Chapter Six: I Have Become Stronger

Gongsun Ce took a few minutes to call his parents, telling his mom and dad that he hadn't been involved in any superpower brawls lately, that the City of Sky was perfectly stable, that his friends were doing well, and that everything was fine. His father bluntly remarked that he didn't quite believe the part about not getting into fights, to which Gongsun Ce insisted, "Really, Dad, why would I lie to you?" His mother added, "You're almost twenty, dear; it's about time you thought about dating," and Gongsun Ce replied, "It's still too early, Mom, don't worry about it..."

After the conversation, he hung up and let out a long sigh. Sometimes, children don't call their parents to discuss important matters; they just need to hear their voices to feel at ease.

Gongsun Ce walked back into the villa and sat down at the dining table. He clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, "I feel like I've become stronger."

Yan Qi, holding a small wine glass, glanced at him sideways and gave a short, cynical laugh, his disdain evident. Reiichi Shigure served a plate of fried rice and played along, asking, "In what way, specifically?"

The esper ducked his head and shoveled down two large mouthfuls of rice. "My thinking speed is faster, my body feels more energetic than before, and my reflexes seem sharper."

He took off his glasses and stared intently at the young man in the suit sitting within arm's reach. "My eyesight seems to have... improved a bit, too?"

Reiichi Shigure’s professional knowledge told him that the enlightenment brought by the "Ling-Guang" (Spirit Light) did not include vision enhancement. He suppressed a smile and replied with practiced seriousness, "That’s impressive, Gongsun."

Gongsun Ce smacked his lips, half-doubting. "My appetite has decreased, too? I’m actually not that hungry."

He had slept from midnight until noon the next day; he should have been starving, but his stomach stubbornly insisted it could hold out for a while, perhaps even until dinner.

Gongsun Ce found this the most bizarre part. Almost all espers were big eaters; they burned energy quickly and grew hungry fast. Since using superpowers often consumed vast amounts of stamina and mental energy, eating was the most convenient way to replenish them. That was why the City of Sky was filled with strange, high-calorie food shops—they were a necessity for energy-projection-type users, who consumed the most and had the largest appetites.

Ignoring the special case of Qiluo, take the four-person group as an example: Caldesia, who set things on fire every other day, undoubtedly had the biggest appetite; Qin Qianbai, who was both a martial artist and an esper, took second place; Gongsun Ce regretfully stood on the third-place podium, while Reiichi Shigure’s appetite was basically no different from an ordinary person's.

It was probably only in this place that a young girl could stuff her face every day and still maintain such a perfect figure.

Gongsun Ce put his glasses back on, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Does the Ling-Guang provide a new source of energy? Is your small appetite related to you being a practitioner of the Law of Impermanence?"

Reiichi Shigure nodded, explaining, "Your general understanding is correct. The Ling-Guang is the power we hide within our hearts. It is the foundation that drives the Law of Impermanence and can also be used as an energy supplement for our superpowers."

It seemed that by igniting the Ling-Guang, he had gained an extra energy source, as if his heart had been granted a permanent buff. Gongsun Ce mentally formed this simple explanation, then thought: superpowers—or rather, the power of the Dragon Kind—originated from the human heart, and the Law of Impermanence was likewise a power of the inner self.

Now that he knew the Ling-Guang of the Law of Impermanence could act as an energy supplement for his superpowers, he wondered, if there was a connection between the illusory mind and the physical heart...

Gongsun Ce looked at the man in black and began, "Superpowers and the Law of Impermanence..."

Yan Qi’s eyes widened.

"Can't remember what I told you? Ask less, think less, and stop ruminating!"

Gongsun Ce didn't get angry; he just replied meekly, "Fine, I'll listen to you."

Goosebumps rose on Yan Qi's arms. He shook his hands vigorously and shouted, "Give him a mental check! His brain is definitely malfunctioning!"

Gongsun Ce slammed the table in frustration. "Can't I even be in a good mood without you complaining?! Do you only feel comfortable if I'm shouting at you every day?!"

The middle-aged painter took a sip of his wine and said with relief, "He's still salvageable; it’s not permanent schizophrenia."

"Screw you."

Reiichi Shigure almost laughed out loud. Realizing that if he didn't intervene, the two of them would go on forever, he quickly stepped in to ease the tension.

"Gongsun, you seem to have become more honest than you were in the past."

"Have I? I don't feel like I..." Gongsun Ce reflexively retorted, then lowered his head in silence.

He finished his large plate of fried rice in silence. During this time, he carefully sorted through what he had seen in his dreams, from the desert to his residence in the City of Sky, from the tunnel to the old apartment building, and finally to the process of confirming his "Heart Image." Recalling his strange state right before he woke up, Gongsun Ce broke into a cold sweat.

The gray-haired youth said with lingering fear, "My god, after I set my 'Silent Image,' I went completely insane. I almost walked directly into the path of the Silent Image without any preparation."

Yan Qi watched him closely, doubt still in his eyes. "That’s exactly what’s most dangerous, kid. Your talent guaranteed that you would run into trouble at the end of your first dream. How on earth did you wake yourself up?"

The esper felt incredibly awkward, thinking he could hardly say he woke up because he remembered being hugged by a girl a while ago. He rubbed his face and said clearly, "That concerns my personal privacy, so let's not mention it for now!"

Yan Qi crossed his legs and let out an incredulous, sarcastic "Oh~," and actually stopped asking.

Gongsun Ce recalled another bizarre event: the carpeted path of the "Wild Image." Deep in his heart, he could laugh it off, but in reality, the more he thought about it, the more his skin crawled.

Because that blue carpet had rolled out from within the path... it had appeared of its own accord from the depths of the path of the Wild Image!

Gongsun Ce recounted the incident in great detail to both of them, including his own reaction at the time. He asked nervously, "Is this why you don't let me contact the Wild Image? Is there something... deep inside the Law of the Wild Image?"

"Shut your mouth, kid," Yan Qi narrowed his eyes. "No thinking, no guessing. Don't tell me you can't do it—use that talent you usually use to fool yourself!"

Gongsun Ce took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead in distress.

Was there truly something deep within the Law of the Wild Image?

Gongsun Ce didn't dare to continue thinking. He followed instructions, placing heavy shackles on all thoughts related to the Law of the Wild Image. It sounded absurd, but for him, it was extremely simple—much easier than putting a cover on a wordless book.

When it came to self-deception, Gongsun Ce had always been quite talented.

He put his glasses back on and sighed, asking, "When will I be able to know some relevant information?"

"None of my business."

The bespectacled young man looked at his loyal friend from Zero Island. Reiichi Shigure hesitated and said, "At least wait until you enter the 'God-Communicating' realm; preferably after you reach the 'Manifestation' stage."

The God-Communicating realm was considered the backbone of official organizations; who knew when he would reach that! Gongsun Ce said, hopeless, "What about further background knowledge? I've already reached the 'Spirit-Illuminating' realm; surely I’m allowed to learn about the basic worldview?"

"Did you waste your time in class, huh?" Yan Qi mocked. "What kind of pig-brain do you have? You forgot everything I taught you last week?"

The esper was exasperated. "Is the story of the Emperor of Lingyang slaying the dragon really enough to count as background knowledge?!"

Yan Qi had told him the story of the origin of the Law of Impermanence, but the process was so brief it was only suitable as a five-minute bedtime story for a preschooler.

"What's the rush? I'll arrange some extracurricular tutoring for you later and have an overseas expert give you a crash course," the black-clad painter said mockingly. "For now, let's talk about the changes in your state of mind."

There were external tutors for this? Was his cheapskate teacher planning to slack off already?

He set aside his curiosity, ruminating on his experiences in the dream and the friend's previous remarks.

Changes in state of mind... huh?

"I might have become a bit more honest."

Gongsun Ce continued from where Reiichi Shigure had left off. "I don't intend to tell you what I saw in the dream; someone helped me interpret it. All I can say is the conclusion I reached."

He took a deep breath and spoke without hesitation.

"I am a person who cannot feel the meaning of existence and is self-loathing."

He no longer tried to hide it, nor did he deceive himself with layers of masks as he had in the past. This was the first time in his life that he had spoken his true nature aloud in the real world.

He suddenly felt a lightness in his heart—not the sense of fragmentation that comes from losing something precious, but the relief of dropping a heavy weight.

"I think this is my nature... I might be a terrible person who would think about suicide if I had no attachments," he summarized. "But I still have some attachments, so I have to find a way to live my life. That’s it, nothing more."

Gongsun Ce looked up at the two. This time, Yan Qi didn't mock him, but simply nodded. Reiichi Shigure looked at him with concern and said, "Do you want me to lend you my shoulder?"

"That's so homo, I don't want that!"

Gongsun Ce retorted reflexively, and the two of them laughed together.

Gongsun Ce marveled inwardly that he hadn't started wallowing in self-pity, but was instead laughing genuinely. He really did feel much lighter than before.

He scratched his head and asked, "So, how do I cultivate the next step of the Spirit-Illuminating realm?"

The man in black poured himself another glass of wine, drained it, and laughed, "What more is there to cultivate for Spirit-Illuminating? It's time to cultivate 'Clarity'!"

"...................... Huh?"

Gongsun Ce shrieked, "Am I already at the perfect, peak, great perfection, flawless stage of Spirit-Illuminating?"

"You have illuminated your nature and witnessed your true heart. What else is there to illuminate in your Ling-Guang?" Yan Qi countered. "Use it as a flashlight?"

The gray-haired youth began to ponder. The Dawn Knight had told him that the Ling-Guang and one's true nature were two sides of the same coin, both belonging to the root of the Law of Impermanence. Gongsun Ce had found the Ling-Guang and his true nature in this dream and had chosen the Heart Image that suited him best. If the cultivation of the Law of Impermanence was a journey deep into the heart, then his next step should be...

"I should figure out the cause of this nature?"

"Not entirely stupid, are you? That’s called 'Clarifying the Nature,'" Yan Qi grabbed a brush and drew something in the air. "Knowing the essence, and thus understanding oneself. Only after laying this foundation can you build a high tower."

With a few strokes, Yan Qi drew a lifelike object. It was long, with a thin barrel at the front and a wide stock at the back, its pitch-black exterior gleaming with a metallic luster, and a scope in the middle. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like...

"Tell me why you're drawing a sniper rifle."

Yan Qi chuckled and handed the ink-based sniper rifle to Reiichi Shigure. "Go test it from the longest distance!"

The young man in the suit returned an unrepentant look, found a pair of sniper earmuffs from somewhere, and walked out with the rifle.

Gongsun Ce was pushed out the door by Yan Qi, horrified. "What are you trying to do?!"

The middle-aged painter stroked his chin. "Don't make any preparations, and just stand there waiting without deliberately protecting yourself!"

This wasn't a joke. Gongsun Ce's superpower could deal with the conventional firepower of an army, but there was one prerequisite: he had to be in a highly alert, combat-ready state.

Telekinesis wasn't automatically triggered; it required the esper to have a reaction and the conscious intent to mobilize it. In a combat state, he would naturally keep protective power around him, but under normal circumstances, who would keep their mind highly focused at every moment? Even the espers in this city didn't spend their time worrying about over-the-horizon strikes from thousands of meters away.

He was currently in a state similar to being besieged by heavy machine guns.

Consequently, the esper was quite nervous; no one wanted to take a bullet for no reason. He walked into the courtyard, his teeth aching as he said, "I feel like my reaction speed has increased, but not to this..."

Before he could finish, he felt something terrifying in his heart.

The air was pierced by an object flying at high speed. A bullet arrived with enough kinetic energy to shatter human tissue; the sound of the gunshot hadn't even reached his ears before the bullet was about to touch his abdomen.

Reiichi Shigure hadn't gone looking for the "longest distance" at all; he had found a nearby vantage point and fired the shot at a moment when Gongsun Ce hadn't expected it at all!

The gray-haired youth's mind went blank. In an instant, he had no thoughts. His eyes couldn't see the bullet, his body couldn't move in time, and his nervous system's response speed couldn't keep up with the development. However, another feeling emerged just before he was hit—a ripple from the depths of his soul.

He followed this incredibly sensitive feeling and mobilized his superpower in a span of time so short that even he didn't know how long it was.

"—!"

The long-delayed gunshot brought a sharp whistle through the air, and a massive, mist-like sonic boom appeared in front of Gongsun Ce. The bullet, flying at supersonic speed, stopped just before completing its task. Under the control of his telekinesis, it revealed its true form, turning into a mundane drop of ink.

Cold sweat dripped from Gongsun Ce’s forehead. He took a long moment to recover before turning back to say, "...It seems I’m fast enough."

He saw Yan Qi holding a handgun as well, and the muzzle flared just as he had let his guard down. The jerk had used a live round, and the bullet was heading straight for his forehead!

This time, the esper crushed the bullet in mid-air and shouted in a rage, "Are you finished yet?!"

Yan Qi lowered the muzzle and offered a rare compliment: "Not bad."

·

An hour later, the three of them returned to the room. After a series of subsequent tests, the conclusions were as follows:

Gongsun Ce’s range and maximum output remained largely unchanged, but his reaction speed and control precision had improved significantly compared to the past. He now had the ability to protect himself against over-the-horizon attacks even in a normal state, and he could perform more delicate feats.

On the other hand, his maximum production of "White Matter" had increased, while the speed at which he could mobilize it remained essentially the same.

"I think I can now thread a needle with a dozen threads at the same time while blindfolded, maybe even more," Gongsun Ce asked seriously. "Is the Law of Impermanence in the Spirit-Illuminating realm really this powerful?"

Reiichi Shigure thought about what would happen if he told the truth, fearing his friend might become overly arrogant. He felt a heartfelt sigh that being a mentor or senior to this guy wasn't an easy job—he almost wanted to lie to him... but one couldn't joke about serious matters.

"The Spirit-Illuminating realm is the introductory stage of the Law of Impermanence. What the Ling-Guang can do is keep the practitioner mentally alert, physically energetic, increase intuition, and improve reaction speed. Beyond that, it provides at most a trivial effect based on the practitioner's primary Heart Image... for instance, a practitioner of the 'Spirit-Image' Law can increase the persuasiveness of their words."

"Wait, then what about the rune I used before?"

Reiichi Shigure and Yan Qi exchanged a glance and replied, "Generally speaking, basic runes are abilities that can only be used after reaching the 'Clarity' stage."

And he had been able to use the effects of runes before he even reached the Spirit-Illuminating realm.

Gongsun Ce took off his glasses, wiped his hair, and said in deep melancholy:

"I really don't want to admit it, but it seems I am indeed a peerless genius in the cultivation of the Law of Impermanence."

*You are indeed a peerless genius at making people angry,* Reiichi Shigure thought silently to himself.