Chapter Sixty-Eight: Perception of the Heart

“How should this situation be handled? Is there still a chance to reverse it?”

Fang Tang blinked and consulted his eye, since this was the first time he’d encountered such a thing.

[Normally, when a human is consumed by emotion and desire, the process of degeneration is swift, because humans are vessels for desire—once it’s sparked, it’s like a flood, impossible to restrain. But this man’s situation is unique. His negative emotions and desires are entwined with a longing in his heart. This can lead to one of two outcomes: either he turns misfortune into fortune and becomes an evolved being with mutated abilities, or he’s directly erased by the rules of the underworld. He really shouldn’t remain here any longer—send him into the neighboring underworld, and hope luck is on his side…

Stop staring at the man and look at my luscious waves… As the saying goes, a day apart feels like three autumns—she and I haven’t seen each other for two days, that makes six autumns. Tang, my brother, hurry up, will you?]

Fang Tang: … This old lecher is hopeless. Am I sure this is my eye, and not an old pervert’s spirit possessing me? How could I possibly be that lustful!

With a long sigh, Fang Tang used the man’s pickaxe to dig a hole in the ground and tossed him in. As for what would become of him after falling ten meters—well, that was out of his hands.

Ye Qing knelt on the ground, hands folded in her lap, staring blankly at the newspaper.

Fang Tang walked over and gently patted her cheek. “Wake up. Can you hear me?”

Ye Qing: …

Still hypnotized, it seemed.

Fang Tang scratched his head. “Is Ye Qing going to be all right like this? She’s been in this underworld for a while and hasn’t become an evolver yet?”

[Our luscious waves are in luck—she’s awakening her sequence talent. We can wait for her here. After all, this underworld’s twisted rules once birthed a third-rank fallen one, which is also useful for you now.]

“Sequence talents are awakened?” Fang Tang was startled; he’d never heard it put that way before.

After all, his own sequence talents… well, he bought them with money.

Oh, right—his eye!

His eye was already open; he must have awakened it when entering the underworld, since he’d felt no effect from the twisted rules in the starting underworld. He still didn’t know how people entered the underworld, though. If you’re unconscious, you’re unaware of anything around you.

Nor did he know how long Ye Qing’s sequence awakening would take.

So, Fang Tang simply sat down, spreading out his newspaper.

The public channel was still bustling, messages scrolling so fast they made his eyes ache. Most of the chatter was nonsense, though.

Only a small portion exchanged tips on fighting underworld creatures. These people mostly wielded second-tier tech.

Among the messages, Fang Tang also noticed a few advertisements. Some people had acquired elemental weapons and were trying to make money like he did. But since Fang Tang had offered free weapons for a limited time yesterday, second-tier weapons had lost their value—so those hopefuls were bound to be disappointed.

Second-tier weapons were no longer precious.

Fang Tang had already foreseen this, and it was unavoidable.

Because danger was coming.

Without proper means of defense, death was inevitable.

To ensure he could secure more resources in the future, Fang Tang had no choice but to do this.

Besides, he’d already made a fortune, which greatly boosted his strength. It was only right to reward both new and old customers, wasn’t it?

This was what you’d call customer care.

After all, there’s no shame in making money!

Of course, this also cut off many people’s money-making avenues.

In this region, who else could compete with Fang Tang for resources?

The answer was—no one!

Look, only now are people trying to imitate Fang Tang.

But it was too late!

Fang Tang had successfully become a conscientious businessman, standing atop the crowd, reaching for the higher cradle world outside the underworld.

Time slowly passed.

While Fang Tang was idly reading messages, Ye Qing stirred.

“Mm… huh?”

Ye Qing awoke from hypnosis, clutching her aching head, and glanced sideways to see Fang Tang sitting beside her.

“How are you here?” she asked, bewildered. Hadn’t they parted ways two days ago? How was he here now?

And what had happened to her? Why had she fallen asleep kneeling on the ground? What was with the newspaper in front of her? Where had the others in the underworld gone?

A multitude of questions circled in her mind, answers eluding her. She could only look at Fang Tang for some explanation.

Fang Tang glanced over. “You were hypnotized by a fallen one and asked me to come save you. Check your chat history and you’ll see.”

“Huh?” At the mention of fallen ones, Ye Qing jolted, as if recalling something dreadful.

“You mean… the person I met before was a fallen one?” Her face showed lingering fear, then gratitude as she looked at Fang Tang. “Really, thank you. I can’t believe you actually came for me.”

Fang Tang waved it off. “Well, we do know each other. If I can help, I will. If I can’t, there’s nothing I can do.”

Seeing his casual demeanor, Ye Qing smiled and said nothing.

Fang Tang continued, “You should check yourself—see if you’ve gained anything unusual… like an ability.”

“Eh?” Ye Qing was at a loss, not understanding his point.

Fang Tang fixed his gaze on her, focusing.

Golden subtitles appeared.

[Wahaha… my beloved luscious waves.

After spending five hours amid faintly twisted rules, she has become an evolver and awakened her sequence talent.

Evolution Level: First Rank, Third Segment. Sequence Talent: Sequence 369—Psychic Perception.

Negative Status: Chronic Laziness.]

Ye Qing’s eyes turned vacant for a moment, then she said, “A lot of things just popped into my head… sand, stones, earth, corpses, ice sculptures… the ice sculptures are so cold! It’s like they all suddenly appeared in my mind…

Wait, that’s not all. I also saw the whole underworld, but when I looked at the black fog, a strange force blocked me—I couldn’t see through it.

Hey? You’re really strong—what does Second Rank, Fourth Segment mean? I think I know my ability now; it’s called Psychic Perception.”

She scratched her head, eyes growing brighter and more excited.

Fang Tang said, “So you can even see my evolution level. This psychic sense is pretty good. Too bad we’re in the underworld, the cramped space limits its potential. It might be more useful inside the Gate of Evolution.”

“What are you saying?” Ye Qing tilted her head, seeing Fang Tang’s lips move but hearing nothing.

Fang Tang smiled. “Nothing. Can you still stay here? I mean, is there room for your evolution level to keep increasing?”

Ye Qing assessed herself. “There’s still room to grow, but right now, I don’t want to move or leave. I just want to stay here quietly. If only someone would feed me…”

“… Are you dreaming?”