CHAPTER 112: CHAPTER 112: WIND ELEMENT ABILITIES

On the sea surface, Chen Shouyi munched away while letting the canoe drift aimlessly.

Shell Lady squatted on the edge of the boat, staring unblinkingly as the giant tore off a large piece from the giant brownish-yellow bird in his hand, devouring it with his bloody maw. Her expression flickered between amazement and shock.

Feeling a bit embarrassed under Shell Lady’s burning gaze and varied expressions, Chen Shouyi asked, "Want some?"

Shell Lady immediately shook her head in disdain and said loudly, "I wouldn’t eat such a thing."

She was always fond of light flavors, eating almost nothing aside from honey.

It’s puzzling how this unhealthy diet hasn’t led to malnutrition.

Chen Shouyi stopped bothering her, chewing up the last bit of duck neck bones and all, before taking another one from the plastic bag and biting into it vigorously.

"Giant, I helped you find a-a-a... an evil giant today. When will I get my big gem?" Shell Lady suddenly asked.

"You’ll have to wait until we go back," Chen Shouyi replied.

"Is it a-a single one?" Shell Lady’s eyes rolled shrewdly, a hint of anticipation in her voice.

"It’s a single one. When did I mention two?" Chen Shouyi glanced at her, asking curiously.

"Oh!" Shell Lady responded with some disappointment, but upon thinking about soon receiving a big gem, she grew excited again and flew onto Chen Shouyi’s shoulder.

"Giant, when shall we go kill those evil giants again?"

Chen Shouyi, in the middle of eating, almost choked on his food upon hearing this.

He saw through her little scheme immediately.

Indeed, it’s a case of remember the taste but forget the beatings—valuing money over life. Who was it that was terrified and kept shouting to go back?

While chewing, he mumbled, "Next time!"

"Is there still a reward?"

"There is!"

"Is it still a big gem?"

"It is!"

...

Chen Shouyi ate rapidly, finishing more than half of his supplies in less than ten minutes. Patting his bulging stomach, he exhaled a breath, finally feeling full.

He grabbed the oar and, while rowing, experimented with his wind control ability. The headwind gently avoided Chen Shouyi, curving around the sides before turning back to accelerate and blow against his back.

Now, with his basic level of atmospheric control ability, manipulating such three to four-level breezes was a piece of cake for him.

However, compared to that divine tree, the range he could manipulate was pathetically small, with only a one-meter radius, not even covering the canoe, making it impossible to perfectly neutralize the headwind’s impact.

One might say it’s better than nothing.

In the meantime, he tested the maximum wind strength he could achieve through manipulation, discovering it could only reach about five to six levels.

Truly a feeble ability.

Reflecting on the performance of the divine tree earlier, Chen Shouyi suddenly felt that even if he absorbed all the insights of the divine tree regarding wind, it wouldn’t be of much use.

Using it for direct combat seems unlikely.

Perhaps its only offensive capability would involve kicking up dust to blind the enemy, impairing their sight; the effect might be better with pepper or lime powder added.

Of course, if this were usable on Earth, it could definitely be used to blow up skirts, causing panic among women and delivering psychological damage!

However, at this stage, the greatest use of this ability for Chen Shouyi is still as an auxiliary.

This wind control ability can greatly mitigate the negative impact of wind resistance on him. In other worlds, whether running or attacking, as long as he’s focused, wind resistance almost has no impact, allowing him to perfectly unleash his speed.

...

Back on Earth, it was already eight o’clock the next morning.

"Hey handsome, you’re back!" At the hotel reception, upon seeing Chen Shouyi dragging a suitcase, the receptionist’s eyes brightened, and she greeted him with a smile.

Simultaneously, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at his extravagance, booking a room without staying.

"Hmm, good morning!" Chen Shouyi responded with a smile to the pretty receptionist and returned to his room.

In the bathroom, he washed away the dust and bloody smell, then changed into clean clothes.

Before leaving the bathroom, he glanced in the mirror.

As his physique improved, his skin became more delicate, with a healthy, radiant glow, and his features seemed subtly adjusted, appearing more harmonious.

"I feel more handsome again!"

The thought flashed through his mind.

At that moment, inspired, Chen Shouyi took the sword case from the room and drew his sword.

Then, he lightly and experimentally scraped the blade along his arm. The edge of this martial artist’s sword, coated with a nanofilm hardening layer, was extremely sharp, able to slice through hair with ease.

Ordinary steel bars wouldn’t require much effort as a single slash would easily cut through them without any damage to the sword. A normal person’s touch would lead to a cut, let alone a scrape.

However, he found that beyond a slight itch, his skin remained unharmed.

His eyes lit up, and he applied more force.

Despite the skin on his arm beginning to indent, as he lightly etched, upon closer inspection, he found a nearly imperceptible cut had been made, breaking the superficial layer but not bleeding.

He didn’t test further, assuming more force would draw blood.

Chen Shouyi sheathed the sword back into its scabbard, feeling quite satisfied.

This skin was probably several times tougher than cowhide.

Although in battle, this level of defense might end with the same outcome if hit by a martial artist-level expert’s strike, bullets from a handgun would likely no longer be lethal to him.

...

On a small island in the other world.

For several days, Chen Shouyi hadn’t returned to Hedong, spending most of his time training on the island to adapt to his newfound strength.

Holding a long sword, Chen Shouyi repeatedly struck a small tree.

"Ssshhh!"

The sword blade tore through the air, emitting faint, almost inaudible, sounds.

Each slash released a cyan-tinted, conical Qi force, hitting the tree trunk and leaving two to three-centimeter marks.

Unlike on Earth, where the sword aura was only three-centimeters long, invisible, and could only cling to the sword body, this Qi force was tinted with cyan and could attack externally.

In fact, this phenomenon was not the first occurrence.

A month ago, in this same location, a similar occurrence happened inadvertently, though it had been a faint and fleeting color then, and he hadn’t paid much attention, especially after the blood ritual event of the cult, which forced him to leave Dongning City.

Later, through repeated practice, he discovered this Qi force, mistaking it for the same thing as sword aura.

But obviously, it wasn’t.

This was a highly concentrated high-speed airflow, stemming from what he originally believed was his weak attack power in his atmospheric control ability.

Its power rivals true sword aura and allows attacks beyond the sword, maintaining considerable lethality within two to three meters, potent enough to pierce through an average barbarian’s body.

At first, during practice, only two or three out of every ten slashes produced this cyan-colored Qi force. Yet, he didn’t know whether it was due to frequent practice or because of daily insights from the golden fruit’s internal world of wind, leading to increasingly adept control over the wind.

Now, he could successfully produce it eight or nine times out of ten attempts, with increasing concentration and power.

Unfortunately, it had a drawback. Chen Shouyi noticed only bow-stab strikes achieved such damage; other sword forms merely created colorless, slightly sharp gusts that might cut skin, but would struggle to slay barbarians.

Chen Shouyi speculated it might relate to the speed of the strike.

The bow-stab was the fastest and most powerful strike among all sword forms—one stab released like a bullet from a chamber, a mere instant of electricity and fire.

Even on this island with triple gravity, his current stabs have exceeded the speed of sound. But changing to other forms, his speed wasn’t even a third of that.