astral apostle

Chapter 6 - Molding (2)

Chapter 6 - Molding (2)

There could be risks, but Zhou Jing understood that despite the Astral Realm Interface, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“No matter what, I have to try first!”

Zhou Jing made up his mind. He felt around for the control method of the interface and found that it was controlled by his consciousness. He immediately chose [Yes] on the interface.

The next moment, the interface changed.

This Astral Apostle’s Trait and Ability Profiles are lined up on both sides, with most of the parameters showing a [Adjustable] sign.

In the middle of the two profiles was a 3D holographic projection of the apostle’s appearance.

He appeared to be a tall male with deep eye sockets and a high nose bridge. Although the race column indicated that he was from the Terra race and not a human race that Zhou Jing belonged to, his appearance and temperament were not much different from the humans of the interstellar society.

Besides the projection, there were also parameters such as height and weight, indicating that they could be adjusted.

“It really looks like a virtual game interface…”

Zhou Jing’s eyes lit up, and he was suddenly tempted.

According to his previous gaming habits, he would feel uncomfortable if he did not look like an ancient god.

… But I can’t mess around now. Control your own urges!

He composed himself and felt around. He realized that only his name and appearance could be changed at will. The other parameters all showed the same hint:

[Current Astral Points are insufficient, unable to adjust the model’s parameters]

As he read the message, Zhou Jing started to ponder.

“It seems that before the Astral Apostle is born, most of the parameters of the template can be adjusted, regardless of personality or ability. It’s just like molding a person. There is a lot of room for adjustments, but most of it requires the consumption of Astral Points… I don’t have these points now, so I can’t adjust anything.”

It seems like he could mold his character freely, but because he didn’t have enough Astral Points, he can only use the free functions—the allocation of free attribute points and a free reset opportunity for the template.

There were two ways to reset a template. One was to reset the entire template, overturn all parameters, and redo randomization. The other was to specify a change in a single parameter of the template.

According to the information on the interface, whenever a new Astral Apostle was born, there would be a certain number of free resetting opportunities. If they wanted to continue resetting after using them, they would have to use up their astral points.

At this moment, the interface showed that there were only two free resets for designated parameters.

It seems that the section of Supernatural Powers cannot be reset… Zhou Jing thought for a moment and decided to focus on experimentation. He would use it once on his attributes parameter and once on aptitude.

[Current Template Properties are being reset… Reset complete. Here are the new parameters.]

[Physical Fitness 3 → 5, Resistance 5 → 4, Perception 7 → 8, Spirit 4 → 5, Energy 0 → 0]

[Current Template Properties are being reset… Reset complete. Here are the new parameters.]

[Vitality [Light Green] → [Green], Survival [Green] → [Light Green]. Other results remain unchanged.]

Fitness, resistance, perception, spirit, and energy. These five attributes display the basic qualities of a person in all aspects. These five attributes were generalized with finer details in them.

For example, the physical attributes shown represent one’s physical fitness. One’s strength, dexterity, endurance, coordination, flexibility, and so on were all included. However, two sets of similar physical attributes might specialize in totally different directions.

Aptitude meant the Astral Apostle’s learning speed, bottleneck, innovation ability, and the limit of the level that could be reached in this field.

In the template, aptitude was determined by color. From low to high, they were gray, white, green, blue, purple, and so on.

In the same color level, there were differences in depth. The deeper the color, the better the aptitude. For example, [Green] was a minor grade higher than [Light Green].

“There are only free points left.”

Zhou Jing turned his attention over.

Free points could be allocated to attributes and could also be used to increase the effects of aptitude and talent.

He thought for a moment and simply threw all 4 Free Points into his Physical Strength.

He did not know what the exact situation of performing an Astral Travel was. The benefits of focusing on one attribute should be higher. In this case, strength had the widest range of applications. In most situations, one’s body and fists were the biggest assets.

[Free points allocated]

[Physical Fitness 5 → 9]

9 points in fitness… He did not know what level it represented, nor did he have anything to reference towards. However, according to the initial number of the other attributes, the value was almost doubled. With this as a gauge, he didn’t think it would be too bad.

“That’s about it. There shouldn’t be much left to maneuver.”

Zhou Jing thought about it and decided not to change the name of “Will Wood.” Finally, he changed the appearance of this apostle.

He deliberately added a tiny bird-shaped tattoo on the inside of his forearm to end the molding.

[Astral Apostle Model adjustment complete!]

[Entering the preparation stage!]

[Current projected Astral Realm: {Unnamed} Number 001]

[Astral Time Flow: 4.2 : 131.7]

(TL Note: No idea why the author gave such a weird time frame)

[Duration of Astral Travel: 6 hours (default)]

[Map Overview Mode activated]

[Notice: The map overview mode only includes known areas, including but not limited to areas explored by the Apostle personally, or related maps that have been read, etc. Unlisted areas cannot be displayed.]

As the information flooded the screen, the Character Interface shrunk and disappeared, replaced by a black interface. Nothing could be seen. This was the current map of the astral realm he was headed to.

“I haven’t explored this astral world, so the entire map is black?”

Zhou Jing understood.

The interface did not stop. A new message appeared:

[Please select the delivery mode, [Random Area Delivery / Specified Area Delivery]?]

[Notice: Because there are currently no known regions in the Astral Realm, only [Random Area Delivery] is available.]

[Do you want to proceed with the delivery?]

“At this point, it’s time to officially travel.”

Zhou Jing took a deep breath. He felt somewhat nervous and expectant.

He still did not know what exactly was going on. Was this really an illusion? Although he had received the basic abilities of the interface just now, he still did not know much. He could only understand it after experiencing it personally.

Now was the time to test out the exact effect…

“Yes!”

Whoosh—

It was like a thunderclap.

In the next moment, the space beneath this starry sky suddenly split open, turning into a crack that was overflowing with colorful lights.

It was as if the starry sky had opened its mouth, and an unparalleled suction force was coming from it!

Before Zhou Jing could react, he lost his balance and fell into the crack. He tumbled in the air as if he had been thrown into a washing machine.

The crevice was filled with colorful colors, but under the terrifying speed of falling, all the colors were pulled into lines of light in his vision. It was as if this place had turned into a colorful channel of flowing light.

Falling… it was as if he was falling endlessly!

And in his spinning vision, he saw the end of the rift with great difficulty.

It was a dark green forest from his position high up in the sky. As it continued to fall, the scene rapidly expanded in his vision…