No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Upon hearing this question, Jiang Shu understood that Director Xia had not only told him about his suspicions regarding Elder Wuzheng, but the minister also harbored suspicions about Elder Wuzheng and Advisor Liu.

There's no need to hide anything about this.

Jiang Shu then explained in detail: "No, it was my suggestion. I had just heard that my friend had gone missing, and then I ran into Consultant Liu. I felt it was too much of a coincidence."

Therefore, I suspect that Consultant Liu actually suspected the dissenters earlier than he suspected the dissenters.

At the time, I was thinking, let's see if she will come with me. If she does, and she knows about it, then I might be able to find out something from her reaction at the scene.

However, based on my judgment, I don't know how Elder Wuzheng is doing, but at least Consultant Liu should have nothing to do with this matter.

"I see." The minister nodded slowly.

Shen Mo's eyes showed a hint of surprise: "You're quite cunning. I think you're the one who understands human nature better."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu smiled and said, "I wouldn't even get angry if you called me an animal."

"Then you are indeed awesome." Shen Mo was filled with respect.

"This is getting more and more absurd, and I'm still here." The minister said helplessly, "Be civilized, everyone."

He discovered that Jiang Shu was good at reading people's expressions. After realizing that he was being treated specially, she immediately took advantage of the situation, and the key was that he couldn't say anything.

Who can blame them when the other party is a talent handpicked by the bureau chief?

"In short, it's good that you have such a keen sense of smell and alertness; keep it up."

The minister offered Jiang Shu a few words of encouragement, and then said:

"However, since the mole specifically asked you to go, he probably doesn't know you've already been there, so you still have to go and make it look like you're there."

“I understand.” Jiang Shu nodded. “Now it seems that we didn’t get anything yesterday, probably because of the timing. Maybe according to their plan, I would have gone today, so things might be different today.”

"Okay, then go again after you've finished your business," the minister instructed. "Shen Mo, you also go and secretly protect him, in case of any unexpected situations."

Shen Mo responded with a soft "yes".

Jiang Shu asked with some confusion, "Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

"Didn't you talk to Supervisor Bai yesterday? She submitted your application to borrow the map, and it's been approved," the minister replied.

"So fast?" Jiang Shu asked in surprise. "Okay, then I'll go find Manager Bai right now."

"No need." The minister waved his hand and opened a drawer under his desk: "I've already borrowed them for you; they're all extremely rare."

As he spoke, he spread out several parchment scrolls from the drawer and placed them on his desk.

"Oh, I can't accept this. You're too kind, too considerate."

Jiang Shu kept apologizing while rubbing his hands together, his eyes fixed on the diagrams.

Seeing this, even though it happened yesterday afternoon, the minister, who knew the truth, still couldn't help but feel dazed.

Instead of submitting any application, Manager Bai directly told him that Jiang Shu was already qualified to begin preparing for the advancement.

And of course, he reported it to the bureau chief without a doubt.

Originally, it was thought that the director would at most open a back door and let Jiang Shu go to the secret room of the library to choose on his own. Unexpectedly, the director actually went to the secret room himself and brought out all the most precious blueprints that Jiang Shu might be suitable for.

Although the bureau chief provided an explanation.

Sending Jiang Shu, a fourth-tier operator with little performance, into the secret room might draw criticism, but it wouldn't be so troublesome if he went to retrieve them himself, and no one would know that these diagrams would eventually end up in Jiang Shu's hands.

However, the minister was still shocked by this.

Regardless of the reason or the value of the map itself, the fact that the director personally helped Jiang Shu prepare the map already makes it significant.

The minister asked whether Jiang Shu should be informed of this matter.

The bureau chief shook his head.

"You don't need to tell him the value, and you don't need to say that I gave it to him. Just tell him that these diagrams are suitable for him."

Therefore, the minister understood that rather than making Jiang Shu grateful and winning people's hearts, the director hoped that Jiang Shu would be down-to-earth and not become arrogant because of his favor.

Just as Shen Mo wanted to cultivate Bai Lian, the director... also seems to want to cultivate Jiang Shu.

While he was pondering these things, Shen Mo, unaware of the truth and simply assuming it was something the minister had prepared, was also enthusiastically advising Jiang Shu.

"These are all good things. Some of them I had never even seen before. It seems the minister really values ​​you, at least as much as he values ​​me."

Shen Mo first sighed, then pointed to one of the diagrams:

"If you ask me, choose this one. This is what I used back then. Your strength and amplification are quite high, so this one is suitable for you. The characteristics you gain from this ritual are most likely to be fierce, domineering, and exuding an aura of power."

Jiang Shu glanced at him: "I have a love and desire spiritual root, and you want me to engage in close combat with someone?"

"So what? With this talent, why should you care about worldly opinions?" Shen Mo said dismissively. "Besides, doesn't the Love and Desire Spiritual Root prefer hand-to-hand combat?"

Is the hand-to-hand combat you're talking about the kind of hand-to-hand combat I'm thinking of?

"That's possible. Tell me what you're thinking?"

I won't say.

"If you won't tell me, then I won't tell you either."

Their increasingly absurd conversation finally brought the minister back to reality.

"That's enough." The minister, having just snapped out of his reverie, instinctively sided with Jiang Shu and began to lecture Shen Mo: "Aren't you usually the most opposed to discrimination against spiritual roots? Isn't what you're saying now also a stereotype?"

“Exactly.” Jiang Shu nodded: “Desire isn’t just lust.”

Shen Mo, hands on his hips, said, "I don't understand the spiritual root of love and desire, but I do understand young men full of vigor and vitality. I can only say that because you have the spiritual root of love and desire, it will definitely be even more exaggerated."

"It's hard to say," Jiang Shu sighed. "My situation is complicated."

Seeing this, Shen Mo slowly lowered his hands from his hips, his expression gradually becoming serious, with a hint of guilt: "I...I see, I'm sorry."

Jiang Shu was stunned for a moment, then said coldly, "I really want to explode with anger towards you..."

The minister finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Take a good look at the diagrams, and get out of here if you keep spouting nonsense!"

The two then calmed down and steered the conversation back to the diagrams.

"How about this one?"

Shen Mo pointed to another diagram:

"This is a ranged attack. As long as your charm and intelligence are high enough, you can maintain firepower suppression. The downside is that it's a bit weak in close combat."

After looking at it, the minister nodded. This was comparable in value to Shen Mo's map, and its rarity ranked among the top five of the maps in front of him.

"A magic machine gun, huh?" Jiang Shu shook his head. "I don't want to be a long-range, fragile character, especially a dizzy monster, it's pretty ridiculous."

"What about this one? This type of characteristic is versatile, suitable for both close and long-range combat, and is well-balanced in both offense and defense."

The minister took a look and thought that Shen Mo's judgment was indeed good. Although he had never seen this chart before, he could see its value at a glance.

This map is even more valuable than the previous two.

If Jiang Shu could acquire the Cataclysmic trait, this flawless and invincible characteristic would become his sole advantage, allowing him to remain undefeated.

But Jiang Shu continued to shake his head: "Balance means that the length isn't that long, and the length isn't that short, it's neither that long nor that short, it's rather awkward to be honest."

Jiang Shu looked at several, but he was not satisfied with any of them.

Shen Mo was getting a little annoyed and said with some impatience, "You don't want this or that? Why don't you just tell me what kind you want?"

"I want something that's highly operable, has a high skill ceiling, and is invincible."

"Nonsense, aren't these all examples?" Shen Mo rolled his eyes. "High-quality characteristics are never weak, and there are all sorts of highly operable mechanisms."

Jiang Shu thought for a moment, then refining his words, and explained, "That's not what I meant. I want a feature that can be used as needed, a multi-functional feature that can meet various conditions. For example, if the opponent has short arms, I can use long arms to pull them away. If the opponent has long arms, I can get close to them. In short, I can switch to an adaptive combat state."

Jiang Shu had learned this from the Tongzhou Club forum before. To remain invincible, one must analyze specific situations and adapt one's tactics to the changes in the opponent's system.

After much thought, only Jenga can do this perfectly.

By stacking the amplification of different attributes, you can change the parts of yourself that you excel at in battle, thereby achieving different effects.

Although he currently only possesses the [Five Poison Lotus], which can only amplify his strength, Jiang Shu believes he is capable of achieving his goal as he consciously and purposefully collects related items and unlocks related skills.

After hearing Jiang Shu's request, Shen Mo asked in surprise, "You're not thinking of going for a nested buff strategy, where one foot steps on the other, right? So you want the kind of trait that can enhance the buff effect?"

"Yes." Seeing that the other person finally understood, Jiang Shu nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Is it in here?"

"It's not in here."

Shen Mo shook his head: "However, I suggest we don't take this route."

"Why?" Jiang Shu asked, puzzled.

"What you're describing is an idealized scenario."

Shen Mo truly understood Jiang Shu's meaning, and gave an example:

"Oh, when facing different opponents, you can stack different kinds of buffs on yourself, which will change your fighting style and effectively counter the opponent."

That sounds wonderful, but let me ask you this: putting aside where you're going to get so many buff skills, let's talk about the limitations of your attributes. With your Love and Desire Spirit Root, no matter how many stats you stack, you can only stack Charm. At most, that will just make your attack skills a little more powerful.

To stack other stats, you first need the corresponding items; skills are out of the question, as you can't unlock them.

So in my opinion, this is probably not as good as the one that was just balanced.

This is the real deal – going back and forth without going forward.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu did not take it seriously.

Who says I can't learn skills from other spiritual roots?

The Primordial Spiritual Root allows one to learn skills across attributes, as long as one has Spiritual Root Points. As for items, they may be a bit troublesome, but that is not a reason for Jiang Shu to abandon this system with a higher potential after careful consideration.

Perhaps sensing that Jiang Shu was still unwilling to give up, Shen Mo sighed and said, "Trust me, I won't lie to you."

But since things had come to this point, Jiang Shu couldn't give up easily, so he sighed and said, "I still want to give it a try."

"You little brat..."

Just as the two were at an impasse, the minister suddenly spoke up:

"The kind of map you're looking for, the bureau does have, but... its value is far less than what's right in front of you now."

"But it's not because it's weak; it's just that, as a ritual diagram used for the first sublimation, the materials it requires are far beyond what you can currently obtain."

Chapter 139 The True Intentions of a Friend?

"It can help you acquire certain characteristics and meet your requirements. However, apart from the issue that Shen Mo just mentioned, the style you are interested in is not only extremely difficult to develop, but its effectiveness depends entirely on how many systematic supporting skills or items you have mastered."

The most important issue is that the core materials it requires are not available to you right now. It's like using the cost of a second sublimation to achieve the effect of a first sublimation.

Furthermore, even if you successfully acquire these traits, you'll need to exert far more effort than other evolvers to achieve the same results in a particular area.

The essence of an ascension ceremony is to exchange a certain cost for a higher success rate in obtaining high-quality characteristics.

So strictly speaking, this is not much different from a transaction.

In any transaction, the pursuit of low cost and high return is an important factor in judging whether it is a good transaction.

At least that's what the minister thinks. So in his view, even if this school of thought is theoretically comprehensive and has a high ceiling and is highly practical, the effort and reward are never proportional, so it's not worth it.

But Jiang Shu had a different opinion.

Expensiveness is never a flaw of the thing itself; rather, it is a flaw of the person who desires it.

And if there's something whose only problem is its price, then there's even less to say.

Cost-effectiveness? That's not something Jiang Shu cares about.

He just wanted to become more well-rounded.

So he asked directly, "What level of core material are you referring to?"

The diagram itself has no levels. The sublimation ritual constructed by the diagram has a level that depends on the quality of the core materials, which Jiang Shu already knew.

Theoretically speaking, there is no minimum standard for core items. Even with a very sophisticated blueprint, it can still be driven by a real-grade core item, but the effect will not be as good and the lower limit will not be as high.

So he was curious why the minister's tone sounded as if there were some minimum targets.

"At least a calamity or above is needed to barely meet the energy requirements of the ritual."

The minister said earnestly:

"And it cannot be guaranteed to be 100% effective."

If it's another type of blueprint, at least a lower limit can be guaranteed, ensuring that the acquired characteristics will not be lower than the quality of the core item.

However, using this diagram, you might be able to use a Cataclysmic-grade core item but obtain a True-grade trait.