Raven didn't give Chen Luo a response until the next morning.
That is, with only two hours left in the 7-day event.
But this couldn't be blamed on Raven, because she had received a response just ten minutes after Chen Luo left yesterday but couldn't find him anywhere.
After closing the bar at midnight yesterday, Chen Luo never returned to The Nest nor slept in the bar again. Instead, he spent the entire night without rest, grinding the event non-stop.
The evidence was that the sound of explosions never ceased throughout Nagazora City all night.
Although the night certainly severely limited visibility, Chen Luo had the Herrscher of Sentience. Sensing where Honkai energy reactions were, he could just throw a simple Honkai Crystal bomb in that direction, right?
Not only could it kill zombies and Honkai beasts, but it could also increase the demolition progress.
"Here, these are the 30 Honkai Crystals you wanted." Chen Luo, with prominent dark circles under his eyes, handed 30 heart-shaped necklaces to Raven.
Fine-tuning the Honkai Crystals could alter their appearance.
And the heart shape was generally the most versatile form, bar none.
[Ding! commission completed]
"Wow, Chen Luo, what were you doing yesterday? Such huge dark circles? If you feel like you're about to die from overwork, remember to leave your gold to me as inheritance." Raven was startled by Chen Luo's current mental state.
However, Raven's hands weren't slow; she still pocketed those 30 Honkai Crystals.
"Nothing much, just went for one last spree." Chen Luo waved his hand weakly.
Although Chen Luo looked somewhat weak now, he actually still had at least 80% of his combat strength left.
Recalling the experiences of the night, Chen Luo instinctively glanced at his inventory, where 50 Honkai Crystals lay obediently.
While condensing Honkai Crystals, Chen Luo could do other things, like blowing up buildings.
Also, the Project Bunny 19C was really useful; it was great for demolition.
Although Chen Luo often used freshly condensed Honkai Crystals to blow up buildings, it didn't mean he could only condense one at a time. Moreover, as Chen Luo's proficiency increased, so did his speed of condensing Honkai Crystals.
That's why so many extra Honkai Crystals remained.
"Take care of yourself." Since Raven didn't know what kind of spree Chen Luo was referring to, she could only advise him this way.
"Oh, right, your application went through. Gray Serpent actually agreed to lend you the Third Divine Key for an hour. Do you want to borrow it now?" Raven asked.
To be honest, Raven was still somewhat in disbelief. She never expected that Gray Serpent would be so agreeable, lending it out just like that. It was truly beyond Raven's expectations.
As she spoke, Raven handed the Third Divine Key towards Chen Luo.
The Third Divine Key was currently in its slingshot form, which was also the easiest to carry.
"No, no, I don't want to borrow it now. I'll talk about it after I wake up this afternoon." Chen Luo said, yawning.
There were only two hours left in the event, but Chen Luo was truly too exhausted to grind anymore.
Initially, Chen Luo thought he could grind continuously for the full 7 days, but it turned out he had overestimated himself.
Mainly because condensing Honkai Crystals consumed a lot of mental energy. Although using them as bombs certainly allowed him to go on a rampage, detonating zombies and Honkai beasts, the problem was the mana consumption was a bit high.
"I'm going to the bar to sleep. Don't bother me if there's something, and definitely don't bother me if there's nothing." Chen Luo stretched and summoned the bar.
Although Chen Luo's bar appeared to have only a first and second floor, there was actually a small third-floor attic. The attic seemed to be the living quarters for the bartender. Since Chen Luo currently had no bartender, he could sleep there himself.
Once he had a bartender... Chen Luo could just sleep holding the bartender.
So, the selection of a bartender was a significant issue.
"Sleeping during the day, awake at night. Sora, never learn from your Teacher Chen Luo's habits, or you'll risk dying from overwork eventually." Raven patted Sora's head as she walked over.
"Oh, I understand, Teacher. But Teacher, don't you also sleep during the day and wake up at night?" Sora couldn't help but ask.
"Is it the same? I sleep during the day and wake at night for work. Him sleeping during the day and waking at night is his lifestyle." Raven shook her head.
Raven's nature as a mercenary meant some jobs could only be done at night, so she was accustomed to keeping late hours.
However, bad habits shouldn't be passed on to children.
* * *
Startled upright from my deathbed illness...
This was Chen Luo's true portrayal.
"An unfamiliar ceiling... wait, no, familiar." When Chen Luo woke up and opened his eyes, he stared blankly at the attic ceiling above.
He instinctively opened his talent panel. Seeing the 7-day event had ended, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the event had given him a lot of Crystals, he was truly exhausted.
Please end soon; I'm tired and don't love this anymore.
The kid's almost gone crazy grinding the event, even dreaming about killing zombies.
Crystals: 37125
Honkai Energy Adaptability: 200%
Five-Star Achievement Completion: 10000/10000
Void Archives Limit Break Progress: 13%
"How should I spend these thirty-thousand-plus Crystals?" Chen Luo muttered to himself as he got out of bed.
Originally, Chen Luo had over 50,000 Crystals, the final amount he obtained through various means. But limit-breaking Void Archives cost 15,000 Crystals.
15,000 Crystals were equivalent to 15,000 Primogems—enough to buy a high-tier S-rank talent.
However, Chen Luo felt the limit-broken Void Archives would have excellent compatibility with him, so he was willing to spend the money.
While pondering, Chen Luo casually purchased Mobius's ability to die and resurrect.
[Infinity] (S-rank talent): Possesses the ability to infinitely reincarnate and resurrect. However, each death causes the body's age to regress a certain amount of time, and resurrection requires a large amount of Honkai energy.
Price: 5000 Primogems (Original price 10000 Primogems)
Since the 10% discount was still available for 7 days after the event ended, it actually only cost 4500 Crystals.
"Wow, aside from my Edge of Taixuan, the first ability you buy is a survival ability?" On the first floor of the bar, the Herrscher of Sentience, legs crossed, looked at Chen Luo.
"Hey, hey, hey, isn't it normal to choose a survival ability first? And it's 50% off! Why wouldn't I buy something so cheap? Even if this choice seems lacking in ambition and is somewhat cheapening, the problem is... this is an infinite resurrection ability!" Faced with the Herrscher of Sentience's teasing look, Chen Luo didn't feel ashamed at all; instead, he was completely righteous and confident.
Let's be reasonable. Unless you're some kind of reckless fool, if given the choice, shouldn't the first choice be an ability to reincarnate after death?
"Alright, alright, I'm not saying you did wrong. So? How does it feel after acquiring Mobius's talent?" the Herrscher of Sentience asked.
"It feels... like nothing much." Chen Luo said after clenching his fist.
"How can it feel like nothing? What about your Active Honkai Reaction? Don't tell me you spent so many Crystals on a talent that doesn't include the Active Honkai Reaction?" the Herrscher of Sentience said after a pause.
"Don't even mention it; it really doesn't. That's a separate product." Chen Luo shook his head.
In fact, this talent and the Active Honkai Reaction were indeed sold separately.
Because the ability to die and resurrect alone was truly worth 10,000 Primogems.
"Huh? That doesn't make sense... Clearly Mobius obtained this talent after undergoing the Meta-Morph surgery to become a MANTIS. How come you don't get the Active Honkai Reaction after buying it?" the Herrscher of Sentience pondered, stroking her chin.
"Actually, the fact is, although I have this talent, it only means I have the ability to resurrect after death. It doesn't mean I've become like Mobius. Although purchasing this talent gave me a slight improvement in physical fitness, it doesn't mean I've become a MANTIS. My body is still a human body."
"According to the talent panel's explanation, purchasing individual talent abilities or skills won't drastically alter my body. This is to maintain my original physical characteristics and ensure sufficient development potential." Chen Luo began explaining to the Herrscher of Sentience, reading from the talent panel's description.
"This situation is mainly because I can't just buy one person's talent. For example, if I bought the talent of a demon world creature and then bought the talent of a celestial world creature, if these came with physical traits and special energies, it would cause energy conflicts. It might not show immediately, but as I buy more and more talents, it becomes easier for bigger conflicts to arise until... bang!"
Chen Luo made an exploding gesture.
"So, my talent, after I purchase someone else's ability, fixes it into a concept applied to me. This turns abilities like immortality into a concept. No matter which world I travel to in the future, the ability won't become unusable due to differences between worlds."
It was like how, if not for the space-time turbulence, the Herrscher of Sentience would have faced significant adaptation issues coming to Chen Luo's world.
Because Chen Luo's world simply had no Honkai energy. But after being altered by the space-time turbulence, the Herrscher of Sentience's body could accept spiritual energy.
And people from Chen Luo's world would likely face a similar situation coming to the Honkai world.
This world simply doesn't have much spiritual energy; it's all Honkai energy. If you tried to force yourself to absorb Honkai energy for cultivation, you'd eventually ruin yourself.
"Overall, this seems like a positive benefit..." the Herrscher of Sentience said after thinking for a moment.
Think about it carefully. If buying talents actually came with physical modifications, wouldn't Chen Luo turn into some terrifying existence with a snake tail, tiger claws, cat ears, an expressionless face, plus wings in just over half a month?
Especially this characteristic of the concept adapting to different worlds could be said to be quite wonderful.
Although the Herrscher of Sentience's body was altered by the space-time turbulence and could absorb spiritual energy, without the Heart Demon Essence as a catalyst, her authority would be several times harder to use in Chen Luo's world.
"So, what else did you buy?" the Herrscher of Sentience asked.
"Uh, I haven't bought anything else yet. I was thinking about buying your Close Combat Mastery and Cold Weapon Mastery later. But there's no rush. In case I really become a Herrscher after driving away Yae Sakura, I might need to use Crystals to strengthen my authority or something," Chen Luo said.
He had been coveting the Herrscher of Sentience's Cold Weapon Mastery and Close Combat Mastery for a long time.
If he had enough Crystals, he would definitely buy them.
But the first choice had to be death and resurrection; no negotiation on that.
However, this death and resurrection ability did have some issues. It couldn't be immune to one-hit kill or other conceptual skills.
For example, with Chen Luo's Honkai Terminator, if he fought Mobius in her Active Honkai Reaction and triggered the one-hit kill, even if Mobius had countless resurrection chances, she would still die instantly, no negotiation.
Moreover, Chen Luo was somewhat skeptical about whether this death and resurrection could work against the soul.
Although the Honkai world didn't seem to have much research on souls, Chen Luo's world did.
But Chen Luo still wasn't that panicked. Luckily, he still had a fried egg.
So, even though Chen Luo now had the ability to die and resurrect, it wasn't a reason for him to go seeking death.
Also, this conceptualized death and resurrection ability required a certain amount of energy. Although any form of energy would work—even the spiritual energy from Chen Luo's own world was listed as acceptable in the talent panel's description—the only energy crystals Chen Luo could obtain and carry with him were Honkai Crystals.
That was precisely why Chen Luo had made 50 Honkai Crystals and placed them in his inventory, just in case.
"But, A'Luo, are you really not considering buying the Herrscher of Sentience authority?" the Herrscher of Sentience asked again.
"I already said, since you're by my side, why should I spend money to buy it? And even if you're away on business, isn't there the tiny version of you?" Chen Luo waved his hand.
Of course, that's what he said, but since the Herrscher of Sentience authority was indeed cheaper compared to other authorities, Chen Luo still kept this option on his list of candidates.
"Mhm." The Herrscher of Sentience was quite satisfied hearing Chen Luo's words.
"Alright, we should head out now. It's time to meet Yae Sakura." Chen Luo stood up, finished the milk tea in his cup, and walked towards the bar door.
The Herrscher of Sentience, who had been sitting opposite Chen Luo, instantly transformed her form into a small figure and sat on Chen Luo's shoulder.
"Yo, you're finally out? Slept until noon. Feels great, doesn't it?" Raven asked, pointing at the clock hanging in the survivor base.
"Emmm, it's already 2 PM? Not bad, it's not too late."
"This isn't late? The early bird catches the worm. If you were a mercenary, you'd definitely starve to death." Raven rolled her eyes at Chen Luo.
"Yes, yes, yes. But at least I wouldn't spend $1 million to buy a single Honkai Crystal." Chen Luo shrugged.
"You... forget it. Here, take it." Raven, whose black history had been exposed, glared at Chen Luo before tossing the slingshot in her hand to him.