Chapter 21: The Surge of Power and a Sovereign’s Secret

Although Bisika’s kiss had momentarily caused Lin Ling’s brain to crash, at this very moment, Lin Ling had no time to dwell on being ‘teased’ by Bisika. Her attention was entirely drawn to the changes occurring within her own body.

Within her, Bisika’s vast, cerulean spiritual energy merged with Lin Ling’s own power, assimilating until it was entirely transformed into Lin Ling’s silver spiritual energy. This energy began to circulate throughout her body, giving rise to new spiritual power at a rapid pace.

At this rate, Lin Ling would be able to recover to her peak condition in less than an hour.

Feeling the surging tides within her, Lin Ling experienced an exhilaration unlike anything she had known before.

****

An hour later, the issue of spiritual energy depletion that had plagued Lin Ling for days was now entirely a thing of the past. As long as she didn’t recklessly expend her spiritual energy to near-exhaustion in an instant, her body could continuously generate new power.

In her current state, Lin Ling could not only create and control a single clone, but she could also effortlessly manipulate hundreds, even thousands, of spiritual energy clones simultaneously. Even using the Spirit Wave Cannon, which previously felt incredibly draining, was now “so easy.”

After all, the consumption of the Spirit Wave Cannon was utterly negligible compared to Lin Ling’s total spiritual energy reserves.

Only now did she truly understand why Little White had called the Spirit Wave Cannon merely a “minor skill.”

To be honest, Lin Ling’s confidence was soaring; she felt an invincible sense of ‘I am the strongest in the world.’

However, the moment this thought surfaced, Bisika, standing nearby, immediately doused her with a bucket of cold water.

“Huh?! Why is your total spiritual energy so low?”

Turning to see Bisika’s slightly disappointed expression, Lin Ling’s burgeoning excitement instantly deflated.

‘What?’ she thought. ‘This is considered low?’

The young woman pouted, a hint of grievance in her expression.

Noticing Lin Ling’s crestfallen gaze, Bisika sighed helplessly and began to explain.

“Yes, it’s only about twenty-three million energy levels of spiritual power in total. Even I, as the weakest of the original Battle Sovereigns, had twenty-one million…”

“Uh, that’s still pretty good, isn’t it? Aren’t Battle Sovereigns usually around fifteen to twenty million?”

“That’s for ordinary ones. Original Battle Sovereigns are typically much higher.”

“But I’m not that far off from you, am I? There’s no need for such a disappointed expression…”

“I’m a bit special. When I recover to my complete form, I also have over twenty-eight million. As for everyone else, they all have over thirty million.”

‘Wow! It seems I really am trash,’ Lin Ling thought, feeling a sudden surge of self-deprecation. She had always heard Little White comment on her poor perception and recovery abilities, and now she discovered her total spiritual energy wasn’t high either.

‘It seems I truly am the weakest.’ From a young age, Lin Ling had possessed a competitive spirit, and now, as a Battle Sovereign, she subconsciously wanted to compare herself to her other siblings. Unfortunately, the results now seemed…

‘Wuwuwu~’

Noticing her younger sister’s gradually radiating negative emotions, Bisika quickly offered words of comfort. “Don’t worry too much about it! Actually, a Battle Sovereign’s strength mainly depends on their Authority and the use of Dusk Steel weapons. The total amount of spiritual energy isn’t something to obsess over; it’s mostly just a matter of presence.”

‘Ah, regarding Authority,’ Lin Ling mused, ‘my own Authority does seem quite useful. However, I don’t know what others’ Authorities are like. It’s hard to judge without a comparison.’

With this thought in mind, Lin Ling immediately asked Bisika without hesitation.

“Sister Six, what’s your Authority? Ugh??”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Bisika pressed a finger against Lin Ling’s lips, causing Lin Ling’s delicate body to tremble.

“Little Seven, that’s not a suitable question to ask!”

“Huh? I can’t ask?” Lin Ling asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Of course not! That’s every Battle Sovereign’s biggest secret. By the way, Little Lin Ling, you haven’t revealed your own Authority to anyone, have you? Like that cat?”

As she spoke, Bisika’s cerulean eyes shifted directly towards the unconscious Little White. Intense killing intent condensed upon Little White’s frail body, and the terrifying aura instantly jolted Little White awake, leaving her trembling as she stared at Bisika.

This was the first time she had experienced such profound fear since arriving on Blue Star.

Witnessing this, Lin Ling hastily shielded Little White. Her intuition told her that Bisika was serious, and if she didn’t stop her, Little White might truly be in grave danger.

“Sister Six! Little White doesn’t know! And I haven’t told anyone yet!”

Little White looked at Lin Ling’s back with overflowing gratitude. ‘Wuwuwu, Master.’

Hearing this, Bisika finally retracted her killing intent. She twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger and let out a long sigh.

“My apologies. This is indeed a rather sensitive matter. It’s good that you haven’t told anyone else.”

“No, rest assured, Sister Bi, I haven’t told anyone.”

“Mm, but remember not to reveal your Authority to anyone in the future, nor to inquire about such matters from other Battle Sovereigns.”

Lin Ling nodded, indicating her understanding.

Bisika continued to explain, “Memories can be read by enemies at any time. Authority is our trump card; once enemies know it, they can devise countermeasures, and the consequences would be unimaginable, whether within the Origin Star Universe or in the Outer Regions.”

“Even a Battle Sovereign, if severely wounded and lacking sufficient spiritual energy, can have their memories read. Therefore, to prevent the failure of one person from dooming everyone, Authority must not be revealed to anyone, not even your closest companions.”

“This is also to protect them,” Bisika added, as if an old memory had surfaced.

“I understand,” Lin Ling replied, humbly accepting the lesson. It seemed there was still much she needed to learn.

****

Having concluded her conversation with Bisika, Lin Ling evaded satellite surveillance and ascended above Blue Star’s atmosphere. Gazing at the beautiful, azure planet below, Lin Ling decisively activated her wide-area perception once more.

Unlike her previous perception attempt, Lin Ling was now in her peak condition. A vast, invisible spiritual energy instantly enveloped the entirety of Blue Star, including its oceans and subterranean worlds. Nothing could hide from her.

This perception once again confirmed Lin Ling’s suspicions: Xi Yue was indeed not a native of Blue Star, and there were no other clues within Blue Star concerning Xi Yue’s demise.

Now, her only hope was for Bisika to help gather information from other civilizations.

Fortunately, Lin Ling had prepared herself mentally, so she wasn’t overly disappointed.

Furthermore, Lin Ling discovered that Blue Star’s spiritual energy was actually beginning to revive. Although not abundant, trace amounts of spiritual energy were indeed distributed throughout the atmosphere. She even detected thirteen distinct points where spiritual energy was exceptionally dense, as if something were actively releasing power outwards.

Influenced by this, numerous ancient creatures that had long slumbered on Earth began to awaken. Judging by their spiritual energy intensity, most were around the Sixth Tier, similar to Wangzai’s original strength. However, one of them had astonishingly reached the Seventh Tier, which surprised Lin Ling.

The problem, however, was that the awakening of these beings seemed less than friendly towards humanity. Several of them, driven by the desire to obtain the immense spiritual energy from these anomaly points, had begun to move near human cities.