16: Chapter 16 Inner Vision! Is My Talent Stealing System Energy?

Li Yuan slowly awakened from his slumber, first feeling a comforting warmth and softness, accompanied by a holy fragrance that felt as if it had been baked by the sun.

He opened his eyes and discovered that his entire head was almost buried in Laya's bosom.

The angel girl was leaning against the sofa, her wings of light covering him gently like the most comfortable down quilt, while she herself maintained a sitting posture, as if she had guarded him like this all night long.

Her long eyelashes were lowered, and her expression was tranquil and focused.

"Master, are you awake?" Feeling the movement in her arms, Laya lowered her head, a smile warmer than the morning light blossoming on her face.

"Uh... morning, Laya." Li Yuan sat up somewhat awkwardly and rubbed his eyes.

At this moment, he noticed a small, faint water stain on the silver-white Sacred Brilliance Dragon scale armor on Laya's chest.

Laya followed his gaze, her pretty face flushing slightly. She extended a slender, jade-like finger and lightly tapped the mark, her tone carrying a hint of imperceptible coyness: "Master's sleeping posture... is really quite poor."

Li Yuan's face heated up, and he quickly reached up to touch his nose, attempting to hide his embarrassment: "Ahem! This... let's check the harvest from last night first!" He stiffly changed the subject.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Laya's cheeks appearing a few shades ruddier than before when he mentioned the harvest.

"The hunting results of the Order of the Light Guardians from last night, all the collected life essence has been gathered here with me." Laya's voice remained soft, but that imperceptible shyness was becoming increasingly evident.

"Good! Then let's begin the transfer." Li Yuan suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and said, feigning calmness.

"Mm, Master, I'm coming." As she spoke softly, Laya naturally reached out both hands to wrap around his neck just as she had yesterday, tilted her beautiful little face upward, rose slightly on her tiptoes, and pressed her crimson lips onto his.

The moment their lips met, a torrent of energy, even more surging and powerful than yesterday, rushed over from Laya's mouth like a bursting river.

The energy still carried that strange, clear sweetness, instantly sweeping through Li Yuan's entire body and bringing a dizzying tingling sensation.

Perhaps because he already had the experience from the first time and his body had developed a certain adaptability, although Li Yuan still felt intoxicated this time, the duration of that intense, dizzying sensation was much shorter.

His consciousness detached from that pure sensory shock more quickly, becoming clear.

And it was precisely this clarity that allowed him to capture some things he hadn't noticed yesterday.

He felt that after the massive amount of energy entered his body, it did not diffuse throughout his whole body, but was flowing along a specific path!

Just as he concentrated his mind, attempting to capture this flow trajectory more clearly—

Hum!

His Dantian area felt as if it had been lightly plucked by an invisible string, sending a very faint vibration.

The next second, Li Yuan's vision suddenly went black, and all external senses were instantly cut off.

Immediately after, a strange "vision," limited only to his own interior, suddenly opened up!

Internal Vision!

He "saw" it!

He clearly "saw" the energy circulating within his body.

That warm current containing life force surged in from his mouth, traveled down to his throat, and then... shockingly split into two distinct streams!

One of them was extremely thick, accounting for over ninety percent of the total energy! It rushed upward without hesitation, heading straight for his sea of consciousness, and then... it just vanished into thin air! It was as if it had flowed into an invisible black hole, leaving no trace behind.

The other stream, as thin as a thread, was only a few percent of the total amount. It obediently and slowly sank downward, like a trickling stream, dripping one by one into his lower Dantian area.

Accompanying the influx of this tiny amount of energy, a familiar system prompt sounded in his mind:

[Lifespan + 15] [Energy + 1.2] [Essence + 1] ... The prompt flashed repeatedly, proving that this tiny stream was the source of the lifespan, energy, and essence being replenished for him.

However, Li Yuan's attention was completely captured by the thick stream of energy rushing toward his sea of consciousness and vanishing into thin air. A nameless rage flared up instantly.

"System! You fu..." He cursed in his heart, "I expected you to skim off the top, but I didn't expect you to amputate everything below the scalp! You're only leaving me this little scrap?!"

Anger, frustration, and a sense of being fooled filled his heart. But he soon helplessly realized that he had no capital to resist. It was like facing a monopoly giant; there was no other way but to accept the unequal treaty.

"Monopoly companies... are just like this." He could only bitterly mock himself. At this moment, was there anything more monopolistic than the system that provided him with power!

But right in the midst of this extreme indignation, he keenly discovered a turning point!

He "saw" that the thick, red stream of life essence flowing into the void of his sea of consciousness was not entirely stable. During its flow, extremely tiny wisps of energy were constantly dissipating from the main energy stream!

No! It was more like they were being sucked out!

These dissipated energies did not disappear, but clearly converged toward the Dantian, just like another type of colorless, formless energy slowly seeping in through the pores of Li Yuan's skin, slowly merging into the Dantian.

Soon, the system prompt told him what this energy seeping in from the outside was: [Energy + 0.5]

"This is..." Li Yuan's heart shook violently, "Could this be... the effect of [Intent of the Northern Darkness]?!"

He remembered this talent, which had been rated as F-rank and described as "All rivers run into the sea, embracing, absorbing, and assimilating"!

It had been working silently all along! Its function seemed to be more than just energy affinity and accelerating energy recovery.

It was more like a form of absorption and plundering. Recalling that a few days ago it had helped him absorb 0.2 units of explosion energy, thereby preventing him from getting injured, and it could usually gather energy for his two SSS-rank class functions, it could even... snatch food from the tiger's mouth within the system's forced absorption system!

His consciousness immediately "focused" on his lower Dantian.

There, a vortex that had originally been nearly transparent and slowly rotating was now clearly visible. It approached a viscous, mist-like fluid sensation!

And his passive energy recovery speed had indeed increased from the initial 0.1 points per 10 minutes to about 0.5 points per 10 minutes now!

Plundering, gathering, shielding, growing. And didn't he have a limit? From the initial 4 points of energy to over 20,000 now, Li Yuan had never felt any sensation of being full.

— [Intent of the Northern Darkness], this talent, it seems, is not simple at all!

However—the massive energy the system skimmed off made Li Yuan feel a chill in his heart. The Customer Service 1518, who used a sweet girl's voice to act cute, now completely transformed in his mind from a calculator that might be a bit of a petty profiteer into an insidious, cunning, and malicious "green tea"! It made him secretly vigilant, his spine turning cold.

"Snatching food from the system's mouth... will the system not notice?" A question surfaced, but was quickly suppressed. Regardless, this [Intent of the Northern Darkness], initially rated as F-rank, seemingly useless, yet demonstrating comprehensive growth and functionality, was likely the true foundation he could rely on to survive and establish himself!

The energy transfer process was longer than expected. When Li Yuan exited the state of deep internal vision, the soft sensation on his lips told him that the transfer was still continuing.

He opened his eyes, and Laya's stunningly beautiful face was inches away.

However, unlike the surging power of the energy transfer, Laya's state did not seem easy. Her eyes were tightly closed, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and some fine beads of sweat had even seeped out on her smooth forehead. Her delicate body was trembling slightly uncontrollably, and a strange, drunken-like flush appeared on her originally holy and fair cheeks. Her whole body was limp as she leaned in Li Yuan's arms, as if all her strength had been drained away.

A wave of intense pity instantly surged into Li Yuan's heart.

"Is transferring energy such a painful thing for her?" This thought made his heart tighten, "This silly girl... why didn't she say anything? Is it because of her absolute loyalty to the Lord of Light that she would silently endure it even if it was painful?"

He no longer dwelled on the skimmed energy and the changes within his body; at this moment, he only wanted to alleviate the pain of the angel in his arms. He subconsciously raised his hand and gently stroked Laya's back, rhythmically and softly patting her as if coaxing a baby to sleep, trying to comfort her in his own way and alleviate her "pain."

Time passed in silence, and after about another half hour, the surging energy flow finally gradually subsided, and the transfer ended.

But Laya seemed completely unaware, still immersed in that strange state, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her breathing slightly rapid. That frail yet inexplicably alluring appearance made Li Yuan's heart ache even more.

"Laya? Laya?" He stopped his patting motion, lifted his head slightly, and called out softly.

Laya slowly opened her eyes as if waking from a deep dream. Those originally clear and bright eyes were now covered with a layer of moist mist, her gaze unfocused and bewildered, as if she hadn't yet figured out where she was.

"Is transferring energy this way... very painful?" Li Yuan looked at her appearance and couldn't help but ask again, his tone full of concern.

"No... no." Laya reacted blankly for a moment before understanding Li Yuan's question. She shook her head hurriedly, her voice as thin as a mosquito's, carrying a hint of shyness, "It's... it's very comfortable."

After saying this, she seemed to realize what she had just said; her already flushed little face turned red enough to bleed, and she was so shy that she buried her face directly into Li Yuan's shoulder.

"Is that so..." Li Yuan watched her reaction, which was completely different from what he had expected, and his doubts deepened.

"So, the vast majority of the life essence I risked my life to hunt was swallowed by the system..." Li Yuan hugged Laya, who was still too shy to lift her head, his thoughts churning, "[Intent of the Northern Darkness], it seems, is my true reliance."

This talent, which could "steal" system energy and grow on its own, had value and potential far exceeding his previous imagination.

"If it can level up... then what should I do to make it grow faster?" Li Yuan fell into deep thought.

Is it hunting more powerful Zerg to obtain higher quality energy? Or searching for other energy sources that might exist in this world?

In any case... find a way, and strive to tear off a larger piece of meat from the system's skimming first!