Astral Apostle

On the eighth day, at the training ground.

The scorching sun hung high in the sky. Zhou Jing was bare-chested and holding a heavy training saber as he practiced. His entire body was covered in perspiration that reflected the light.

His breathing was following a special sequence. As he moved, his muscles trembled at a high frequency.

Suddenly, Zhou Jing's eyes flashed. He exhaled and slashed down with his heavy saber.

"Ha!"

Bang! A trench was formed on the ground.

[[Hunter's Breath: Forging] has been upgraded.]

[Current Level: Lv 1 - (Apprentice)]

[Effect: Physical Fitness +1]

"It's finally upgraded!"

Zhou Jing let out a long breath and flexed his muscles. He felt that his strength had clearly increased compared to a few days ago, and the fatigue from using the Hunter's Breathing Technique had decreased greatly.

He had constantly been practicing for a few days. At first, he was not used to it, but now, he had quickly formed muscle memory. Now, he had truly grasped the basics.

"This move is indeed different from other skills. There's even an increase in attributes when leveling up. Then every time I level up, it increases my physical fitness…"

Zhou Jing was secretly happy. He had finally obtained a skill that could clearly strengthen himself.

At this moment, Barong, who was supervising from the side, walked over with an extremely complicated expression.

"You… you've already mastered it?"

"That should be the case. I feel stronger again. The breathing technique you taught me is very effective!"

Zhou Jing clenched his fists and laughed.

"…"

Barong instinctively clutched his chest.

His heart felt sour.

If he had not personally guided Zhou Jing and confirmed him to be a newbie, Barong would have strangled Zhou Jing's neck and roared, "Why are you pretending to be a pig?!"

Barong originally thought that it would take more than 10 days for Zhou Jing to even remember the secret of this breathing technique. Then, after a long period of repeated training, Zhou Jing would be able to master this technique and slowly get used to it… The entire process would take at least a few months.

That was how he had learned in the past.

However, after a few days of guidance, Barong was left stunned.

Zhou Jing's speed of improvement shocked him. He almost doubted his worldview that he had developed over the past few decades.

If Zhou Jing had only managed to understand the technique quickly, he would accept it. At most, it meant that he was smart, which was still within his understanding.

However, his body had only been training for a few days, but he had already become stronger at an unbelievable speed… Is this something a human could do?!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have given the person who spoke about it a tight slap!

Barong swallowed and looked at Zhou Jing in surprise. He did not dare to speak in his usual loud voice.

He did not dare to speak loudly, afraid that it would shock the heavens!

Genius! An unbelievable genius!

Zhou Jing did not know that Barong was roaring in his heart. After being happy for a while, he asked, "My Hunter's Breathing Technique has reached the entry level. To what extent should I train it before I can use the blood potion?"

Barong suppressed the shock in his heart and opened his mouth to answer, but he suddenly stopped and hesitated.

He originally wanted to do the same as before—to train for two to three years. However, Zhou Jing's situation was clearly beyond his understanding.

He felt that his previous experience was no longer valid with this person…

After hesitating for a long time, Barong carefully spoke in a measured voice.

"I have to admit that your performance far exceeded my expectations. I don't know how long you'll be practicing… Why don't you practice for a few months first?"

"Sounds good."

Zhou Jing nodded and started calculating.

A few months in the Mutant World were only a few days in the main world. It was worth it to use the time to better develop himself. After all, it was much shorter than his original expectations.

If he could obtain a +1 to Physical Fitness every time [Hunter's Breath: Forging] leveled up, then he could accumulate more of his basic attributes and increase the strengthening effect of the blood potion on himself.

He needed at least two or three more levels.

As for [Hunter's Breath: Forging], when it was upgraded to Level 1, he saw that reaching Level 2 using Accelerated Learning required 150 points. If this was the case, then the cost of Accelerated Learning from Level 2 to Level 3 should be 200 points… Therefore, he had to invest at least 350 Astral Points in this.

He also needed to invest some Astral Points to accelerate his blade skills. Although the cost was lower than the breathing technique, it was still an expense.

I have to set aside quite a bit… Fortunately, I have enough astral points.

Zhou Jing did not hesitate and directly activated another round of Accelerated Learning on [Hunter's Breath: Forging]. He reached out and grabbed the handle of the heavy saber, wanting to continue training.

At this moment, his heart suddenly trembled.

Time's up…

Zhou Jing immediately noticed the anomaly. He looked up and saw a crack in the sky.

Buzz—

In the next moment, his consciousness left his body and floated into the sky.

Zhou Jing looked down and saw the body of his Astral Apostle.

After his consciousness left his body, Jason·Wood only seemed to have paused for a moment. After which, he continued training in the same way as before. There was nothing else unusual.

Zhou Jing retracted his gaze, and his consciousness quickly soared into the sky, entering the spatial rift.

...

The last time, he returned when he was in a daze. This time, he returned to a normal state of consciousness. There was no need to adjust.

After returning to the projection space, Zhou Jing looked at the interface. The settlement information of his return had appeared.

_____________________________________________

[The projection has ended!]

[Actual time of stay: 8 days]

[Current resource collection: 124 Astral Points]

[Experience log has been recorded, and relevant exploration results have been entered into the Records.]

[Cooldown till next Astral Projection: 15 hours in main body]

_____________________________________________

The Astral Points collected this time were not as good as the last time. After all, he had killed a mutated beast last time, while he did not do anything big this time.

However, this was within Zhou Jing's expectations. He had already planned it out. The goal of the second apostle's first transmigration was to find a stable environment and start developing itself.

Now that Jason·Wood had successfully integrated into Frostwood Village and started training with Barong, he was on the right track.

According to this trend, he would soon be able to accumulate strength and obtain supernatural abilities… At that time, his first step would be completed.

What he wasn't sure of now was how the Astral Apostle would act under circumstances in which he was not residing within.

During the placement period, the actions of the Astral Apostles would also be recorded into the experience log in the form of a first-person image. He could check it at any time or directly receive the relevant memories.

The last time he did a placement for Will·Wood, the latter was unconscious the entire time. He "acted" in bed from beginning to end and had no reference value.

Zhou Jing casually glanced at the statistics of the settlement and switched to the interface of the placement mode.

______________________________________

[Please select a placement for the Astral Apostle.]

[Subject: Jason·Wood]

[Highest synchronization rate: 32% (Stage 2)]

[Placement Benefits Limit: Astral Point 0 / 2,000, information state particle 0 / 20]

[Please set the main action target, the secondary focus, procedures for events, procedures for combat, and the interaction with the characters…]

______________________________________

"My goal is to develop, so I'll focus on cultivation to reduce the possibility of accidents…"

Zhou Jing thought for a while and quickly came up with a plan.

The main objective was to "focus on cultivation." The other procedures for events, battles, and interactions were all chosen in a more conservative style.

In addition, there was a special setting. The main skill he cultivated was set as [Hunter's Breath: Forging].

[Placement plan has been saved. Effective immediately.]

[Do you wish to open the map overview mode and additionally specify the activity area during the placement or to plan out an activity route?]

Zhou Jing thought for a moment and designated the area as Frostwood Village. He chose the plan of "not leaving unless necessary."

[Set-up complete]

[Shutting down the projection shuttle space]

[Countdown to next projection: 15 hours]

Zhou Jing's vision blurred, and his consciousness returned to his body.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in his rented apartment.

The starry night outside the window was brilliant, and neon lights constantly flashed.

Zhou Jing looked at the time. When he entered, it was past five in the afternoon yesterday. Now, it was past one in the morning the next day. The travel time was exactly eight hours.

He immediately tried to recall the situation in the real world before he transmigrated, finding out that his memory was very clear. Even after staying in the Mutant World for eight days, his sense of time was not messed up.

"Did my Spirit attribute increase?"

Zhou Jing glanced at the attributes of his main body, but there was no change. His Spirit attribute was still fixed at 7 points.

His body did not feel tired from his bitter cultivation in the Mutant World. Instead, it felt as comfortable as if he had rested enough.

"Next is to wait for 15 hours…"

Zhou Jing then turned on his phone to look at the recording.

When he was traveling this time, he especially disconnected his phone from the internet before placing it on the corner of the wall in video recording mode. He only let his main body, who was lying on the bed, appear on the screen at the edge of the camera to record the situation of his main body when he was traveling. He realized that it was no different from sleeping normally.

Zhou Jing quickly watched the video and confirmed that his main body was normal. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Although I feel energized every time I return, it's best to use my sleep time to project. I should not exceed 12 hours every time unless there's a life support cabin."

"The cooldown time for astral travel seems to increase proportionally with my descent time. If my analysis is correct, then according to the current ratio, I can roughly travel through the astral world once a day."

Zhou Jing calculated.

It was now July 20th, and there were still some days before his deadline of September 20th.

In this case, there were still plenty of opportunities for astral travel.

With the training method of the Hunter Breathing Technique in his mind, Zhou Jing thought for a moment, stood up, and carefully tried it.

Although he could not inherit the abilities of the Astral Apostles, who had yet to clear their life objectives, his knowledge and memories obtained through his descent would not be affected. He had also grasped the trick to [Hunter's Breath: Forging].

It was not easy for him to have obtained a skill that was a little close to the supernatural level. He was also excited, so he naturally would not miss the opportunity to let his main body try to practice it.

However, after struggling for more than ten minutes, Zhou Jing's entire body was aching. He panted as he confirmed two things.

Firstly, the Hunter's Breathing Technique was also effective in the main world and could be used normally.

Secondly, he wasn't strong enough, so he could not train properly.

"Looks like I have to exercise…"

Zhou Jing rubbed his cramping calf helplessly.

His current main body was still too weak. It was far inferior to the initial physical fitness of the Astral Apostle that he had created. His body could not even reach the threshold required to train in [Hunter's Breath: Forging].

Although clearing the Astral Apostles was the best way to obtain supernatural powers and was also the most cost-effective, his main body could not be idle. He had to make use of the time during the cooldown period to train.

He had to grab this opportunity with both hands and grasp it hard.

Zhou Jing's heart was filled with unprecedented motivation. His thoughts raced as he thought about his main body's plans for the next two months…

First, he had to teach himself the language of the Terra Empire and master it as much as possible. This way, if there were more valuable skills in the future, he would not have to inherit this language skill and leave this free inheritance slot to other skills.

Secondly, he went online to search for some historical information that matched the development stage of the Mutant World, as well as some information on wilderness survival and cold weapons. Although the worlds were different, the knowledge accumulated in the interstellar era was also useful, and a portion of it was actually more advanced than what the world had.

He was wondering if he should find some ancient technological information and try to climb up the technology tree in the Mutant World, but after thinking about it, he temporarily gave up on this idea.

There might be subtle differences between the laws of the two planes, and it would take a lot of time to figure it out. It was better to consider this problem after obtaining supernatural powers. For now, it would be better to focus on exploration and development.

Next was to train his body. Although he could not practice Hunter's Breathing Technique, he could do some basic training to at least make his body stronger.

Not to mention anything else, he still had to train out a six-pack…

Finally, he had to work hard to travel through the astral realms and try to clear his apostle's life objectives so that he could complete his plan as soon as possible…

Zhou Jing made up his mind and formulated an entire schedule.

"It's quite fulfilling…"

Zhou Jing felt that after having something to look forward to, his entire body was filled with motivation.

Only then did he have the leisure to look at his phone to see if there was any news during the eight hours he was traveling.

Soon, Zhou Jing discovered that a message was flashing in a group chat named "Best Buddies."