Chapter 245: Star

Moreover, because they themselves were part of the player’s overall strength, if they had already evolved to the limit of their race, the player would still find every possible way to collect heavenly treasures and special items to help them break through their racial limits.

Of course, the prerequisite for doing all of this was that they had enough value to be cultivated, and the player also had to be willing to treat them as more than disposable tools.

Hwi had good talent. Not only did he have abilities that targeted Mental Power, but his physical body was not his weakness either. Therefore, Joo Joowon did not plan to take all of his experience for himself. Instead, he set the distribution at half for each of them.

The main reason was that Hwi also had the [Predator’s Feast] talent. He was clearly not the type with mediocre natural talent, and it could be seen that his need for experience was not particularly high. Therefore, giving some of his experience to Joo Joowon would not affect his leveling.

Considering Hwi’s current situation, Joo Joowon no longer needed to worry about his path of advancement. Hwi only needed to keep eating, drinking, and killing monsters. Instead, Byeol had been left behind, so after thinking carefully about it, Joo Joowon still decided to give it a try. He really needed to have a mental connection with Byeol. Only then could he feel at ease when he went out alone to hunt monsters.

Even if his plan ultimately failed, at least it would eliminate one incorrect option.

"Byeol, come here for a moment."

Seeing that Byeol had been gnawing for so long and had only eaten about half of the core, completely maintaining the same casual attitude he usually had when eating cat food, Joo Joowon did not mind interrupting his meal anymore and directly called him over.

"Meow?"

Byeol dropped the Zombie Core and looked up at Joo Joowon.

Joo Joowon scratched under his chin and said, "Relax. Don’t struggle."

Unlike Hwi’s previous condition, when he had been unconscious and unable to wake up, Byeol was currently in a state of full awareness. Therefore, when Joo Joowon’s Mental Power entered him, he would definitely be able to sense it, and his rejection might even be stronger than Hwi’s.

Joo Joowon still could not silently infiltrate his soul without leaving any trace like the apprentice mage could.

Byeol tilted his head slightly and immediately felt a strange energy surging into his body. Instinctively, his fur began to stand on end. This was not a matter of whether he trusted Joo Joowon or not. It was simply the body’s stress response when faced with an intruder.

He lowered his head and licked his fur. The familiar fluctuations released by Joo Joowon’s Mental Power quickly allowed him to control his body’s instincts. As a result, aside from feeling some difficulty at the very beginning, Joo Joowon did not encounter any other problems afterward.

With the experience from last time, Joo Joowon was much more familiar with the process this time.

Even though they were both traveling toward the location of the soul, Hwi’s soul and Byeol’s soul did not follow the same route. Joo Joowon was not sure if this was merely an illusion, but he vaguely felt that the time spent "traveling" this time seemed to be longer.

Very soon, Joo Joowon’s Mental Power sensed the space "twist" for a moment, and he once again arrived at the "gap."

In an instant, a brilliant "black" light suddenly filled the entire space.

It was difficult to describe that feeling. Although the space was clearly covered in a thick blackness like spilled ink, he had the strange illusion that everything in front of him had suddenly become brighter. Even stranger, while his Mental Power remained here, he did not feel the slightest rejection or pressure from the world toward him. Instead, he felt extremely comfortable, as though he had returned home.

Could this place have been affected by Byeol’s emotional inclination?

Joo Joowon looked around, but all he could feel were shrill screams echoing throughout the space, as though he had arrived at a place filled with intense murderous energy.

Yet instead of feeling uncomfortable because of this situation, he still felt completely at ease.

What was going on? Why did the "island" of Byeol’s soul appear like this?

Joo Joowon could not figure it out, but he did not dwell on it either.

Although he did not feel his Mental Power rapidly draining right now, he still had no intention of creating unnecessary complications.

Following the same process as before, he closed his eyes and gradually felt a surging "current of air" squeeze him toward the deepest part of the darkness.

Within the darkness, several stars suddenly appeared, blooming with dazzling and strange light. They were arranged in an orderly manner, just like the starry sky people normally looked up at.

Joo Joowon’s Mental Power traveled through them, and he found it somewhat strange that the defensive mechanism of Byeol’s soul was so complicated.

Suddenly, the stars began to tremble. The stars filling the sky transformed into tens of millions of rays of starlight and fell downward. The starlight exploded, and in the end, only a single solitary star remained hanging high in the sky, empty and lonely, cold and desolate, its light flickering between bright and dim.

Joo Joowon instinctively moved closer. He felt that this solitary star was inviting him. When he finally stood upon it, that feeling of being completely at ease, like a fish returning to water and like coming home, became even stronger.

It was somewhat strange.

Joo Joowon thought that even if Byeol was close to him, his soul should not be showing a state like this. More importantly, he had not even seen Byeol’s soul yet, but he had clearly already broken through the soul’s defenses.

"Byeol...?" He could not help calling out hesitantly. Looking around, there was nothing on the star. There was only a cold and empty dark current spreading across the entire planet, seeming like wind, yet also seeming like clouds, and at the same time resembling oxygen that existed everywhere.