Lost in the Otherworld

“Theoretically, that’s the case, but the reality is quite the opposite,” Bai Tu shrugged. “Let me provide you with some data: out of ten deceased awakened ones, three fell to beasts, while seven perished at the hands of humans.”

A heavy silence enveloped the table.

“There are two things in this world that one should never gaze upon directly: the sun and the human heart,” Gao Yang suddenly recalled this phrase.

Bai Tu studied Gao Yang’s face intently and remarked, “You and our captain… could it be that you are long-lost brothers?”

“Huh?”

“You both tend to express similar thoughts,” Bai Tu smiled contentedly. “It seems we’ve finally found the right person this time.”

As they spoke, a waiter wheeled a small cart over, placing plates of barbecued meat on the table, followed by drinks and beer.

Bai Tu picked up the tongs to serve everyone while Fat Jun eagerly poured drinks.

“Before we discuss Gu Family Village, let’s talk about rune circuits,” Bai Tu said, turning the beef ribs on the grill with the tongs. “Rune circuits are something every awakened one should be familiar with. They are, um… eat up! This meat is incredibly tender; if you don’t hurry, it’ll burn…”

Wu Dahai took a sip of his beer. “Focus on grilling the meat; I’ll explain.”

“Alright.”

Seeing everyone’s attentive gaze, Wu Dahai, a bit taken aback, adopted a serious demeanor and began to explain: “There are twelve rune circuits, namely: Life, Support, Poison, Enhancement, Guardian, Summoning, Damage, Spirit, Element, Knowledge, Time-Space, and Miracles. Just to clarify, ‘rune circuit’ is the name given by awakened ones; its true name remains a mystery.”

“In essence, rune circuits are quite enigmatic and serve numerous purposes. They are undoubtedly not products of our era, and for awakened ones, their most significant known function is aiding us in upgrading our talents.”

“Upgrade?” Qing Ling’s eyes lit up.

“I heard from Officer Huang that you’ve been fixated on the methods of upgrading,” Bai Tu said, placing a piece of grilled beef in Qing Ling’s bowl. “Here, have some meat.”

“Let’s talk about upgrading first,” Qing Ling urged eagerly.

“Talents start at level one. Elevating to level two is simple; just use it a few times. Level three, however, is more complicated, requiring the use of this skill to slay several beasts. With good fortune, you might need to kill just one, but with bad luck, it could take more than ten. Of course, this method only applies to output-type talents; the methods for other talents vary, but we won’t delve into that now.”

Qing Ling nodded. “My metal talent did indeed reach level three during the battle in Gu Family Village.”

“That’s likely because you simultaneously utilized both your metal and Blade God talents to defeat numerous beasts,” Wu Dahai raised an eyebrow. “Our organization prohibits indiscriminate slaying of beasts, but those in Gu Family Village don’t count. We deliberately left them for you, as a means of assisting your upgrades.”

“Sounds nice, but we nearly lost our lives!” Officer Huang retorted angrily at the mention.

“Ha! Don’t blame Electric Mouse; it was my idea. We were essentially using each other,” Bai Tu quickly served Officer Huang some meat. “We’ll revisit this topic later.”

“Talents have a threshold between level three and level four, representing a qualitative leap,” Bai Tu pondered. “If I had to make an analogy, it’s akin to the difference between a regular rabbit head and a spicy rabbit head.”

How much do you love rabbit heads!

Gao Yang stifled a snicker.

“What a ridiculous analogy,” Wu Dahai interjected. “I’d say it’s more like the difference between a bicycle and a motorcycle.”

Everyone nodded thoughtfully; this analogy was much easier to grasp.

“I want to upgrade,” Qing Ling stated.

“Ah, hold on. Don’t rush; let me finish,” Bai Tu added another piece of meat to Qing Ling’s plate. “Things aren’t as simple as they seem.”