164: Time

Qingyang's own strength was at the Thirteenth-Order. Calculating based on one hundred years for each of the first ten orders and one thousand years for each of the subsequent six orders, Qingyang's current lifespan was three thousand nine hundred years.

At this moment, as this adorable big cat licked Qingyang with each swipe, Qingyang felt his lifespan increasing, arguably by decades at a time.

The return of his lifespan also allowed Qingyang to finally relax. While reversing his own energy, he simultaneously sensed his current condition.

The operation of inverse energy allowed Qingyang to clearly feel that his strength had increased by at least double.

As for the reverse particles born from the inverse energy, it could at best only be considered a bonus.

At this moment, as Qingyang condensed an reverse particles like a grain of rice with each instance, this big cat would flick its tongue with a sneaky air and swallow the reverse particles into its belly.

Afterwards, the other party continued to lick Qingyang's Seven-Colored Bone with a "slurp~ slurp".

Five hundred years.

Eight hundred years.

One thousand two hundred years.

...

The repeated replenishment of his lifespan filled Qingyang's entire bone body with vitality and accelerated the operation of inverse energy. The speed at which reverse particles appeared also became faster and faster.

For some reason, the former Qingyang had only a vague concept of his lifespan and did not know the specific time.

But perhaps because he had experienced this lifespan starting from zero, the current Qingyang was extremely clear about how much lifespan he had.

As time passed, when Qingyang felt his lifespan reach two thousand nine hundred and fifty-four years, he saw that the lifespan, which had been increasing rapidly, suddenly paused, and then began to increase extremely slowly.

"This is?" Qingyang murmured to himself.

Clearly, from being reborn as a snake until now, the countless battles and injuries Qingyang had experienced had reduced Qingyang's own lifespan to only about two thousand nine hundred and fifty-four years.

If there were no accidents, and if Qingyang's own strength stopped making progress, then after more than two thousand years, Qingyang would only turn into a mound of yellow earth.

But now, this big cat like a Maine Coon was actually slowly healing the lifespan Qingyang had lost due to previous battles.

This discovery immediately shocked Qingyang.

While being shocked, Qingyang was also curious about who exactly this big cat, about one meter in size, was.

By the futon, this big cat diligently licked Qingyang while staring at him affectionately like a child, wearing a thumb-sized golden key around its neck.

"A key?"

Noticing the key around the other party's neck, Qingyang immediately thought of the palaces outside with tightly closed doors.

"You are?" Qingyang asked cautiously.

Suddenly noticing Qingyang asking it a question, the big cat seemed startled, and with a start and a "whoosh~" it ran to the corner of the palace.

"Waaah~"

The adorable little fellow, with fluffy fur all over its body, seemed to somewhat misunderstand Qingyang's meaning.

And after noticing the other party's wary appearance, Qingyang quickly condensed an reverse particles, extended his bone claw, and offered it to the other party ingratiatingly.

Noticing Qingyang's action, the little fellow cautiously slowly approached Qingyang. After sensing Qingyang had no ill will, it also relaxed and ate the reverse particles Qingyang had condensed in one bite.

In the following two days, while comforting the other party just like raising a little kitten, Qingyang also began to establish some friendship with the other party.

In two days, this little kitten was already very familiar with Qingyang, and would even jump onto Qingyang's body or lie in his embrace to sleep.

As for Qingyang, because he had comprehended the operation of inverse energy, the futon that had originally confined him also lifted its restrictions.

On this day, while being licked on his bone body by the little kitten and recovering his lifespan in the palace, Qingyang was also contemplating what he should do next.

Or rather, how he should get out.

Yes, since entering this grand hall, its door had directly closed, and Qingyang couldn't open it at all.

At this time, Qingyang had already transformed into his Seven-Colored Bone form, about three meters in size. This little kitten was playing happily among Qingyang's bone body.

On Qingyang's side, looking at the door of the palace before him, he also began to ponder how he should get out.

After all, this door before him was closed from the outside, which meant even using the key around the little kitten's neck would be useless.

Just as Qingyang was pondering, the little kitten on his back seemed to have noticed Qingyang's request. After suddenly jumping down from Qingyang's body, it directly came to the entrance of the tightly closed door.

"Meow~"

The moment the clear sound rang out, the palace where Qingyang was located suddenly crumbled into powder like yellow sand and surged towards the little kitten's body.

In less than two breaths, the vast palace instantly vanished without a trace.

In contrast, this little kitten seemed to be already used to it. It turned its head somewhat proudly and glanced sideways at Qingyang.

Afterwards, this little kitten looked at the palaces around it, suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and immediately dashed off in one direction.

After running several dozen meters, the other party turned its head to look at Qingyang, found that Qingyang had not followed, and immediately let out a loud "Meow~" to signal Qingyang to follow.

Seeing this, Qingyang could only quickly swim his bone body to follow the other party.

After turning left and right for several hours, when this little kitten arrived at the entrance of a grand hall that looked no different from the other palaces, the other party suddenly stopped.

Afterwards, this little kitten turned its head, looking at Qingyang with a somewhat mournful expression. It slowly lowered its head and picked up the key around its neck, slowly walked to Qingyang's side, and handed it over.

"This is? Do you want me to open the palace?" Qingyang asked curiously.

Below him, the little kitten gently nodded.

Seeing this, Qingyang no longer hesitated. He immediately extended his dragon claw, and after gently taking the golden key from the other party's neck, he came to the entrance of this grand hall.

"Click~"

As the key was inserted into the door lock, he saw the tightly fitted palace door also suddenly slowly opened.

"Holy crap~" Qingyang said in shock.

He saw that in the palace before him, as the door slowly opened, on the ground covering at least a thousand square meters inside the entire grand hall, piles of zhen crystal, various ancient jade records of combat techniques, weapons, and even the scattered energy of Bone Beasts were densely packed.

But in front of such a massive amount of resources, there stood a jade tablet with text carved onto it, seemingly etched with a hard claw.

"I'm not sure what you should be to me? Let's assume you are my son. Child, I have left you enough resources to allow you to advance to the Sixteenth-Order and protect yourself.

I have also named you, Shidian. Find a friend or companion you trust to embark on a journey that will astonish the world together. But before that, you first need to possess sufficient strength."

After reading the words on the jade tablet, Qingyang turned his head again to look at the mountain of resources piled up behind him. For a moment, Qingyang said with some emotion, "Some people are born at the starting line, but some people... it's too infuriating."