Awakening

Over the past few hours, he had not stopped sorting through the virus inside Ruan Qingzhu's body.

By now, the virus concentration in her body had returned to normal. If there were no issues with her genes, a single dose of the special medicine would be enough to see her safely through the viral transformation.

Unfortunately, the girl's genetic problems were just as severe.

"This is troublesome... Qingzhu's genes have already been transformed halfway by the virus, but her body simply doesn't have enough energy to sustain the genetic metamorphosis. Nor can energy be supplied externally, since that would damage genetic stability."

Wu Ming found himself in a difficult position and could not help sighing.

Even nutrient solution had to be digested by the body first. Yet Ruan Qingzhu's genes were currently maintaining a fragile balance, and any change in her body could shatter it.

If he wanted to safely help the girl complete her genetic metamorphosis, he would have to directly deliver the energy her body needed into her cells without passing through her digestive system.

For Wu Ming himself, this was easy enough to accomplish by attaching glucose, but Ruan Qingzhu had no cheat ability to use.

He frowned in thought. Then inspiration struck, and he opened the Equipment Bar again, fixing his gaze on a certain entry.

[Unique Talent: Body Energy +10 (Consumable, solidifies after 10 minutes)]

"It only says Body Energy..." Wu Ming murmured inwardly. "Does that mean this energy isn't exclusive to me? Could it be transferred to someone else as well?"

In fact, he could sense that the energy solidified by the Equipment Bar existed within his body, though he could not determine exactly where it was stored.

But he could control that energy. With a single thought, he could easily send it into his own cells.

Then what if he took a different approach and delivered that energy to someone else... Could that work?

"No matter what, it's worth trying."

Wu Ming quickly focused his mind, using his thoughts to mobilize the energy reserves in his body. Through the area where he was in contact with Ruan Qingzhu, he tried to transfer the energy into her body.

But he soon shook his head. "No. This energy can't leave my body directly."

Afterward, he tried several other parts of his body, but none could send the energy outside.

However, after so many failures, Wu Ming had figured out the reason.

"The energy can't leave my body because it lacks a medium."

He did not know what state this energy existed in within his body, but one thing was certain: its range of activity was limited to the inside of his body.

To leave his body smoothly, it had to rely on another force.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly had an idea. He remembered a substance that could travel back and forth between their bodies.

The RR Virus!

"That's right. I can control the RR Virus to circulate through both Qingzhu's and my own bodies. And viruses are matter too. If they can carry energy... wouldn't they make the perfect transmission medium?"

With that thought, Wu Ming perked up and immediately began experimenting.

Holding his breath, he carefully gathered a small cluster of viruses from within his body. He then wrapped a thread of stored energy inside them and slowly pushed them into Ruan Qingzhu's body through the spot where their skin touched.

He observed closely and found that once the viruses safely reached the target cells, they quickly merged into them.

At that instant, the energy wrapped inside was absorbed by the cells as well. The previously shriveled cells immediately became plump again.

This result delighted Wu Ming. It meant that using viruses as energy carriers was indeed feasible.

"Since it works, then I can go all out."

This time, he was no longer so cautious. Instead, he mobilized large amounts of viruses in his body, carrying streams of energy as they poured continuously into Ruan Qingzhu through their tightly pressed skin.

He could clearly sense that wherever the energy went, those once-shriveled cells became full at once, like parched earth receiving long-awaited rain.

Of course, compared to the trillions of cells in the human body, this amount of energy was still a drop in the bucket.

There was no helping it. Although he controlled quite a few RR Viruses, the viruses themselves were tiny and simply could not carry much energy.

Even if he mobilized every virus in his body, they could only transport an extremely small amount of energy each time.

Fortunately, the viruses moved fairly quickly. A round trip took only a few seconds, allowing him to make up for it with sheer repetition.

Time slipped away amid the repeated transport. Outside the window, afternoon turned to dusk, and dusk sank into the dead of night. The room was so quiet that only the faint breathing of the two of them remained.

Wu Ming had already lost count of how many trips he had made. His arm gradually went numb, while the energy reserves in his body repeatedly swung between depletion and replenishment, cycling who knew how many times.

The good news was that Ruan Qingzhu's condition was gradually recovering. This time, it was genuine recovery, not a final flicker before death.

Because the energy her body had lacked was being replenished, her genes began continuing their metamorphosis under the virus's influence.

Though limited by the efficiency of energy transmission, the process lasted several hours, it continued progressing steadily.

By this point, 90 percent of Ruan Qingzhu's body had completed its metamorphosis. Once the final 10 percent was finished, she would awaken.

And that final area was her brain.

But when faced with this last part, Wu Ming ran into trouble.

"The consumption is way too high."

Wu Ming felt as though Ruan Qingzhu's brain were a bottomless pit. It continuously absorbed the energy he had painstakingly transported, yet showed no sign of being filled.

In fact, he had finished helping Ruan Qingzhu transform her body two hours ago, and he had spent all the remaining time stuck here.

"Up to now, the energy absorbed by her brain alone has already surpassed the total absorbed by every other part of her body combined."

Wu Ming's eyes were full of astonishment. "Over these past few hours, I've transferred more than 300 units of energy. Her body transformation consumed 120 units, and all the rest went into her brain."

This figure was terrifying!

When he had undergone metamorphosis himself, he had used less than 80 units of energy. Even counting the food he ate halfway through, the total had probably only just exceeded 100. That was merely one-third of Ruan Qingzhu's amount.

But Wu Ming also knew that her physical condition had been far too terrible. Most of the energy she absorbed had been used to repair cellular damage, and only what remained went toward genetic metamorphosis, so it was not quite as excessive as it appeared.

Yet even after deducting the portion used for repairs, the energy Ruan Qingzhu had spent transforming her body's genes was still comparable to his own.

As for the brain... To be honest, Wu Ming's brain had also undergone metamorphosis, but it had accounted for only a small portion. Other than some improvements to his memory and mental processing speed, there had not been much change.

"With such astonishing energy consumption, Qingzhu's innate brain capacity must be considerable. She might even have a chance of awakening Spiritual Force."

As Wu Ming continued supplying energy to the girl, he silently pondered this in his heart.

Spiritual Force.

By his own assessment, he most likely did not possess that talent. Now that he saw his childhood sweetheart had a chance to awaken it, he could not help feeling somewhat envious.

After all, Spirit Readers had an overwhelming advantage in the early stages.

To say nothing else, the ability to fly alone put them above countless Martial Artists.

Wu Ming naturally coveted such a powerful ability.

Unfortunately, some things could not be forced.

Just then, an unusual movement from Ruan Qingzhu pulled him from his thoughts.

Wu Ming lowered his head and looked. He could clearly sense that the energy he was sending over was now being instinctively rejected by the girl's body.

This meant that Ruan Qingzhu's brain had finally completed its metamorphosis and no longer needed additional energy.

"But it doesn't seem like anything has changed?"

Wu Ming withdrew the excess viruses from the girl's body and observed her face, but he could not sense any sign that Spiritual Force had awakened.

But upon further thought, that was normal. Although the energy consumed during Ruan Qingzhu's brain metamorphosis seemed considerable, it was only around 200 units.

That amount of energy would naturally be a lot for an ordinary person, but what did it amount to for a Spirit Reader?

"...That's true. Spiritual Force isn't so easily awakened. Even Luo Feng hadn't awakened it when he was still a Quasi-Martial Artist."

"Qingzhu only shows signs of it at most. For her to truly awaken it, she'll probably have to wait until she absorbs cosmic energy and enters the Martial Artist Realm."

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Wu Ming slowly withdrew his hand, flexed his stiff shoulders, and let out a long breath.

No matter what, he had finally saved his childhood sweetheart. Today's goal had been fully accomplished.

Just then, Ruan Qingzhu's eyelashes trembled lightly.

Her eyes slowly opened, hazy as though she had just woken from a long dream.

Then, at a glance, she saw Wu Ming's figure.

Instinctively, she called out softly.

"...A-Ming?"