“If I had an S-rank bloodline, then after entering Perfect Awakening, I might even be able to push my Stellar Energy Index even higher…”
Yun Ruoxi had heard people mention this before.
If, during your first awakening, your Stellar Energy Index could break the 200 mark and cross the threshold of a Level-One Stellar Energy user—maybe even stabilize your level at Level Two—
That would truly be ‘Awakening at the Pinnacle’.
Unfortunately, an S-rank bloodline was priced at 150,000 popularity points, and she had been embarrassingly short on points back then.
Now that she had enough, she’d already awakened, so there was no need to toss everything aside just for a rumor.
“My body’s stats have changed quite a bit… But aside from Mind Power and Constitution, the other attributes are only so-so among Level-One Stellar Energy users.”
Don’t be fooled by Yun Ruoxi’s current strength and agility being only Grade C; in truth, she was far stronger than her pre-awakening B+ Strength and A+ Agility.
After all, she had already stepped into the Transcendent Realm—the standards for evaluation naturally rose as well.
Continuing down the list, she saw a new skill in the Skill Panel called [Vitality Stimulus].
This was a temporary skill Yun Ruoxi exchanged for to prevent accidents during “death”.
Its effect was powerful, almost equivalent to Revival Armor.
However, the complete version of Vitality Stimulus was a top-level Stellar Energy Secret Art of the Imperial Army, and the full exchange required a massive amount of popularity.
So, she simply exchanged for a temporary version for now.
And 30,000 popularity points, to her at present, was just a drop in the bucket.
“Episode 5 brought in 350,000 popularity, not bad!”
Yun Ruoxi glanced at the popularity tab, nodding in satisfaction.
That was almost 2.3 times the earnings from Episode 4.
But considering that she had screen time in 60% of Episode 5—the highest of any Episode so far—
It was only reasonable.
“With a total of 550,000 popularity points now, and my bloodline awakened, it’s time for a serious round of upgrades.”
Yun Ruoxi knew perfectly well that the reason she’d defeated 0001 before was purely because of the overwhelming power of Perfect Awakening.
If she had to fight 0001 again now, she definitely wouldn’t win.
After all, 0001 was a real mechanical freak.
But once she finished allocating her points, things would be very different.
Five hundred and fifty thousand popularity points—
With that, Yun Ruoxi was confident that she could quickly raise her combat power to the level of a Level-Two Stellar Energy user.
Then she’d definitely let 0001 taste what it meant for ‘stats to be king’.
Let him relive the terror of being dominated by numbers!
Yun Ruoxi pulled up her Wishlist.
[Level-One Brain Capacity Development: Raises brain computational power to the current Mind Power limit. Cost: 80,000 popularity]
Yun Ruoxi’s Mind Power might be S-rank, but that didn’t mean she could directly have S-rank brain computational power.
She estimated her own brain computational power was probably at Grade B.
Far beyond her peers.
But to ascend to S-rank, she would need to undergo long and tedious training akin to grinding through endless problems—slow, repetitive, and tiresome development.
That wasn’t something accomplished overnight; it would take years at best.
Yun Ruoxi had no patience to waste years grinding through practice.
Pay-to-win speed-ups were the true way.
[Level-One Stellar Energy Control: Attain master-level Stellar Energy Control for Level-One users. Cost: 100,000 popularity]
The level of Stellar Energy Control was critical for Stellar Energy users in both cultivating arts and developing powers.
Ordinary Stellar Energy users spent long periods training to gradually improve their control.
The process was tedious, inefficient, and time-consuming.
But Yun Ruoxi was different—she could spend popularity points and exchange for master-level control in just one second.
It saved her at least two years of effort.
And with a solid foundation, it would be easy and comfortable.
“Perfect.” Yun Ruoxi snapped her fingers.
The two skills together only cost 180,000 popularity points, but saved her at least two years’ time—an absolute bargain.
The moment she confirmed the exchange, she could almost see the expression on 0001’s face as he was crushed once again by absolute power.
In a cheerful mood, she looked at the last item on her Wishlist.
[Advanced Stellar Energy Secret Art: Full Circulation (Stable Version): Constructs a dedicated full-circulation stellar energy network based on the user’s body, enabling 24/7 uninterrupted stellar energy recovery and ability maintenance. Cost: 200,000 popularity]
This secret art looked complicated, but its effect was straightforward—it allowed Yun Ruoxi to cover her entire body with a layer of Mind Power, whether conscious or unconscious.
At first glance, it seemed to just be a practical skill for defending against sneak attacks.
But there was something the skill description didn’t explicitly say.
Operating abilities around the clock meant constant, non-stop stimulation of her stellar energy bloodline, massively increasing her cultivation speed in the first three stages.
Originally, this was one of Lin Zhen’s ‘plug-ins’ in the original story—an Experimental Secret Art he learned from Dr. Forefinger.
As a Perfect Awakener, Yun Ruoxi actually found it difficult to obtain such unfinished technology.
Not to mention, the secret art required Full-Body Scan and Photon Quantum Computer assistance to construct the network.
Without the cooperation of the combat camp, even if Lin Zhen wanted to help, she’d have no way to train it.
So she simply exchanged for it herself.
“Now that everything in the Wishlist has been redeemed, there’s still 170,000 popularity left—let’s see what else I can get.”
The three skills Yun Ruoxi chose were enough to give her tremendous combat power in a short time.
But she still felt like something was missing.
Thinking it over, she simply spent 1,000 popularity to have the system recommend some skills suitable for her.
[Introductory Psychokinesis Development Experience: Contains the developmental insights of three Level-Four Stellar Energy users during the early stages. Cost: 100,000 popularity]
“That’s right, how could I have forgotten this!”
Yun Ruoxi’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the first skill.
The popularity system could not only exchange for skills and items—it could directly instill experience as well.
Previously, she’d only neglected this because of a lack of popularity points, and because there was plenty of time for them to learn in the combat camp.
She had been trying to save where she could and hadn’t considered this angle.
But now, this kind of experience was exactly what she needed most.
“Exchange!”
As soon as she spoke a flood of experience surged into Yun Ruoxi’s mind. With just a bit of recollection, she could remember the corresponding content.
It felt like having a book with an index system stuffed into her brain.
Much better than just force-feeding memories.
Continuing to browse the recommendations, her eyes suddenly widened.
“What in the world is this?”
[Alternate-Earth Anime Promotion Fund: A total of 200,000 RMB (only redeemable once at present). Cost: 50,000 popularity]
Yun Ruoxi immediately asked the system about it and confirmed that the use of this promotional fund was exactly as she thought.
She could allocate the entire activity fund however she liked, as long as it was used to promote .
She could even give it all to a single blogger—even if the resulting video was utter nonsense, it didn’t matter.
“Doesn’t this mean I can interfere with Alternate-Earth?”
Without even thinking, Yun Ruoxi redeemed it right away.
She should repay the debt, although it doesn’t have a timer and doesn’t have interest, paying it now would mean she could take another lone later when she’s in a pinch.