Chapter 2354: All Problems Stem from Insufficient Personal Strength
With everyone's memories playing back, Jiangnan filled in the missing pieces from the academy exchange competition, reliving those wonderful memories!
Just as expected, having used Black Hole Devouring Star three times meant three memory fragments were lost.
And the terrifying part was how much time had passed since the first time he'd released Black Hole Devouring Star!
Jiangnan had only just now discovered the problem!
Even after watching everyone's memory replays, Jiangnan only knew what had happened—nothing more. The passion, laughter, anxiety, and bonds from back then could never be recalled. He was more like a bystander!
This feeling was really awful.
Zhong Yingxue gently patted Jiangnan's back, her voice full of comfort:
"Don't be afraid. You don't just exist in your own memories—you're also engraved in each of our memories. You're real, flesh and blood!"
"What truly happened can't be erased!"
"And you'll never be alone. When you feel like you can't hold on anymore, look around you, look behind you—everyone is by your side, supporting you, helping you keep going!"
Seeing everyone's concerned gazes fixed on him, Jiangnan felt warmth spreading through his whole body, like soaking in warm water!
Looking back on the journey, he'd started with nothing, and before he knew it, he'd already gained so much!
This was his reality—nothing to be afraid of!
Jiangnan's nose tingled slightly, and he couldn't help but tightly grasp Zhong Yingxue's small hand!
Wang Youzhi let out a long breath:
(٥︶3︶) "At least we've stabilized you now. But that said, we can't ignore the cost of Black Hole Devouring Star!"
"Even though you can rely on everyone's memories to make up for the lost fragments and know what happened, what's lost is lost. The original feeling can never be retrieved!"
"Do you realize how serious this problem is?"
Jiangnan frowned deeply, his expression heavy.
Li Bing propped her chin with her hand, her expression serious as she warned:
(๑͡°ก͡°) "Before this problem is solved, you'd better not use Black Hole Devouring Star casually. Compared to losing memory fragments, losing lifespan is a minor issue!"
"Which memory fragments get lost is uncontrollable! But they're undoubtedly extremely important ones. Saving Shanmao was crucial to her, saving Lan was equally vital to Lan!"
"The academy exchange competition, where Sherry lost to the Pioneer Academy, was a turning point in her life. These lost memories all carry your strong bonds with your companions and your reality!"
"If we tally them up, we can see a common thread among the three lost memories!"
Hearing Li Bing say this, Jiangnan shuddered violently, a sense of lingering fear washing over him.
"You mean... even though the loss is random, it's still targeted?"
Li Bing nodded: "It's only three instances, but we can already see some clues. Imagine if next time, you lose today's memories—the memories of this very moment?"
"Then your sense of identity with this reality would disappear again! What if you lose memories about Mila, about Xuexue, about Yaoyao—the people closest to you?"
"Your bonds would be stripped away bit by bit, your memories slowly erased, and your emotions would gradually vanish in the process. What's lost can never be recovered!"
"You're only in your twenties—how many memories can you afford to lose? If this continues, your connection to this reality will completely vanish, and you'll turn into a cold, emotionless black hole!"
"Your consciousness will remain forever on the Sea of Energy, looking out at countless pages about you, yet without a single reality that belongs to you. You'll never have that sense of belonging, and you'll sink eternally into the Sea of Energy!"
"Does that feeling... scare you?"
At that moment, no one in the room spoke. It was as quiet as death.
Jiangnan's face turned deathly pale.
Just as Li Bing said, it wasn't just a possibility—if he kept using Black Hole Devouring Star recklessly, that day would inevitably come.
The Sea of Energy was a giant pit, wasn't it?
It didn't require any bonds with reality; it was above all realities, without emotion or nature.
If that time really came... would I still be me?
Jiangnan had touched power that life shouldn't touch, but in doing so, he'd also had something taken from him.
Chong Feiyu's spine felt cold: "As expected, such unreasonable power comes with a terrible price."
Perhaps Mailiushi's feeling that evolving into a black hole would mean death—his consciousness completely dissipating—wasn't an illusion.
This thing was simply not something life could control.
Seeing Jiangnan feeling down, Wang Youzhi stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
(￢↼￢) "Don't let fear stop you in your tracks. All the unsolvable problems in this world come from insufficient personal strength!"
"Keep getting stronger, and one day, no problem will be worthy of standing before you. If Transcendent isn't enough, go for Star Devourer. If Star Devourer isn't enough, go beyond Star Devourer!"
"Fear is useless!"
Jiangnan glanced at Wang Youzhi, then elbowed him in the ribs: "Where did you find such a cool line? Delete it and say it again!"
"But... it does make sense."
"Still, until this problem is solved, I won't use Black Hole Devouring Star. The reason I've come this far is to make the people I care about live better lives."
"But if I slowly forget the people I care about... that would be ridiculous! It would be putting the cart before the horse!"
"Don't worry. I'm not some rookie who gets lost in overwhelming power. I know how to exercise self-control! The main issue now is figuring out which of my actions caused the memory loss."
Since teleportation caused lifespan loss, memory loss must also be caused by some specific reason.
Was it going to the Sea of Energy itself that caused memory loss?
Or was it looking at pages that didn't belong to his own reality?
The first time, Jiangnan looked at other realities. The second time, he looked at the future. The third time, he looked at the past.
Was that the root cause of the memory loss?
Could the lost memories be retrieved through the Sea of Energy?
Or was the memory loss a price paid for breaking through the barriers of reality during the return process?
Jiangnan couldn't be sure. No one in the starry sky had walked this path before. He was the first!
Everything was unknown, requiring gradual exploration. One wrong move could bring everything crashing down.
This problem could only be solved through controlled experiments.
But right now, Jiangnan had a strong aversion to Black Hole Devouring Star. He didn't want to forget anything anymore!
Whether the memories were happy, joyful, sad, or angry, they were all Jiangnan's most precious possessions.
Although Soul Imprinting could break the deadlock, Jiangnan didn't have enough skill points to keep Soul Imprinting active all the time.
Moreover, things that had already happened couldn't be imprinted. The memory loss was also random...
But as Black God said, there was nothing to worry about. All problems stemmed from insufficient strength.
One day, Jiangnan would fully tame the power of the black hole and turn it into a sharp sword in his hand.
A blade for killing enemies, not cutting himself!
Until then, he could only study the Small Whip more, see if he could develop a domain to use temporarily. Otherwise, he'd be at a disadvantage in fights, right?
Luckily, Jiangnan had been formidable enough before this to make the Sacred Law Council think he could use the black hole without cost, and he'd secured the ceasefire agreement, cementing his status as the Fifth Calamity.
Otherwise, things would have gotten messy!
Jiangnan burst out laughing and patted Li Bing on the back:
(◦⁼̴ᗜ⁼̴) "Aiya, it's my Sister Li Bing who always sees the crux of the problem. This trip wasn't wasted—I at least feel a lot more at ease! How should I thank you?"
Li Bing rolled her eyes in exasperation:
(꒪ั～꒪ั*) "You can still laugh? I don't know how you managed to cook up such dangerous power."
☚(◦͡°̫͡°) "Thank me? Just cut him up for me, that's enough! I'm actually a very easily satisfied woman!"
She pointed at Yakeli as she spoke.
Jiangnan looked at Yakeli with a mischievous grin, the meaning obvious.
Yakeli's face darkened even more. So I'm definitely getting cut up?
(̿▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿̿)̄ "Fine! No matter how ruthless she is, it's not as bad as what the Silicon race did to me!"
Jiangnan whispered slyly: (ﾉ)ಡ3ಡ) "This guy's at Half-Step Star Devourer level. He's going to become a full Star Devourer in the future. Don't carve him up too badly, okay?"
Li Bing got even more excited. Cut a Half-Step Star Devourer? Just thinking about it made her heart race.
"I can't wait any longer! The Chenxi Laboratory—who's going to repair it?"
Jiangnan put his hands on his hips: (︶.̮︶〃) "Who's fixing it this time?"
(◞‸◟) "I'll fix it."
Warning Girl pouted, looking like a reluctant employee.
Atomic Recombination activated, and the Chenxi Laboratory, which had been turned into a basin by Jiangnan's aura eruption, began to rapidly reconstruct.
Li Bing and Chong Feiyu, like thieves stealing manhole covers, rushed over, tied up Yakeli, hoisted him onto their shoulders, and were about to charge into the laboratory.
But Jiangnan quickly called them back:
(٥ﾟ口ﾟ)ﾂ "Wait, Sister Li Bing! I still have something to ask you. Come with me for a second!"
Li Bing was puzzled: (๑•̌～•̑)ˀ̣ˀ̣ "What is it? Can't you say it in front of everyone? Don't delay my exploration of the secrets on Yakeli's body!"
"Hey, just come—you'll see!"
With that, amid everyone's confused looks, Jiangnan pulled Li Bing and Jiu Lan into a side room.
Jiu Lan was also completely confused. What did this have to do with her?
Inside the room, Jiangnan's expression turned serious.
"Sister Li Bing! You know about the Netherworld race and Stygian energy, right?"
Li Bing nodded: "I know a bit. Yang Jian once asked me to research Stygian energy, to see if I could find a way to counter it. That was back when you were still in the Ming He Death Prison."
"But the research didn't make much progress—I couldn't get a sample of Stygian energy. Why are you asking about this?"
Jiangnan directly pulled out a barrel of Big Power and a bowl of chicken soup, placing them on the table.
Then he had Jiu Lan release a ball of Stygian energy in her hand.
(٥͡°ก͡°) "Ahem! So the question is: how do we turn Stygian energy into Big Power + Chicken Soup?"
Li Bing: ???
Jiu Lan: ∑(°口°๑) Huh?
PS: This is the last day of the Tomato Popularity King event, friends. Give it a little more effort! The point gap isn't big, and I really don't want to settle for second place!
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