Grateful for the Invitation, I'm in Honkai, Grinding Stats to Level Up

A gentle breeze blew past, and a cherry blossom petal slowly drifted down before Kevin's eyes.

"..."

Kevin caught the petal and silently gazed at it for a long time, his eyes reflecting the flower in his palm. He gently tilted his hand, letting it drift away.

"Hoo..."

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Gwen, after reconfirming that their connection had been blocked, let out a huge sigh of relief—

Even though he estimated the other party couldn't harm him, having revealed some secrets and conversing with Kevin, the strongest human, with only A-rank strength, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

Furthermore, being able to block this connection eased some of Gwen's worries—

Life at Destiny's headquarters was fulfilling and wonderful, but living with the constant need to be cautious was inevitably tiring.

If he had to be wary of another person mentally, Gwen felt his mental state would eventually suffer.

Fortunately, things hadn't escalated to the worst-case scenario.

After a moment of relaxation, Gwen didn't waste any more time and opened his status panel.

Although Gwen estimated his cheat system wouldn't be that terrible, he didn't have a system sprite to tell him that this thing was only visible to him.

Gwen was very worried; if this partially damaged system was so bad that it only projected information onto his retina, would Kevin, who shared his vision, also be able to see it?

Chapter 59: Five Elements Mutual Generation

Perhaps in the future, once he possessed the strength to disregard all threats, Gwen might proactively reveal some system-related information to boost his allies' confidence.

But for now, Gwen didn't want the secrets related to the system to be known by outsiders.

Therefore, apart from a quick glance and an upgrade click during the battle when his vision was rapidly changing, Gwen hadn't opened his status panel again.

Only now, after blocking the connection with Kevin, could Gwen finally open the system with peace of mind.

And at first glance, Gwen couldn't help but be overjoyed—

"Gwen—Lv6 Strength—G278 Durability—F311 Agility—G211 Spirit—F323 Energy—D503 Energy System: None Development Abilities: Nourish Body with Soul, Nourish Soul with Soul, Ten Directions Bearing, Scorching Infinity Available: Five Elements Mutual Generation"

The battle with Ganesha had provided Gwen with a total of over a thousand attribute points after leveling up, which was equivalent to one or two months, or even longer, of his training. Naturally, Gwen was happy.

What made Gwen even happier was the flashing level next to his name, indicating an available upgrade—

Defeating Ganesha in conjunction with You Lan Dai Er had earned Gwen enough "Great Achievement" to level up again!

In addition, the newly appeared optional development ability also relieved Gwen's worry about not having any development abilities to choose from—

"Five Elements Mutual Generation..."

Muttering the new development ability in his mind, Gwen's gaze subtly shifted upwards, landing on "Ten Directions Bearing" and "Scorching Infinity" above, abilities developed from the Earth Shadow Stone and Fire Shadow Stone respectively.

Even though Gwen's understanding of the Five Elements theory was very limited, he knew that in the Five Elements Mutual Generation cycle, "Fire generates Earth."

But... he had obtained the Fire Shadow Stone back when he was Lv3. Why was "Five Elements Mutual Generation," which should have been derived from "Fire generates Earth," only appearing now?

As this doubt arose in his mind, several scenes suddenly flashed through Gwen's thoughts—

Beside him, the light of two Light Shadow Stones shone in response, their fiery red gradually weakening, while the earthy yellow grew more intense. A faint earthy yellow halo even appeared on the broken sword in his hand.

With just a glance, Gwen recognized this as the moment he had charged up his power to save You Lan Dai Er during the day.

Because Gwen's focus was entirely on the attack at the time, he hadn't noticed the changes in the Light Shadow Stones. Only his mental power had silently recorded this scene, which now appeared in his mind.

"Did I earn the recognition of the Light Shadow Stones because I was eager to save someone?

What kind of Ultraman selection method is this?"

Complaining inwardly, Gwen quickly took out the two Light Shadow Stones, holding one in each palm.

As expected, compared to the rough stones that only possessed slight heaviness and fiery characteristics before, these two Light Shadow Stones now felt completely different to Gwen.

The two energies, one heavy and one fiery, had clearly appeared within his perception, as if he could reach out and touch them, unlike before when they felt distant, as if separated by a thick barrier.

And as the two Light Shadow Stones entered his grasp, Gwen could feel a slight disturbance in the energy within his body.

Immediately, without Gwen's conscious control, the energy in his body automatically established a connection with the energy in the Light Shadow Stones, drawing the energies of heaviness and heat into his body.

!

Sensing this, Gwen's brow twitched. He immediately and carefully controlled these two energies, allowing them to proceed at a relatively slow pace, and quickly clicked to upgrade the "Five Elements Mutual Generation" that the system displayed as an option.

Although it seemed he had already achieved "Fire generates Earth" during the day, allowing these two energies to coexist, this was ultimately within his own body, and Gwen couldn't afford to be careless.

A moment later, under Gwen's careful control, the two streams of energy, one from his left hand and the other from his right, finally made slow contact.

Within Gwen's perception, the two energies, with their vastly different, and in some ways opposite, natures, disregarded their differences and met as if it were the most natural thing in the world, without any conflict.

Seeing this, Gwen finally breathed a sigh of relief and gradually increased the output of both energy streams until he completely let go, allowing the two energies to merge, flow through his entire body—

Gwen recalled Kevin mentioning that the energy from the Light Shadow Stone affected his entire being, from body to soul.

As the two energies merged, Gwen could distinctly feel the heavy earth attribute power gradually strengthening, while the scorching fire attribute power correspondingly weakened.

Clearly, under the "fire generates earth" principle of the Five Elements Mutual Generation, a portion of the fire attribute energy had transformed into earth attribute energy.

However, Gwen showed no joy at this development—

If all five elements were present, they would naturally form a stable cycle through the Five Elements Mutual Generation.

But the problem was that Gwen currently only possessed the Earth Shadow Stone and the Fire Shadow Stone; three elements were missing, making it unlikely to form a cycle.

Fortunately, as Gwen anxiously and carefully sensed with his spiritual power, within his body, which was almost entirely dominated by fire and earth attributes, he discovered a few wisps of energy distinct from the other two, yet connected, and rapidly growing.

"This is... the Five Elements Mutual Generation at work, using the existing fire and earth attributes to supplement the other attributes and establish a cycle?"

Rapidly analyzing the current situation in his mind, Gwen dared not relax his focus, carefully sensing the three energy streams and barely distinguishing their respective attributes.

However, in Gwen's perception, the metal attribute grew the fastest, followed by the water attribute, while the wood attribute could barely exist, progressing slowly.

"It seems that excessively strong earth and fire attributes are detrimental to establishing the cycle..."

Gwen frowned deeply as he analyzed this—

"While the strong earth attribute accelerated the growth of the metal attribute, the weak wood attribute couldn't keep up with the demands of the fire attribute at all, reaching a point where it could hardly survive..."

Analyzing this in his mind, Gwen quickly activated his spiritual power, attempting to adjust the cycle with external force.

However, perhaps because Gwen's spiritual power was not yet strong enough, or perhaps because the current Five Elements cycle was too nascent, Gwen could barely prevent or slow down the absorption of the wood attribute by the fire attribute.

After several failed attempts, Gwen hardened his resolve and simply returned the two Light Shadow Stones to his system inventory, cutting off the already powerful external support of the fire and earth attributes. Simultaneously, he continued to concentrate his spirit, going all out to adjust the energy within his body, striving to promote the growth of the still-weak three attributes—

Gwen had a premonition that if he could establish a stable Five Elements cycle within his body, it would bring him immense benefits.

Furthermore, Gwen also yearned for the ultimate power displayed when the Five Elements merged in the original world of the Light Shadow Stones...

Chapter 60: The Earth's Disposition is Kun, Thus the Superior Man Carries Himself with Dignity and Virtue.

It was late, past one in the morning.

On the hospital bed, Gwen suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with exhaustion, yet not a trace of sleepiness.

For several hours, Gwen had poured all his energy into balancing the Five Elements cycle within his body.

However, after more than a year, Gwen experienced the long-forgotten taste of effort not necessarily yielding rewards—

His spiritual power, which had almost recovered, was once again depleted to the point of being nearly gone, yet he still couldn't boost the weak wood attribute.

Although after severing the connection with the two Light Shadow Stones, the speed of the Five Elements cycle in Gwen's body had slowed considerably, allowing him to interfere to a certain extent.

However, even though the cycle speed had slowed, it seemed that due to the excessive transformation that had occurred previously, the fire attribute's pressure on the wood attribute had not ceased.

The wood attribute, as soon as it showed any sign of growth, was reaped by the fire attribute like chives, appearing to have no future.

Meanwhile, the nourished fire attribute continued to generate the earth attribute, making the already most robust earth attribute even more potent.

"Huuu..."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Gwen, mentally exhausted, shook his head.

The current situation was that brute force wouldn't solve the problem; he had to try a more strategic approach.

But the problem was that Gwen didn't understand traditional Chinese Five Elements theory, only the basic "wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood."

Even if he wanted to learn, being in the possibly monitored Destiny headquarters, and not wanting to attract attention due to any abnormalities, Gwen first needed to find an excuse...

Gwen tried to calm his agitated emotions, expanding his senses to compare the current situation with that of a few hours prior—

Although he couldn't quantify the strength of the five attributes, the cultivation of the "Spirit Awakening Scripture" allowed Gwen to easily retrieve his previous sensory results and compare them.

And this comparison, born out of helplessness, led Gwen to a new discovery—

Compared to before, the conversion rate of the fire attribute had actually increased?

And the reason was... the earth attribute continued to generate the metal attribute, supporting the establishment of the entire cycle, requiring the "fire generates earth" supplement.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Gwen—

"If we use chemical reactions as an analogy, then in the Five Elements cycle, each attribute is both a reactant and a product.

Moreover, judging by the state of the wood attribute, this reaction can even be considered reversible.

In that case, as long as the power of the earth attribute is increased, the conversion of the fire attribute will slow down, thereby somewhat reducing its harvesting of the wood attribute...

And perhaps 'Ten Directions Bearing' also implies carrying oneself with virtue and generosity?

Making the earth attribute the foundation that bears this cycle..."

With this thought, Gwen didn't hesitate. He took out the Earth Shadow Stone he had put away not long ago and began to absorb its earth attribute energy once more.

It's worth mentioning that, unlike before, when he could establish an energy connection but there seemed to be no reaction, the Light Shadow Stones now emitted a faint glow as soon as they appeared in Gwen's hand.

To make the glow, which couldn't be hidden even by his blanket, less conspicuous, Gwen had already turned on the bedside lamp above him.

As Gwen's Honkai energy continuously poured into the Earth Shadow Stone, and potent earth-attribute power was drawn from it, the light it emitted gradually grew brighter.

Anyone observant would have noticed something unusual at a glance.

However, the observant individuals who would be watching Gwen at this time had not yet returned to headquarters—

On the private jet returning to headquarters, Otto, who had changed into clean and tidy attire, tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, his gaze profound.

Although Raven, with her mere A-rank strength, was not something Otto paid much attention to, an A-rank combatant who did not belong to Destiny, was interested in Ganesha, an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and even dared to interfere…

Such a person, and what lay hidden behind them, was worth Otto's attention.

After a moment of simple thought, Otto arrived at two possibilities—

"Was it the work of the radical faction's executives in Anti-Entropy?

Or… a remnant of the previous civilization?"

Although a part of the reason for the North American branch's rebellion and independence years ago was their opposition to Otto using Valkyries, who bore Honkai energy within their bodies, as the main force/expendable material against Honkai, and their advocacy for mechanical forces represented by Titans to fight Honkai, that was merely the idea of the conservative faction now.

As for the so-called "radical faction" that joined in recent years, in Otto's opinion, they were nothing more than a group of ambitious schemers and clowns.

These people did not possess the integrity and principles of his dear old friends, who were so stubbornly principled. It was not surprising that they could create an A-rank through unscrupulous human experimentation.

However, compared to the disreputable "radical faction," Otto was more suspicious of the latter—

If the Anti-Entropy radical faction had indeed cultivated an A-rank, the first thing those ambitious schemers would do would not be stealing samples of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, but rather probing Destiny, or the conservative faction, in more sensitive areas…

After all, the leader of Anti-Entropy had been missing for some time…

In contrast, if it were an organization founded by other pioneers of the previous civilization—a faction Otto had been searching for without finding any trace of—it would not be surprising for them to use an A-rank combatant for such a purpose.