If his affection for Park Su wasn't deep enough, then he wouldn't mind intensifying it further because he didn't dislike this novel feeling, and it actually felt quite good!
Moreover, if only he liked Park Su while Park Su had no feelings for him, then he would be at a disadvantage. Most importantly, if one day he decided to confess his feelings, the likelihood of being accepted might decrease by then. So, what he needed to do now was to make Park Su feel a special fondness for him too.
He had observed before and knew that Park Su seemed to appreciate his appearance, so he was not shy about using his looks to increase Park Su's affection.
Therefore, when he saw that Park Su was actually mesmerized by looking at him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. It seemed that he was increasingly liking Park Su.
He thought this to himself but didn't show it, instead hiding all his inner thoughts and looking at Park Su with a playful smile, "Do you have to be so formal? We've known each other for more than a day or two. I thought we were good friends, which is why I'm so casual. Did I misunderstand? If so, I'll put my clothes back on!"
Park Su felt that Xu Nuo's words completely blocked any escape route for suggesting he put his clothes on because that would mean admitting they weren't friends.
Joking aside, he had worked hard to increase Xu Nuo's fondness for him. Now that Xu Nuo was willing to acknowledge their friendship, how could he deny it?
He made one last struggle, saying, "It's fine, I'm just not used to it. If you're not cold, you don't have to wear clothes."
Xu Nuo naturally caught the implication in his words and couldn't help but smile. "I'm not cold, and besides, you said that when absorbing the core, it's likely to achieve body refinement, and some impurities might come out of the body. I just don't want to dirty my clothes."
Park Su responded with a soft "oh," but inside, he was somewhat defiantly thinking, "Oh, you don't mind dirtying the bed, though?"
But in reality, he didn't voice any objections, just gave an awkward smile, forgetting what to do next until Xu Nuo reminded him to take out the energy stone. Only then did he come back to his senses and take out the stone.
Xu Nuo felt that he had teased Park Su enough for the day. Any more, and he might go too far, which could either irritate him or make his intentions too obvious.
Therefore, Xu Nuo didn't continue teasing and instead took the energy stone, holding it in his hand, and began to absorb its energy according to his introduction.
Sure enough, the energy was quickly drawn out by Xu Nuo. When the energy was released, Xu Nuo realized that the energy contained in the stone was essentially the spiritual energy he had absorbed during his previous cultivations, only this time, the spiritual energy from the stone was much more abundant and pure.
Such spiritual energy was enough to solidify his ninth-tier technique, elevating it to the mid-grade of the ninth tier. Treasures like this would be highly sought after even among cultivators, let alone among those with special abilities like them.
At first, Xu Nuo absorbed the energy from the stone cautiously, to see if it would have any adverse effects on himself. When he found out it didn't, except for being more pure, he became even more puzzled about the stone.
This apocalypse might have come suddenly to ordinary people, but to him, there had been signs. Before the apocalypse, he had already felt the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air. At that time, he didn't think these changes were significant, but now, it seemed these spiritual energies had both destroyed and created people.
Seeing these energy stones appearing suddenly, Xu Nuo felt there were many things that needed clarification. Perhaps understanding these could reveal the cause of the apocalypse and how to end it.
However, these were just his speculations. Right now, his priority was to enhance his own abilities. He didn't share these thoughts with Park Su, nor did he plan to absorb all the energy from the stone. He felt that keeping the stone might help him understand how these sudden bursts of spiritual energy in the air choose these stones to turn them into energy stones.
Maybe this could reveal the original source of these sudden energies.
Park Su was unaware of the myriad thoughts Xu Nuo had in such a short time; he was just focused on watching Xu Nuo's profile while absorbing energy, inwardly marveling at how devastatingly handsome he was.
Park Su thought to himself that it was a good thing it was only his avatar being used to entice Xu Nuo, not Xu Nuo's avatar tempting him. If Xu Nuo's avatar was used, he feared he wouldn't be able to escape the illusion he knew.
After a moment of internal lamentation, Park Su heard Xu Nuo's deep voice by his ear, "Don't just stare at me. It's distracting me from cultivating. If you have the time to watch others, you might as well cultivate with me. The energy in the stone is enough for my abilities to break through. Don't be too afraid to absorb it, join me in cultivation!"
Park Su hadn't expected Xu Nuo to be concerned about him while absorbing energy from the stone. He hurriedly averted his gaze in panic.
Ah, he felt like he was turning into a drooling fan since entering Xu Nuo's room.
He thought if this continued, he'd just keep embarrassing himself. So, following Xu Nuo's advice, he decided to cultivate together, only taking a small portion of the energy, which shouldn't affect Xu Nuo's control over his abilities.
Most importantly, now, cultivation seemed to be the only way to distract his mind from Xu Nuo. With that thought, he no longer hesitated, sat cross-legged opposite Xu Nuo, and started to absorb the energy from the stone, deliberately slowing his pace to allow Xu Nuo to absorb more.
Xu Nuo noticed Park Su's little maneuver and felt a softness in his heart but didn't stop him. He knew that Park Su could be very stubborn once he decided on something, which could sometimes be quite troublesome.
They cultivated like this through the night, and by morning, Xu Nuo felt a change in the energy stone. It seemed to be absorbing spiritual energy from the environment, and the energy it chose was the same as the purple qi he usually absorbed during his morning cultivation.
This surprised Xu Nuo. He had never seen a stone capable of drawing in the purest spiritual energy from the air, and at such a fast pace— at least ten times faster than his morning absorption.
If the energy stone could absorb energy from the air by itself, wouldn't that mean the longer the stone was kept, the more energy it would contain?
And these energy stones could seemingly be reused. However, Park Su hadn't mentioned this to him, and he didn't think Park Su was deliberately hiding it. Since Park Su was willing to share the energy of the stone with him, why would he hide this? The only possibility was that he didn't know this himself.
So, the first thing Xu Nuo asked upon opening his eyes was, "Have you absorbed energy from an energy stone before? Where is that stone now?"
Park Su, who had been about to ask if Xu Nuo felt any change in his abilities after absorbing the energy, was taken aback by the question. He replied puzzledly, "It turned into powder. What's wrong?"
Xu Nuo frowned, "I feel like the energy in the stone can regenerate. I don't know if this is just true for this type of non-attribute energy stone or if all energy stones have this capability. But you said yours turned to ash, which makes me think you must have absorbed all its energy. If you had left some, it might have slowly accumulated energy over time until it was full again."
This was the first time Park Su had heard such a theory, and he was somewhat astonished, "Really? I've never heard that energy stones could do this. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Xu Nuo smiled, "Don't you think it's strange? A stone the size of a fist can turn so many zombies into second-tier zombies, even one into a third-tier, and can make plants mutate. If the energy in one stone couldn't regenerate, how could it cause so many changes with so much energy stored within?
And haven't you wondered why zombies choose to absorb the energy from stones in the morning but scatter to hunt at other times?"
Actually, Park Su had considered the points Xu Nuo raised before, but he always thought it was because the non-attribute energy stone contained more energy than normal. However, according to Xu Nuo's explanation, it seemed there was more to it. Now, thinking about it, Xu Nuo's theory seemed the most plausible. He was inwardly excited; if the energy in the stone could indeed regenerate, then by keeping this stone, they could continuously draw energy from it to help them break through.
Seeing Park Su silent after his explanation, his eyes burning with excitement, Xu Nuo couldn't help but feel his ears turn a bit red.
There was no help for it; Park Su looking at him with such focus and enthusiasm made him feel incredibly adorable.
So, Xu Nuo naturally revealed the secret he had discovered, "I spent the whole night absorbing the energy from the stone, and I didn't feel any change in the energy within the stone. Because both you and I were absorbing it slowly, I could keep part of my attention on sensing the changes in the stone. (I was worried that if we absorbed it all, there wouldn't be any stone left to study.)
So, it was only in the morning that I felt the stone react. I think it somehow resonates with the purple qi at the horizon when the sun first rises, drawing the purest energy from the air into the stone. And it seems to absorb energy at a speed faster than any of us practitioners, as if it were a high-level practitioner itself."