Chapter 170: The Correct Way to Gain Permanent Powers?
The sun sank behind the mountains, night fell, and the sky filled with brilliant stars.
But the earthquake hadn't stopped.
Since the afternoon, mild tremors had been shaking parts of Metropolis' outskirts. Many locals refused to stay indoors, instead sleeping out in the open.
The epicenter was a natural lake. The closer you got, the stronger the quakes felt. Luckily, the area was mostly forest and fields, so no one had noticed what was really happening in the lake.
The massive lake, nearly a mile across, had turned into a steaming cauldron, like some gigantic natural hot spring.
The icy surface had long since melted. Water surged upward like waterfalls, or spun like raging whirlpools, spraying into the sky hundreds of meters high before crashing down like torrential rain.
Even after nightfall, the strange eruption continued.
Suddenly, the entire lake split apart down the middle. From the depths came the roar of some wild beast, mixed with an angelic, melodic humming. Then, the waters exploded upward!
Two figures burst out of the lake, clinging tightly to one another. A black cape and a red cape whipped in the air. It was Xi Nian in the black Kryptonian suit, holding Supergirl Kara in his arms. The two shot upward like a human missile, smashing into a mountainside together.
It was like a special kind of battle—
A Kryptonian versus Kryptonian clash!
At the last moment, Xi Nian twisted his body so his back took the brunt of the impact.
Boom!
The mountain's peak shattered into rubble. The impact crushed them closer together, leaving no space at all in between.
Their momentum didn't stop. They angled upward into the night sky, speed surging higher and higher. The sound barrier cracked in midair, tearing apart the clouds above.
Half a second earlier, they had burst from the lake. Half a second later, they were already out beyond Earth's atmosphere!
Black and red capes streamed together, hiding their bodies from view.
The endless sunlight painted them in a halo of golden brilliance, as though they were one.
Beside them hung the arc of Earth, a blue crescent, and the silver-white moon. The vast, silent universe spread out in eternal mystery.
No sound at all.
Supergirl bit down on Xi Nian's shoulder.
Xi Nian's glowing eyes revealed a flicker of smugness and admiration.
Kara flushed, embarrassed, and countered. Twisting midair, she seized him and together they plummeted back toward Earth like a fiery meteor.
The black-and-red meteor streaked down and slammed into a snow-covered mountain in the western United States.
The peak collapsed ten meters down, the ground shuddering.
Avalanches erupted, burying green valleys and forests below under endless white.
…
Morning came.
Golden sunlight pierced the thinning clouds, shining on the crater-like collapse of the mountaintop.
There, on the snowy ground, lay a boy and girl in black and blue Kryptonian suits. Their hair, capes, and armor were dusted with frost and snow.
Xi Nian had one arm under his head like a pillow for Kara, while his other arm hugged her soft body to his chest. After exhausting his Kryptonian field and reactor the night before, plus the comfort of holding her warm figure, he had slept straight through to midday.
Until—
The softness in his palm suddenly turned hard as steel.
No, Kara hadn't changed.
It was him. His Kryptonian power had vanished. Without her aura shielding him, her body felt like cold metal against human skin.
The Master of Affection's effect had ended. Twelve hours had passed.
Xi Nian's eyes shot open.
He saw the sun already high overhead and quickly shook Kara awake.
She blinked, rubbing her eyes, her lashes wet with faint tear tracks. Her lips parted in a sleepy mumble. "Ah? It's… over? I'm… not dead after all?"
"Relax, Kara. You're in one piece."
Xi Nian smoothed out the wrinkles in her red skirt, but then he froze.
Something was off.
Not with Kara—with himself.
He wasn't cold.
That shouldn't be possible. He had lost Kryptonian power, and they were high on a snowy mountaintop.
His suit offered some insulation, but his bare hands, neck, and head should've been freezing.
Frowning, Xi Nian touched his body. His muscles were still hard, dense, and sculpted, like they had been forged from steel. Beneath the skintight black Kryptonian suit, his physique still looked superhuman.
But when he clenched his fists, the strength was gone. Just human again.
His sight reached only a dozen kilometers, nothing special.
Everything seemed normal—except his body still bore Superman's frame.
What use was that? A fitness model's build?
Xi Nian's brows furrowed. He slapped his own cheek.
Smack!
Kara, just sitting up, stared in shock. "Senior, what are you doing?"
"No pain."
Ignoring her, he slapped himself again, this time with all his strength.
Smack!!
The sound echoed across the snowy peak.
Kara rushed to stop him, grabbing his hand. "Xi Nian, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm fine. Actually… I'm great. More than great!"
His eyes lit up. He had struck himself with all his strength, yet felt no pain, no numbness.
He was beginning to understand.
"Kara. Hit me."
"…What?"
"Punch me. You'll see. Start lightly."
"Okay…"
Still confused, Kara pulled her punch. She tapped his chest with strength already far beyond human.
The impact pushed Xi Nian back several steps—but he laughed. "Not painful at all."
Kara's eyes widened.
"Now try half your strength," Xi Nian said, patting his chest with a confident grin.
She hesitated only a moment before throwing a serious punch.
Boom!!
Xi Nian was blasted backward like a cannonball, smashing into a nearby mountain. Rocks cracked, avalanches roared down the slope.
"Xi Nian!"
Kara darted forward and dug him out. Though a bit disheveled, his body and suit were completely unharmed.
"That one… I felt a tiny bit of pain in my chest." Xi Nian grinned. At the same time, instinctive knowledge surfaced in his mind.
Just as humans instinctively fear fire or snakes, his body had rewritten its natural defenses.
He had gained a Kryptonian ability—
The Body of Steel.
And it wasn't temporary. It was permanent.
"No… not just the Body of Steel. My body still feels flexible, not rigid. This must be the Body of Steel enhanced by a natural bio-field." Xi Nian was amazed. Finally—he had acquired a permanent extraordinary power.
Yes, it was defensive.
But his ability always optimized weaknesses. That meant his Body of Steel wouldn't be undone by Kryptonite or a red sun.
A flawless Body of Steel.
What did that mean?
It meant his survivability had skyrocketed beyond measure. Even lying still, almost nothing on Earth—not even most superhumans—could hurt him.
In terms of raw defense, he might already surpass Superman.
Of course, only in defense. Everything else was still human level.
In short—he was really hard to hurt now.
"…Feels like this power was designed to protect me from jealous-girlfriend stabbings," Xi Nian muttered, but his heart raced with excitement.
This revealed a new path, a true path to growing stronger.
The Master of Affection could not only grant temporary powers—it could also grant permanent fragments through deeper bonds.
And maybe, someday, he could even gain an extraordinary girl's entire physiology permanently.
The conditions would be harsh, of course.
After all, just gaining this one ability had required last night's… ordeal.
But Xi Nian didn't worry too much. Someday, by chance, it might happen again.
"Kara, do you feel any changes in your body?" he asked.
"My body… changes?"
Kara tilted her head in thought, then suddenly clutched her belly, legs snapping shut. Her face flushed red. "Something's about to… come out. Does that count?"
Xi Nian: "…"
"That's not what I meant…"
He was sure it wasn't only him who had changed. Kara must have too—she just hadn't realized it yet.
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