–You are indeed great.–
A streak of light tore across the sky, coiling toward the falling wooden box.
[Trajectory curve… Psychokinetic deconstruction… Compensation, replacement…]
Yang Zicang’s eyes narrowed slightly. For a moment, his thoughts wandered, as if recalling something, but the fiercely flickering lines swiftly severed all his doubts.
His attention, engulfed by the immense computational load, could not spare a moment for further speculation.
The intricate wavebands emerging from the vast data were as thick as seawater yet as sparse as light. Any momentary distraction that caused one to overlook such beauty would be a desecration.
Before the crowd outside, sprawled against the force field wall, could even react, the six wooden boxes that had come howling down had already settled firmly onto the progressively brightening floor tiles. In just four or five seconds, another set of boxes began to fall.
—-Wow, that’s amazing!–
—-So even without going in myself, just watching is this entertaining!–
[The Barking Door informs me that my investor is looking forward to my performance.]
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The eighteenth wooden box landed steadily on the floor tiles. The figure standing in the center, his face beaming with eager anticipation, had already completed nearly one-fifth of the test without even laying a hand on any of the boxes.
And all of this took less than half a minute!
Wei Zhenguo’s mouth was still open when another batch of wooden boxes came crashing down like meteorites.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
This time, they carried the fierce energy of a gale, and the spreading airwaves slightly pushed the two simultaneously falling wooden boxes apart to either side.
–The difficulty has increased.-
Although the falling boxes were only made more erratic by the strong wind jostling them against each other, Yang Zicang knew at a touch that the telekinetic force required to synchronize and rewrite the Moxel lines had more than doubled. It turned out that even just slightly altering their trajectory required enormous energy.
–For others, this might take a bit more effort. But…-
For his own Moxel, it was still more than sufficient; the distance to the limit of unfolding a thousand-slot quadrilateral was still very long.
No, it wasn’t about his own Moxel.
A tingling numbness rose in Yang Zicang’s heart; he thought of the sentence that had echoed in his mind when he first obtained the Moxel—-We are I.-
The image of Xingmiao’s bones, which had turned to rock and scattered across the earth, flashed through his mind.
Rock, life.
The speculative thought that arose in Yang Zicang’s heart quickly gained vigorous vitality, as if it would take root in his memory.
Earth… Sage… Object… Decay… Halo!
–Could it be…-
Woo—
Three swiftly flying wooden boxes, carrying a fierce wind, let out a roaring crack.
The three boxes simultaneously spun, fell, and dived downward. The wind stirred by their rotation constantly shifted the boxes’ positions, leaving those below uncertain where they would land. On the ground, three square tiles lit up one after another.
In the blink of an eye, they descended upon the head of the lone figure standing upright gazing at the sky in the wide square.
–Could it be that you… are also an existence like them?-
A streak of flickering light shot straight upward.
In a bizarre midair maneuver, one box accelerated into an angled dash, one traced a parabola to land behind, and one dropped straight at the youth’s feet—then he shoved it onto the last glowing tile two meters away.
At that moment, the final set of the six slowly descended. The fourth group was easily completed.
A breeze brushed by. Yang Zicang lowered his head to look at the silver ring on his chest.
{So fast.}
The voice sounded from the ring within his mind.
The man before the ruined ancient temple still kept his hand on the sword hilt, eyes slightly closed, as he said:
{Four sets completed in just one minute. It seems the one who entered this time has decent talent. For you, this level of difficulty is far from enough training intensity.}
—-Whoa, he said new lines.-
The humanoid telekinetic entities outside the force field exclaimed in surprise.
Yang Zicang glanced at the sky. No new boxes fell. He steadied himself and turned his gaze to the Wind Spirit Warrior image before him, which continued speaking.
{Are you alone? Hmm, the fact that the mark I left has uttered this sentence confirms that you are indeed alone. Good. –Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?- My friend, do you know what kind of spiritual blessing I can bestow?}
The man’s hand raised.
A flame light, like a red-hot iron wire, twisted and rose, forming a simple, continuously rotating Celtic knot symbol.
As Yang Zicang’s gaze followed, the information contained within it directly surfaced in his mind.
[Basic Mental Power Operation Pattern: Flame’s Fighting Wind]
[Flame’s Fighting Wind: Stabilizes the third spiritual ring of psychics below the third ring, and enhances high-speed energy perception by one to three levels.]
{I have comprehended the essence of the scorching wind from battling the flames. This –Mental Power Operation Pattern- can help you improve your perception and counteraction of them.}
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark orange swirling Celtic knot on his hand quickly faded, and another cyan-green symbol appeared in his palm in an instant, replacing the previous pattern.
–This… there are actually two?- Yang Zicang thought in surprise.
As if confirming his thoughts, the slow voice of the humanoid mental imprint left by this Wind Spirit Warrior began in his heart.
{These two marks are suitable for different people. When you obtain the so-called SUPER rating, you can choose one to imprint into your sea of consciousness, helping you cultivate the foundational knowledge to bear the three-ring bloodline!}
He held this pattern in his hand, sidestepping two steps to the left as the wind gradually picked up.
{I realized another form and image of life in the vast forest; my spirit united with the mountain woods, forging this imprint. It can help you improve the recovery efficiency of mental power.}
As his words fell, a flow of information that could directly imprint into the mind appeared on the pattern.
[Primary Mental Power Operating Pattern: Wood Song’s Soothing]
[Wood Song’s Soothing: Stabilizes the mental foundation of mind power users below three rings, anchoring their thoughts like a deep forest unshakable, and enhances mental recovery.]
So the reward for this training was a choice between two options.
Wei Zhenguo’s faint shout came from behind the force field: –Xiao Zang, congratulations! Showing you the perfect clearance evaluation in advance means your current score is already very close to the GOOD level!-
Yang Zicang turned to look at the cheering crowd behind the force field and nodded.
Wind Spirit Warrior Path:
{Come on, let me see what your limit is, young friend. I’m going to increase the difficulty.}
Yang Zicang’s eyes narrowed slightly as he suddenly felt a tremendous force push against his back, making him stagger. The strong wind lifted his ear-length black hair. The dilapidated wooden boxes scattered across the square swayed frantically in the intensifying, warming gale, creaking as if they would be blown apart and swept into the air at any moment.
Suddenly, a muffled mournful sound echoed from the distant mountains, boom—
Flames appeared on the horizon. As the gale swept through, the mountain forests burst into fire, the clouds were scorched, and countless ashes rolled across heaven and earth like snowdrifts.
So beautiful…
—-Whoa, a hidden scene just appeared!-
Outside the force field door, eyes full of longing stared at the blazing fire raging across the far end of the land.
—-So this psi-cartridge actually has a lot more content in it.-
—-A real hidden level… Could it be that this newcomer can trigger a reward beyond SUPER?!-
Wind and fire coursed over his body. Yang Zicang felt his perception of the air plummet—his outward spirit was naturally more attuned to the elements, and the violent gale now wracked his mind with agony.
The wind spirit warrior, dragging the mark, lifted his head and looked over.
{Friend, did you make out that description? It’s about to start.}
At the wind spirit warrior’s words, Yang Zicang’s gaze instinctively dropped to the mark in his hand. Inside the looping knot woven from wood-green energy lines, a deep emerald hue flowed slowly.
At that moment, the sky-filling flames and ash churned, like a curtain yanked horizontally, surging over the two of them like a tidal wave.
Right then, that woodlike energy reached the very center of the symbol, and the simple pattern description suddenly rippled with an uncanny disturbance.
Yang Zicang’s mind went blank—that infinitesimally tiny sliver of time, perhaps less than a hundred-thousandth of a second.
Yet in the perception of his outwardly projected mental power, it was captured so keenly—unforgettable.
Yang Zicang stood frozen.
In that instant, he saw a world.
On the square before the dilapidated temple, hundreds of refugees had gathered. They were dressed in tatters, some with missing limbs or other disabilities, but all of them shared the same posture—gazing up at the sky.
Were they awaiting something? Yang Zicang wondered.
He followed their gaze toward the horizon. The first wave of smoke that had swept past was already being whisked away by the wind, while the second wave—hotter than the last—was about to arrive. Then he saw it clearly, just as he had glimpsed those fleeting refugees moments ago: he saw it all.
Wooden crates filled with food were being dropped from high above.
–Did this… actually happen?– Yang Zicang murmured.
{Enough talk. Training begins!}
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five large crates hurtled down from the sky.
[The Barking Gate informs me that I have triggered a hidden training stage.]
[The Barking Gate tells me that Team Leader Jiao Ma is watching her team member—namely, me.]
In Yang Zicang’s field of vision, silver trajectory lines touched each falling crate. He dodged the lashing flames while kicking apart the broken crates on the ground, revealing golden floor tiles buried beneath.
Thud! Thud!
Two boxes landed perfectly; behind the remaining three, six more wooden chests materialized swiftly. Now waves no longer came in discrete sets—they poured in one after another without pause.
[Officer Mengxi is watching me.]
[My colleague is monitoring my performance.]
[The leader of the First Cleaning Team of the Action Department is observing me.]
More and more people from the Lost Illusion Company noticed someone attempting the hidden level. Yang Zicang had no time to heed these voices.
[These people—I, the great Quadrilateral—don’t know any of them!]
—-Whoa, such raging flames… he must be in agony.–
The boxes fell from the sky with ever-increasing frequency. After the seventieth, the wooden crates suddenly swelled in size, plummeting like boulders with a heavy, shuddering roar.
{A martial artist without a sword will find this challenge nearly impossible.}
The Wind Spirit Warrior flickered into motion and drove a sword into the center of the square.
This… was it meant to test swordsmanship?
Yang Zicang glanced at it, hesitated, then limped and hobbled forward in a rush.
Yet his mind was fixed on the fleeting image he had just glimpsed.
Could it be a coincidence? The instant that fleeting image appeared, heaven and earth were swathed in fiery clouds, as if shielding the scene from all outside eyes. A sudden flash of insight struck Yang Zicang.
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