[Restart Volume] Chapter 265: Looking Past the Phenomena to See the Essence

At the bottom of the divine airship.
Zhang Zhihao burned the power of the Fire Dragon God, supporting the airship as it flew rapidly toward Dragon Tooth Island.
The sky above had turned dark, looking as though rain was about to fall.
Yet none of this affected him; his sole task now was to hold up the entire airship until his companions above completed repairs on the fuel transport hub.
He could do it, for he had already unleashed his power to the absolute limit!
Suddenly, the entire airship drifted upward. Zhang Zhihao raised his head, the pressure on his arms easing considerably. He could sense that his companions had succeeded!
The fuel transport hub had been successfully repaired!
All the mechanical gears resumed operation, floating upward along the ascent track!
The divine airship had finally returned to operation!
The crimson glow in Zhang Zhihao's pupils faded, and the taut string in his mind snapped instantly. He lost consciousness entirely, plummeting into the blazing flames.
Not far away, a golden figure flew forward, rushing toward that shining cluster of fire.

Inside the engine compartment.
Mo Xing and Wu Danche high-fived joyfully, while Shiyan smiled standing nearby.
Just moments ago, they had accomplished an extremely arduous task—successfully forcing the ground fuel back into the fuel transport hub.
Acting under Shiyan’s direction, Mo Xing first infused water elements into the fuel to ensure he could control the mixed liquid.
It was then transported into the fuel transport hub, after which Wu Danche released metal elements to gradually repair the breach.
At that exact moment, Shiyan used the method of "restoration" to extract and separate the water elements infused in the fuel. Once the breach was repaired, the divine airship returned to normal operation!
"Shiyan, your method was brilliant!" Mo Xing gave a thumbs-up in praise.
"Yeah, yeah! It's incredible!" Wu Danche nodded eagerly as well.
"Not at all, actually it's thanks to everyone working well together," Shiyan smiled.
"Speaking of which, whose power was it that supported the entire airship for those few minutes?" Mo Xing suddenly thought of this question.
"That's right!" Wu Danche frowned. "Logically speaking, the airship should have been plunging during that time. If not for that immense power supporting it, we probably wouldn't even have had a chance to make repairs!"
"Could it be..." Shiyan paused. She could roughly guess who the person was, but... for a single person to support an airship of this size was simply too exaggerated!
And to sustain the flight for a full seven minutes!
Even a practitioner of the Purple Cauldron stage might not be able to achieve such a feat!
"Meow—"
Little Yueying nearby let out a plaintive cry and ran out through the engine compartment door.
The three of them looked in that direction, only to find that the sky outside had actually started raining.
Aside from the pattering of rain, there was a commotion. Mo Xing and the other two walked out together and saw about a dozen people standing on the outer deck.
Looking closely, they were all senior apprentice brothers and sisters.
"What is wrong with you people?" Wu Danche frowned, looking at their drenched outer garments and hair.
"W-We came to help," one of the senior brothers explained.
"Everything over here is already resolved," Shiyan waved her hand. "I broadcasted the message twenty minutes ago, and you're only arriving now."
"W-We just didn't know the way..." another senior brother scratched his head.
"Stop trying to fool yourselves! Is there any point?" Wu Danche shouted. "Look at your clothes and hair. Encountered bad weather and wanted to run back for shelter, didn't you?"
"Didn't expect this, did you? The airship didn't crash; instead, we fixed it!" Wu Danche glared at them.
"Don't go throwing cold water on us!" a senior brother yelled. "You're just a first-year student, what qualification do you have to point fingers at us?"
"By the virtue of not choosing to run away like cowards when facing trouble!" Wu Danche shouted back.
As his voice trailed off, silence descended upon both sides, broken only by the rhythmic patter of raindrops.
Mo Xing found the atmosphere rather awkward, thinking to himself that he feared nothing more than sudden silence...
"Meow—"
Little Yueying nearby flicked its tail, as if regretting something.
At that very moment, a golden radiance flickered amidst the gloomy rain. Mo Xing and the others looked toward that source and saw a cyan, umbrella-like barrier forming above Xia Ningxin, scattering all the nearby rain. She was supporting a man covered entirely in crimson on her shoulder.
"Zhang Zhihao?!!"
Mo Xing was deeply shocked. That person turned out to be the great Zhang Zhihao!
What... what on earth was going on here?
Astonishment filled the faces of everyone else.
"Ch-Chief Zhang, what happened to him?" Wu Danche was stunned.
"..." Shiyan was too surprised to speak. Someone as powerful as Chief Zhang had actually met with misfortune!
"Find a doctor."
Xia Ningxin pushed through the crowd and laid Zhang Zhihao down in a rain-sheltered spot. Although she had the reinforcement of wind elements making carrying him less exhausting, she felt mentally drained...
"The doctor... the doctors don't know where they went!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Search!"
Xia Ningxin uttered coldly, her words carrying a chilling intent.
"Alright, alright!"
Two or three senior brothers immediately ran off to look, but they came running back shortly after.
"D-Doctor Bai is here!"
Talk of the devil, and he appeared.
The crowd parted to clear a path, and Doctor Bai walked through the middle, arriving at Zhang Zhihao's side.
"Everyone, keep some distance from me." Doctor Bai released three gems of different hues that hovered around him, and a hexagram magic array materialized on the ground, emanating a cyan glow.
The others stepped back one after another. Mo Xing scratched his head and, seeing that Little Yueying was still lingering nearby, picked it up and retreated.
"Meow~"
Little Yueying batted at Mo Xing's arm with its paws, as if resisting something.
"Be a good kitty, Little Yueying~" Mo Xing rubbed its little head. "Doctor Bai is treating him, don't disturb him for now."
Doctor Bai snapped his fingers crisply, and the surrounding environment instantly lost its color, leaving only black, white, and gray.
Evernight!
The others wore expressions of shock, looking around. Apart from the people, everything else in the vicinity was frozen in place—even the falling raindrops hung suspended in mid-air, completely motionless!
"Wh-What skill is this?" Mo Xing asked in confusion.
"A unique technique," Shiyan explained. "A self-created skill that belongs solely to him."
"So powerful, I want to create a skill too!" Mo Xing scratched his head.
"That requires a certain foundation of theoretical knowledge and rich practical combat experience to accomplish," Wu Danche shook his head. "And that's merely one of the prerequisites."
"Is that so..." Mo Xing scratched his head.
"It's fine," Shiyan smiled. "I believe you'll be able to do it one day."
"Yeah," Mo Xing nodded, watching Zhang Zhihao, who was currently being treated by Doctor Bai...
He could roughly guess that the reason the divine airship was able to maintain stable flight earlier must have been largely due to the great efforts of Zhang Zhihao...
To the extent that he even risked his life...
You must wake up...
"Meow!"
The moment Mo Xing's mind wandered, Little Yueying broke free from his arms, swift as lightning, and dashed toward Doctor Bai, interrupting the treatment. The entire [Evernight Domain] shattered into pieces instantly, and the surrounding environment returned to its original appearance.
"Meow!"
Little Yueying stood defensively in front of Zhang Zhihao, letting out a sharp cry at Doctor Bai.
We're done for, we're completely done for, Mo Xing panicked instantly.
"What is wrong with this cat?" onlookers complained nearby.
"Are you making trouble?!" another chimed in.
"Whose damn cat is this?" someone bellowed.
"Mine."
Xia Ningxin replied coldly.
The others fell silent instantly; no one dared to utter another word.
"Can the treatment continue?" Xia Ningxin asked.
"I'm afraid not for today. The Evernight Domain consumes too much physical and mental strength; we will try again tomorrow," Doctor Bai wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Then... what about his injuries?" Mo Xing scratched his head, feeling terribly embarrassed that his carelessness had caused Little Yueying to run off and interrupt the treatment.
"His body has already recovered halfway. A couple of days of quiet recuperation should be enough," Doctor Bai recalled the gems hovering around him.
"Alright, let's carry Chief Zhang back to his room first." Wu Danche stepped forward, hoisting Zhang Zhihao onto his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah." Mo Xing ran over to help as well.
"Mo Xing," Xia Ningxin called out to him.
"What is it?" Mo Xing turned his head.
"His medicine." Xia Ningxin handed over a box.
"What kind of medicine is this?" Mo Xing wondered, looking at the white box which bore a cyan-green icon with a pattern of a few leaves, looking somewhat like...
Banlangen granules!
"Go back and read the manual yourself." Xia Ningxin tossed those words over her shoulder and left, cradling Little Yueying in her arms.
"Honestly..." Shiyan wanted to say more but stopped herself, an unhappy look resting on her face.
"Yeah..." Mo Xing nodded, putting the box of medicine into his storage ring.
Wu Danche retrieved a windbreaker from his storage ring and draped it over Zhang Zhihao, then joined Mo Xing in supporting Zhang Zhihao toward the rooms.
The rain had mostly stopped, and the sky cleared up. The onlookers dispersed in all directions, and the runaway senior brothers and sisters returned to the airship one after another, primarily because they had been "escorted" back by Instructor Su Yunzhou.
Mo Xing had initially wondered why Instructor Su Yunzhou was nowhere to be seen when such an incident occurred; logically, shouldn't he have been the one directing everything? Later, he heard from a senior brother in the neighboring room that Instructor Su Yunzhou had gone out to round up the students who had fled.
As for the exact details, he didn't inquire further.
Over these forty minutes, Mo Xing had witnessed many people and events:
The senior brother who selfishly fled when trouble struck, the companions who worked together in unity to repair the airship, the great Zhang Zhihao who exerted himself to the limit at the critical moment to support the entire airship, and...
That black-haired short-haired bounty hunter...
According to others, the bounty hunter was the one behind this forced landing incident of the divine airship! Aside from the school personnel, the other staff members on the airship had all fallen victim, killed by the opponent with a single gunshot each. The exact details were still pending further investigation.
Fortunately, the divine airship was capable of automatic navigation and flight, eliminating the need for a professional pilot.
The fuel transport hub of the airship had been repaired by himself, Shiyan, and Wu Danche. Excluding the fuel that had already evaporated, the remaining fuel was sufficient to fly all the way to Dragon Tooth Island.
Because Zhang Zhihao had previously driven the airship at high speed for a period, the airship was now even closer to Dragon Tooth Island. It was said they could land on Dragon Tooth Island before sunset, a full half-day ahead of the original schedule!
Thinking of this, Mo Xing couldn't help but sigh in admiration that a great master was truly a great master!
Yet... a great master was still human...
He would get tired too...
Mo Xing turned his head to look at Zhang Zhihao, who remained fast asleep on the bed, feeling a twinge of heartache...
He alone... had saved the entire airship...
How he hoped he would wake up soon...
With this thought, Mo Xing took the box of medicine given by Xia Ningxin out of the [Titan Ring].
What kind of medicine could this be?
It was so light...
Mo Xing quickly opened the box, only to find there was no medicine inside at all—just a single piece of paper.
Could Xia Ningxin have been playing a trick on him?
Surely not?
Besides, this was medicine meant for Zhang Zhihao...
And she had told him to read the manual...
Wait!
The manual!
Mo Xing took out the paper and unfolded it. The very first two sentences made him freeze:
"Look past the surface to see the essence."
"The old fox shows its tail."