Covenant of Mutual Devouring
The tiny glimmer of firefly light, like a stone dropped into an ancient well, rippled through the still lake of Xiang Jinyang's heart before ultimately being swallowed by a deeper coldness and emptiness. Only a strange, tingling itch remained, lingering at the very surface of the core of the rules, leaving him at a loss.
He suddenly closed his eyes, no longer looking at He Yuan's face with the evil smile, trying to immerse all his mind in the restoration, and use absolute rationality to cover up the disturbance that should not exist.
However, collapse is easy, reconstruction is difficult. The damage to Jintian Realm was far more severe than he had anticipated. The ancient shackles at its core, though temporarily dormant, acted like a massive, energy-sucking black hole, exacerbating his already slow recovery process. This was not to mention the fundamental chains of rules completely disrupted by the two collapses; repairing them would require a vast amount of computing power and energy.
He attempted to draw upon the spiritual energy of the Jintian Realm, but found it hopelessly inefficient. Most of the spiritual energy that flowed into his body was wasted due to conflicts and incompatibilities between the rules, leaving only a tenth. At this rate, recovering enough to reconnect to the main world and fulfill his duties would likely take centuries.
A hundred years... who knows how many variables the outside world will bring. Those loopholes in the rules that might arise if he loses control, those devils who are eyeing him covetously... A cold anxiety gnawed at him.
At this moment, a pure, efficient, and ice-cold orderly energy flow, like a precisely calculated stream, quietly passed through the "backdoor" interface that had not been completely closed and slowly injected into his dried-up core.
Xiang Jinyang's body stiffened and he suddenly opened his eyes.
He saw that He Yuan had sat opposite him at some point, with one hand supporting his chin and the other hand casually hanging in the air. The silver energy flowing from his fingertips was firmly connected to the origin interface that he had been forced to open before.
"You're having such a hard time sucking it up. Let me help you," He Yuan said casually, but his eyes held the critical eye of a technician viewing inefficient equipment. "The energy conversion rate is so low. It's such a waste of resources."
The feeling of the energy pouring in was still vivid—smooth, efficient, and unobstructed, as if it were tailor-made for him. The weakened core of rules, like a long-awaited rain, instinctively and greedily absorbed it, even emitting a subtle, satisfied tremor. The repair progress, which had previously stagnated, began to advance at a visible speed.
A mixture of comfort and humiliation once again surged through Xiang Jinyang's heart. He wanted to refuse, to cut off this gift that felt like a gift of alms, but his body honestly clung to the efficient energy supplement and refused to follow the instructions issued by his brain.
He could only sit there stiffly, enduring this contradictory nourishment, his face pale and his lips pressed into a cold straight line.
"Don't act like I'm forcing you." He Yuan scoffed, but the energy output from his fingertips remained steady. "This is called mutual benefit. The faster you recover, the sooner I can get rid of this 'trouble' of mine, or..." He dragged out his words, a cunning glint in his eyes, "...so that you can withstand my next 'research'."
These words were like an icicle, piercing the faint illusion that had just risen in Xiang Jinyang's mind. He suddenly looked at He Yuan, his eyes suddenly cold. "You still haven't given up exploring the taboo?"
"Give up? That's so boring." He Yuan admitted frankly, even with a hint of excitement, "Such an awesome encryption lock, I feel uncomfortable if I don't unlock it and see what's hidden inside." He looked at Xiang Jinyang's instantly tense body and frightened eyes, and added slowly, "But, let's not move for now. Wait until you're tougher. It's boring now because it breaks at the slightest touch."
This "promise" wasn't exactly comforting, but it strangely relaxed Xiang Jinyang's frayed nerves. At least... for the time being, he was safe.
Energy continued to flow in. As his condition slowly recovered, Xiang Jinyang's perception became clearer. He suddenly realized that within that influx of energy, there seemed to be some extremely subtle, cold "information fragments" that did not belong to him.
Those fragments were not intentional messages, but more like the "attributes" of the energy itself, like mud and sand in a stream, quietly settling into the core of his rules through the interface.
He suddenly "looked" at the fragments——
Those are some extremely basic, yet extremely profound...rule application techniques.
How to compress energy more efficiently. How to maintain the rules with minimal consumption. Even... how to bypass some unnecessary rule checks and directly access the underlying permissions...
These techniques were completely different from the ones he had used for billions of years. They were simpler, more direct, and even... had a bit of a rebellious and unconventional air to them. Yet, they were incredibly efficient!
Xiang Jinyang was shocked!
He is teaching me? Why is he teaching me?
Beyond shock, an instinctive rejection followed. This is a heresy! A perverse path that goes against the orthodox way of heaven!
But he couldn't deny the astonishing efficiency behind those techniques. Compared to his massive, sophisticated, yet energy-consuming orthodox methods, these techniques were like refined, practical codes that abandoned all flamboyant forms in pursuit of the ultimate effect.
"...Why?" Xiang Jinyang's voice was dry, filled with incredible confusion. How could this being who delighted in spying and destroying others take the initiative to share this?
He Yuan seemed to see through his thoughts and said lazily, "Don't be so self-indulgent. I just see that your operating efficiency is too low, wasting the energy I worked so hard to convert, and it's an eyesore." He paused, a malicious smile curling up at the corner of his mouth. "Besides, raising you to be stronger will make future 'fights' more interesting, right?"
It's another such specious and misleading statement that's hard to tell true from false!
Xiang Jinyang fell silent. He no longer resisted the "information fragments" that flowed in with the energy, and even began to absorb and understand them involuntarily and passively.
A strange feeling spread in his heart.
He was like a student who had only studied orthodox mathematical theory and was exposed to those ingenious and practical folk speed calculation techniques for the first time. Although he felt that their methods were not right, he could not help but be secretly shocked by their efficiency.
He could even feel that his originally rigid and redundant way of operating rules began to undergo extremely subtle but irreversible optimization under the subtle influence of these "wild" techniques.
This process brings with it a sense of unease about being "contaminated," but it is also accompanied by a secret pleasure of actually improving one's strength.
At this moment, He Yuan suddenly exclaimed "Huh", frowned slightly, and there was an extremely subtle fluctuation in the energy output of his fingertips.
Xiang Jinyang noticed it immediately and looked up at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked unconsciously, only to realize with a startled realization that his tone held a faint hint of... concern.
He Yuan didn't notice his abnormality. He just curled his lips and said unhappily, "Nothing. This body's foundation is too poor. The energy conversion rate has reached its upper limit. Tsk, what a trouble."
He withdrew his hand, disconnected the energy connection, and seemed a little bored.
Without that high-efficiency energy injection, Xiang Jinyang suddenly felt a strong sense of emptiness, and his recovery speed slowed down significantly. He looked at He Yuan's dissatisfied expression, and an absurd thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Maybe... he wasn't the only one who needed energy.
The power of this otherworldly soul seems to be limited by the shackles of this body.
Silence fell again.
But this silence was different from any before.
An invisible bond, quietly woven from the exchange of energy and fragments of knowledge, has closely linked the two people together.
A symbiotic bond.
It is also...a bond of mutual devouring.
Xiang Jinyang slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands, which seemed to have regained a bit of strength and had a faint silver light flowing at his fingertips.
He absorbed the other's energy. He learned their techniques. His recovery depended on them. He even... began to get used to their presence.
This deeply bound relationship made him feel unprecedented panic, but it was also mixed with a hint of... morbid peace of mind.
At least, this dangerous virus will not leave easily, or... destroy him, before he fully recovers.
He raised his head and looked at the still broken silver dome with a complicated and indistinguishable look in his eyes.
He Yuan, on the other hand, began to experiment with great interest with the information about several weak nodes of the external sect's formation that he had just vaguely sensed from Xiang Jinyang through energy feedback. He gestured with his fingers in the air, as if planning the next "test".
Prisoners and guards. Viruses and administrators. Students and teachers. Prey and hunters.
The boundaries of identity become blurred at this moment.
In this isolated and ruined place, a symbiotic dance begins with coercion and calculation, a mixture of curiosity and fear, and full of danger and temptation.
It has already begun quietly.
The quietly changing way power flows is like a planted seed that will eventually trigger unpredictable storms in the future.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
