As consciousness returned, after experiencing the familiar sensation of being pulled once more, Bai Yu slowly opened his eyes, and what greeted him was the familiar sight of his bedroom.
The octagonal lamp base still emitted a warm glow, while the bright morning light had already pierced through the gaps between the treetops in the azure sky outside the intricately carved window, casting dappled shadows on the moon-white carpet in the room.
“Has a night passed so quickly?”
Still maintaining the posture of sitting cross-legged in meditation and reciting the "Sword Heart Decision" from before his consciousness traversed, Bai Yu moved his somewhat stiff body and got up to approach the window.
As he pushed open the window, a faint fragrance from the blooming peonies in the yard wafted in.
The development of events was just as Bai Yu had previously speculated; since he could maintain awareness of his original body while possessing Ying, all he needed to do was focus his mind and return his consciousness, allowing him to instantly traverse back into his own body.
This fine control over his consciousness was not difficult for him, who could control multiple flying swords simultaneously.
Feeling something, Bai Yu once again immersed his mind into the sea of consciousness.
The 'Heart Sword' formed in the sea of consciousness through the refinement of the sword heart was as usual, but Bai Yu was surprised to find that the life seat representing Ying, the 'Traveler', also known as the 'Traveler's Seat', was slowly rotating around the sword body of the Heart Sword.
Bai Yu separated a thread of his consciousness and lightly touched the Traveler's Seat, the pulling sensation made him realize that he was about to once again attach his consciousness to Ying, who was far away in Teyvat.
Quickly retracting his consciousness, Bai Yu exhaled, “That was close. If I had gone over now, Ying would probably faint from embarrassment.”
To explain why, it was naturally because when Bai Yu left Teyvat, the sun was already setting in that world.
After spending days in the wild, Ying was finally able to enjoy the best room at the Goethe Hotel, but she had long been eager for a good bath—if he went over now, he might immediately witness some rather wonderful... ah no, rather unfortunate scenes.
As for whether Ying's little jiojio was... cough cough, let's skip that question!
Gathering his mind, Bai Yu raised his hand, his gaze falling on his palm.
A wisp of azure wind was swirling around his fingertips.
“...Is this the wind elemental power that Ying obtained from the Seven-Day Statue?”
Not only that, the combat techniques that Ying had mastered were also flashing continuously in Bai Yu's mind.
“The benefit of consciousness possession is that it can replicate the abilities of the possessed object?”
This discovery delighted Bai Yu.
He was quite aware of his current strength; although the continuous refinement of his sword heart gave him confidence that he wouldn't be defeated in a single encounter against Huan Long, who specialized in mental attacks, defeating her head-on?
One must know that aside from her identity as a Destroyer, Huan Long was also the Sun of Years.
The Sun of Years was something that even the Immortal Boat Alliance had no real way to eliminate; the only thing they could do was capture it and manage its sealing... no, wait, it was to guard and seal it.
—Rather than hoping to easily surpass Huan Long, it would be better to wash up and sleep, patiently waiting for a few hundred years until he officially took over the position of General of Divine Strategy from Jing Yuan, inheriting the identity of the Hunter of the Void at the same time.
According to the theory of the Collapse Iron Universe, he was now a Fate Walker—though the path he walked was somewhat strange, as he was somehow walking on three paths at once.
But even with the response of having three paths at the same time, he was still just a Fate Walker, not a Star God Envoy.
Feeling joyful, Bai Yu immediately immersed himself in the application of the wind elemental power replicated from Ying.
However, Bai Yu soon discovered a problem.
Replicating combat techniques and special abilities was one thing; being able to apply that ability to its fullest was another.
Bai Yu realized that his situation was like planting a seed of power derived from Ying in his body; to make that seed take root and grow into a towering tree, he would need to put in his own effort.
“...That's fine. If I could replicate the power that others have spent years mastering in one go, I wouldn't feel secure about it.”
“This kind of seed of power, cultivated through my own efforts, suits me much better!”
Opening his eyes, Bai Yu clenched his right fist.
Isn't it just about cultivating through one's own effort and sweat? He had done this before.
Having the strength he possessed today was entirely due to hard work.
Although the power derived from Ying was currently extremely weak, and even based on his memories from his past life playing games, this power, when cultivated to its peak, would not be able to match the strength he already possessed, last night's bizarre experience had opened a door to a new world for Bai Yu.
Once he possessed a powerful being in the future and replicated the seed of power from them, Bai Yu was confident he could become incredibly strong on his own.
Suddenly, Bai Yu's ears twitched, and he turned to look out the window.
At the entrance of the yard, a graceful figure was slowly approaching.
Seeing Bai Yu standing by the window, Ting Yun smiled brightly, raising her arms to showcase a stack of new clothes she was holding.
“Little Bai, just in time for you to wake up! Come try this on; I specially asked the master tailor at the Embroidery Workshop to use the finest materials and handcraft these new clothes just for your body shape!”
The tail behind the fox sister swayed back and forth, her emerald eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Such a scene had occurred countless times in the past.
Ting Yun was like playing a game of Shining Nikki, extremely enthusiastic about dressing him up in various styles.
Before long, Ting Yun pushed the door open and entered the room, bringing with her a fragrant breeze as she approached Bai Yu, unceremoniously reaching for his clothes.
“Hey! Ting! Wait! I can change my clothes myself!”
“What are you shy about? Back when you, Little Bai, couldn't even talk, where haven't you been seen or touched by your sister?”
“You even wet the bed, and it was still your sister who changed your diapers!”
Bai Yu: “…………”
Although he had memories from his past life, no matter how resilient his soul was, it was inevitable that he couldn't control certain physiological situations when his body had not yet developed enough to fully control all his muscles.
Not giving Bai Yu a chance to resist—rather, as long as Bai Yu insisted on not letting her, Ting Yun would immediately show a tearful expression, sobbing nearby with phrases like “Brother has grown up, doesn't like sister anymore, doesn't kiss sister anymore,” while simultaneously shooting him a look full of deep sorrow.
In the end, it was often Bai Yu who retreated and surrendered.
“So...”
Having had his outer clothes stripped away by Ting Yun in just a few moves, revealing his inner garments, Bai Yu glanced at Ting Yun's small hand that was unceremoniously probing into his inner garments.
“Sister Ting Yun, what are you doing with your hand?”
“I'm giving Little Bai a physical examination!” Ting Yun declared with righteousness, her tail swirling behind her, “Caring for my brother's development is the responsibility of a sister!”