"You said you'd handle it, why did you step in?" Dun Dun, now back in human form, returned to Liu Nanfeng's side, complaining.
Liu Nanfeng didn't reply. Instead, he propped up his chin and looked at his lower half. He was bare-chested, revealing a layer of flesh, and surprisingly, wearing a pair of large shorts.
"Where did you get those shorts? How is the quality so good?"
Dun Dun: ...
"I'm not wasting my breath with you. I'm leaving." Dun Dun said, feeling utterly speechless.
"Alright, you go ahead. I'll handle things here," Liu Nanfeng said, snapping his fingers.
The surrounding space shattered like glass. Then, the damaged embankment, flowerbeds, streetlights, and everything else destroyed by the battle were restored to their original state, as if nothing had happened.
No, only one place remained somewhat broken. That was the damage caused when Dun Dun first made his move, before Liu Nanfeng had activated his mirror space.
Dun Dun was not surprised at all. With a flash, he vanished from his spot.
However, Hu Mengyao's eyes widened in astonishment.
She rubbed her eyes, finding it hard to believe what she had just seen. Had she fallen under some illusion?
But Liu Nanfeng's next actions surprised her even more. He waved his hand into the air, and the scattered stones around them returned to the shattered potholes.
Then, he crouched down, placing one hand on the ground. A complex array of runes spread across the earth, and in an instant, the damaged areas of the ground were restored. However, there was a slight difference.
This was unavoidable. Liu Nanfeng had merely copied the information from an adjacent intact section of the ground, so it didn't look as perfect as before.
But if one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Alright, let's go," Liu Nanfeng said, standing up and dusting off his hands.
"This... this..."
Hu Mengyao was already dumbfounded, unable to utter a word.
"Need to catch your breath?" Liu Nanfeng said, half-jokingly.
Unexpectedly, Hu Mengyao actually took a deep breath.
She then said, "Are you all this powerful? How long have you been cultivating?"
Liu Nanfeng didn't answer her question. Instead, he looked at the pen in her hand.
The pen barrel was not straight but curved, seemingly crafted from a branch of an ancient tree. Its shape was rustic and possessed a unique charm.
The nib was large and full, with a pure white color, looking exceptionally beautiful.
Seeing Liu Nanfeng examining her pen nib, Hu Mengyao blushed and hid it behind her back.
"You still haven't answered my question?" she asked, her face flushed.
"About twenty years, I guess," Liu Nanfeng casually stated a number.
But even that was enough to make Hu Mengyao's eyes widen in surprise.
She said with a hint of envy, "The heavens are truly unfair. Humans are indeed the favored beings of heaven and earth."
"No... you're human... he..."
"Oh, he received a direct infusion of power from his elders."
Upon hearing this, Hu Mengyao felt a little more balanced internally.
"Alright, let's stop talking about this. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"By the way, have you seen Yang Ruoyun at your shop these past few days? Did you meet her?"
Hu Mengyao was reminded of the matter and immediately became nervous again.
"I saw her."
"Where did you see her? How is she now?"
Hearing this, Hu Mengyao excitedly grabbed Liu Nanfeng's arm, then quickly let go, realizing her actions.
"She sustained some injuries and is recovering in a safe place these past few days. Don't worry about her," Liu Nanfeng said.
Hu Mengyao looked at Liu Nanfeng with suspicion.
"What's with that look?" Liu Nanfeng asked, feeling somewhat exasperated.
"Ruoyun is a very simple girl. You are already married, so you mustn't deceive her feelings, or she will be very heartbroken."
Liu Nanfeng didn't find Hu Mengyao's words presumptuous. Instead, he felt that her genuine concern for others was rare and precious.
"However, wasn't your mission supposed to be to seduce me? Doesn't it feel contradictory to say something like this now?"
Hu Mengyao rolled her eyes.
"It's been so long since you've gone out to deliver food, what is there to seduce? I just casually agreed to my sister's request back then."
But speaking of her sister, Hu Mengyao frowned.
Not many people knew about her relationship with Yang Ruoyun, nor did they know she was tracking Yang Ruoyun's whereabouts.
Hu Sinian was one of them because Hu Mengyao had asked her a few days prior to help inquire about Yang Ruoyun's location.
But now, not only had she failed to find Yang Ruoyun's whereabouts, but she herself was being sought out.
She couldn't help but suspect Hu Sinian.
"Alright, it should be safe now. You can go back if you're fine," Liu Nanfeng said.
After a moment's thought, he added, "However, you should still be more careful these few days. I'll arrange for Yang Ruoyun to see you as soon as possible."
"Okay." Hu Mengyao didn't say anything further and turned to leave, heading up the embankment.
Seeing her leave, Liu Nanfeng didn't linger. He picked up the helmet dropped by the giant baby doll and turned to head home.
Upon returning home, he looked at the empty house. He turned on the lights, took a shower, and as he stood in front of the mirror blow-drying his hair, he inadvertently glanced at a box on the wine cabinet. The box had steel at the top and bottom, with a transparent section in the middle, containing various colorful small cubes that resembled sugar cubes.
He reached out and gently shook it. Half a box of "sugar cubes" immediately floated within the bottle, looking very beautiful.
These were spoils of war he had obtained from the Tides Society's research institute, excluding Guggu, of course.
At that time, he hadn't yet acquired Ren Yang's analysis ability and didn't know what these things were, so he had kept them on the cabinet and almost forgotten about them.
Liu Nanfeng was very curious about what these were.
So, his eyes flickered, and a stream of light unfurled, revealing countless pieces of information before his eyes.
First, the air before him, space, and then many invisible material informations, followed by the box, and finally, those cubes.
"Huh?"
Liu Nanfeng was somewhat surprised. These cubes were actually alive.
Or rather, they were a form of active matter. Each cube was an aggregation of countless such substances.
Furthermore, these substances contained a high concentration of spiritual energy; describing them as solidified spiritual energy wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Liu Nanfeng carefully opened the box and took out one cube, placing it on the table.
The moment it was placed on the table, the previously compact "sugar cube" suddenly dispersed, breaking down into fine particles and forming a pile.
Under Liu Nanfeng's gaze, the spiritual energy within them increased at a visible rate, and their volume rapidly expanded. From the size of a single "sugar cube," they grew to the size of two.
Liu Nanfeng pondered for a moment, then gently tapped the "sugar cube" with his finger.
The spiritual energy of the "sugar cube" was quickly extracted by him.
The creatures, which had been the size of two "sugar cubes," rapidly shrunk and lost their color, resembling a small pile of ash.
"Are they dead?" Liu Nanfeng wondered.
But just then, he noticed that some of the tiny creatures, whose spiritual energy he had drained, were beginning to become plump again.
"Automatically absorbing spiritual energy?"
Liu Nanfeng thought for a moment and drew a circle on the table with his finger.
He was actually drawing in the spiritual energy from the surrounding air to see if his suspicion was correct.
However, he discovered that even after the spiritual energy in the air was drained, they continued to recover.
Liu Nanfeng's expression changed drastically.
This was an astonishing discovery.