Chapter 694
"Xia'er, how are you doing?" At that moment, Aivina truly set aside her chaotic thoughts and asked with genuine concern, "Are you feeling unwell right now?"
Xia'er, who had been sitting stiffly, took a while before turning to Aivina, gently shaking his head as he replied, "No..."
"It's just that my new ability has made my body too sensitive... I'll get used to it in a bit..."
New ability?
At this, Aivina began to scrutinize Xia'er anew.
Wait... this feeling is...
Aivina stood frozen, blinking in disbelief.
Typically, extraordinary beings cannot discern another's rank simply by sensing their aura. Different paths of the extraordinary may possess abilities that conceal their own aura, making such investigations even less accurate.
However, there is a simple method—or perhaps a kind of "mysticism"—to roughly identify the ranks of different extraordinary beings, and it’s quite straightforward.
By releasing a bit of hostility, your own magical and spiritual alarms will alert you.
If you only feel a faint hum, the other person might be one rank lower than you. If you sense a slight mental sting, they could be at your rank or one rank higher.
But if the hum in your mind erupts into a loud roar, or if your magical essence starts boiling, it indicates that the other person's rank far exceeds yours...
Of course, this method is quite crude, and it’s more accurate among extraordinary beings of the same path, but it’s sufficient for a basic judgment of the other’s capabilities.
Just a moment ago, when Aivina attempted to probe Xia'er’s abilities, there was a moment when her mind went blank, and even the usual murmurs faded away.
...This meant that the extraordinary power within Xia'er at this moment far surpassed her own rank of 2.
What’s going on?
Xia'er had only recently advanced to rank 1, and he was on a lost path. Yet, after just one day apart, he had jumped straight to rank 4?
Aivina felt a wave of relief that she hadn’t acted impulsively.
Otherwise, she would have been the one to suffer.
"More sensitive, huh..." After a moment of contemplation, Aivina looked back at Xia'er and asked, "Is there any way to 'treat' this state?"
"No way to 'treat' it," Xia'er shook his head. "This is just one manifestation of the ability; I can only find a way to adapt."
This wasn’t a "side effect"; there was no such thing as treatment. All Xia'er could do now was figure out how to adapt quickly.
However...
Xia'er really needed to find a way to resolve this issue. She couldn’t just go looking for Yimojin or enter a simulation like this; it would prevent her from fully unleashing her power.
"Only adapt, huh..." Aivina lowered her head, her right index finger and thumb gently pinching her chin, as if pondering a solution.
"Do you have any good ideas?" Xia'er asked, observing Aivina’s thoughtful demeanor.
"Just a moment... let me think..."
Aivina rifled through all the extraordinary items she had collected, trying to find something useful.
But Xia'er’s situation was just too rare... She did have a potion that could numb the senses, and Adele could make a similar one.
But once the potion wore off, the numbing effect would disappear, and Xia'er would revert to this state... Continuously using numbing potions would also bring significant side effects.
A temporary fix...
If she used her own abilities...
Aivina began to think of a solution using her "psychologist" abilities, and soon, a rather outrageous idea surfaced in her mind.
"Xia'er..." Aivina looked up at him and said, "I think I have a method we can try..."
Aivina has a way to solve this?
Since today was a day off, and Xia'er wanted to resolve the issues brought on by her heightened sensitivity quickly, she looked at Aivina and asked, "What method?"
Aivina’s expression was slightly hesitant, and there was a hint of guilt in her eyes... This made Xia'er start to doubt the feasibility of Aivina's "method."
"Well..." Aivina paused for a moment, rephrasing her thoughts in her mind.
"You’ve increased your abilities in such a short time, and your body’s senses have heightened too quickly, causing your body and brain to lag behind in adapting to these changes..."
"The human brain has the ability to self-adjust; whether it’s joy, anger, sorrow, or physical sensations, there’s a threshold in the mind..."
At this point, Aivina paused briefly before continuing.
"So, if we use a stronger stimulus to push your body, repeatedly bringing it to the highest threshold, it might help you adapt better to your current state..."
Xia'er: "..."
It was only after Aivina finished that Xia'er realized what she was suggesting.
Moreover, seeing Aivina subtly avert her gaze, unable to meet his eyes, and the slight flush on her cheeks, it was clear that the terms "stimulus," "threshold," and "highest limit" in Aivina's mind were not referring to anything innocent.
"No way," Xia'er said sternly, "let’s try something else."
Aivina’s suggestion did have some merit... but unless absolutely necessary, Xia'er would never resort to that method.
However, Xia'er couldn’t think of any better alternatives at the moment.
The only idea that came to her mind was one.
Using pain.
With Xia'er’s heightened senses, her pain perception had also intensified.
If she were to fall a few times while holding a pocket watch, that repeated feeling of shattering bones would likely accelerate her adaptation to her current bodily sensations.
But...
Xia'er wasn’t a masochist; if there were better options, she wouldn’t need to resort to self-harm.
"Why not?" Aivina’s voice sounded a bit disappointed. "Isn’t this method pretty good...?"
"Wait."
Suddenly, Aivina thought of something. She looked at Xia'er and said, "There’s another method."
"What method?" Xia'er regarded Aivina with a hint of skepticism.
"If you really don’t want to, we can do it in the subconscious."
"What do you mean?"
Seeing Xia'er’s puzzled expression, Aivina continued to explain, "Essentially, you need to help your brain adapt, or rather, gain control over your current bodily sensations, right?"
"Yeah." Xia'er nodded.
"Simulating bodily sensations can also be done in the subconscious, and it allows for precise adjustments to your perception, gradually enhancing it... This way, you can more smoothly acclimate to the changes in your body..."
After Aivina finished speaking, she quietly glanced at Xia'er after a while.
She noticed that Xia'er seemed to be genuinely contemplating the feasibility of this method.
Indeed, what Aivina proposed seemed to be the optimal solution for the current situation.
By gradually adjusting Xia'er’s sensitivity level in her subconscious, she could first adapt to Sensitivity Lv.3, and once that was complete, move on to Sensitivity Lv.4.
This transition would be the smoothest.
And all of this would happen in the subconscious, with no changes in reality...
"Let’s give it a try." Xia'er nodded gently but added a stipulation. "But when I say stop, you have to stop immediately."
"Of course!" Aivina agreed eagerly.
Though Aivina had hesitated to take action earlier, in the subconscious, she would merely be "treating" Xia'er, doing something productive.
Thus, even if she pushed the boundaries a little, Xia'er likely wouldn’t mind too much...
"Alright, let’s begin." Xia'er looked into Aivina’s eyes, relaxing her mental defenses, waiting for Aivina’s extraordinary abilities to take effect.
However, at that moment, Aivina didn’t rush to start right away.
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