Chapter 4: The Ranger

Chapter 4: The Ranger

"Alright."

The staff member didn't have much of a reaction to Ji Xinghuo's choice and immediately proceeded to register his application.

Ji Xinghuo wasn't worried about his application being rejected. Having passed two tests with scores higher than most, he was confident.

Even though the Thousand Spirit Dexterity was a sought-after ability, it wasn't particularly rare. Even if there was a queue, the wait wouldn't be too long.

He asked, "Are there any existing Thousand Spirit Dexterity variants at the service center?"

The female staff member hesitated.

Glancing at his test results, she replied, "There should be. A new batch of variants arrived the day before yesterday, including several with Thousand Spirit Dexterity. As soon as Mr. Ji's application is approved, he'll be able to get his hands on one immediately."

"Thank you."

Ji Xinghuo flashed her a grateful smile and took a seat to wait, thinking, "If I can get my variant today, then everything will have gone smoothly."

'Thousand Spirit Dexterity' was an exceptional ability.

The ability grading standards were initially published by the 'Star Realm Defense Council', with the first four levels, from low to high, being: Basic, Fine, Excellent, and Ultra.

In fact, this standard was not only used by the countries of Earth but was also universally recognized in the Star Realm, with only slight variations in the specific names.

Excellent abilities were already quite rare.

Even among excellent abilities, Thousand Spirit Dexterity was one of the most sought-after, with a market price of approximately 1.6 million Asian Yuan.

Many times, even if one had the money to purchase it, they would still have to wait for some time.

This was because Thousand Spirit Dexterity was the core ability of the "Ranger" profession template.

And a "profession template" could be understood as an Evolver's path to self-improvement and growth.

Normally, each Evolver could only fuse with one variant during each evolution. Therefore, the choice of ability became extremely important, as it was the key factor in determining an Evolver's strength.

However, there were simply too many abilities to choose from! It was impossible for Evolvers to know which abilities were the optimal choices without guidance.

Nearly two centuries had passed since the Star Gate opened, and Earth had acquired or learned about numerous abilities, most of which were recorded in the Star Realm Defense Council's variant database, totaling over 12,000 abilities.

Undoubtedly, some ability information was being withheld by various countries, forces, organizations, and individuals. If all of this hidden knowledge were taken into account, the total number of abilities might reach 20,000.

Among these 20,000 abilities, over 90% were basic abilities—similar in effect, too weak, or even useless.

Thoroughly researching the remaining 10% of abilities was almost an impossible task.

Many abilities conflicted with each other and could not be fused simultaneously.

Some abilities were simply not suitable for Earth's humans, perhaps due to genetic differences or other reasons, resulting in a zero percent fusion success rate.

Some abilities, when successfully fused, would exhibit a significant drop in power or even fail mysteriously.

And the outcomes varied from person to person, making it extremely complex.

Of course, there were also positive examples where certain abilities, when combined with others, complemented each other, offsetting weaknesses and enhancing strengths, resulting in power far beyond normal expectations.

Thus, since the 21st century, countries on Earth had invested countless resources into ability research, attempting to find the best ability combinations while also stealing knowledge from other civilizations. After two centuries of accumulation, they now possessed a wealth of data.

By analyzing ability information and data and putting it into practice, they finally identified a series of optimal ability combinations.

These ability combinations were the "profession templates!"

Just like in virtual games, each profession template had a name, such as "Giant," "Shadow Blade," "Martial Artist," "Gravity Master," "Psychic Hacker," and "Superconductor Artist," to name a few.

A profession template typically consisted of five abilities, sometimes even seven or eight.

The biggest advantage of profession templates was their stability and assured strength. The constituent abilities were relatively common, reducing the likelihood of conflicts, increasing the success rate of fusion, and offering greater potential. They allowed Evolvers to quickly build combat power and provided well-established methods for breaking through bottlenecks, making them the choice of the majority.

While the profession templates themselves were fixed, the path of evolution was not.

As long as one wasn't afraid of conflicts, Evolvers could successfully fuse with abilities and change their minds midway, switching to other profession templates.

Of course, there were always those who wanted to forge their own path, abandoning profession templates and freely exploring their evolutionary journey.

These individuals were known as "jobless Evolvers," and they were extremely rare.

Jobless Evolvers were either geniuses or fools, or they had obtained an extremely powerful ability that lacked research information and fell outside the scope of profession templates, leaving them with no other choice.

Hence, jobless Evolvers were either exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak.

They had a higher upper limit but an even lower lower limit.

The vast majority of Evolvers preferred to play it safe and opted for profession templates.

Currently, there were over forty of the most mature profession templates suitable for humans globally. If one included incomplete profession templates and some unique ability combinations, this number would increase by two or threefold.

Ji Xinghuo had no intention of becoming a jobless Evolver. After careful consideration last night, he had chosen the path of the "Ranger."

The Ranger was one of the most popular profession templates.

The root of this lay in the Star Realm itself.

The Star Realm existed between reality and fantasy as a parallel universe to the physical cosmos.

It was a super-dimensional space constructed from the combination of countless sentient beings' thoughts, emotions, and the infinite energy emanating from the galactic center.

The natural laws of the Star Realm starkly contrasted the physical rules of the universe. It was imbued with a mystical energy that influenced both the microscopic and spiritual realms, exhibiting characteristics of idealism. Scientists referred to this energy using a term that physics had discarded in the 20th century—ether!

Ether served as the source of all supernatural powers.

It could open the Stargate to the Star Realm, stimulate evolution, bestow immense power, and forge transcendence.

Simultaneously, ether rendered all electronic devices, firearms, and nuclear weapons useless within the Star Realm. Any tools or weapons reliant on physical rules and chemical reactions were rendered ineffective.

This was an unwavering law of the Star Realm! Even the oldest and most powerful civilizations in the galaxy had to abide by this rule!

The inability to use firearms left Evolvers devoid of most long-range attack methods, especially for lower-tier individuals who were often limited to close-quarters combat.

Consequently, long-range attack capabilities became exceptionally valuable in the Star Realm.

And the Ranger profession template was designed to fulfill this very need.

The foundation of the Ranger template revolved around the "Shooting" ability, with the primary weapon being a bow and arrow, complemented by formidable close-quarters combat skills.

More crucially, when a Ranger returned to Earth from the Star Realm, their strength would surge exponentially if they replaced their bow and arrow with firearms.

Typically, an Evolver's strength would relatively diminish when on Earth.

However, Rangers, along with a minuscule number of other professions, experienced a surge in power on Earth, and Rangers exhibited the most significant increase.

Whether serving as snipers on the battlefield or assassins in cities, Rangers were a force to be reckoned with, instilling fear and possessing far greater deterrence than other professions.

The Ranger template also offered substantial growth potential, presenting numerous advancement paths.

However, Ji Xinghuo's choice of the Ranger template was not solely driven by employment prospects and potential. A more significant reason was the remarkable compatibility between the Ranger template and the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil.

The Ranger profession template encompassed five abilities: "Thousand Spirit Dexterity," "Flash Step," "Intuitive Reflex," "Precision," and "Balance."

The Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil could replace "Intuitive Reflex" and "Precision," and its functions surpassed these two abilities. Additionally, it provided three more eye-related effects: Hawk Eye, Infrared Vision, and Microscopic Vision. Combined, these abilities endowed the Ranger with extraordinary perception capabilities!

With the acquisition of "Thousand Spirit Dexterity," his chosen profession template would be nearly complete.

Having three abilities right at the start of his journey as an Evolver put him two steps ahead of others.

But Ji Xinghuo's ambitions didn't end there.

His next step was to devise a way to earn enough money to purchase cultivation resources and services, striving to undergo another evolution within a year or two to advance to an intermediate Evolver and fuse with another variant.

Ideally, during this period, he would also obtain an "Expansion Artifact" to fuse with an additional variant.

If everything went according to plan, he would possess five abilities as an intermediate Evolver, with his profession template fully realized, making his strength far superior to his peers! Plans were always beautiful on paper.

Ji Xinghuo found himself immersed in the delightful future he had envisioned, his mind wandering until his phone buzzed gently, indicating the receipt of a message.

At that moment, a female voice also sounded: "Mr. Ji, your application has been approved. You can receive your variant now."

Ji Xinghuo's spirit lifted, and he immediately stood up.

"Please follow me."

Ji Xinghuo followed the staff member upstairs to the fifth floor and entered one of the pristine, quiet rooms—the ability fusion chamber of the service center.

To prevent the misappropriation or resale of variants, the Star Realm Department had implemented a regulation: all approved variants must be fused on-site and could not be taken out of the service center. If one felt unwell, they could postpone the fusion, but the process had to be completed within a month.

Naturally, Ji Xinghuo opted to fuse with the variant immediately.

A female doctor in her fifties, clad in a white coat, was responsible for fusing the variant with Ji Xinghuo. Her serene countenance exuded calm as she verified Ji Xinghuo's identity once more before gently speaking, "Please take a seat, Mr. Ji. There's no need to be nervous. The variant will be ready shortly."

"Alright," Ji Xinghuo nodded gently.

The doctor's smile was infectious, putting him further at ease.

Soon, a staff member entered carrying a metal case, which he handed to the doctor.

She opened the case in front of Ji Xinghuo and extracted a low-temperature refrigerated test tube containing a transparent solution. Suspended within was a mass of ash-gray matter.

Ji Xinghuo's eyes lit up. This was the Thousand Spirit Dexterity variant!

The Thousand Spirit Dexterity variant manifested as a tangle of roots, originating from various sources, most of which were associated with Star Realm plants.

The tube contained a freshly prepared solution, and as the root-like variant fell into it, it began to writhe and squirm like a living creature, akin to a drowning earthworm.

Gradually, the variant's shape dispersed, becoming fainter, until it completely dissolved into the solution after a few minutes.

The female doctor gently shook the test tube and nodded in satisfaction.

"Take off your shirt, please."

Ji Xinghuo complied, as he had already known that the integration method for Thousand Spirit Dexterity was injection, so he wasn't surprised.

The doctor drew the liquid into a syringe and cleaned Ji Xinghuo's collarbone area with an alcohol swab, reassuringly saying, "It might hurt a little, so bite down and try not to move."

"Yes," Ji Xinghuo nodded firmly.

The doctor's hand was steady as the needle pierced Ji Xinghuo's skin just above his right collarbone, angling downwards towards the brachial plexus nerve located behind the clavicle.

Ji Xinghuo's eyebrows furrowed slightly; it was indeed painful, but compared to the agony of fusing the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil the night before, this was nothing. He had undergone multiple willpower tests, and even a level seven electric shock was more painful than this; he could endure it by gritting his teeth.

When half of the solution had been injected, the doctor quickly withdrew the needle and inserted it into the other side of the collarbone to finish injecting the rest of the liquid.

"All done." The doctor smiled and said, "It went very smoothly. Please wait in the observation room for half an hour, and if you feel any discomfort, report it immediately."

"Thank you, doctor," Ji Xinghuo said as he put his shirt back on.

He sat down in the observation room, and his phone soon received a document titled '_Variant Fusion Precautions_', along with possible reactions after fusing with Thousand Spirit Dexterity, training methods for the ability, and instructions on what to do in case of fusion failure—the service was indeed very thoughtful and detailed.

Soon, Ji Xinghuo began to feel a reaction.

Starting from his shoulders and down to his palms, a tingling sensation spread, accompanied by mild pain, as if countless tiny needles were traveling through his arms, causing both pain and itchiness, and his hands felt numb.

Ji Xinghuo remained calm and unfazed.

All of these were normal phenomena mentioned in the precautions.

Thousand Spirit Dexterity was the most important core ability of a Ranger, enabling exceptional flexibility and stability in his hands, enhancing tactile sensations, and allowing for intricate and delicate movements. Any skill related to hand dexterity could be quickly mastered.

Through the injection, the variant was integrated into the brachial plexus nerve in his neck and then spread to the radial, ulnar, and median nerves.

These three nerve branches and their subordinate peripheral nerves controlled the upper limbs, from the arms to the palms and down to the fingers, governing all movement.

Ji Xinghuo carefully sensed the changes in his hands.

After a moment.

The tingling and pain in his arms began to subside, and he regained sensation in his hands, which now felt noticeably sharper and more sensitive than before.

He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the subtle sensations on his palms.

With a casual wave of his hand, he could perceive the flow of air passing through his fingers, and each finger felt like an independent organ capable of intricate movements.

His tactile perception had become more refined, and even with his eyes closed, he could form an accurate mental image of an object just by touching it with his hands.

The reaction speed of his hands had also noticeably improved.

Ji Xinghuo recalled a flashy skill video he had seen before.

"Let me give it a try."

He took out his phone, placed his index finger at the center of the back of the phone, and applied a slight force, causing the phone to spin on his fingertip. However, he could only manage two or three rotations before it lost balance and slipped.

He flipped his palm and caught the phone, then tried again.

After only a dozen attempts, Ji Xinghuo mastered the technique and could spin the phone with his index finger. Whenever the phone was about to slip, he would gently nudge it with another finger to restore its balance, managing to spin it for over a hundred rotations before losing equilibrium.

Although the speed and number of rotations fell short of the video he had seen, it was still impressive.

"Amazing!" Ji Xinghuo exclaimed, and it indeed lived up to its reputation as an excellent ability.

No wonder it was the core ability of a Ranger! A Ranger's primary weapon was a bow and arrow, and seventy percent of their strength lay in their shooting skills. One could only imagine the significant improvement Thousand Spirit Dexterity brought to their archery. Not just archery, but Rangers also excelled in close-quarters combat with weapons like knives, swords, and daggers, and Thousand Spirit Dexterity greatly enhanced their martial arts prowess.

Moreover, like many other abilities, Thousand Spirit Dexterity could be upgraded through training.

"I guess this means my fusion was successful?"

A smile appeared on Ji Xinghuo's face, and he had never doubted his ability to become an Evolver, "With my first ability mastered, I am now an Evolver, albeit a novice one."

With that thought, Ji Xinghuo's eyes lowered slightly as he looked at the ground, and the interface of the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil appeared in his field of vision, and as expected, the information on the interface had changed!

[_Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil Master: Ji Xinghuo_]



[_Race: Earth Human_]



[_Tier: Novice Evolver_]



[_Abilities: Thousand Spirit Dexterity (Level 1/47)_]



[_Spiritual Source Energy: 0_]

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end