Luo Yang slept for another entire day.
After coming down from the rooftop that night, he had collapsed straight into his pillow and fallen into a death-like slumber, without even a single dream.
A nurse had woken him once in the middle of it to change his dressings, but he hadn't even opened his eyes. He simply extended his arms and legs as he was told, allowing her to fuss over him, and rolled over to fall back asleep the moment the new gauze was on.
The nurse later told her colleagues that the patient in that bed was practically hibernating. If the ECG monitor hadn't been beeping, she would have thought he was dead.
When he finally opened his eyes again, it was dark outside once more.
He stared at the ceiling for a while, his brain slowly rebooting from standby mode.
Faint sounds of conversation and the rattle of cart wheels on the floor drifted in from the hallway, though it was nowhere near as noisy as the day before.
He propped himself up, feeling a slight tugging sensation across his entire body.
The gauze over the corrosive wound below his collarbone had been removed at some point, revealing new, pale pink skin. A faint red ring remained around the edges, and it felt slightly itchy to the touch.
The wounds on his back were much the same. When he pressed them, there was still a dull ache deep within the muscles, but the skin had already healed over.
He was stunned.
The wounds on his chest and back were completely healed. Only his knees and the corner of his forehead still had small scabs that would probably fall off with a flick of a fingernail, leaving clean, new skin underneath.
His first reaction was that the hospital had used some high-level healing ability on him, but then he reconsidered. None of the healing experts in Yuanxing City seemed to have this level of skill.
Could it be a high-ranking healing Punisher sent as support from somewhere else?
He closed his eyes and focused, sinking his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.
The golden tree stood in the center of his consciousness. The dark patches on the trunk had completely faded, replaced by a restrained, shimmering luster.
The leaves were no longer the pale, translucent things they had been before. The pale gold halo around their edges had regained its vitality, and the broad leaves were swaying gently in a non-existent wind. They didn't move fast, but the rhythm was steady, like a long, deep breath.
The roots delved deep into the Sea of Consciousness, their tips shimmering with tiny specks of light. This light was being transported up through the roots, circulating through the trunk before being distributed to every branch and leaf.
The entire canopy was glowing with a soft, warm, pulsating light.
He tried sending a strand of blood energy toward the tree, and the roots responded almost instantly.
The rootlets curled gently, swallowing the blood energy and cycling it through the trunk. When it was released, the dark red energy that had contained some impurities was now filtered clear and bright, its purity significantly increased.
He remembered the day of his breakthrough, when this tree had used its roots to pierce through his blood vessels, acting like a giant net to firmly restrain all his power.
That net was still there, but it was no longer actively draining his blood energy. Instead, it had switched to a gentle auxiliary mode.
As his blood energy flowed through his vessels, the roots clinging to the inner walls would glow slightly, scrubbing the passing energy clean from head to toe like an automated car wash.
He took the opportunity to check his total blood energy and was completely floored.
The amount of blood energy in his body was slightly higher than before, and its circulation efficiency had leveled up. It felt almost exactly like when he broke through from Core Consolidation Level 9 to Clear Heart Level 3, only on a smaller scale.
Clear Heart Level 4.
He confirmed it twice before he dared to draw a conclusion.
There were no violent energy fluctuations like during a breakthrough, and he hadn't even intentionally pushed for it. During that entire day of sleep, his body had automatically adapted to the gains from battle, quietly crossing the threshold at some moment he hadn't even noticed.
A battle that pushed one to the brink in exchange for a rank breakthrough—every textbook said this was the most solid path. However, he had somersaulted from Core Consolidation Level 9 to Clear Heart Level 3 thanks to Yan Zhi’s spiked potion, so he hadn't actually experienced this feeling of solid accumulation.
This time, he had truly tasted it.
Although he was exhausted and had nearly not made it back, this solid reward in his hands made it all worth it.
He stretched his shoulders, his joints popping twice.
Qiu Shubai was sitting on the bed by the window, leaning against the headboard with a book in her hands. The bedside lamp was dimmed, casting a slanted beam of light across her shoulder and the edges of the pages.
She wasn't wearing her hospital pajamas. Her grayish-white hair was draped over her shoulders, the ends resting on the pillow.
He didn't make a sound, and neither did she. The only sounds in the room were the low hum of the air conditioner and the fading voice of a nurse in the hallway calling someone to the phone.
Qiu Shubai closed the book, rested it on her lap, and looked up at him.
Her expression was exactly the same as usual—lips pursed, gaze indifferent—as if she were waiting for him to speak first.
It was as if the conversation on the rooftop last night had never happened.
Luo Yang cleared his throat, his voice still holding the rasp of someone who had just woken up.
“Ahem... Miss Chief, morning.”
“It’s already evening,” she corrected him.
“Evening, then.”
Qiu Shubai’s gaze slid from his face to the new skin below his collarbone, then to his arm where his sleeve was rolled up.
The fair arm showed only a few faint red marks. Even the bite marks from where the Silver Moon Dog had pierced him were so shallow they were almost invisible.
“You recovered very quickly,” she said.
“Like I said, just needed a few naps.” Luo Yang raised his arm to show it off before pulling his sleeve back down. “Plus, I leveled up again. I’m Clear Heart Level 4 now. So, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right?”
He had a smile on his face as he spoke—that punchable, smug smile of someone waiting to see a surprised reaction.
Qiu Shubai looked at him for two seconds.
“You aren't the only one who can improve. My strength has also increased; I’m now Core Consolidation Level 9.”
Luo Yang’s smile froze on his face.
She wasn't competing with him; she was just stating a fact.
But coming right after his boasting, the effect was so perfect it felt calculated. Yet, he couldn't see a hint of intent on her face; she was likely just being honest.
Maintaining that stiff smile, he took off his glasses with a very slow motion and wiped them. There was actually a thin layer of dust on the lenses, likely accumulated from lying there all day.
As he wiped, he said, “Core Consolidation Level 9... I remember you were only Level 7 before.”
“Yes. I realized it when I woke up this morning. I likely gained the opportunity for a breakthrough from a battle of that intensity.”
She paused, her fingers tracing the hard edge of the book’s spine. “Over the last two days, Bloodfall has started pushing me forward in turn.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before, Bloodfall always wanted to ‘eat,’ and I had to suppress it. It’s still hungry now, but it no longer throws tantrums regardless of the situation like it used to. Instead, it has changed its method.”
“It’s urging me to grow and break through on my own. It seems that as long as the quality of my blood energy improves, it can be better fed.”
She opened the book and closed it again. “I’m only one step away from the Clear Heart level now. Once I’m discharged, I’ll have to find a way to get some good materials to assist with the breakthrough.”
Hearing this, the first thing Luo Yang thought of was the scene where Yan Zhi dropped the core into the potion. He pinched the space ring he was still wearing and swept his blood energy inside.
The golden core left behind by the man-faced lion was still lying quietly in the corner, but it looked completely different from when he had first gotten it.
Back then, the entire core had been glowing, feeling warm to the point of being hot in his hand. Now, it was extremely subdued, with only a small cluster of faint light in the center. Its reaction was as weak as an old lightbulb about to run out of power.
He tried poking it gently with his mental power. The core rolled half a turn inside the space ring and then went still again.
Clearly, after being used by Yan Zhi that one time, most of the energy inside had already been squeezed out into the potion.
He withdrew his mental power and tapped his finger twice on the ring.
Forget it.
He had originally wanted to replicate that process to help her get an opportunity as well.
Part of it was guilt. After all, he had listened to so much of her 'dark history' online back then, yet he hadn't dared to reveal his identity immediately when they met again. It was definitely a bit shady.
Secondly, he felt that this girl was desperate enough to become stronger that she deserved better starting conditions.
Now the idea of using the core to brew a potion had fallen through, but given his personality, he would keep this in mind and make it up to her when he had the chance.
“What are you thinking about?” Qiu Shubai asked suddenly.
“Thinking about how to get you some good stuff,” Luo Yang answered honestly.
“Do you owe me something?”
There was no sarcasm or mention of old scores in her tone, just a simple question.
Luo Yang was thinking about how to answer when the ward door was pushed open. Tang Xuan was leaning crookedly against the doorframe as usual, chewing bubblegum. Her complexion looked much better than last night. Li Qiang was standing beside her.
“Yo, you’re both awake.” Tang Xuan scanned the room. “Pack your things. The doctor just did his rounds and said we can all be discharged. Li Qiang and I already finished the paperwork. We can leave directly.”
Half an hour later, the four of them stood at the hospital entrance.
The afternoon sun was intense, and heat rose from the asphalt road. Tang Xuan shielded her forehead and cursed the heat. Her bubblegum grew large before popping, and she waved down a taxi.
Li Qiang was heading the same way as her, so the two of them got in first, sticking their heads out of the window to wave at Qiu Shubai and Luo Yang.
“See you back at the academy!”
“See you again?” Luo Yang shoved his hands into his pockets. “We just shared a life-and-death experience yesterday, and we have to see each other again today? How annoying.”
His response was a middle finger from Tang Xuan as the taxi pulled away. A puff of white smoke came from the exhaust pipe, and the car vanished around the corner.
Luo Yang hailed the next taxi himself. He pulled the door open and was about to give his address when he suddenly paused.
He turned to look at the hospital lobby.
There weren't many people. A few family members were lining up to pay, and a doctor in a white coat was leaning against a wall drinking coffee. There was no sign of the familiar little girl.
He suddenly remembered something—
“Holy crap, where's A-Zhi?”
Rate on N.U.
