After a long while the two came back to their senses and stared at each other.
Originally Lin Bei had planned to give away boundless star stones in bulk for huge rebates—who could have guessed the show would end before it even began?
"Big Brother Bei Ming, I... I..."
Bei Bei Nan Gua looked guilty, trying to explain.
"It's fine; your strength has risen quite a bit, hasn't it?"
"Besides, that boundless star stone was meant for you; no need to feel bad."
Lin Bei comforted her: "How do you feel now? Any discomfort after the power-up?"
"N-no, it's just..."
"Just what?"
"I just feel... my body's burning, and... and..."
Bei Bei Nan Gua's face was flushed, her breathing rapid, her eyes dazed.
Seeing this, Lin Bei was dumbfounded.
Holy crap, could this be— Soon, more than an hour passed.
The clouds dispersed and the rain stopped; the two calmed down.
They sat facing each other, completely open.
"Big Brother Bei Ming... I... I'm sorry..."
Bei Bei Nan Gua lowered her head, unable to look Lin Bei in the eye; recalling everything, she couldn't help blushing, legs pressed together.
"Sigh, I'm partly to blame too, um..."
Lin Bei looked awkward, inwardly cursing himself—why hadn't he held back just now?
Sure enough, was it because his strength had risen too fast and his blood-qi was too vigorous?
Yet after their deep "exchange," he discovered a subtle change in himself.
On his Attribute Panel, besides Health and Spirit, an extra stat called "Star Power" had appeared.
[Star Power: the fundamental energy required for cosmic rules to operate; it can freely convert into different-attribute Rule Power and Law Power at the Awakener's will.
Conversion rate: 1 Star Power = 1 Rule Power. 10,000 Star Power = 1 Law Power.]
At the moment his Star Power stat showed 1 million points.
He checked the notification.
A look of sudden understanding flashed in his eyes.
So the reason he had awakened Star Power was actually because he and Bei Bei Nan Gua— [Prompt: After a deep exchange with a Starry Sky Awakened One, your Health drops by 1 million and your Spirit by 1 million; you simultaneously receive 100 Star Power feedback!]
[Prompt: You triggered a 10,000× Critical Hit! You gained 1 million Star Power feedback!]
"Starry Sky Awakened One... is that referring to Bei Bei Nan Gua?"
Lin Bei wondered inwardly.
He didn't care about losing 1 million Health and Spirit; to him it was nothing.
Instead he had gained 1 million Star Power—equal to a million points of arbitrary-attribute Rule Power!
And he had confirmed that this Star Power wasn't a one-off consumable; it regenerated after use.
So he hadn't lost out at all.
He could even keep "dual cultivating" with Bei Bei Nan Gua to rocket both their strengths.
Of course, that was for later.
"Big Brother Bei Ming, I... I seem to have awakened! I'm now a Starry Sky Awakened One, affiliated with... the Starry Sky Camp!"
"What do I do? I don't know how, but I've forcibly left the Lucky Faction, Big Brother Bei Ming, I..."
Bei Bei Nan Gua was frantic, her voice almost tearful.
"Don't worry, let me try."
Lin Bei soothed her, then activated his Lucky Ambassador power to bestow Lucky Blessing—only to end up embarrassed.
[Prompt: Your Lucky Authority is insufficient to alter the target's faction!]
"All right, I'm powerless."
Lin Bei sighed: "Still, don't fret; even if you're not in Lucky Faction it's no big deal—we remain... very close."
"...Mm."
Bei Bei Nan Gua answered in a crimson whisper.
To better understand her situation Lin Bei asked: "Can you tell me in detail about your Starry Sky Awakened One abilities and what you know of the Starry Sky Camp?"
"Sure."
She nodded, then stared blankly—apparently checking her own interface.
Soon she snapped back and explained: "The system says I met some hidden special condition and awakened my talent ability early; because it meshed perfectly with cosmic rules, it triggered a hidden class—Starry Sky Awakened One."
"About Starry Sky Camp, the info is sparse: they're supposedly the oldest creators, but... right now I'm the only member; there's no one else."
"So what's your current talent ability?"
Lin Bei asked curiously.
"My talent is Devour: I can swallow all non-living energy to strengthen myself."
Without hiding anything she replied: "Things like boundless star stones or primal stones I can directly absorb and slowly Refine, converting their power into my stats to raise my strength."
"But for now I can only Devour energy inside non-living things; to unlock the next stage I need to advance Starry Sky Awakened One into Starry-Sky Controller."
"Judging by the requirements, that promotion is extremely hard—still far away for me."
"You're basically taking off instantly."
Lin Bei couldn't help sighing; he used to think he was the only cheater in the world, but now Bei Bei Nan Gua was clearly the second.
The Devour ability was simply broken.
As long as resources were available she could keep growing stronger.
It felt even easier than his own power-ups!
After all, he still had to kill monsters to plunder stats, whereas she could just lie there absorbing energy.
"Without the boundless star stone you gave me I'd never have met this fortune; in the end it's all thanks to you."
"I... my Starry Sky Awakened One has a passive: as long as we dual cultivate I can keep feeding Star Power back to you, so... so Big Brother Bei Ming, you must train your body hard from now on, because... the process consumes your Health and Spirit; if you can't endure... you might..."
"All right, all right, I get it!"
Lin Bei wiped his sweat.
But soon he thought of something and asked: "Your power is pretty scary; if others found out, wouldn't it be dangerous?"
"It won't; the Starry Sky Awakened One dual-cultivation method only works on the first man who took her body, and it can be activated only once per day—the longer it lasts, the greater the cost and the reward."
Bei Bei Nan Gua replied with her head lowered and face scarlet.
"Uh... there's such a rule? Well, we only lasted less than two hours just now; seems like a loss."
"Big Brother Bei Ming, you..."
"Ahem, I didn't mean anything, just... never mind, the more I explain the worse it gets—I'll shut up."
Lin Bei was mortified.
Seeing his embarrassment Bei Bei Nan Gua couldn't help giggling; she leaned against his chest, closed her eyes in bliss.