Jingyi turned off the assistive vehicle, its metal kickstand tapping softly against the ground. Taking a deep breath of the cool air inside the Serenitea Pot, she walked steadily toward the Central Archives. A familiar aching sensation rippled through the muscles of her lower calves, but it no longer tugged at her with the threat of pulling her down as it had in the past. "If it were the me of a month ago," her fingertips brushed unconsciously against the contour of the small vial at her waist, "I'd probably have collapsed by now." The slightly tart, bittersweet taste of the seabuckthorn brew, combined with the mild soreness of her daily morning yoga stretches, had woven a dense web of resilience through her slender body.
She raised a hand to adjust the blue-light blocking glasses perched on the bridge of her nose—a rare item crafted by Limeng's own hands, the edges of the lenses catching a faint shimmer. Her gaze swept past the front of the assistive vehicle, where a safety charm woven from "Chisui Double-Resistant No. 3" corn silk swayed gently in the breeze, the golden-brown filaments entwined with a silent promise. Exhaustion still lingered, but something much stolid had risen to support her.
In the digitized workshop on the top floor of the Central Archives, emerald-green data streams surged silently across the Akasha Terminal array, casting a cool glow upon Faruzan's turquoise hair tips. Beside the array, a Liyue "Triangle" cooling fan rotated tirelessly, its blades c…
Chapter 165