Mysterious factors, formless and elusive.
They seemed impossible to grasp, yet their existence was confirmed through various examples.
At this moment,
Within Hei Dao's body, the accumulated mysterious factors, as if ignited by an unseen force, began to boil.
His face contorted slightly.
He felt as if he were plunging into an abyss.
The wind howled, monstrous beasts roared.
Twisted and grotesque faces appeared before Hei Dao's eyes, accompanied by countless hoarse cries.
Though Hei Dao's face was contorted in pain, his gaze remained calm.
Like a veteran who had faced countless battles of life and death, he endured the suffering without fear.
However,
Willpower, while important during awakening, was not the sole factor.
Hei Dao's will was strong, but the embrace of the mysterious was also terrifying, entangling and resisting. Perhaps with his own willpower and solid foundation, he would not fall into depravity and had a high chance of awakening.
But awakening inevitably involved the influx and permeation of the mysterious.
Influence was unavoidable.
This was normal.
At this moment,
Under the guidance of awakening, an indescribable power, seemingly present yet not, descended. Hei Dao's face gradually calmed, his will like a sphere, slowly rotating, unassailable.
In the struggle, the mysterious was shattered and assimilated bit by bit, truly integrated into himself.
At a certain point, a critical threshold was reached.
*Pop—*
It was as if something had broken open.
An unseen wind surged around Hei Dao, dust billowed, and visible rings of ripples spread outwards.
He stood up, his right fist slowly brought to rest before his left chest.
His head bowed slightly.
"Passing on the torch, humanity endures."
...
[Notification: Apostle of Destiny · Hei Dao has awakened!]
[Notification: Apostle of Destiny · Hei Dao's Physique greatly increased, Spirit greatly increased, Mystery reset to zero, Life Energy unlocked, Talent 'Cold Killing Intent' acquired.]
Hei Dao's status panel underwent a massive change!
Fang You glanced at the notification and brought up Hei Dao's information.
[Hei Dao (First Awakening)]
[Physique: 3.2 + 3.5]
[Spirit: 1.3 + 0.8]
[Mystery: 0]
[Life Energy: 4.86] <6.7x0.6 + 2.1x0.4>
[Skills: Basic Saber Technique (Proficient: 16%), Saber Slash (Mastery: 5%), Aberrant Tracking (Proficient: 16%)]
[Equipment: Novice Combat Saber]
[Ability: Cold Killing Intent]
—
[Cold Killing Intent]
[Description: Upon entering this state, Hei Dao can use intense killing intent to dispel most negative effects, including the influence of aberrations on his sanity, while also possessing a deterrent effect.]
[Note: Awakened abilities can also be improved through training and other means.]
"This awakening upgrade is incredibly potent!"
"Especially the Physique, it directly rose to 6.7. With this, Hei Dao is no longer human!"
"And there's a new attribute, Life Energy."
Fang You studied it for a while.
Life Energy was not an independent attribute but was still based on the foundational 'Physique' and 'Spirit' dimensions.
The fusion of Physique and Spirit gave birth to Life Energy.
Theoretically, any living person possessed Life Energy. Hei Dao had it before, and using special skills like 'Aberrant Tracking' and 'Saber Slash' required him to strain his own Life Energy.
This order of things felt a bit off.
It was harmful to the body and consumed a lot of energy... Of course, this damage referred to long-term use; a few days wouldn't be an issue.
—All of the above was Fang You reading aloud from the game interface's description of Life Energy.
"So, with Life Energy as a mana bar, Hei Dao's endurance has greatly increased, and using special skills will be smoother."
"With this, Hei Dao can fully support the performance of Mastery-level Saber Slash, and with Life Energy, his single burst of damage might even be stronger."
"Besides that..."
The awakened ability was the key!
Special abilities had appeared; the first awakening was indeed beyond human.
And Hei Dao's ability combined control, crowd control, and defense. Although he had no other awakened abilities to compare with yet, Fang You figured Hei Dao's ability was top-tier.
"If accumulating mystery can lead to awakening, does that mean there might be special awakened individuals on Earth as well?"
Fang You felt it was highly probable.
Setting aside the danger, awakening was an opportunity available to everyone.
Were any of the black-suited official personnel he saw last time awakened?
Standing on humanity's side, Fang You hoped the official personnel were more powerful, capable of eliminating the escaped Serpent Mother.
But their lackluster performance when dealing with the construction site aberration made him uneasy.
"Hei Dao has already used his dispatch opportunity for today, and he needs time to adapt to his post-awakening body."
"Tomorrow, if the Serpent Mother still hasn't been dealt with, let Brother Hei Dao handle it."
"I believe a first-awakened Brother Hei Dao will have the capability to contend with the Serpent Mother."
Hei Dao, I've done all I can. The rest depends on your performance.
...
In the following time, Fang You periodically opened the mission dispatch module to check the locations of aberrations.
They were changing.
Although the aberration locations detected by the map scanning function were not updated in real-time... updating approximately every ten minutes, it was enough for him to track the movement trajectory of the Serpent Mother aberration.
Looking at the marked locations, Fang You breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, although this terrifying aberration has left the abandoned building, its movement speed is very slow."
"The specific reason is unknown, but it's ultimately a good thing."
"However, from another perspective, it's been one or two hours, and this aberration still exists. It seems..."
The official personnel might also find it troublesome.
Difficult to deal with. Da Feng Novel Network.
Fang You entered a local forum and heard from other users that the abandoned building in the southern part of the city and its surrounding areas had been sealed off, and residents had been evacuated.
It was said that several bandits were hiding in the abandoned building.
"Are there too many bandits these days? The day before yesterday, the neighboring Jiangbei City also sealed off an area due to bandits?"
"Uh, there were also incidents like gas leaks."
"No way, do people really believe it's just bandits? I say it's definitely some kind of mysterious event. Haven't you noticed that places like mental hospitals and graveyards are gradually being sealed off? Based on my research, something has definitely changed in this world, possibly a spiritual resurgence."
"Hmph! Tremble, for we are about to usher in a great era!"
"The guy upstairs has gone mad."
"Hey, drag him away, drag him away."
"But it really hasn't been peaceful lately."
Fang You skimmed through the posts, marking the sealed areas before closing the forum.
Saving the world was currently on cooldown.
He opened his inventory and chose to use the remaining skill book, 'Palm Thunder'!