Where's my golden core? Did you think I removed a kidney stone?

[Water-based Golden Core Prototype - Spiritual Type]

Integration progress: 38%

[Approximately 45 hours until complete fusion]

"I'm so hungry."

When Su Ye opened his eyes, he felt an unprecedented hunger. Every cell in his body was protesting. His spirit was surging, and he could clearly feel his flesh and blood as flesh sprouts on a mountain of flesh. Those flesh sprouts eagerly opened their mouths and roared, which startled Su Ye. His first reaction was to check his phone.

He froze the moment the screen lit up.

"I slept for a full twenty-five hours straight."

Su Ye sat up, still a little dazed. He had never slept for so long in his entire life, but his body told him the truth: after 25 hours of deep sleep, the previous weakness had subsided considerably, and he felt full of energy.

He gently touched his left waist, and deep inside, the presence of the nascent golden core was clearer than yesterday, the pulse was more stable, and the coolness was gentler, like a seed taking root firmly in the soil.

I still looked a bit haggard in the mirror, with chapped lips and slightly sunken eye sockets, but my complexion was much better than the day before yesterday.

His stomach twisted again.

hungry.

I'm really hungry.

I quickly washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed my clothes, and hurried downstairs.

……

There's a breakfast shop that's been open for over ten years downstairs. The original owner was a regular customer. The owner, surnamed Liu, is in his fifties, a bit chubby, and his apron is always stained with grease. He's a very warm and friendly person.

When Su Ye walked in, there weren't many people in the store yet. Boss Liu was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the noise, he peeked out.

"Hey, Xiao Su, so early today?"

"Uncle Liu, two baskets of xiaolongbao, a bowl of tofu pudding, two youtiao (fried dough sticks), and a bowl of porridge, please."

"Okay!"

Su Ye found a corner to sit down.

Two minutes later, the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) were served.

He picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth, grimacing from the heat, but he didn't care. He devoured the two baskets of twenty xiaolongbao in less than three minutes.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.

Then he put down the bowl.

I'm still hungry.

Su Ye paused for a moment, then raised his hand to beckon Boss Liu.

"Uncle Liu, two more baskets of xiaolongbao, one serving of fried noodles, one serving of fried rice, two tea eggs, and a bowl of soy milk."

Boss Liu poked his head out from the back kitchen, his expression a little strange.

"Still want to eat?"

"Yeah, I'm really hungry today."

"Alright."

In the second round, Su Ye continued to eat voraciously, stuffing fried noodles and fried rice into his mouth alternately, eating tea eggs one after another, and drinking soy milk like water.

Ouch, I'm still hungry!

Su Ye himself was a little shocked, but the signals from his body were too strong to suppress.

"Uncle Liu... two more servings of fried noodles, four baskets of steamed buns, and a bowl of wontons, please."

This time, Boss Liu walked straight out of the kitchen, his hands still on his apron, and stared at Su Ye with wide eyes.

"Young man, you never used to eat this much. You'd usually just have a basket of steamed buns and a bowl of porridge. What's going on today?"

With half a steamed bun stuffed in his mouth, Su Ye mumbled, "I followed a surgery the day before yesterday. Don't even mention it, I was exhausted. I got a low-grade fever when I got back, and slept all day without eating much. I'm feeling better today, but I'm starving, hehe."

Boss Liu said "Oh," and his expression relaxed a bit.

"Working in a hospital is tiring, and it's not easy for you young people either. The pressure in society these days is really immense, it's driving the kids to such extremes."

He turned and went back to the kitchen, muttering, "Just don't waste it."

Eat and eat.

After ordering some more things.

Su Ye finally felt a sense of fullness.

He took out his phone to scan the QR code and pay.

Three hundred and twenty yuan.

Boss Liu had already rounded down the price for him, but the number still made Su Ye's lips twitch.

It cost more than 300 yuan for breakfast.

No wonder Boss Liu looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Su Ye thanked him and got up to leave.

About twenty meters from the breakfast shop, the cool morning breeze completely cleared his head.

He realized a problem.

I was driven entirely by instinct just now.

Starving, he sat down and started eating without considering that "how could a normal person possibly spend over 300 yuan on breakfast at such a cheap stall?" Although Mr. Liu accepted his explanation, what if he did it again next time?

What if it gets noticed by more people?

Su Ye slowed his pace.

An alarm bell immediately rang in my mind.

Heresy, seclusion, research, dissection...

As a medical student, he was both very familiar with and extremely sensitive to these procedures.

Su Ye felt a slight chill on his back.

After all, the golden core within him was cut from someone else's body. Although the procedures were different, he had personally witnessed such a situation and didn't want to be pushed onto the operating table himself in the future...

The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes; I need to be careful.

The amount of food consumed is a minor matter, but it reminded Su Ye to keep a low profile.

Su Ye took a deep breath and quickened his pace.

……

At 8:00 AM sharp, in the urology clinic.

When Su Ye pushed open the door, Zhang Yuanping was already sitting in the main seat, holding a cup of tea and flipping through today's outpatient appointment slip.

Good morning, Teacher Zhang.

Zhang Yuanping looked up at him.

Then I took another look.

"alright?"

"Okay, I was just a little tired after working on stage the day before yesterday, but I felt fine after a good night's sleep."

Zhang Yuanping nodded, his gaze lingering on Su Ye's face for a couple more seconds.

"You...you seem a little different?"

Su Ye's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm: "How is it different?"

Zhang Yuanping held his teacup, sized him up for a few seconds, and then shook his head.

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel much more energetic, and my eyes are brighter than before. When you first came here, you always looked like you hadn't slept at all."

Su Ye smiled and said, "It's probably because I slept for too long. I used to do this all the time. I would stay up all night online and only sleep three to five hours a day. Then one day I would suddenly feel very tired. Yesterday was the same. I slept for twenty hours."

"More than twenty hours?" Zhang Yuanping raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but laugh. "Overexertion breakdown, huh? Haha, alright, kid, try to stay up less in the future. You can't ruin your body like this. You'll understand when you get to my age."

Su Ye sat down in the seat next to him and breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound.

Overdraft-induced collapse is a common medical phenomenon.

He couldn't help but look at himself in the mirror. His eyes were indeed more expressive than before, and the color of his pupils seemed a bit darker, a purer black, as if they had been washed clean. His skin was also better than a few days ago, and the dullness left by Su Ye's years of working night shifts had faded considerably.

My entire demeanor has undergone a subtle change. It's not a dramatic transformation, but it's just... cleaner and more transparent.

Like a glass of muddy water, it slowly settles down and becomes clear.

This is a side effect of the fusion of the Golden Elixir.

It belongs to the water element, the spirit element, and represents clarity and brightness.

While transforming his mental strength, it also subtly and silently altered his external state.

Su Ye made a mental note of this.

It doesn't matter.

Humans are highly adaptable, and as long as the changes are gradual, most people won't delve into them.

What's wrong?

Why can't I let you have it when you're in good shape?

Su Ye snapped out of his thoughts and decided to check on today's outpatient clinic.