Chapter 37: "Talent"

Over the next two days, aside from a single trip to purchase energy bars, Song Shi did not leave the cheap rental motel, devoting himself entirely to the cultivation of "Psionics."

The intimidation from the "Cross Tiger Gang" was indeed irritating, but Song Shi was, after all, a psionic. Given his current situation and the lack of funds to acquire new "equipment," practicing his psionics was of the utmost importance.

Just a little longer.

...

Song Shi slowly opened his eyes, golden-red flames flickering within his pupils.

It was more than that; his entire body was enveloped in flame, and with every breath, the surrounding fire swayed in rhythm. The intensity of the blaze, which had required his absolute effort to achieve only a short time ago, was now nothing more than a baseline state.

In three days, Song Shi had finally mastered "Containment" and "Backflow," inscribing them into his own Path.

If one were to look at Song Shi's Path now, it would be clear: suspended upon the personal Path, which had only lit up its first ring, were three distinct symbols—the three psionic arts Song Shi now possessed.

Theoretically, even for the simplest of these, "Containment," an average First-Ring psionic would require an entire month to inscribe.

But Song Shi was a prodigy.

Furthermore, by using the "Flame of Forging" to combine all three into a single, overlapping process, the risks were significantly increased, but so too was the effectiveness.

Moreover, Song Shi had mastered these two psionic arts to the bone in his past life. Had he not intended to "forge" the muscle memory of this current body, he could have attempted to inscribe them into his Path the moment he awakened.

"Hoo—"

Song Shi exhaled, a few stray sparks drifting from his lips.

"Finally, I feel a bit more comfortable."

He stood up from the bathtub. As he rose, the flames around him slowly flickered out and vanished.

Having been accustomed to summoning rivers of fire capable of incinerating an entire street with a mere wave of his hand, the current Song Shi was like a candle with a tiny, flickering flame.

Those who dwell on high plateaus often feel breathless due to the thin air—a similar sensation of discomfort had plagued Song Shi since his psionic awakening, caused by the extreme scarcity of the "Great Source" energy he could command.

Until now.

With the inscription of "Containment" and "Backflow," and feeling the surge of abundant psionic energy within, Song Shi finally felt a sense of relief.

Previously, at his full output, his "Psionics" would be exhausted in five minutes.

"And now... fifteen minutes."

Song Shi steadied his breathing and made his assessment: "The recovery rate for my psionic energy has also increased. Three hours of meditative rest should be enough to fully restore it."

Considering that one cannot rely solely on psionics in the heat of battle, this "fifteen minutes" would undoubtedly be stretched much thinner. After all, when it comes to raw destructive power, a First-Ring psionic is honestly no match for a large-caliber firearm or cannon. In real combat, equipment remains the primary focus, with psionics serving as an auxiliary.

"Next, it’s a process of pure accumulation."

With the three psionic arts inscribed, the only obstacle to reaching the Second Ring, "Mastery," was the accumulation of psionic energy.

Through day-after-day of cultivation, one must accumulate "Psionics" to the limit of one's capacity, then use that to strike at the threshold separating the first and second rings. Once the barrier is shattered and one steps into the Second-Ring region of the Path, one must successfully ignite oneself there—these three steps constitute the promotion process for the Second Ring.

"Heh, with this simplest form of accumulation, given my talent, it should take at most two and a half months..."

His words cut off abruptly.

Song Shi stopped in his tracks, suddenly realizing something.

"No, wait a moment..."

"The 'talent' of this body?"

There was no sense of foreignness; it fit perfectly with the psionic cultivation process in his memories...

—And that was the biggest problem.

Even when wielding the same "psionic art," every psionic has slight, individual variations in how they use it.

Let alone the entire "process of psionic cultivation!" How could it possibly be nearly identical? There should have been differences!

But there were none.

Song Shi thought.

Everything was exactly as it was in his memory, no different from the cultivation process of his past life.

It felt so natural, and it was precisely because of that sense of normalcy that he had overlooked it until now.

But how could the original owner of this body have a talent for being a "psionic" that was almost identical to his own?

Song Shi did not believe that just any random person could possess a psionic talent comparable to his—though he was loath to boast, Song Shi respected objective facts: he was truly one in ten thousand.

And the "ten thousand" referred to other psionics.

"The same name, nearly identical appearance and talent..."

Gazing into the shattered, half-broken mirror on the wall at this face, at once familiar and strange, even Song Shi could not help but hesitate, murmuring softly: "What... is going on here?"

"...No, there is a way to verify this."

After a silence, Song Shi looked at his reflection and whispered: "If it were twenty years ago, at that point in time, 'I' would still be in an orphanage."

He had an intuition.

Perhaps if he went there, he might find the answer to this question—to the orphanage in the [Pan-Eastern Continental Union] where he had lived until he was fifteen in his past life.

But certainly not now.

The border between the [Pan-Eastern Continental Union] and the [Corporate Alliance] was not contiguous; vast stretches of "Wasteland" lay between them. Crossing it by land was extremely dangerous, and as for taking a shuttle through the sky, he couldn't afford the ticket.

Furthermore, as the combatants and ultimate victors of the former "Seven Earths War," although years had passed and relations had gradually normalized, personnel entering the other's territory still required identity verification—though, of course, there were always those who snuck across.

And besides...

He couldn't go in his current state.

The power he possessed was currently too weak; if he ran into any trouble, his ability to withstand risk was too low, and accidents would be inevitable.

After another moment of silence.

"—The Third Ring."

Song Shi looked up, staring in a certain direction: "When I re-enter the Third Ring, I will make a trip to the Union and see 'myself' with my own eyes."

"Hmm... but I mustn't let something like the 'past' hold me back." Then, Song Shi suddenly smiled.

He still had plenty to do right now.

The young man stretched and walked out of the bathroom.

"Let me think..."

"Since my psionics are temporarily settled, it’s time to prepare and pay another visit to my 'friends' at the research institute."