"Huh?"
Neo sat up in a daze. His mind felt as though he'd been asleep for months, and his body felt as if it had been frozen for years.
So cold...
He looked around thoughtfully, trying to remember where he was and what he had been doing.
All he could see were black, rocky walls and his black spear a few feet away from him.
As Neo stared at the black satchel placed behind the spear, his memory returned with a jolt.
Oh wait! The grey fruit!
Neo's eyes flicked to his left palm, where he saw his hand clenched tightly around a grey fruit.
His body also registered that this was the source of the cold sensation he'd been feeling.
The grey fruit in his hands wasn't actually cold. It was simply devoid of... heat. In fact, as Neo stared at it, it felt devoid of anything.
His eyes dilated, and his gaze grew unfocused. His mind was being drawn into a formless state, one devoid of everything.
It felt as if the fruit wasn't part of this world, yet at the same time, it seemed as if it belonged in its own place within the world...
It was bizarre.
Neo's mind suddenly snapped awake.
He realised he'd almost fallen into a hypnotic trance just by looking at this grey fruit!
He could have lost his mind!
Scary...
Neo looked away, frightened. He didn't dare stare at the fruit again. Just one glance, and he had nearly been turned into a fool?
But how had he even managed to get it? The last thing he remembered was failing to pluck the grey fruit countless times, then everything went black. When he regained consciousness, he was already on the floor, the fruit in his hands.
Neo began to panic. This wasn't the first time he had experienced memory loss in the past 24 hours!
How old was he, that his mind was starting to fail him? He hadn't even turned 20 yet!
Not to mention, old people in the New Age didn't even have such problems anymore.
You either became too powerful for such things to affect you, or you just bought a potion and it was solved.
So, what was going on with Neo?
The first time could have been a fluke, but for it to happen again, Neo was starting to get really suspicious.
After pondering it for a while, Neo concluded that the only thing he could do was... pay more attention?
What else could he do?
Neo sighed and cleared his mind. He then turned to look at the fruit again but abruptly stopped.
He had almost made the mistake of staring at the fruit once more!
This time, he truly couldn't afford to look at it. What if his fatigued mind couldn't take it anymore?
This thought gave birth to another question in Neo's mind.
'Should I really eat this fruit?'
Neo hesitated. Should he eat a fruit he couldn't even look at?
Wasn't he already plenty powerful with the two fruits from before? Did he really need to consume this one?
Neo deliberated for a long time before finally making his decision.
'For my curious readers... I have to do this!'
Neo didn't want to think he was being greedy. It was better to consider it a sacrifice for his dear viewers, hehe.
He banished all thoughts of risk and decided to just get it done!
Ham!
Neo took a huge bite and paused. The taste of the fruit wasn't exactly normal...
It didn't have a taste at all. But as it touched different parts of his tongue, it took on various flavours—sweet, sour, bitter, even spicy!
This fruit was too strange. Neo also noticed that there was no bloating sensation this time. He felt as though he could eat more, so he did exactly that.
His bites were large and quick, and he finished the entire fruit in seconds. Once he was done, he lay on the floor and waited for the usual pain and heavenly enlightenment to wash over him.
As he waited, he kept guessing what kind of concept he might comprehend this time.
Unlike the others, which gave a slight hint of their characteristics, he had no clue what this one would bring.
He was still trying to piece together a suitable concept when the world suddenly spun around him.
The ground felt as though it was being twirled like a gigantic merry-go-round.
Neo realised instantly that he was just dizzy. But the dizziness was so intense that it continued even after he closed his eyes!
Neo's heartbeat was the only sound he could hear as the world spun on. Then he suddenly realised that the sound had vanished. No, not just the sound—he couldn't feel anything at all!
Neo's eyes shot open in shock.
His vision swept around, revealing nothing but white.
He was floating in an endless expanse of white. He tried to turn, but he was simply drifting, unable to move. Everywhere he could see looked the same—an endless white void.
Neo's mind raced. Was he about to receive some sort of inheritance?!
Would an old man with a white beard and a kindly aura slowly emerge and bestow his mighty powers upon him?
Neo had heard of inheritances before. When a powerful Ascended died, their spirit, already so potent, could sometimes linger instead of dissipating entirely.
It would remain in the Spirit Realm as an inheritance, waiting to pass on its power to a worthy individual.
The inheritance was usually the concept and Dao comprehensions of the deceased Ascended, as well as the purification essence they had accumulated before death.
Neo didn't have a spirit yet, so he couldn't use the purification essence, but the concept comprehensions of an Ascended at such a level would be insane!
Surely, they would know at least a couple of Supreme-level concepts, right?
That kind of power was comparable to the final Ascension stage: the Fusion Stage! Neo would instantly become truly overpowered!
He would be slaughtering Superior Grade bloodline beasts like they were chicks! And he was still a mortal!
Neo became giddy with excitement, but as he waited in silence, no mysterious elder appeared.
"Hello!! Is anyone here?!!"
He waited for what felt like hours, which slowly turned into days, but no one appeared.
Neo had no idea how long he'd spent in that white space. All he knew was that he was beginning to lose his mind!
Where was the mysterious elder?
Even if no elder was coming, couldn't they at least send him back?
Finally, when Neo couldn't take the silence any longer, his vision suddenly went blank again, and his body jerked forward as if yanked by a rope.
Suddenly, he could feel his body again. He felt himself sitting in a noisy place.
Neo cautiously opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings—and gasped.
Wait a minute... Where was this?
Wait... Who... am... I?
He looked around in a daze, trying to find something to jog his memory.
He saw dozens of teenagers sitting in a classroom, listening to an explanation from a teacher.
He didn't know who they were or what was happening. He didn't even know where he was!!
Suddenly, every teenager in the room turned to look at the back.
Neo jolted. Were they looking at him?
He turned and saw a smooth white wall behind him. Facing forward again, he saw that they were giving him scornful looks; some were even snickering.
He was confused. What was happening?
Then, a calm and curt voice reached his ears.
"Neo, are you not going to answer the question?"