**RING RING~**

At 5:50 AM, the alarm rang. Huo Liang bolted upright and immediately turned on the computer. He hurried to check if Ren Naiser was live streaming; seeing she wasn't, he quickly went to pee, brush his teeth, and wash his face.

During this time, Huo Liang moved quietly, careful not to wake his mom. Otherwise, if she saw him up early playing on the computer, she would definitely make him do his homework.

When he returned and checked again, there was still no live stream. Huo Liang felt a bit disappointed.

The thing he regretted most was staying up late playing games until the early morning on the first day of the long holiday, only to miss Ren Naiser's first live stream!

Even though Huo Liang had won his ranked promotion match last night, it couldn't make up for this huge loss!

Although someone had recorded the live stream, watching a replay was not the same as watching it live; the feeling of being there in the moment was completely lost.

Not to mention, by the time Huo Liang found the replay video, he had already been thoroughly spoiled by classmates and online friends…

When the live stream abruptly stopped, many speculated there would be a second one, which was why Huo Liang had gotten up early the next day.

He had always kept that secret close to his heart.

That day, while he was being bullied, a Pangolin rescued him.

A few days later, the Pangolin left.

A few more days passed, and the Sky Capital Spirit Treasury opened.

Then, news appeared online that the Fairy Palace had sent out animals to open various spirit treasuries.

Connecting the dots, Huo Liang immediately knew that the Pangolin he encountered that day must have been one of the animals sent by the Fairy Palace.

This mysterious connection with the Fairy Palace made Huo Liang ecstatic. Thanks to the Pangolin's tutoring, his grades improved, his confidence grew, he found his place in the small society of the school, and he was no longer bullied.

Therefore, it was only natural that Huo Liang became a die-hard fan of the Fairy Palace and a casual fan of Ren Naiser. When Huo Liang talked about these Transcendents at school, he always spoke with great authority and knowledge, even becoming a notable figure in his class.

With no live stream, Huo Liang wasn't in a hurry. He went online to a place called the 'Eastern Han Ren Family Cultivation Forum' to browse posts.

Probably because of the live stream at 6 AM yesterday, there were especially many early risers today, with many asking if there would be a broadcast.

Others were discussing the content of yesterday's stream. Huo Liang glanced through and, upon seeing a few posts doubting the Fairy Palace, immediately started firing back:

"You're not even a Transcendent! What right do you have to speculate about the actions of the Fairy Palace?"

"You look like a grade-schooler!"

"Heh, a grade-schooler!"

To avoid getting his account banned, Huo Liang, being a middle schooler himself, kept his attacks simple but fierce, flooding the thread with over ten replies straight until the opposition fell silent.

Just then, a QQ message popped up. Huo Liang hesitated for a moment before shutting down the computer, quickly got dressed, and sneaked out of the house.

It was just barely dawn. Within minutes, Huo Liang reached a McDonald's near his residential complex. His friends, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang, were already inside, using the McDonald's Wi-Fi on their tablet.

The three of them were Transcendent enthusiasts. They had agreed to meet up and watch the live stream together today. If there was no live stream, they planned to go hiking to train their bodies—the Mysterious Country's official website stated that exercising for an hour a day significantly increased the chances of Awakening.

Although they were quite skeptical it was just another lie adults told, they didn't have other sources for Cultivation Techniques, so for now, they had no choice but to exercise. Big Fat actually felt this theory made sense. "For cultivation, isn't it about Body Tempering, Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul? Body Tempering comes before Qi Refinement!"

Moments later, **BEEP.** Suddenly, a popup appeared on the tablet: "Your time is very precious. You're online to watch the 'Destiny' live stream..."

The three middle school students immediately became excited and clicked, jumping into the live stream.

Huo Liang breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I didn't go back to sleep! I didn't expect today's broadcast to be half an hour later than yesterday's!"

Xiao Qiang said, "An Immortal Venerate acts with the true demeanor of a superior. How could he adhere to The Mortal Realm's 24-hour cycle and let us predict his actions?"

Huo Liang felt deeply ashamed of his own shallowness and then began to watch the live stream attentively.

The opening speech by the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair made all three of them flush with excitement. Big Fat said, "I had no idea the world was hiding such a big crisis. It's indeed a time when heroes are needed to save the day. Once we get stronger, we'll also save the world and have Ren Naiser live stream us!"

The phrase from the Immortal Venerate, "Unless bones turn to dust, the Fairy Palace guards the Human World without worries for a thousand years," made Huo Liang yell in approval, waking up everyone staying overnight at the McDonald's.

Hmph! Whenever I face someone doubting the Fairy Palace again, I'll throw that phrase at them, followed by, 'The Fairy Palace can exist for a thousand years, can you? If you can't, you have no right to doubt the Fairy Palace'!

Generally speaking, with this 'put up or shut up' argument, I usually win half the battle. If I encounter some braggart Transcendent claiming they can borrow another five hundred years from heaven, I also have a retort ready: 'You thousand-year-old tortoise! Even the Fairy Palace is live streaming, why aren't you?'

With a series of combination punches like these, I don't believe anyone can withstand them!

At that moment, the screen shifted to an underground space. Huo Liang saw the giant Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster, which made him somewhat fearful. Yet, the Great Sword Maiden fearlessly avoided the monster's attacks and even dared to counterattack and heavily wound the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster!

When the Great Sword Maiden split open the body of the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster, the words and sounds of Despair that erupted from that terrifying wound were also seen and heard by the three middle school students.

Both Big Fat and Xiao Qiang couldn't stand it after one look. "This feels terrible."

"What is this thing... It makes my skin crawl."

They immediately put down the tablet, but Huo Liang clutched the tablet, his eyes glued to the screen without blinking.

Big Fat and Xiao Qiang were shocked. They tried again but found they still couldn't bear to watch the scene; it was purely physiologically uncomfortable.

Just like someone with trypophobia seeing a rice container or someone with acrophobia bungee jumping, the moment they watched the screen, their hearts seemed to be tightly squeezed by an invisible force, making it hard for them to breathe.

Curiously, they asked, "Liang Zi, don't you find this scene unbearable?"

Huo Liang opened his mouth and gently shook his head.

Watching the monster's wound explode, Huo Liang actually felt a trace of… warmth.

He fully received the emotions released from it, but these emotions did not make him uncomfortable. Instead, they reminded Huo Liang of events before he encountered the Pangolin.

The loneliness of feeling like his cries went unheard by heaven or earth, the pain he couldn't express to his mother, the anger at his own cowardice, and the helplessness against adult indifference were all too familiar to him.

These emotions combined, settling into what's commonly known as… Despair.

It wasn't anger, nor sorrow. It had no distinct manifestations, nor would it draw attention—just a quiet Dark Current flowing in the heart.

It only made people lose hope for tomorrow and stop having any expectations for the future. It might lead one to leave this boring, cruel world, or cause one to abandon all dreams and become an ordinary person. It could even make someone transform into its shape and thus spread Despair to friends, family, or even descendants.

If Huo Liang hadn't met the Pangolin and broken free from this cycle of suffering, this Dark Current would eventually have turned into a raging sea, either destroying Huo Liang or forcing him to destroy others.

However, even though Huo Liang had escaped the painful cycle, the Dark Current still quietly flowed in his heart, and the psychological trauma wasn't so easily erased.

It wasn't necessarily all bad: it became the driving force for Huo Liang to study hard. He vaguely realized that studying was the best way to escape his past. As long as he studied well, went to a better environment, and met people of better character, then no one would bully him again.

Yet the moment he felt the emotions released in the live stream, the quietly flowing Dark Current in Huo Liang's heart suddenly began to churn.

Big Fat and Xiao Qiang sensed that their classmate, known as a 'Ren Naiser Expert', underwent a subtle change: his posture straightened, his smile brightened significantly, and his gaze became much warmer.

Each slight change accumulated, transforming Huo Liang completely.

**"AAH!"**

With Huo Liang's scream, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang also saw the screen showing the Great Sword Maiden being smashed into mush by the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster!

They hastily leaned their heads closer, anxiously watching the situation unfold.

"What do we do? If she can't beat it, could this monster jump out of the Great Rift Valley and destroy the world?"

"Don't worry, Africa is far from here."

"But it can take a plane, right!"

As the junior high students spoke, on the screen, a bright light shone from the Great Sword Maiden, and she astonishingly stood up from the rock, her injuries completely recovered. She even had a Holy Light Buff, increasing her Movement Speed!

**BOOM!**

Barely dodging the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Monster's attack, the Great Sword Maiden charged again and slashed a huge scar on the monster!

This time, Huo Liang still took in all the emotions from it without any harm. Although Big Fat and Xiao Qiang found it hard to endure, seeing Huo Liang's transformation, they subconsciously thought it might be something good and endured the discomfort to watch a short segment.

When they couldn't stand it and turned their heads to gasp for air, the two middle schoolers suddenly felt their bodies seemed... lighter after catching their breath?

They couldn't clearly describe the feeling, but the slight awkwardness from being scolded by their parents the day before was gone; the unease of deciding not to do their holiday homework vanished; the annoyance of encountering bad teammates in ranked matches dissipated...

**BOOM!**

The Great Sword Maiden was knocked away again, but she stood up again after a moment. This time without the Holy Light Buff, she transformed into a light feather, teleporting next to the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster to attack continuously!

After several more scarring rounds of Despair, even Huo Liang could no longer bear it and had to turn his head away.

Seeing this, Big Fat and Xiao Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were all buddies, they still felt competitive. Seeing someone else not much better than oneself naturally makes one feel not so bad.

"Liang Zi, how do you feel?" Big Fat asked with a smile. "Although it was tough while watching, I now feel really good."

"Me too!" Xiao Qiang added. "We should really have some fun today. Why don't we play 'Unparalleled Orochi' at my house?"

"I..." Huo Liang looked at them and closed his mouth.

But Big Fat and Xiao Qiang suddenly heard Huo Liang's voice next to their ears, "Can you hear me? Hello?"

They were slightly startled, pointing at Huo Liang, and exclaimed, "You, you've Awakened!?"

"Yeah, seems like it..."

Huo Liang turned his head and saw the video of the Great Sword Maiden being smashed into mush, then recovering, and stubbornly standing up again.

After being washed over by the Despair in the live stream, Huo Liang felt as if his own body was filled with a miraculous power.

This power was heavy, like steel and concrete, unshakable. But it gradually melted as he watched the live stream, thoroughly integrating into his body, making his mood lighter, his body more agile, and even allowing him to... Awaken.

However, this Awakening Ability...

With the excited chatter of his companions in his ears and the tense, thrilling scenes of the live stream before his eyes, Huo Liang recalled an afternoon from dozens of days ago, remembering a Pangolin sitting on a school desk, holding a lamp stand, and Teaching him through mental communication.

---

"If we keep fighting like this, we won't have enough Seeds of Destiny!"

Ren Suo watched with gritted teeth—the difficulty of this 5-star game's boss battle was too high!

It wasn't that the Great Sword Maiden wasn't strong enough, but the boss could instantly kill her!

Just now, when the Great Sword Maiden was killed instantly for the first time, Ren Suo was almost scared to death. Fortunately, a 10-second countdown for Resurrection appeared immediately:

"Spend 1 Seed of Destiny for normal Resurrection (Hope, Hope, Despair, Despair)," "Spend 2 Seeds of Destiny for blessed Resurrection (Hope, Hope, Great Hope)."

The 'Hope' and 'Despair' in parentheses represented the Resurrection options. If Ren Suo spent just 1 Seed of Destiny, there was a chance he would draw the Card of Despair, leading to various negative effects upon Resurrection—such as losing limbs and the like.

This was not the time to be stingy. Ren Suo had to spend 2 Seeds of Destiny for a blessed Resurrection. The first time he resurrected, he drew Great Hope, making Nameless's Movement Speed, Defense Power, and Attack Power all rise by 100% for 5 seconds after Resurrection!

The subsequent times he only drew the Card of Hope, which just barely let Nameless recover 100%, with no other effects.

Seeing this, Ren Suo dared not opt for normal Resurrection.

The 50% chance of drawing the Card of Despair would definitely cause Nameless to experience various negative effects; he feared that Nameless wouldn't even be able to lift his sword before being instantly killed by the boss.

Of course, it wasn't to say that this boss battle had to trade one hit for one life.

After dying several times, Ren Suo discovered that if he played well enough, he could completely run away before the boss's Counterattack and even successfully dodge an attack, striking twice with one life!

However, for Ren Suo, who had poor gaming skills, it was quite challenging—the boss's attack range was too wide. Running back was a dead end; he needed to watch the direction of its attack and Move in the opposite direction.

If given a few hours to practice, he might be able to clear the stage without losing a life, but since it was a live stream, he could only resort to Krypton Gold to buy lives!

Ren Suo had also tried having Nameless use a flame to attack from a distance, but the boss's build-up and Movement Speed were extremely fast, directly killing Nameless upon impact!

Ren Suo wasn't unable to dodge, but again—he needed several hours of practice time to learn to predict!

He even equipped the "Seeker of the Dao Correction Hat" to increase his Comprehension, but his skill level couldn't be improved in such a short time!

Seeing the number of Seeds of Destiny fall below double digits, Ren Suo's expression became complicated. Am I really going to use the holiday promotion to summon a game Character?

No!

Summoning help so quickly isn't my style!

There are still eight chapters to go. Summoning a game Character, a trump card, has to be saved for the most critical moments!

Moreover, Ren Suo was enjoying the rush of Despair emotions while the Qi Cyclone was moving by itself. What if the game Character takes this benefit away?

After a moment of thought, with a determined expression, Ren Suo exited to the "Equipment Interface" and changed Nameless's Ability.

Then, the Supreme Supreme softly spoke in the realm of Destiny, "The sword is not used like this."

The chess piece glimmered slightly, and then, in the underground space beside the Great Sword Maiden, another Great Sword Maiden appeared!

Struggle Warrior (Damaged) activated!

Ren Suo looked at the Thousand-Eyes Thousand-Hands Monster on the screen and snorted coldly.

Yes, I have poor skills. But I don't control the clone, and she definitely isn't unskilled! Alas, it looks like today's laundry will have to wait until tomorrow...

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