socalfunplaces Page 191
Page 191
Does that mean he's just an ordinary person now?
In this strange world that clearly doesn't belong to Earth, where even a seemingly ordinary girl with animal ears can easily lift him up, Lu Mingfei knows all too well what losing his power means.
Erii's medicine only lasts for eight days, and he can't afford to wait any longer!
"Um, Sheena, could you put me down?"
Lu Mingfei suppressed the turmoil in his heart and tried his best to make his voice sound calm as he made a soft plea.
He was still being carried by Sheena.
"Oh! Okay!" Sheena seemed to realize this only then, and quickly let go, gently placing Lu Mingfei on the ground.
With his feet firmly on the ground again, Lu Mingfei immediately began to assess his own condition.
He first gained a clearer understanding of Sheena—this girl with fluffy bear ears was actually about the same height as him.
No wonder she could lift him up like a chick; it seems the power levels in this world are truly extraordinary.
Immediately afterwards, he tried to mobilize his strength.
He turned his back to Sheena and tentatively threw a few punches forward.
The sound of the fist was faint, and the air in front was still. The fist force that was once powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks had disappeared without a trace.
His heart sank, and he immediately tried to internalize his senses and activate the Shangqing Sword Qi in his dantian.
However, his body was completely empty. The sword energy that had once surged like a river seemed to have never existed, and not even a ripple could be sensed.
That newly formed star core, brimming with immense power, was like a pearl covered in dust, silent and unable to communicate with anyone.
My cultivation... it really is sealed! The system wasn't joking!
Unwilling to give up, Lu Mingfei took a slight step and subconsciously activated the "Tai Xu You Long Bu" (a martial arts technique).
hum!
The moment he took that step, something unexpected happened!
Without the support of cultivation, his control over speed became severely distorted!
His body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow—no, countless times faster than an arrow—transforming into a blurry afterimage, rushing forward at a terrifying speed far exceeding his expectations!
"Boom——!"
A loud bang, and smoke and dust filled the air!
Lu Mingfei crashed hard into a sloping earthen mound in front of him!
The hard earth and rocks were as fragile as tofu in front of his still incredibly powerful stellar body, and were instantly smashed into a clear, human-shaped hole!
He was completely embedded in it.
This sudden and terrifying scene terrified Xena, who was standing to the side!
Her round bear ears stood up straight instantly, her pupils contracted, and her face turned deathly pale.
"An...Awakened One?!" she screamed, her voice trembling.
The seemingly harmless, even somewhat comical creature she casually "picked up" from the bottom of the pit turned out to be an "Awakened One"?!
No wonder he just said he was "not human"!
In this world, the Awakened Ones, from a biological perspective, have indeed transcended the human realm!
They are beings who possess terrifying power and are both revered and feared!
Thinking back to how he had just been "looting" the other person...
Sheena felt a chill run down her spine; immense fear gripped her.
If this Awakened One is displeased with her earlier offense, he could crush her like an ant and turn her into bear soup in the next moment!
Without any hesitation, the instinct for survival drove Sheena to turn and run!
Using both hands and feet, she burst forth with astonishing agility, like a frightened little animal, swiftly climbing up the steep pit wall, wanting only to get as far away from that terrifying human-shaped hole as possible.
A few seconds later, Lu Mingfei crawled out of the hole he had bumped into, looking rather disheveled, and brushed off the dust and pebbles that covered his body.
Although the impact shattered the rocks, he was unharmed; the defensive power of his Star Body did not disappear due to the seal on his cultivation.
He looked up and saw Hina scrambling to climb out of the pit.
"Tsk, troublesome," Lu Mingfei muttered.
He needs a guide; he can't let her just run away.
Moreover, he still has absolutely no idea what this inexplicable Trial of Courage is all about.
Perhaps following Sheena for now will provide some clues.
With a thought, he used the Void Soaring Dragon Step once again.
Although his cultivation was sealed, the foundation of his movement technique and the defensive enhancements of his physical body remained.
His figure instantly left a long afterimage in place, his speed was astonishing, and he caught up with Sheena, who was climbing, in the blink of an eye.
Amidst Hina's terrified screams, Lu Mingfei stretched out his arm and easily wrapped it around her slender yet powerful waist.
Then, he exerted force with his feet, and with Sheena, as if teleporting, he stood steadily on the edge of the giant pit in a few leaps and gently put her down.
Sheena landed on her feet, completely stunned, her mind blank, her body stiff as a stone statue.
It's all over, it's all over... I'm really doomed this time...
She closed her eyes in despair, awaiting the arrival of the imagined thunderous wrath.
However, the expected attack did not come.
She cautiously opened one eye and saw Lu Mingfei standing to the side, looking thoughtfully at his hands, as if getting used to something.
Sheena was completely baffled.
This awakened being named Lu Mingfei is clearly incredibly powerful.
Why was he lying prostrate at the bottom of the pit like an ordinary person, looking like he couldn't get up no matter what?
She even lifted him up like a sack of potatoes?
Could it be... that this person has some kind of peculiar fetish?
Do you like to play dumb to fool others? Or... do you like being "picked up"?
Sheena's little head was filled with big question marks.
The look in his eyes as he looked at Lu Mingfei contained not only lingering fear, but also an indescribable confusion and strangeness.
Chapter 189 Infected and Awakened
Lu Mingfei stood at the edge of the deep pit, his gaze sweeping across the vast, boundless wasteland before him.
As far as the eye could see, everything was a vast expanse of white, with ice and snow covering the earth and stretching all the way to the gray horizon.
The cold wind, carrying a biting chill, ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead.
The sight left him somewhat bewildered.
He raised his head and looked up at the sky.
The high-hanging sun, in his perception, radiated a magnificent and warm light, its heat far exceeding that of the sun on Earth.
However, strangely enough, under such intense direct light...
The ice and snow on this wasteland showed no signs of melting, as if time had been frozen by an invisible force.
“Xina,” Lu Mingfei turned his gaze away and looked at the girl with fluffy bear ears beside him.
Pointing to the sky, he asked, "Why is the sun so bright, yet the ice and snow here haven't melted?"
In his perception, the temperature here was around minus ten degrees Celsius.
Logically, at this temperature, under such intense sunlight, the ice and snow should melt.
The scene before him defied his common sense.
Sheena followed his finger and looked up at the sun, a hint of reminiscence flashing in her eyes, as if recalling the words of her elders.
"This..." she began softly, her voice tinged with a hint of reverence.
“Grandpa, the village chief, once said that this is because the land we live on has died.”
"Therefore, no matter how warm or magnificent the sun in the sky is, the ice and snow on this land will not melt."
"It...it has lost its vitality."
"What is the name of this land?" Lu Mingfei pressed.
He remembered that Sheena had mentioned "Uru" before, but he wasn't sure if she meant a country, a city, or the entire continent.
Sheena lowered her head, her gaze falling on the frozen ground covered with ice and snow, and her voice grew low:
"This land was once called Shengyang,"
She paused, as if savoring an ancient and glorious name, "Now... it's called permafrost."
"What about Uru?" Lu Mingfei continued to inquire.
Sheena raised her head and pointed to the northeast of the wasteland:
"Uru is the only city in the southern part of the tundra with infected people. You can reach Uru by traveling about 300 kilometers northeast from here."
Her tone carried a sense of describing a distant, large city.
"Are you from Uru City?" Lu Mingfei asked, looking at her simple clothes and slightly wild temperament.
“No, no,” Sheena quickly waved her hand, a hint of embarrassment on her face. “I’m just a country bumpkin, how could I afford to live in a place like Uru?”
Although she denied it, a hint of hope and longing for that city involuntarily showed in her eyes.
Lu Mingfei caught the new vocabulary in her words: "What is an infected person?"
"Huh?" Xina looked at Lu Mingfei in surprise.
The round bear ears twitched slightly, and its clear eyes were filled with confusion. "Sir, don't you know?"
In her view, Lu Mingfei, this powerful "Awakener," should be well aware of these common sense facts.