June 29th.
When Ling Yi woke up from the energy repair process, his first feeling was hunger.
I'm very hungry.
The kind of hunger that feels like you haven't eaten for three days.
He lay on his bed in his apartment bedroom, sunlight streaming through the gaps in the curtains, drawing a golden line on the floor.
My body no longer hurts.
The fractured humerus healed, the ribs were set, the lung closed, and the spleen was repaired.
Seven thousand two hours of energy repair, plus the consumption of twenty thousand Energy Points from the system, pulled his body back from the brink of collapse.
He tried clenching his right fist.
The power has returned.
but...
He closed his eyes and Perception the superpowers within his body.
Early stage of Sixth Tier.
It's half a small rank lower than before the war.
Although the third seal has been lifted, the body prioritized recovering from Physics damage during the repair process, and its super energy reserves only recovered to the level of the early stage of the Sixth Tier.
To climb back to the mid-stage of the Sixth Tier or even the Seventh Tier requires time and more energy.
He sat up and stretched his shoulders.
My right arm is still a little stiff, but it doesn't affect my mobility.
He walked out of the bedroom and stood in the living room.
The White Bone Demon sat on the sofa, her left arm in a sling, staring blankly out the window.
Chu Ran lay face down on the dining table, asleep.
A high school Physics textbook lay open in front of her, and a pen was beside her.
She was studying while waiting for Ling Yi to wake up last night, and she fell asleep while waiting.
Ling Yi's gaze swept around the living room.
Bai Suzhen is not here.
Where is Bai Suzhen?
The White Bone Demon did not turn back.
"In the study."
Her voice was flat, but Ling Yi detected a very faint emotional tremor.
The White Bone Demon rarely shows any emotion.
The thing that could make her voice resonate must be something extraordinary.
Ling Yi walked towards the study.
The study door was ajar.
He pushed open the door.
Bai Suzhen sat at her desk, a thick stack of notebooks spread out in front of her. She was writing, the pen nib scratching on the paper.
Her the Back looked no different from usual—straight, dignified, and meticulous.
But Ling Yi noticed two details.
First, her hair has turned a bit whiter than before.
It wasn't completely white; rather, her originally jet-black hair was now streaked with strands of silver.
It looked like it was mixed with specks of frost.
Secondly, the superpower she possessed dropped from the half-step Sixth Tier to the Third Tier.
Ling Yi stood at the doorway, silent for five seconds.
Bai Suzhen heard the door open and turned around.
She saw Ling Yi standing at the door, a gentle smile on his face.
"Master, you're awake."
Her voice was as calm and composed as usual.
But Ling Yi noticed the dark circles under her eyes—very deep, very deep, as if she hadn't slept for several days.
"Your superpower..." Ling Yi began.
"I've fallen to the Third Tier." Bai Suzhen's tone was very calm, as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.
The gem in the anchor device backfired on the super-core when it shattered.
"The core is damaged, and the rank cannot be maintained."
Can it be restored?
Bai Suzhen remained silent for two seconds.
No.
Two words, light yet heavy.
"The damage to the super core is permanent." She put down her pen and placed her hands, folded, on the table.
"It's like a shattered mirror; even if you piece the fragments back together, the cracks will always be there."
"My superpower core is that shattered mirror, Third Tier, which is the maximum I can reach in the Yu Sheng."
Ling Yi walked up to her and looked at her.
Bai Suzhen's face remained gentle, but the fine lines around her eyes were a bit deeper than before.
Her silver hair shimmered slightly in the sunlight, as if the years had prematurely left their mark on her.
It's probably not as simple as a drop in realm.
"Master, there's no need for that. I wouldn't exist in this world if you didn't do that. It was you who gave me true life."
"Being alive is already a blessing for me!"
Ling Yi remained silent.
Instead, they were thinking about how to restore Bai Suzhen to her original state.
Ling Yi has never been one to give up easily.
Countless memories from across the worlds are intertwining in my mind.
Ling Yi believed that a solution would eventually be found.
"I'll finish tidying up what I have on hand first."
Bai Suzhen pushed the notebook on the table in front of Ling Yi.
"This is an analysis of the organizational structure of the Kami Cult that I've compiled over the past two days."
"I've finished organizing the interrogation records of the seven prisoners, and with the information fragments in the Crystal, I've compiled a power structure diagram of the Kami Cult."
Ling Yi glanced down at his notes.
The handwriting was dense, neat, and clear.
In the two days following her fall from grace, Bai Suzhen did not wallow in self-pity or become depressed or despondent!
She did everything she could to the best of her ability.
Ling Yi put away the notebook, turned around, and walked out of the study.
He stopped when he reached the door.
Bai Suzhen.
"Hmm?"
"Once this is over, I'll help you find a way to recover."
"Don't forget, I still have the system."
Bai Suzhen watched his the Back, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"Okay, I trust my master."
afternoon.
living room.
The four people sat around the dining table.
On the table lay Bai Suzhen's organizational structure report of the Kami God Cult, as well as Ling Yi's analysis of fragmented memories extracted from the system.
Ling Yi sat in the main seat, his left hand supporting his chin, his right hand drawing lines on a piece of paper.
"Let's take stock of the current situation first," Ling Yi said.
"First, the Purification process has already been terminated in Dafeng City."
"Bai Ye shut down the Crystal, the anchor point device is disabled, and Dafeng City is safe in the short term."
"Secondly, seven days later, the Kami Church will deploy a new anchorage in the new city."
"In other words, the crisis won't disappear after seven days; it will only shift."
"Third, the state of our team."
His gaze swept over the three people.
" White Bone, how much has your shoulder injury healed?"
"Seventy percent." The White Bone Demon stretched her arms.
"Even with Fifth Tier Self-Healing ability, it will take three days to fully recover."
Where is Chu Ran?
Chu Ran sat up straight. " My Divine Power was 70% depleted, but I've recovered most of it. I should be able to recover to over 80% today."
Ling Yi nodded.
"I'm currently in the early stage of Sixth Tier, half a minor tier lower than before the battle, but three layers of the seal have been removed. As long as my super energy recovers, I can return to the mid-stage of Sixth Tier or even higher at any time."
He drew a timeline on the paper.
"Over the next seven days, our tasks will be divided into three lines."
"The first line, restored."
"Everyone, focus on restoring your condition."
"The second line is defense. Although Dafeng City is temporarily safe, we cannot let our guard down."
"Bai Ye said it's a 'temporary termination,' not a 'permanent termination.' If he changes his mind, he could come back at any time."
"Chu Ran, you're in charge of daily reconnaissance. Report immediately if you discover any unusual superpower activations."
"I understand," Chu Ran said.
"The third line is about stirring things up."
"Seven days later, the anchor point for the new city will be deployed. We don't know which city it will be, but the White Night's movement pattern is regular."
He would choose a densely populated city with weak superpower defenses.
" Bai Suzhen, can you deduce the next target city based on the known distribution of the Kami God Sect's strongholds?"
Bai Suzhen opened her notebook and found a hand-drawn Map.
"Among the interrogation records of the seven prisoners, three mentioned the Kami Cult's operations in the China region."
She pointed to several marked points on the Map.
Based on the location and spacing of these markers, I speculate that the next anchor point is most likely to be deployed at...
Her finger stopped at a certain spot.
Lin Hai City.
Ling Yi looked at that spot.
Lin Hai City is Sea City China with a population of about six million. It is about 800 kilometers away from Dafeng City.
Why Lin Hai City?
Three reasons.
"First, Lin Hai City has a large high school— Lin Hai No. 1 High School—with over four thousand students."
"Wait a minute!" Ling Yi frowned.
Why does it have to be a school?
"It must be high school?"