Chapter 16: Xu Zhi’s Ability
After instructing her two familiars to return immediately, Xu Zhi opened the warehouse and clicked on the pink core. Since it was now in her possession, she naturally wanted to learn more about it.
When she selected the pink core, a word appeared beside it: [Heart].
“Heart?”
The name was puzzling.
After skillfully clicking to learn more, information about the Heart attribute appeared on the game screen.
Heart: The Guideline of Persistence and Continuation
It is the guideline for life, survival, and protection. It is the incessant beat of a drum and the dance’s rule, associated with music and the skin, as well as anatomy. In the face of adversity, it is unstoppable. It possesses an indomitable optimism and a determined spirit.
“Wow.”
The girl said “wow” without much emotion.
This was the most positive description of any attribute she’d encountered so far.
After reading the description, Xu Zhi began to understand why this attribute was called [Heart].
“It feels like a really useful attribute for the Spirit Body.”
If she had any gains when activating the Spirit Body, the persistence and protection of the [Heart] attribute might help her survive until the Spirit Body naturally dissipated.
However, it was still too early to think about this; she wasn’t planning to use the Spirit Body again just yet.
She now knew half of the eight attributes, and had a slight understanding of how to use the cores. Xu Zhi planned to trade this new attribute with Shen Jinwen tomorrow, hoping to make her agree to her request.
Later that night, even though Gouzi stared at her with longing eyes, trying to act cute, Xu Zhi only allowed Yi to eat all the Blade attribute cores.
It wasn’t that she favored one over the other; Xu Zhi felt mostly indifferent about her familiars. She was simply allocating the cores in a utilitarian manner. However, seeing Gouzi’s disappointed expression, she paused for a moment, then rubbed Gouzi’s head. The next second, Gouzi forgot its disappointment and began wagging its tail, eagerly jumping toward her, trying to lick her again without learning its lesson.
“Is this the enthusiasm of a puppy?”
Xu Zhi struggled to push Gouzi off and silently swore not to pet its head again!
After calming Gouzi down, Xu Zhi took out two Moth attribute cores.
“Four already, please, give me an ability!”
Perhaps her prayers worked; after consuming these two gray cores, Xu Zhi’s hallucination changed once again.
She no longer felt that she was closer to the candlelight, but something different happened:
A gray moth, as if lost, stopped heading toward the candlelight. Instead, it flew clumsily toward her.
Xu Zhi looked carefully. This moth was slightly different from the others. In simple terms, it looked more like an intricate gray butterfly than an ordinary moth.
The moth hesitated for a moment before fluttering its wings and drawing wobbly curves in the air. Eventually, it landed on the tip of her nose. Then, it lightly flapped its wings and transformed into a series of gray light spots, merging into her body.
In a daze, Xu Zhi seemed to see the dazzling candlelight flicker for a moment. She hadn’t had time to look clearly, but the next second, she regained her focus.
“…”
Xu Zhi was a bit confused. She had no experience with such hallucinations, so she didn’t know what had happened.
Luckily, she still had the game console!
Xu Zhi looked down at the game screen, and sure enough, a new narration appeared.
[In the old world, people used formless techniques to free their minds from the physical body, allowing them to transcend the material world and ascend to the astral plane, crossing the sea of dreams to reach the sun’s domain— the great beyond of dreams, where they obtained what they sought.
Now, biological beings can gain supernatural powers without the need for complex steps or strong beliefs, but they still must cross the sea of dreams. Reaching the sun’s domain remains an extremely difficult task.
And you have taken the first step. Although it seems you made a few mistakes, isn’t this the moth’s choice as well?
Change, fantasy, chaos, and secrets— you are their perfect embodiment.
Congratulations, you have gained the supernatural ability: Eye of Secrets.]
[The supernatural energy consumed when using this ability corresponds to its level. The stronger the ability, the more energy it requires, and the Eye of Secrets is not weak.]
[Eye of Secrets: When you use supernatural power, no secret can escape your eyes. The secrets you can perceive will increase as your supernatural level rises.
But you cannot view the secrets of beings stronger than yourself. Be careful when using your eyes. When they see something they shouldn’t, you will face backlash.]
“Did I go down the wrong path?”
Xu Zhi was initially surprised but then thought that since no one had taught her, it was normal to make mistakes.
Then, she was pleased to have finally gained a supernatural ability, even though it wasn’t offensive. Still, it was better than having none.
“Eye of Secrets… How do I use it?”
Xu Zhi furrowed her brows slightly and concentrated. She easily noticed something different. When she focused her attention on her eyes, she could sense something extra within her body.
She couldn’t explain the sensation clearly, but it felt like something was flowing through her, providing “energy,” like blood circulating through her veins. It also felt like a natural part of her fingers, something she could easily attach to her eyes, but it wasn’t very strong. The energy would only last for about three seconds.
Xu Zhi tried to look at Gouzi. Although she was more curious about the game console, she remembered the warning—be careful when using your eyes—so she didn’t want to recklessly use the ability. Clearly, the game console knew far more secrets than she did, and she didn’t want to do something foolish.
Looking at Gouzi, she still saw the same dog, but at its heart, a faint yellow flame was burning. The color was identical to the Blade attribute core. It seemed she could now use the Eye of Secrets to perceive the attributes of living beings. This was something that pleased her because attributes were obviously extremely important. Being able to detect someone’s attributes immediately gave her an advantage. And this was just the beginning—once she grew stronger, she would be able to perceive even more secrets.
While observing Gouzi, Xu Zhi couldn’t see her own eyes, but they appeared foggy, like a layer of mist had clouded them. After three seconds, the supernatural energy inside her was depleted. The faint yellow flame in her vision disappeared, and her pupils returned to normal.
A sense of weakness, similar to when she had been seriously ill, spread through her body. It was the feeling of having exhausted her supernatural energy.
If she were an ordinary person, this debilitating sensation would probably drive her crazy, like every bone in her body was itching. But Xu Zhi was used to it by now.
She even calmly set the game console down and tucked herself into bed, enduring the discomfort as she fell asleep.
After all, she had lived like this for many years.
Before she fell asleep, Xu Zhi vaguely thought:
“I should keep one of the Moth attribute cores as a backup.”
It would be used to replenish the supernatural energy for the Eye of Secrets.
After all, who would want to endure this feeling if they didn’t have to?
