Chapter 240: Gift

After returning to the Blue Planet from Crescent Bay, Yu Xian woke each morning for several days with his heart full of anticipation. He hoped Eternal Purity had left only temporarily, that she would return and stay by his side with the same smile as before. But Eternal Purity never came back.

Yu Xian's Super Brain calmly arrived at the same conclusion again and again. After leaving her gift, Eternal Purity had truly departed. She had appeared in Yu Xian's life suddenly, then left without saying goodbye, vanishing just as suddenly.

However, Yu Xian was not the kind of person to wallow in sentimentality. While he was saddened by her departure and hated it, he had already experienced his mother's death when he was young, followed later by his father's death from serious illness. So, he continued living his daily life as usual. At most, whenever he occasionally encountered a question, he realized that Eternal Purity, who could always answer all his doubts, was no longer there and momentarily lost himself in thought.

Yu Xian lay in the sun in his swim trunks in the Island Pocket Dimension, absorbing sunlight while studying the gift Eternal Purity had left behind. It was on the second day after Eternal Purity's departure that he noticed a point of light in his chest. When he focused his attention on it, he naturally understood what it was and what it did.

The Light of True Self was a type of pure yin energy derived entirely from Eternal Purity's countless abilities. Because of that, it could also be called the Extreme Yin. It had one simple usage: turn a being's "true self" into real, tangible power. Simply put, it could manifest the "self" into reality.

That was very much Eternal Purity's style. She would certainly never give him any ability that could directly attack others. At most, she would give him defensive abilities or abilities meant to develop his potential. The Light of True Self clearly belonged to the latter category.

As for what his "true self" was and whether it had any offensive traits, Yu Xian could only determine that after using the Light of True Self. It had nothing to do with Eternal Purity.

Yu Xian had studied it for several days. He finally made up his mind to use the Light of True Self. Getting up from the lounge chair, he took a deep breath and slowly guided the Light of True Self within his body toward his right hand. "Auntie, then let's see what my 'true self' really is..."

His index finger gradually glowed green. He tapped the center of his brow with it, performing the motion Eternal Purity had used when imparting knowledge to him. Countless scenes instantly flashed through the depths of his mind, as his soul radiated golden light.

When he opened his eyes, he felt a peculiar new ability within his soul.

[Freedom and Bonds]

Ability

—The depth of the user's bond with the target determines how freely this ability can be used.

[Note]

—You yearn for freedom more than anything, yet you fear loneliness just as deeply. So, you decided you wanted both. As long as your bonds run deep, nothing will be beyond your reach.

Freedom and Bonds originated entirely from his soul, or rather, from his "true self." Unaffected by any external forces, it was both powerful and weak, both illusory and real.

Following his instincts, Yu Xian reached out as though he were grasping something tangible. He gave it a firm pull, and Little Nora, who had been swimming nearby, instantly appeared beside him, a golden rope connecting him to Yu Xian's hand.

Little Nora flailed around in the air a few times before realizing he was no longer in the water. He looked at Yu Xian in confusion. "Big Bro, is something wrong?"

Yu Xian moved closer and discovered that the other end of the golden rope in his hand sank into Little Nora's back, right where his heart was. He asked, "Do you feel anything unusual?"

Little Nora flapped his wings hard, wobbling in the air a few times before shaking his head. "No."

Yu Xian pondered something for a moment, then said, "Big Bro wants to run an experiment. I'll send you to Crescent Bay in a moment. Once you get there, don't move, understand?"

Little Nora had no idea what kind of experiment it was going to be, but since Yu Xian had asked, he went along with it. "Got it."

Yu Xian created a spatial bubble and sent Little Nora to Crescent Bay. After waiting for a full minute, he willed the manifested golden rope into his grasp and gave it a pull. Little Nora, who was all the way in Crescent Bay, was instantly dragged back to his side.

Little Nora exclaimed, "Huh? I'm back again!"

He finally noticed the golden rope in Yu Xian's hand, and his eyes widened. "Big Bro, is that rope your new ability?"

Yu Xian nodded. "Yeah. I'm still figuring it out."

This ability was definitely not that simple, but he needed to study it carefully and figure out how to use it. He suspected that the golden rope in his hand was the physical manifestation of their "bond." If so, then where did the "freedom" part of the ability come into play?

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Little Nora, let's fuse!"

The two of them radiated golden light. Little Nora merged into Yu Xian's body, and a pair of golden wings unfurled from Yu Xian's back.

After fusing, he discovered that the golden rope in his hand seemed capable of changing its form at will. With a flicker of his thought, the rope transformed into a Vajra Feather, then into a Vajra Feather Blade.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Although Little Nora had a blood pact with him and trusted him completely, Yu Xian simply hadn't known Little Nora long enough. Their bond was therefore limited to the level of "contract" and "trust." A real bond ran much deeper, built on countless shared memories, mutual understanding, recognition, and endless layers beyond.

In that regard, he and Little Nora clearly had a long way to go. They would need time to develop a deeper bond before he could gain greater freedom in using this ability.

The golden rope was probably the manifestation of their blood pact, while its ability to transform into a Vajra Feather now was proof that he and Little Nora had fought together before.

Splitting back into their individual forms, Yu Xian let Little Nora go off and play by himself. He sat on the beach chair and watched Little Nora run back into the water. Smiling, he lay back down.

He had considered using the Light of True Self on Little Nora. After illuminating his own "true self," the Light of True Self in his chest had not diminished, so he estimated that it could illuminate the "true selves" of quite a few people.

The issue was that Little Nora was only eight years old with the mind of a child, caring for little beyond good food and play. Yu Xian really wasn't sure if he should even use this ability on him. It could produce an excellent ability, but it could just as easily produce a terrible one.

Yu Xian even suspected that Little Nora's true-self ability could simply let him conjure food anytime and anywhere. That was probably the ability Little Nora dreamed of more than anything else.

Of course, people often found it difficult to understand themselves. It was also possible that Little Nora's real "self" yearned to become overwhelmingly powerful, in which case he could awaken an extraordinarily formidable ability.

Yu Xian suddenly thought of something. Right. Auntie definitely shared a bond with me, so can I use it to pull her over?

He immediately closed his eyes and sensed the various bonds connected to him. As long as he attuned his mind to them, each person's bond gave him a different feeling. Sensing Nora's bond brought him a feeling of happiness and joy, while Little Huang Quan's bond felt like skewers of roasted meat.

Among the countless bonds, Yu Xian found the one belonging to Eternal Purity. Found it!

He immediately reached out and grasped it, but when he pulled with all his strength, nothing happened. Even when he used both hands, the intangible bond remained intangible and did not manifest as a golden rope. No matter how much strength he used, he could not budge it in the slightest.

Yu Xian sensed the bond. Looks like Auntie is just too strong. But as long as this bond exists, if I keep getting stronger, sooner or later I'll be able to follow it and find her!

Although the bond had neither shape nor form, it faintly pointed him in a direction. If he followed that direction, he would surely find Eternal Purity somewhere far, far away.

"Now I'm motivated!"

Yu Xian felt as though he had been ignited with determination. He needed to work hard and break through to Void rank as soon as possible.