Chapter Fifteen: The Terrifying Power of a Psychic

Chapter 15: The Terror of a Psychic

Ten minutes later, Shen Hua, once again disguised as an elementary school student and grinning mischievously, had Xia Zheng trailing behind her, lugging over a dozen shopping bags filled with newly purchased clothes and pants. The two of them strode out in style. The two shop assistants bowed respectfully behind them, calling out, “Goodbye, dear customer. Rosette Ladieswear wishes you a pleasant shopping experience. Please come again.”

This single transaction almost equaled the two salesgirls' usual monthly sales—hundreds of thousands spent on clothes, swiped away without the slightest hesitation by this little girl. If this wasn’t extravagance, what was?

Xia Zheng’s mind was still reeling. For the first time in his life, he’d witnessed a woman’s allure up close. Unfortunately, he was genuinely rattled. His master could switch freely between an adult and a child—it was terrifying.

“Master, why do you change your appearance like that?” Xia Zheng asked curiously.

With her hands behind her back, Shen Hua replied, “Psychics aren't like other empowered individuals. Maintaining a normal physical form causes unnecessary mental drain, so someone devised a method to switch between a daily and a combat form, minimizing the waste of mental energy. Disciple, did you understand?”

“I don’t feel any mental drain. You’re definitely tricking me,” Xia Zheng grumbled.

Shen Hua aimed a kick at him, but Xia Zheng dodged, and the two chased each other down the street, only settling down after nearly colliding with a passerby.

“Your constitution is too unusual. Your mental strength far exceeds others of your kind—you can bear the consumption. Plus, you’re still in a rapid growth phase, which means your upper limit is continuously increasing, with tremendous potential for further development. Even I envy you.” Shen Hua finally managed to land a kick on Xia Zheng, explaining with satisfaction.

Xia Zheng shook his head and hailed a car to the subway station. Taking a taxi the whole way was still expensive, and though he was now earning a high income, he hadn’t yet adapted to spending recklessly, preferring to stick to his usual habits.

An hour later, after emerging from the subway, the two remembered that the bus service here was suspended. Would they have to walk back?

“Disciple, it’s time to test you,” Shen Hua said with a wicked glint in her eye.

Xia Zheng instinctively took a step back. “Master, what… what are you planning?”

Without another word, Shen Hua hopped onto his back, ignoring the bags he was carrying. “Didn’t you say you don’t feel any mental drain? Today’s training is to use your psychic power to move yourself, and test whether you can complete five kilometers with a moderate load. Quite a challenge, isn't it?”

“Master, I think you just want an excuse to be lazy,” Xia Zheng complained, but Shen Hua wasn’t listening, urging him to “run.”

There wasn’t a soul in sight outside the station, so Xia Zheng didn’t worry about attracting attention. He released his formidable psychic power, and his feet slowly left the ground, hovering ten centimeters up and going no higher. Despite the bags and the little girl on his back, this load was nothing to him now.

“Move!” Xia Zheng conjured a psychic force behind him, propelling his body forward, though at first, the speed was sluggish.

“Haven’t eaten enough? Faster!” Shen Hua smacked his shoulder, as though urging on a mule.

Gritting his teeth, Xia Zheng increased the thrust, now feeling the mental energy drain more acutely.

His speed climbed—soon reaching the upper limit of an electric scooter.

“Faster!” Shen Hua continued to press him, so Xia Zheng poured out even more psychic energy, and his speed shot up.

Whoosh!

He seemed to glide across the lawn, almost flying over the grass. His speed approached sixty kilometers per hour, and Shen Hua stopped urging him on, evidently intent on pushing Xia Zheng to his limits, not just being capricious.

At first, the bags and his master’s weight were uncomfortable, but after a kilometer, the burden seemed to vanish, and he moved faster and faster. Then, it felt as if his whole body became weightless—the objects and person he carried seemed as light as air.

“Air has buoyancy, just like water. Normally, people don’t feel it while moving, but reach a certain speed and you can sense its power. A’Zheng, you’re making progress again,” Shen Hua murmured at his ear, a hint of reluctance in her tone.

Nodding, Xia Zheng could now sense the force of the wind. Though not an elemental psychic, under the influence of his powers, he seemed to perceive the very laws governing movement in nature.

“If I could glimpse the rules of this world, or even the universe, what kind of being would I become?” Xia Zheng wondered inwardly, though he had no answer—perhaps he never would.

From above, one would see a blur racing forward, vanishing in a blink—eerily fast. At ground level, the speed was astonishing: a figure flashed through waist-high wild grass, the foliage closing again instantly. The toads hidden there barely reacted, thinking only that something had just brushed past.

Five kilometers were covered in just about two minutes at Xia Zheng’s full speed. When the pair appeared at the entrance of the Celestial Blade Squad’s headquarters, several teammates were taken aback, realizing Xia Zheng and Shen Hua had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“Incredible… That speed must be near the highway speed limit!”

“More than that—the speed detector in the lobby reported 150 kilometers per hour. He went over the highway limit—faster than most speed-type empowered fighters.”

“Psychics are monsters, no doubt.”

“Exactly, exactly…”

Listening to the murmurs, Xia Zheng was speechless. Apparently, his special powers had made him an oddity in everyone’s eyes.

“Don’t mind them—that’s the jealousy of the mediocre. You’ve worked hard today, go get some rest. Don’t forget to check the assessment schedule. And you don’t need to go all the way to Bolant City—the assessment site in Dannute is closer, just the next city over.” Shen Hua took the bags from him, issued a few instructions, and headed off to her residence—a luxury villa in the residential district. No wonder, being Captain Chu’s senior, and reportedly more powerful to boot.

Xia Zheng didn’t return to his apartment right away. Instead, he walked thoughtfully toward the training area. Now, the training facilities were open to him 24 hours a day—an arrangement made by Chu Yan himself. The entire Celestial Blade Squad saw Xia Zheng’s potential and knew he was the genius the company had wrested from the military, so they all supported Chu Yan’s decision.

In the training area, Xia Zheng wanted to find a room, but the level one and two rooms were occupied. Sharing a space wasn’t suitable for a psychic like him—it would affect his state of mind. He didn’t want to kick anyone out, so he headed to the only level three training room, which could withstand a full-force attack from an A-rank empowered fighter.

He turned on the lights, instantly sensing the room’s superiority. Everything was high-end, far better than the level one or two rooms. In the system settings, Xia Zheng chose “mountaintop outdoors” as the room’s theme. The walls and ceiling began transforming, the air conditioning switched modes, and the room filled with the lush scent of nature. It was as though he was sitting atop a peak, surrounded by mountains.

“No wonder in the old cultivation novels, practitioners always built their abodes deep in the mountains. Being close to nature makes it easier to enter a state of emptiness and perceive the laws of the world. Now, cities crowd out nature, people are dazzled by lights and nightlife, their hearts weary and hollow. How can one commune with nature, let alone reach inner emptiness? As an empowered individual, I must take this as a warning and remind myself constantly.” Xia Zheng sat cross-legged on a mat at the center, truly feeling as though he was atop a mountain, overlooking the world. His mind quickly entered a meditative state, rising swiftly—surely a result of the extraordinary environment.

In deep meditation, his psychic power began to grow steadily. Memories and fragments from his recent training drifted through his mind, deepening his understanding.

Especially vivid were the scenes of bereaved families, weeping upon news of lost loved ones. In those moments, Xia Zheng’s spirit soared—a sense of shared outrage and compassion for the fragility of life rose within him. It wasn’t just individual empathy, but a sorrow that transcended the human condition.

“If one day, I were to fall in battle, how would my parents bear such a blow?” At that thought, a surge of anger and fear of death flooded him.

A psychic storm rapidly formed in his mind, then manifested around his body. He was the eye of the storm, driven by his own turbulent emotions, struggling to vent his negativity.

“Current destructive power: C-level!”

“Current destructive power: B-level!”

“Current destructive power: B+ level!”

“Current destructive power: …A-level!”

“Warning! Warning! Destructive power is about to exceed the defense limit!”

The materialization of the psychic storm put enormous pressure on the room. An alarm blared, warning him that the defensive threshold was being reached.

Zhang Ziqi, freshly showered, emerged and found a crowd gathered around the level three training room, deep in discussion.

“What’s going on?” she asked, stepping forward.

The group turned to see Zhang Ziqi, still damp from her shower, and for a moment their eyes froze.

“Speak up!” she barked imperiously, and someone finally replied, “A’Zheng is cultivating in there, but it’s getting pretty intense—the room can barely take it.”

“Yeah, Ziqi, you should go talk to him. He seems furious in there.”

“Qijie, hurry. If he breaks the level three room, the boss will go mad.”

Zhang Ziqi nodded and walked to the door. Sure enough, the room was shaking, faint cracks appearing as though the structure couldn’t bear the strain.

“This guy…” she thought, realizing how much Xia Zheng had grown in three months. His previous outbursts barely reached B-level, but now he was threatening A-level—monstrous.

But right now, she had to stop him from spiraling into anger and fear. She pressed the intercom. A howling storm echoed in response, chilling her. She’d never fought a psychic before, but at this moment, she felt true fear—psychics were terrifying.

“Xia—Zheng—what—on—earth—are—you—doing?” Her high soprano pierced the storm, reaching him and snapping him to his senses. He immediately stabilized his emotions and dissipated the psychic storm in a few breaths. The drain on his power left him tired.

The lights came on and the room reset to default. Zhang Ziqi, in a fitted T-shirt with a low neckline, entered and saw the lingering sadness and anger in his eyes, mixed with guilt. She decided not to scold him harshly.

“A’Zheng, never let your emotions control you while cultivating. Empowered individuals who lose control can easily lose themselves. I’m not a psychic, but I once saw one drive himself mad, then go on a killing spree, only to be brought down by others—a tragic end. You psychics are incredibly powerful, but that means greater risk. A disturbed mind breeds inner demons, and they are the most dangerous thing of all. Be careful, always.” She didn’t want this promising young man to fall due to his own heart, so she offered her hard-earned advice.

Xia Zheng nodded gratefully and stood. After three months of training, his psychic powers had grown greatly, and his body had changed as well.

With scientific training and a rich diet, he’d grown from 175 to 181 centimeters, becoming broader and stronger—a far cry from the awkward high schooler he’d once been.

Watching him leave, Zhang Ziqi suddenly realized that the man she’d quietly admired for so long had somehow merged with the figure before her, leaving her heart in turmoil.

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