Chapter 35: The Power of Purification

The aircraft slowly landed and stopped at the restaurant's exclusive helipad. Ye Heng got out of the car first and walked around to the other side to open the door for him.

The moment Lin Yao stepped on the ground, he belatedly looked around. The unfamiliar lake, the unique shape of the lighthouse, and the elegant building built by the lake all told him that this was an unfamiliar place.

He frowned and turned his head to look at Ye Heng beside him, with obvious doubt in his eyes. His gaze paused on his face for a moment, as if silently asking, "Where is this place?"

Ye Heng caught the question in his eyes and said, "I see that you have used up a lot of mental energy in the test this afternoon, so I brought you here to eat something."

The evening breeze blew in with the moisture of the lake. He subconsciously raised his hand to block the wind for Lin Yao. "The food in this restaurant is quite good. It's suitable for replenishing energy."

Previously, they were flying smoothly in the aircraft. Although Lin Yao's eyes were always on the window, his mind was distracted by Ye Heng's words "someone will worry", and even his brain flew away. He didn't notice that the street scene had changed a lot.

Now that he had received the explanation, Lin Yao was stunned for a moment, and his tense shoulders slowly relaxed.

He was inexplicably nervous just now, and the Shasha on his wrist seemed to be relieved. The ice-blue leaves shook gently, and he stuck his head out to look around curiously.

"Come in, it's windy outside." Ye Heng's voice sounded above his head, with a hint of tenderness.

"Won't he go in with us?" Lin Yao pointed at the aircraft that was about to take off again. If he remembered correctly, the burly driver was probably not a real driver, but Ye Heng's subordinate.

"He will come to pick us up later!" Ye Heng said an explanation that didn't sound like an explanation!

Ye Mang: Ah! Right, right! I'm just a tool!

-

The interior of the restaurant is decorated in warm colors, and the chandelier casts a soft halo of light, making the wooden dining table glow with a warm luster.

The waiter led the two to a seat overlooking the lake. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows framed the entire lake view into a flowing painting, and the lighthouse in the distance cast a swaying spot of light on the water.

Ye Heng pushed the menu in front of Lin Yao and tapped the cover with his fingertips: "See what you want to eat."

Lin Yao's eyes swept across the exquisite cover of the menu, and he remembered when he came in.

In the recommended menu on the electronic screen, most of the scrolling dish names had unfamiliar interstellar ingredient prefixes, such as Alpha Nebula Spore Soup and Dark Matter Pickled Deep Sea Shells, which made him a little confused.

During the days he traveled through time, he either ate prepared meals at Delin's house or had standardized work meals at the White Tower. He had only been to a proper restaurant like this a few times.

Today, interstellar resources are richer than one can imagine, and their names are completely different. God knows which ones are hidden delicacies and which ones are minefields that will torture one's taste buds.

He gently pushed the menu back, his tone a bit frank and helpless: "You should do it." When he looked up, he happened to meet Ye Heng's eyes and added, "I'm not good at ordering."

Ye Heng looked at the honest dependence in his eyes, and the corners of his lips curved up imperceptibly. Even the movement of taking back the menu softened a little: "Okay."

After confirming the taste with Lin Yao, he lowered his head to open the menu and looked through it, his fingertips pausing for a moment on certain pages.

Then Ye Heng fluently named several dishes:

"Lava crab meat baked with spore powder, 30% interstellar chili pepper; black pepper grilled Nebula steak, kept warm on a volcanic rock baking sheet; spicy and sour crystal algae salad, topped off with ice dew fruit soup."

While waiting for the food, Lin Yao stared at the lake outside the window in a daze.

The murderous vines climbed up his wrist and onto the dining table, trying to get close to Ye Heng. It recognized Ye Heng's mental fluctuations, which were exactly the same as Mo Yun who played with him yesterday.

"Mo Yun can't come out to play with you for the time being!" Ye Heng looked at Sha Sha who hooked his little finger, and accurately understood that Sha Sha came to him because she wanted to play with Mo Yun. There was even a hint of doting in his words.

Shasha returned to Lin Yao's wrist helplessly, and Lin Yao flicked the leaf lightly: "Behave yourself."

Ye Heng looked at this scene and suddenly said something softly.

Lin Yao didn't hear clearly: "Hmm?"

"Nothing." Ye Heng picked up the water cup and took a sip, then looked away as if to conceal it, but his ears turned slightly red.

The appetizer of lava crab meat baked spore powder was served first. The dark purple spore powder was roasted until slightly charred, wrapped in orange-red crab meat, and the surface was covered with a layer of shiny lava sauce, exuding a rich aroma.

Ye Heng used his serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of crab meat and put it into Lin Yao's bowl. "Try this. Lava crabs come from the volcanic planet. The meat is firm, and the spore powder is just the right amount to neutralize the spiciness."

When the crab meat enters your mouth, the sweetness mixed with just the right amount of spiciness explodes on your tongue, and the soft and glutinous texture of the spore powder is the icing on the cake, as if a warm flame is burning on your taste buds.

Lin Yao subconsciously curled his eyes: "It's delicious, very flavorful."

He ate in a very delicate manner, yet with an obvious sense of satisfaction. His cheeks would bulge slightly when he chewed, as if hiding a round pearl.

Ye Heng was a little distracted, until Lin Yao picked up a piece of Nebula Beast Steak and put it in his bowl, and then he came to his senses. The steak was grilled to a crispy outside and tender inside, and the aroma of black pepper was fragrant. It was the signature dish marked on the menu.

"Try this too." Lin Yao's fingertips were still on the serving chopsticks, their fingertips as white as jade.

Ye Heng's Adam's apple rolled as he picked up the steak and put it into his mouth.

The tenderness of the meat mixed with the spiciness of black pepper and the sound of a heartbeat that spread out from nowhere creates a strange taste in the mouth.

When the main course, the Spicy and Sour Crystal Algae Salad, arrived, the waiter specifically introduced it: "This crystal algae comes from the northern icy sea. It's marinated with specialty Aurora juice and interstellar chili peppers. It retains the algae's sweetness while adding just the right amount of sour and spicy. It's very appetizing."

Lin Yao picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and was about to put it into his mouth when he suddenly thought of Chen Yan: "Have you been to the North?"

"Yes, I was stationed there for three years." Ye Heng's eyes softened. "The starry sky in the north is brighter than the central star, but it's too cold in the winter."

"I haven't been there." Lin Yao's tone was filled with longing, remembering that Chen Yan had previously told him about the place in the north where one could see star trails.

"Yes." Ye Heng watched Lin Yao unconsciously say the scenery that Chen Yan had described to him, saw the light in his eyes, and added, "When I have time, I can take you to see it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the piano music flowing in the restaurant reached a gentle passage, and it seemed as if tiny bubbles were bursting in the air.

Lin Yao swallowed the steak in his mouth and answered without hesitation: "Okay."

When the Ice Dew Fruit and Tremella Soup was served, Ye Heng scooped a bowl and pushed it in front of Lin Yao: "Ice Dew Fruit is picked from the Yunlu Star System. It clears away heat and relieves fatigue. It is a very good dessert after a meal."

The sweet fragrance mixed with the refreshing taste of ice dew fruit brings just the right coolness when it slides into the throat, instantly relieving the lingering spicy taste in the mouth.

When Lin Yao raised his eyes, he met Ye Heng's smiling eyes, in which his own shadow was clearly reflected, like moonlight soaked in lake water, so gentle that it made people's hearts tremble.

"Where are you planning to go with Shen Yan tomorrow?" Ye Heng asked casually.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe we'll go to the Starship Science Museum?" Lin Yao pondered. "He keeps talking about wanting to see the latest mecha models."

Ye Heng nodded. "The holographic projection there is quite good, it's worth a visit." He paused and pulled out a black badge from his pocket. "Here, show it and you can use the fast lane at most places on Central Star without having to queue."

The badge was engraved with intricate star patterns. Lin Yao recognized it as the exclusive emblem of the Ye family and quickly waved his hand: "No need! No need!"

"Here." Ye Heng pressed the badge into his palm, his fingertips carelessly brushing against it, bringing a tingling sensation. "I just don't want you to waste your time queuing."

Lin Yao pinched the slightly cool metal badge, looked at Ye Heng's serious eyes, and finally nodded: "Thank you."

Dinner slowly ended with soothing music. The waiter brought the after-meal fruit, a plate of interstellar strawberries, each one plump and big, red like a burning fireball.

Lin Yao picked up one and was about to take a bite when he suddenly realized that the stem was not removed cleanly. Just as he was about to pull it out, Ye Heng handed him a tissue and said, "Let me do it."

He took the strawberry, delicately removed the stem with his slender fingers, and when he handed it back, the strawberry was as red as a beating heart.

Lin Yao took it and put it in his mouth. The sweet and sour juice spread on the tip of his tongue, carrying the rich fruity aroma unique to interstellar fruits. Somehow, he tasted a hint of oversweetness.

The lake water outside the window gently laps against the embankment, as if accompanying this silent but warm dinner.

Ye Heng looked at the corners of Lin Yao's lips stained red by juice, his Adam's apple rolled slightly, and in the end he just picked up the napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth.

Some emotions, like the deepening night, can only spread quietly but cannot be achieved overnight.

-

The aircraft landed at the De Lin family's docking station. Lin Yao opened the door and just stood firm when he saw the housekeeper Zhan, who had been serving the old man for many years, waiting at the bottom of the stairs with two servants.

Butler Zhan was wearing a neatly ironed dark tuxedo, his gray hair was meticulously combed, and he had a standard smile on his face. However, compared to the grand ceremony when almost all the staff were present when Ye Heng sent Lin Yao here last time, today's scene was indeed much simpler.

"Master, Marshal Ye." Butler Zhan bowed slightly, his aged voice tinged with polite apology. "I'm truly sorry, but we've been so busy with our eldest daughter's wedding that Master and Madam can't get away. Otherwise, they would have come to greet her personally."

Lin Yao bit his lower lip and almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

He glanced at Ye Heng, who had followed him down, and wondered if Butler Zhan had done this on purpose. Mentioning De Linwei, his ex-fiancée, in front of Ye Heng, and speaking so naturally, wasn't an apology; it was a clear, well-placed apology.

Sure enough, Ye Heng's face was serious, his jawline was tense, and the air pressure around him suddenly solidified. Even Ye Mang, who had been smiling foolishly in the front driver's seat, stopped smiling and looked at Butler Zhan with a cold face, his eyes full of displeasure.

But Butler Zhan seemed completely unaware of the tense atmosphere and continued to speak awkwardly to himself.

"That's enough." Ye Heng's voice was as cold as ice, and he raised his hand to interrupt him. Without even a glance at Butler Zhan, he turned to look at Lin Yao, his tone slightly softened but still icy, "I'm going back first."

"Okay, be careful on the road." Lin Yao nodded in response.

Ye Heng didn't say another word, turned around and got on the aircraft.

Ye Mang glared at Butler Zhan fiercely, and quickly started the engine. The aircraft took off with a "hum" and disappeared into the night in a few seconds, leaving behind a stream of cold air.

The smile on Butler Zhan's face froze for a moment, then returned to normal. He turned to look at Lin Yao and said, "Young Master, it's windy outside. Would you like to go to the main courtyard and have a cup of tea first?"

"No, I have something to do and I have to go back quickly." Lin Yao shook his head and refused. He really didn't want to get involved in De Linwei's affairs. At this point, his second uncle's family was probably in the main courtyard.

Butler Zhan didn't force it and suggested considerately: "Then I'll have someone take you back?"

Lin Yao nodded immediately after hearing this: "Then I'll trouble Butler Zhan."

"It's my duty." Butler Zhan raised his hand to call a hover car, and the driver was already waiting in the driver's seat.

Butler Zhan opened the car door for Lin Yao and said, "Goodbye, Master."

Lin Yao bent down and got into the car, looking at the scenery rapidly receding outside the window. He secretly sighed that Butler Zhan was also a talent. He didn't know whether what he said was really confused or pretended to be confused, but since he could serve the old man for decades, he couldn't be a fool.

After getting off the car, Lin Yao thanked the driver and then returned to his own small courtyard.

He quickly went up to the second floor, and as soon as he stepped into the training room, he couldn't wait to sit down cross-legged and sink his consciousness into the sea of ​​​​spiritual consciousness.

As soon as he entered the spiritual sea, the scene before him made Lin Yao's heart tremble.

The body of Shasha has now grown extremely tall, with a trunk nearly twenty meters tall and straight, like a sharp sword piercing the sky.

It was originally a variant of the mountain banyan tree, and now it has brought the banyan tree's characteristic of forming a forest of one tree to the extreme. The crown is denser than before, like a huge umbrella, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.

The branches and leaves are stacked one on top of the other, and because energy is stored in the whorls, the crown is the original color of the banyan tree, a bright green.

In addition to the twenty aerial root vines used to transport energy, there are countless aerial roots hanging from the thick branches, some of which are as slender as silver chains, swaying gently in the dim light of the spiritual sea;

Some have already taken root in the ground beneath their feet and grown into new tree trunks, varying in thickness but all full of vitality.

These new trunks extend branches and leaves, connecting with the crown of the main trunk, forming a lush sea of ​​trees. From a distance, it looks like a small forest, which is spectacular.

The main trunk has also become much thicker. A new thread has been added to the three existing threads, and a strong purple light is flickering inside. This is the new energy that Shasha has awakened - the power of purification.

It wasn't that bright originally, but it was because Shasha swallowed up the purifying power left by Chief Wu Cang in the star crystal patterns that the energy was maxed out all at once.

Lin Yao's thoughts went back to this afternoon. He allowed the Chaos Belt to attack him just to find the source of that warmth.

Every attack, although violent, seemed to be guiding Lin Yao.

He was like a ship sailing in a storm, relying on the lighthouse of Shasha to gradually approach the direction of the purifying power.

After finally passing through the last layer of violent energy flow, Lin Yao finally saw the green light floating in the core of the chaos belt.

It was only the size of a fist, wrapped in countless tiny purple sycamore leaf patterns. Wherever the warmth it emitted passed, the disordered energy became docile.

But when Shasha was about to touch the green light, the purple leaves began to attack. Lin Yao then realized that it was still toxins. It was a purifying force intertwined with toxins, and they were even the source of the chaos belt.

Lin Yao originally intended to remove the toxins and retain the pure purifying power in the lines, but after years of mixing, the two forces had long been inseparable, and even the purifying power was preventing Lin Yao from removing the toxins.

There was no choice but to swallow it all, so Shasha didn't care about anything and absorbed the green light in big gulps. Finally, the entire green light and purple leaves merged into the circle of threads, and the deep purple halo was completely lit up.

The purifying power that originally belonged to Wu Cang was transformed, retaining its original power while being branded with the mark of killing.

The moment his consciousness was withdrawn from the sea of ​​​​spiritual consciousness, Lin Yao suddenly opened his eyes.

The electronic clock showed that it was already late, but Lin Yao rubbed his swollen temples and picked up the terminal anyway.

When the light screen lit up, he paused with his fingertips over the search box, and finally typed in the word 'Wu Cang'.

The page of the Star Network database slowly unfolded, and images from a hundred years ago flowed on the light screen with a slight graininess.

According to the information, Wu Cang, as the chief guide, was active during the Dark Energy Zerg War a hundred years ago. The guide's ability was the last line of defense, and his purification ability was a recognized miracle.

The records recorded the various miracles created by Wu Cang. From those miracles, Lin Yao also got a glimpse of where Wu Cang's purifying power was used.

The basic purification power is to purify the dark energy released by the Zerg, and Wu Cang's purification power has two more added on this basis. One is to purify and transform the Zerg's dark energy weapons, and the other is to purify the Sentinel's spiritual sea parasitized by the Zerg.

Now all of these have been inherited by Shasha.

The awakening of new abilities not only made it more powerful, but also made the connection between it and Lin Yao closer.

At the same time, Lin Yao also clearly felt that his mental power had improved. When he activated the purification power, the energy flowed more smoothly in his body, and his spiritual sea was fuller and more stable than before.

He concentrated on guiding Shasha to familiarize himself with his new ability, and repeatedly used his purification power to feel the changes in energy. Before he knew it, a long time had passed.

Only when he finally realized how tired he was did he get up, wash up, and prepare to go to bed.

Just as he lay down on the bed, Lin Yao remembered to check the information on his personal terminal. He remembered that when he checked Wu Cang, there seemed to be a message, but he didn't read it.

When the screen lit up, it displayed the message Ye Heng had sent an hour and a half ago: "Arrived."

He paused inwardly and quickly replied, "Sorry, I was busy just now and just saw the message. I hope you get home safely."

As soon as the notification that the message was successfully sent lit up, Ye Heng's message popped up, secretly saying that he was still so busy at night, and then said with a barely perceptible grievance in his tone:

"Butler Zhan is quite enthusiastic!"

Lin Yao looked at the words on the screen and instantly imagined Ye Heng's tense jawline. Although he knew he wanted to accuse Butler Zhan of being rude, Lin Yao couldn't help but want to tease him, so he replied:

"Why? Can't bring it up? Are you still attached to it? You looked quite cold at that time."

After sending the message, Lin Yao stared at the screen, imagining Ye Heng's expression when he saw the message. He couldn't help but curl his fingers to the corners of his lips, with a mischievous smile in his eyes.

The terminal was silent for a full ten seconds before Ye Heng's reply popped up. It was only two words, but it seemed like he had typed it out with gritted teeth:

"No."

Lin Yao laughed even more happily. Just as he was about to reply, the other party sent another message:

"It doesn't matter at all!"

Followed by an emphasized expression, as if shouting, or as if making amends for himself.

"Oh!" Lin Yao replied in a drawn-out tone, deliberately adding a raised eyebrow expression, "I didn't say you had any connection."

This time the terminal was silent for even longer, so long that Lin Yao thought Ye Heng would not reply, until he received a message:

"You are bad, go to sleep, good night."

Lin Yao looked at the sentence, which was full of grievance between the lines. It seemed as if he could see the person on the other side of the screen, and the cold and clear face was finally broken.

He smiled and shook his head, replying, "Good night."

Putting down his personal terminal, Lin Yao looked at the ceiling, his mind full of images of Ye Heng's stubborn and somewhat aggrieved look, and he couldn't suppress the smile on the corner of his mouth.

The tranquility of his spiritual sea and the warmth in his heart intertwined together, allowing him to quickly fall asleep. That night, even his dreams were filled with a faint sweetness.