skill of forming soul crystals to the legendary soul skill 'Time Travel.' Of course, there is one exception."

"When a citizen who has already mastered soul power unfortunately loses their soul but their body remains intact, a new soul is born, which we call the successor soul. This successor soul often has the potential to understand one or more soul skills left by the predecessor, which is the only exception."

Zhuochuan was not disappointed. The post mentioned his situation, similar to what He Qiang had said.

However, the post was likely aimed at ordinary people. He quickly scanned through the entire post, but the content did not mention "Time Travel" or the successor soul understanding soul skills again. The rest was all about how to train step by step to master soul power and then soul skills, with no mention of any shortcuts. It emphasized the need to learn and train diligently to achieve mastery.

From the examples in the post, the fastest an ordinary person could advance to mastering soul power was over ten years. Even for the successor souls of fallen citizens, similar to his situation, it took more than three years.

Zhuochuan now understood why He Qiang never mentioned the possibility of mastering soul power in three months, only hoping he could understand the soul skills left by his predecessor.