Meanwhile, Xu Nuo, who was next door drawing talismans, felt a surge of life energy enveloping his surroundings, and this spiritual energy was growing more intense. He quickly deduced that the source of this dense spiritual energy was coming from Park Su's room, which meant Park Su was likely cultivating.
He wondered if other ability users experienced such a significant fluctuation in spiritual energy during cultivation. As far as he could recall, when he first delved into the ability within him, he had never sensed such a dramatic change in spiritual energy.
More importantly, Xu Nuo found that being enveloped by this rich life energy made all his previous fatigue dissipate, leaving him feeling incredibly comfortable. Instead of resting as he had planned, he picked up his cinnabar brush once more and continued to draw talismans.
The next day, Park Su, who had not slept all night, felt completely refreshed, without any hint of tiredness, an experience unprecedented in his previous cultivation sessions. He couldn't help but look joyfully at Green Vine, who was also emitting a green glow. He could sense an increase in Green Vine's abilities, and his own body was now brimming with wood energy!
This made him rather excited because during the previous battle, his excessive absorption of energy from Green Vine had nearly led him to be influenced by his inner demons. He had thought he couldn't absorb all these crystal nuclei in one go, but to his surprise, in just one night, he had completely absorbed all the approximately sixty zombie nuclei he had collected over the last two days, and he felt clear-minded, without any signs of being possessed.
This made Park Su rather excited, and more importantly, he could feel the energy in his dantian was brimming, which made him eager to test what kind of effects he could produce in this state. Most crucially, he sensed a breakthrough opportunity after his massive absorption of the zombie nuclei. Therefore, he quickly prepared breakfast, knocked on Xu Nuo's door to let him know the meal was on the table, and then rushed out to fight zombies and collect supplies and crystal nuclei.
His aim was to break through quickly and to see his combat strength in this peak condition. He didn't return for lunch, naturally not knowing that his dantian, now full, could almost match the energy of his third-tier wood abilities from before.
To better familiarize himself with his current state and to make the most of his good condition, he wanted to kill as many zombies as possible, collect crystal nuclei to help him break through, and gather more supplies. He planned to use all his time efficiently; after all, they had only five days left before leaving, and who knew how much he could collect on the road or how soon others would discover the secret of the zombie nuclei. As for Xu Nuo, the breakfast he had prepared was plenty; he could manage lunch on his own!
Now, breaking through had become his top priority. The apocalypse had only just begun two weeks ago, and he already had the potential to break through to the third-tier of his wood abilities, which was thrilling even for him.
Back at home, Xu Nuo, not seeing Park Su return at noon, couldn't help but frown. This was the first time Park Su hadn't come back for lunch since they had been together.
Remembering the intense life energy emanating from Park Su's room the previous night, he knew Park Su was cultivating. The production of such strong life energy suggested that last night's cultivation was fruitful, so he must have gone out in high spirits to collect supplies, especially after Xu Nuo had given him so many spatial rings the day before.
However, Xu Nuo was somewhat worried, fearing Park Su might overestimate himself. The situation outside was unpredictable, and who knew what might happen to him?
The longer Park Su was out, the more anxious Xu Nuo became. Despite the abundance of food left on the table, which was likely meant to indicate Park Su's absence at lunch, Xu Nuo was still concerned for the young man, who always seemed too easy to deceive.
Such concern for another was something Xu Nuo had never experienced before, and at this moment, he realized that Park Su seemed more important to him than he had thought!
The fact that he could feel worried about someone else was quite surprising to Xu Nuo. Known for being cold-hearted and emotionally detached, as per the old man's scolding, he had always been told that such people were more suited for cultivation, but also the loneliest.
Yet now, here he was, feeling so concerned for Park Su, which was indeed a novel experience. He quickly attributed this feeling to two reasons: first, he felt Park Su's abilities were not sufficient, and he was worried about him encountering trouble on the way to the city; second, he still owed Park Su for saving his life and didn't want him to die so soon and in such a manner.
Initially, he didn't know which direction Park Su had gone, as he hadn't mentioned it before leaving at noon. Not knowing where to look for him, Xu Nuo paced around the room for a while before he finally couldn't resist. He returned to his room, retrieved five ancient copper coins and a turtle shell from his spatial ring, and performed a divination for Park Su's outing. When the result showed great fortune, he finally relaxed, completely forgetting that he hadn't practiced divination in a long time.
However, even with this reassurance, Xu Nuo remained restless throughout the afternoon, resorting to continuously drawing talismans to alleviate his inner unease. After all, drawing talismans required his full concentration, which could temporarily make him forget about Park Su.
Meanwhile, Park Su, who was outside busy all day, had no idea that Xu Nuo was worried about him at home. He was in high spirits today, killing twice as many zombies as usual and feeling an increasing synergy with Green Vine.
Consequently, he collected far more supplies than usual. Most importantly, after a day of activity, his dantian's energy had not depleted; instead, each use seemed to trigger the circulation of energy, continuously absorbing wood energy from the air, enhancing his abilities.
More importantly, having used his abilities extensively today, he had finally discerned the pattern of his dantian's circulation. He was eager to go back and try to see if he could use this circulation to absorb wood energy from the air more efficiently.
Moreover, seeing how adept he had become at controlling ordinary plants, he began to consider, if it weren't for the scarcity of new ability plants at the beginning of the apocalypse, finding a mutated plant to test his control capabilities would be great. He looked at Green Vine, who was helping him fight, but since she was entirely obedient to him, she wasn't suitable for experimentation.
Throughout the day, Park Su could clearly feel his abilities growing. At this rate, he might even break through to the third tier before they set out, a thought that made him a little excited.
So when he returned, his face was glowing with exhilaration, but as soon as he saw Xu Nuo standing at the window upstairs, exuding a cold aura, all that excitement was instantly doused.
After all, he hadn't mentioned this morning that he wouldn't be back to make lunch. This was probably the first time Xu Nuo had to eat leftover breakfast for lunch in the days they'd been together.
If it were in the past, Park Su might have argued that Xu Nuo was just someone he had saved and should be grateful for any food he received, not be so picky. But now, since Xu Nuo was the "big thigh" he wanted to cling to, he couldn't afford to be negligent.
At the very least, he couldn't let Xu Nuo's goodwill towards him diminish. Seeing Xu Nuo's cold expression, Park Su felt a bit guilty and quickly flashed an appeasing smile, hurrying back into the house without daring to look at Xu Nuo's face anymore.
Xu Nuo's day of worry and irritation had already subsided significantly upon seeing Park Su's silhouette through his spiritual sense. However, his mood wasn't great, partly due to having eaten cold leftovers for lunch.
Yet, he couldn't help but stand at the window to see Park Su return at first sight. When he met Park Su's somewhat guilty yet appeasing eyes, the last bit of his displeasure also dissipated.
At that moment, he vaguely understood that perhaps his annoyance wasn't entirely about the cold lunch, but he didn't say more, turning back to his desk to look at the pile of talismans and sighed inwardly. He was indeed too concerned about this young man, for better or worse, but this feeling... wasn't bad.
Park Su, feeling a bit guilty for his actions, naturally showcased his culinary skills that evening, preparing a variety of meat dishes, and then hesitantly went upstairs to call Xu Nuo for dinner.
Xu Nuo had already anticipated that Park Su would try to make amends with a better dinner, but seeing the spread on the table, he couldn't help but smile slightly, especially when he met Park Su's expectant yet appeasing gaze, which he found even more amusing.
He picked up his chopsticks, "Are you sure the supplies you collected today can cover for this feast on the table? Or are you planning to use up your supplies and then have me go out to collect more with you?"
Park Su had been somewhat nervous, thinking Xu Nuo might be upset about the cold lunch, but Xu Nuo's first words were about the food. Having spent enough time with him, Park Su noticed that although Xu Nuo's expression was still stern, the coldness in his eyes from when he was at the window had vanished.
Knowing that Xu Nuo's anger had subsided, Park Su felt emboldened, especially since he had indeed planned to have Xu Nuo help him collect supplies. Now that Xu Nuo had brought it up, whether as a joke or with some deeper meaning, Park Su decided to take the opportunity.