Chapter 53 Withered Traits

After confirming that the immediate surroundings were temporarily safe, Xia Tong gently placed Li Sishui's mental crystal core on the dry stones in front of her.

She could clearly feel the fatigue in her body brought about by the fierce battle just now and the forced operation of the "Source Core," and her mental sea was trembling slightly.

Without wasting another time, she immediately closed her eyes, mobilizing the water-elemental energy within her. It flowed like a gentle stream through all her limbs and bones, repairing the minor injuries while striving to calm the mental fluctuations. However, her pair of cat ears remained ever vigilant, capturing the slightest disturbance from the outside world.

Subsequently, her attention refocused on the special mental crystal core.

As she gazed at the crystal core, the "Source Core" seemed to react to it as well.

[Special mental crystal core detected: Contains a trace of the 'Withering' trait; energy is mixed and carries a slight risk of contamination.]

"The Withering trait..." Xia Tong's heart stirred slightly. Li Sishui's bizarre mental force field ability indeed originated from this.

However, what kind of ability was this precisely? Why had she never heard of it in her past life, nor was this kind of knowledge ever taught in the Esper Academy?

Indeed, a cat still needed to venture out more; one could learn quite a few things in the outside world.

From this, it could be deduced that the evolution of espers was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface.

It was just a pity that the specific effects of the trait were still unknown.

...

[The host may choose to absorb it directly, but the risk is too high, which may lead to mental alienation or the consciousness being eroded by mixed energy. It is recommended that the "Source Core" purify it. The process will take about 30 minutes with stable gains, and the pure 'Withering' trait can be extracted for analysis.]

The moment Xia Tong pondered, the "Source Core" swiftly provided a processing suggestion for this crystal core.

"Purify it."

Xia Tong made her choice almost without any hesitation.

What she needed was a steady improvement in strength rather than taking risks to gamble on uncertain alienation hazards. Furthermore, the "Source Core" could even extract and analyze the "Withering" trait, which was undoubtedly an unexpected pleasant surprise.

As her decision fell, the "Source Core" emitted an imperceptible ray of light that enveloped the gray crystal core, beginning a slow and steady purification process.

Having done all this, Xia Tong breathed a sigh of relief and began to carefully sort out her own abilities. The harvest this time was not small, but the potential crisis was equally immense.

She had to recover her state as soon as possible and figure out a way to deal with Li Sishui's companions. Leaving was out of the question; only through battle could one elevate their strength more rapidly.

...

With a slight movement of her mind, Xia Tong's consciousness sank into her mental sea.

[Character Information: Xia Tong]

Race: Mutated Black Cat
Tier: Tier 1, Three Stars (Maximum)
Abilities: Water (F-Grade), Wood (A-Grade)
Skills: Water Morphological Qualitative Change, Wood-Element Perception, Plant Manipulation
Status: Slightly Fatigued
Evaluation: A mutated black cat with dual-ability awakening talent, Tier 1 Three Stars. Due to 'serendipity,' she has mastered the Tier 4 water ability morphological qualitative change. However, her F-grade aptitude is too low, and she will be unable to break through the Tier 2 threshold in her lifetime.

Regarding the evaluation, Xia Tong directly chose to ignore it.

...

Time ticked away second by second. The interior of the rockery cave was dim, with only a few wisps of light penetrating through the gaps of the vines and rubble, barely outlining Xia Tong's curled-up, petite figure.

She kept her eyes tightly closed, adjusting her breathing with her mental focus highly concentrated, perceiving every slight rustle of the wind outside.

About half an hour later, the dim light that had been enveloping the gray crystal core suddenly flared up and then slowly subsided.

[Purification completed. The 'Withering' trait has been successfully extracted.]

Xia Tong opened her eyes and saw that the gray mental crystal core on the stone in front of her had now lost all its luster, turning grayish-white and dull, its surface covered in dense cracks.

Following a slight "crack" sound, the crystal core shattered abruptly, turning into a pile of useless powder that was partially blown away by the weak airflow within the cave.

Above that pile of powder, a wispy energy thread—thinner than a hair and exuding a hair-raising gray aura—floated quietly, undulating slightly as if it possessed life.

This was the purified "Withering" trait.

It looked so fragile, yet it contained a terrifying implication capable of stripping away the vitality of all things.

[The 'Withering' trait has been extracted and is ready for absorption.]

The voice of the "Source Core" rang out once again.

A flash of resolute determination crossed Xia Tong's glass-colored cat pupils.

Taking a deep breath, she hesitated no longer, her mental will fiercely locking onto that wispy gray-black "Withering" trait.

"Absorb!"

As her thought stirred, that slender thread of gray energy seemed to be guided by an invisible force, transforming into a stream of light that instantly plunged into Xia Tong's glabella, heading straight for the depths of her mental sea!

In an instant, an indescribable coldness and stillness surged into Xia Tong's consciousness like a tidal wave.

It felt as if her entire soul had been immersed in the freezing Styx River, with all surrounding vitality rapidly fading away. An instinctive fear and rejection welled up from deep within her.

However, before this negative sensation could spread, the button-shaped "Source Core" in her mind trembled violently, emitting a gentle yet irresistible suction force.

That wispy "Withering" trait, before it could wreak havoc in Xia Tong's mental sea, was precisely captured by this suction force and then swallowed in one gulp by the water-elemental crystal core in her mind!

...

Xia Tong had stumbled into this by a freak combination of circumstances. If not for the assistance of the "Source Core," she probably would have been completely withered the very moment the "Withering" trait entered her mental sea.

One must know that accommodating traits typically begins as a trial at Tier 3. Acquiring a trait is not only a troublesome task in itself, but it also requires external assistance. Yet Xia Tong... at Tier 1...

If those high-tier espers in the outside world knew that someone had started accommodating a trait at Tier 1 and even succeeded, it was hard to imagine what kind of bloody storms would be stirred up.

Of course, excluding those lucky ones whose traits were included right upon awakening, such as... Li Sishui.

Unfortunately, he ran into Xia Tong, turning even his luck into misfortune.

...

[Detected that the host is a Tier 1 water-elemental esper and can only accommodate a trait once without the possibility of removal or stripping. Confirm accommodation?]

Well... can only accommodate once?

Never mind, when something good comes along, grab it first; there's nothing to hesitate about.

She took things very lightly.

"Confirm!" Xia Tong's affirmative reply came through her consciousness.

[Beep! Accommodation of the 'Withering' trait begins...]

As the cold prompt of the "Source Core" fell, Xia Tong felt a strange torrent of energy surging from an unknown source, heading straight for the azure water-elemental crystal core floating in her mental sea.

That was the "Withering" trait entering her water-elemental crystal core!

The purified "Withering" trait, like a freezing seed, completely faded away and vanished without a trace the moment it made contact with the water-elemental crystal core.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable sense of conflict erupted within the water-elemental crystal core.