After washing away the sticky, scorching sweat, Mu Xiao changed into a fresh, dry undershirt and sat on the sofa, thoughtfully watching An Rongru as she cleared away the dishes.
An Rongru sensed Mu Xiao's gaze resting on her through her Mental Power. Her lovely face flushed like red jade, and she felt both shy and sweet inside. Yet she was not worried that he would do anything improper, because if he had truly harbored such intentions, he would not have let her off so easily just now.
He seemed like a husband admiring his wife's beautiful figure...
That was the feeling Mu Xiao gave An Rongru. A warm sweetness filled her heart. After Mu Xiao's unexpected understanding and consideration earlier, she had practically given her heart to him.
Deep down, she had long since acknowledged Mu Xiao as her man. All that remained was an opportunity to break through the barrier between them.
Admitting her feelings after only one day and abandoning the wariness she had carried for years might have seemed absurd. But after facing death several times in a single day, any woman would have found it hard to endure. Besides, she had first developed a favorable impression of Mu Xiao before her feelings grew; it was not some even more unbelievable love at first sight.
Circumstances could turn many impossibilities into possibilities, including a person's emotions and feelings...
After putting away the dinnerware, An Rongru prepared to wash up in the bathroom as well. Mutant Monster meat contained abundant energy, and she had eaten quite a lot. Her body had been greatly nourished, her blood and vitality ran hot, and she had naturally broken into fragrant sweat. Moreover, the suggestive atmosphere from before had stirred her blood and aroused her desires, leaving the hidden place between her thighs damp and slick. The warm itch made her want to spread her legs and touch herself.
"Come here first. Don't go wash up yet, or you'll just have to wash again later." Mu Xiao sat on the sofa, his expression solemn.
"Is... is something wrong?" An Rongru's pretty face glowed warmly like jade, as though Mu Xiao had seen through the embarrassing thoughts in her heart and deliberately spoken those suggestive words.
But didn't he say he didn't want to force me? Why did he suddenly...
When An Rongru noticed Mu Xiao's serious expression, she realized that she had misunderstood again. She felt deeply ashamed of how oversensitive she had become today.
She quickly collected her chaotic thoughts, walked over, and sat before Mu Xiao.
"Have you noticed any changes in your body?" Mu Xiao asked more specifically. "Now that you've become a New Human, have you discovered your Innate Ability? For example, my Innate Ability is 'Telekinesis.' It can move objects and can also be used for invisible attacks."
As he spoke, he moved a finger. A light current of Telekinesis swept aside An Rongru's bangs and glided over her soft cheek, almost like a flirtatious caress. An Rongru clearly felt an invisible hand stroking her face and immediately understood that Mu Xiao was demonstrating his ability, though she still could not help blushing.
"If my Telekinesis had not been gentle just now, but in an aggressive state, it would be like this..." Mu Xiao formed a pinching gesture with his thumb and forefinger. His gentle Telekinesis seemed to transform into cold, hard iron chains that viciously coiled around An Rongru's slender, delicate neck. Her breathing was instantly cut off, pain appearing on her face. Her hands instinctively reached for her throat to save herself, but there was nothing to grasp. The suffocating sensation grew stronger and stronger.
Seeing her pained and panicked expression, Mu Xiao released his Telekinesis. "If you encounter this kind of invisible attack in the future, don't panic. You only need to gather the power of your blood and vitality, along with your mental will, then erupt with it. Use that instant burst of strength to break free. But it's best to escape the moment your body shows anything abnormal. Don't give your enemy a chance to fully activate their ability."
He continued, "New Humans and Mutant Monsters with Telekinesis are rare. But if you are unlucky enough to encounter one in battle, and you are at the same level, running is still the safest choice. Once you escape the reach of their Telekinesis, its restraint will weaken. If the ability user wants to pursue you, they must consume more of their own energy to maintain its strength. The longer you drag it out, the more advantageous it becomes for you. Of course, that depends on you being faster than the enemy. Otherwise, the result will be the same."
"I'll do my best to learn how to fight. I hope I can help you in the future." An Rongru rubbed her aching neck, but she did not blame Mu Xiao for his rough demonstration. "Good. It's good that you have that awareness." Mu Xiao lightly tapped his thigh and said calmly, "Next, I'll try to awaken your Innate Ability as a New Human and determine what type it is. But during the process, you may feel extremely terrible. Still, everything has its pros and cons. If we successfully awaken your Innate Ability, you'll have another means of protecting yourself. And if you can hold on through this process, your will shall become more concentrated, which will also benefit the Life Detection ability you obtained earlier. Most importantly, when you face danger in the future, you won't be left helpless. You'll have the courage to face every bloody battle head-on."
Mu Xiao's eyes were calm and still, like ancient wells too deep to see the bottom of—dark and mysterious. "Will you accept this process? Once you do, what I'm about to do may seem cruel to you, and you may even become afraid of me..."
"I accept!" Determination appeared on An Rongru's face, and she answered without the slightest hesitation.
Beneath her gentle, charming appearance was a tenacity as resilient as a rose.
The terrifying dangers she had faced today far surpassed anything she had experienced in her life before. Her former status and position had seemed so fragile in the face of the world's disaster. That boundless fear and helplessness had made her fully understand how powerless and weak one was without strength. Her life was not hers to control; she could not even choose to kill herself. There had only been the deeply silent despair of death.
An Rongru did not want to feel that cold, helpless despair ever again. Her heart was filled with a thirst for strength. How could she possibly refuse Mu Xiao's suggestion?
After a moment of silence, Mu Xiao saw that her mind was made up and nodded inwardly. But next, he had to deal her a devastating blow. He hoped she could endure it and complete an initial transformation of the mind, so that she would no longer be timid in battle.
"No matter what happens later, remember this: guard your heart, strengthen your will, and believe in your own ability..."
Mu Xiao's voice grew colder and colder, as though he were an emotionless machine.
The instant An Rongru heard the three words beginning with "hold fast," she had no time to ponder the deeper meaning within them. In the next moment, a terrifying pressure, demonic and monstrous, surged before her. It was violent as a raging sea and heavy as a mountain, crashing into her head-on, crushing and shaking her, as though it would utterly obliterate her mind and will into nothingness.
Mu Xiao's battle pressure from his Veteran Evolution Level had already become his innate aura. If fully released, it was enough to crush the will of any human alive now, leaving them without the courage to resist him and causing them to collapse from within.
Especially now that he had truly become a New Human, the strange devouring trait contained within his bloodline made the terrifying pressure around him feel even more tangible. His savage aura condensed into waves of horrifying mental fluctuations. Behind him, it seemed as though a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had gathered. In the endless darkness of some unseen void, a gigantic ferocious beast seemed to lurk indistinctly, giving An Rongru the real sensation that she could be torn to pieces at any moment.
The reason he had not used this aura while fighting Mutant Humans was actually to temper his own mind further. After all, he had once possessed an extreme temperament. If he mixed this terrifying pressure into battle, it would be easy for him to fall back into his former extreme fighting style. Thus, he tried not to use pressure to assault his opponents unless it was a life-or-death crisis.
At that moment, An Rongru's face turned deathly pale, her lips bloodless, and cold sweat poured down her body. Her mind was overwhelmed by fear, her pupils nearly scattering, while all four limbs trembled without stop. She was like a tiny boat amid a stormy sea, battered again and again by enormous waves. Her life and soul swayed precariously, almost scattered and sunk into the endless darkness of an abyss.
Just as An Rongru was about to collapse, countless thoughts surged up, and Mu Xiao's words suddenly echoed in her mind.
When a person was desperate and helpless, every sensation became magnified countless times as they desperately sought a sliver of hope.
An Rongru was in exactly that state. In the flash of insight just before her mind collapsed, she seized upon the three words Mu Xiao had told her to remember.
Guard your heart, strengthen your will, believe in your ability!
An Rongru's nearly scattered pupils gradually focused into a determined gaze. She did not fear, did not panic, and clenched her teeth as she resisted.
"Oh?"
Mu Xiao raised his brow and added a little more pressure, bearing down on An Rongru's hastily gathered willpower in an attempt to crush and disperse it. With that additional measure of pressure, An Rongru felt as though another mountain had been placed upon her body, as if she were about to be crushed into pieces.
Calm down and recall the meaning of his words. It will definitely help me hold on.
Sweat streamed down An Rongru's forehead like a brook. Her mind felt ravaged by twisting pain, negative emotions constantly surged forth, and her body began to twitch faintly and unnaturally. Yet she still exhausted herself to endure, repeatedly recalling the meaning behind Mu Xiao's words.
She did not know whether an hour had passed, or a minute, or perhaps merely a few seconds.
An Rongru's endurance had its limits, but at the edge of that limit, she understood Mu Xiao's words.
To guard one's heart was to refuse to let external emotions influence one's mind, holding fast to a belief in perseverance without giving up.
To strengthen one's will was to remain unyielding, unflustered, unafraid, and unwilling to bow before terror, treating life and death as insignificant.
To believe in one's ability was to trust one's own strength. Only one's own ability was the best weapon for self-protection, and the companion that would never betray them.
Although An Rongru understood the meaning behind those words and pushed her Mental Power to its limits to resist Mu Xiao's pressure, under his absolute oppression, she was still a small boat upon a raging sea, in danger of capsizing at any moment. Moreover, truly attaining the state of mind contained within those three words was an immensely difficult task.
It required experiencing countless dangers before one could possess such fearless courage and a heart capable of great sacrifice.
Unless one attained a profound state of complete enlightenment, it was simply impossible to possess such a mindset.
Even Mu Xiao had his own fears and could not be entirely fearless. But his will was tougher than that of many others. His fierce spirit was his courage, and most importantly, he believed only in himself.
In truth, Mu Xiao mainly wanted to help An Rongru temper her resilient will and spirit, allowing her to quickly master the use of Mental Power for Life Detection while reducing her fear of the bloodshed of battle.
Mu Xiao's terrifying pressure receded like the tide. Across from him, An Rongru was drenched in sweat, as though she had been pulled from the water. Even the athletic jacket she wore was soaked through, clinging tightly to her skin and outlining the full, upright curves of her chest. As she panted deeply, her ample breasts rose and fell, trembling with a soft, suffocating fullness that made one ache to grasp and knead them with both hands.
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