Recalling how he had recently used a bloody and mangled rabbit head to frighten Xiao Jinsheng, Su Ye fell silent.
The situation had shifted. It was no longer Xiao Jinsheng fretting about how to mend her relationship with him.
Instead, it was Su Ye's turn to ponder how to repair his relationship with Xiao Jinsheng.
Xiao Jinsheng remained unaware of the latest betrayal within her beast husbands' divorce alliance.
However, Que Zelian, with his superior strength, had overheard the four men's conversation.
Yet, for reasons unknown, he chose not to inform Xiao Jinsheng about Su Ye's change of heart.
He lowered his gaze, gently grasping the hand that Xiao Jinsheng, while absorbing star stones, was impishly using to explore his toned abs. With a light tap on her smooth forehead, he said, "Focus on what you're doing. Keep your hands still."
"I wasn't being still," Xiao Jinsheng retorted pitifully.
Seeing her resorting to innocent pretense when words failed, Que Zelian remained silent, a smile playing on his lips as he watched her.
Xiao Jinsheng, feeling guilty under his intense gaze, mustered her courage once more. "My touching wasn't aimless. My target was your abs, and I didn't miss the mark. How can you accuse me of being still?"
"You always have the most convoluted logic," Que Zelian said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Xiao Jinsheng pursed her lips and, this time refraining from teasing him further, closed her eyes and obediently absorbed the star stones.
However, after absorbing ten one-star star stones, her mental energy remained unchanged.
Refusing to believe it, she successively tried two-star, three-star, and even four-star star stones.
Once those were absorbed, her one-star mental energy still showed no sign of improvement.
"I might be broken…" Xiao Jinsheng said, feeling a sense of despair.
Her mental energy was her only 'golden finger' in this world. If she couldn't enhance it, how would she ever control these five men?
She couldn't possibly resort to threatening them with death every time.
"You genuinely seem to have an issue," Que Zelian said, his brow furrowed.
He had observed Xiao Jinsheng absorbing the star stones and could vouch that both the stones and her method of absorption were flawless.
Yet, the star stones' energy within Xiao Jinsheng was like a stone dropped into the ocean, creating not even a ripple.
Que Zelian, refusing to accept this, reached out and pressed his palm firmly against Xiao Jinsheng's abdomen.
Xiao Jinsheng was startled by his sudden action.
Looking down, she saw her lower stomach easily covered by his large hand. A continuous warmth radiated from his palm, spreading into her lower abdomen.
"Wh… what are you doing?" Xiao Jinsheng asked softly, her voice betraying her nervousness as she clutched Que Zelian's collar.
"Discard the inappropriate thoughts in your mind," Que Zelian sighed softly, explaining his findings. "I'm quite certain that neither you nor the star stones are the problem."
"The star stones you absorbed have strengthened your physique. In your current state, if chased by that lame fog corpse again, you could probably escape an extra five meters."
"What about my mental energy?" Xiao Jinsheng asked anxiously.
Que Zelian already had a suspicion. "Clearly, the enhancement of mental energy doesn't rely on star stones, but on something else."
"Didn't the terminal tell you how to improve your mental energy?" Que Zelian inquired.
Xiao Jinsheng shook her head. "I've searched for all the information I can find, but the terminal hasn't given any hints."
"Moreover, females in the Misty Continent all have one-star mental energy before marriage, and only after marriage does their mental energy level increase," Xiao Jinsheng proactively mentioned Bai Yan. "Bai Yan and I were neighbors since childhood. Before marriage, her mental energy was one star. A year after her marriage, it had already reached five stars."
With that, Xiao Jinsheng sighed. "I'll have to find an opportunity to ask other females how they improve their mental energy."
For some reason, the original owner didn't have a single friend in this world.
The only person she interacted with was Bai Yan, and of course, the two were mortal enemies.
A flicker crossed Que Zelian's eyes. He looked down at the still-fretting Xiao Jinsheng and, combining her recent words, formed a new, albeit absurd, hypothesis about how she could improve her mental energy.
However, he kept his thoughts to himself, assuming he must be mistaken.
Venturing deeper into the west of the Misty Continent would only lead to greater dangers. Xiao Jinsheng also worried that their weakened strength would make them unable to protect her.
Furthermore, since absorbing star stones didn't improve her mental energy, only slightly enhancing her physique, she returned four-fifths of the star stones each of the five men had given her, keeping only one-fifth for herself.
"What's given is yours. Why return it to me?" Su Ye frowned.
"Of course, it's because I care about you all," Xiao Jinsheng chuckled. "If your strength is weak, how can you protect me? And if you can't protect me, how can you protect yourselves?"
"I've been saying I'm changing, and my improvement isn't just words. Look at all these star stones; they are the proof of my changed actions."
Rarely hearing such agreeable words from Xiao Jinsheng, the five men accepted the returned four-fifths of their star stones as an unexpected windfall.
The wristband's durability of ten thousand points meant they could venture deeper into the west of the Misty Continent to seek more resources.
To avoid danger, it was crucial for everyone's strength to improve.
The five men, along with Xiao Jinsheng, who also wanted to strengthen her body, divided into groups of two to absorb star stones and enhance their abilities.
They relocated to another villa to rest and recuperate, cleaning the living room. Xiao Jinsheng volunteered to team up with Mo Jiao to absorb star stones simultaneously, while requesting Que Zelian and Yu Yunxiao to watch over her and Mo Jiao during their absorption. Su Ye and Huai Qing were assigned to perimeter警戒.
"What, so afraid I'll kill you while you're absorbing star stones?" Mo Jiao sneered.
"Murderous Intent Bro, your words have inflicted tons of damage on my fragile heart. Minus three points for you, making it negative fifty-three now."
"Understood, Scoring Sis," Mo Jiao scoffed.
"He gave me a nickname!" Xiao Jinsheng protested, seeking Que Zelian's support.
"Alright, alright, let's ignore him," Que Zelian soothed. "Come sit by me to absorb your star stones."
Mo Jiao, however, watched their familiar interaction and Xiao Jinsheng's complete trust in Que Zelian, a stark contrast to her past behavior, and felt a strange pang in his chest.
Xiao Jinsheng sat close to Que Zelian, her radiant smile a sharp contrast to the vicious words and insults she had hurled at him and the time she had locked him in the basement over the past six months.
He suppressed his resentment and grievances, focusing his attention on the star stone in his hand.
What was so appealing about this hypocritical and venomous woman?
His priority now was to enhance his strength and successfully divorce Xiao Jinsheng.
He wanted to sever all ties with her forever!
After the three groups had taken turns absorbing star stones, it was already afternoon.
Due to the pervasive mist in the west of the Misty Continent, the afternoon sky was indistinguishable from deep night.
Venturing out at night meant encountering even greater dangers.
The six of them decided to rest in the villa for the night. Xiao Jinsheng, with Que Zelian's assistance, even set up her portable tent.
She eagerly assembled the tent, feeling that her strength had noticeably increased.
The star stones obtained from the fog corpses killed that day were completely used up by the six of them.
Xiao Jinsheng's mental energy, as expected, showed no change, but her physical strength had increased by at least three points from its original level.
And the five men, whose ability star levels had stagnated for half a year, all experienced varying degrees of improvement.