Chapter 43: Obtaining Spirit Power

“Once you see spirit power, you will also understand what exactly spirit power is.”

While Du Wei explained on the podium, the people below the stage also listened attentively.

“There is a widespread belief among our ancestors that all manner of living have spirit. That is not a very accurate belief. Strictly speaking, spirit does indeed exist in every corner of the world, but there are certain places where spirit is so scarce that you can ignore it, and there are certain places where there is an abundance of spirit.

“Now, all of you have become Transcended Gamers, and you’ve obtained the right to use spirit power. Spirit will increase your fighting power by several fold, and you can understand it as your inner power.”

At that moment, a boy who sat at the front row raised his hand meekly. “A question. Are you going to teach us some sort of magic skill next?”

Du Wei looked at him askance. “Student, please let me finish what I have to say first. Also, you need to stop reading so many cultivation novels.”

Qin Guan, too, lowered the hand he was about to raise. He thought. ‘Thank goodness I was slower than him. I wanted to ask that question as well.’

Du Wei explained. “I know that you want to ask whether you are supposed to train by absorbing the spiritual aura from the world, whether there are spirit stones and the like, and whether you need a specialized training manual to practice your magic skills or something.

“I’m sorry to say this, but there isn’t. The spirit I’m talking about is not the same as the spiritual aura you’re thinking about. Stop talking about them as if they’re the same thing. The spirit I’m talking about is closer to the concept of the souls.”

Du Wei observed the crowd before his expression suddenly became stern. “There are two ways to obtain spirit and strengthen yourself.

“One is to refine your spirit. You’ll have to train intrinsically to produce spirit within yourself. As long as you continue meditating and sensing spirit power, your own spirit will continue becoming stronger.

“The second is to snatch spirits. This means you’ll be snatching spirit that is either not owned by someone or owned by someone. Once you seize it in your hands, you get rid of the remaining consciousness on it and use it for your own.

“That’s right. You can snatch other people’s spirits, but in the Parapsychology Association, we strictly forbid you from using this method on other normal people.”

Qin Guan mulled over his words. “Are you saying that there are abnormal people?”

Du Wei nodded. “Yes. There are a group of people in the world who are crazy about snatching spirits. They believe in the law of the jungle, and treat the belief that the strong prey on the weak as their religion. They will spare no effort in snatching spirits to use them to strengthen themselves.”

Someone asked, “Then, what happens to the people who have their spirits snatched?”

Du Wei remained silent for a while before he said, “The process of having your spirit snatched is rather painful. You’ll feel as if your blood and flesh are being torn from your body. But having your spirit snatched will only cause you to lose most of your strength. It won’t lead to your death.”

Then, Du Wei changed the topic. “But once you have your spirit snatched, you become no different from normal people. Under the rules of the Parapsychology Association, those who snatched another person’s spirit out of malice has committed as heavy a crime as killing someone. Think about it, do you think that the Spirit Snatchers will let you live?”

The students felt shocked and afraid. They felt a chill creep down their spines.

Indeed, the concept of not having to die after having your spirit snatched made them feel at ease when they heard it, but the problem was that the person who snatched your spirit would have sucked away all your strength. Why should they let you live? Were they supposed to give you a chance to take revenge in the future?

But Qin Guan did not wonder about this. After he pondered over this for a while, he thought. ‘Why does this feel like a setting in a game? If you kill someone, you will lose your experience and equipment.’

This concept of spirit training was similar to using a bot to grind, and spirit was the equivalent of EXP points. Once your EXP bar is full, you can level up, and you can then receive various status points.

Snatching another person’s spirit was similar to killing someone in a game to gain EXP. However, there was still a difference. If you kill a person in a game, he or she can be revived later, but the people in the real world only had one life, and they could not be resurrected after they died.

That was why after they died, they would not just lose some EXP points or drop down a few levels. They would lose everything.

Qin Guan contemplated this. ‘But if we truly treat this as a game, the rules are bit cruel…’

Du Wei continued. “So, you should understand now why you are not allowed to reveal your identities on the ranking board.

“To the Spirit Snatchers, since they believe that the world operates on the law of the jungle, all the people who knows how to use spirit power are their enemies. The greater the talent a person possesses, the more they will want to kill him or her to put a stop to future trouble.”

A boy from the back row raised his hand and asked, “Then won’t the Spirit Snatchers so strong at the end that you won’t be able to handle them at all?”

Du Wei shook his head and said, “This isn’t so simple.

“First of all, there are stages to how you obtain spirit, and the further you progress, the harder it is for you to improve. Snatching spirits is equivalent to you rapidly improving, but the further you progress, the slower you will improve, no matter how much spirit you obtain. Their growth curve will slowly slow down.

“Next, the others are not stupid as well, and they will not sit around and wait for their demise. Some of the Spirit Snatchers may want to snatch their spirits, but in the end, they will just end up getting severely wounded. This sort of situation is very common.

“So, all of you must learn how to protect yourselves. You have to increase your fighting power as soon as possible, too.

“You can choose to rely on your efforts and continue improving as well as get stronger. Your mobile AI systems will guide you.

“You can also consider joining the Parapsychology Association. They will provide you with some help, but in exchange, you must also do something to repay the Parapsychology Association.

“Of course, even though you join the Parapsychology Association, you can still choose to directly join the headquarters of the Parapsychology Association or join the clubs. There will be certain degree of difference in terms of your freedom and the benefits you can obtain.”

Du Wei finally moved to the main topic of the day: to recruit fresh blood for the Parapsychology Association.

This was within Qin Guan’s expectation. Since the Parapsychology Association and the Spirit Snatchers were enemies, they would definitely want to draw the Transcended Gamers to their side and have them join their organization so that they could add to their existing strength.

To the Transcended Gamers, since they were very weak right then and were fledglings, seeking protection from the Parapsychology Association and obtaining resources to get stronger in exchange for working for the organization was also beneficial for them. In the end, this would be a mutually beneficial situation for both sides.

Besides, based on what Du Wei said, the Parapsychology Association will take in the Transcended Gamers in the future. This was not a one-time deal where they would be paid 2,000 RMB per month until they graduated.

If they joined the Parapsychology Association, they could obtain the legal rights to use spirit power within the country, but they had to do so within the law. They also had three paths to take.

The first was to join the Parapsychology Association as its reserve member. Once they completed the three trials and truly obtained the status of a Transcended Gamer, they could join the organization.

This was equivalent to them joining the organization while they were still students. The 2,000 RMB per month salary was similar to an allowance. They would also be taking on very few missions. Once they graduated, they could consider whether they wanted to become official members of the organization.

The second was to join the clubs under the organization, and they could negotiate the details of their salary with the clubs. They could obtain a part of the resources belonging to the club, but the advantage to this was that they had a large degree of freedom.

The third was for them to become the Parapsychology Association’s official member. Their salary will be very high, and they will be treated greatly. They will also obtain more resources, but they will also be under more restrictions.

However, they could not just become official members just because they wanted to. They had to be reserve members first and pass the test. They also needed to have a certain degree of talent and aptitude.

Du Wei gave a detailed description of the three paths before he told the students. “That’s the general outline of the situation. If you have any other questions, you can ask me privately.

“You have plenty of time to think about this. Once you’ve come to your answer, you can tell me your decision at any time you want.

“But before I go, I want to give you one last reminder. If you want to use spirit power legally in the country, your only way is to join the Parapsychology Association. If some of you want to snatch spirits and use your power to reap benefits through ill-gotten means, then I will tell you this: the Parapsychology Association also has a team of law enforcers specifically formed to handle such cases.”