Chapter 268: Chapter 230: Origin Ability Experiment: Returning to the Origin

The message displayed on Shen Ning’Er’s phone wasn’t complicated.

In fact, you could even say it was quite simple.

But a single line of text was enough to make Fang Tangtang gasp in surprise.

"Beihai Military Academy’s top-ranked Celestial Harmony Team was toppled! Beihai’s number one student, Wang Nanlin, suffered a broken leg and is unconscious!"

Gao Neng was naturally a little curious, so he took a glance as well. A faint light then flickered in his eyes.

’Has it already begun?!’

"The Military Department, the Sects, the Clans! If you rank them by the number of geniuses, the Clans are first, the Sects are second, and the Military Department is the weakest... So, if they want to snatch opportunities, it’s natural they’d start with the Military Department. And within the Military Department, the four great military academies are the prime targets. Beihai Military Academy is ranked fourth among them..." Shen Ning’Er trailed off, not finishing her thought.

"Then let them come. The gates of Eastern Capital Military Academy aren’t so easy to break through!" Gao Neng nodded. He naturally understood the meaning behind Shen Ning’Er’s words.

The disciples of the great Clans enjoy resources unavailable to ordinary people from a young age. It’s no surprise that they produce a constant stream of geniuses who hold an advantage over their peers.

Like Shen Ning’Er and Fang Tangtang, for example.

In a sense, Shen Ning’Er was also a child of a great Clan, superior to the average person since birth. However, she came from a military Clan, so she was counted as part of the Military Department.

Fang Tangtang, on the other hand, didn’t belong to the Military Department.

But her grandfather was an arms dealer with close ties to the Military Department, and now that she was enrolled in Eastern Capital Military Academy, she was naturally considered within the military’s sphere as well.

However, these two were special cases.

The true rank and file of the Military Department mostly came from relatively ordinary backgrounds. They had relied on their own hard work to get where they were, only beginning their systematic training after entering the military academies.

The Sects and the Clans were different.

The Sects were all about heritage!

The major surviving Sects each have lineages stretching back thousands of years. They made immense contributions during the early days of the Great Cataclysm. Although they were later weakened by the rise of the Military Department, their foundations remain.

Of course, this was just in terms of the number of geniuses.

When it came to overall strength, the Military Department was naturally the strongest. After all, they had the advantage in numbers. With an army of hundreds of thousands plus high-end weaponry, whoever stood in their way would be annihilated.

But the "reform" wasn’t about changing everyone.

It was about the geniuses!

So, it was perfectly normal for the disciples of the Sects and Clans to choose the four great military academies as their whetstones.

"How despicable! Isn’t this just blatantly bullying us four academies for not having any Sixth-Order individuals?!" Fang Tangtang’s face flushed with anger, and for the first time, she clenched her small fists.

"Since the goal is to snatch opportunities, of course no one is going to care about fairness. Let’s go back to the academy." Shen Ning’Er shook her head and said no more.

"Okay!" Fang Tangtang nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Right, Gao Neng, where’s your cat? Where did Gao Xiaomeng go?"

"She went back on her own," Gao Neng replied casually.

"On her own? She knows the way?"

"Yeah, she does."

"Gao Neng, let’s make a deal. How about you sell me that cat? You can name any price. How about this, I’ll make an opening offer... 100,000 Alliance Coins?"

Gao Neng was speechless.

"One hundred thousand for a cat! That’s a sky-high price!" Fang Tangtang’s inner wheeler-dealer was on full display.

"Sky-high my ass!" Gao Neng didn’t hold back, slapping Fang Tangtang on the head. "Don’t even think about it for less than thirty or fifty million."

"Thirty million, deal!"

"Not for sale!"

"Gao Neng, you can’t do this! You agreed to thirty million."

"Fifty million."

"Fine, just as you said. A flat fifty million."

"Multiply that by ten."

"You might as well just rob me! I’m only buying a cat! Five hundred million... Impossible!" Fang Tangtang froze for a moment, then protested loudly.

"Then there’s nothing to discuss."

"No, we have to negotiate! How about one hundred million? One hundred million... that’s really my limit! It’s three months of my allowance!"

"Damn it!" Gao Neng had no desire to continue this conversation with Fang Tangtang.

’Three months of allowance is one hundred million?’

He had risked his life to get a piece of White Jade Bone Forging, then shamelessly begged to become someone’s disciple, just to get a card with one billion on it—a card he didn’t even know the goddamn password for.

’How infuriating is that?’

On the way back, Gao Neng didn’t travel with Shen Ning’Er.

Instead, he borrowed a military jeep from Chen Bai, spent half an hour learning how to drive, and finally, slowly drove off with the unconscious Gao Xiaomeng.

Along the way, he crashed through thirteen guardrails and drove into a roadside ditch four times. Fortunately, he was as strong as an ox and didn’t need a tow truck at all.

However, when he returned to the military academy and gave the military jeep back to Chen Bai...

Chen Bai’s face was terrifyingly dark!

Gao Neng didn’t care. It was just a car; no need to be so stingy. As the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. One had to look forward.

He patted Chen Bai’s shoulder.

Gao Neng disappeared into the night, taking a broken-off steering wheel with him.

As for sleeping arrangements that night...

He really had no other choice.

He could only squeeze in with Gao Xiaomeng.

She was just a cat, after all. They usually slept on the same bed anyway. Even though Gao Xiaomeng was a young woman now, in Gao Neng’s heart, she was still just a cat.

「The next morning.」

When Gao Neng woke up, Gao Xiaomeng was still unconscious.

’Looks like this negative status effect is lasting for a while.’

If he remembered correctly, the first time he and Gao Xiaomeng had merged, she had only been unconscious for one night before waking up the next day.

’Why is it lasting longer this time?’

"Should I study the ’Source’ ability? Or the ’Mid-Tier Fighting Skill’?" Gao Neng considered his options and decided to study the Source ability first.

’This thing is an epic-grade ability. How can I be at ease if I don’t figure it out?’

He opened the system’s Attribute Panel.

"’Source’ is origin. All matter has an origin. The ability ’Source’ can ignore the structure of matter and upgrade it to its origin."

"System, what is ’origin’?" Gao Neng asked casually.

"Hint: If you wish to know what ’origin’ is, consider purchasing an ’Encyclopedia’." A mechanical voice replied.

"You stupid-ass system! Ever since you upgraded, you won’t even explain anything? Why don’t you just become a mute system from now on!" Gao Neng was furious.

He remembered that while the old system was cheeky, it was also quite user-friendly. It would even offer explanations sometimes. But now, it was telling him to buy an "Encyclopedia" at the drop of a hat.

’This is robbery!’

He waited for a while...

The system remained silent.

’Don’t tell me it actually became a mute system?’

"If you can tell me what ’origin’ is, how about I give you a hundred Alliance Coins?" Gao Neng thought for a moment and decided to try a different approach to communication.

"One thousand. No less!" the mechanical voice declared.

"Alright, deal!" Gao Neng was delighted. ’So this is how the stupid system works now? I’ve really learned something new. From now on, I can just negotiate with money.’

"DING! 1,000 Alliance Coins have been deducted from the host."

"Origin: It has two meanings. One is the most primitive state of all matter. The other is the most powerful state of all matter."

"The most primitive and the most powerful?" Gao Neng could understand the literal meaning of the words, but when put together, he was still a bit confused.

’So what does this Source ability do?’

’Does it revert matter to its most primitive state or evolve it to its most powerful state?’

Gao Neng’s gaze fell upon a nearby table. He decided... to give it a try! 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Use the Source ability on this table!"

"Please select the direction for ’Source’: revert to initial state or evolve to the next stage."

"Let’s try reverting to the initial state first."

"Analysis: The table’s material is wood. The initial state of wood is a tree. The initial state of a tree is a seed..."

"DING! 5,000 Alliance Coins have been deducted."

"Table has become a seed!"

"THUD!"

The Middle-tier Secret Manual that had been sitting on the table fell directly to the floor. At the same time, a dark little seed appeared on the ground.

Gao Neng was speechless.

’Son of a bitch!’

’It got rid of my table and even deducted five thousand Alliance Coins?!’

’This is an epic-grade ability?’

’I’m not happy!’

’I’m very not happy!’

Gao Neng felt like he had been completely scammed. This was a huge loss. So, he quickly picked up the seed from the floor and used the Source ability again.

"Use the Source ability on the seed again! Evolve it to the next stage!"

"Analysis: The next stage for a seed is a sapling... Do you wish to evolve the seed into a sapling?"

"Don’t evolve!" Gao Neng immediately gave up.

’A friggin’ sapling!’

He wasn’t an idiot. If he evolved it into a sapling, it would definitely cost him more Alliance Coins. Having them deducted like this wasn’t a good solution.

But he was a little unwilling to let it go.

After some thought, Gao Neng asked, "Can this seed be restored back into a table?"

"No," replied the mechanical voice.

"Fuck!" Gao Neng cursed. He then opened the door and tossed the seed into the small yard outside. "Seed, oh seed, you’d better sprout quickly! When you grow up, I’ll chop you down and make you into a table!"

Just as he was about to go back inside...

A figure appeared in the distance, walking toward him.

"Gao Neng, you’re awake! Perfect. Come and explain to me how you that day managed to turn the rock and the tree..."

"Teacher Gui, I’m injured and currently recuperating. Let’s talk about it in a couple of days," Gao Neng said in alarm. He had just remembered that whole affair.

’I absolutely cannot talk to Gui Zian about this right now.’

’Later!’

’Definitely later...’

"Wait, about your military merit..."

"Teacher Gui, please help me submit the application for the military merit. Oh, right, if possible, mention my military rank too. See if you can get me a promotion to Lieutenant or something." After saying this, Gao Neng immediately turned and went back into his room.

Gui Zian tried to follow him in.

"SLAM!"

The door shut.

"What’s the meaning of this?!" Gui Zian froze. ’He just slammed the door in my face, didn’t he? If I remember correctly, I risked my life to save this brat just yesterday.’

’And now he won’t even offer me a sip of water?’

’The nerve of him!’

Gui Zian raised his fist, ready to pound on the door. But after lifting his hand, he ultimately lowered it. Then, a cold smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. "I heard from Shen Ning’Er that you’re on good terms with Dr. Lan. She might be coming to Eastern Capital Military Academy in a couple of days. When she does, you can help me say hello for her."