Ten days and ten nights later.
It was afternoon again.
With a calm expression, Xi Shenlian walked out from a fruit shop named "Forbidden Fruit."
Behind him, voices rang out in fond farewell: "Come back soon, handsome~"
Yet his mind had already drifted elsewhere.
He was thinking about Copernicus' Heliocentric Theory, Eudoxus' Geocentric Theory, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Newton's Universal Gravitation, Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering, Laozi's Tao Te Ching...
In his heart, he silently recited the Diamond Sutra.
Suddenly.
He felt an overwhelming harmony and beauty in the world.
Then—
He regretted it.
Because he had made a huge mistake earlier.
Too much fruit!!
And then—
More than ten minutes later.
As Xi Shenlian strode away from Kabukicho, he once again heard a familiar voice:
"Handsome, want to play?"
"There are many beauties and special services in our shop~"
Upon hearing this,
Xi Shenlian's heart was filled with disdain.
Now, he was as sacred and serene as a living Buddha.
The allure of women could no longer shake his unshakable will.
Of course—
Out of pure biological instinct,
He still looked.
And then—
In that instant,
He gasped.
In front of the grand and glamorous store, there were black, white, red, blue, green, gold, orange silks...
Immediately, he realized the grave danger!
He had unknowingly wandered into a treacherous place!
"No good!"
"That's a damn Pansi Cave!!"
But alas—
The Pansi Cave is one of the 81 tribulations.
Even Tang Sanzang, the reincarnation of Golden Cicada, couldn't avoid that disaster.
Let alone him!
And so—
Xi Shenlian was captured alive once again.
And disappeared without a trace!
Keep in mind, this was broad daylight!!
Demons were wreaking havoc right out in the open—unbelievable!!
And this time, because the demons were far too dangerous,
Xi Shenlian vanished for twenty days and twenty nights!!
During that time—
Only the character selection tablet inside the Pansi Cave still displayed [Occupied] over each of the 83 avatars in the 17/83 interface,
Proving that Xi Shenlian was still alive and resisting.
His situation was deeply worrying!
But what could be done?
There was nothing anyone could do.
One could only say:
[Kabukicho], as a stronghold of capitalism, is an exceedingly evil and treacherous place.
Even demons are born there!
Even someone as powerful as Xi Shenlian went missing there!
Fortunately—
Xi Shenlian was immensely capable!
Even countless trials could not stop him from escaping danger.
When he finally escaped,
Wearing pants he had bought a month ago and only worn once,
He couldn't help but reflect on many profound topics—
From the Twenty-Four Histories to A Brief History of Time, from Advanced Mathematics to Quantum Physics...
His thoughts floated freely between questions like "1 + 1 = ?" and gravitational waves.
He felt transcendent—
Freed from vulgar temptations.
A man now useful to the world.
Of course—
Everyone knows:
The spider demons of Pansi Cave are terrifying.
Spiders feed by injecting venom into their prey's organs, dissolving their innards, and sucking out the fluid.
So naturally, over those twenty days and nights, Xi Shenlian also endured inhuman torture.
And so—
Even though his spirit was intact,
He still needed a place to properly recover.
Thus—
He immediately booked a presidential suite in a nearby five-star hotel for half a month.
After eating a light meal—
A meal meant for a hundred people—
His heavily injured body entered hibernation to heal.
This situation made one thing clear:
Exorcising demons is extremely dangerous.
Kids, don't try this at home!!
During this time—
While he slept,
Thanks to the clarity of thought he'd achieved while exorcising demons, his [Innate Ability – Reckless] operated at full throttle, accelerating growth that would normally take years to achieve, allowing Xi Shenlian's strength to soar far beyond his previous state, and forming a vast foundation within his body!!
And as he continued to rest and heal,
The latent potential in his body was finally fully unleashed—
Causing him to skip multiple stages of development and evolve past normal limits!
His bones became harder and stronger—and even more numerous—granting him superior flexibility.
Beneath his skin, transparent membranes formed, greatly increasing his resilience to injury.
His muscles underwent revolutionary change, as though advancing from ancient society to the modern age, making his body into a masterpiece of evolution...
Naturally—
Along with these changes,
Xi Shenlian's height, weight, hair color, and even facial features
All automatically underwent self-correction or comprehensive enhancement.
…
Until six days and six nights later—
Xi Shenlian finally awoke from his deep sleep.
In that moment—
It was hard to describe how he felt.
It was as if he'd been completely reborn.
Not only did he feel an indescribable bliss,
He also became aware of things he'd never noticed before—
Like the flow of air invisible to the naked eye.
Lying on the bed, he casually reached out his right hand,
And the air around him seemed to be pulled toward his five fingers.
As he clenched his fist—
"Bang!"
A small explosion rang out.
Like a firecracker being set off at an elementary school gate.
This meant—
Xi Shenlian had crushed the surrounding air.
Though it wasn't very powerful,
The shockwave rippled the air, causing the curtains to flutter.
This wasn't some special "air manipulation" ability—
But something else entirely.
Xi Shenlian could feel a kind of energy within himself.
A trace of—
Something akin to internal force, qi and blood, or mana from fantasy novels.
The reason he was able to manipulate the air like that just now—
Was thanks to that energy.
It wrapped around his palm like invisible tendrils,
Gathering and compressing the surrounding air
Until it burst in his hand, triggering the reaction just now.