Chapter 760: The Condition of His Acupoints

Moon waved her off without turning around. "It’s yours now. Take good care of it."

And with that, he left, walking off down the street as if he hadn’t just changed a stranger’s entire life in the span of a few minutes, leaving behind a stunned young girl clutching a weapon worth a fortune, a field of corpses that would make her wealthy, and a story she would remember for the rest of her days.

Moon didn’t look back. To him, it had cost nothing, a staff he didn’t need, a potion from an overflowing supply that he didn’t use, and a few minutes of his time.

But he’d learned long ago that small kindnesses, scattered freely when they cost him little, had a way of planting seeds.

Goodwill, reputation, and loyalty of people who remembered how they’d been treated. And beyond any calculation, it had simply felt good to help someone who’d been handed so little.

He pocketed his phone, resumed his course toward home, and left the broken gate and the grateful girl behind him.

Arriving back home, Moon found Yara and Selene sat next to each together on the sofa, watching a show.

They greeted him warmly, pausing their show, and he returned the greeting just as warmly.

Once inside, Moon summoned Honeybun and Mirage into the house. He didn’t like keeping them locked away in his beast taming space as though it were a prison, not when they could stretch out and be part of things. So he let them out, and the two companions immediately drew the girls’ attention.

Selene and Yara played with them for a while, Selene fussing over Honeybun’s now-larger shell and Yara letting Mirage nuzzle her hand, while Moon recounted everything that had happened on the island.

Honeybun’s ascension to Surpasser and the battles he undertook after.

By the end of it, Selene and Yara stared at Honeybun, who had visibly grown since they’d last seen the little turtle, with open shock.

<My time has come,> Honeybun announced suddenly, and both girls burst out laughing.

"Killing two Surpasser-rank beasts," Yara murmured, shaking her head. "One of them a flying one, no less. And a Surpasser leopard on top of that. I can’t say that i’m not jealous." Her eyes lit with a familiar burning resolve, determined to catch up, and grow strong.

"I need to train harder. Master Sierra is going to get sick of how often I ask for extra sessions."

For the rest of the day, Moon set everything else aside and simply spent time with his friends. They trained together, Moon offering pointers to both girls, sparring lightly, sharing techniques.

They ate together, talked, laughed, the three of them and the two beasts filling the house with an easy, happy vibe.

He’d promised them he would make time for himself and for them, and he intended to keep that promise.

Especially to Selene.

She had stayed by his side during one of the worst stretch of his life, back when he’d been broken and powerless, confined to a wheelchair, unable to call on a single ounce of the strength.

So he gave her his time, freely and gladly, because strength was worth nothing if he let it carry him away from the people who’d stood with him when he had none.

Not to mention that he really enjoyed their time together.

The day passed blissfully, the gate expeditions and the dark organization and all the threats gathering on the horizon set aside for a little while, and Moon let himself simply be happy, surrounded by friends and the companions he’d fought so hard to raise, home at last.

As night approached, Moon retired to his room, the girls heading off to their own.

Alone at last, he decided it was time to properly examine the change to his acupoints that he’d been curious about since the merge. He settled into a lotus position on the floor, closed his eyes, and turned his focus internally

For a few minutes, he studied his own body, mapping the flow of energy through his thirteen filled acupoints, searching for the two that had held Lightning-Assimilation and Ice-Assimilation.

Then his eyes snapped open in shock, the image he’d just seen burning in his mind.

"The two acupoints... they’re linked," he murmured. "Connected through a near-invisible thread. Both of them tied to the Cryothunder skill, since it now has its foundation in both at once."

The merge hadn’t simply replaced two skill foundations with one. It had connected the two acupoints together through a second link, bridging them with a subtle connection that bound them into a linked pair, both channeling the Pseudo-Legendary skill.

Curious, Moon turned his focus internally again and activated Cryothunder-Assimilation to observe the two acupoints in action.

The result made his breathing stop for a brief moment.

The two linked acupoints worked in perfect tandem, amplifying one another. And when he measured their output, they operated at roughly twenty percent faster than an equivalent pair of unlinked acupoints would.

A twenty percent efficiency gain, which was enormous given how absurdly powerful his acupoints already were to begin with.

On a foundation that already produced several times the normal output, another fifteen percent on top was a significant boost. Of course, Moon also took into account the boost that the pseudo-legendary skill gave the acupoint.

"To perfectly estimate the increase, I need to observe how a Pseudo-Legendary skill operates under one acupoint."

According to his theory, his acupoints can become stronger when a merge occurs. Because once the skills fuse, the acupoints linking them become more efficient.

It was a valuable discovery, another avenue to increase his strength beyond the conventional routes. But he recognized its limitations too. This method was difficult to replicate. It depended on having two compatible skills of the same grand pathway, both mastered, both set as acupoint foundations, and then succeeding at a merge that could cost tens of thousands of Lives at brutal odds.

Factors he couldn’t fully control, circumstances that wouldn’t align often.

Still, it was a possibility he could work toward, and try to engineer when the opportunity arose, even if he couldn’t force it on demand.

Every merge that succeeds doesn’t just give me a stronger skill. It strengthens the acupoints too. So the real question becomes, how many of my skills can I pair up and fuse along the same pathways? How many linked acupoints can I build?

The thought opened up a whole new dimension to how an Evolver could grow in strength.

He’d already proven he could forge Pseudo-Legendary skills through merging. Now he knew that each successful merge paid a second dividend, elevating the very foundations of his power.

Yet another piece of the puzzle of his unique cultivation, another edge that no one else possessed or even understood.

Satisfied, Moon rose from his meditation, and prepared to rest.

Tomorrow, he would once again go back into clearing the nearby gates that Tom had assigned him.

Unlike before, he was more than confident to clear any B-Rank gate that appeared in his path. Especially when taking into account his Surpasser-Rank beast soul and Honeybun.

Moon stared at the turtle that laid on his bed, fast asleep with a soft gaze, before falling asleep himself.