Exhale.

Inhale.

Suddenly, a warm current rose from the heart and surged through the veins to the limbs and all parts, like soaking in freshly boiled hot water, instantly relaxing the tense nerves.

Was it the flame?

Cheng Ye paused, just about to concentrate on sensing it, when the mental exhaustion accumulated by two information skills suddenly surged up.

An indescribable sense of fatigue, as if he had been running continuously for a day, making even his thoughts sluggish.

He tried hard to hold on to clear his mind, but more warmth flowed from the Spiritual Body Space, wrapping his heavy brain, like countless tiny warm hands gently massaging the tense nerves.

His consciousness finally lingered on the thought that "the flame seems to be helping me recover."

Cheng Ye's head tilted, and he fell into a deep sleep, his breathing quickly becoming even.

And on his brow, a faint flame mark quietly lit up, beginning to flash in sync with the wild grass totem on his heart.

About half an hour later.

Suddenly, everything returned to calm.

...

Thud.

Thud thud thud...

The Defense Communication alarm clock rang promptly at six in the morning, and Cheng Ye, eyes closed, groped to turn it off, turning over to continue curling up under the blanket.

The sense of fatigue from mental exhaustion seemed to linger, making even his eyelids too heavy to lift.

For the next hour, the alarm went off every ten minutes, and he turned it off again and again.

Until sunlight crept through the gap in the roller blind, casting a long, thin beam of light on the ground, Cheng Ye propped himself up on his arms, rubbing his heavy temples.

"My God, it's been a long time since I've slept so greedily..."

He still remembered the last time he slept like this was the first time he went for an internship on the construction site.

Busy from six in the morning until one in the morning, lying down only to get up again at six, feeling like death.

However, shaking his head, Cheng Ye suddenly paused.

The oppressive feeling of a stone pressing on his brow when he mounted "Basic Level Mechanical Principles" and "Intermediate Mechanical Recognition" yesterday was surprisingly much lighter.

His mind was no longer sluggish from the oppression, and the indescribable oppressive feeling was gone.

"The energy consumed by ordinary skills is replenished with Nutrient Paste."

"But the consumption of mental strength... could it really be the flame that helped me last night?"

Cheng Ye suddenly remembered the warmth surging from his heart before he slept last night, and also recalled the strange sensation of the void in his soul being filled with flame energy when fusing with the Extraordinary.

His eyes lit up, and he immediately summoned the small flame from his Spiritual Body Space.

The little creature floated to the pillow, not yet fully awake, its wings fluttering unsteadily a couple of times.

Cheng Ye was stunned.

The small wings of the flame, which were soft and translucent yesterday, were now covered with a layer of fine, fiery red fluff, like scattered crushed sparks.

More astonishingly, right in the middle of its forehead, a lock of golden hair was slowly standing upright, glowing faintly in the morning light, adding a touch of liveliness to its lamp-like body.

Is this entering the next growth stage?

"The growth speed is too fast, feeling like it's tens or even hundreds of times faster than humans!"

Cheng Ye softly exclaimed, and as his fingertips touched the lock of golden hair, the little creature shook its head.

But as if it hadn't fully digested last night's "feast," it tilted its head back onto the pillow, wrapping its body with its small wings, and fell into a deep sleep again.

Cheng Ye shook his head with a smile, suddenly having a thought, and summoned his personal panel.

Indeed.

Along with the fusion of information skills and the change in the state of the flame.

After one night, many data on the page had changed.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: lv.2 Newcomer (24.7/100)]

[Life Level: 1]

[Skills: Heart-Protecting Fire, Wild Grass Physique, Basic Level Mechanical Principles (33.7%), Intermediate Mechanical Recognition (42.8%)]

[Ability]: Scorching Eagle Coexistence State

[Yet to be unlocked...]

[Evaluation: The improvement of life level means you have exceeded the growth limit of native creatures. But the limit does not equal strength; only through continuous training of various abilities, breaking through the physiological limits of native creatures, can you truly reach a higher power realm!]

...

[Heart-Protecting Fire (lv1; Extraordinary Talent)]

[Description]: Rumored...

[Growth Value]: Lv1 (0.129%)

...

[Scorching Eagle Coexistence State (Prototype)]

[Description]: After activating the ability...

[Current State]: Prototype

[Currently Shareable Skills]:

Scorching Eagle Heart Fire (Lv0, Rare, when the cohabitant's mental strength is excessively consumed, the Scorching Eagle can replenish slight mental strength by swallowing flames)

Scorching Eagle Swallowing Fire (Lv0, Ordinary, can slightly swallow flames to heal minor wounds on self or cohabitant)

Hovering (Lv0, Ordinary, gains brief hovering ability when falling from great heights, reducing fall damage)

[Currently Shareable Attributes]:

Strength +0.48% (based on cohabitant's current state)

Speed +1.19% (based on cohabitant's current state)

[Currently Shareable Abilities]:

Firewood Power (Lv0, Ordinary, slightly increases resistance to high temperatures)

Charcoal Fire Power (Lv0, Ordinary, slightly increases resistance to low temperatures)

...

"The amount of information has increased significantly, and even the evaluation has changed..."

"So improving life level refers to the upper and lower limits, rather than immediately reaching the extreme?"

Cheng Ye examined each change line by line, each new change bringing joy to his heart.

Besides the increase in information, the growth of Heart-Protecting Fire leaped forward, surpassing 0.1%.

Although the increase wasn't large, it was tangible progress.

Reflecting on the Coexistence State ability, the flame's various skills had quietly leveled up, and even a new skill appeared:

[Scorching Eagle Heart Fire]

"So it wasn't being greedy last night, but rather trying to help me replenish my mental power."