When Ye Feng woke up again, he didn't know how much time had passed.
"Big brother, you're awake!"
Xiao Xiao had been lying beside Ye Feng, observing him. However, her extreme fatigue had made her fall asleep. The moment she felt Ye Feng's fingers move in her grasp, she immediately woke up.
"A tent?"
Ye Feng looked at the familiar green fabric around him and muttered.
"Mhm!"
Xiao Xiao nodded. "Big brother, this is the tent we lived in at the very beginning. Don't worry, I chose a suitable spot to set up the tent as you instructed, and I've also set up some traps around it!"
"Oh, good~"
Ye Feng smiled with relief. Then, he looked at Xiao Xiao with a hint of heartache, her face haggard with dark circles under her eyes. "Xiao Xiao, how long have I been unconscious?"
"Big brother, ever since you were struck by lightning, you've been unconscious for 4 days and 5 nights!"
"And… and…"
Xiao Xiao's face was full of worry, and she hesitated at the end of her sentence.
"Xiao Xiao… what about it?"
Ye Feng was very weak at this moment. He didn't dare to speak too loudly. If he raised his voice slightly, he felt pain in multiple parts of his body.
"Big brother… I don't know how to say it. You can see for yourself!"
Saying that, Xiao Xiao took a square mirror and handed it to Ye Feng.
"Hmm?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly, took the mirror with some confusion, and looked at himself.
"Holy crap!"
Upon seeing himself in the mirror, Ye Feng couldn't help but curse.
His entire face was as black as charcoal. His skin was clearly scorched from being struck by lightning, and his hair had melted from the high temperature, forming a curly, swept-back style.
He looked so unrecognizable that even Ye Feng himself could barely recognize himself.
Immediately, Ye Feng's gaze shifted slightly downward, and his face flushed. His clothes were not scorched or torn; they were perfectly intact.
Without a doubt, Xiao Xiao must have changed them for him.
Following Ye Feng's gaze, Xiao Xiao seemed to realize something. Her face also turned red, and she lowered her head.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
"Right, big brother, are you hungry?"
After a while, Xiao Xiao broke the silence first. "Big brother, I've only been able to feed you rice soup these past few days. I'll go cook some food for you!"
Saying that, Xiao Xiao, her face flushed red, quickly walked out as if escaping.
This eased the awkward atmosphere considerably.
Ye Feng also began to carefully sense his body. He discovered that although the epidermis of his skin was scorched and burned, causing a stinging pain, he had no critical injuries.
After all, the lightning bolts that kept striking down could split granite into pieces.
He couldn't help but recall the strange yet somewhat familiar female voice when he fainted, "You big idiot, what innate arcane energy did you awaken to directly attract heavenly punishment… Be more careful, I can protect you this time, but I definitely can't protect you a second time!"
He remembered that the last time he was in grave danger, the same voice had said something like, "You big idiot, run fast!" but he had been too desperate then to pay much attention.
"That female voice… the system?"
"That doesn't seem right. That female voice clearly had emotions, while the system's voice is mechanical, without emotional fluctuations…"
Ye Feng was both surprised and confused in his heart.
"Wait, heavenly punishment?"
Suddenly, Ye Feng's expression changed. That vortex-shaped thundercloud, which had been staring at him like a giant eye, was indeed not ordinary.
"Because the innate arcane energy I awakened is quite special, it attracted heavenly punishment?!"
Ye Feng pondered carefully and suddenly understood.
"And it was… the system that protected me?"
Ye Feng sat up, frowning slightly.
Thinking about this, Ye Feng tried to communicate with the system and found that he couldn't open the [Personal Information] panel or access the [Shop] at all.
However, he could still communicate with the spatial warehouse and other similar functions to store and retrieve supplies.
"Four days and five nights have passed, and there are still 3 days left…"
Ye Feng remembered that the system had mentioned it was damaged and expected to take 7 days to repair.
…
Not long after,
Xiao Xiao came in, carrying a pot of lean meat and shrimp millet porridge.
Ye Feng had been preoccupied with his thoughts earlier, so he hadn't noticed. But now, smelling the aroma of food, he felt as if his stomach was clinging to his back.
Then, the two of them began to eat heartily.
"Xiao Xiao, your cooking has improved!"
Ye Feng praised while eating. Like him, Xiao Xiao had progressed from only being able to cook food to cooking delicious food.
At the same time, Ye Feng felt quite fortunate. He had stored some food and water supplies with Xiao Xiao periodically, just in case of emergencies.
…
Due to his injuries, Ye Feng rested in place for the next three days and did not travel.
One noon,
"Almost the last piece,"
Ye Feng muttered as he tore off a scab of burnt skin from his body.
In the past few days, Ye Feng was surprised to find that his body was recovering rapidly. Most of the scorched skin had fallen off, and new skin had grown.
The stinging pain had long since disappeared!
Ye Feng also discovered that the muscles all over his body were filled with strength, and he could freely control the strange energy within him that he had used during his fight with Bing Gu.
"Is this my innate arcane energy?!"
Looking at the faint white glow emanating from his hand, Ye Feng seemed to understand.
Immediately, Ye Feng ran out of the tent and looked up at the sky. Seeing that there was no vortex-shaped thundercloud, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he had verified it many times in the past few days that his use of innate arcane energy would not attract heavenly punishment, a burned child fears the fire. Ye Feng couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
Then, Ye Feng's eyes sharpened, and a stronger, faint white glow appeared on his hand. He punched a large granite boulder.
"Boom~ Rumble~ Rumble~"
After a loud impact, the granite boulder was shattered into pieces by Ye Feng's punch.
"Whoa… having arcane energy is really something!"
Ye Feng was astonished.
He definitely couldn't have done that punch before. But now, not only could he do it, but his hand didn't even feel any pain.
"I just don't know what attribute my innate arcane energy is."
Ye Feng was quite puzzled but didn't dwell on it too much.
After all, he had just awakened his innate arcane energy, and Ye Feng understood that his innate arcane energy was different from others.
Lin had told him that according to legends, some special innate arcane energies, when awakened, were so heaven-defying that they might attract heavenly punishment.
…
The next day,
Ye Feng woke up as soon as it was dawn.
Because according to the system's prediction, the system should be repaired today.
"Ding~"
"Detected that the host has awakened innate arcane energy. System upgrade in progress, new stat allocation method unlocked~"
"System upgrading, 1%, 40%, 60%…"
As soon as Ye Feng's consciousness entered his mind, the system's mechanical voice sounded.
"...95%, 99%, 100%, system upgrade complete!"
As the system's mechanical voice finished, Ye Feng's [Personal Information] panel automatically opened.
"What… what's going on?"