At the moment Lu Yan saw the books, the smile on his face from analyzing the Heavenly Dao Code froze.
"Great... Great Compassion Mantra?"
Indeed, the topmost book was a copy of the Great Compassion Mantra.
Lu Yan, unwilling to accept defeat, reached out and flipped through it. Inside, it was filled with scriptures, even including some detailed annotations marked throughout.
Lu Yan looked at the next book; this time, it wasn't Buddhist or Daoist scriptures, but a medical textbook entitled Modern Surgical Techniques.
Lu Yan, filled with puzzles, glanced at the other books.
Basic Techniques and Skills in Surgery, Psychiatric Resident Training Manual...
He eagerly opened the USB drive, only to find its contents turned into a copy of Programming: From Beginner to Burial.
A scattered mess of books, nearly all of which were basic textbooks readily available online with a simple search.
After some identification, Lu Yan finally recognized the associations of these books. Orıginal content can be found at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
The Great Compassion Mantra corresponds to the core book on soul transformation technology, Soul Transformation Theory.
Modern Surgical Techniques is a cutting-edge modern technology textbook, detailing things like surgery, organ transplants, even the use of prostheses, corresponding to Upper-Rank Spiritualist Transformation Technology.
Basic Techniques and Skills in Surgery corresponds to relatively lower-level versions of Elite Spiritual Transformation Technology in the cyber realm.
Programming: From Beginner to Burial corresponds to Basic Spiritual Ability Code, Psychiatric Resident Training Manual corresponds to Principle of Two-Way Soul Interference.
After rummaging through a huge pile of stuff, Lu Yan couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
The things he painstakingly crafted in the cyber version turned into a heap of medical textbooks, programming materials, and psychiatric works.
In the urban version, these things don't even require any payment; a simple internet search yields plenty.
Luckily, the cyber version's materials were mere text records that could be freely backed up; otherwise, having only one original would be a dead loss for Lu Yan.
"My choice was the urban version, and the moment I made that selection, I already had psychological expectations, only unfortunately during the version update, it couldn't be taken back; even if the gamble was lost, I had to accept it."
"Moreover, having the Heavenly Dao Code is already hitting the jackpot."
Lu Yan took a deep breath, persuading himself with this reasoning.
Apart from these books, several ordinary Spiritual Energy Batteries that Lu Yan deliberately left behind also vanished, not transforming into corresponding items.
Although this experiment didn't yield valuable items, Lu Yan took the opportunity to understand some rules of version updates.
First, confirming that items left on-site during version updates have a chance to teleport away with the version change, a probability completely random.
This might involve geographical changes brought by version updates; items of excessively high value cannot be gambled with.
Secondly, this version update saw Spiritual Energy Batteries disappear, combined with the disappearance of Magical Artifacts when the Xianxia version updated to the cyber version; Lu Yan speculated that the premise of matter across versions is the need for a corresponding existence within the version.
For instance, the effects of Spirit Stone in the Xianxia version are not markedly different from those of Spiritual Energy Batteries in the cyber version; since Spiritual Energy is condensed Spiritual Qi, their properties are similar enough to follow version changes.
However, the disparity between Magical Artifacts in the Xianxia version and weapons in the cyber version is vast; both theoretically serve to slay enemies, but the material logic and usage means vastly differ, making it difficult to achieve cross-version updates.
Spiritual Energy Batteries from the cyber version cannot find corresponding creations in a city version lacking Extraordinary Ability, naturally leading to their disappearance.
Finally, and most crucially, information-type items offer great value in version updates, but not every update yields benefits.
Previously, Xianxia's Array Introduction transformed into Basic Spiritual Ability Code, which was a loss value-wise because Array Introduction fundamentally exceeds Basic Spiritual Ability Code.
Yet due to the knowledge blockade in the cyber version, Lu Yan being in the Lower City District had difficulty accessing precious spiritual information, urgently needing Basic Spiritual Ability Code.
Now, Lu Yan, holding precious materials from the cyber version, in transitioning to an urban version obtained textbooks readily available online.
Hence, when moving from higher-level to lower-level versions, the value of obtained books is often exceedingly limited.
But if transitioning from lower-level to higher-level versions, given the low value of works from lower-level versions, there's a chance of a significant gain by preparing ahead!
"Currently, the urban version is undoubtedly a low-level version. The so-called Buddhist and Daoist Scriptures handed down for centuries are everywhere, and even materials from the forefront of world technology can be easily found online.
Before leaving the urban version, make sure to purchase and stockpile a batch of books, then every version update attempt a gamble.
At most, it's just some book fees. Losing is no big deal, but scoring big will cover it all back!"
"As for the transformations of material substances, their value tends to be too fixed and might accidentally vanish; not worth investing too much."
After some contemplation, Lu Yan's mind settled.
Refocusing on the environment before him, he noticed he wore ordinary clothing from the cyber version, blending seamlessly with the urban version's style.
He stepped out of the alley, and eyes beheld a rather desolate street district, lacking the dazzling light shows of the cyber version's Lower City District, absent the sweet taste of joyful mist in the air; the warm sunshine offered Lu Yan long-lost tranquility.
He took a deep breath. After experiencing the crises of the cyber version, Lu Yan finally understood the prompt at the version update interface.
"This is the best of times!"
Then, Lu Yan began identifying the surrounding environment.
The recent encounter with the free-gifting Black person assured Lu Yan of his location in the land of the free, the United States.
After some exploration around, Lu Yan confirmed his precise location from ads on roadside signs.
United States, Phoenix City!
"From the Western-style cyber version back to the city, it's directly returning to the United States here. Could my previous hypothesis be correct, that some special versions have clear regional divisions?
Just like the previous Xianxia version distinctly belonging to an Oriental system, while the cyber version represents a Western system.
But some mishmash kinds of urban versions, do they encompass both Eastern and Western elements?"