Chapter 224: Another Projection |
Chen An's days were busy and fulfilling, step by step. Even though these days were busy and exhausting, they were full of hope. At least the gradual improvement of his life was satisfactory.
This was the biggest difference from his past life. After the last meeting with Chen Wanjun, Chen An had not seen her again. He only occasionally visited the Chen family to deliver elixirs to the people there. As for the Xia King's Tomb secret realm, it was still far away.
According to Chen Wanjun, the Xia King's Tomb would not open for at least another six months. During this long period of time, Chen An had plenty of time to focus on his own matters.
Chen An had thought that he would spend this time continuously refining elixirs. However, unexpected events always happened unexpectedly.
"Huh?"
In the quiet courtyard, Chen An sat alone.
Name: Chen An
Attributes: Strength (12.4), Body (12.8), Spirit (10.8)
Source power: 1910
Projection: Available
In front of him, the familiar source power template appeared again, floating in front of his eyes, clearly displayed.
However, compared to before, there were some changes in the upgraded template at this moment. The projection column now showed "Available."
What's more, Chen An had just tried to project, and found that the option had unknowingly lit up, no longer grayed out.
Has the cooldown ended? Chen An was pleasantly surprised.
Since the last projection, he had been wanting to project again. The benefits of projection were obvious. Not only could he experience and learn various inheritances and scriptures in the projection world, but he could also obtain a significant amount of source power if lucky.
Furthermore, after the projection returned, it could greatly improve Chen An's aptitude and overall strength.
With such benefits, he naturally paid attention to it.
However, the reality was still there. Since the last projection ended, the projection column of the upgraded template had been in a cooldown state and could not be used.
Because it had been a long time since the last use, Chen An had gradually forgotten about it.
Unexpectedly, just when he was about to forget about it, the projection feature suddenly became usable.
It was a pleasant surprise for Chen An.
With a smile on his face, he directly got up and headed towards the outside after a moment of contemplation.
It took him two to three days to prepare.
He temporarily closed the alchemy shop he had opened before for a while, then went to rent a place in a nearby seclusion area.
These secluded places were specially opened by cultivators for others to use. They had the most advanced formations and protections. It was said that there were even several Golden Core cultivators guarding them to ensure the safety and experience of the users.
The spirit formations sealed off the spiritual energy inside, making it the perfect place for cultivators to break through.
Both safety and experience were guaranteed.
Of course, with such high security, the price was naturally high.
It was not cheap.
But Chen An didn't mind. Although the projection function was good, it had some flaws. The biggest flaw was that when projecting, the original body was relatively vulnerable and unable to move.
If someone were to attack the original body at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Chen An didn't know if his original body would wake up or continue to simulate if it was attacked during the projection. But regardless, he didn't want to take the risk.
Some troubles that could be avoided should be avoided.
As for another issue, if the simulation lasted too long, his original body would likely starve to death.
After all, people had to eat.
But this issue had been resolved with Chen An's gradual increase in strength. The innate martial artist had the ability to absorb and digest spiritual energy to replace meals, although he still needed to eat, the requirement was greatly reduced.
Especially in a place with rich spiritual energy like the seclusion room, he could go without eating for a long time without any problems.
That's why Chen An chose to come here. This was the best place for him to go.
After renting this place for half a year and paying a hefty price of six hundred spirit stones, Chen An finally closed himself off to start projecting.
"Would you like to project?"
In front of him, faint subtitles appeared and presented in front of his eyes.
Chen An took a deep breath, then selected "confirm."
In an instant, the familiar feeling enveloped him again. Under Chen An's gaze, the upgrading template in front of him began to glow, as if a light was gradually spreading, eventually covering Chen An's entire body.
Boom!
As if from the void, a ringing bell could be heard, causing Chen An to fall into a trance.
In the trance, his original source gradually disappeared and followed the guidance of the upgraded template to an unpredictable place.
Deep, dark.
All around was nothingness, everything seemed invisible and only an endless black shadow could be seen.
After a while, Chen An slowly opened his eyes.
As his consciousness finally disappeared, he fell into a body once again, being reborn as an adult.
"So this is how projection works!"
At the moment his consciousness disappeared, Chen An had this thought in his mind.
Previously, he had been curious about the mechanism of projection. But now it seemed that the mechanism of projection was somewhat similar to reincarnation.
It was just that in reincarnation, one would eventually recall memories belonging to the original body.
Before he had the chance to think more, Chen An's consciousness completely disappeared, plunging into a hazy state, and was silent.
He was like a baby, truly returning to his original innocence and ignorance, with past memories being sealed away.
Everything fell silent.
It was unknown how long had passed. Chen An's consciousness gradually returned.
A strange sense of exhaustion appeared on his body.
He suddenly felt that his body was very heavy and tired. There was a sense of inexplicable weakness.
There was a strong feeling all over his body, seemingly accompanied by intense pain.
Therefore, Chen An opened his eyes.
In front of him was a desolate scene.
The surroundings should be an abandoned old temple, covered in dust and traces of the past.
Dirty everywhere.
Occasionally in the corners, human excrement and some unpleasant things could be seen.
Those were human bodies.
Chen An couldn't help but be stunned. This kind of environment, this kind of place. The beginning of this projection didn't seem very good.
As this thought flashed through his mind, the memories of this body returned with it, beginning to merge with him.
With this process, the memories in Chen An's mind became clearer. He now had a clear understanding of his current situation.
In this projection, he was the son of an ordinary farmer.
However, his luck didn't seem very good. When this body was five years old, his parents were separated due to a natural disaster. The mother and sister of this body were forcibly sold by the father and turned into servants for others. Only Chen An was left, because he was a boy and was never sold no matter how difficult it was.
But the good times didn't last long. With time passing, after the natural disaster, man-made disasters followed. Half a year ago, a group of bandits looted this place.
In the chaos, the father of this body was killed. Chen An was the only survivor, barely managing to make it through.
Without the protection of his parents, this body became a beggar and had to beg for a living every day.
"This beginning is quite difficult."
After digesting the memories of this body, Chen An felt a little helpless. Compared to the last projection, this time the identity of the projection was much worse.
In the last projection, at least in name, he was still the son of the Duke of Chen Guo. Although he was oppressed, as long as he was smart enough, eating and living were not a problem.
But this time was different.
The start was the death of both parents, directly falling into the role of an abandoned child.
This beginning was quite difficult.
Chen An struggled to get up, trying to stand up, but it was quite difficult. This body seemed to have been injured before, with many scars all over it and in a very poor state. It seemed like it hadn't eaten for a long time.
During the process of standing up, a rumbling sound occasionally came, making Chen An feel a bit silent.
It seemed that the first thing he needed to do after awakening his memories this time was to get himself a good meal.
Otherwise, this rare opportunity for projection he had worked hard for might be wasted.
Because he might starve to death.
But here was the problem.
Where could he get a good meal?
Chen An fell into contemplation.
Under normal circumstances, even if he were not in his original body and only an ordinary person, he probably would not have such trouble.
If he couldn't get it normally, why not just go and rob?
It was just a good meal, nothing difficult.
But now, this wasn't possible.
With his current body, did he think he could go out and rob?
Probably even a half-grown child could knock him down.
However, it seemed not entirely impossible.
Chen An looked at his template and observed the current data. Then he discovered something abnormal.
Other data had shrunk corresponding to the changes in the body, reaching the level of a child. However, there was one piece of data that hadn't changed.
That was the Spirit attribute.
This data didn't change much; it had been fully carried over by Chen An.
Regarding this, Chen An was a little surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he understood.
The Spirit attribute not only affected spiritual awareness and perception, but also seemed to be closely related to a person's spiritual essence.
That was why, in the previous Holy Sage's secret realm, the Transformation Technique was used as a trial.
(End of this chapter)