Cheng Li looked at Yuan Mu’s thoroughly satisfied expression and suddenly felt a little awkward. ‘Did I look like this too when I absorbed metal essence?’
Yuan Mu opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them. “What is this?”
“You can call it an ability.” As Cheng Li spoke, she drew a piece of metal from the ground into her hand. “Watch carefully.”
She placed the metal on her palm and activated her ability, controlling it into all kinds of shapes. That still wasn’t enough. With another thought, she directed the piece of metal to hop onto Yuan Mu’s hand.
Yuan Mu’s pupils abruptly widened. Almost instinctively, he reached out and grabbed the little piece of metal that was bouncing around.
“You try it too,” Cheng Li said.
Yuan Mu glanced at her before lowering his gaze to the metal in his hand. “How?”
Cheng Li was stumped. After thinking for a long while, she finally said, “We’ll figure it out slowly after we get back. Learn to walk before learning to run.”
Yuan Mu nodded, his eyes brightening. “Then let’s go absorb more metal essence?”
Cheng Li pressed a hand to her forehead. Was he getting addicted to this?
The two of them stayed inside the mine tunnel until nightfall. By the time Uncle Zhao’s communication request came through, neither of them felt remotely satisfied yet.
The place where Cheng Li and the others lived used to be the engineering team’s office building and dormitory during the mining operation. The dormitory had been opened up and renovated, and from the outside, it looked like a small Western-style villa.
Cheng Li’s room and Yuan Mu’s were next to each other, separated by only a single wall.
After taking a shower, Cheng Li bit down on a nutrient solution pouch and began studying on StarNet. The interstellar education system only had three stages: elementary school, middle school, and university. The entire process lasted thirteen years.
Cheng Li was currently studying elementary school coursework.
On the other side of the wall, Yuan Mu lounged against his bed, turning a piece of metal over and over in his hand as he studied it.
Thinking back to all the “surprises” Cheng Li had given him today, he knew that if she didn’t trust him deeply, she never would have done any of it.
A faint smile curved Yuan Mu’s lips. He knew Cheng Li was avoiding his feelings, avoiding him, but he wasn’t in a hurry. Time revealed a person’s heart.
What he needed to do now was improve his abilities. His ability had allowed him to glimpse another kind of “possibility.”
Over the following days, Cheng Li and Yuan Mu spent their days in the mine tunnels and returned to their separate rooms at night. One studied on StarNet, while the other researched how to control metal with his ability.
It only took Yuan Mu two days to make the metal in his hands perform all kinds of tricks, dealing a heavy blow to Cheng Li’s confidence. Back then, it had taken her a full ten days to reach that level!
However, Yuan Mu still could not enter his mental sea.
“Maybe it’s because you used to be a sentinel,” Cheng Li said.
Yuan Mu stared at her fixedly, looking somewhat pitiful.
Cheng Li gritted her teeth. “I’ll teach you how to cultivate spiritual power.” She was even teaching him the secret technique she had kept hidden away!
Only then did Yuan Mu smile. “Alright.”
A month passed. Cheng Li’s ability had recovered to Level Two, and Yuan Mu was not far behind. He had also reached Level Two.
Still, his spiritual power cultivation progressed more slowly, which finally allowed Cheng Li to regain a tiny shred of confidence.
“Levels Three and Four are a watershed,” Cheng Li explained. “Before Level Four, you can advance by absorbing external energy. But from Level Four onward, advancement depends entirely on constant combat, personal comprehension, and talent.”
Yuan Mu nodded thoughtfully.
“I heard from Uncle Zhao that you had someone build a training room?” Cheng Li suddenly changed the subject.
“Yes. It was finished yesterday.” Seeing the eager look on her face, Yuan Mu immediately had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, Cheng Li’s next sentence was, “Let’s spar.”
The two of them headed to the training room.
“You’re missing a leg and I’m missing an arm, so I won’t hold back,” Cheng Li declared boldly.
“You still have one arm. I’ve lost both legs,” Yuan Mu argued.
“You’re a man. I’m a woman.” Cheng Li refused to back down.
Yuan Mu’s mouth twitched. “Fine.”
Knowing Cheng Li’s strength, Yuan Mu silently prayed she wouldn’t beat him too badly.
The result, however, disappointed him. Not only was Cheng Li ruthless, she practically beat him half to death. He could not help suspecting she planned to kill him outright and monopolize both his assets and his mine planet!
He was the First Seat of the First Military Academy. When had he ever been reduced to such a miserable state?
As Yuan Mu endured the beating, he forced himself to stay calm. He might have lost his legs, but his hands and brain were still intact.
Gradually, he went from only being able to dodge and take hits to occasionally fighting back. He continuously adapted to his body, slowly learning how to maximize his strengths and avoid his weaknesses.
With a thunderous bang, Yuan Mu was slammed viciously into the ground by Cheng Li.
“Stop. I can’t do this anymore,” Yuan Mu begged for mercy.
“A real man can’t say he can’t do it,” Cheng Li blurted out.
Yuan Mu’s face instantly darkened. Struggling, he tried to climb back up, only to collapse again the next second.
Cheng Li walked over to him, shaking her head with a look of pity. “Looks like you really can’t do it anymore.”
Utterly devoid of the will to live, Yuan Mu closed his eyes.
When Uncle Zhao saw Yuan Mu bruised black and blue and battered beyond recognition, he froze in shock. “Young Madam was this ruthless?”
Yuan Mu weakly nodded. “She said they’re all superficial injuries, and lying in the treatment pod for a while will fix everything. Uncle Zhao, did she see you buying the treatment pod?”
Uncle Zhao looked full of regret. “I should’ve hidden it better.”
Yuan Mu: “……..” He had a feeling that for a very long time to come, his nights would be spent inside the treatment pod.
Later, the facts proved his premonition correct.
Another two months passed. Cheng Li and Yuan Mu’s abilities advanced to Level Three, while Yuan Mu gradually went from passively taking beatings to actively attacking. The two of them were slowly beginning to look evenly matched.
On this day, after sparring for over an hour yet again, the two collapsed onto the floor side by side.
“You’re really impressive. Your improvement speed is terrifying,” Cheng Li praised sincerely.
“You’re not bad yourself. You’re getting stronger and stronger,” Yuan Mu replied honestly. He wasn’t the only one adapting to a disabled body. Cheng Li was doing the same.
Cheng Li smiled. An itch rose from the back of her neck. That patch of skin had become increasingly sensitive lately, and she didn’t dare scratch it. “I’m using the treatment pod first tonight.”
Yuan Mu did not mind. “Go ahead. Change out of your wet clothes quickly, or you’ll catch a cold.”
“You should take that advice yourself,” Cheng Li said as she pushed herself to her feet. Just as she took a step forward, the world suddenly spun before her eyes, and she collapsed back onto the floor.
Yuan Mu was startled and hurriedly lunged over, cushioning her fall with his own body. “What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously.
Cheng Li’s gaze was unfocused. It took her several seconds before she managed to say, “I suddenly lost all my strength.”
“Did you overexert yourself? I’ll call Uncle Zhao in.” As Yuan Mu spoke, he reached to contact Uncle Zhao, but in the next moment, he froze. “What’s that smell?”
It felt somewhat familiar.
Like the fresh scent of grass after rain, only stronger than the last time he had smelled it.
Yuan Mu’s eyes widened abruptly. “Don’t tell me this is your pheromone scent?”
“Probably.” Cheng Li stared speechlessly at the ceiling. The day had finally come. She was about to differentiate.
Yuan Mu inhaled deeply again, and an inexplicable sense of satisfaction rose in his chest. Even though he was no longer a sentinel, he could still smell her pheromones. That was wonderful.
Uncle Zhao carried Cheng Li back to her room, and the treatment pod was moved there as well.
“I’m going back to take a shower first, then I’ll come stay with you,” Yuan Mu said. Guides had sensitive senses of smell and taste, and he did not want his scent to bother her.
Curled up beneath the blanket, Cheng Li felt every inch of her body itch, ache, and throb with pain. The sensation was even worse than being stabbed with a knife.
It was unbearable!