"Of course. I don't take risks I can't control."
Lin Feng set down his teacup and nodded.
"And besides—your reward is one I'm very satisfied with. No way I'm walking away from it."
He grinned as he spoke.
"But all I've promised you… is to name you my future sage. Even if I prepaid you some of my strength, the reward is nowhere near enough for you to face a Withering Avatar head-on. Its might is comparable to a god's."
Nahida stared at him, genuinely unable to grasp his motivation.
"Who knows? Maybe I really do care about that title," Lin Feng said, chuckling.
He reached out and patted her head—by now, after three months, the little Archon didn't dodge anymore.
Yes, he liked Nahida as a person.
But more importantly, Lin Feng felt that the reward she offered was worth the risk of confronting the source of the Withering—the Avatar slumbering deep within Old Vanarana.
First was the prepaid power, a portion of Nahida's own strength.
It wasn't small. Without disturbing the Akasha's equilibrium, she had given him as much of her dream and dendrite-laden energy as she safely could. For Lin Feng, it was the equivalent of a rocket-boost straight to level 70, plus a crucial enhancement to his dream-type adaptability—vital for his long-term goals.
Second was the Viya Fruit the Aranara would provide before the battle—a crystallized memory capable of miracles, granting him additional Dendro affinity and dream-type adaptability.
And last, the title of First Sage of the Dendro Archon.
Useless right now, perhaps—but once Nahida escaped the Sanctuary of Surasthana, the title would grant him influence, legitimacy, and—when needed—the right to rally both the Archon herself and Sumeru's power to his side.
And frankly, "First Sage" sounded cool.
And maybe—just maybe—it meant he could call Nahida over anytime and pat her head.
"…I didn't expect I'd ever meet someone I genuinely can't understand."
Nahida sighed and gently lifted his hand off her head. She still couldn't make sense of him.
To her, the Withering Avatar—born from taboo knowledge, a crystallization of "death" itself—was already near the strength of a weak god.
To fight something like that for a small portion of power and a future title?
Completely irrational.
"Then, as agreed, I will grant you a portion of my strength. You seem able to absorb external energy, but this amount is far greater than before. If you feel anything wrong, you must tell me immediately."
Seeing Lin Feng nod, prepared, the young goddess placed her small hand over his left one—and gently pressed it to her forehead.
——Countless lights bloomed around her, converging into a flowing emerald river of power.
The jade leaf-shaped adornment beside her white hair shone brilliantly as Nahida, for the first time since becoming the God of Wisdom, gathered her own divine strength.
Lin Feng felt incredible—too incredible.
His body, like a parched riverbed, desperately drank in the Archon's verdant dreamlike energy.
Not only the system, but his very cells devoured her power like starving beasts.
His sleeping form radiated with surging pressure. Stray particles of power caused the floorboards and walls of the dream-room to sprout roots and leaves.
Lin Feng poured every ounce of focus into his system, desperately absorbing and digesting the precious divine
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