"Hehehehe..."
In the silent confines of the hidden cave, melodious laughter echoed.
The sound was soothing and relaxing, as if one were gazing at a beautiful stream of clear water or listening to the early morning song of birds...
The laughter continued for minutes before abruptly stopping. Then, the sound of someone choking on their spit broke the silence.
Cough! Cough!
Neo gasped, his own blood having gone up his nostrils, nearly causing him to choke to death.
'What a disgusting sensation!'
Neo gradually raised his head from the ground, taking deep breaths to clear his lungs.
He examined the state of his body and sighed.
Even a used condom didn't look as ragged as he did.
Neo stared at his left hand, which clenched a grey fruit, and smiled. In the end, it had still been worth it. Even if he looked like crap and had a splitting headache, it was nothing compared to the treasure in his palm.
Neo recalled the mental assault he had experienced just as he was about to grasp the fruit. He had suddenly felt as if up was down and down was up. It was so disorienting that he had wanted to puke his liver and cough up his lungs.
It had felt like the world was teleporting...
Raising the fruit, he examined it closely.
It looked exactly like the first one, the only difference being the natural phenomena they exuded.
Unlike the first fruit, which felt as if he were holding a round sword, this one gave off an impression of being both heavy and light, both stationary and moving...
It felt... strange?
Neo couldn't quite describe it. It was giving off mixed signals he couldn't decipher at the moment. All he knew for certain was that it was as strong, if not stronger, than the first fruit he had eaten.
He was eager to devour it and hopefully receive another wonderful power-up, but just as he was about to take a bite, he hesitated.
Neo began contemplating again.
He was thinking about his financial problems, trying to convince himself to stow the fruit away and sell it, but he was failing...
Resisting the temptation of a treasure mere inches from one's lips was exceedingly difficult. It was worse than a sexy, voluptuous maid in a skimpy uniform dusting the shelves...
Actually, Neo wasn't sure which would be worse...
He simply couldn't convince himself not to eat it.
The imminent danger outside the hidden cave, and the even more dangerous gorillas still lurking on the surface, prompted him to go for it.
He had to survive first, or it would all be for nothing!
Neo took a bite and immediately lay on the floor.
He had given up trying to sit in a lotus position like relic cultivators. What was the point when, the moment his mind wandered, he would wake up to find himself lying on the floor like a disabled baby?
What was worse, his legs would start to cramp if he consciously maintained that pose for too long. It was all just lies relics made up to paint a 'cooler' scene.
The best pose was the simplest one. Neo lay straight.
He had barely managed to swallow the first bite when that same sensation of bloating and impending explosion returned.
This time, it was much more intense!
"Poof!"
Blood spurted from his mouth, and his eyes bulged in pain. He was truly suffering this time. It was so painful that he genuinely believed he was about to die.
He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, enduring the agony as he waited for enlightenment to arrive.
And it came.
Neo's mind suddenly went blank. His vision darkened as he entered a state of deep meditation.
The secrets of the universe were being revealed to him in layers of mythical knowledge, and once again, his being had connected with the world.
Neo had entered the state of assimilation once more!
A blue halo formed above his head, and his body began to glow with the same colour. It was the sign of someone comprehending a concept!
Within Neo's mind, Heavenly Sutras began to echo:
'Beneath the stars where dreams are sown,
In realms where light and void are sewn,
There drifts a grace, both fierce and free,
The timeless dance of weightless sea.
No tethered stone, no rooted clay,
Can bind the wings of endless sway,
In whispers soft, it lifts the night,
A breath that holds the heavens light.
Through clouds unbound, through silver air,
It floats where none may linger there,
The chains of earth cannot contain
The weightless soul's uncharted plane.
In moonlit tides, where silence hums,
It finds the place where stillness comes,
No burden bears, no anchor keeps,
For weightlessness in freedom leaps.
It is the echo of a feather's fall,
The quiet hush of nothing at all,
The space between the rise and rest,
Where even shadows dare not nest.
Yet in its calm, a danger lies,
For weightlessness beguiles the skies,
To drift too far, to soar too high,
Is to forget how worlds rely.
But in its flight, a truth is found,
That weightless souls are never bound,
And in the sky's unbroken sweep,
The weightless find their endless sleep.'
Neo's eyes snapped open.
The moment he did, a formless wave of energy spread outwards, causing the tiny pebbles on the ground to levitate briefly before dropping back down.
Neo didn't bother to speak; instead, he began laughing. His excitement made him sound like a lunatic.
Without anyone having to tell him, he instantly knew the concept he had just comprehended!
He had grasped another basic concept, and it was the first of the six Gravity concepts—the concept of weightlessness!
Weightlessness!
At a thought, Neo's body began to glow faintly grey.
This time, he found it easier and smoother to apply the concept. It didn't even take a full second for it to materialise.
Under the enhancement of weightlessness, Neo took a gentle step...
And fell over!
He had moved so effortlessly, felt so much lighter, that he lost his balance and body awareness for a moment and tripped.
Neo deactivated the concept and stood up, amazed. When he had applied the concept to his body, he felt so light, so free, so weightless...
He straightened up and re-applied the concept to his body, then pounced forward.
Whoosh!
Neo's speed was astonishing!
He crossed a distance of five metres in a single step!
His speed had easily doubled!
Neo suddenly had a thought. With the concept of sharpness for attacks and the concept of weightlessness for movement...
Wait a minute...
Neo's eyes widened. He stared at himself in shock.
Wasn't he starting to become overpowered?!