-----
-----
No doubt, using Kyoka Suigetsu—this sensory manipulation skill—felt amazing, but it drained a ton of energy. The stronger the target, the more energy it consumed.
Luckily, Riku used it with Jingmen open, otherwise, trying to control the Dragon Breed in normal state would be wishful thinking—he'd be completely drained.
The other power was Hanawa, which absorbed energy, stored it, and then launched attacks.
This ability was powerful too, but had its downsides. The absorption had limits. Several times before, absorbing Zhu Yue's dragon breath almost pushed it to the edge. It also used up a lot of energy.
But no matter what, Riku won, and won clean—he played Zhu Yue like a fiddle, and that was enough.
"Phew, time to go see Korone and the others," Riku said, exhaling deeply, then lightly stepped on the air and left.
When Riku returned to the human settlement, he gave a strange look.
He saw Zhu Bi being held affectionately by Korone's hand, chatting quietly. The others looked a little awkward but had no other strong reactions.
"Riku's back! It's okay... thank goodness," Zhu Bi was the first to spot him, waving up at the sky.
"Riku, you're finally back! We were so worried," Korone blinked, then happily responded first.
"Hey, that's the leader! The leader really is flying!"
"So Korone was telling the truth! The leader gained some strong power, and this mecha beast follows him."
"That's awesome!"
Instantly, the humans in the settlement started buzzing excitedly.
This made Riku realize that after Zhu Bi was discovered, Korone must have done some mental work to calm everyone down—otherwise, things wouldn't be like this.
But honestly, Riku was glad to see this.
"Everyone, it's fine now. Just head back to the settlement, no need to migrate. I've blocked the aftershocks from earlier," Riku said quietly after landing.
"The settlement wasn't destroyed? That's a relief!"
Korone's face brightened, and the villagers cheered and danced. After living here for two or three years, they'd grown attached. Moving meant starting over with all kinds of troubles.
"Riku, did you win?" Zhu Bi walked up and tugged on his sleeve.
"I did," Riku smiled and lightly patted Zhu Bi's hat.
"Based on the power comparison, Riku's strength has oddly increased, but it's still not enough to match the Dragon Breed—yet he won. Strange," Zhu Bi tilted her head, speaking stiffly. Without her usual speech template and with the mechanical prefix removed, she sounded a bit off.
"I told you, don't trust the surface-level numbers too much," Riku shook his head.
"Hm..." Zhu Bi didn't argue and just nodded.
"No way! Riku, you actually beat the Dragon Breed!" Korone finally caught on and shouted in disbelief.
Although Riku had said he had power comparable to the Heavenly Wing Breed, this enemy was the Dragon Breed—and he won!
The other humans were stunned, dumbfounded. For them, humans beating beast races was already hard to believe, let alone an advanced species like the Dragon Breed.
"Talking here isn't safe. The earlier fight stirred up lots of 'black ash'—it can harm the body. Let's get back to the settlement first," Riku said gravely.
"Alright!" Everyone was shocked but quickly nodded.
Back in the settlement, after finally dealing with all the explanations and troubles, Riku relaxed and planned to soak in the hot springs.
"Riku, the hot water's ready," Korone said cheerfully as she entered his room.
"Zhu Bi, I'm going to shower first, you hang here for a bit," Riku said gently, patting Zhu Bi's head.
Even though the settlement knew Zhu Bi was with Riku, people still felt some fear—that's the instinctive reaction humans have toward other races. It wouldn't vanish overnight.
So it was best Zhu Bi stayed in the room.
"I want to... bathe with Riku," Zhu Bi suddenly grabbed his sleeve and said slowly.
"Riku, you've really been trained well...!" Korone was stunned, then smirked mischievously at Riku.
"Kor-chan, what are you saying?! Zhu Bi... don't you have the anti-dust function?" Riku gave Korone a glare and then looked at Zhu Bi with a helpless smile.
Bathing together sounds good, but with Korone still here, it's kinda awkward.
"Because the anti-dust function triggers spirit reactions, which are dangerous..." Zhu Bi said softly. "Also, I want to experience bathing like humans, to feel the 'heart'—but I don't know how to bathe..."
She quietly explained herself.
"....."