Chapter 280: Advancement and [Moth]
As her level rose into an entirely new tier, the long-festering injuries within her body seemed to begin healing.
Of course, this did not refer to simple physical wounds. It was the deeper, more insidious injuries she had sustained while escaping the Federation—damage caused by extraordinary abilities and attribute conflicts. Those injuries had long suppressed her body’s recovery and were the reason her eyes still suffered from extreme nearsightedness.
Now, as her life level once again returned to the stage of a Longevity-level extraordinary, she could clearly feel her physical strength increasing.
At last, she no longer had to drag around the fragile body of an ordinary person, constantly wary that an unguarded strike might shatter her outright.
In fact, as the hidden scars buried deep within her flesh gradually dissolved, Xu Zhi could feel her body strengthening almost second by second.
Every cell seemed to be splitting and reinforcing at rapid speed.
The transformation lasted for about half an hour. When it finally ceased, her outward appearance remained unchanged—but the Xu Zhi of now was on a completely different level from the one thirty minutes earlier.
She looked at the heavy wooden desk in front of her. Extending a single finger, she pressed down lightly.
As if poking tofu, she left a clean finger-sized hole in the tabletop.
“Mm… that should be about right?”
She hadn’t used much force. If she wanted to, she could probably crush someone’s throat bone with ease.
Her speed had improved significantly as well. When she faced Chun Ming earlier, standing still had not only been unnecessary—it had also been partly because her running speed had still been that of an ordinary person. Against an extraordinary, that was too weak. She had simply chosen not to move.
Now, she could likely dart behind him and seize his neck before he even had time to react.
Previously, Chun Ming’s flames had burned away part of her flesh within seconds. Now, even if she let those flames continue burning, she likely wouldn’t suffer the slightest injury.
Of course, Chun Ming’s flames would grow stronger as his level rose. At his current stage, though, they were not much stronger than ordinary fire.
Xu Zhi estimated that while her physical strength had not yet returned to its former peak, it was already enough to overwhelm the vast majority of extraordinary students in the academy.
And she could sense that her body’s potential had only been tapped at the tip of the iceberg. The residual damage within her had not been fully cleansed. After all, her body and circuits had once been utterly shattered in that battle—how could such devastation be completely healed so easily?
Moreover…
During the reconstruction process, every single cell in her body seemed to have changed.
All except one thing.
The mark in her palm—the one that came from “Midnight”—remained unchanged.
The strengthening of her body undoubtedly reduced many of her worries. No matter how powerful one’s extraordinary ability might be, a frail body was always a fatal weakness.
After inspecting the changes to her physical state, she turned to the main focus—
Authority.
She had once possessed this extraordinary ability, so she didn’t need to “read the manual” again. She simply examined its current strength carefully.
Compared to the decisive battle in the Federation, her Authority was far weaker now.
Of course, that was because her current extraordinary level was still too low.
But now she fully understood how to use this ability.
If Xu Zhi were to explain Authority in simple terms, she would say:
The right to connect to all things—and to control all things.
An extremely powerful ability. Almost bug-like.
Even after witnessing more extraordinary abilities and seeing a broader world, she still found it astonishing that such a power had appeared in someone who, at the time, hadn’t even been particularly strong.
This was truly an ability whose usage depended entirely on the user’s imagination.
After all, she had once used it to connect directly to the Rules themselves.
Even if they had only been fragmented Rules, it was enough to demonstrate Authority’s terrifying potential.
Perhaps one day, she could connect to true, complete Rules.
Of course, that would depend on having sufficient extraordinary level and energy reserves. Her current self was nowhere near capable of that.
Aside from that, after advancing into Longevity, nearly all her abilities had risen dramatically. Even her already enormous spiritual power had increased further.
“…Does this count as cheating?”
After all, her mental strength had already been comparable to a Named-level extraordinary. Now it had risen again along with her advancement.
Was she exploiting some kind of loophole?
In any case, she could truly be described as “reborn.”
After finishing her inspection, Xu Zhi stood up and stretched lazily. Her bones cracked sharply with the motion. She clenched her fists and casually threw a few punches, stirring faint gusts of wind in the air.
“Feels good.”
Time to begin constructing the [Moth] circuit.
She had just leveled up—her mind was at its most vibrant.
Without hesitation, she took out the lowest-grade [Moth] attribute core.
Though she had once been intimately familiar with this attribute, in a world where the Rules were now complete and stable, she wasn’t certain whether she could still wield [Moth] while already possessing [Lamp].
There was doubt in her heart—but that didn’t stop her from preparing to “court death.”
The moment she held the [Moth] core, she could faintly sense the abundant extraordinary energy of the attribute within. The fluctuation felt familiar.
But when she swallowed the core, that familiarity instantly turned into pain.
Xu Zhi had never imagined that one day the extraordinary energy of [Moth] would cause her pain.
It was like swallowing countless razor blades.
As soon as the foreign extraordinary energy entered her body, it began clashing with the abundant [Lamp] energy within.
Fortunately, for someone who had endured countless trials, this level of pain was tolerable.
And unexpectedly, she discovered something.
The [Lamp] energy in her body did not swarm forward like a mortal enemy the instant it sensed [Moth]. It did not erupt into chaotic battle immediately.
Instead, it only retaliated when the [Moth] energy flowed into its territory.
Moreover, her [Lamp] circuits remained steady and unmoved—showing no panic or rage at the intrusion.
“…There’s hope.”
Perhaps because she had once possessed both attributes simultaneously, her [Lamp] had grown somewhat accustomed to [Moth]’s aura.
Unlike when other attributes entered her body—triggering violent, boiling rejection—this time the resistance was far milder.
That was undoubtedly a good sign.
