Ashen God
Chapter 394 - 393 Evil Haunts

Chapter 394: Chapter 393 Evil Haunts

"Alright, alright, I’ll come clean, my energy shield doesn’t require any energy expenditure."

As he spoke, Zhang Yanhang switched his energy shield from its usual state to a visibly perceptible one. Under the faint blue translucent shield, his appearance became blurred and ethereal, resembling an elf from the elemental plane.

"It doesn’t require energy expenditure?!"

Although Zhou Muxi had prepared herself to be laid-back, she was still instantly stunned by Zhang Yanhang’s words. She couldn’t help but question life itself–why would there exist an energy shield that could operate automatically around the clock without consuming any energy? Wasn’t that way too overpowered?

"So does this mean that the energy shield, even though it’s called that, actually consumes physical strength to maintain its operations?"

Zhou Muxi felt that her speculation was quite reasonable, otherwise why would Zhang Yanhang need Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that could enhance his stamina limit?

"That’s not it either. Whether it’s Energy Value or Physical Strength, or anything else, nothing is consumed," Zhang Yanhang shook his head expressionlessly.

When Zhou Muxi heard that the energy shield truly didn’t have any consumption, she fell into an awkward silence. It was only after a while that she regained her spirit, "Then, is there a significant price to pay, or are there severe side effects?"

Zhou Muxi looked at Zhang Yanhang with hopeful eyes, desperately wishing that he would mention a side effect substantial enough to match the power. Only then could she avoid feeling utterly hopeless about the vast disparities between individuals in the world.

But then, she felt slightly ’malicious’ for thinking this way since they had just met and held no grudges; desiring something unfortunate for someone just because she was provoked by their intense bragging seemed somewhat inappropriate.

At that moment, Zhou Muxi was torn, hoping both that there were side effects to this bug-like power and also hoping that there were none.

"The price and side effects... well, there aren’t none, the side effect is that for every second the shield envelops me, I lose a second of my life span."

Zhang Yanhang really couldn’t think of any flaws regarding the energy shield. He felt that the only drawback might be that it couldn’t prevent the natural attrition of his lifespan, apart from that, his shield was immune to almost everything else.

"So, every second under the shield reduces my lifespan by the same amount? Wouldn’t that mean my lifespan is essentially cut in half?"

The more Zhou Muxi thought about it, the more she felt a sense of loss, but she also started feeling somewhat consoled. Reducing one’s lifespan by half was indeed a harsh price to pay for such an all-encompassing, flawless protection offered by the energy shield.

Just when Zhou Muxi was shocked that someone like Zhang Yanhang, an Ultimate Seal, would be willing to sacrifice half of their lifespan for this energy shield, it suddenly dawned on her that something seemed off, "Wait a minute, isn’t it normal to reduce your lifespan by a second for every second you live? How is that considered a price?"

"Okay, maybe it really isn’t a price."

Zhang Yanhang shrugged helplessly, as indeed, he could not find any flaw in the Technique Immunity.

"..."

Zhou Muxi had thought that even if a Sea Seal underwent ultimate evolution, it would only reach a certain extent, but she realized her imagination was limited by her own perceptions. She hadn’t expected that beyond ultimate evolution there could be even more bizarre forms like ultimate evolution.

And from the current situation, it might even not be the final stage; something like the final evolution could still exist. As a common citizen, Zhou Muxi felt a bit overwhelmed.

"No, I don’t believe it, there must be some limitation to your energy shield!"

Despite feeling somewhat hopeless, Zhou Muxi refused to believe that a perfect ability without any flaws could exist in the world; every power must have its limitations.

"Unfortunately, there are no limitations."

Although it indeed took one second for the energy shield to reform after being shattered—which could be seen as a limitation—such important weaknesses were not something Zhang Yanhang wanted to reveal to Zhou Muxi, who he barely considered a friend after just one meeting.

"The weather is really nice today, what business brought you here?"

Watching Zhang Yanhang unabashedly state that the energy shield had no limitations, Zhou Muxi no longer wanted to continue this topic.

"Is that transition a bit too abrupt? But at least it’s not directly about the weather."

As Zhang Yanhang spoke, he switched the energy shield back to its normal state.

"The weather is really nice today, what business brought you here?"

Seeing Zhang Yanhang not picking up the conversation, Zhou Muxi repeated her abrupt topic change, and, watching him turn off the shield’s special effect, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Watching that noticeable effect always made her despair over life’s disparities, so now, though she knew the shield was still active, at least out of sight, out of mind, it felt a bit more comfortable than seeing it.

Moreover, while the effect was still active, she had thoroughly observed that Zhang Yanhang’s energy shield indeed covered every inch of his body, leaving no spot uncovered.

More crucially, when observing Zhang Yanhang’s mouth as he spoke, Zhou Muxi couldn’t help but think of a fitting description: truly armed to the teeth – covered by the energy shield from head to toe.

"If possible, I would actually rather talk about the weather, like if the departments here will send power users to tackle the flooding disaster in the south. I heard the affected area is quite large due to evil forces."

Zhang Yanhang, who always paid attention to various current affairs news when resting in the main world, felt that discussing the weather could sustain a conversation for about half an hour without any problem, especially since the empire had such a vast territory and extreme weather and natural disasters were daily occurrences.