When Mei opened her eyes again, she had returned from the Stigmata Space to the black hole world.
The moment her consciousness returned, Mei felt power surging from the Stigmata on her waist throughout her entire body.
"The Stigmata has fully awakened and been activated. And... the Herrscher of Thunder's power is flowing into me..."
Mei ended her Sword Meditation and stood up, attempting to channel the Herrscher of Thunder's power.
The next moment, Honkai energy patterns filled with lightning instantly covered her left arm, and at the same time, a translucent, divine wing that continuously absorbed surrounding Honkai energy and converted it into lightning appeared behind her left shoulder.
With the wing's presence, Mei had a strange feeling, as if... she could fly?
Deciding to give it a try, Mei cautiously flapped the wing and jumped in place.
Then Mei landed straight on the ground. Nothing happened.
Mei: ...
Divine Wing: ...
"Looks like it was just a hallucination from getting too much power at once... I'll ask Ryn how to fly when I get back..."
Mei shook her head indifferently. Although it was said that all Herrschers could fly, Houraiji Kyuusyou couldn't fly either, right?
And he held the authorities of the Second and First Herrschers, one of space and one of gravity, yet he still had to run around on foot.
So Mei felt it wasn't a big deal if she had a wing but couldn't fly. She would just ask a senior for advice when she got back.
Next, Mei told Kiana and Houraiji Kyuusyou that she had gained the Herrscher of Thunder's approval and could now wield the Herrscher's power, then continued her training in the black hole world.
Knowing that Mei had obtained the Herrscher of Thunder's power, Houraiji Kyuusyou trained even more diligently.
After all, after Mei told them about what happened in her Stigmata, Houraiji Kyuusyou thought of Sirin, and also of the silent world within her own body.
Although the world of the "Fire Moth" existed with Houraiji Kyuusyou as its anchor, she herself couldn't connect with that world...
Houraiji Kyuusyou needed to find a fixed anchor for the "Fire Moth" to prevent the world from being destroyed if something happened to her.
———————————————
———————————————
Several years passed in the black hole world, but not much time had passed in the real world...
Ryn and Seele poured their hearts out to each other, lying in bed, holding one another, quietly listening to each other's breathing.
A moment later, Seele sat up and started to get dressed.
"Brother Ryn, Seele is going to train in that black hole too! Everyone is getting stronger, and Seele wants to be able to help everyone!"
"Okay, I support Seele's idea."
Ryn nodded in approval of Seele's idea, but he held her back as she was about to jump into the black hole.
Seele: ?
"I support your idea, but I don't recommend training by manipulating the flow of time in the black hole."
"Why?"
"Because there's nothing in the black hole. There, there's only the endless Honkai energy from my body for Houraiji Kyuusyou and Kiana to absorb.
They need time to improve their control over Honkai energy and increase their reserves, but Seele, you don't need this step."
"?" Seele was full of questions, her dot eyes showing her confusion.
Seele: 0.0
"Why doesn't Seele need it? Isn't increasing Honkai energy reserves a good thing?"
"No, no... It's a good thing for normal people, but not necessarily for Seele..."
Ryn took Seele's hand and flew with her towards the sky.
They passed through the clouds, through the dome, through the Bubble Universe of Jialan City, and into the Sea of Quanta.
Ryn reached out into the Sea of Quanta and casually grabbed a ball of colorless, chaotic energy.
Taking Seele's hand, Ryn placed the energy from the Sea of Quanta onto it.
"See this? This is energy from the Sea of Quanta, the predecessor to the Honkai energy we currently use.
The energy of the Sea of Quanta and the energy of the Imaginary Tree combine, and after being converted by some unknown existence, they form the Honkai energy we use now.
But Honkai energy is not more advanced than these two types of energy; it just has more plasticity and versatility.
Seele, we have the blessing of the Sea of Quanta and can directly use its energy. So for you and me, the most important thing is not our Honkai energy reserves, but replacing the energy we use from Honkai energy to the energy of the Sea of Quanta."
"But... but isn't Honkai energy more versatile? You can create whatever you want with Honkai energy. And... I don't know how to convert Honkai energy into energy from the Sea of Quanta!" Seele asked, puzzled.
She had been training with Honkai energy for so many years, and it seemed to work just fine. Why switch to another type of energy?
Ryn suddenly laughed at Seele's words and flicked her forehead with his finger.
"Silly Seele, Bubble Universes have Honkai energy, but the Sea of Quanta has no Honkai energy at all, you know!"
"How can that be? Seele has always been using Honkai..."
Seele's eyes widened, as if she finally understood what Ryn meant.
"Yes, you've always been using Honkai energy. But has Seele ever thought about where all this Honkai energy comes from?"
Ryn stroked Seele's head, silently grumbling in his heart about how the Great Will of the Sea of Quanta said it would take care of Seele but taught her nothing.
Look at Sirin; from the moment she became a Herrscher, she used the Imaginary internal energy from the Imaginary Tree and could freely convert it into Honkai energy.
But Seele relied entirely on instinct, converting the energy of the Sea of Quanta into Honkai energy, and she had always thought that the energy of the Sea of Quanta was Honkai energy...
Even the incredibly powerful Kevin, after spending thousands of years in the Sea of Quanta, had his Honkai energy completely permeated and exhausted by it, relying on occasionally fishing for some quantum creatures for food to stay alive.
"Seele, perhaps you haven't realized how unique you are. But I can tell you clearly now that your body has been continuously infiltrated and strengthened by the power of the Sea of Quanta.
Your previous common sense has limited your thinking, preventing you from discovering how terrifying your power truly is.
As long as your will is strong enough to call upon your own power... even right now, you could knock down the Kiana or Houraiji Kyuusyou you saw before with a single punch."
"Huh? Th-this..."
Seele looked at her own fair, delicate hands, clenched her fists, and tried to feel her own strength.
She couldn't believe what Ryn was saying at all! She always got out of breath after every fight...
(Don't ask. The answer is the sheer weight of Seele smashing open the gate to the Sea of Quanta with seven punches and tearing apart all the quantum creatures blocking the door!)