It was really just by chance that such a situation occurred because if both of them had gone all out to absorb the energy from the stone last night, they might have absorbed it to the point where the stone couldn't be absorbed anymore.
But both wanted the other to absorb more from the energy stone, so they both adopted the slowest method to absorb the energy in the stone. They let the energy circulate slowly within their bodies to allow the other to absorb more, and because of this, they were able to absorb until the morning, which allowed Xu Nuo to discover this secret.
Park Su guessed that it might be because most people who obtained energy stones before were not practitioners like Xu Nuo. Even if there were practitioners, they would likely be too eager to absorb all the energy from the stone, not giving themselves a chance to notice this phenomenon.
Moreover, even if someone had discovered this, they probably wouldn't easily spread the news, as it would make energy stones even more coveted, driving up their price, making it harder for individuals to acquire one.
He hadn't expected Xu Nuo to so readily share this discovery with him. Xu Nuo could have kept the energy stone for himself, cultivated alone, and not shared this secret. Instead, he trusted him so much, which made Park Su feel even warmer inside and deepened his reliance on Xu Nuo.
He was genuinely happy for Xu Nuo's discovery and couldn't help but grab his hand, saying, "That's really great! With this energy stone, you can absorb the purest spiritual energy from the air all day, which means you'll be able to break through your techniques faster, right? That would make you even stronger!"
Xu Nuo felt the warm touch from Park Su's palm and his unfeigned excitement, smiling, "This stone is ours, and you're my disciple. I wouldn't just think about my own cultivation. Besides, I can break through my techniques without this stone. More importantly, I need to supervise you. With this energy stone, I think you should be able to master Dao techniques quicker. Since we have such a good assistant, it looks like I'll need to start having you memorize texts."
Park Su was a bit confused, "Memorize texts?"
Xu Nuo laughed, "Of course, techniques, steps, the origin of Dao techniques, metaphysics, feng shui, the origin of spiritual energy, how to use talismans, the situation with formations - you'll need to memorize all of these thoroughly."
Park Su had barely escaped the ordeal of university life, and now he felt like he was falling back into the pain of studying, which made him somewhat depressed. He had always thought that cultivating Dao techniques was just about practicing, not about memorizing so many texts. He was particularly taken aback when Xu Nuo later mentioned that there were over a thousand ways to draw talismans, and there were hundreds of different cinnabar formulas for low-level talismans. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
However, this was an opportunity to both improve his strength and to stick close to Xu Nuo, which he was loath to pass up, even though the thought of memorizing texts was painful.
Thus, he responded with feigned excitement and agreed. After he agreed, Xu Nuo gave him a half-smiling look and asked, "Since that's the case, shouldn't you let go of my hand? I want to take a shower; I feel sticky and uncomfortable." Only then did Park Su realize that he had been holding Xu Nuo's hand since grabbing it earlier while they were talking, and he hadn't even thought to let go, having held it for about ten minutes. This made him quite embarrassed. He quickly withdrew his hand as if he'd been shocked and, to find something to say, asked, "Weird, when I broke through, so much filth came out of my body, how come you only have a bit more sweat and nothing else?"
As Xu Nuo got up to find his clothes for changing, he said, "Probably because I'm a cultivator, the impurities in my body are already much less than in ordinary people."
After picking up a shirt, Xu Nuo turned to Park Su with a thoughtful look and asked, "Seems like you're quite concerned about my body, huh?"
At these words, Park Su's face turned completely red, and he quickly stood up, "Uh, well, I guess there's nothing left for me to do here, I'll go back to my room."
Without waiting for Xu Nuo's response, he turned and left. Xu Nuo watched his hurried departure with a slightly deeper look in his eyes and a faint smile on his lips, choosing not to say anything more.
Once back in his room, it took Park Su a long while to calm his heart. He then went to freshen up and headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.
At that moment, Ge Qing and Lu Shang arrived, carrying large and small bags. Park Su decided to make breakfast for them as well. They didn't hide their supplies from Park Su and Xu Nuo, bringing everything into their rooms in front of them. In their view, with Park Su and Xu Nuo's abilities, acquiring similar resources wouldn't be difficult, so there was no reason to be envious of their modest belongings.
In fact, Park Su occasionally glanced at their supplies but didn't covet them, acknowledging that they were the result of others' hard work. Besides, he had finally made friends with two ability users who were genuinely sincere, and there was no need to spoil the relationship over such things. Moreover, his space ring contained far more resources than what they had brought.
On the other hand, Xu Nuo, while casually looking at what they brought in, suddenly brightened up when he noticed animal blood among their belongings. Although the blood seemed a bit old, it still appeared to contain energy. He had been thinking about asking Park Su to find things like cinnabar to help him practice drawing talismans. After all, memorizing the talismans was one thing, but learning to draw them was far more important.
Finding such items wasn't easy, especially trying to find as much cinnabar as before the apocalypse was even harder. Moreover, for them, cinnabar was merely a lower-grade material for drawing talismans, useful because it could store the spiritual energy they channeled through the brush. To increase the energy stored in cinnabar, they would mix in other substances.
So, Xu Nuo was thinking about finding something to replace cinnabar for Park Su, like the bottle of spirit beast blood that Ge Qing and Lu Shang had. Generally, the blood of intelligent animals contains higher levels of spiritual energy, making the talismans more effective. Among these, human blood was considered the best quality.
The higher one's own spiritual energy, the more potent the spiritual energy in their blood, resulting in higher quality talismans. However, since Daoist practitioners need many talismans, their own blood supply is never enough, so they don't use it exclusively. They usually mix some blood from spiritually rich animals into cinnabar to enhance the quality of their talismans.
Thus, Xu Nuo began to think about how to get hold of that bottle of blood that Ge Qing had brought. Meanwhile, Ge Qing and Lu Shang were unaware of Xu Nuo's small scheme. After they had sorted their things, they saw that Park Su had already set breakfast on the table and invited them to eat. This felt like a long-lost family reunion.
They sat down obediently, and since both Park Su and they were gay, they had many common topics to discuss, though they kept it subtle with Xu Nuo upstairs. Still, the conversation was pleasant, and soon they were laughing and chatting. Xu Nuo, having been observing Park Su with his mental energy, couldn't help but feel a bit jealous seeing them so happy together. He came downstairs with a stern face, but it didn't last long as Park Su's comment, "You finally came down; we've been waiting for you to eat, we're starving," broke his cold demeanor.
Especially when Park Su naturally set up Xu Nuo's bowl and chopsticks, even serving him his favorite dishes, his almond-shaped eyes curving in a cute smile. This made Xu Nuo's heart skip a beat. Noticing Xu Nuo's gaze, Park Su paused, remembering the morning's events, and felt a bit awkward, quickly turning to sip his porridge.
Xu Nuo didn't mind Park Su's actions and casually picked up his chopsticks to drink his porridge. However, their atmosphere gave Ge Qing and Lu Shang some suspicions. After the meal, while washing dishes, Ge Qing offered to help and quietly asked if something had happened between Park Su and Xu Nuo that morning.
Park Su sighed, "I'd like something to happen, but I'm all heart and no guts. You must have seen it too; if I want to improve my strength, I have to stick close to him. I don't want to waste my current advantages because of my own little selfish desires. Instead of him knowing and then disliking me, potentially losing even the friendship we have, it's better to keep things as they are."
Ge Qing understood this sentiment well, having grown up with Lu Shang as good friends, and it took him years to express his feelings. He also had similar thoughts back then; even if they couldn't be lovers, at least they could remain brothers. If he confessed and ended up losing both lover and friend, wouldn't that be even more tragic?
For a moment, he didn't know how to comfort Park Su, so after thinking for a while, he said, "At least now, in the apocalypse, men being with men is pretty common. Maybe you do have a chance."
Park Su sighed and replied, "I know there's a chance, but that chance is probably with other men, not with him."
Ge Qing looked puzzled, so Park Su quickly explained, "Even though the survival rate for women is much lower than for men in this world, strong men still attract women. For someone like Xu Nuo, even in the apocalypse, there would be many capable women willing to be his partner. How could he possibly notice a man like me? Besides, you've seen it too; Xu Nuo seems quite gentle on the surface, but he keeps everyone at a distance. Getting close to his heart isn't as easy as you might think. At most, I'm just a bit closer to him than you guys are."