Chapter 122: Version Update Rules

Just as Lu Yan laid eyes on the books before him, the smile he had worn from decoding the Heavenly Dao Code froze on his face.

“The Great Compassion Mantra?”

That’s right—the first book on top was none other than The Great Compassion Mantra.

Refusing to believe it, Lu Yan reached out and flipped through it. Every page was filled with scripture, some even marked with notes and annotations. It looked incredibly thorough.

He turned to the next book, hoping for something different. This time it wasn’t a Buddhist sutra or Daoist scripture—it was a modern medical textbook: Modern Surgical Techniques.

A string of question marks instantly popped up in Lu Yan’s mind. He checked the other books.

Basic Surgical Techniques and Skills.
Psychiatric Resident Training Manual.

With mounting anticipation, he opened the USB drive—only to find a digital copy of Programming: From Beginner to Burial.

A mess of books, almost all of them basic educational materials one could easily find online.

After a bit of comparison, Lu Yan finally realized what these books corresponded to.

The Great Compassion Mantra was the transformed version of Soul Reconstruction Theory, the core book on soul modification techniques.

Modern Surgical Techniques was a cutting-edge modern science textbook on surgery, organ transplants, and even prosthetic limbs—corresponding to Advanced Soul User Modification Technology.

Basic Surgical Techniques and Skills matched the relatively lower-level Elite Soul User Augmentation Tech from the Cyber Version.

Programming: From Beginner to Burial replaced Foundations of Soul Code.

Psychiatric Resident Training Manual stood in for The Dual Principles of Soul Interference.

After flipping through the whole pile, Lu Yan’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

Everything he’d worked so hard to extract from the Cyber Version had been reduced to a stack of medical manuals, beginner programming guides, and psychiatric literature.

In the Urban Version, this stuff didn’t even cost money—you could find it all with a quick internet search.

Fortunately, Cyber Version data existed as simple text records that could be backed up freely. If he had only one physical copy, Lu Yan might have gone mad on the spot.

“This time I picked the Urban Version. I knew what to expect the moment I chose it. There was no turning back once the version update began, so even if I lost the gamble, I can only accept it.”

“Besides, just getting the Heavenly Dao Code was already a massive win.”

Lu Yan took a deep breath and convinced himself with that reasoning.

Aside from those books, a few ordinary soul-energy batteries Lu Yan had deliberately left behind had also vanished, without transforming into anything equivalent.

Although this experiment didn’t yield anything valuable, Lu Yan had finally figured out some key rules about version updates.

First, items left in place during a version update may randomly vanish with the update. This probability seemed entirely random.

It might be tied to the geographical shift caused by the version update—either way, betting with high-value items was too risky.

Second, soul-energy batteries from the Cyber Version disappeared during this update. Combined with how magical artifacts vanished when transitioning from the Xianxia Version to the Cyber Version, Lu Yan speculated that a core requirement for cross-version transformation was the existence of a corresponding item in the new version.

For example, spiritual stones from the Xianxia Version had effects similar to soul-energy batteries. Since soul energy was essentially condensed spiritual qi, their nature wasn’t all that different—so they could convert across versions.

But artifacts from the Xianxia Version and firearms from the Cyber Version? Completely different. Though both could be used to kill, their material logic and method of use were fundamentally incompatible. So cross-version transformation was nearly impossible.

The same logic applied to soul-energy batteries. In a version like the Urban one, which had no supernatural system, they had no counterparts—so they disappeared.

The final and most crucial point: information-based items had immense value in version updates—but that didn’t mean they always transformed into something useful.

When Lu Yan brought the Xianxia book Introduction to Arrays into the Cyber Version, it turned into Foundations of Soul Code. In terms of inherent value, it was a loss, since the original array manual was of higher grade.

However, due to the strict information lockdown in the Cyber Version and Lu Yan’s position in the lower districts, Foundations of Soul Code had immense practical value.

This time, he brought valuable Cyber Version knowledge into the Urban Version… only to receive a bunch of textbooks freely available online.

So, when going from a high-energy version to a low-energy version, the converted books often held very limited value.

But going the other way—from a low-energy to a high-energy version—was a different story. Since books from low-energy versions had little value, preparing them in advance created a prime opportunity for massive gains!

“This current Urban Version is without question a low-energy version. So-called sutras and Daoist texts that have been passed down for centuries are everywhere. Even the most cutting-edge scientific materials can be found online.

Before I leave the Urban Version, I absolutely must purchase and store a large number of books. Then, every time a version update happens, I’ll have another chance to gamble.

At most, it’s just the cost of some paperbacks. Even if I lose, it’s no big deal—and one good win would make up for all of it!”

“As for the conversion of material items, their value is relatively fixed. One misstep and they might vanish. Not worth investing too much.”

After some serious thought, Lu Yan had made up his mind.

He turned his attention back to his surroundings. The clothes he wore were still his standard outfit from the Cyber Version, but they didn’t look too out of place in the Urban Version.

Stepping out of the alley, he was greeted by a quiet street—no dazzling light shows like in the lower districts of the Cyber Version, no sweet, intoxicating haze of joy mist in the air. The warm sunlight brought with it a long-lost sense of peace.

Taking a deep breath, and having survived the Cyber Version’s crisis, Lu Yan finally understood what the version update screen meant with its message:

“This is the best of times!”

Then, Lu Yan began scanning his surroundings.

That “zero-dollar purchase” encounter with the Black man earlier confirmed that he was in the Free United States.

After searching around for a while, Lu Yan finally confirmed his exact location from a street sign advertisement.

The United States of the Union. Phoenix City!

“So… coming back to the Urban Version from the Western-style Cyber Version drops me into a U.S. zone. Could my earlier theory have been correct—that some special versions are clearly divided by region?

Like how the Xianxia Version clearly belongs to the Eastern system, while the Cyber Version is a Western one?

And the Urban Versions… are a messy blend of both?”

(End of Chapter)