Chapter 37

"Old Xu, do you know if there's anything underground that's protected by the power of the soul?" Zhuo Chuan asked again.

Old Xu was certainly not stupid; he was just lazy. When Zhuo Chuan said this, he immediately perked up, "So, you've mastered the technique to break through the protection of soul power? You want to test it out?"

"Uh-huh," Zhuo Chuan answered briefly. He had already decided that if he could recover his former strength, he would definitely help Old Xu advance to the citizen class, whether it was out of friendship or because he valued his potential and saw it as an investment for the future. He knew that Old Xu had done too much for him and deserved such a return.

"That's great!" Old Xu was very excited. He had confidence in Zhuo Chuan, but he didn't really have a solid basis. Now that Zhuo Chuan had said this, it meant he was truly ready to test his skills, which indicated he had real strength.

He started to think, his brows furrowed, and after a long while, he said, "Yes."

Zhuo Chuan didn't show any surprise at this answer. He could see from Old Xu's expression that there were other difficulties.

"But those things are very expensive. Even using low-grade soul crystals for protection, they can't be destroyed at will," Old Xu said, frowning.

Zhuo Chuan nodded. If this hope was also slim, he would have to take the risk and use it in the duel.

In the modern world, any country with resources conducts drills and training for different wars in advance, which is a common practice and system.

If he couldn't accurately determine the level of "Sigh of Time and Space" when facing the protection of soul power, the chances of winning the duel would be much lower.

"Right," Old Xu suddenly exclaimed, "I thought of a place. It's for those who are one step away from becoming citizens to practice combat. There are also citizens who give lessons and provide combat guidance."

"It must be quite expensive, right?" Zhuo Chuan understood as soon as he heard about such a place.

"At this point, we can't be too concerned about the cost. Even if we have to borrow, as long as you get through this, you can gradually recover your strength in the future, and everything will be fine," Old Xu gritted his teeth, clearly planning to spend this amount again, not the ordinary currency used by underground people, but crystals.

...

"Tianhua Combat Gym."

An ancient-style signboard with five calligraphy characters, and two coiling dragons on either side of the large doors. This modern-style design gave Zhuo Chuan a sense of familiarity, but the series of numbers and information outside the door revealed its true identity: "GD322434: Private Combat Training Gym, with regular lessons by citizens, payment only accepted in soul crystals."

The two of them explained their purpose at the entrance through a communicator.

While waiting for a response, Zhuo Chuan looked at the words "soul crystals" and let his thoughts wander. He had been in the new world for more than three months and had a good understanding of many common knowledge points, especially after his soul power increased, giving him "photographic memory" and "terrifying mental arithmetic," most of the common knowledge was stored in his mind.

Only citizens could produce soul crystals, but in very small quantities. Out of a trillion people, only a few billion could do so. They lived on the surface, enjoying a wider space than people in the modern world. The rest were reserve citizens, living underground in layers of space that could accommodate nearly a trillion people.

At first, it was hard to imagine, but if you thought of each underground layer as a megacity, it became easier to understand. A megacity in the modern world has about 30 million people. Tokyo, Japan, had a population of 36.7 million in 2010. A trillion people would mean creating 30,000 cities underground. Given the area of Tokyo, it's not a problem to dig out city spaces within tens of kilometers underground to accommodate 30,000 Tokyos.

Of course, this is based on highly advanced technology, with abundant energy and food.

The reason so many people live underground instead of in space is for the soul crystals. Only people on Earth can easily pass the soul test and become producers of soul crystals. Other planets cannot. And this "easily" is at a rate of one in a thousand.

The population of a trillion was determined over a few hundred years to be the optimal total. If the population were larger, the promotion rate would be much lower than one in a thousand, making it counterproductive.

Zhuo Chuan understood that his greatest advantage had yet to be fully utilized. He had to get through the duel in half a month. Once he mastered soul power and could condense soul crystals, the modern world would provide him with soul crystals for his exclusive use.

Soon, the communicator rang. After verifying their identities, they were allowed to enter.

A lifelike female robot came out to greet them.

Actually, human resources underground were not expensive, given the trillion population. But everyone focused on becoming citizens and wouldn't waste energy on things that didn't contribute to soul growth. Even work was related to soul growth, such as education.

The robot's attitude was naturally very good; it wasn't a conscious being.

The lifelike female robot gave them a detailed introduction to the services and收费标准.

"Direct combat guidance from citizens is charged by the hour. Among the 24th-level citizens, we can only invite the lowest three levels—Z, Y, and X—to provide guidance. Their price starts at one thousand low-grade soul crystals per hour, with additional charges based on their level and actual strength ranking."

The female robot answered very thoroughly, as per her programming.

"One thousand?" Old Xu laughed bitterly. He only had a total of seven hundred in savings. It seemed that He Qiang had given Zhuo Chuan a special lesson out of past friendship. If they were to formally invite him, his entire life savings wouldn't be enough.

One thousand was indeed too high, and Zhuo Chuan could see the difficulty in Old Xu's expression.

"If it's just ten minutes of guidance, is that possible?" Zhuo Chuan tried to help Old Xu out.

The robot, being a robot, wasn't annoyed by Zhuo Chuan's haggling.

"Ten minutes of guidance is also possible, but it would need to be combined with other students' time. After all, we can't waste the citizens' time. They won't come for such fragmented time slots. Normally, we accumulate at least ten hours of guidance requests before inviting a citizen, as ten thousand low-grade soul crystals are worth their time."