On the ninth day since returning to Crimson Research Institute.
Early in the morning, Feng Qi arrived at Wei Wei's private laboratory.
As he pushed the door open, he saw Wei Wei, dressed in her Crimson uniform, staring intensely at the operating table.
Suspended in mid-air, trembling slightly, were two scalpels, held up by an invisible force.
Just as Feng Qi watched, Wei Wei suddenly lost control, and the scalpels dropped onto the surgical table with a clattering sound.
"Impressive!" Feng Qi said sincerely.
"Not quite. My control over psychokinesis is still far from what you described. Our spiritual link needs to be strengthened further."
"But I have to admit, this ability is fascinating. I'm really getting into it." Wei Wei turned and smiled.
She sat down on the side of her private lab, and the two began discussing power transmission mechanics.
Through their conversation, Feng Qi gained deeper insights.
Wei Wei's power gain was more like borrowing the ability's trait rather than receiving a direct energy infusion.
To put it simply, she had the ability but had to use her own mental energy to activate it, rather than directly drawing from Feng Qi's energy reserves.
It was like lending a car without fuel—the borrower could drive, but they had to fill the gas tank themselves.
Feng Qi wasn't surprised by this.
If divine power transmission worked by directly providing energy, then gods with millions or even tens of millions of followers would be drained dry in an instant.
So, lending the trait of an ability made perfect sense as the most sustainable method.
This was actually similar to depictions in many novels, comics, and movies.
For example, clerics or mages in fantasy settings often invoked the names of their deities, chanting elaborate incantations before casting spells.
Yet, the energy consumed still came from their own reserves, not from their gods.
Now, it was confirmed—spiritual links and the transfer of ability traits were feasible.
However, three major problems remained unresolved.
Even if a spiritual connection was established, Feng Qi had no idea how his sacrificial timeline counterpart could actively retrieve abilities.
Wei Wei's psychokinesis had been granted because Feng Qi personally transferred her spiritual medium into his Malice Talent Pearl.
But in the sacrificial timeline, the other version of himself wouldn't receive the same treatment.
Most likely, by the time the sacrificial timeline established a connection, he would still be in a state of unconscious chaos—either drifting through time or not yet having arrived in the future.
Too many uncertain variables existed.
And this problem couldn't be answered until he truly activated the sacrificial timeline.
Even if the first issue was resolved and his sacrificial self gained access to certain powers, some abilities would be too dangerous to use recklessly.
For example, his most powerful trump card, Blood Source.
This ability allowed a full-power burst by burning all his blood energy to achieve an explosive combat enhancement.
In the real world, using Blood Source had no lasting consequences for him.
Even if his blood energy was depleted, he could still survive in his skeletal combat form.
As long as he absorbed enough blood energy afterward, he could revert back to his human form.
But for his sacrificial timeline self, activating Blood Source would most likely mean instant death once the ability wore off.
After all, the sacrificial timeline version of him was just a normal human—without any special physical advantages.
Without flesh and blood, he couldn't continue living.
So Blood Source could only be a desperation move—a last resort in life-or-death scenarios.
Using it recklessly would be suicide.
That said, Feng Qi had an idea for resolving this issue.
If he could also transfer the Origin Power of his Gold-Red Pearl, then his sacrificial self might be able to freely switch between his human and combat forms.
That way, he wouldn't have to worry about blood depletion leading to instant death.
But how to implement this was still unclear.
So far, Wei Wei had only been able to access a single ability—psychokinesis.
This was because Feng Qi had manually sent her spiritual medium into a specific Talent Pearl.
But in the sacrificial timeline, he wouldn't be there to assist.
How could his other self gain access to multiple abilities at once?
For this, Wei Wei proposed a possible solution.
She believed that as the spiritual connection grew stronger, she might eventually be able to perceive his entire consciousness sea.
If that happened, she wouldn't need Feng Qi's help anymore—she could personally control her spiritual medium to select which ability she wanted.
However, the Narrator held a different opinion.
[That theory is flawed.]
[The spiritual world instinctively rejects external forces. Without your direct assistance, it will be extremely difficult for someone to freely integrate with different Talent Pearls.]
This meant that, in order to expand the sacrificial timeline's abilities, Feng Qi would likely still need to be involved.
For now, however, they had made significant progress.
The fact that spiritual links, ability borrowing, and controlled power sharing were all possible was already a major step forward.
If they could resolve these remaining three problems, then his future battles across timelines would become far more flexible.
When facing an enemy skilled in spiritual assault techniques, the consciousness sea would instinctively activate its defenses.
This was a natural form of mental defense—a reflexive protection mechanism at the spiritual level.
The stronger one's spiritual power, the more formidable their automatic defenses would be.
However, the Narrator believed that exceptions might exist.
Since faith-based spiritual mediums were created by believers, it was unlikely they would be perceived as hostile by the one being worshiped.
Perhaps, if the believer's spiritual medium was recognized by the consciousness sea, it could move freely within it.
The actual outcome, however, still needed further testing from Wei Wei.
After all, at this stage, Wei Wei was still struggling to control her Malice ability.
The idea that she could navigate freely within Feng Qi's consciousness sea using her spiritual medium was still far from achievable.
But one thing was undeniable—Wei Wei was making rapid progress in mastering the Malice ability.
After discussing the intricacies of spiritual transmission, a thought suddenly struck Feng Qi, and he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity:
"Wei Jie, using psychokinesis consumes your own mental energy. Doesn't training so frequently leave you exhausted?"
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Wei Wei's face.
"I forgot to mention… My spiritual intensity and mental reserves are more than three times what yours currently are."
Feng Qi's expression froze in shock.
Modern human research on the spiritual domain was progressing slowly.
For most people, increasing spiritual power was still dependent on consuming special spiritual materials obtained from domain fields.
His own spiritual strength had mainly grown due to killing multiple elemental-type domain creatures in Future Dream.
But how Wei Wei had achieved such a high mental capacity was something he was deeply curious about.
Seeing his curiosity, Wei Wei pondered for a moment before responding hesitantly:
"Maybe… it's because I've pulled so many all-nighters?"
Feng Qi: …
He wasn't sure if staying up all night could really increase spiritual power…
But he was sure it could cause hair loss.
This explanation felt like an obvious cop-out.
"Alright, I'll be serious." Wei Wei chuckled, then continued:
"Honestly, I don't know the exact reason either. Ever since I had contact with that old hag, Mu Yan, my body has undergone numerous changes."
"My youthful appearance and extended lifespan are just the most obvious ones."
"Besides that, my spiritual strength and physical endurance have also improved significantly…"
"Don't be fooled by my looks—I might not be combat-oriented, but my strength rating is still at Upper Bronze Tier. My body's resilience is also what lets me pull countless all-nighters working on research projects."
Hearing Wei Wei's explanation, Feng Qi suddenly understood.
Mu Yan had always been a mystery.
Feng Qi had read fragments of Mu Yan's memories, so he knew that her combat strength was terrifying.
But her true origins remained unknown.
The only certainty was that she had lived for countless centuries and had always been searching for Miracles.
The first Director of Crimson, Ye Huang, Wei Wei, Mu Qing—these historical legendary figures were all part of Mu Yan's search for Miracles.
Her influence on history was immense.
Feng Qi even suspected that the rapid advancements in modern cultivation studies might have been secretly influenced by Mu Yan.
After this exchange, Wei Wei continued her efforts to strengthen the faith connection.
Meanwhile, Feng Qi stood up and left her room, heading toward the Virtual Reality Research Department.
During breakfast, Feng Qi had spoken with Liang Yu, the newly appointed Director of the Virtual Reality Division at Crimson Research Institute.
During their conversation, Liang Yu mentioned that he had already integrated all the future technology data brought back by Feng Qi into the architecture of "Dawn", the experimental virtual game.
He had also invited Feng Qi to participate in its testing phase.
Before leaving the Crimson Research Institute, Feng Qi decided to visit the Virtual Reality Division.
The Virtual Reality Division was located on the third floor of the Crimson Base.
Arriving at the main laboratory entrance, the security system automatically scanned his identity and unlocked the door.
Right now, Feng Qi was one of the highest authority figures in the Crimson Research Institute.
He could go anywhere he wanted without restriction.
Without hesitation, he stepped into the main laboratory of the Virtual Reality Division.
The lab was massive, roughly the size of a soccer field.
Inside, there was an array of cutting-edge technological devices—all of which had been recently transported from the Future Research Institute.
To accelerate development, the Future Research Institute had transmitted all data related to virtual reality technology to the Crimson Research Institute.
In addition, each time Feng Qi returned from the future, he had brought back additional research materials.
Because of this, the Virtual Reality Division was evolving at an unprecedented rate.
As he scanned the room, his gaze fell upon a man standing in front of the main control console—Liang Yu.
Liang Yu was about 1.75 meters tall, 38 years old, but he looked older than his actual age.
His sideburns were already streaked with gray—a clear sign of years of sleep deprivation.
Originally, Liang Yu had served as the Deputy Director of the Crimson Information Engineering Department, primarily handling the Crimson Database.
It was only recently that he had been promoted to lead the newly established Virtual Reality Division.
Sensing Feng Qi's gaze, Liang Yu turned toward him.
The moment he saw Feng Qi, a smile spread across his face, and he quickly walked over.
"Ah, Qi! You're here?"
"Yeah, Director Liang. Just dropping by for a visit."
Hearing this, Liang Yu smiled and patted Feng Qi's shoulder.
"The two virtual instance dungeons you provided have completed the first round of testing. Want to try them yourself?"
Feng Qi had been curious about the virtual dungeons since he first heard about them. Without hesitation, he nodded.
"Thanks for the invite."
"No need to be so formal. We're friends, aren't we? Come with me."
With that, Liang Yu turned and walked toward a row of virtual immersion pods neatly arranged in the distance.
Feng Qi followed immediately.
When they arrived at the virtual immersion pods, Liang Yu turned around and began explaining the latest updates to the technology.
These pods were high-end models, shaped like a horizontally placed egg, vastly different from the batch previously sent to Star City Academy.
In terms of technology, they had undergone three major upgrades.
Both immersion quality and physical conditioning during gameplay were far superior to the earlier versions.
To further enhance realism, these high-end pods were infused with Dream Stones—a rare material harvested from Dream Domain Fields.
However, the cost of these pods was extremely high.
Each unit cost 450,000 credits to produce. If sold commercially, the price—after factoring in logistics and distribution—would be at least 470,000 credits.
Right now, the biggest challenge faced by the Virtual Reality Division was reducing manufacturing costs.
After all, the goal of developing virtual reality technology was to accelerate the progress of human civilization, not to turn a profit.
A high price point would significantly hinder the widespread adoption of virtual immersion technology.
After listening to Liang Yu's explanation, Feng Qi decided to personally test the capabilities of these high-end pods.
He walked up to one of them and, following Liang Yu's instructions, pressed the "Start" button on the right side.
Immediately, the egg-shaped pod opened smoothly.
He then entered the changing compartment, where he picked up a brand-new virtual gear set.
After putting it on, he lay down inside the pod.
With a series of automated calibrations, the pod's side nozzles sprayed a layer of nutrient mist, and the hatch closed slowly.
A moment later, darkness enveloped his vision.
[Welcome to "Dawn"—Future Saviors!]
A gentle female voice echoed in his mind.
Then, his perspective shifted—a futuristic cityscape appeared before his eyes, brimming with advanced technology.
At the same time, an option menu popped up in front of him:
[Enter the City] – (Player-driven trading, communication, and social features)
[Multiplayer Battle Mode (Ranked)]
[Multiplayer Battle Mode (Custom Room)]
[Domain Dungeon Mode – Solo & Team] (Current Dungeons Available: 2)
[Custom Dungeon Mode (Paid Download Library: 0)] (Not Yet Available)
[Custom Dungeon Editor] (Current Assets: 23,215) (Not Yet Available)
[Simulation Training Room] (Skill Practice, Combination Training)
[Personal Space] (Friend Management, Match Records, Honor Wall, Replay System, Wardrobe & Accessories…)
[Beta Scene 1] (Not Yet Available)
[Beta Scene 2] (Not Yet Available)
…
Compared to its previous iteration, this version now included an open-world city feature, enabling free trade and player interactions.
Curious, Feng Qi tapped [Enter the City].
Immediately, the background transitioned, and the option menu disappeared.
He found himself standing in the central plaza of a futuristic metropolis.
Surrounding him were high-tech streets, lined with towering skyscrapers.
However, the scene was empty—he was the only one in the simulation.
Scanning his surroundings, he noticed that everything appeared unbelievably realistic—almost indistinguishable from real life.
The lighting effects were particularly impressive.
Above him, a bright moon shone down, and whenever clouds drifted past, the lighting dimmed accordingly.
Once the clouds cleared, the city brightened again.
As he strolled through the streets, Feng Qi was in awe.
If this level of realism could be applied to scientific research, it would undoubtedly accelerate human technological progress by leaps and bounds.
After exploring for a while, he opened his status menu.
Now, he was ready to test the newly integrated dungeon system.
Upon selecting [Dungeon Mode], several dungeon previews appeared.
Each preview came with a description and a difficulty rating.
Currently, only two dungeons were available.
In the top-right corner, additional tabs displayed player stats, equipped gear, and inventory items.
With a spark of curiosity, Feng Qi tapped on the second dungeon—"Silver Moon Domain Field."