Chapter 33: Your next sentence is..._1

"431 million ounces."

Raven said indifferently, "This time, the settlement is conducted using Source Crystals, the most commonly used currency among Sublimators. All of them are of the highest purity that can be mined from the Border.

In order to acquire it, the largest group of Sublimators in Northern Europe, Golden Palace, had to mortgage an entire resource-type Border belonging to themselves. They got this much money from those Dwarf bankers, and the ultimate winner was an Abyss Archaeological Team affiliated with the Astronomy Association Technical Department. They won't have to worry about funding for deep exploration for at least ten years.

You may not fully understand what this price means, so I'll just put it bluntly. 2.1 ounces of Source Crystals is exactly the amount of Source Substance in an average adult, and according to today's exchange rate from the Astronomical Society, you can exchange it for more than 2 million Dongxia Yuan at any of their departments—and this exchange rate is like the crappy money a game system gives you for recycling gear, way lower than the black market price, which is at least two-thirds higher and with no stock available.

Unless they are desperate, no Sublimator would ever exchange their Source Crystals for money. This thing is the hard currency of hard currencies."

"Now you can calculate how long you have to work as a temporary worker for the Astronomical Society to earn that much money."

Seeing the look on Huai Shi's face, as if he couldn't even imagine such a number, Raven seemed to chuckle, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, "That archaeological team just had a stroke of dumb luck in a level 6 Hell, where they found a fossil… Now, are you sure you still want to live an ordinary life?"

"..."

Huai Shi remained silent for a long time, looking skeptically at the Raven in front of him: "Why do I always feel like you're trying to scam me?"

The Raven felt sad, having already prepared the trap and found no takers.

Huai Shi sighed, "Your next line is gonna be, 'do I look like someone who would deceive you?'

"..."

Raven was at a loss for words.

"Then I will tell you," Huai Shi sighed again, "—Yes, you would."

"You're suddenly all into self-study, making it hard for me," said Raven, lighting up a cigarette with no trace of shame, shaking her head in lamentation: "I'm kindly offering you a job to make money."

"Any slightly rational person knows that overnight riches are not sustainable, and the only job you can get from just clicking a share button at home is that of a repeater."

Huai Shi had made up his mind not to be fooled any longer: "No matter what you say, I won't risk my life for money."

Raven rolled her eyes, completely unconcerned:

"Real sweet warning.jpg."

Huai Shi really wanted to know what kind of ridiculous things she was looking at on her phone every day.

After firming up his resolve, he got up and headed to the kitchen. He had only eaten a little at noon, and now, just after three o'clock, he was already getting hungry again.

But when he opened the cupboard, he froze in place.

Where's my dried noodles!

I just bought them last week; there was a whole row of them!

"..."

The Raven, under Huai Shi's intense gaze, rolled her eyes: "Bro, do I look like the source of all evil just because your noodles went missing? Besides, not even a hundred pounds of noodles could keep up with your eating, eating five meals a day, half a pot each time, you're going to deplete all the rice and noodles, you know?"

She paused, then gave a smile that made Huai Shi slightly uncomfortable:

"Also, are you hungry again?"

"..."

"Congratulations, happy growth!"

Raven flapped her wings and clapped applaudingly: "After a regular person becomes a Sublimator, they enter a second growth phase where the soul influences the body. In this stage, a Sublimator's body will grow again, gradually reaching the limits of a normal person in all aspects, and may even exceed them in some respects.

At seventeen, you're already in a growth phase, and combining that with another growth phase brings double the joy—of course, along with quadruple the hunger and more than eight times the needs.

So, unless you want to end up with stunted growth or muscle self-digestion, you'd better stop skimming to the point of eating plain boiled noodles."

For some reason, Huai Shi felt increasingly uneasy.

"So what should I eat?"

"Generally speaking, it's foods with high calories. The higher the calories, the better. It would be ideal to pair up the whole set of blissful fatty cakes, blissful fatty chicken, and blissful fatty drinks, and just binge until you're stuffed.

This is also the cheapest option; the downside is that you'll have to use the bathroom a dozen times a day, risk socially dying among your classmates' laughter, and after six months develop hormonal imbalances, elevated cholesterol, leading to high blood pressure, anorexia, and other illnesses."

Huai Shi's legs turned to jelly with fright, "Is life as a Sublimator always this rough!"

"Of course not, but the other Sublimators have money."

At this point, Raven sighed helplessly: "It's a pity, if someone as kind as me would help you make a complete Potion."

She paused for a moment and then winked expectantly at Huai Shi: "But without money, I can't even afford the raw materials."

"So, you're just waiting here for me, aren't you!" Huai Shi asked expressionlessly: "If you want money, just say so."

"Taking from you to give back to you, how can that be called a scam?"

Raven laughed heartily, speaking at a leisurely pace: "One vial a day, a course a week, roughly in a month's time your growth phase will be over. Considering how well we know each other, I won't even charge you the processing fee, just the cost price of 2,600 Dongxia Yuan per vial. So for one month... well, 100,000 should be enough."

"Spend 100,000 for a happy growth package?" Huai Shi pointed to his nose and asked: "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"But that's really a fair price. After all, no one would think a Sublimator can't even come up with 100,000. And the gap between spending money and not spending money, you understand that, right?" said Raven, glancing sideways at Huai Shi. "If you don't build a good foundation during your growth phase, the future difference won't be just a little. If you achieve the best effect, purely on physical fitness, you could even become a military ace.

Incidentally, the packages offered by the Astronomical Society start at 300,000, not to mention their effectiveness. Of course, they can also be offered for free as long as you sign a contract with them—if you think there's such thing as a free lunch in this world."

"..."

Shouldn't any thinking person know that's absolutely impossible?

"So, work hard, young man, a hundred thousand fast, and isn't that time well spent?"

Raven pulled out a test tube from underneath its wing, shook it in front of him, and whispered in a tone as if a demon were tempting him, "Support try before you buy, eh."

"In your dreams, even if I, Huai Shi, starve to death, from here I'd jump... jump... jump... glug..."

The last sound was him swallowing saliva.

Huai Shi looked at the test tube in front of him, which swayed with Raven's movements, releasing a seductive scent from its open top. An indescribable hunger awakened within his body, each cell in his limbs screaming out in thirst.

Heartbeat accelerated, saliva secreted, pupils dilated, stomach contracted.

The hunger from instinct kicked the freshly made decision to the curb, then rushed into that tube of pale green potion, dragging Huai Shi's head to his ear and screeching like mad: Drink it! Drink it! Drink it!

After ten seconds, Huai Shi let out a long sigh, tasting the rich flavor of fine wine spread from his mouth, his limbs felt as though soaking in hot springs, and he couldn't help but shed tears of regret:

"So delicious!"

"All done?" Raven asked kindly.

"You're starting to ask for payment now, aren't you?" Huai Shi became instantly alert.

"No, what I mean is, now that you've finished eating..."

Raven transformed into a silver quill, summoning the Book of Fate from within Huai Shi's soul.

"— let's do a simple and joyful digestive exercise."

Without waiting for Huai Shi to speak, an Event Branch was selected.

Huai Shi's vision went black.

And then, he died yet again.

In that instant, Huai Shi saw torrential rain pouring from the sky, seemingly flooding the entire world, yet he was bathed in fire.

Thick petrol ascended into flames, covering him inch by inch.

In the midst of a massive explosion, he could feel his body shattering to pieces, but unexpectedly, he didn't feel fear, rather a sense of relief, as if finally liberated.

He even found himself smiling.

Never had an experience of death been so serene, so tranquil that Huai Shi feared it, yet it held not a trace of hate or spite.

He simply accepted it all.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come.

Even when the death log ended, Huai Shi had not yet come to his senses, remaining in that near-numbing tranquility.

This death was so profound.

So profound that he even forgot to breathe, forgot he was alive.

It wasn't until his face was about to turn blue that he gasped, coughing so violently he almost vomited the noodles he had eaten the night before.

He quickly covered his mouth, afraid of throwing up.

He had just drunk a potion worth thousands, if he vomited it up now, wouldn't that have been for nothing!

Money brought me peace.

"Oh! It seems you have gained some remarkable insight!"

Raven clicked its tongue in admiration, "Such an emancipating type of death is indeed rare. Experiencing it more could benefit you. Who would've thought Red Gloves understood even more profound essence before dying, you really got a bargain. How do you feel now?"

"I just feel very hungry."

Huai Shi lifted his eyes to look at her, expressionless: "I especially want to eat roasted Raven, boiled is fine too."

Thinking back on that tranquil death made his skin crawl; while such a peaceful and serene death was incredibly rare, the terror it brought was more profound and powerful than other deaths.

It was so calm and composed, even indifferent.

There was no lingering affection or reluctance, he even lost the hate for himself before dying.

It was as if... his life had no meaning at all.

"What is so precious about this kind of thing?"

He rubbed his forehead, trying hard to drive that serene stillness out of his consciousness, not understanding what this sudden onset of Sage State was about.

"You'll see for yourself."

Raven flipped the Book of Fate around, showing him the record on the title page.

Apart from the removal of the words "Stress Period" from the previous entries, there wasn't much change, just a new eclipse emblem signifying his successful sublimation.

The Miracle Imprint and Stigma section were still blank, and there were no changes in Skills either.

Only...

"Death Perception skill has actually reached LV1?" Huai Shi was astonished.

One experience of death had fully formed a skill that, despite the number of times he had died, remained grey? It was this skill that helped him survive until now, half the time relying on it to avoid disaster, and now it leveled up just by dying unknowingly?

"After all, it's a rare type of death. It probably also has to do with life experience. Let's set that aside for now, as there's still time tonight..."

Raven paused, then flashed that smile that made Huai Shi uncomfortable again, "So, how about experiencing the new feature of the Book of Fate after sublimation?"

"Goodbye!"