Upon using the ability, before Tang Chun Xi could see the results, the voice of the Lunar Umbrella shattered her concentration.
— "What a pity… another one for the jealous of heaven club! How do you think he'll die? I bet it will be betrayal!" — The voice, slightly curious and milky, spoke, completely breaking the weight pressing on her heart.
Tang Chun Xi felt the corner of her mouth twitch, but before she could say anything, he continued:
— "Strange!... Master, this phrase popped into my mind at the exact moment you used the ability!" — There was no fear or hesitation in his voice, only bubbling curiosity and a trace of amusement.
Hearing his tone, her lips twitched even more. She brought her hands to her forehead and spoke mentally: — "Why do you sound like you're listening to gossip? Be a little more serious!"
— "Master, you can't fool me! You are also curious!" — he shot back mentally, brimming with excitement and mischief in his tone.
— "Okay, you win!" — Tang Chun Xi raised her hands in surrender, sighing. — "Looks like with you here, I won't have a single boring day!"
— "But you said that phrase appeared when I used [Astral Vision]? This feels familiar… where have I heard that before? Uhhh..."
In the middle of her attempt to recall, the Umbrella did something that twisted Tang Chun Xi's whole face into surprise and laughter. He began imitating multiple voices with exactly the same tone and cadence:
— "Generous? He's a genius! I heard his son, Feng Lian, already reached the 10th stage of the Body Tempering Realm before even turning twenty! And besides that…" […] — "…he's incredibly handsome. Tall, with those deep eyes and that air of mystery that only disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect seem to have." […] — "Ah, Feng Lian is every girl's dream. I'd give anything for him to even glance at me!"
Tang Chun Xi tried to suppress her laughter as the familiarity of the tone hit her full force. It was the same gossipy tone she adored listening to!
— "Recognized it now, Master?" — he commented after finishing the performance with a teasing malice that didn't match his childish, milky voice.
— "I did… But who's gossiping, and why can you hear it?... Will this happen every time I use the ability?" — she asked, shaking off the funny feeling and focusing on the main point.
— "Our power is tied to the Moon and the Stars… so, could it be them? But are they alive and conscious, like in our previous world?" — she spoke, doubt in her tone, but with growing certainty in her expression. She remembered a phrase she heard when receiving the Harmonic Chaos Matrix: "[…] while bathed in the eternal wisdom of the stars, who know all and see all."
— "Woaah! Master, you managed to reach that conclusion so fast!" — exclaimed the Umbrella in surprise. — "Now that you've said it… I also think it's them. When I connected to the cosmos during your physique's awakening, I felt a warm, life-filled feeling from the heavens wrapping around us! And sometimes I still feel it, especially when using [Stellar Detection]!"
Hearing this and piecing it together in her mind, Tang Chun Xi reached an unexpected conclusion: the stars were gossipy. She wasn't bothered or surprised by the fact that they were alive.
— "Something tells me they're going to talk a lot about me!" — she finished with a strange expression, unsure how to react to the idea that perhaps she was being watched in everything she did. Strangely, this fact didn't cause her the discomfort it should have.
— "Let's try again on Lin Xu."
Name: Lin Xu (??)
Status: Recreation in deep sleep
Talent: Fire and Thunder Root, Some Solar Physique (??)
Level: ??
Abilities: [Advanced Heavy Sword Mastery], [Solar Fire], [Diabolic Comprehension], [Super Yang Affinity]??...
— "Did any phrase appear?" — she asked curiously, while looking at the information, not understanding how the ability could know all of this.
— "Master, it's better if you focus on the ability first, and then on the gossip! Try to see if you can interact with it?" — he commented with anticipation.
Tang Chun Xi focused on the abilities, and they opened up to her:
[Advanced Heavy Sword Mastery]: Grants strength, precision, and efficiency in the use of heavy swords, allowing powerful strikes, balance control, and maximum use of the weapon's mass.
— "Makes sense! I saw him wielding that heavy sword with mastery. Let's move on to the next one!"
[Solar Fire]: Extremely arrogant and destructive spiritual flame, strongly tied to the sun. Possesses extremely high combustion and penetration power, ignoring common resistances. Power bonus against darkness, filth, corruption, and malign things: +1000%. Can consume any inferior flame, regardless of power.
— "Isn't this the flame you told me to consume? The one responsible for all that destruction?" — she asked, intrigued.
— "Yes, but… I didn't imagine it would be so troublesome and would try not only to consume the boy's physique but also you! At the time, I only knew it could save you!" — the Umbrella's tone lowered in a sincere confession, tinged with shame. — "But thank goodness you didn't consume it!"
— "If you had, things might not have ended so well…" — His tone sank further, almost tearful, as he thought again of what could have happened. And the complete message appeared once more. He hid it again, not wanting her to see or know the full content.
— "It's okay!" — Tang Chun Xi said, trying to comfort the little being, while running her hand over the surprisingly soft surface of the Lunar Umbrella. — "Everyone makes mistakes. Look, I'm fine now, and you helped me a lot at that moment. If it weren't for you holding back the dark aura and warning me to go to the source of the flame, I wouldn't have made it."
After a while and a few more words of comfort, he calmed down and clamored to see the rest. Tang Chun Xi found it amusing and thought: He's still just a child.
— "And the next ones are…"
[Diabolic Comprehension]: Exceptional learning capacity, allowing one to understand, adapt, and enhance techniques, laws, and concepts at speeds comparable to the most evil evildoers.
— "This one makes me a little jealous… Seems really powerful."
[Super Yang Affinity]: Natural and extremely strong bond with Yang-type elements. Reduces energy cost and speeds up energy recovery by ??. Boosts gathering of Yang elements by ??. Increases the power and efficiency of Yang techniques by ??.
After trying to interact with other information and failing, Tang Chun Xi stopped and concluded: — "It's still too early to say… and I need to test this ability more to be sure. But from what it's showing, it looks pretty powerful!"
— "Master, I agree… I also think it needs more testing. I feel like it's not showing everything, and that there are limitations we don't yet know!" — he commented in a thoughtful tone, as if nodding in agreement.
Tang Chun Xi imagined the little being with a serious face, but she restrained herself and thought, shaking her head: I think my cuteness crisis is going to attack me a lot from today on!
But she was quickly pulled back to the subject by the Lunar Umbrella. — "Master, you're spacing out again!"
— "I'm paying attention…" — she said, though her tone lacked confidence. — "Continuing… there are these exclamation marks. They seem to indicate that the ability doesn't know… And it's not showing the drawbacks… But even so, it already looks very powerful. After all, everything has limitations. Otherwise, it'd just be: activate the ability and bam, I know everything about the enemy…"
— "And speaking of that, you can say the phrase now!"
— "You'll lose the bet! This boy met her! Do the Heavens still think they can kill him now? Hahaha…" — he replied in the same childish tone, even mimicking the laughter at the end.
Tang Chun Xi felt the Umbrella trembling in her hand with the laughter and could almost picture a cute little boy, making her heart melt. She held back the wave of cuteness and focused on the phrase—or rather, its content.
— "Looking at the first part…" — she began associating a bunch of glowing orbs with arms gossiping and betting, and almost laughed, but restrained herself and focused on the rest: — "The Heavens trying to kill him?? And what do I have to do with this? From the way it was said, it's as if I could interfere…" — Lost in thought, she put her hand on her chin.
— "Could this be related to my soul not being from this world? Or tied to my physique? Or you?… Or even something else we don't know?"
— "Master, I think you're going too fast. Better to focus on the present! Besides, we should get back to the main point—the ability…" — he commented, noticing her thoughts drifting thousands of miles away.
— "Okay, I'm rushing ahead, but what do you want to say about the ability?" — she agreed, uncertain, since she had no one else to test the ability on except the Umbrella itself… but could he even be considered a living being?
And he answered in an unexpected way: — "Master, it may sound a little silly, but try testing the ability on yourself. Maybe it'll work, no?"