**RING RING~**
At 5:50 AM, the alarm rang. Huo Liang bolted upright and imdiately turned on the computer. He hurried to check if Ren Naiser was live streaming; seeing she wasn't, he quickly went to pee, brush his teeth, and wash his face.
During this ti, Huo Liang moved quietly, careful not to wake his mom. Otherwise, if she saw him up early playing on the computer, she would definitely make him do his howork.
When he returned and checked again, there was still no live stream. Huo Liang felt a bit disappointed.
The thing he regretted most was staying up late playing gas until the early morning on the first day of the long holiday, only to miss Ren Naiser's first live stream!
Even though Huo Liang had won his ranked promotion match last night, it couldn't make up for this huge loss!
Although soone had recorded the live stream, watching a replay was not the sa as watching it live; the feeling of being there in the mont was completely lost.
Not to ntion, by the ti Huo Liang found the replay video, he had already been thoroughly spoiled by classmates and online friends…
When the live stream abruptly stopped, many speculated there would be a second one, which was why Huo Liang had gotten up early the next day.
He had always kept that secret close to his heart.
That day, while he was being bullied, a Pangolin rescued him.
A few days later, the Pangolin left.
A few more days passed, and the Sky Capital Spirit Treasury opened.
Then, news appeared online that the Fairy Palace had sent out animals to open various spirit treasuries.
Connecting the dots, Huo Liang imdiately knew that the Pangolin he encountered that day must have been one of the animals sent by the Fairy Palace.
This mysterious connection with the Fairy Palace made Huo Liang ecstatic. Thanks to the Pangolin's tutoring, his grades improved, his confidence grew, he found his place in the small society of the school, and he was no longer bullied.
Therefore, it was only natural that Huo Liang beca a die-hard fan of the Fairy Palace and a casual fan of Ren Naiser. When Huo Liang talked about these Transcendents at school, he always spoke with great authority and knowledge, even becoming a notable figure in his class.
With no live stream, Huo Liang wasn't in a hurry. He went online to a place called the 'Eastern Han Ren Family Cultivation Forum' to browse posts.
Probably because of the live stream at 6 AM yesterday, there were especially many early risers today, with many asking if there would be a broadcast.
Others were discussing the content of yesterday's stream. Huo Liang glanced through and, upon seeing a few posts doubting the Fairy Palace, imdiately started firing back:
"You're not even a Transcendent! What right do you have to speculate about the actions of the Fairy Palace?"
"You look like a grade-schooler!"
"Heh, a grade-schooler!"
To avoid getting his account banned, Huo Liang, being a middle schooler himself, kept his attacks simple but fierce, flooding the thread with over ten replies straight until the opposition fell silent.
Just then, a QQ ssage popped up. Huo Liang hesitated for a mont before shutting down the computer, quickly got dressed, and sneaked out of the house.
It was just barely dawn. Within minutes, Huo Liang reached a McDonald's near his residential complex. His friends, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang, were already inside, using the McDonald's Wi-Fi on their tablet.
The three of them were Transcendent enthusiasts. They had agreed to et up and watch the live stream together today. If there was no live stream, they planned to go hiking to train their bodies—the Mysterious Country's official website stated that exercising for an hour a day significantly increased the chances of Awakening.
Although they were quite skeptical it was just another lie adults told, they didn't have other sources for Cultivation Techniques, so for now, they had no choice but to exercise. Big Fat actually felt this theory made sense. "For cultivation, isn't it about Body Tempering, Qi Refinent, Foundation Establishnt, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul? Body Tempering cos before Qi Refinent!"
Monts later, **BEEP.** Suddenly, a popup appeared on the tablet: "Your ti is very precious. You're online to watch the 'Destiny' live stream..."
The three middle school students imdiately beca excited and clicked, jumping into the live stream.
Huo Liang breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I didn't go back to sleep! I didn't expect today's broadcast to be half an hour later than yesterday's!"
Xiao Qiang said, "An Immortal Venerate acts with the true deanor of a superior. How could he adhere to The Mortal Realm's 24-hour cycle and let us predict his actions?"
Huo Liang felt deeply ashad of his own shallowness and then began to watch the live stream attentively.
The opening speech by the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair made all three of them flush with excitent. Big Fat said, "I had no idea the world was hiding such a big crisis. It's indeed a ti when heroes are needed to save the day. Once we get stronger, we'll also save the world and have Ren Naiser live stream us!"
The phrase from the Immortal Venerate, "Unless bones turn to dust, the Fairy Palace guards the Human World without worries for a thousand years," made Huo Liang yell in approval, waking up everyone staying overnight at the McDonald's.
Hmph! Whenever I face soone doubting the Fairy Palace again, I'll throw that phrase at them, followed by, 'The Fairy Palace can exist for a thousand years, can you? If you can't, you have no right to doubt the Fairy Palace'!
Generally speaking, with this 'put up or shut up' argunt, I usually win half the battle. If I encounter so braggart Transcendent claiming they can borrow another five hundred years from heaven, I also have a retort ready: 'You thousand-year-old tortoise! Even the Fairy Palace is live streaming, why aren't you?'
With a series of combination punches like these, I don't believe anyone can withstand them!
At that mont, the screen shifted to an underground space. Huo Liang saw the giant Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster, which made him sowhat fearful. Yet, the Great Sword Maiden fearlessly avoided the monster's attacks and even dared to counterattack and heavily wound the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster!
When the Great Sword Maiden split open the body of the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster, the words and sounds of Despair that erupted from that terrifying wound were also seen and heard by the three middle school students.
Both Big Fat and Xiao Qiang couldn't stand it after one look. "This feels terrible."
"What is this thing... It makes my skin crawl."
They imdiately put down the tablet, but Huo Liang clutched the tablet, his eyes glued to the screen without blinking.
Big Fat and Xiao Qiang were shocked. They tried again but found they still couldn't bear to watch the scene; it was purely physiologically uncomfortable.
Just like soone with trypophobia seeing a rice container or soone with acrophobia bungee jumping, the mont they watched the screen, their hearts seed to be tightly squeezed by an invisible force, making it hard for them to breathe.
Curiously, they asked, "Liang Zi, don't you find this scene unbearable?"
Huo Liang opened his mouth and gently shook his head.
Watching the monster's wound explode, Huo Liang actually felt a trace of… warmth.
He fully received the emotions released from it, but these emotions did not make him uncomfortable. Instead, they reminded Huo Liang of events before he encountered the Pangolin.
The loneliness of feeling like his cries went unheard by heaven or earth, the pain he couldn't express to his mother, the anger at his own cowardice, and the helplessness against adult indifference were all too familiar to him.
These emotions combined, settling into what's commonly known as… Despair.
It wasn't anger, nor sorrow. It had no distinct manifestations, nor would it draw attention—just a quiet Dark Current flowing in the heart.
It only made people lose hope for tomorrow and stop having any expectations for the future. It might lead one to leave this boring, cruel world, or cause one to abandon all dreams and beco an ordinary person. It could even make soone transform into its shape and thus spread Despair to friends, family, or even descendants.
If Huo Liang hadn't t the Pangolin and broken free from this cycle of suffering, this Dark Current would eventually have turned into a raging sea, either destroying Huo Liang or forcing him to destroy others.
However, even though Huo Liang had escaped the painful cycle, the Dark Current still quietly flowed in his heart, and the psychological trauma wasn't so easily erased.
It wasn't necessarily all bad: it beca the driving force for Huo Liang to study hard. He vaguely realized that studying was the best way to escape his past. As long as he studied well, went to a better environnt, and t people of better character, then no one would bully him again.
Yet the mont he felt the emotions released in the live stream, the quietly flowing Dark Current in Huo Liang's heart suddenly began to churn.
Big Fat and Xiao Qiang sensed that their classmate, known as a 'Ren Naiser Expert', underwent a subtle change: his posture straightened, his smile brightened significantly, and his gaze beca much warr.
Each slight change accumulated, transforming Huo Liang completely.
**"AAH!"**
With Huo Liang's scream, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang also saw the screen showing the Great Sword Maiden being smashed into mush by the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster!
They hastily leaned their heads closer, anxiously watching the situation unfold.
"What do we do? If she can't beat it, could this monster jump out of the Great Rift Valley and destroy the world?"
"Don't worry, Africa is far from here."
"But it can take a plane, right!"
As the junior high students spoke, on the screen, a bright light shone from the Great Sword Maiden, and she astonishingly stood up from the rock, her injuries completely recovered. She even had a Holy Light Buff, increasing her Movent Speed!
**BOOM!**
Barely dodging the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster's attack, the Great Sword Maiden charged again and slashed a huge scar on the monster!
This ti, Huo Liang still took in all the emotions from it without any harm. Although Big Fat and Xiao Qiang found it hard to endure, seeing Huo Liang's transformation, they subconsciously thought it might be sothing good and endured the discomfort to watch a short segnt.
When they couldn't stand it and turned their heads to gasp for air, the two middle schoolers suddenly felt their bodies seed... lighter after catching their breath?
They couldn't clearly describe the feeling, but the slight awkwardness from being scolded by their parents the day before was gone; the unease of deciding not to do their holiday howork vanished; the annoyance of encountering bad teammates in ranked matches dissipated...
**BOOM!**
The Great Sword Maiden was knocked away again, but she stood up again after a mont. This ti without the Holy Light Buff, she transford into a light feather, teleporting next to the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster to attack continuously!
After several more scarring rounds of Despair, even Huo Liang could no longer bear it and had to turn his head away.
Seeing this, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were all buddies, they still felt competitive. Seeing soone else not much better than oneself naturally makes one feel not so bad.
"Liang Zi, how do you feel?" Big Fat asked with a smile. "Although it was tough while watching, I now feel really good."
" too!" Xiao Qiang added. "We should really have so fun today. Why don't we play 'Unparalleled Orochi' at my house?"
"I..." Huo Liang looked at them and closed his mouth.
But Big Fat and Xiao Qiang suddenly heard Huo Liang's voice next to their ears, "Can you hear ? Hello?"
They were slightly startled, pointing at Huo Liang, and exclaid, "You, you've Awakened!?"
"Yeah, seems like it..."
Huo Liang turned his head and saw the video of the Great Sword Maiden being smashed into mush, then recovering, and stubbornly standing up again.
After being washed over by the Despair in the live stream, Huo Liang felt as if his own body was filled with a miraculous power.
This power was heavy, like steel and concrete, unshakable. But it gradually lted as he watched the live stream, thoroughly integrating into his body, making his mood lighter, his body more agile, and even allowing him to... Awaken.
However, this Awakening Ability...
With the excited chatter of his companions in his ears and the tense, thrilling scenes of the live stream before his eyes, Huo Liang recalled an afternoon from dozens of days ago, rembering a Pangolin sitting on a school desk, holding a lamp stand, and Teaching him through ntal communication.
---
"If we keep fighting like this, we won't have enough Seeds of Destiny!"
Ren Suo watched with gritted teeth—the difficulty of this 5-star ga's boss battle was too high!
It wasn't that the Great Sword Maiden wasn't strong enough, but the boss could instantly kill her!
Just now, when the Great Sword Maiden was killed instantly for the first ti, Ren Suo was almost scared to death. Fortunately, a 10-second countdown for Resurrection appeared imdiately:
"Spend 1 Seed of Destiny for normal Resurrection (Hope, Hope, Despair, Despair)," "Spend 2 Seeds of Destiny for blessed Resurrection (Hope, Hope, Great Hope)."
The 'Hope' and 'Despair' in parentheses represented the Resurrection options. If Ren Suo spent just 1 Seed of Destiny, there was a chance he would draw the Card of Despair, leading to various negative effects upon Resurrection—such as losing limbs and the like.
This was not the ti to be stingy. Ren Suo had to spend 2 Seeds of Destiny for a blessed Resurrection. The first ti he resurrected, he drew Great Hope, making Naless's Movent Speed, Defense Power, and Attack Power all rise by 100% for 5 seconds after Resurrection!
The subsequent tis he only drew the Card of Hope, which just barely let Naless recover 100%, with no other effects.
Seeing this, Ren Suo dared not opt for normal Resurrection.
The 50% chance of drawing the Card of Despair would definitely cause Naless to experience various negative effects; he feared that Naless wouldn't even be able to lift his sword before being instantly killed by the boss.
Of course, it wasn't to say that this boss battle had to trade one hit for one life.
After dying several tis, Ren Suo discovered that if he played well enough, he could completely run away before the boss's Counterattack and even successfully dodge an attack, striking twice with one life!
However, for Ren Suo, who had poor gaming skills, it was quite challenging—the boss's attack range was too wide. Running back was a dead end; he needed to watch the direction of its attack and Move in the opposite direction.
If given a few hours to practice, he might be able to clear the stage without losing a life, but since it was a live stream, he could only resort to Krypton Gold to buy lives!
Ren Suo had also tried having Naless use a fla to attack from a distance, but the boss's build-up and Movent Speed were extrely fast, directly killing Naless upon impact!
Ren Suo wasn't unable to dodge, but again—he needed several hours of practice ti to learn to predict!
He even equipped the "Seeker of the Dao Correction Hat" to increase his Comprehension, but his skill level couldn't be improved in such a short ti!
Seeing the number of Seeds of Destiny fall below double digits, Ren Suo's expression beca complicated. Am I really going to use the holiday promotion to summon a ga Character?
No!
Summoning help so quickly isn't my style!
There are still eight chapters to go. Summoning a ga Character, a trump card, has to be saved for the most critical monts!
Moreover, Ren Suo was enjoying the rush of Despair emotions while the Qi Cyclone was moving by itself. What if the ga Character takes this benefit away?
After a mont of thought, with a determined expression, Ren Suo exited to the "Equipnt Interface" and changed Naless's Ability.
Then, the Supre Supre softly spoke in the realm of Destiny, "The sword is not used like this."
The chess piece glimred slightly, and then, in the underground space beside the Great Sword Maiden, another Great Sword Maiden appeared!
Struggle Warrior (Damaged) activated!
Ren Suo looked at the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster on the screen and snorted coldly.
Yes, I have poor skills. But I don't control the clone, and she definitely isn't unskilled! Alas, it looks like today's laundry will have to wait until tomorrow...
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