Duyi was assisting Wen Yu to dissipate the wild energy strand whilst battling to hold off his advancement so he was high strung and feeling very pressured.
He'd been cursed and spat on for as long as he could remember for being a talentless weakling and had been looking forward to when he would destroy this label and prove all of them wrong but here he was:
Putting off his advancement to help this aloof kid. His situation was quite precarious, holding off his advancement for too long could lead to a backlash that could be detrimental to his own assimilation!
Why was he even trying so hard for the kid? He wasn't a saint. He was about to withdraw when he thought back to Wen Yu's courageous figure as he stood in front of him, protecting him from Han Zihao.
For as long as he could remember, he'd been told that his place was beneath the lowest of trash and that he should be eternally grateful for the Han family's grace, being willing to take in someone so useless.
He'd been scorned by both kids and adults alike, being nothing but a tool they used to vent their frustrations on. He remembered thinking why nobody stood up for him and rushed to his aid when he sustained a bruise or got sick like they did for the other kids in the Han family.
Duyi once craved that warmth even if it was pretense but nobody gave it to him. They all told him he didn't deserve it, if he did, he wouldn't have been thrown into an orphanage without a care in the world.
Soon enough, he became numb to the cruelty of others, kids and adults alike. Especially kids, they were the worst. Being of much limited ideas, they were reflections of the adults around and tended to magnify certain characteristics, mostly the terrible ones.
All he ever wanted was just a tenth of what they had but still, they wouldn't leave him alone.
He was repeatedly hurt even to the extent that they went as far as to put bugs in his injuries and used healing technology to ensure the wounds scabbed over with the flesh eating bugs writhing within.
He really didn't do anything, so why were they so mean to him? He wanted to get strong so they wouldn't hurt him anymore, couldn't hurt him anymore.
If he had great potential, maybe his family wouldn't have dumped him in the orphanage, maybe the Han family that picked him up would be much nicer to him, even if it was a little bit.
Duyi contemplated as his spirit consciousness swirled around Wen Yu's. Was he really going to abandon the first person that ever stood up for him? The first person that ever asked for his name?
A name he gave himself when they let him accompany Han Zihao to Lingxiu Academy. He used to be so scared of saying it out loud. What if they found out he named himself?
He'd be in trouble, but the moment he saw the name he gave himself at the second place spot on that list, he felt good. So good.
He had performed even better than Han Zihao, the one everyone repeatedly praised to be a budding genius.
Duyi knew he could do this, he could become strong as long as he withdrew his spirit energy and looked away.
But... He couldn't.
Wen Yu's shorter figure as he faced off Han Zihao kept flashing in his mind. He wasn't going to let down the first person who ever bothered to look out for him. Even if it was just in passing.
He grit his teeth and directed the energy he had successfully accumulated for his advancement into Wen Yu's body with a soft roar.
BANG!
The ensuing blast was enough to directly disperse the stubborn orange strand and lead both boys into unconsciousness.
When Wen Yu stirred awake, he was lolled, in a weird angle, on Duyi. He slowly sat up and quickly wiped the suspicious white stain off of the kid's uniform and wiped his mouth.
So embarrassing, him, a grown man drooling stupidly on a kid. He sighed in relief when he noticed the kid was still knocked out.
He went on to rub his head. It felt so painful, what happened? Him and the kid had decided to co-assimilate using the method in the manual and then what?
He looked down at his bracelet. It seemed quite late, why were they still out here? He stood up and froze when the events of the past few hours came to him in snippets.
The orange strand, the wall, someone invading his dantian, Duyi's memories, destroying the orange stra-
'...' Wait. Duyi's memories?!
Why does he have Duyi's memories? He looked to the sleeping kid. The memories were not pretty in the least.
He had the urge to cringe from the absolute horror. The kid was so young yet had to go through such a traumatic experience and to think that the major contributors were kids just like himself.
No wonder the kid was so closed off and distrustful!
Wen Yu sat crossed leg on the ground as he pondered over his own situation. A quick check using his spirit consciousness made him realize that he could detect the presence of the wall without his spirit energy dissipating prematurely like before and the wall seemed a bit...weaker?
His heart shook. Was there really a way? He clenched his fist. His meridians seemed much firmer and his Spirit phase seemed to have advanced a bit, a tiny bit.
Well at least his once pale brown spirit core had more colour and yes, his potential was so low that he wasn't even fully in the Ginger phase yet.
The only difference between him and a D rank commoner was the tiny blob of spirit core he had, well not so tiny now thanks to whatever it is that happened earlier.
Duyi stirred and slowly came to. He shook his head as he supported his upper body with his elbows.
He glanced around till his gaze landed on Wen Yu who was still in his blood splattered uniform.
'...' Both boys stared at each other in utter silence.