In terms of characteristics alone, Zhou Ning and the others are not on the same level at all, and this is established even when their player levels and number of dungeon entries are similar.

Since not everyone had arrived yet, Xu Huo took Zhou Ning aside to show her the spiritual world alone.

Zhou Ning’s characteristics indeed matched well with mental interference, but she herself hadn’t started a secondary evolution towards spirit, which was somewhat regrettable.

After repeated unsuccessful attempts, Zhou Ning said, "I have thought of many ways before, but unfortunately cannot touch that threshold. I don’t actually hold much hope anymore. Maintaining the status quo is pretty good. Focusing on developing characteristics is sufficient."

Xu Huo felt it was a pity and suggested she try wearing some spiritual items.

Spiritual items mostly focus on interference and support, with interference ones specifically targeting super evolvers with mental powers, whereas support items are what evolvers need. But these items require the player to undergo secondary evolution to be effective; without secondary evolution, even if the item is obtained, it is useless. However, Zhou Ning’s situation is slightly special. Her characteristics are similar to Spirit Evolution, so even if the item’s effect is greatly reduced, as long as she is sufficiently prepared, support items can still powerfully hit the enemy.

Xu Huo had a few Rank-A mental support items, but these required spiritual evolution to use, so he picked out some Rank-B and Rank-C support items from others to give to Zhou Ning, "Try them out. If they work, this could be a direction."

Zhou Ning took them, and after a moment said, "I really don’t know how to thank you. You’ve always helped me."

"Don’t think too much," Xu Huo said, "If you don’t want to be a player in the future, you’re welcome to come to Ting City for a long stay."

The scars on Zhou Ning’s face made her smile somewhat stiff, but she still expressed a beautiful wish, "I hope Zone 014 will have a super dungeon in the future so that players who quit the game can truly start living."

Actually, for most players, the sudden changes in living conditions and frequent life-and-death situations have already shattered their minds; they are merely holding on to survive.

"Your state doesn’t seem right, haven’t you seen a psychologist?" Xu Huo asked again.

Zhou Ning shook her head, "Tried twice, can’t trust them. They’re not professionally trained. For players, psychological treatment feels more like data collection."

There are truly professional people, but Xu Huo also doesn’t trust them.

"How about I give it a try?" He suggested, "Recently, I just read a few books on this topic."

Zhou Ning knew he wanted to help her, did not refuse, and obediently entered his spiritual world.

Compared to Yuan Yao and Liu Jia, whose relatives were preserved, Zhou Ning’s evolution journey had been fraught with difficulties. In fact, her mind already had thoughts of heading toward death, but fortunately, she could still stabilize herself, and her tendency towards self-destruction was not too severe.

After a psychological counseling session, Xu Huo added some suggestions during the process. After it ended, he said, "If you temporarily cannot ease the heart’s burden, the best solution is to shift your focus. Find a rope to connect yourself with Zone 014."

Zhou Ning looked at him, and after a moment said, "I’ll figure out a way myself."

Just as they finished talking, Nie Xuan and Shen Xin arrived.

"Knowing she would come, I picked her up too," Nie Xuan said, "Are there others?"

"There’s still Gu Yu and Wen Xuelin," Xu Huo checked his phone, "Others can’t make it."

With Nie Xuan present, Yuan Yao and the others were not so free, so he sat a bit farther to chat with Xu Huo.

In terms of understanding time evolution, besides Xu Huo, it was also Nie Xuan, who was naturally the one with a higher chance of success, so before starting, Xu Huo discussed the existence state of Time Force with him.

Nie Xuan’s knowledge reserve was adequate, so he also agreed with Xu Huo’s previous view—that the basic unit of Time Force, like Spatial Power, exists in the form of rays, and this is also commonly understood and accepted by players.

"Can’t say it’s all wrong, just the direction is a bit skewed," Xu Huo said, "Spatial Power exists in the player’s space, and by controlling spatial rays, players can create weapons, representing the state of Spatial Power as changeable."

"Time Force doesn’t?" Nie Xuan immediately caught on, "As seen in the time reversal at the Carmen Field Battle Ruins, it also seemed to exist in ray form."

"That depends on perspective." Xu Huo pointed his finger in the air at a small flower at his feet that had just budded. The slender Time Force fell upon it, and the small flower bud gradually expanded and fluffed, then blossomed petal by petal.

"Slender Time Force can also be considered in ray form."

"However, Time Force is different from Spatial Power; players can only borrow it, often from other spaces. If subdivided into ray form, it’s hard to refine and integrate like Spatial Power, treating it as a whole can save a lot of detours."

Nie Xuan watched the flower bloom and wither, then asked another question, "According to common sense, a partitioned space is absolutely sealed. Even for spatial teleportation devices, keeping the portal fully intact is necessary for transmission. Time Force couldn’t break through space by itself, so how does it penetrate space?"

Regarding this question, Xu Huo might have been equally perplexed before the first third of the game. He merely drew on the instinct of evolution to sense and guide Time Force. How Time Force breaks through space or under what conditions it does, he didn’t know.

"I can’t clearly explain the principle," he said, "but recently I’ve realized one thing—that is, beneath time, there is no space."

"One-third game?" Nie Xuan asked immediately.

"That’s right, the special Water Rubik’s Cube formed by Time Force," Xu Huo said, "Assume a partitioned space is in the form of a sphere, normally its interior should have stable time, and outside should be time from other spaces."

"But actually, time isn’t distinctly segregated; different times might just be separated by a thread. Time Force can easily penetrate space."

"Hence, a partitioned space shouldn’t be divided into inside and outside space but rather viewed as a whole, merely a grain of sand in the torrent of time. Time can soak or penetrate effortlessly."

"That’s an angle I hadn’t considered," Nie Xuan mused for a moment, "Going in the wrong direction, even starting Time Evolution might not lead to significant progress throughout life."