Her entire willpower was focused on guiding that final wisp of energy.
“Hold on...” Su Wan repeated frantically in her mind. Sweat soaked the stray hairs on her forehead and the back of her shirt. Her face was pale, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Finally, the last trace of the milky-white halo from the crystal completely dissipated. At that moment, all the energy finished pouring into the vortex in her chest!
Boom—!!!
It was as if a silent thunderclap had exploded inside her body!
The vortex, which had only been a faint throb, suddenly collapsed inward the moment the energy was fully saturated. Then, it abruptly erupted outward with an invisible wave!
Indescribable pain swept through Su Wan’s nerves.
The intense shock and restructuring of the surrounding meridians, flesh, and even deeper cellular structures as the energy center formed felt like a red-hot branding iron was stirring inside her chest!
“Ugh—!” A short, suppressed groan of pain escaped Su Wan’s throat. Her vision went black in waves, her ears rang, and the world seemed to be spinning.
This was the most critical and dangerous moment.
Whether the energy center could stabilize and form, and whether the ability attribute could be successfully triggered, all depended on this violent energy vibration.
Under the protection of the Absolute Safety Zone, her body suffered no actual damage, but the sensation of pain was one hundred percent real.
This pain acted directly upon her nerves and consciousness.
She had to endure it!
The crying of her sister-in-law Liu Xin and Lele, the sneering faces of Gu Huaiyu and Bai Ruochu, the pained look in Su Zhuo’s eyes before he went to prison...
Countless images flashed through her consciousness, which was nearly scattering from the pain, eventually converging into a surge of defiance!
An unknown amount of time passed; it might have been only a few seconds, or it might have felt like a century.
The intense pain that had swept through her body receded like the tide.
In its place was an inexpressible sense of comfort.
At her chest, a slowly pulsating energy core appeared, acting like a second heart.
Wisps of cool yet powerful energy naturally flowed out from the core, circulating through her body along the network of meridians, nourishing every inch of flesh and bone.
Su Wan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and opened her eyes.
A very faint silver light seemed to flash across her eyes for an instant. Her vision became clearer than ever before, allowing her to see even the tiny dust motes floating in the air.
Her hearing had also sharpened significantly. She could clearly catch the hushed conversation of Ah-Lan and her brother next door, the sound of Black Rat fiddling with medical supplies, and could even vaguely hear the distant “hissing” of the Death Tide mist eroding the ruins.
She released her clenched hands. Her palms were marked with deep crescent indentations from her fingernails, but they were now fading and disappearing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
She could feel her entire body filled with strength—a vitality and resilience radiating from the cellular level.
Now, her limbs felt light and powerful, and her thoughts had become exceptionally clear.
She instinctively clenched her fist, her knuckles making a soft “pop.” She could clearly perceive the explosive power of her muscle fibers contracting, far exceeding what she had before.
【Ding! Absorption complete! Energy center stably established!】
【Congratulations to the Host for successfully triggering an ability!】
【Detecting... Ability attribute determined: Mental-type · Control-oriented (Mutated).】
【Ability Name: Mental Domination (Low-rank)】
【Ability Description:】
Consciousness Interference: Can release mental power to invade the consciousness of targets with weak wills or those who are defenseless, performing short-term manipulation, such as forced freezing or execution of simple commands. Effect and duration depend on the Host’s mental strength, the target’s willpower, and the distance between both parties.
Sensory Enhancement: Significantly increases the sharpness and range of the five senses, and allows for the vague perception of emotional fluctuations and malicious intent from surrounding living beings.
Mental Shock: Concentrates mental power to strike a single target’s consciousness, potentially causing brief dizziness, loss of focus, or intense pain. Highly effective against targets with lower mental strength than the Host.
【Note: This ability mutated from a source crystal with a “Life Recovery / Plant Affinity” tendency. It is speculated that this was caused by a high degree of resonance with the Host’s own intense underlying will to “control destiny” and “resist oppression.”】
【Comprehensive Physical Evaluation: Reached the basic level of a Level 1 Ability User on this plane. Self-healing capability significantly enhanced; toxin resistance and endurance greatly improved.】
Mental Domination?!
Su Wan was stunned, and then a surge of immense joy flooded her heart!
An offensive ability!
And it was a Mental-type control ability that acted directly on consciousness!
This was far more suited to her current needs than simple physical enhancement or elemental manipulation!
Whether it was dealing with the complex hearts of people in the apocalypse to control a situation, or back on Blue Star to deal with those debt-collecting thugs—or even influencing the judgment of Gu Huaiyu or Bai Ruochu at critical moments...
It had infinite uses!
With a thought, she tried to mobilize the power within the energy core in her chest, her gaze naturally falling upon an empty water cup on the nightstand.
She concentrated her mind, imagining an invisible hand...
“Rise.”
The cup wobbled slightly, and then, trembling, it actually floated into the air!
Three seconds later, the cup fell back onto the table with a “thud.”
It worked!
This wasn't an authority granted to her by the system, but a power she had awakened herself!
The immense joy of successfully awakening her ability did not make Su Wan complacent.
She forced herself to calm down because she knew she had to quickly familiarize herself with the strength, precision, and range of her mental power output, as well as her own consumption and recovery speed.
She started with the lightest and smallest item—a pen on the table.
Focusing her mind, her mental power extended like invisible tentacles, wrapping around the pen.
“Rise.”
The pen floated up steadily, much more stable than when she had controlled the cup.
She tried to manipulate the pen to slowly draw circles and move up and down in the air, gradually increasing the speed.
It was a bit sluggish at first, and the pen's movements were jerky, but as she continuously fine-tuned the output point and strength of her mental power, the pen’s trajectory gradually became smooth.
Next were heavier books, and then a chair.
The difficulty of controlling the chair increased significantly, requiring more sustained and intense mental power output.
She could feel the pulse of the energy core in her chest quicken slightly, as mental power was continuously drawn out like a stream.
After controlling it for about a minute, she felt a hint of fatigue—not physical, but a slight sense of mental exhaustion.
She stopped immediately and focused on perceiving her state.
As she stopped using it, her mental power was slowly recovering.
“Controlling non-living objects consumes mental power in proportion to the object’s weight and the complexity of the manipulation. My current limit is probably around twenty kilograms, and fine manipulation shouldn't be sustained for too long.”
Su Wan silently summarized in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
