Astral Apostle
chapter-268

Jason and Bill, the two apostles, had broken off their connection. It was unknown how they were faring in the Mutant World, but they had yet to die even now. Therefore, the benefits from placing them had never been recycled to the interface.

However, after mastering the Level 8 Saber Technique last time, he still had 27,400 Astral Points and 224 Information State Particles left.

Zhou Jing switched to the ability library that had stopped updating when Jason broke the connection, immediately investing 7,000 Astral Points and 70 Information State Particles as fuel to convert the third and fourth enhancements of the Mutant Blood Warrior system to his main body.

[Transforming the supernatural system – [Mutant Blood Warrior (Third Enhancement), [Mutant Blood Warrior (Fourth Enhancement)]…]

[Conversion complete]

A familiar feeling of strength suddenly surged, quickly spreading through his limbs and bones. His strength, speed, and stamina continued to increase without any pause.

Zhou Jing thought that it would be very painful and was mentally prepared, but at this moment, he realized that he did not feel uncomfortable at all.

It was as if he was soaking in warm water. It was comfortable, and there was no pain like when he first got strengthened by the mutant blood.

At the same time, the increase in strength did not bring about any unfamiliarity or loss of control. It was as natural as taking back the power that originally belonged to him.

At the same time, the interface popped up the special choices for when one’s Physical Fitness and Resistance attributes broke through the First Order.

[Physical Fitness increased to Second Order]

[Please select a new trait from the following three options.]

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“It’s actually a little different from Jason’s attributes when he advanced. It seems that the characteristics that can be obtained during advancement are random.”

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows. Without hesitation, he chose the same [Nimble Disposition] as Jason.

On one hand, it was the most convenient to use. On the other hand, speed would increase one’s combat strength more than the other two. After all, only speed was invincible in actual combat. It was basically not wrong to choose this.

[Resistance increased to Second Order]

[Please select a new trait from the following three options.]

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Zhou Jing was stunned.

The resistance characteristics that he could choose when his main body advanced were actually completely different from when Jason advanced. He did not know if he was lucky or unlucky.

Without the [Elemental Resistance] that Jason had chosen for his advancement, he would not be able to be immune to the side effects of the subsequent enhancement of [Internal Electric Discharge], [Electrical Perception], and [Lightning Release].

However, there was a trait that made his heart race, that of [Rapid Restoration].

He only had one main body, unlike the Astral Apostle who could constantly reassemble. In fact, in Zhou Jing’s opinion, [Rapid Restoration] was a must for him to obtain. Even if he obtained [Elemental Resistance] at the same time, he would not have chosen it in the end.

After all, there were many ways to be immune to the side effects of electric shocks. By constantly increasing his Resistance attribute, he could also reach his goal. Compared to this simple combination of resistance to electric shocks, self-healing was clearly more valuable.

[Selection complete. Trait generated.]

[Physical Fitness Trait: Nimble Disposition]

[Resistance Trait: [Rapid Restoration] ]

Waves of power surged out, and in a short while, the transformation was completed.

Hooomph!

Zhou Jing’s breath was like an arrow as he curiously tested his movements.

He had long used Jason to familiarize himself with such physical fitness. Without any additional practice, he could easily control his explosive strength. It was as if his physical strength was already like this, and he inexplicably felt a sense of freedom, as though his shackles had been released.

“It’s been a long time since I felt so relaxed. This is the power I’m familiar with…”

Zhou Jing was in a good mood. He stretched his neck left and right, before opening the interface to take a look at his attributes.

________________________

[Supernatural Power System: [Mutant Blood Warrior] – Fourth Enhancement (Lightning Strike Leopard, Howling Wind Tiger, Golden Lightning Dragon, Aurora Dragon)]

[Accumulated Bonus: Physical Fitness +59, Resistance +47, Perception +33, Spirit +6, Energy +20]

[Skill: [Weapon Mastery – Blade Technique] – Lv8 (Harmony), [Hunter’s Breath – Forging] – Lv5 (Instinct), [Hunter’s Breath – Swift] – Lv4 (Proficient)]

[Current Attributes: Physical Fitness 70, Resistance 55, Perception 38, Spirit 17, Energy 20]

________________________

“I’m still slightly weaker compared to Jason’s attributes. Only my Spirit attribute is higher than his.” Zhou Jing nodded to himself, not surprised.

After all, the difference in the number of skills between his main body and Jason was too great. He did not convert more than ten breathing techniques and lacked some attribute bonuses.

Moreover, his main body was originally a normal person, unlike the Astral Apostles who had a high initial strength.

“However, they’re all at the same level of combat strength. There’s no fundamental difference. Even if he’s slightly weaker, his attributes are still among the best among the four enhancements… Tsk tsk, looking at it this way, Jason is really quite fierce.”

Zhou Jing was in a good mood.

After converting the main supernatural system, he did not intend to convert the other breathing techniques. This was because the attributes of more than ten breathing techniques did not increase much, but the cost of conversion was quite high, causing the cost-effective ratio to be low.

Now that he did not have any income and the next inter-realm convergence was coming, he wanted to save more resources as a backup.

With his current attributes and Lv8 saber techniques, his combat strength was already comparable to Jason.

“Let’s see how good my self-healing ability is currently.”

Zhou Jing composed himself and ran to the kitchen to get a fruit knife. Without batting an eyelid, he cut deep into his palm.

Now that his resistance was not low, it was not easy for sharp weapons to break through his tough skin, he used quite a bit of strength before managing to pull open a wound, and fine blood beads seeped out.

He counted the time silently. Not long after, the wound on his palm stopped bleeding and slowly closed. After about ten minutes, there were no more traces.

“Well, although it’s much faster than ordinary people, its recovery speed hasn’t reached the level of instantaneous healing.”

Zhou Jing roughly understood his limits.

The main world had superpowers such as super regeneration and instant restoration. At that level of healing speed, any injuries could basically be recovered in a few seconds. It could be directly used in battle and the user could be said to be an unkillable cockroach.

As for the [Rapid Restoration] resistance trait he had obtained, it was clearly still far from that level… Unless he fought a protracted battle, he could only use it to recover faster after escaping battle. He would not die easily from heavy injuries.

Zhou Jing was however quite satisfied, “It’s not bad. At least it’s a life-saving ability. Perhaps when my resistance is high in the future, my healing speed will continue to increase.”

...

Two days later.

In the instructor’s office of the Crown Faculty.

An internal meeting was being held. In addition to the instructors, Deng Yunjie and the other leading students of the Crown Association were also participating in the meeting.

“These are the participating new students we’ve chosen during this period of time. Including the ten specially selected people, there are a total of 50 of them. There are five Class S, 31 Class A, and 14 Class Bs.”

Li Yun flipped through the files of the 50 people and frowned.

He put down the information and looked around at everyone.

“This is the selection this time. Let’s discuss how to distribute the slots for the arena and team competition. Who should go where?”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone immediately started discussing.

The only consensus was that the team competition was more random and not easy to control. The group arena depended on one’s own ability… And the ten specially selected freshmen were suitable for the arena according to their past experience.

Li Yun pondered for a moment before saying, “Speaking of which, how’s the special training of the ten specially selected freshmen going? Have they improved?”

Hearing this, the mentor in charge of the special training shook his head and said, “Even if there’s special training, it’s only been 10 days. Of course, they haven’t changed much.”

Deng Yunjie leaned back in his chair and said casually, “How did that Class B Zhou Jing perform? Did you figure out his background and what his combat strength is?”

Among the ten special selections, the other nine were all conventional choices with high potential. Only Zhou Jing was an exception, so everyone paid extra attention to him. They were afraid that the mystery box they chosen would turn out to be dud rather than a high roller.

The special training instructor scratched his forehead and said helplessly,

“This… It’s hard to say. In terms of ability strength, Zhou Jing’s physical fitness is actually not very strong. Among all the Physical Enhancers this year, he can’t even be ranked in the first tier. At most, he’s above average.

However, his combat talent and insight are outstanding. His skills are superb, which is why his actual combat is very powerful… However, this way, the flow is too great. If you fight an opponent whose ability is not outstanding enough, you can easily win. However, if you encounter a powerful enemy, you can only use your techniques to deal with them. Whether you can win depends on your state and performance. The margin of error is very low for him…”

Hearing this, Deng Yunjie fell into deep thought, “In other words, he’s good at bullying noobs, but he can’t fight a head-on battle. He can only slowly wear down powerful enemies. If he makes a mistake during this period, he will likely lose?”

The special training instructor nodded and gave his evaluation,

“That’s about it. I think that if Zhou Jing wants to fight in the arena, he has to pay attention to avoiding powerful enemies. He can only eat some that are not outstanding, so he can’t become the core.”

“If it’s ideal, we can place him with the seeded experts of the other faculties. If he doesn’t perform well, he can only be used as cannon fodder to control the rounds.”

Deng Yunjie touched his chin, “That makes sense…”

Li Yun thought for a moment and threw out a suggestion,

“From the looks of it, it’s very difficult for Zhou Jing to achieve much in the arena. Perhaps we should change our minds and consider transferring him to the team competition? This way, we won’t waste his special selection and can also unleash his advantage. After all, most of the people in the team competition are Class A and Class B. Not many of them have outstanding abilities.”

Hearing this, many people nodded in agreement.

“I think it’s fine. Anyway, he’s good at bullying noobs.”

“Yes, with Zhou Jing’s style, he’s only suitable to show off when the freshmen’s actual combat level is still very weak. When everyone’s skills grow in the future, his advantage will slowly disappear. In the future, he’ll probably not be able to use it in the competition between departments… Therefore, the freshmen competition is a rare stage for him. It’s better to consider him and let him go to a suitable stage to have a chance to show off.”

Everyone spoke one after another. Be it out of goodwill or rationality, they all felt that this arrangement was not bad.

At this moment, a phone rang.

Everyone turned around and realized that Zhou Jing’s special training instructor’s phone was ringing.

“Sorry, I’m going out to take a call.”

The special training instructor waved his hand and went out with his phone, closing the office door behind him.

Everyone retracted their gazes and did not mind. They continued to discuss the allocation of the spots.

However, after only a minute, the door was suddenly knocked open.

Pang!!

Everyone was shocked. They turned around and saw the special training instructor, who had only been out for a short while, rushing in excitedly.

“What are you doing? Why are you so shocked?” Li Yun was dissatisfied.

“Everyone, the coach of the Association just told me a piece of good news!”

The special training instructor raised his phone with a surprised expression.

“Just now, Zhou Jing came to report that for some reason, his physical fitness has suddenly increased greatly. It’s very likely that his superpower has advanced or mutated!”

Everyone stopped short in their movements.

Superpower mutation?

This was a rare thing. Most superpowers could be trained and strengthened, but mutation was a superpower that sublimated from the basic level. Not only would the basic strength increase, but there was also a possibility of new functions being born. This usually meant a qualitative change.

As for advancement… It had only been ten days. Even if it was a physical enhancement ability, it shouldn’t have advanced so quickly, right?

Could it be that Zhou Jing’s physical enhancement ability had some hidden effect and unknown potential?

“Let’s go take a look!”

Li Yun stood up without hesitation, paused the meeting, and led everyone out.