Mind Stone, Pure Mental Power

Perhaps because the consciousness within the Golden Bead had dissipated, the golden mist that had originally been rapidly eroding the specially made Glass Bead seemed to have lost its immense Assimilation Ability along with that consciousness.

For now, the Special Glass Pillar, which had originally been almost half corroded, was no longer being further eroded within the remaining Golden Energy Torrent, which was still nearly tangible.

Leo could even tell that the glass pillar before them, which had originally been able to hold for less than half an hour, could now last three to five hours without issue.

Moreover, as the energy flow surging from within the Golden Bead diminished, the Golden Energy Flow within the glass pillar was being extracted at full force in massive quantities.

Inside the glass pillar, that dense Golden Energy Flow actually began to thin out. In just a few hours, the true body of the tiny Golden Bead might become visible within the golden pillar.

But none of that had anything to do with Leo anymore. Once he had obtained the remaining fragmented and scattered consciousness in his mind, that tiny Golden Bead had already lost all value.

Whatever it had once represented, it was now completely over.

This consciousness had existed for far too long—a passage of time beyond human imagination. Such a consciousness did not belong to this era in the first place.

And even if they truly found this consciousness an empty body capable of bearing it, it would be of no use.

That was because this consciousness had already become chaotic. Most of it was muddled and disorderly; aside from a tiny portion that still retained relatively complete event connections and logical data, the rest was nothing more than a pile of useless gibberish.

Even if it were truly absorbed, it would only occupy a huge amount of CPU processing power while serving no purpose at all—useless code incapable of forming any logical connections.

The reason this consciousness had become like this was simply that it had wagered its last hope on this. Yet that hope had been far too slim, and it had taken much longer than expected for it to be discovered by other life forms.

Relying solely on those few remaining logical fragments to revive and seize another body had lower odds than every star in the universe exploding at once.

As for the current Golden Bead, it was merely a meaningless Energy Core. In some ways, it was somewhat similar to an Infinity Stone, though there was a conceptual difference between the two.

At last, Difan stood at the narrow entrance of the Secret Chamber, looking at the solitary pure golden glass pillar standing in the center of the room. His eyes were full of complicated emotions—pain, regret, and perhaps even a trace of relief.

Nothing unexpected happened when the door closed. It was also easy to imagine that Difan would have no intention of stepping through that door again in the next few centuries to face the thing that caused him such heartache.

The two then headed to the side. The entrance to another Secret Chamber was only two hundred meters away.

Leo took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped, standing frozen in place.

Difan was also startled. He then lightly tapped his Glasses and began checking on the Hydrotherapy Room.

But nothing unusual had happened. There was no one else in that area; everything was handled by fully automated intelligence, and no living creature would disturb them.

This time, Difan had truly taken care of security. Nothing like what had happened at the Trading Market before would happen again.

What had made Leo stop was not that something had happened to Jenny or George. Rather, the large amount of pure Mental Power that had been eroded and dispersed by the Mind Stone was slowly merging into Leo's soul.

Even Leo was momentarily stunned by the intense sensation of comfort.

The feeling of his mental power rapidly increasing was changing Leo's Perception Ability toward the outside world. His already formidable Mental Power was beginning to soar once more.

"What is it?"

Unable to examine Leo's condition at all, Difan had no idea what had caused him to stop. His only guess was that the Mental Power within the Golden Bead might have some lingering effect on Leo.

"Nothing. My mental power increased a little because of it. Not bad—an unexpected bonus."

Leo answered calmly and resumed walking.

"The Mind Stone's power?"

Difan immediately arrived at that conclusion. He also formed some guesses about the relatively mysterious abilities of the Mind Stone, after all, Difan's understanding of the Infinity Stones surpassed everyone else's.

The Mind Stone's powerful control, its ability to manipulate and command Mental Power, made Difan understand the significance of it.

Seeing that Leo had no intention of telling him anything, Difan found it difficult to ask him directly.

For once, he sensed the majesty of the universe from Leo, like the cosmic catastrophe he had once witnessed, making him afraid to approach on his own.

"Not bad. I only just discovered that the Mind Stone has this kind of ability. It can almost completely digest this kind of mental attack. This power is rather interesting."

Leo said with a smile. This time, his mental power had increased considerably, rising from sixty-eight to seventy-five. It was an exaggerated increase; once past the threshold of sixty, every single point of improvement was enormous.

Although the powerful Mental Power dissolved by the Mind Stone had been greatly refined, such pure Mental Power was a rare and precious substance even in the universe.

Seen this way, the Mind Stone had a means of rapidly increasing one's strength. Though plundering another's Mental Power was no different from killing them, this pure Mental Power was immensely tempting.

But for someone as resolute as Leo, he would not casually use this ability or rely on killing living beings to strengthen his own mental power. That was something Leo could not accept.

Moreover, once Mental Power exceeded the limit the body could bear, the flesh would be unable to withstand it. The pressure on the body would become even greater and instead lead to worse consequences.

"Come on. This is the Secret Chamber where I keep that blade and the Fragmented Stone."

Difan soon stopped before another metal wall. Though the wall had no seams at all, a doorway made of light appeared because of Difan's arrival.

Judging from its appearance, it seemed even more advanced than the entrance to the chamber where the Spirit Core had been stored.

Difan pressed his hand against the door. After a full three seconds of scanning, a somewhat narrow doorway of light opened in the wall.