Carrying the Vicious Energy back to the herbal courtyard.
It was already morning, and Wu Hen was extremely tired, feeling that sleep was the best defense in this world affected by Dark Radiation. Even a life evolved like his could hardly resist physically—staying up all night would age him by years.
"Did you get the Yuan You?" Ding Di, who had gotten up early for porridge, asked upon seeing Wu Hen return in the early morning.
"Yeah, I felt a bit groggy on the way back, I'll take a nap first," Wu Hen said, lying down on the bed.
"It's not just sleepiness, you've been infected by otherworldliness. The toxins in your body are accumulating. If you continue staying here, not only will your host fail to evolve, but it will easily fall into abnormal mental states, eventually becoming a Lost One," Ding Di warned Wu Hen.
"Oh, I see. No wonder I feel worse every day. Now that I have the Yuan You, I'll go back to my place... But what about my host after my soul leaves? Won't it become a Lost One?" Wu Hen asked.
"That's okay. You go back to your place; he will stay here and work for me. If anyone comes looking for you, I'll just say you're not feeling well and are in recovery," Ding Di seemed quite familiar with the condition of the Awakener.
"Then that settles it; my host will enter managed mode," Wu Hen said.
"You don't have to come back," Ding Di said mildly.
"That won't do; it's already Lost. And someone once told me that all hosts are one's past life enduring various cycles of suffering in the human world. I must complete the cycle and guide them back. For me, that is also a form of cultivation," Wu Hen said seriously.
After all, as a Spirit Awakened form, he retained some emotions and memories; moreover, guiding back a Lost One could be traded for blessings from Nuwa Yan.
"As you wish, I will take good care of it while you're away," Ding Di nodded, indicating that Wu Hen should hurry back to his world, lest the infection worsen and hinder his future evolution and growth.
Wu Hen settled into his bed, then crushed the Yuan You he held in his hand.
A small incident occurred when he crushed the Yuan You; the Vicious Energy within transformed into a pair of bloody hands that grasped Wu Hen's throat, attempting to attack the soul summoned back by Nuwa God End.
However, a Spirit Butterfly emerged from within Wu Hen's soul and directly chopped at the offending hands. The dense hostility quickly subsided, rapidly absorbed and purified by the chilling Demon Sword Concubine, allowing Wu Hen's soul to leap successfully across the spatial boundaries, flying towards Nuwa God End, who was approaching from the Cang Chu Divine City.
Back in his homeland, Wu Hen immediately felt the Yuan You Energy surging within him, his eyes subtly changing, gaining an additional circle of iris.
This iris was blood-colored and, as Wu Hen fully activated his Spiritual Vision, the entirety of Silver Dome City suddenly became a massive grey silhouette. Within that silhouette, he could clearly see streaks of firefly lights flickering and weaving through various parts of the city.
Initially, Wu Hen didn't understand what these fireflies represented, but noticing that most of these were Awakeners walking in the otherworldly manner, he quickly realized that these were likely souls, like himself, who had obtained Yuan You and been summoned back to their original bodies by Nuwa God End!
If those gathering Yuan You Energy in the otherworldly walks were likened to diligent little bees, they were the ones collecting nectar and returning to the life nest.
He could actually see their soul fireflies!
"Have I gained the Netherworld Eye?" Wu Hen was somewhat surprised.
Indeed, Yuan You was a remarkable thing, especially for evolving Perception, granting some special abilities.
"Does this mean I can see some special Evil Spirits, possessing the Eyes of Golden Flame on that land?" Wu Hen thought to himself.
Content with his gains, Wu Hen was pleased.
However, the fatigue from otherworldly walking hit him, and after waking, he fell asleep again, needing to replenish his Essence Qi through sleep.
After a day's rest, Shen Wenhai informed Wu Hen that the Spiritual Energy Nuwa God End had absorbed in the Three-color Mountains and Seas was now nearly saturated, ready to provide Wu Hen with a potent blessing.
Shen Wenhai had promised to upgrade Wu Hen's Perception.
"Have you decided which Perception to strengthen, auditory perhaps?" Shen Wenhai asked.
"Vision, I think. Since I awakened in the land of Da Xuan, Spiritual Vision proves more useful. Let my vision evolve to Fourth Rank first."
"Alright, Fourth Rank Spiritual Vision. That is indeed helpful in the otherworldly contexts, easily penetrating many low-dimensional disguises, deceptions, traps, and substances that defy common understanding," Shen Wenhai said.
Wu Hen proceeded to Wood Cloud Top and reached Nuwa Yan.
Under Nuwa Yan, Wu Hen received the Divine Realm's blessing, having just offered a high-quality Yuan You. Simultaneously, he sensed a pleasure emanating from Nuwa Yan, as wind brushed over those Core Butterfly Leaves, sounding pleasing like chimes.
Wu Hen closed his eyes, quietly sensing everything around him.
After reaching the Spirit Fusion Realm, Wu Hen could also clearly "see" those invisible Spiritual Factors swirling around Nuwa God End. They were invisible small wood spirits, diligent and loyal, clearing the rotten skin and branches for Nuwa God End and removing the withered leaves, carefully nurturing every newly sprouting bud...
Compared to the frail and tired state of Nuwa God End when he first saw it, it was now rejuvenating and bursting with renewed vitality.
This brought Wu Hen great satisfaction, as his own efforts were part of it. Regardless of the form life took to survive, the Nuwa God End simply wished for humanity to continue. What in this world is not eroded by time? Life too will one day decay like an old tree, but that does not mean life vanishes; seeds of little trees are scattered in every corner of the earth, some lying in rocky soil, some perhaps carried further away in the stomachs of animals, others traveling with the wind and reaching new places over mountains...
Opening his eyes, Wu Hen's pupils were still brown, but his irises hid a different world—a microscopic world, a dimension where Spiritual Factors and spiritual lifeforms were active.
In the past, Wu Hen could only see with his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and touch, but as his perception had heightened, he could now observe the workings of this microscopic world, which also followed certain natural laws, merging with everything in this universe.
The philosophy of Xuanzhen always mentions the revival of Spiritual Energy.
Now Wu Hen could clearly see how they emerged from nature, like swarms of Spirit Butterflies, or diligent crawling green ants, or omnipresent fireflies, present in wind, in water, in the earth... When they massively gathered together, forming empires, that was the macrocosmic revival of Spiritual Energy, a Dark Matter Spring Eye erupting, a mass of elemental energy being born.
"They move with regular patterns, which means I can follow their trajectories to find Spiritual Fertile Lands, to find Dark Matter Spring Eyes," Wu Hen thought with immense joy.
Fourth Rank Taste and Fourth Rank Vision had interconnected, granting him the ability of "Dividing Meridian and Positioning Acupoints," and Cang Chu Divine Realm was clearly a fertile ground of Otherworldly dimensions, where he could collect the Spiritual Factors he needed everywhere.
"The trouble is, this Spiritual Fertile Land is property of the Da Xuan Dynasty; unauthorized collection would lead to being hunted down by them. Da Xuan's technology is extremely powerful, and being fully wanted by them is a headache."
"Maybe I should cooperate with Levi and Fan Ke. They have legal collection permits; I can help them find Spiritual Fertile Lands, and we can split accounts fairly. They can expand and strengthen the town, while I evolve into a higher form of life."
"Yes, that's a good plan. Once they become stronger, they can be my allies in the Cang Chu Divine Realm."
Soon, Wu Hen had made up his mind and decided to settle in Prison Town for now, collaborating with the somewhat reliable Levi and Fan Ke.
We would need their legal identities for collection, and they could rise from being small-town mayors to higher positions, overseeing a larger Living City.
It would still take a month or two for Nuwa God End to reach the waypoint in Cang Chu Divine Realm.
Wu Hen could also use this precious time to evolve to a Seventh Rank Physique.
"I'm currently at Sixth Rank. Once I bring Bai Luobo back into the Divine Realm, I can evolve to Seventh Rank."
"Of course, in the meantime, Bai Luobo must absorb a substantial amount of Dark Energy, merge with my essence, and voila—a Seventh Rank big shot, a high-quality man in the Cang Chu Divine Realm!"
"But that sun, what exactly is it?"
"It looks exactly like High-dimensional Yuan You, how can I bring it down, then nourish Little Yi with it?"
"Little Yi reaching the next realm is the key to whether I can punch the Human Emperor and kick the God Emperor in the Cang Chu Divine Realm, forcing someone like Beidou Saint Luo Girl to bow her head!"
Wu Hen knew well the difference between big and small kings.
Yet, his understanding of the Da Xuan Dynasty was still limited; the ultimate goal was that Big Sun, and even if he had to devour it, he needed to climb step by step up the mountain of Da Xuan's technology, reaching high enough into the heavens to drag it down!
Though a person is at home.
But the path of evolution was pressing; Chief Li had also told him that there were numerous powerful beings in Cang Chu Divine Realm, used to living arrogantly and domineering lives. Going to a more splendid realm and playing a subservient role was exceedingly uncomfortable for them.
"It's been about half a month now, the contamination from Otherworldly Dust has mostly been cleansed."
"Otherworldly Dust, activate!"
Wu Hen put on his Virtual Iris, and his spirit entered another world.
At home, Yu Yi was quite surprised.
It was rare to see Wu Hen so diligent; usually, every time he returned from otherworldly travels, he would be useless at home for months, needing his meals brought right to his bed, preferably being fed directly.
It seems that people often mentioned Cang Chu Divine Realm—it really was a more prosperous, higher civilization of the Human Clan, making even the always crippled-spirited Wu Hen feel the pressure. He only came back to catch his breath before heading off to the stars to fight across the universe!