Chapter 4: Chapter 2 Wanxiang Star Pupil
"Uh..."
Ji Xinghuo let out a moan, then recovered consciousness, "I'm not dead!"
He jerked upright, realizing he was sitting on the ground in his familiar bedroom. The spot where he had been lying was marked with dried blood.
Besides feeling a bit dizzy, there were no other discomforts.
Ji Xinghuo felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Before losing consciousness, he truly believed he was about to die. At his young age, he had not yet enjoyed life. The vast Galaxy and Star Realm, countless magnificent views yet to be appreciated, exciting adventures yet to unfold—dying so soon would have been too regrettable.
"It's good to be alive!"
Ji Xinghuo, feeling grateful to have survived the ordeal, tried to find the culprit behind all of this. Looking around, he indeed found no sign of that gemstone.
"Is it an Alien Species that I've successfully integrated?" He was both shocked and pleased. Although he was unclear why the gemstone merged with his eye upon contact, he considered it a favorable outcome.
"Ability?"
Getting up from the ground, Ji Xinghuo didn't feel like he had acquired any supernatural powers.
He stood up unsteadily, holding his head, feeling increasingly dizzy.
His vision was also flashing.
Everything he saw was shaking, like a screen with a shaky signal; it would go black for a moment every few seconds, his sight blurring before quickly regaining clarity. This cycle repeated endlessly, causing him great discomfort.
"There's something wrong with my eyes!"
Ji Xinghuo realized that this might be the Ability he had integrated with.
Staggering, he supported himself against the wall and walked into the bathroom. Standing at the washbasin, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and gasped in horror.
His face was smeared with blood. His eyes, nostrils, and ears were bleeding profusely, and there were other fluids, white, red, and mixed with congealed blood covering half his face, as if his brain pulp had burst. It was a frightening sight.
Rushing water...
Ji Xinghuo quickly washed the filth off his face, finding no wounds on his head nor any grotesque growths, which made him sigh with relief.
"Thankfully, I didn't disfigure my face," he touched his face.
He wasn't the kind of man everyone adored, but he was quite good-looking, with well-defined features and a sunny, determined demeanor. He had many admirers among his female schoolmates and could be considered a handsome guy. If life didn't go well, he might even consider making a living with his looks.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the time; he had been unconscious for about half an hour.
The dizzy feeling in his head had lessened considerably, and his vision was no longer blurred or flashing. It seemed like everything was going back to normal.
No, that's not right!
Ji Xinghuo sensed that there was something very abnormal!
His vision indeed stopped flashing and was no longer blurry. It seemed his visual nerves had stabilized, but instead, they began to enhance.
His view of the world became increasingly clearer, revealing more and more details.
Countless tiny water droplets floated in the air of the bathroom; the seemingly spotless floor was actually coated with a thin layer of dust, much of which was dead skin from his own body; he raised his hand and saw skin on the back of his hand like a cracked, parched earth, with hair follicles and even tiny dust particles sticking to them distinctly visible.
The entire world had changed in Ji Xinghuo's eyes.
"Eagle Eye?"
The first thing that came to Ji Xinghuo's mind was "Eagle Eye", an Ability that gave one far-sight far exceeding that of normal humans, along with extremely sharp Dynamic Vision, comparable to the eyes of an eagle—hence the name.
Eagle Eye was a Superior Ability, not very rare.
Ji Xinghuo felt a bit disappointed.
If it was only the Eagle Eye Ability, then he had drawn the short straw. The gap between Superior and Transcendent Abilities was vast; they simply couldn't compare.
"It shouldn't be Eagle Eye."
Ji Xinghuo quickly noticed a difference.
The most notable feature of Eagle Eye was far-sight capability, but what he was experiencing at the moment was an enhancement of his short-distance vision, like looking through a magnifying glass.
"Is this... the ability to see the minute?" Ji Xinghuo was a bit puzzled.
Like Eagle Eye, seeing the minute was also a Superior Ability—one allowed seeing at a distance, and one was for close up. However, seeing the minute was considered better because, in addition to enhanced visual strength, it provided substantial support in close-quarters combat and was more valuable than Eagle Eye.
How could two entirely opposite Abilities manifest at the same time?
Moreover, how could an Alien Species possess two Abilities?
Ji Xinghuo returned to his bedroom.
The apartment he rented featured a common minimalist design, lacking a living room, with a spacious bedroom of over sixty square meters right at the entrance. The remaining forty square meters were divided into two sections, serving as a study and a training room, open to each other with everything in plain view.
There was sparse furniture in the apartment; two rows of sofas and a coffee table in the middle, a simple bar that doubled as a dining table on the side, adorned with a kettle and a few other utensils for eating and drinking.
In the corner stood a Virtual Platform login pod.
Apart from these, there were no other decorations. The whole apartment seemed empty and barren.
A large bed was situated near the balcony, with an entire light-adjusting glass panel embedded in the wall behind the headboard.
"Open the scenic window," Ji Xinghuo said softly.
Instantly, the glass wall became transparent, revealing the view outside. The dazzling neon lights shone into the apartment; looking out, they were emitted from towering skyscrapers. Amid the night, the buildings resembled peaks of varying heights, obscuring the nighttime sky.