Chapter 25 | The Price of Deliberately Avoiding Space

After that, Li Xing rarely entered his spatial dimension.Not that he completely avoided it.But rather, he deliberately avoided it.He wouldn't give a second glance to anything he could judge based on experience; he wouldn't pursue efficiency if it could be done more slowly.Even if there were some areas where he vaguely felt "the spatial dimension might be able to help,"he would forcefully suppress the thought as soon as it surfaced.Safety.Reliability.These were the new principles he set for himself.At first, everything seemed fine.He was still taking on work, and the money was still coming in.It was just a little slower.A little more tiring.But on the third day, an opportunity quietly slipped away.That afternoon, a buyer from out of town came to town.He brought a new diesel engine, a complex model with a hidden problem.He directly declared at the repair shop—whoever could find the problem that day, could name their price.A considerable number of people gathered to watch. No one dared to take it on.Because disassembling this kind of machine is time-consuming and laborious;if the diagnosis is inaccurate, a whole day's work is wasted.Li Xing stood at the back of the crowd.He glanced at the machine.Just one glance.Experience told him—the problem wasn't on the surface.But where exactly it was, he needed time.If it were before, he would have done so without hesitation.A low-level perception scan,to pinpoint the structural anomaly,and then verify it with real-world operation.The risk was there.It was controllable.But this time, he didn't move.The image of the space had just surfaced in his mind,when he suppressed it himself.—Use prohibited while emotions are unstable.This was a rule he had written down.And at this moment, he couldn't be sure if his emotions were "completely stable."That slight hesitation made him choose to retreat.He didn't step forward.Instead, he turned and went back into the courtyard.By evening, the news came back.Someone had fixed it.It wasn't a local.It was an experienced craftsman from the next town.The buyer immediately made a decision, paying a high price and agreeing to a long-term partnership.It was a stable, clean, and highly profitable line.In the courtyard, several people discussed it."What a pity. If Xingzi had stepped in, it might have worked.""He's too cautious now."Li Xing sat by the workbench, not replying.He knew in his heart—They were right.If he had taken action, the probability of success was very high.But he also knew something else—If he had used his spatial ability that day,he would have violated the bottom line he had just set.That night, he opened his notebook.He didn't write "regret."He didn't write "fortunate."He wrote only one extremely calm assessment:—Avoiding space = Increased opportunity costThis was the first time he had used such a term to describe his choice.It wasn't about right or wrong.It was about the cost.The next day, he clearly felt the change.The work was still the same.But "good work" no longer came knocking.In other people's eyes,he went from "daring to take on complex work,"to "stable, but not risky."It was an invisible label.Not bad.But it limited his development.He sat in the courtyard, watching the sky darken.Suddenly, he realized a fact—Space brings more than just efficiency.It also brings the confidence to "dare to step forward."And now, he had personally suppressed that confidence.This wasn't a problem with space.It was that he had chosen self-protection over moving forward.He turned to the last page of the notebook.He slowly wrote down a new question:—Does a third way of "safely using space" exist?Not complete dependence.Not complete avoidance.But rather—Finding a new balance within the rules.He closed his notebook.For the first time, he actively considered:If space responds to him next time,how will it do so?