Chapter 24: Activating Psychic Powers

Chapter 24: Activating Psychic Powers

Comet's limbs were secured to a small bed, its eyes clouded, like they were covered in frosted glass, no longer clear. One of its hind claws was bent at an unnatural angle, clearly fractured, and its entire body trembled.

Zhou Yun was cleaning its wounds, shaving the fur around the injured areas and washing them with saline. He sprayed disinfectant and hemostatic medication, then immobilized the fractured claw before addressing the arrow lodged in its body.

The steel arrow had pierced through its abdomen from front to back, a gruesome and painful sight. After stopping the bleeding, Zhou Yun fetched a surgical saw, carefully sawed off the arrowhead, but didn’t rush to remove the arrow. Instead, he spoke to Guan Yuanfeng, "The heart has been pierced, and there's a graze on the lungs... If we remove the arrow, its condition might immediately deteriorate. But if we don't, its chances of survival are still low."

If his wood-based psychic powers had reached the fifth tier, he would have had a better chance of healing such a severe injury.

Before reaching the fifth tier, however, wood-based healing was far inferior to even lower-tier light-based psychic powers. This was why, in his previous life, light-based powers had been more sought after than wood-based ones.

Guan Yuanfeng stood silently, his gaze fixed on Comet. He gently stroked its head, and Comet, despite its trembling, weakly licked his hand.

After a moment of silence, Guan Yuanfeng said, "Pull it out. Please, try to ease its pain." The arrow piercing through its body must have been agonizing, and there was no point in delaying.

In his previous life, he had been the one to sever Comet's head after it had been infected by the zombie virus, wearing the same expression of resolve.

Zhou Yun fell silent for a moment, as if making a difficult decision. He turned and headed up to the greenhouse on the rooftop, returning with a bunch of purslane, which he quickly washed clean.

This pot of mutated purslane had received special attention from his psychic powers after the red fog descended. The roots and stems now thrived, robust and thick, the fleshy leaves plump and full of juice, adorned with shimmering silver patterns.

He had originally planned to use them to make psychic test strips but had been concerned that the mutation period was too short for effective results, so he had kept them as they were.

There wasn’t enough time now to refine extraction liquids or make test strips, but a simple liquid reagent would suffice.

He placed the purslane into a food processor, extracted the juice, and divided it into several tubes, adding a few polymerases, shaking them, and setting them aside.

He then took a blood collection needle, pricked his own finger, and dropped a single drop of blood into the test tube, shaking it before letting it sit.

Next, he used a small needle to draw a bit of blood from the vein on Comet's hind leg, placing two drops into different tubes before letting them sit.

Guan Yuanfeng watched him silently. Zhou Yun met his gaze and said, "Give me a few drops of your blood too. I need to confirm the efficacy of this reagent."

Although Guan Yuanfeng wasn’t sure what he was doing, he cooperated, extending his left hand. Zhou Yun quickly took a few drops of his blood and added them to the reagent.

Once everything was prepared, Zhou Yun began searching the medicine cabinet for anesthetics, adjusting the dosage, and preparing the necessary surgical tools, all while sterilizing them.

He didn’t let Guan Yuanfeng remain idle, instructing him to assist with sterilizing the equipment.

After ten minutes, the reagents changed color.

Zhou Yun picked up his own tube first. As expected, two layers of blue and green crystalline fragments had precipitated within the water, glittering like bright jade gemstones.

Water and wood affinities confirmed that the reagent was effective and accurate.

He then picked up Guan Yuanfeng's tube, and to his surprise, there were also two colors in it—light silver and pale golden crystals, like fine sand.

Wind and lightning affinities—Guan Yuanfeng had a dual affinity for both wind and lightning.

This reagent, made from mutated purslane, gave a more accurate result. In his previous life, the test strips used by official testing organizations were based on the method he had freely shared, using regular purslane.

It was ironic that, despite being dual-affinity, in his previous life, those incompetent officials had transplanted a fire crystal core into him, missing both of his natural affinities. He had only thought Guan Yuanfeng was lightning-affinity, so he had preemptively raised an electric eel.

High-quality wind and lightning crystal cores were hard to come by, but fortunately, in this life...

Zhou Yun thought back to the wind-based mutated eagle from earlier that day. The eagle had been able to use more than three wind-based skills—blades of wind, tornadoes, and strong winds—indicating it was likely above the third tier. He hadn’t had time to extract the wind crystal core to treat Comet, so he had quickly frozen the mutated eagle, hoping to retrieve it later.

As if guided by some unseen force, Zhou Yun glanced at Guan Yuanfeng, who noticed and looked back with a puzzled expression, his brows furrowed with deep sorrow.

Zhou Yun thought to himself that if there really were gods watching over them, then perhaps Comet... could be saved.

He picked up Comet's test tube and saw the light red crystalline particles, which indicated an affinity for fire psychic powers. For a fire psychic, the color would be a bright red.

Fire... thank goodness.

Zhou Yun recalled the first zombie he and Guan Yuanfeng had shot in the domed restaurant.

He put down the test tube and quickly found his sealed glass cup on the shelf. Opening it, he took out the small fire crystal core.

Although it was small, only the size of a fingernail, it was bright red, highly pure, and since it came from an animal, if the core's energy was too strong, it might not be compatible.

So, maybe there is a god after all.

Could his rebirth be the work of a compassionate deity watching over him?

Zhou Yun picked up the crystal core and showed it to Guan Yuanfeng. "Brother Guan, take a look at this."

Guan Yuanfeng looked at the bright red crystal, recognizing it as a crystal core from a zombie, and asked Zhou Yun, "Will this core be useful?"

Zhou Yun said, "It's a fire crystal core. I want to try transplanting it into Comet's body. If it works, the mutated animal's physique should improve significantly, and it might survive the arrow extraction."

"You saw that eagle today; it was probably a mutated eagle. Its strength and speed are different from those of a normal eagle, and its vitality is also very strong."

Guan Yuanfeng opened his mouth, his voice hoarse. "How are you going to do the transplant?"

Zhou Yun said, "It's difficult to explain, but essentially, it's a transfer of energy. I can't guarantee it will work, but there's no other way now."

The black lab used light psychic healing abilities to forcibly implant the core, but he was using a technique called grafting, where he transferred the core’s energy directly into Comet’s body. With the attributes matching, he thought the chances were high.

Guan Yuanfeng looked at Zhou Yun, who did not avoid his gaze, appearing sincere and confident. Guan Yuanfeng thought for a moment and then asked, "Will it affect you?"

Zhou Yun shook his head. "Probably just an overuse of psychic powers, but we're in a safe place now, so there's no need to hold back."

In a society like the one in his previous life, where psychics faced threats from zombies and enemies lurking in the shadows at any time, it was hard to dare to use psychic powers to their full extent.

He had worked tirelessly to create this high-altitude sanctuary, partly to secure more time to focus on cultivation when the apocalypse suddenly arrived.

Guan Yuanfeng quickly made a decision. "Give it a try."

Zhou Yun nodded, took some anesthetics, and gave Comet an injection. Once the anesthetic took effect, he had Guan Yuanfeng hold the wound area and decisively pulled the arrow out.

His movements were precise and swift. After removing the arrow, he immediately cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding. Then, he took a surgical knife, made a precise cut at the dog's heart area, and placed the fire crystal core into the dog's heart.

Guan Yuanfeng watched as Zhou Yun's palm suddenly emitted a soft green light, enveloping the dog's heart and the crystal core. The dog's heart continued to beat steadily, and gradually, the bright red core emitted a brilliant warm light, pulsing rhythmically with the heart. The bleeding miraculously stopped.

Zhou Yun withdrew the green light, took some suturing thread, and carefully stitched the wound closed. His hands were steady and deft, aligning the muscles and skin layer by layer with precision. The needle and thread were obedient in his hands, and soon the wound was accurately sutured. He applied external wound gel and wrapped it with gauze, completing the wound treatment.

Zhou Yun then pulled over an anti-inflammatory medication drip, inserted an IV tube into Comet's forelimb, and then said, "Alright, we'll observe him for 72 hours. If he can make it through, he'll be fine."

Guan Yuanfeng saw the exhaustion etched on Zhou Yun’s face and the strain in his eyes and said, "You must be tired. Go and rest first."

But Zhou Yun took a tube of external wound gel and said, "You have some wounds on your face and arms too. Let me take care of those for you."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "They're minor wounds. I can handle them myself."

Zhou Yun replied, "It's hard to treat them by yourself. Let me do it."

He had already taken alcohol wipes to disinfect the wounds and applied the gel. He then gently infused a touch of wood psychic power into the wounds, ensuring that such deep wounds from the blades of wind, a psychic power that could cut through flesh like a blade, would heal without leaving scars.

Guan Yuanfeng noticed that Zhou Yun was frowning, his expression serious and stern. After treating the wounds on his face and neck, he carefully and meticulously applied medicine to his arm. Guan Yuanfeng felt a slight warmth in his heart. In the past, such minor injuries would have been treated with a quick dab of iodine.

But Zhou Yun was so serious that he could only comply.

After treating the wounds, Zhou Yun left Comet in Guan Yuanfeng's room, telling him to call if anything went wrong before returning to his own room. As soon as he entered, he collapsed onto his bed, his head throbbing intensely. His temples pulsed painfully—a clear sign of overusing his psychic abilities. Although he had managed to upgrade to the third tier based on experience from his past life, his actual experience with the abilities was still lacking. The exhaustion from overusing his powers made him extremely uncomfortable.

Yet he felt relieved.

Today, this wind-affinity mutated eagle had reached the third tier.

In his past life, the apocalypse had come unexpectedly. He hadn’t raised chickens on the balcony, which meant he hadn’t attracted any mutated eagles.

Hearing the dog bark, he grabbed a knife and ran over. Seeing that the eagle was about to pounce on Guan Yuanfeng, his heart almost stopped.

In that instant, he conjured and hurled dozens of ice arrows in anger, piercing the giant eagle and turning it into a sieve.

Fortunately, he made it in time, and fortunately, Comet had blocked it.

Outside, the world was overrun with zombies, and most animals had perished. The survivors were mostly mutated creatures. After the floods came droughts, and soon there would be locust plagues. He had been negligent. He needed to set up a net on the balcony to guard against mutated birds from the sky and the upcoming locusts.

There was also the matter of the mutated eagle that had not been dealt with. Tomorrow, he should go and extract that wind crystal core. A third-tier mutated core was rare even in his past life. This mutated eagle must have been strong to begin with, able to reach the third tier so quickly after the apocalypse.

The wind crystal core was also compatible with Guan Yuanfeng's affinity. The electric eels had been eating well, including many mutated sea fish, so their cores should be of good quality. They now had wind and lightning crystal cores.

If the grafting on Comet was successful, he would be more confident in activating Guan Yuanfeng's abilities.

After all, in his past life, he had been held in the black laboratory of "Dark Valley." Inspired by the illegal human experiments there, he had come up with new ideas but had never tried them on people. But he had witnessed the professors in "Dark Valley" experiment on animals and humans several times.

The elites valued their lives and were unwilling to part with his precious fifth-tier dual-affinity crystal core, so they forced the laboratory to conduct repeated experiments before extracting it from him.

But even then, they could only ensure that the transplant would not harm the recipient. The success rate of crystal core transplants was only thirty percent. More often, the recipient's body would reject the crystal core, necessitating another surgery to remove it.

They only started considering his dual affinity for wood and water psychic abilities after finding that lightning, fire, and light-affinity cores were ineffective.

In his past life, water and wood psychic abilities were relatively common and easy to obtain. They were also widely regarded as having little offensive capability, making them more suitable for logistical support.

Guan Yuanfeng might have thought he casually placed the crystal core into his heart, but there was precise timing and positioning involved, as well as the exact moment of activating the psychic ability.

He used the wood-affinity skill of grafting, which should be more reliable than the light-healing skill they used in the Dark Valley laboratory.

In his past life, witnessing their experimental process had given him the idea. Light and wood psychic abilities were both healing skills, one for closing wounds and the other for promoting growth. Since most people used wood psychic abilities for plant growth, their healing effects on humans were largely overlooked.

However, if it was a crystal core transplant, would using wood-affinity skills like "grafting" and "rejuvenation" allow for the vigorous growth of different branches, just as in plant grafting?

In his past life, he had secretly and successfully experimented. Fortunately, it had been a secret experiment, and he hadn’t publicized it. A figure flashed through Zhou Yun's memory. That person had left with a carefree grin, saying, "Doctor Zhou, once I've settled my affairs, I'll come to serve you. My life is yours."

By now, he should have awakened, shouldn’t he? Of course, he had never seen that person again in his past life. By the end, he had become disgraced and disappeared. That person alone probably couldn’t have done much. In the future, he would find a chance to look for him.

Pushing aside his past distractions, Zhou Yun focused on Comet. He hadn’t felt any rejection during the grafting.

If no psychic abilities manifested during the observation period, he would find a way to safely remove the crystal core from Comet.

Thinking about what needed to be done, Zhou Yun forced himself to sit up, cross-legged, and guide his psychic abilities through his almost exhausted meridians.

Perhaps because he had accomplished something significant, his mind gradually settled, becoming empty, and his thoughts cleared, fully entering a mysterious state of meditation.

The next morning, Guan Yuanfeng woke up early. Seeing that Comet was still asleep but feeling his temperature and breath were normal, he felt slightly relieved.

After washing up, he came out and saw that Zhou Yun's door was closed. He didn’t knock, instead heading to the rooftop to check.

Large chunks of ice were steadily melting under the scorching sun, leaving the balcony damp. However, the center had yet to fully melt, and all that could be seen was the broken-winged eagle trapped within the ice.

He wondered if the meat of mutated creatures was safe to eat. If it was, this big eagle would keep Comet fed for days.

It hit him suddenly: So, Zhou Yun froze this giant eagle because he was worried the meat would spoil in the hot weather before he had time to process it, right?

He had many thoughts swirling in his mind as he fed the chickens, ducks, and fish on the rooftop when he suddenly noticed a bird perched on a banyan tree near the artificial rock formation by the fish pond.

Having just encountered the giant eagle the day before, he was more on edge now. He stared intently at the ordinary bird for a while.

The bird was just preening its feathers on the banyan branch, looking like any other bird, which finally put him slightly at ease.

In fact, with flowers and vegetables planted on the balcony, and fish tanks and ponds around, butterflies, dragonflies, and small birds coming to feed were a common sight.

Relieved, he was about to grab some fish food for the electric eel when a blue arc of lightning flashed overhead. The small bird fell into the water with a splash.

Guan Yuanfeng paused, then wheeled over to see the electric eel lazily swimming by, with no sign of the bird that had fallen into the water.

"Morning, feeding the fish?"

Guan Yuanfeng turned to see Zhou Yun coming up the stairs, greeting him with a bright smile and a sharp knife in hand. "The yam and meat porridge is ready downstairs, Brother Guan. You should head down and have some. I've also prepared a nutritious meat porridge for Comet in the pressure cooker. You can serve some to him. After I deal with this eagle, I'll make some scallion-fried eagle meat today."

Guan Yuanfeng hesitated. "Is the mutated meat edible?"

Zhou Yun affirmed, "It's safe to eat. I analyzed it with the instrument last night, and it's fine."

The meat of mutated creatures was full of vitality, fresher than regular meat, packed with energy, and very beneficial for psychics who consumed it.

Zhou Yun went on to explain, "Eagle meat has significant medicinal properties, helping to dispel wind and dampness, improve blood circulation, and treat bone and muscle pain, fractures, and rheumatic joint pain. However, it carries many parasites, so it must be handled carefully. Since its diet includes snakes and mice, it harbors a lot of parasites. It needs to be stewed for a long time or deep-fried at high temperatures."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

He watched Zhou Yun place his hand on the ice block. The solid ice melted, and the soaked giant eagle fell to the ground, its feathers drenched.

Zhou Yun boiled water on the energy-saving stove to pluck the feathers, then returned with a knife to cut the giant eagle into meat blocks.

Guan Yuanfeng felt an itch to help and joined in. Their movements were swift, and soon they had divided the giant eagle into several pieces. They indeed found a crystal-clear silver core in the eagle's heart area.

This core was the largest they had seen since they started slaying zombies, about the size of an egg, with faint silver threads of light flickering inside.

Guan Yuanfeng held it carefully, thinking of the various powerful abilities of the giant eagle from the day before. A thought crossed his mind—if Comet could successfully transplant the psychic abilities, could he do the same?

The water boiled, and Zhou Yun dipped the eagle in hot water, skillfully plucking the feathers before chopping it into pieces and carrying them downstairs. He selected the best meat cuts for marinating and salted the rest thoroughly with coarse salt and pepper before placing them in the freezer.

This was third-order mutated meat, and even the bone marrow was highly beneficial. After everything was processed, the bones of the mutated eagle could be used to make weapons. The bones of mutated creatures were particularly hard and ideal for grinding into bone knives or bone daggers—lightweight and resistant to rust. Not only the eagle's bones but even the eagle's feathers, which Zhou Yun cleaned and spread in a basket to dry on the balcony, were useful. The mutated eagle feathers were sturdy, waterproof, and not easily ignited, making them ideal for protective clothing.

He removed the marrow from the fresh bones and cooked it into a soup, skimming off the oil. He mixed it with the yam meat porridge and handed it to Guan Yuanfeng. "Let it cool down and take it inside to feed Comet. It's good for recovery."

Half of the well-marinated eagle meat was stir-fried with scallion oil, and the other half was braised with beer. The fragrance of scallion oil filled the room.

Inside, Guan Yuanfeng was feeding Comet with a spoon, giving it bone marrow. The smell of the scallion oil made him wonder how Zhou Yun managed to cook such fragrant dishes.

Comet, looking weak and listless, slowly lapped up the marrow meat porridge and surprisingly finished the entire bowl.

It's good that it can still eat, Guan Yuanfeng thought as he gently patted its head and watched it close its eyes and fall asleep again. He then got up and saw that several hot dishes were already on the table.

The mutated eagle's liver and meat were thinly sliced and stir-fried with fresh red and green chilies, giving off a fragrant aroma of scallions.

Another large pot contained red-braised eagle meat, with big chunks of eagle meat, including tendons and bones, stewed until tender. It was cooked with potato chunks, and the sauce was reduced, making it just as fragrant.

The vegetarian dish was a simple large pot of braised pumpkin with cabbage, cooked in a broth made from the leftover eagle meat. A few dried shrimp and scallops were sprinkled on top. The preparation was simple, but the broth was rich and flavorful.

Although Comet hadn't passed the danger period yet, it was still alive and able to eat, which put Guan Yuanfeng a little more at ease. Seeing the abundance of dishes on the table, he smiled and said, "Starting the day with such heavy food?"

Zhou Yun explained, "I overused my psychic abilities yesterday, which has increased my appetite." In fact, he was woken up by a gnawing hunger this morning and had grabbed a pack of monkey head mushroom cookies to snack on, but he still craved meat desperately.

He knew this was due to the depletion of his psychic abilities, and ordinary food wouldn't suffice. He needed some psychic-enhanced food to replenish his abilities. So, he quickly made a pot of Chinese yam meat porridge for Guan Yuanfeng, who had just recovered from a fever, and then immediately went to work on the giant eagle.

Even the potatoes and pumpkins were specially selected psychic-enhanced ones, cut and stewed to preserve the psychic abilities within. Although the preparation seemed simple, the taste was actually exceptional.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded and watched Zhou Yun pick up his chopsticks and immediately grab a large piece of eagle meat, clearly unable to wait. Guan Yuanfeng also sat down to eat.

The eagle meat, though a bit tough, was surprisingly good when stewed until tender. The potatoes were soft, and the pumpkin was sweet and fresh.

Guan Yuanfeng also had two bowls, but as he watched Zhou Yun eating with his head down, though still with refined manners, his chopstick speed was fast, and his chewing pace had obviously increased.

Zhou Yun quickly devoured the entire pot of red-braised eagle meat and still seemed unsatisfied, pouring the sauce into his bowl and finishing the rice as well.

After stuffing himself, Zhou Yun finally felt the hunger start to fade, but he still felt exhausted and drained. His psychic abilities felt sluggish and slow to respond. He noticed Guan Yuanfeng watching him with a complicated look and felt a bit embarrassed. "Yeah... I’ve been really hungry lately... my appetite’s gone up."

Guan Yuanfeng said thoughtfully, "I used to think we could be self-sufficient by planting vegetables and raising animals. But seeing your appetite, if Comet can also develop psychic abilities, we might really be able to exhaust our supplies."

Zhou Yun responded sheepishly, "Guess we’ll need to start planning for that..."