I'm in Star Iron, and I draw power from the Inner World every week.

“Yes, maybe I can get in touch with you, Xia Die. How about we try shaking hands?” Su Yang extended his hand.

"No, no, what if something goes wrong..."

Xia Die's tone was hesitant.

She had already hugged Su Yang.

But that's because she mistakenly believed that Su Yang was dead.

Although Su Yang is still alive and kicking, which says it all, keeping her distance from living people has long been her daily routine, and it won't be easy for her to get over this hurdle.

"Let's leave this question for later to figure out. It's better to relax a bit during your bath," Aglaia interrupted.

After all, if the stalemate continues, the atmosphere will become awkward.

“Indeed, it’s time to relax.” Su Yang nodded and continued to relax.

.....

Good times always fly by.

Ohmma has recently taken in many more refugees from other city-states, and Aglaia, as the administrator, has many things to deal with, so she certainly can't spend all her time on Su Yang.

After finishing her bath, Aglaia arranged for Xia Die to take Su Yang back to his residence.

Her residence was located on a floating island not far from the Marble Palace, with a very spacious area and beautiful scenery and swirling clouds all around.

"Xia Die, I'm sorry."

“Your Excellency Su Yang, you have never done anything that requires you to apologize to me.”

"I'm sorry to have put you in a difficult position. I thought about it for a while, and it was indeed offensive of me to suddenly offer to shake your hand."

"No, that's not true. Your good intentions are beyond question; it's my hesitation that's annoying..."

"Then let's each take a step back, and neither of us will be in trouble. Nothing will happen, and you won't blame yourself."

"Hmm." Xia Die nodded obediently.

"Aren't you going back to rest? You didn't seem very relaxed just now."

"After I take you back to your residence, I will return to Lady Aglaia's side. I'll be fine, after all, I just received your help."

"You need to rest. I'm helping you so you don't end up overworking yourself."

"Alright, I'll be careful... Lord Su Yang is really gentle."

"Thank you for the compliment. Go home soon, I'll be fine."

"Well, I'll take my leave then."

“…”

Su Yang watched Xia Die leave until he was done, and only then did he let out a long sigh of relief.

a bit tired.

From the time of the punishment mission until now, apart from a brief period of unconsciousness and soaking in the bath, he has basically not had a proper rest, let alone a good night's sleep.

Especially after a relaxing bath, the drowsiness is amplified.

So much so that he no longer has the idea of ​​continuing to experiment with his abilities, and instead wants to follow his instincts and get some sleep.

Su Yang returned to his room.

He discovered that all the gold threads that had been in the room had disappeared, but the tailor waiting at the door remained the same.

Without thinking about any of that, he lunged onto the soft bed with a clear purpose, letting the waves of sleepiness engulf him.

Chapter 8 Huang Quan's Teaching Instruction

A blood-red twilight shrouded the holy city at dawn.

As the black tide surged in, in the deathly silent bath, the golden weaver embraced Su Yang, and only the weaver's weary sigh remained amidst the sea of ​​flowers.

"My love will not die with death."

The ragged, red-haired messenger, now a doll, collapsed in Su Yang's arms, barely alive.

"See you tomorrow, Xiaoyang~"

Su Yang tried to catch the scattered petals, but the thief who got there first grabbed his hand and brought him the final reward.

"I won't help you steal the seamstress's underwear. This belongs to Xia Die; she gave it to you willingly."

Wait, this isn't right.

If the tragic scene appeared out of place, Su Yang would regain consciousness in this special dream.

But the video didn't stop.

The sky priest lowered his eyes, leaned on Su Yang's shoulder, and slowly dissipated.

The blood-soaked crown prince closed his eyes, his back pierced by several spears.

The warrior shed tears of blood, his armor shattered.

The philosopher in the tree-tree courtyard smiled and invited him to be his final witness.

Finally, Su Yang appeared in a sea of ​​flowers.

This place seems to be the end of the journey, the end reached after overcoming all the previous sorrows.

“I don’t agree.” Su Yang pointed to the empty space ahead.

His eyes shone with an unprecedented determination, and two tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke.

This was a recurring nightmare for Xia Die, and he naturally became aware of this as he accessed parts of Xia Die's memories.

This dream, imbued with a strong sense of tragedy, often troubles Xia Die.

Su Yang also realized that behind Xia Die's usual gentleness lay a great deal of strength.

But he wouldn't accept those images from just now.

Suddenly!

A bright red light suddenly appeared, and the entire space instantly lost its color.

The sea of ​​flowers disappeared, replaced by a void space familiar to Su Yang.

The white-haired man stood there, seemingly never having left.

"Good eye." Huang Quan rarely expressed his appreciation for Su Yang.

"Mei-nee..."

"I want to hear your current level of understanding."

"I appreciate all the beauty in this world, but I will never condone sadness and separation."

"But what if that's a predetermined future, an outcome that can't be changed?"

"I cannot choose my destiny, but I can choose what kind of person I become."

"Based on who you are now?"

"Yes, I am very weak now, and I can't do anything."

“…”

“But that doesn’t mean I should give up or submit. It’s precisely because I’m weak that I need to become strong.” Su Yang’s eyes grew even more determined.

“…”

"Even if the future cannot be changed, I will decide for myself the process of reaching that result."

“…”

"I will transform this imperfect world into the one I envision."

"..." Huang Quan closed his eyes.

Her heart, which had long been consumed by nothingness, began to waver like never before.

Suppressing the restless desire within him, Huang Quan nodded:

"A good comment, matching your current gaze."

"Mei-nee, what image do you have of me right now?"

"Innocent and cute."

“…”

Now it was Su Yang's turn to fall silent.

He originally thought he was incredibly handsome, even charming beyond measure.

If I had known earlier I wouldn’t have asked.

“This place has nothing to do with you, and no one expects you to do anything. If you make a request, I can take you away.”

Even so, my naive idea will not waver.

“I understand. Now I feel like I’ve gotten to know you all over again, Su Yang.” Huang Quan’s lips curled slightly.

The gentle Yamato Nadeshiko is making a limited-time return.

"Mei-nee, I always forget about how to address someone."

"It doesn't matter, whether it's Mei or Yomi, whatever you think of me, that's what I am."

"Okay... but Mei-nee, didn't you have something to do? I feel like you've been staying here all the time."

“I didn’t just stay home. I tried to communicate with the local observer, but he refused to allow the virtual world to visit the planet.”

"Ok?"

If someone dares to directly refuse Huang Quan, then that person is either related to the Commander or is the Commander himself.

"I will try to negotiate again. After all, your awareness has piqued my interest, and I also have the idea of ​​helping you."

"Then Mei-nee, be careful."

Maintaining the status quo isn't so bad, actually.

After seeing Huang Quan, Su Yang was full of energy again.

Similarly, he also looks forward to a formal reunion with Huang Quan in reality.

"Let's not talk about that now. Don't forget, you have something to say."

Huang Quan still didn't let go of this topic.

"Mei-nee, you suddenly brought the topic back, I'm getting shy."

"Is what you want to say to me something shameful?" Huang Quan tilted his head.

"Well, what I really wanted to say was, Mei-nee, you're the embodiment of pure beauty, in..."

"Stop. I gladly accept your praise, but I'm inexplicably annoyed this time, so let's not talk about it anymore."

"Feel sorry."

"It's not something I need to apologize for... If you want to become stronger, you can't just shout slogans, you have to take action."

"Then we'll have to wait until I wake up."

"Don't you think it's a rare and valuable thing to spar with me here?"

“That makes sense, but I still have something I'd like to ask Mei-nee.”

"speak."

"I feel like I'm enveloped in death, but I'm still alive. It's a bit mysterious."

"You can try to harness that power."

"What exactly should be done?"

"Calm down, feel the unusual or abnormal sensations in your body, try to connect them, and then try to focus them together."

"Oh."

Su Yang closed his eyes and began the operation as Huang Quan had instructed.