Imagining herself being petted in Boss Sakaki’s arms, Meowth’s face took on a goofy, lovestruck smile.
She completely failed to notice Jessie and James looking at her with increasingly strange expressions.
“Has Meowth been acting kind of dumb lately? Did Pikachu’s electricity fry her brain?”
“Yeah, we should probably take her to get checked out.”
“Right, right.”
Over the next few days, Bai Xuan’s life was unusually peaceful.
He went to school during the day and exercised at night. The excitement his classmates had felt about gaining superpowers gradually faded with the mundane rhythm of daily life, eventually returning to normal.
As for Zhang Weiyang, Sun Qiang, and the others who had talked about working out and going for morning runs after school—they gave up on their plan after just two days.
Was playing video games not fun enough? Or were novels boring?
Finishing the senior year curriculum was exhausting enough. Adding exercise on top of that? There was no way they could keep that up.
So yeah, that was that.
A few people who hadn’t awakened any powers before did end up awakening some, but their abilities were a bit weaker. They weren’t as strong as those who had awakened earlier.
Not that the earlier awakenings were all that strong to begin with.
Bam!
Crack!
Bai Xuan clenched his fist. A series of sharp pops came from his fingers. When he punched the air, it easily produced a sharp whoosh.
With his training, his physical fitness was improving rapidly.
And the speed of it was frighteningly fast.
Before, only his superpower had been improving. Now, his physique was being enhanced as well.
Correspondingly, the growth of his superpower had slowed down a bit—but that was only compared to the speed at which his physique was now improving. Compared to other superpower users, his progress was still terrifying.
And during these past few days of researching himself and his Natural Authority, he also came to understand why his physique had started getting stronger while his superpower growth had slowed.
It was all because of his subjective consciousness.
At the beginning, his superpower grew rapidly because he hadn’t been paying attention to improving other aspects of himself. Natural Authority was connected to the Earth’s nature, and the resurgence of spiritual energy was undeniably beneficial to the natural world.
Every living creature that grew stronger made him, as the possessor of Natural Authority, stronger too. Even though the ratio varied, the sheer quantity was massive.
This kind of strengthening was fixed. Even if a particular creature died, Bai Xuan wouldn’t become weaker because of it.
Now, his physique was growing rapidly because he had started exercising. Subjectively, he believed that true strength shouldn’t neglect the body, so Natural Authority diverted half—or even more—of its power to enhancing his physical condition.
But none of this came without a price. Bai Xuan understood this deeply.
Even Saitama from One Punch Man, who was practically a cheating god, had paid for his power with his hair and his emotions.
What? You’re bringing up Reinhard?
That’s different. He’s the author’s dad!
As for what price Bai Xuan would have to pay… honestly, he didn’t know himself.
Even when he asked the chat group, it only replied with this:
[As the possessor of Natural Authority, you must shoulder the mission entrusted to you by this planet.]
[When you learn to observe the world and think from the perspective of a “god”…]
The chat group’s explanation was pretty mystical. Anyway, Bai Xuan didn’t get it.
He’d just wait. When the moment came that he truly became a “god,” he’d naturally find out.
He clenched his fist and threw a punch at a punching bag.
Boom!
With a loud crash, Bai Xuan’s right fist punched straight through the bag.
“Back in the day, I never would’ve imagined having this kind of strength.”
Bai Xuan shook his head. This was only a fraction of his power—less than a tenth, even.
If he added his superpower on top of that, it would be even more terrifying.
“And as for Obito Uchiha’s eyes… the Mangekyo Sharingan with Kamui—after I fused with it, it turned into a completely different ability.”
“I saw the note about it in the chat group before, but I didn’t expect even its essence to change.”
“But honestly, it suits me better than Kamui.”
[Left Eye: Divine Edict]
[What I say is what the gods say. What I decree is the divine decree.]
[God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters,’ and so He created the firmament, dividing the waters above from the waters below. After the ability is activated, as long as it remains within your capacity to bear, every word you speak will become reality!]
[Right Eye: Divine Edict — Inverse]
[Acting with divine authority on Heaven’s behalf invites its retribution.]
[A human vessel is insufficient to wield the power of a god. When you cannot bear the cost, you may transfer that cost to others.]
[Note: Heaven is fair. You are the sole exception.]
[Note: I suspect you’re having an affair with the World’s Will.]
It was clear from the chat group’s notes just how terrifying the abilities of these eyes were. Even the chat group itself suspected that Bai Xuan and the World’s Will might share a secret that couldn’t be told.
Otherwise, why would such abilities have been born?
What? You’re saying these two abilities are a reflection of Bai Xuan’s inner heart? That the Sharingan, influenced by his mind, gave birth to these two powers?
Do you really believe that? Because the chat group sure doesn’t.
Even setting aside whether Bai Xuan actually had such thoughts, even if he did, the Sharingan couldn’t possibly manifest abilities this terrifying.
Otherwise, Amaterasu wouldn’t fail to burn people to death, and Kamui wouldn’t have weaknesses.
If the World’s Will wasn’t behind this, then it could take away Su Yunqing’s group owner status and give it to Bai Xuan.
Su Yunqing: ???
Su Yunqing: Please turn on voice chat.
Bai Xuan himself didn’t know what to say about these two completely broken abilities that his Mangekyo had spawned. They were too terrifying! Seriously, too terrifying!
The first allowed a human body to wield divine authority. The second let him transfer the cost of that authority to someone else.
Would it be wrong for him to call himself God?
Even if it was only within his capacity to bear, that alone was enough to demonstrate its power.
He was starting to wonder if he really was having an affair with the World’s Will. Otherwise, why would he have both Natural Authority and Divine Edict?
“I’m really curious to see how powerful I’ll become in the future.”
With Earth’s favor and the chat group’s help, he was genuinely looking forward to the day he fully matured.
He shook his head and decided to go get something to eat.
Ever since his subjective consciousness started focusing more on his physique, not only had the rate of his physical enhancement increased, but also the speed at which he got hungry had shot way up.
Food that used to last him a week now barely held him for a single day.
Fortunately, he wasn’t short on money. Otherwise, just his food bill alone would be a huge headache.
He got dressed, tidied himself up a bit, and walked out the door.
He strolled down the street, spotted a buffet, and walked in without hesitation.
He wasn’t short on money, but right now, the most important thing for him was to fill his stomach—not to savor fine cuisine.
An all-you-can-eat buffet was a pretty good choice.
