Chapter 123: The Joy of Recovery

“My space exists because of you, brother, so… ah! Could it be?” Ayuan suddenly looked at Xiyan with concern.

Hearing Xiyan’s question, Ayuan suddenly realized that his space depended on Xiyan’s power. In other words, if something happened to Xiyan, Ayuan’s space would also be affected.

And vice versa—it also meant that if Ayuan’s space was having trouble, then something must be wrong with Xiyan!

Seeing Ayuan’s reaction, Xiyan understood the situation with Ayuan’s space, so he recounted everything that had just happened to Ayuan without leaving anything out.

After listening, Ayuan seemed to have an idea. He looked up at Xiyan briefly, then lowered his head again.

Xiyan, noticing Ayuan’s hesitant demeanor, grew curious.

Ayuan usually shared everything directly with him; there were very few things he would ever hide. In fact, Ayuan had never really concealed anything from him.

Unless it was something Ayuan simply didn’t remember, since his memories had been lost before.

“Ayuan, did you just think of something?” Xiyan asked.

Hearing Xiyan’s voice, Ayuan looked up timidly and whispered, “Brother… would you hate the daughter of a villain?”

Frowning at the question, Xiyan smiled and ruffled Ayuan’s hair. “You silly boy, why do you suddenly ask something like that? Are you saying you’re the daughter of a villain?”

“If… if I were? Brother?” Ayuan’s eyes were full of hope.

Xiyan chuckled softly and replied solemnly, “A villain is a villain; a villain’s daughter is a villain’s daughter—they are not the same person.”

Ayuan smiled upon hearing this.

“Brother… I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular. I just suddenly thought of that question,” Ayuan said with a touch of guilt as he looked at Xiyan.

Xiyan sighed and shook his head helplessly, pulling Ayuan into his arms. “Ayuan, don’t dwell on those things. Rest assured, you are you. Whatever you did in the past was the old you.”

“Mm-hmm,” Ayuan nodded obediently.

Yet, returning to the matter at hand, Ayuan’s space had changed because of him.

But he himself felt no discomfort. After examination, Qingyan said there was nothing wrong with him. So why was Ayuan’s space being affected?

At this moment, Ayuan tugged at Xiyan’s sleeve, biting his lower lip with hesitation. “Brother, I think it might be because your body is different from others’. That’s why absorbing the black core crystals caused such a strange reaction.”

“And Lin Shuang’s situation is probably because of you too. For the same reason—your body is different. When you absorbed the black core crystals, some of that energy accidentally entered Lin Shuang’s body, and she couldn’t handle it. That’s why she’s like this now.”

Ayuan’s explanation was fresh and reasonable, and Xiyan thought it made a lot of sense.

But why was his body different from others? Could it be… because of the “Difference”?

“Brother, don’t worry. It should be nothing serious. Lin Shuang will probably recover after a while. By the way, brother, since you absorbed two black core crystals, have you noticed any changes?” Ayuan’s eyes sparkled as he looked at him.

Though Xiyan wanted to show off to Ayuan, he had no grounds to do so. He looked at Ayuan with a wry smile.

“Ayuan… I’m… level 19… I was level 99 before…”

Since they had just been talking about Ayuan’s space, Xiyan hadn’t told him about his rank-up earlier. Now, he shared the story of his upgrade with Ayuan.

Ayuan’s reaction was quite different from Qingyan’s—his face was serious.

“Brother, have you checked your control panel? Try looking—has the legendary shop that unlocks at level 66 opened?” Ayuan asked solemnly, tilting his head up while nestled in Xiyan’s arms.

Seeing Ayuan not mock him but instead seriously raise a new question, Xiyan quickly opened his control panel and authorized Ayuan to see its contents as well.

[Shop Unlocks:
1. Core Crystal Purchases: ...
2. Food Purchases:
3. Card Purchases: ...
…]

Xiyan stared blankly at the control panel before rubbing his eyes and looking again. He was utterly shocked.

Ayuan watched Xiyan’s reaction with a knowing expression, but Xiyan didn’t notice.

“Ayuan… this…” Xiyan lowered his head to look at Ayuan.

“It seems that everyone’s level did indeed rise to 99, then drop back to 19, but the shop is unlocked,” Ayuan said, his words sounding like a tongue twister, yet Xiyan understood.

In other words, although the power from absorbing the black core crystals pushed him to level 99, he immediately dropped to level 19, but retained the privileges unlocked at level 99.

Simply put, he was like someone who no longer had level 99 officially but still possessed everything a level 99 should have.

It was truly absurd.

It felt like suddenly becoming rich overnight, then realizing it was a dream—only to find that the dream itself was a dream, and the wealth was real after all...

A reversal after another reversal.

Xiyan didn’t even know what words could describe his emotions at this moment.

Ayuan grinned brightly and waved his hand in front of Xiyan, calling out sweetly, “Brother.”

Snapping back to reality, Xiyan scooped Ayuan up and spun once around on the spot.

Seeing Xiyan happy made Ayuan happy as well.

“Never thought such a good thing would happen—this really is a pie falling from the sky!” Xiyan said joyfully.

Xiyan’s thoughts were right; this was indeed a windfall.

If he truly reached level 99, then from now on, he would likely be a bored level 99 survivor.

You could say that people end up in the circles that suit them.

And now, he was a low-profile tycoon.

He had everything a level 99 should but didn’t have to face the dangers of being level 99. Wasn’t that just a pie falling from the sky?

“Brother, are you really that happy?”

“Yeah, I’m happy not because I have these things, but because… it feels like something lost has been found again.”

“Hmm… I see…” Ayuan pressed a finger to his lower lip, nodding half-understandingly.

Xiyan had no intention of explaining further; it wasn’t necessary.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

Just as Xiyan was enjoying himself inside, a knock sounded at the door, followed by a familiar man’s voice.

“Xiyan, you’re staying in this room, right?”

Hearing the voice, Xiyan immediately calmed down and walked to the door.