294: Chapter 294 Accumulating Strength

Ling Ye sat cross-legged in front of the core metal plate, his palms hovering over it. Between his fingertips and the veins, a stable, invisible "stream" of energy, intertwined with pale gold and dark blue, flowed steadily. His breath was long, his heartbeat calm, achieving a subtle resonance with the rhythm of the energy flow.

He was no longer satisfied with the initial, cautious, and inefficient "resonance" and "guidance." Having preliminarily mastered the way to "get along" with this cold, inert dark blue energy, he began to attempt to optimize and purify the process.

With every energy guidance cycle, he carefully felt the subtle changes as the dark blue energy was "domesticated" and "assimilated" within the key mark, adjusting the injection frequency of his own Mental Energy and the blending ratio of the key Order energy. Like an increasingly skilled tuner, he constantly adjusted the instrument in his hands, striving to play the most harmonious and efficient movement.

The effect was significant. The efficiency of energy absorption and conversion had nearly doubled compared to the beginning. Moreover, as the energy stored in the key mark, mixed with the dark blue "freezing" property, gradually increased, this energy itself seemed to produce a benign cycle and self-sustaining effect. It could more effectively assist him in repairing the hidden injuries in his Meridians, nourishing withered cells, and gently dispelling various negative energy accumulations lingering deep in his body, caused by previous over-exertion.

His physical recovery speed was steadily improving. Although he was still far from his peak, at least the bone-deep weakness and the sense of crisis that he might collapse at any moment were fading bit by bit. The muscle soreness turned into a swelling sensation of power regrowing, and the stinging pain in his Meridians was gradually soothed by the gentle flow of energy.

What surprised him even more was that in the process of continuously and stably absorbing, converting, and utilizing this mixed energy, he vaguely felt that his understanding of certain traits of Order power seemed to be deepening. Especially that cold, dark blue energy, which leaned towards "freezing" and "stability," gave him a more intuitive grasp of the other side of Order—an absolute, non-dynamic Order similar to "anchoring" and "solidification." This might provide unexpected help for him to use the key mark to deal with various different situations in the future.

While recovering himself, Ling Ye never stopped paying attention to Old Shi. Every so often, he would stop absorbing, walk over to Old Shi, and continue to inject the mixed energy—which had been "tuned" to be more stable and gentle—stored in the key mark into the ice-blue isolation layer on its wrist.

At first, he simply reinforced the isolation layer and replenished its consumption. But as his own condition improved and his control over energy became more refined, he began to attempt more precise operations. He divided the energy into two parts: one part was still used to maintain and strengthen the overall stability and defensive power of the isolation layer; the other part was condensed and compressed by him into an extremely fine but sharp and pure energy "probe." While ensuring the stability of the isolation layer, he cautiously attempted to "pierce" the edges of the outermost, "youngest" black cracks that were firmly blocked by the isolation layer but had not disappeared.

His goal was not to directly Purification or "eliminate" this pollution—given his current power and understanding of this pollution, that was undoubtedly a fantasy. His goal was more cautious and realistic: to attempt to use this energy, mixed with Order Purification and "freezing" properties, to apply a further, microscopic "sluggishness" or "local freezing" effect on the "surface" or "most active parts" of these polluting forces, weakening their activity and delaying their process of attempting to "penetrate" or "assimilate" the isolation layer (and Old Shi's body protected by the isolation layer).

This was a meticulous task that required extreme focus and precise control. It was like repairing or coating a tiny flaw on a precision instrument with the finest needle tip; the slightest deviation could stimulate the pollution or even cause secondary damage to Old Shi.

The first few attempts yielded little result. The energy "probe" either struggled to penetrate the extremely thin but exceptionally tough "energy interface" between the isolation layer and the pollution, or, the moment it touched the black cracks, it was eroded, assimilated, and dissipated by the chaotic, decaying aura full of intense malice emitted by them, or even conversely "stolen" by the pollution energy to become nutrients for its growth.

Ling Ye did not give up. He constantly adjusted the energy composition ratio of the "probe," increasing the purity and "definitional" nature of the key Order, while strengthening the "freezing" and "inert" properties of the dark blue energy, searching for that "equilibrium point" that could produce the most effective and stable "interference" with the pollution.

Finally, after countless attempts, adjustments, failures, and readjustments—when an energy probe, which he had adjusted to have an outer layer of extreme "inert" and "freezing" dark blue energy and a core of a thread of highly condensed, sharp, and pure the key Order energy, with an overall structure resembling a miniature "ice needle," cautiously and at the slowest possible speed, "pierced" the edge of a relatively fine black crack— "Sss..."

A faint, almost inaudible sound, like cold water dripping into hot oil, came from the contact point! The energy probe did not dissipate instantly as before. Instead, at the moment of contact, the outer layer of extremely "inert" and "cold" dark blue energy acted first, like an instantly solidified, extremely tiny frost film, covering and wrapping the small area of pollution energy at the contact point, causing its activity to experience an extremely brief, almost imperceptible, and extremely tiny decrease and stagnation!

Although this "frost film" lasted less than a hundredth of a second before being overwhelmed and melted by the powerful, chaotic nature of the pollution, that hundredth of a second of stagnation won a fleeting, precious "window of opportunity" for the inner thread of highly condensed, sharp the key Order energy!

The the key Order energy, like the sharpest, tempered needle tip carrying the will of absolute "definition," precisely and unimpeded, pierced into that small piece of "frozen" pollution energy during this negligible moment of stagnation, and then, erupted!

It was not an explosion, nor was it Purification. It was a more precise, more "microscopic," instantaneous, high-intensity, and pure "Order definition impact"! Like a stream of information representing "stability," "existence," and "certainty," it forcibly and briefly branded an "Order" mark into the chaotic essence of the pollution!

This process was extremely short, and the energy consumption was minimal. But the effect was significant! The edge of that finest black crack that had been "pierced" visibly contracted, dimmed, and even "stiffened" a fraction upon the branding of that "Order mark"! The chaotic and decaying activity that was constantly trying to erode and spread was genuinely, temporarily suppressed, weakened, and slowed down! Although this "suppression" and "slowing" was almost negligible in the face of the massive volume of the pollution, and, judging by the subsequent reaction of the pollution, this "Order mark" did not seem to last long and would soon be "covered" and "erased" by the chaotic essence again.

But this at least proved one thing: the energy he currently mastered, which mixed the key Order with the "freezing" properties of The Shelter's core, could indeed produce effective, even if extremely tiny and temporary, "interference" and "suppression" against the pollution! This won more precious time to consolidate Old Shi's isolation layer and provided a new, perhaps feasible, tactical-level idea for him to face pollution in the future.

Ling Ye's spirits lifted, and his fatigue vanished. He no longer sought to achieve a great "victory" in one go, but instead used this operation as a continuous, relatively controllable means of consolidating defenses, performing it whenever he replenished the isolation layer energy for Old Shi. He did not seek to "eliminate," but only to continuously and stably "suppress" and "slow down," winning more recovery and breathing time for Old Shi's body and consciousness.

Under this continuous, gentle, and firm energy supplementation and "microscopic suppression," Old Shi's condition stabilized at a visible speed, and even showed signs of slight improvement. Its breathing became more steady and long, its tightly furrowed brows completely relaxed, and the unhealthy bluish-white on its face faded somewhat; although still pale, there was at least a hint of Life Qi. Most importantly, the black cracks on the right wrist and shoulder/neck were completely checked in their spread under the solid ice-blue isolation layer and the continuous, tiny "Order mark" suppression. Even the outermost, finest cracks seemed to have dimmed in color, as if they had lost their activity.

Although true "recovery" or "cure" was still far away, this was the most heartening dawn in the darkness.

Time flowed slowly in the silent environment of The Shelter, where only the faint hum of energy flow could be heard. Ling Ye's own condition was also continuously recovering. About three days later (roughly estimated based on his internal biological clock and the rhythm of energy circulation), his power had recovered to about thirty percent of his peak. The hidden injuries in his Meridians were basically repaired, his spirit was full, and his control over energy had become more rounded and smooth due to continuous precise operations. The mixed energy stored in the key mark had also reached a relatively stable and considerable level, enough to support him in several high-intensity battles or more complex operations.

Although Old Shi still showed no signs of waking up, the vital signs were stable, the pollution was firmly suppressed, the isolation layer was solid, and even Old Shi's own life force seemed to have begun extremely slow self-repair under the protection of the ice-blue isolation layer and Ling Ye's continuous energy nourishment.

Ling Ye slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam hidden within them, no longer showing the previous fatigue and dimness. He stood up, walked to the central area of The Shelter, and his gaze fell on the crystal debris where he had previously discovered the star map fragments.