Chapter 71

Two weeks later, at the First Hospital of Fog City.

Inside the medical pod, Li Yao slept as soundly as a baby, but his eyeballs continued to tremble wildly beneath his eyelids, indicating that his cultivation in the dream world was still ongoing.

Xie Tingxian looked at him with a conflicted expression and confirmed with the doctor in the white coat one last time, "Doctor Gu, there are still no signs of improvement for Li Yao?"

The doctor in the white coat shook his head, "Professor Xie, you are truly dedicated, but patients with severe brain damage and torn spirit roots are different from ordinary patients. They don't necessarily improve over time! Look at his recent reports; his brain waves are extremely erratic, and his spirit root development fluctuates wildly, reaching as high as 17% at one point, but then plummeting to 4% just ten minutes later. This shows that his brain is becoming increasingly unstable, or a more intense storm is brewing within his mind. Even if he wakes up, do you think he will still be the talent that Deep Sea University needs?"

Xie Tingxian hesitated for a long time, then sighed deeply and walked to the corner, activating a mini crystal brain to contact Deep Sea University.

The figure that appeared on the screen was a very thin old woman, wearing a peculiar golden-threaded robe. She seemed to be blind, with deep-set eye sockets that glowed with two purple flames, occasionally shooting out eerie light.

In front of this old woman, Xie Tingxian's expression became extremely serious as he said with difficulty, "President Chu, can you give me one more week?"

"What do you think?"

In the image, the blind old woman spoke in a dry, raspy voice, as if her throat had been scraped by a steel blade, "I admit that the boy you chose is indeed a genius, but now that he's in this state, why continue to waste time? Deep Sea University is the strongest and most prestigious university in the Federation. Every year, countless geniuses try to get in. Losing one 'genius' is no big deal. As for you, there are several projects at the university waiting for you to lead, including a major project with the military, about the latest single-soldier assault magical artifacts. If all Federation soldiers could use the magical artifacts designed by our university, you should know the value of that."

"Understood, I'll return today."

Xie Tingxian's brow furrowed into a knot, and he closed the crystal brain. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind and said to the doctor in the white coat, "Doctor Gu, if Li Yao wakes up, have him contact me immediately. This is my spirit crane message number. Thank you."

With that, Xie Tingxian, the Deep Sea University alchemy expert, also left the ward.

And he never came back.

...

Three weeks passed.

Ding Lingdang yawned widely, so much that tears streamed down her face, and she glared at the doctor in the white coat beside her.

Doctor Gu's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he stammered, "I'm sorry, Miss Ding. Although you've been here for three weeks, and although everyone else has left, you've stayed here day and night, I still can't agree to your treatment plan."

"Why not?"

Ding Lingdang crossed her fingers, making them crack, "Your conservative treatment methods are useless anyway. I might as well just open the medical pod and drag this guy out, give him a good beating. Maybe that will wake him up. After all, it's better to treat a dead horse as if it were alive!"

"No, no, really, don't do that! Someone, help!"

...

Four weeks passed.

Deep within his brain, Li Yao continued to cultivate day and night, voraciously devouring Ouyezi's memories.

After thousands of repetitions, he had completely decomposed, devoured, and absorbed the memories of Ouyezi's time as a low-level servant in the Hundred Refinements Sect.

Especially the "108 Hands Cloak Chaos Hammer Technique," which he practiced over and over until he mastered it perfectly, even more skillfully than the Giant Spirit God.

Li Yao even altered Ouyezi's memories several times, beating the Giant Spirit God to the ground in the competition, bruising his nose and face, and venting his anger.

Fortunately, all the memory fragments were independent, and altering one did not affect the next.

After devouring all the "low-level servant" memories, Li Yao was still unsatisfied and wanted to continue devouring Ouyezi's memories as a "blacksmith servant."

However, as time passed, his soul became increasingly weak, feeling as if it would dissipate at any moment.

"Bad, I've been immersed in my brain for so long. I don't know how many days have passed in the real world. It can't have been a week already, right?"

Li Yao was startled, his soul trembling violently, like a strange fish in the deep sea, surging toward the faint light above and breaking the surface.

Finally, on the morning of the thirty-third day, Li Yao opened his eyes slightly on the bed.

He was awake!

The first thing he saw was a yellow talisman paper stuck to his forehead. Li Yao pouted and blew, and the paper lifted.

He found himself inside a large glass dome, with thousands of runes intricately engraved on the inner side, resonating faintly under the power of the milky white crystals around it.

In the air, a comfortable wave of energy rippled.

The air carried a faint smell of disinfectant. Looking out the window, it was the darkest moment before dawn, with a few stars twinkling faintly in the darkness.

Li Yao didn't know how long he had been lying there, but his limbs felt empty and weak.

However, his mind was incredibly full, his soul solid and unbreakable.

It was as if—

A door had been forcefully pushed open, expanding his brain to an infinite state. A new world was being born deep within his brain, and with each pulse, a powerful force surged!

Once again, Li Yao's senses became extremely sharp, his computational power reaching its peak. He recalled trivial events from over a decade ago, solved a complex sequence problem, and easily overheard the whispers of two nurses in the corridor outside the ward.

"Hey, do you know that the guy inside is the famous Demon Star?"

"You mean the unfortunate Li Yao? I know him, but why do they call him 'Demon Star'?"

"I heard he was once a new star in Fog City, fought over by the nine elite universities. Everyone thought he would be the next 'Demon Blade Peng Hai.' But due to an accident, his spirit root was torn, and he fell into a coma. His spirit root development plummeted to 7%, almost making him a cripple! The universities that wanted to specially recruit him all backed out, and he went from a new star to a fleeting meteor. Yes, a very demonic meteor, so they call him 'Demon Star'!"

"Really? He must be quite pitiful. I heard he and Peng Hai both came from the slums. Imagine a poor boy, rising to the top, being noticed by the nine elite universities, about to embark on the path of cultivation and enter high society—only to be brought back to his original state at the crucial moment! If I were him, I'd rather never wake up. If I woke up and found myself in such a state, I would definitely commit suicide!"

"Who wouldn't? His spirit root development is only 7%, making him unsuitable for cultivation—mine is 21%!"

The two nurses laughed together.

Li Yao lay motionless on the bed, listening quietly, his eyes filled with confusion and mockery.

"Only 7% spirit root development? What a joke! I feel incredible right now!"

Looking around, the ward had a small balcony.

Li Yao pulled out the tubes from his body, pushed open the glass dome, and silently got out of bed, tiptoeing to the balcony and closing the door behind him.

Fog City lay like a sleeping giant in the darkness.

Occasionally, a few floating shuttles streaked across the night sky, their tail flames like rainbows, quickly swallowed by the darkness.

The spirit root is the foundation of every cultivator, closely related to the five senses and thinking. Each person can roughly sense their spirit root development level.

"My senses are sharper than ever, my thoughts clearer, and I can easily recall events from long ago. Although there's no feeling of a sprout growing in my forehead, my brain has become much wider!"

"If the original brain was a small pond, now it's an endless ocean. My spirit root is at least twice as strong as before, and my development has increased by at least 17 to 18 percentage points. How could it have dropped to 7%?"

Li Yao laughed in disbelief.

A sudden drop in spirit root development would cause severe reactions, such as splitting headaches, fuzzy thinking, memory loss, loss of the five senses, and even becoming a vegetable!

None of these symptoms matched his current clear-headed, energetic state!

Li Yao's first thought was that the hospital's equipment was wrong, but the possibility was small.

After much consideration, the most likely explanation was that he had consumed too much mental energy while devouring Ouyezi's memories, causing his spirit root development to temporarily plummet.

However, by devouring Ouyezi's memories and expanding his brain, his future cultivation would be smooth sailing, advancing rapidly.

Thinking of Ouyezi's memories, Li Yao's lips curled into a smile.

He spread his legs and threw a casual punch, and "pop, pop, pop," three air waves appeared in front of his fist.

"This 'Heart-Penetrating Hammer' is indeed mastered!"

"I don't know how many days I've been lying in bed, but my body is extremely weak, and my limbs are powerless!"

"In this state, a casual punch can create three air waves. If I rest for a few days and eat a few hundred cans of star beast meat, my body will recover to its peak, and I might even create ten air waves with one punch!"

Looking at the morning star on the horizon, Li Yao's heart swelled with emotion, almost wanting to shout out loud and vent his joy.

This awakening from deep sleep was completely different from the previous dream.

In the previous dream, everything was fleeting and quickly forgotten.

This time, he remembered everything from the dream!

Ouyezi's memories had completely become his own!

Li Yao's eyes were bright, and his bones cracked as he performed the "108 Hands Cloak Chaos Hammer Technique" on the small balcony, feeling fluid and seamless, with his punches covering the entire area. The air waves rippled out, distorting his form.

"A fleeting demon star? Not bad, not bad. The title 'Demon Star' sounds great, better suited for grand occasions than 'Vulture'!"

"One day, the name Demon Star will shake the Federation and spread throughout the entire Tianyuan World!"

Just as Li Yao was stretching his muscles to the limit, a scream came from behind him.

It was a nurse who had opened the door and was shocked to see Li Yao standing on the balcony, dropping the tray in her hands.