142: Chapter 142 Healing and Enlightenment, Sparks Gradually Illuminate

Ling Ye leaned against the cold, rough wall, each breath bringing a burning pain in his chest and a sense of weakness.

He did not rush into deep meditation, but instead used the most basic relaxation breathing technique from the Federation's "Basic Meditation and Attention Control" tutorial to guide his intense heartbeat and chaotic breath to gradually calm down.

His consciousness was like a shallow beach after a stormy sea, littered with debris and chaos.

He no longer tried to "salvage" or "reshape" the fleeting phantom of the "Ancient Ring", but instead, like the most patient craftsman, began to "clean" and "organize" this shallow beach of consciousness bit by bit.

He "picked up" a "fragment"—it was that pure, cold sensation of greedily devouring life force when the polluted starlight erupted.

He etched this feeling into his memory, then attempted, within his "Star Visualization", to imbue the radiance of that "Ancient Star" with a trace of "warmth" capable of Purification and dispelling this cold, devouring sensation.

It was not scorching heat, but a constant, gentle warmth like winter sunlight piercing through ice, representing the natural resistance and transformative potential of "Life" against "Death".

He "picked up" another "fragment"—the ancient, vast sensation that radiated when the "Ancient Ring" phantom emerged, transcending time and space and containing the rhythm of the Star Gate Reincarnation.

This feeling was too lofty to be directly imitated.

But he took its "Concept" and integrated it into his own obsession with being a "Gatekeeper", letting that heart of a Guardian no longer be confined merely to a single house, a single courtyard, or a single city, but instead subtly carrying a trace of the grandeur and vastness of sitting in judgment over Reincarnation and watching over the Star Gate.

Although faint, it caused the "quality" of his mental will to undergo an indescribable sublimation, as if it had become more solid and more "heavy".

He also "recalled" the intense impact on his own Soul imprint when he forcibly visualized the "Ancient Ring".

He no longer tried to "visualize" the ring itself, but instead began to attempt, with every circulation of "Qi" within his body, to silently sense the extremely faint "imprint" deep in his Soul that connected to the two rings, the "Ancient Ring" and the "bone ring".

He was not driving them, just "feeling" their existence, letting the circulation of "Qi" seemingly resonate, however faintly, with these two "imprints".

This made the operation of "Qi" no longer just a simple transportation of energy, as if it had gained a trace of imperceptible "spirituality" connected to higher-level rules.

This process was slow and meticulous, like using the finest embroidery needle to mend damaged brocade.

There was no immediate effect, and he couldn't even feel any obvious increase in power.

But Ling Ye could feel that the "Foundation" of his mental world, after the shock, was restabilizing in a more solid and "resilient" way.

His body's sensing and control of "Qi" also seemed to have become slightly more refined.

With the calming of his mind and the fine-tuning of his Cultivate, his body's instinctive repair mechanisms also began to take effect.

The energy provided by the high-energy nutrient paste was utilized efficiently, his depleted life force slowly recovered, and his mental exhaustion and trauma were also being soothed bit by bit.

Time passed in absolute silence and focus.

When Ling Ye slowly awakened from his deep meditation again, it was pitch black outside the window; another night had passed.

He felt that the weakness in his body had lessened by more than half, and his mental depletion had recovered by sixty or seventy percent; although there was still a gap from his Peak state, it was no longer a major issue.

More importantly, he felt that his "Star Visualization" was more stable and pure, and his "resistance" to "corrosive" energy had significantly improved at the level of consciousness; the circulation of "Qi" was smoother and more fluid, and the faint resonance with the Soul imprints gave him a deeper "understanding" of this power.

He stood up and stretched his muscles and bones; although there was still some soreness, he could move without hindrance.

He glanced at the shattered black stone in the metal box, which no longer held anything special, and carefully put it away.

This stone was "dead", but its "death" had bought him valuable knowledge.

Now, he needed to re-examine the external situation and formulate his next plan.

The energy barrier of the Old Factory District still existed, and the confrontation was still ongoing.

Zhou Ming and the clues behind him were thought-provoking.

He couldn't return to the academy for the time being, and the abandoned Warehouse was not a place to stay for long.

He needed information, he needed resources, he needed... a "new identity" and a "foothold" that were safer and more conducive to his subsequent actions.

Perhaps it was time to consider actively contacting one of the parties.

But not the overly complex "research" or "action" factions like Su Qing or Zhou Ming.

He thought of "Old Zhao", and he thought of those evacuated ordinary residents who might have some perception of the truth.

He also thought of Wang Hao, that classmate who might be able to provide some peripheral information and was relatively simple.

And also... the anonymous person with the ID "Midnight Wind" on that "Community Collaboration Platform".

He (or she) seemed very sensitive to anomalies and lived nearby.

Starting from these relatively "peripheral" and "civilian" channels might allow him to piece together a more realistic picture of the situation and prepare for the "disguise" or "assimilation" he might need later.

Of course, the prerequisite for all actions was to ensure his own safety and not attract the attention of the "Cleaning" side or the authorities.

Ling Ye walked to the broken window and looked at the deepest darkness of the city before dawn in the distance.

On the eastern horizon, a faint glimmer of white had already begun to appear.

A new day, the crisis remained, but the road ahead seemed to have a few more rays of light.