Chapter 13: Perception of Spiritual Awareness

Sit, sit on the lap…

Shi Chan’s gaze froze for a moment as he repeated this sentence in his mind several times to confirm that he hadn’t misheard.

At this point, Xi Ming had already maneuvered his wheelchair around to Shi Chan’s front.

Shi Chan looked at Xi Ming with surprise and a hint of confusion. He had never thought Xi Ming would make such a request.

Xi Ming remained silent, his gaze fixed on Shi Chan.

“I—” Shi Chan, rarely stuttering, stood up awkwardly under Xi Ming’s gaze but quickly relented, “…how should I sit?”

They had hugged yesterday, so sitting like this… shouldn’t be too strange, right?

“Any way is fine.” Xi Ming said, extending his hand toward Shi Chan.

Shi Chan reached out his hand, and Xi Ming gripped it, pulling him to sit sideways on his lap.

The entire process left Shi Chan a little dazed, and it wasn’t until he was sitting in Xi Ming’s arms, his nose catching Xi Ming’s scent, that his thoughts resumed.

Controlling his breathing, Shi Chan told himself to stay calm. He needed to stay calm.

In this world, AO pairs interacted this way, and Lan Ying and his boyfriend were even more intimate.

He had to get used to having an alpha in his life from now on.

One hand lightly rested on Shi Chan’s waist. Unlike yesterday, when Xi Ming had embraced him fully, this time the pressure was light, but the warmth of his palm seeped through Shi Chan’s thin clothing to his skin, making the area feel as though it was being burned.

Noticing that Shi Chan didn’t object, Xi Ming moved his arm forward, wrapping it around Shi Chan’s waist, his hand settling gently on Shi Chan’s flat stomach. He applied slight pressure, pulling Shi Chan closer into his embrace.

Shi Chan resisted the urge to suck in his stomach, glancing down at the unfamiliar hand on his abdomen. He felt a strange heat rise in his chest as he experienced a mix of discomfort and inexplicable warmth.

He wasn’t used to such intimacy, but he didn’t hate it.

“Lower your head.” Xi Ming’s voice came again. Shi Chan complied, and Xi Ming gently grasped the back of his neck.

Checking the gland is typically done with instruments, but a few people, such as Xi Ming, who have precise control over their spiritual power, can check it directly.

Shi Chan’s control over his spiritual power was good among omegas, but compared to Xi Ming, it was still lacking. At least Shi Chan couldn’t directly use his spiritual power to check a person’s physical condition.

However, Shi Chan had another ability similar to spiritual power: spiritual awareness.

Spiritual awareness was a method used by cultivators. Compared to the weaker and more limited spiritual power, spiritual awareness had many more applications—alchemy, artifact forging, attack and defense, perception, communication, and tracking…

After regaining his memories, Shi Chan remembered how to control his spiritual awareness. Once he discovered that the machines in this world couldn’t detect his spiritual awareness, he started using it far more than his spiritual power.

While Xi Ming was using his spiritual power to check Shi Chan’s gland, Shi Chan’s spiritual awareness was quietly on standby.

Shi Chan had a favorable view of Xi Ming, but since they had only known each other for a short time, he couldn’t fully trust Xi Ming’s spiritual power invading his gland, especially since the empire had once boasted that Xi Ming’s spiritual power had evolved early on, becoming a form of energy that could potentially harm others.

Therefore, even though Shi Chan had lowered his head, his spiritual awareness was still focused on Xi Ming, on Xi Ming’s spiritual power as it entered his gland. If anything felt off, his spiritual awareness would automatically defend him.

What Shi Chan feared did not happen. The few threads of spiritual power entering his gland were stable, and after a while, they withdrew.

“There’s nothing wrong with your gland or spiritual power.” Xi Ming’s expression relaxed slightly, and he began asking whether Shi Chan had experienced any headaches or discomfort in his spiritual power since the previous day.

Shi Chan answered truthfully.

Through their exchange, Shi Chan realized that Xi Ming was worried that his spiritual power or gland might have problems after the previous day, which was why he had come to check him again.

A warm, tender feeling slowly rose in Shi Chan’s chest, and he couldn’t help but smile gently at Xi Ming.

His eyes softened, the smile warm, his clear eyes slightly squinted, and a soft, glimmering light flashed in them.

It was a smile that could make almost any alpha fall for him.

However, Xi Ming, having seen nothing but harsh and malicious smiles over the years, frowned instinctively before even processing the situation.

“What are you smiling about?” His voice carried annoyance, tinged with coldness.

In his mind, images of various faces filled with strong malice appeared, accompanied by mocking, vicious words. These grotesque images gradually covered and obscured the smile in front of him.

After a moment of calm, his spiritual power throbbed faintly with pain, and Xi Ming’s eyes darkened with a surge of violent emotion. He tightened his hold around Shi Chan’s waist.

Shi Chan felt the increased pressure and noticed the change in Xi Ming’s mood. Confused, he stopped smiling and observed Xi Ming’s expression for a few seconds before softening his tone and saying gently, “I just think… you’re really nice.”

His voice was calm, free from any negative emotions, standing in contrast to the chaotic images in Xi Ming’s mind.

Xi Ming’s hand moved to the back of Shi Chan’s head, and his long, narrow eyes shifted slightly to look at Shi Chan.

Shi Chan met his gaze, seeing the mix of violence, frustration, curiosity, and suspicion in Xi Ming’s eyes.

Suddenly, Shi Chan realized that Xi Ming didn’t trust him.

But after a brief pause, Shi Chan let it go.

He had admired Xi Ming for so many years, and even after meeting him, he hadn’t fully trusted him either. How could he expect Xi Ming to trust him after just one day of knowing him?

Recalling how Xi Ming had asked him to leave the room yesterday, Shi Chan’s eyelashes fluttered, and he lowered his gaze.

For now, the most important thing was treating Xi Ming’s body. As for trust, he knew he wouldn’t harm Xi Ming, and in time, Xi Ming would come to realize that.

The person in his arms turned his gaze away, and Xi Ming didn’t push him. His fingers, which had been resting in Shi Chan’s hair, moved slightly, awkwardly caressing it.

The soft hair passed through his fingertips, and the warmth of his touch made Xi Ming glance down at the person in his arms. Shi Chan’s appearance was exquisite, his personality unexpectedly gentle, and his long eyelashes partially covered his eyes, giving him a submissive and obedient look.

As Xi Ming observed, his gaze shifted between them, and a sense of dissatisfaction rose within him. Although Shi Chan was sitting on his lap, his upper body remained rigid and kept a distance, which made Xi Ming uncomfortable.

Having gone through the betrayal of the entire empire, Xi Ming found it hard to trust anyone close to him. However, an alpha naturally felt possessive of their omega once marked, and seeing Shi Chan distance himself made Xi Ming uneasy.

Shi Chan, who had been thinking about how to examine Xi Ming’s body more thoroughly just a moment ago, now found his thoughts disrupted when Xi Ming pressed him closer, forcing their bodies to meet, and he felt the pressure on the back of his head as Xi Ming guided him toward his shoulder.

Shi Chan hesitated for a moment but allowed his body to follow the pressure, though the feeling of being close to another person was still strange. Even lying in Xi Ming’s arms, he remained somewhat stiff.

“How’s your spiritual power recovery?” Xi Ming’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Shi Chan. He almost nodded, but then remembered he was leaning against Xi Ming’s shoulder. After a pause, he quietly answered, “It’s almost recovered.”

“Is it enough to sort out my spiritual power again?” The faint pain that had begun to recede flared up again, but Xi Ming’s expression remained unchanged, and his tone remained calm, as if he were simply asking a casual question.

Shi Chan blinked his eyes.

He had been worried about not being able to check Xi Ming’s body properly.

Yesterday, during the spiritual power soothing session, Xi Ming had been in such a poor condition that Shi Chan had focused all his energy on suppressing and sorting his spiritual power, leaving him no time to check Xi Ming’s physical state.

“Enough,” Shi Chan replied, extending his spiritual power and beginning the task of soothing Xi Ming’s spiritual power. He also used his spiritual awareness to cautiously probe Xi Ming’s body, carefully monitoring his reactions.

This world had a high level of medical technology, so Shi Chan rarely used his spiritual awareness to check others. When he had encountered others in the past, his spiritual awareness had never been detected, but those individuals typically had weak spiritual powers. He wasn’t sure whether Xi Ming would notice his spiritual awareness.

Due to the influence of his past memories, Shi Chan still considered Xi Ming to be one of the most powerful people in the empire. Even though Xi Ming’s body was currently in poor condition, that impression hadn’t faded.

After observing Xi Ming for a few seconds and seeing no reaction from him, Shi Chan continued to extend his spiritual awareness into Xi Ming’s body, following the meridians to examine his condition.

What Shi Chan didn’t realize was that Xi Ming did react when his spiritual awareness touched him—his eyes slightly flickered but quickly returned to normal.

This world was not as calm as it appeared.

The empire, the federation, and the small countries that survived in the cracks all signed non-interference peace agreements on the surface, but beneath that facade, currents of intrigue flowed. Every year, numerous spies were caught, and counterintelligence courses had become a mandatory part of military school curriculums.

As the most outstanding graduate of the military academy in nearly a century, Xi Ming had scored perfect marks in all his courses, including counterintelligence. The course on counter-interrogation taught methods to control one’s body—breathing, muscle control, and even heart rate, to prevent any information from leaking during an interrogation.

Therefore, when Xi Ming noticed something odd in his body, he instinctively used the techniques he had learned to deceive Shi Chan’s observation.

Xi Ming’s expression remained unchanged, his palm slowly stroking the back of Shi Chan’s head again. Yet, deep inside, his mind was not at ease.

The power that Shi Chan had just exerted had clearly surpassed the normal range of spiritual power, even stronger than that of many professionally trained soldiers in the empire.

Such powerful spiritual power made Shi Chan an exceptional omega. How had he ended up by Xi Ming’s side, even being marked by him?

Fingers brushing lightly against Shi Chan’s neck, Xi Ming’s thoughts raced. There were many suspicions, but none of them could convince him.

He traced his fingers down and stroked Shi Chan’s back gently.

It was all too strange.

With Xi Ming’s knowledge of the countries in this world, even the empire or federation, great powers, would not easily discard an omega with such high spiritual power—let alone the smaller countries. Moreover, an omega so outstanding had never appeared in Xi Ming’s memories from his previous life.

But this extraordinary omega was now right here with him, and even his neck bore the marks Xi Ming had left yesterday…