57: Mental Strength

“Ahhh!” Ning screamed incessantly from the intense headache. He felt like he was going crazy from the pain.

“Inikaka, are you alright?” Hyesi looked terrified upon hearing the horrifying screams from his so-called god. He didn’t know what to do, standing still with his hands clasped to his chest.

“Inikaka, what happened?” The Chief ran back to Ning and Hyesi. Seeing that Ning didn't respond, he asked Hyesi.

“What happened? I thought I told you to take him back,” the Chief started to get a little angry.

“I tried. I told Inikaka to come back with me, but he said a few more words and then immediately started screaming,” Hyesi replied.

The Chief was momentarily at a loss, then shouted loudly, “Everyone retreat!” The Villagers, who had been fighting, suddenly stopped upon hearing the call and immediately retreated.

“Chief, what happened?” they asked.

“Something is wrong with Inikaka, we must stop fighting today. We will deal with this monster another day,” the Chief said.

“Hyesi, pick Inikaka up. We are going back to the village.”

Hyesi did as told, carrying Ning on his shoulder. Ning continued to clench his teeth, complaining that his head hurt terribly, and throughout the process, he kept clenching his teeth, even screaming a few times.

As they neared the village, Ning gritted his teeth again, enduring the pain, and said, “Take me back to my home.”

Hyesi stopped, hesitating whether to do as he said. On one hand, Ning seemed genuinely injured. But on the other hand, he was their god. Hyesi turned around, waiting for the Chief's command.

“Inikaka, you are not well. We must take you to the village to ensure you get proper treatment,” the Chief said.

“Ah… just do as I say. Take me home,” he said again, in pain. The Chief was also in the same predicament as Hyesi, but unlike Hyesi, he quickly made a choice.

“Alright, take Inikaka back to his home and stay there. If anything happens, call us immediately,” the Chief said.

“Okay.” Hyesi immediately ran towards Ning's home in the forest. In a minute or two, he arrived home and entered the house. Ning's pain had lessened to the point where he could start focusing on things other than the pain itself.

“Put me down… on that… thing,” he said intermittently.

Hyesi slowly laid him down on the pile of leaves. As he was being put down, Ning saw the necklace on Hyesi's arm. He wanted to leave his body now and enter that necklace, away from this pain.

“System, take me there,” he thought in his hazy mind.

<System advises you not to leave your body at this time>

“Ah… why?” Ning cried out.

“Inikaka?” Hyesi said, but received no response.

<Your current pain is being shared through you and your human mind>

<Exchanging bodies at this time will transfer all pain to you and may result in a coma>

“Ah….” He no longer paid attention to the system.

Hyesi stayed with him all night, and he kept screaming in pain. The pain lessened over time, but it was still enough to make him scream until dawn. Only in the morning did the pain subside to a level he didn't have to worry about.

“Hyesi, you can go, I’m fine now.” With that, he sent Hyesi back to the village for morning exercises. As the pain gradually subsided, Ning became numb and fell asleep.

He slept for nearly twenty hours, waking up around two in the morning, groggily looking around, trying to figure out what had happened.

“Ah, right, I fell asleep after the pain disappeared.” He thought, recalling the situation as much as possible, and asked, “What did you say when I started to feel pain? Can you repeat it?”

<Yes>

<Host has consumed a large amount of mental energy and is currently in a critical state>

<Further loss of mental energy will cause the system to enter a forced coma to protect the host's spirit>

Ning looked at the prompt and asked, “So… my mental energy is very low?”

<Compared to normal people, it is better than average>

Ning was a little surprised to hear that, “So, you mean, my strength is not as good as an average cultivator?”

<No>

<Cultivators only begin to improve their mental energy after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm>

<Your mental energy is stronger than most Qi Condensation Realm cultivators>

“I see… But even so, I still can’t see the demon’s information through analysis.” He thought. “I guess I need to strengthen my mental power to see the snake’s information, right?” he asked.

<Yes>

“How do I do that? Tell me,” he said.

<There are 3 ways to improve mental energy>

<The first method is to cultivate to a realm above Foundation Establishment>

“I can’t do that. My body is in a terrible state right now. I still need a few years to adapt to the Qi of this world,” he said.

<The second option is to purchase enhanced intelligence from the shop. But this is very expensive>

“Ah, right, I remember you mentioned I could improve my mental energy. So this is what you were talking about. How much does it cost?” he asked.

<Doubling mental energy requires 2,150,000,000 energy>

“That requires too much energy. I can’t do that right now. What’s the last option?”