Chapter 24: Eaten?

"Kid, you..."

"Are you all right?"

When Chu Yi decided to take Fisher Tiger with him to investigate the hub of the Void Rift—and incidentally complete the special awakening mission issued by the system—he used the Asura Eye to manifest the power of the Human Path. He enveloped himself first, then extended the shroud to Tiger, preventing Tiger’s consciousness from being "frozen" again by the mysterious force within the rift.

While protecting himself alone against that mysterious power was well within the capacity of Chu Yi's current soul energy, adding Tiger to the mix was a different story.

The pressure on Chu Yi was immense.

After only traveling a short distance with Tiger, Chu Yi’s face turned deathly pale, looking as if he had just recovered from a severe illness. Seeing him in such a weakened state, Tiger grew worried, his brow furrowing as he looked at Chu Yi with genuine concern.

Chu Yi, however, simply smiled lightly in response to Tiger’s words.

"Sorry, Tiger, I made you worry. It’s true that I didn't think this through. I didn't expect the mysterious power inside the Void Rift to be so bizarre, nor did I realize that protecting someone else with my own ability would cost me ten times the energy."

"But there's no need to worry about me, because..."

"Heh, destruction leads to rebirth!"

Chu Yi offered Tiger a rare, mischievous grin.

Immediately afterward—

*Whoosh!*

Maintaining the Human Path's protective shroud around Tiger, Chu Yi used "Soru" to flash toward a Fishman crew member whose consciousness was frozen. He then used his Human Path ability to dissolve the "ice" on the crew member's mind.

*Hum!*

As the eerie purple light of the Asura Eye flared, the "ice" on the crew member’s consciousness vanished. Just as when Chu Yi had saved Tiger, the mysterious force that had frozen the crew member was shattered by the Human Path ability and then drawn into Chu Yi’s body, merging with his own soul energy.

The first time he "devoured" this mysterious force, Chu Yi had been too shocked and afraid to properly sense what it felt like.

But this time was different.

Having learned from saving Tiger, Chu Yi was not only more familiar with the process, but he could also "savor" the feeling of the mysterious energy merging with his soul.

What did it feel like?

If Chu Yi had to use the most accurate adjective, it was an ethereal, heavenly sensation.

As the mysterious force from the Void Rift poured into him, Chu Yi felt his soul energy grow stronger—the surge was significantly greater than the last time. A refreshing, cooling sensation enveloped his soul; had he not been concerned about losing his composure in front of Tiger, he would have let out a triumphant shout.

However, the pleasure of the soul energy strengthening came and went quickly.

As the growth of his soul energy stabilized after fully "devouring" the mysterious force, a faint smile played on Chu Yi’s lips. He thought to himself:

"Destruction leading to rebirth—it can basically be applied to the cultivation of all abilities. Exhausting my soul energy to the limit and then absorbing this mysterious force to replenish it... my soul energy is indeed growing faster. It won't be long before I won't have to worry so much about using the Human Path's power, because by then, I will have an inexhaustible supply of soul energy!"

"But..."

His smile faded as he narrowed his eyes. "There is no such thing as a free lunch. While absorbing this mysterious energy is a way to grow stronger, I still don't know if there are any side effects. I should try to... only absorb this energy when I really need to."

He nodded to himself, resolving to resist the temptation of easy power.

*Huh?*

Something strange happened.

Normally, once the "ice" on the Fishman crew member's mind was broken, he should have awakened, just like Tiger. But despite Chu Yi breaking the seal, the crew member showed no signs of waking up. Chu Yi wondered if a certain level of innate strength was required to regain consciousness after the "ice" was shattered in the Void Rift.

In such a dangerous environment, however, they couldn't hope to solve every mystery.

既然 (Since that was the case)...

He would leave the crew member for now. Guided by the system’s markers, Chu Yi and Tiger soon arrived at the hub of the Void Rift.

Initially, due to the rift's mysterious nature, Chu Yi had expected the hub to be accompanied by strange phenomena, or at least something visually staggering.

Unfortunately, when they finally saw it, all their imaginations were shattered.

What did the hub look like?

As soon as they arrived, they saw a beam of white light extending from bottom to top, as if it pierced the very heavens of the Void Rift. And floating inside that white light was...

A battery!

That’s right! It was the kind of battery one could buy for a pittance at any supermarket before Chu Yi had transmigrated.

Of course, if the battery had carried a famous brand label, Chu Yi might have felt a glimmer of awe. But the battery floating in the white light was plain, unmarked, and completely ordinary—a solitary object floating there, maintaining the mysterious Void Rift within Dark Island.

Chu Yi’s eye twitched violently. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't find the words. He was completely dumbfounded.

Tiger, on the other hand, stared at the battery for a long time before grunting, "Kid, you think... if we take that battery out, will... will Dark Island return to normal?"

"Very likely."

Nodding in agreement, Chu Yi swallowed hard and stepped forward, intending to reach through the white light to see if he could easily destroy the hub as Tiger suggested.

But just as he stepped forward and stood directly in front of the white light...

A massive, hulking figure suddenly appeared before him!

Chu Yi stared at the figure in absolute shock. He never expected *him* to appear here!

The figure, appearing out of thin air with a cruel grin, didn't hesitate to land a heavy, crushing punch right into Chu Yi’s abdomen. Even the attacker seemed surprised when the impact caused Chu Yi to curl up in agony.

The next second—

*Ugh...*

Doubled over, Chu Yi gasped, his mouth wide open, and in a bizarre turn of events... he accidentally swallowed the battery, the very hub maintaining the Void Rift!