ABRIWMTHM Chapter 51

There was a moment of silence in the scene, with only the howling wind and snow remaining between heaven and earth.

Chi Yao reached out and touched Shi Xing’s head, enhancing his mental perception through the contact to confirm that Shi Xing’s body was normal, but…

“Where did that mental power go? Did your mental sea absorb it?”

Shi Xing shook his head and quietly said, “The outer layer went to the void beneath the beach.”

“What does it feel like?”

Shi Xing hesitated and replied, “No feeling?”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow.

Shi Xing explained, “Well, under normal circumstances, when absorbing mental power, the mental sea feels full, but with that violent mental power, even though I want to absorb it, the process of absorbing it seems to be the opposite of absorbing normal energy?”

“High-level energy can only be absorbed in a limited quantity. The speed decreases towards the end of the process.”

“But when I absorb that violent mental power, it feels like it’s getting faster?”

Chi Yao thought for a moment and affirmed, “It is getting faster.”

Especially after the flesh of the star beast containing violent mental power began to disintegrate, one could clearly see that the sturdy body almost instantly wilted.

Setting aside what could be seen with the naked eye, the flow rate of mental power in perception was also accelerating.

Then, Fu Qing, Tan Yan, and Tan Wen confirmed this statement based on their observations.

Shi Xing said, “I don’t know if it’s absorption, but it feels like a channel has opened. At the beginning, it’s slow, and once the violent mental power flows into my mental sea along a specific route, the process becomes smoother, and then…” He paused and helplessly added, “There’s nothing after that.”

Chi Yao asked, “What is the state of your mental sea’s outer layer now?”

Shi Xing felt and replied, “It’s very… active? Even, I feel a bit empty.”

The group didn’t understand what he meant by his last sentence.

Shi Xing rubbed his head awkwardly and said softly, “I just feel like I could absorb more violent mental power, but then suddenly it’s gone, like something is empty.”

The group: “…”

Chi Yao didn’t let any detail go, “You just said a channel opened, what kind of channel? Is there a specific pathway for absorption?”

“I feel like there is, but it doesn’t come along a specific path; it flows through different parts sequentially.”

After trying to recall, Shi Xing confirmed, “Yes, there is a specific order.”

Chi Yao wanted to ask more, but he sensed something, looked up at the sky, and stated with certainty, “The clash of mental power has changed the wind direction; the current airflow is incorrect.”

Chi Yao’s talent allowed him to manipulate wind with his mental power, and he also had a transcendent perception of changes in wind.

Turning his gaze through an arc, Chi Yao confirmed, “It’s the precursor to a snowstorm.”

Chi Yao commanded, “Withdraw the team; the battleship will retreat by itself. Everyone, board the ship for the return journey.”

As the order was given, all the soldiers executed it in an orderly manner.

Leading Shi Xing onto the ship, and as the ship started, Shi Xing looked through the window at the skeletal remains of the star beasts left on the snowfield and asked, “Are we not going to clean this up?”

Fu Qing replied, “The Northern Territory’s environment is different; the snowstorm will bury the scent. The cold air convection is strong, and animals that die in the snow will be broken down quickly once they hit the ground.”

In other words, there was no need to trouble themselves over cleaning.

Shi Xing nodded.

Their ship took the lead, followed by Tan Bai Shan, Tan Wen, and Yun Wu boarding the subsequent ship. Tan Yan and other attending officers returned on the battleship to the Seventh Army base.

Not long after they left, the blizzard arrived as scheduled.

Heaven and earth blended into one color, tiny snowflakes swirling up to the horizon, with the wind howling.

As time passed, due to the unique dimensional position of the Northern Territory, the storm stirred the thin atmosphere, causing the battlefield air to drift beyond the atmosphere and disperse outward.

Mixed mental power was abundant, yet there was a presence with a particularly unique aura.

Several light-years away, a massive beast floating in the vacuum sensed something and slowly opened a pair of bright yellow vertical pupils.

Yawning, the star beast changed its course of travel.

With what appeared to be an unintentional leap, powerful mental energy created by it resulted in thunderous crackling sounds shortly after.

“Like this, first entering my mental sea, then flowing into the beach, filtered once, and following the logic from large to small, it passes through the void and the interstitial structure between the beach, and finally, completely merges into the void.”

Upon returning to his residence, Shi Xing described the wording of what he experienced along the way.

Chi Yao asked, “After filtering, is there any change in the violent mental power?”

Shi Xing thought for a while, “It feels more pure.”

Yun Wu stared, “Pure?”

Shi Xing nodded, “The normal mental power and the abnormal part seemed to have been separated; the violent part merged into the void, while the filtered part could flow into the mental sea from below.”

Chi Yao supplemented his explanation, “Star beasts’ violent mental powers are extremely destructive, but they usually attack using a mix of normal mental power. Only level 3 and above mutated star beasts can produce completely violent mental power. The one encountered today is of a lower level; your perception is correct.”

Yun Wu said, “I can sense the porous structure you mentioned, but I don’t understand the void you speak of.”

Chi Yao replied, “Perhaps only he can sense it; once our exploratory mental power touches it, it will absorb or extinguish.”

Following this line of thought, it meant that they would never sense the existence of the void because when they touched it, that was when they felt their mental power dissipating.

Yun Wu did not deny this possibility.

After discussing Shi Xing’s situation for a while and confirming that Shi Xing indeed had no abnormalities, everyone dispersed.

Everything went smoothly during the day, but by midnight, Shi Xing experienced a new situation.

He developed a low fever.

Not feeling anything himself, Chi Yao was awakened by their connection, called Xu Jin to check on Shi Xing, and saw the little guy dazedly sweating, with his temperature rising again.

Using a thermometer, the doctor found the temperature was not high, but not in the normal range.

Shi Xing felt weak, struggling to sit up while hugging a pillow, asking if he felt anything unusual, and Shi Xing shook his head, only saying he was tired and had no strength.

Several doctors were called over, and before they arrived, Chi Yao thoughtfully questioned Shi Xing about his mental sea.

This time they identified the crux of the issue; Shi Xing felt that his mental sea was slowly expanding, even the outer layer.

After the doctors examined him, the conclusion matched what Chi Yao had in mind, “It should be the first exposure to the rich energy within the beast core; while his mental sea rapidly absorbs and digests this energy, it consumes a large amount of his physical strength, similar to how people feel sleepy after a meal.”

The doctor was still somewhat surprised, “The Blue Star humans we’ve seen before usually exhibit some symptoms after absorbing a beast core, but none were as strong as the little prince’s reaction.”

Chi Yao touched Shi Xing’s slightly hot forehead, his expression growing more serious.

“In that case, no need for medication; let’s replace the towels for physical cooling.”

“I’ll keep watch for a while.”

Xu Jin quickly said, “Tonight, I’ll rotate with Yan Changyue to keep watch.”

The low fever persisted until noon the next day before Shi Xing finally stabilized.

Shi Xing, feeling worn out, just wanted to sleep.

Worried he might be uncomfortable, Chi Yao refrained from prying into Shi Xing’s mental sea, but as soon as they made contact, the connecting effect amplified his perception, and Chi Yao could confirm that Shi Xing’s mental sea’s self-stacking frequency had reached a peak and was changing rapidly.

After dinner, Shi Xing finished eating and said he would sit on the sofa for a while. As soon as he sat down, he fell asleep.

This physical deficiency lasted until the third day, after which Shi Xing finally caught his breath.

Once everything was completely back to normal, Shi Xing’s mental sea expanded a portion again, as did the outer layer.

Shi Xing always felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.

After this instance of growth, Shi Xing’s mental power was able to access three-quarters of Chi Yao’s mental sea’s outer layer, barely entering Tan Chi’s mental sea’s center.

The intensity of his mental power increased, and he could use it more freely, but…

Shi Xing still felt something was not right, sensing an incorrect sensation.

However, all tests came back normal, and everyone perceiving his mental sea’s mental power said there were no issues.

Chi Yao also couldn’t find the root of the problem.

Fortunately, this feeling of something being wrong existed only on a perceptual level; as long as Shi Xing didn’t consciously think about it, he was okay.

Treating Tan Chi was again put on the agenda, and Shi Xing and Yun Wu finally began focusing on treating the core part of his mental sea.

This part, being the center of the whole mental sea, required no less treatment than the outer layers.

In fact, to some extent, it required more than the outer layers.

This section of the mental sea, even if Yun Wu’s healing mental power seeped in, would no longer be absorbed, and the treatment pressure had entirely shifted to Shi Xing.

With the absence of a mature therapist, the treatment progress slowed significantly.

Shi Xing was alright, taking his time, as long as it improved, his mindset was stable and steady.

Everything seemed to be proceeding as planned.

Until one day, two weeks later, Shi Xing’s mental power began to leak unexpectedly.

At first, he was alone, and the leakage duration was very short, starting and ending quickly.

Shi Xing honestly informed Chi Yao, and for the next few days, this situation didn’t repeat. Just as everyone relaxed their vigilance, Shi Xing leaked mental power during treatment.

Chi Yao was called from next door; once he stepped into the energy shield room, he felt the unstable mental power unique to Shi Xing dissipating in the air.

Tan Chi said, “It started like this right at the beginning of the treatment.”

Shi Xing helplessly replied, “I don’t feel anything special, but I just can’t control the leakage.”

Yun Wu and Tan Yan, who were also called over, were there as well; Tan Yan scratched his head and said, “I don’t sense any problems with his mental sea, and Blue Star humans’ mental power shouldn’t have aggressiveness.”

Generally, mental power leakage indicates there’s an issue within the mental sea.

But using this logic to fit Shi Xing’s situation didn’t seem applicable.

Chi Yao sensed something and stretched out his hand, brushing the air, and after passing through the dissipating mental power with his fingertips, he confirmed, “This is not the normal state of your mental power, it’s not the healing capability’s mental power either, nor is it the mental power in your usual state.”

Yun Wu hesitated for a moment, then felt it as well, affirming, “Though it lacks aggressiveness, it does feel different.”

“Different…”

Yun Wu found it familiar, but couldn’t pin it down right away.

It was Chi Yao who gave the answer because he had felt the fluctuations of this kind of mental power, “It’s like the fluctuations when absorbing my mental power.”

Yun Wu had a revelation, “Oh right, when I hadn’t passed the maturity period, unintentionally absorbing Tan Wen’s mental power, what surged in my body was exactly that kind of energy.”

Tan Yan asked, “What do you mean, Shi Xing wants to absorb mental power?”

Shi Xing reminded, “I absorb energy crystals every day.”

In an instant, no one could figure out the root of the problem.

Doctors were called, and they stuck to the theoretical explanation, confirming that it had to be something wrong in the mental sea for there to be leakage of mental power, and that large-scale uncontrollable mental power leaks from Blue Star humans are rare.

But when questioned about Shi Xing, he said everything felt fine in his mental sea, and the doctors fell silent again.

After that, two more episodes of mental power leakage occurred; the duration of the leakage and the intensity increased.

Shi Xing felt confused by everyone’s concern.

And everyone watching Shi Xing wanted to bang their heads against the wall.

At this moment, everyone reached a consensus that something was indeed wrong, leading to the leakage, but pinpointing exactly what was wrong made everyone feel a headache when they thought about it.

In the end, it was Chi Yao who figured it out while probing into Shi Xing’s mental sea; he had an epiphany.

Chi Yao whispered, “Maybe our feelings aren’t wrong.”

“Your mental sea indeed has issues, but it’s not a problem inherent to the mental sea.”

Shi Xing didn’t understand.

Chi Yao didn’t elaborate much either and had Fu Qing contact the sixth and fifth armies. Two days later, two officers with previous injuries to their mental seas arrived; both had been injured not long ago and still retained the violent mental power of star beasts in their mental seas.

Chi Yao had Shi Xing remove the mental power that didn’t belong to him.

For the next week, Shi Xing’s mental power leaking ceased.

Chi Yao confirmed.

“There is indeed a problem with the mental sea, but not in the conventional area; it’s in this outer layer.”

“Your recent growth has expanded the range of the mental sea more than the outer layer.”

“I can perceive that the size ratio of the two portions differs from before your growth.”

Shi Xing was bewildered.

Chi Yao continued, “Usually, you also absorb energy crystals and beast cores, providing a lot of energy for the central part of your mental sea.”

Shi Xing asked, “So?”

Chi Yao explained, “So your feeling that something is off is correct, it’s real.”

“There is indeed something wrong.”

Chi Yao stated bluntly, “The energy feeding the expansion of your outer layer comes from the star beasts’ violent mental power, and you haven’t absorbed enough.”

“Even if the proportions of the outer layer to the inner layer change, it shouldn’t fluctuate too much at once. Your ratio change, however, has been quite significant; and this time, the inner layer has expanded to what it should reach due to abundant energy, but the outer layer…”

“I guess it should still be in a growth state; it just lacks the energy supply to support its growth.”

“Our mental powers are all supplied to your inner layer, so the leakage of your mental power is indeed a sign that you want to absorb energy, but we don’t meet the conditions.”

“The reason for your mental power leakage should be that the inner layer, due to the demands of growth, still wants to absorb the violent mental power from the star beasts.”

In other words, it was a mismatched issue between the internal and external layers due to unbalanced energy supply.

The problem wasn’t serious, which is why Shi Xing felt okay, but a problem needed to be resolved, hence the leakage increased with each instance.

Shi Xing thought about the feeling of absorbing violent mental power; if he didn’t specifically try to think about it, he wouldn’t feel it, but Chi Yao pointed it out to him. After hunting the star beasts once again, he genuinely sensed that empty feeling.

Oh right, the outer part of his mental sea was still very active.

Indeed, since the growth, the iteration frequency of the inner layer had returned to normal from a peak, but the outer layer had not resumed normalcy.

As Shi Xing expressed these thoughts, combined with Chi Yao’s reasoned speculation, it became something they couldn’t deny.

Tan Yan was bewildered, “Then what do we do?”

Violent mental power could only be produced and used by star beasts.

Chi Yao, however, looked towards Yun Wu and Tan Wen and asked, “Is the other star beast still at the boundary line?”

Yun Wu replied, “Hunting in a rainforest wasteland outside the boundary.”

Chi Yao nodded and provided an answer, “Then lure it over and kill another one to see.”

What else could they do but find a star beast!