Strange 【Prayer】

The next day, the sky was still covered in gloomy gray clouds, like a thick lid pressing down on top of a fish tank, making it impossible for the fish inside to see the sky.

What does the sky look like to a fish?

Shu didn't know. He'd been grumbling about his clothes not drying overnight, but when he looked up at the sky, that lid-like cloud cover, so reminiscent of the top of a cage, made him forget about his laundry for a moment.

A sense of oppression settled in his chest. After putting away his clothes, Shu wordlessly returned to the house.

He had actually planned to sleep in the main hall last night, but he hadn't expected little Sushang to be so kind-hearted, finding him an empty room.

Unfortunately, Shu had too much on his mind and still hadn't slept well.

When are Fu Hua and the others coming back…?

Shu sighed. He only knew the location of Fu Hua's martial arts gym; he had no idea where Fu Hua had gone.

Asking Sushang was pointless; her answers were even vaguer than his own guesses.

No use counting on her. Shu could only hope that Otto was as resourceful as ever and would pull another surprise reappearance from some hidden corner, just like last time after being missing for two days.

Wasn't that Otto's specialty?

Feeling slightly reassured, Shu put away his clothes and turned to find Sushang.

In the main hall, Sushang was leaning on a mop taller than herself, standing with her eyes closed and dozing off.

The sound of Shu opening the door wasn't loud, but it startled Sushang, making her jump.

"Ngh! I wasn't slacking off!" The first thing Sushang did when she opened her eyes was to defend herself, but she trailed off mid-sentence, continuing to nod off.

Shu was speechless.

"If you're really sleepy, just go back to bed. The floor…" Shu glanced at the clean floor, "It'll be fine if it's left for a day or two."

"Really?" Mentioning sleep, Sushang instantly perked up. "Can I really go back to sleep?"

"Of course, no one's going to drag you out of bed." Shu nodded, smiling as he took the mop from Sushang's hands.

"Yay!" Sushang cheered, happily bouncing away. But she only took two steps before freezing in place, as if someone had cast a spell on her.

Then, she turned around silently, walked back, took the mop back, and resumed leaning on it, dozing off again.

"What's wrong?" Shu asked, puzzled.

Sushang kept her head down, not sure if she was dozing or thinking. She spoke in an extremely soft voice.

"Why isn't anyone here to drag me away…"

"Huh?" Her voice was too quiet, or maybe Shu's hearing was off for a moment. He really didn't catch what she said.

Sushang didn't say anything else. Shu waited for a couple of seconds, then couldn't help but bend down to look. Sushang had already fallen asleep, leaning against the mop handle.

"Impressive, Li Da-pillow." Shu couldn't help but marvel at Sushang's ability to sleep standing up.

Should he carry this little girl back to bed?

Nah, forget it. She came back here to sleep on her own. If she wanted to go back to bed, she would have already.

Maybe Sushang was one of those people who could sleep through class but then toss and turn all night at home.

Speaking of which, what should he do now? Was he supposed to just stand here and sleep with Sushang? He definitely didn't have the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere.

No, wait, Sushang wasn't even falling over…

"Forget it, might as well take this chance to properly get to know my abilities." Shu sighed, turned around, and walked out of the main hall into the courtyard.

From the moment he saw Sushang, Shu had received a rather strange [Prayer]:

[From *********: Protect Taixu Martial Arts Gym]

This [Prayer] didn't specify a source, but the essence and target of the prayer were exceptionally clear. Moreover, this [Prayer] was constantly refreshing at an absurd rate, and the content never changed.

[Protect Taixu Martial Arts Gym]

By slightly twisting the meaning and utilizing the b… characteristics he'd discovered earlier, Shu could freely use some minor abilities.

The main hall was called the "Martial Arts Practice Hall," but Shu was reluctant to experiment with his powers there.

He could tell that Sushang cleaned the hall floor every day. Maybe that was Sushang's way of entertaining herself over the past month?

After a simple warm-up, Shu took a deep breath and channeled his [Expectation].

A warm current surged from his chest to his palm. A burning sensation gathered in his hand, eventually transforming into a fist-sized flame.

The flame burned for two seconds before Shu automatically extinguished it, while simultaneously starting to calculate in his mind.

In just a few seconds, that strange [Prayer] had refreshed more than ten times.

Then Shu picked up a fallen leaf from the ground and continued to channel [Expectation].

Almost instantly, the withered leaf burst into flames, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye.

And Shu was also burned by the suddenly erupting flames, instinctively throwing the burning leaf out of his hand.

Rubbing his fingers vigorously, Shu frowned, comparing the energy consumption of the two "burnings."

The flame that spontaneously ignited in mid-air consumed a small amount of [Expectation], but it was still dozens of times more than the consumption of making the leaf burn.

However, the flame in mid-air didn't burn his hand, while burning the leaf did…

Was it because the flame in mid-air was formed by his [Expectation], while he was only applying a "ignite" concept to the leaf?

No wonder he could withstand the Honkai Emperor's impact and still have so much [Expectation] left.

Influencing something consumed less energy than creating something from nothing.

Then, was there a difference in the objects being influenced?

Shu looked around and finally focused his gaze on the wooden dummies in the courtyard.

"Sorry about this." Shu apologized to the wooden dummies, then stood in front of one, throwing a punch at the dummy's outstretched "arm."

The wooden dummy was not happy. It retaliated with a backhand slap from its other arm, but Shu blocked it with his other arm.

Rubbing his arm, which had been slapped red by the dummy, Shu silently retreated.

"Is this my strength when I'm not using [Expectation]? I could react and block with my arm, looks like I've improved quite a bit."

Then, let's try the effect after using [Expectation].

Still using that constantly refreshing [Prayer], Shu channeled [Expectation] and threw a fierce punch at the wooden dummy, then quickly dodged away.

One of the dummy's arms was directly broken off and sent flying. The upper body, because Shu hadn't controlled his strength, started spinning wildly, wobbling to a stop after who knows how many rotations.

"The boost is this big?" Shu looked at his hand in surprise.

He had used this ability before, but he couldn't directly feel the change before and after applying the power.

It was as if he was born with this ability. If the result wasn't so drastically different from before the boost, Shu really wouldn't have felt that he'd used his power at all.