It was said that for most people, absorbing and nourishing themselves with source energy required intense concentration and was often accompanied by aching meridians and sore muscles.
This did not apply to Han Qingyu.
For him, though absorbing blue crystal source energy blocks couldn't be done in an instant like devouring the dark metal blocks, it was still something he could do effortlessly.
It was actually quite comfortable, too.
The feeling was akin to soaking in a hot spring or a footbath, leaving him with plenty of leisure to do other things.
With both hands cradling the back of his head, he lay flat on his back, the fifteen source energy blocks arranged across his body into an auspicious shape: the number 8, praying for a bountiful harvest and a fortune from this trial.
Han Qingyu had always possessed an insufferably vulgar set of worldly instincts and values.
He had invested so heavily on this trip. If he couldn't fish up a single metal block in the end, it wouldn't just be a matter of being strapped for cash and enduring hard times once he returned—it would become a question of Iron Chick's survival.
Once, all he had thought about was striving alone, growing, surviving, and going back to his hometown. Now, without realizing it, he had people to support and responsibilities to shoulder.
How to describe this feeling? It was a little tiring, but he felt less lonely and helpless. It brought a warmth and grounding he had never known before, along with a surge of confidence to survive in this cruel world.
Closing his eyes, he imagined himself as a propane tank—no, a source energy tank...
Right now, what Han Qingyu could pump back into a block was only liquid source energy. Once absorbed and forced back out, a portion would be absorbed by his body and another portion lost to dissipation, so the total amount would definitely decrease.
Moreover, his greatest trump card in combat was the simultaneous surge of liquid source energy and his three-dimensional apparatus. Keeping a certain reserve stored in his body at all times was an absolute necessity.
As for the two metal blocks he had absorbed previously, they had fused directly into his body.
Though his physical condition showed no obvious outward changes, he could clearly perceive improvements in every aspect.
Not long ago, he had even seriously contemplated shooting himself without armor on just to test it...
Could a bullet pierce his defense? It probably could, and it would injure him, but Han Qingyu felt he might not be gravely wounded—perhaps the sort where he could pry the wound open a bit and pull the bullet straight out of his muscle himself.
*Hey, that strike of the Legion Commander's—Twilight—what kind of energy did it mobilize?*
*Was it liquid source energy as well?*
Han Qingyu suddenly remembered what Shen Fengting had mentioned: Legion Commander Chen had decapitated a Red Shoulder with a single slash, aging twenty years overnight.
Since there were such consequences, it probably wasn't liquid source energy, but rather source energy that had already been absorbed and fused into the body.
Life-assimilated source energy?
Did that mean he might actually be able to do it too—that he could mobilize the energy from the metal blocks that had fused into his flesh?
Then again, better not. What if using it aged him overnight just like the Legion Commander, and when he went home, his parents asked, "Excuse me, old man, who are you looking for?"
No way, definitely not.
*I haven't even taken a wife yet.* In the darkness, Han Qingyu fingered the silver bracelet on his wrist, thinking to himself.
He did want to get married, and he didn't mind marrying someone in Azure.
Even though, as Wen Jifei said, he might not understand what love was at all and had never experienced that feeling, he could still go on blind dates. In his village, plenty of uncles, aunts, older brothers, and sisters-in-law knew nothing of love, and their marriages weren't based on it, yet they lived together just fine. There were tons of couples like that.
Regimental Commander Li had said he would arrange a matchmaking session for him. Well, if nothing worked out in three to five years, he really would have to do that.
Get married, and then have a child?
Han Qingyu now knew that what Lao Jian had said at the beginning—about how if they had children, the kids had to stay in Azure—had merely been a scare tactic to keep them from getting wild ideas too early.
So there was actually a choice. The child could stay in Azure, or they could find a way to send the child back to his hometown while they were still very young for his parents to raise.
If it were him? He would definitely send the kid back.
That way, his parents would be thrilled and have something to lean on... As for the excuse, working in a classified military unit was a perfectly good one. Then he could send money home, and maybe get family leave once in a while.
Soaking in the energy of the blue crystal source energy blocks that night, thinking about so many things reaching so far into the future, Han Qingyu drifted off into sleep very late.
***
Elsewhere.
Shen Yixiu had just finished explaining her physical condition to Yin Caixin, including matters like eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and washing up.
Yin Caixin listened, hesitated for a long while, and finally asked, "Then... do you get *that* every month?"
"Which one?" Shen Yixiu was blank for a moment.
"You know, *that*..." Yin Caixin finally managed to make herself clear.
Shen Yixiu went quiet, then shook her head, seemingly touched by a hint of bitter sorrow.
"You're so lucky! It gives such terrible stomach cramps," Yin Caixin said enviously, then quickly added, "Just think of it as being spared all those years of trouble. Once technology develops in the future and you come out, everything will be fine."
Shen Yixiu smiled. "Yeah."
"Is Mister a good person?" Turning over, Yin Caixin suddenly asked. Her trust in Han Qingyu and his companions had already taken root, but the one she trusted most was still Shen Yixiu.
"Mister? Oh, you mean Qingzi... He isn't a bad person." Shen Yixiu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "To ordinary people, he's probably neither good nor bad. But to those who manage to get close to him, he's a very good person. That's what my grandfather told me. Grandpa also said it isn't easy to get close to him, and that I'm very fortunate."
"Oh, then I don't stand a chance. He keeps accounts with me down to the penny." Yin Caixin nodded as she stared at the ceiling. "What about Plague Chicken? I heard you guys call him that. Is he a scientist?"
"He... probably. He's quite special."
"And Tangtang? In Chinese, isn't 'Tangtang' usually a girl's name? It sounds sweet, which doesn't match his looks at all."
"Haha, you've got it wrong, Caixin. That's *tangtang*—as in dignified and imposing, the *tangtang* of a stalwart seven-foot man."
***
The next day, from morning until afternoon.
They finally traveled from the lodge to the Third Fixed Exploration Site—the territory of the Alphonse family. This was an isolated, restricted zone, closed to the outside world without permission.
Clusters of French-style estates and villas came into view, nestled among sparse woodlands.
It was a picturesque scene.
It felt like the pages of a history book describing dukes and princes of ancient Europa who owned castles and estates, imagined to live lives of pure bliss.
Exclamations of wonder and questions arose from the crowd.
Turning their heads and following pointing fingers, magnificent, snow-capped peaks met their eyes.
"Is that Xilang Peak?" Wen Jifei asked.
"No, that's Annapurna Peak," Yin Caixin said. "Though I heard that within the Alphonse family's territory, there are spots where you can see Xilang Peak too."
"Oh, so this place is huge?" He Tangtang said.
"Yes, the Third Exploration Site is quite vast, and the grounds for your trial this time cover a very large area as well," an Alphonse family receptionist in the crowd who spoke Chinese replied with a polite smile.
"Can you guys handle all of it, then?" He Tangtang followed up.
"Of course," the receptionist replied with a chuckle. "Here, we have not only Mr. Alphonse's family members, but also his followers. They are formidable, and we deploy to mission sites by helicopter. Moreover, the missions are usually not difficult."
The receptionist's explanation elicited a dense wave of envious murmurs from all around.
For this was perhaps the most wonderful state of existence anyone in Azure could imagine and aspire to: an independent territory with scenic surroundings, a pleasant life, ample supplies, missions that weren't overly demanding, and enduring glory.
"Go win a Star of Azure, Qingzi," Wen Jifei said, his eyes filled with yearning. "Then you can carve out a territory like this too, and take all of us with you, along with Milla and the others... If a full-scale Great Spike invasion never comes, we can just grow old and die happily right there."
Chapter 126