The atmosphere on the ride was very silent; neither of them knew what to say.
Xin Yu simply didn't know what he should say. Offer words of comfort? That might sound like pitying her and could hurt her pride. Offer words of encouragement? That might feel like lecturing from a position of privilege.
Sigh, if only chatting with people were like solving math problems, with a formula to follow. Then I wouldn't be stuck like this, unable to say anything, making the atmosphere awkwardly stiff.
Raiden Mei's feelings were much more complex. After all, during their previous encounter, he had expressed trust in her words, which seemed to have no evidence, and this time he had helped chase away those annoying people.
If only I had the same courage as him to stand up and resist those bullies.
But Raiden Mei didn't dare resist, or rather, she worried that resisting would lead to even worse consequences than the current situation.
This was why she had only dared to endure silently for so many days.
At school, besides the students, the teachers were also giving her the cold shoulder, turning a deaf ear to everything happening to her.
Raiden Mei could only endure silently. Although she possessed formidable swordsmanship and could beat down all those who bullied her, what then? She would be taken to the police station, treated even more harshly. Perhaps her suffering was exactly what her father's enemies wanted to see.
I... can only endure.
But enduring like this, how long must I endure? Until Father's name is cleared and he's released from prison? No, that's impossible to wait for.
Raiden Mei... what exactly are you waiting for?
Xin Yu dropped Raiden Mei off at her home. Even as they parted, neither said anything further. One simply didn't know what to say, while the other's mind was filled with thoughts and emotions too complex to articulate.
Watching Xin Yu's departing back, Raiden Mei ultimately didn't ask the question she wanted to ask. She wanted to know more about this youth. The thought was inexplicable, but it had suddenly appeared in the girl's heart.
But in the end, the girl couldn't muster the courage.
...
Kiana clutched her head, feeling another segment of memory appearing, and ran her fingers through her long hair, overwhelmed.
"Aiya, there's nothing I can do!"
What has happened cannot be changed. The past has become fact, which is why people look towards the future.
Even the Herrscher of Finality, who wielded immense power and could even interfere with time to some extent, couldn't possibly change the past.
But now that this miracle was actually happening, Kiana desperately wanted to rewrite the regrets of the past. The problem was, it was in the distant past! Her past self couldn't possibly realize so many things would happen in the future. And the only variable, that youth, she had no way to contact him. He wouldn't know about the tragedies that befell Kiana Kaslana, nor would he risk his own life for those matters. After all, they were ultimately just somewhat familiar strangers.
"What should I do! I really need to ask Aunt Theresa and the others! Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein are so smart, maybe they can think of a way!"
Kiana decided to act immediately, contacting Schicksal on Earth through her communication terminal.
...
Xin Yu returned home. He held a flowerpot in his hands, inside which some flowers were already blooming.
He went to the living room, placed the flowers on the table, and carefully observed the blooming blossoms. After a moment, he extended his index finger, touching the flower's stem, then closed his eyes to carefully sense something.
"Since spiritual energy (灵力 - línglì) exists in this world, then living beings exist within spiritual energy. Although the so-called spiritual energy of this world differs somewhat from the spiritual energy I imagined, fundamentally, they are both filled with a kind of life force."
"And living constantly in a world filled with spiritual energy, it's inevitable that every object, every living being, contains spiritual energy..."
Xin Yu sensed the extremely scarce spiritual energy within the flower, almost negligible, barely different from none at all. He took a deep breath and slowly infused his own spiritual energy into it. He carefully observed the changes brought by the spiritual energy and the changes in the flower's own life force. Whenever the flower's life force fluctuated drastically, he would adjust the infusion and alteration of the spiritual energy.
Finally, when the flower's life form stabilized, Xin Yu opened his eyes again to check. He found that the originally ordinary flower had now grown to over a meter long.
"...Why do I feel like this is getting weirder and weirder, but it doesn't seem like there's a problem..."
Xin Yu couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore. As long as it worked, that was fine. As for the weirdness, he'd wait until the next time he could travel to a world with cultivators to ask about it.
Xin Yu sat on the sofa, silently reciting the Taixu Sword Qi incantations he had completely memorized. He then mobilized the spiritual energy within his body, beginning to compress it continuously towards his Dantian.
Although he wasn't entirely clear on the subsequent stages of cultivation, based on fragments of his past memories, he could deduce: since spiritual energy truly existed, then it needed to be continuously compressed and condensed, first into a liquid state, and finally solidified into a Golden Core (金丹 - Jīndān). This was likely the so-called "Once the Golden Core is swallowed, my fate is mine, not heavens' to decide!"
By then, the lifespan and strength of a Golden Core cultivator will surely allow me to advance further on the path of my dream.
Xin Yu cultivated with great motivation, unaware that his current state would appear incredibly terrifying to outsiders.
Because, in the eyes of those who understood, this youth was currently absorbing Honkai Energy (崩坏能 - Bēnghuài néng) from the air into his body in a completely incomprehensible manner.
This suicidal behavior should have been enough to cause this youth, whose Honkai energy adaptability and resistance weren't particularly high, to die instantly on the spot. Yet, for some unknown reason, this youth continued to exist so bizarrely.
Moreover, the Honkai energy present in the surrounding air shouldn't have been sufficient for his cultivation. While trace amounts, almost negligible, did exist, how could that level of Honkai energy be continuously supplied like this?
If the surrounding Honkai energy were truly this abundant, the nearby civilians could not possibly continue living unharmed.
Where exactly was the Honkai energy this youth absorbed coming from?