Chapter 18: Eve of the Psionic Society's Assessment

Tang Mu always had a habit of never deviating from his plans. He stopped going to the gym over the following four days and only concentrated on training his psionic powers.

Every night, he would meditate for three hours using the Star God Celestial Diagram. And by constantly consuming one or two crystals of the red-tier origin essence from the painting world, he would continue taking firm and solid steps towards fully unlocking his chakra and becoming a true-blue rank-one psionic with every training session.

Of course, his progress was no longer as abnormally fast as the first time he had sensed his Galactic Chakra. After each night of meditation, his fists would only gain about 20 Kg of additional force, while his leg attacks would only improve by about 35 Kg of power.

Most probably, the effects of the psionic force baptism on his body were gradually diminishing as he approached that crucial bottleneck that stopped most citizens of the Earth Federation from becoming true-blue psionics.

Time passed quickly, and the four days eventually elapsed. It was already Thursday evening, the eve of the Psionic Society's assessment.

Tang Mu sat cross-legged on his bed while maintaining the already familiar breathing pattern from the Star God Celestial Manual. Aside from that, he was also constantly visualizing the esoteric cognitive image of the Galactic Chakra located three feet above his head.

Tang Mu had already descended into a bizarre meditative state.

With every breath he took, a surge of energy would flow out of the cognitive manifestation of his Galactic Chakra and cycle through his body. And then, with every revolution, a vague feeling of comfort would overflow from deep within him as the surging energy reinvigorated his body and pushed his muscle strength to monstrous levels.

What he was going through was the process of the psionic energy baptism experienced by all pseudo-rank-ones wishing to strengthen their living aspects before eventually shattering the bottleneck to rank-one.

By relying on the weak link formed by the cognitive image of the first chakra they sensed, they would invoke traces of psionic energy from their esoteric body.

They would tap into that energy from a different plane of existence and use it to nourish and strengthen their physical body in the real world. Then, after their fitness reached the required threshold, they would rely on their willpower to unlock their chakras fully, thereby ascending to the mighty level of a true-blue rank-one psionic.

Due to Little Green's assurances, Tang Mu had expected to shatter the bottleneck to rank one before undergoing the Psionic Society's assessment. However, events had progressed much slower than he had envisioned, and he hadn't achieved his goals.

It was already the eve of the Psionic Society's assessment. But even then, even after training consistently with the Star God Celestial Diagram for the previous four nights, he hadn't unlocked his Galactic Chakra fully and become a rank-one psionic.

He was still a pseudo-rank-one without any awakened superpower to call his own.

"Three hours are up," Little Green's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. "You should end tonight's meditation with the Star God Celestial Diagram."

"Oh, okay." Tang Mu made a mental acknowledgment and broke out of his meditative state. He clenched and unclenched his fist, hoping to ascertain how much he had improved that night.

I haven't made much progress today.

My fist force should still be close to 1100 kg, while my leg power should be around 1800 kg. Fortunately, this is enough to pass the Psionic Society's assessment tomorrow.

Tang Mu wasn't worried about the assessment since he had already sensed his first chakra and became a pseudo-rank-one. Instead, he was much more bothered by his failure to meet his expectations and become an official rank-one psionic, even after meditating for days with the Star God Celestial Diagram.

"Little Green!" He called out in his mind. "Didn't you say that visualizing the Star God Celestial Diagram would help me unlock my first chakra and become a rank-one within days?"

"Why haven't I reached the bottleneck of becoming a rank-one even after consistently meditating with the technique for four days? Am I not doing something right? Or could it be that I need to use a psionic crystal to push past this barrier?"

"There's no need for you to rely on those low-quality psionic crystals," Little Green answered. "Just know that your case is a bit special. The first chakra you sensed on your path to becoming a psionic was the Galactic Chakra."

"As I already said, this is a very mysterious energy center that can even touch upon the profound laws of the universe. You can only persist and strive for a few more days before opening this chakra. Moreover, you will be in for a pleasant surprise after fully tapping into the powers of the chakra."

"Oh! So, that's the case." Tang Mu's eyes lit up. "Then, I'll continue meditating until I unlock the Galactic Chakra. Let's hope it will help me awaken a mighty superpower after I become a rank-one. Something like telekinesis or darkness manipulation would be enough for me to rise in this intergalactic era..."

Tang Mu yearned to advance to the level of rank one as soon as possible. More than anything, he wished to awaken a potent superpower and grow even more powerful, as that was the only way he could become a dragon among men in the intergalactic era.

Those aliens have also been trying to destroy us for centuries.

I must strengthen myself to fight against them. I must become more powerful to protect myself and my homeland.

As thoughts about alien enemies flashed through his brain, Tang Mu's expression grew more solemn. The gears in his mind continued turning until he started recalling bits and pieces of Earth's recent history.

Major intergalactic events only began with the invention of warp technology roughly one thousand two hundred years ago.

Earth rapidly experienced a technology boom and officially entered the intergalactic era. Groups of adventurous scientists, accompanied by Earth's armies, then relied on their newly developed warp engines to quickly start exploring the zones at the far edges and beyond the Milky Way Galaxy.

What followed was a brief period of great success, with many resources constantly mined from the celestial bodies and high-dimensional spaces within and beyond the Milky Way borders. Those rare extraterrestrial resources were the crucial catalyst that boosted Earth's technological evolution further at the time.

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Everything was going great, and Earth's government started making plans to expand the exploration of the territories beyond the Milky Way. But during the Year 133 of the Neo-intergalactic Calendar, a rare encounter with the Vegroids, who happened to be a group of terrifying alien enemies with mysterious origins, changed everything.

After diplomatic efforts failed, a bloody war with the Vegroids commenced around the borders of the Milky Way. Naturally, Earth's fleets suffered defeat after defeat against the more technologically advanced Vegroids before beating a hasty retreat. They halted all their plans to explore the regions outside the Milky Way, with all fleets from Earth choosing to huddle up within their solar system while licking their wounds.

However, the Vegroids were not about to let up the pressure even after chasing the Earthlings from the territories beyond the Milky Way. The aliens followed the tracks left by the retreating fleets and arrived within Earth's solar system within three years. They then started a full-blown offensive against Earth.

The Vegroids fought relentlessly, and for years, they used many tactics to assault and harass Earth's armies, colonized planets, and space stations. It was as if they were hell-bent on exterminating Earthlings off the face of the Milky Way.

But as with most historical events, there have always been positives and negatives of every situation, however dire. Likewise, the war with the Vegroids didn't just bring misery but also benefits to Earth's budding space civilization.

Firstly, the immense pressure from the Vegroids forced Earth's various discordant groups and races with conflicting interests to unite under the banner of fighting a common enemy. Secondly, Earth's already rocketing civilization underwent another heavenly-shaking technological revolution as the unified Earthlings went all out to fight the superior alien enemies.

The fight for survival was the best catalyst for a civilization to progress, and groups of scientists worked around the clock to develop mighty weapons to combat the growing threat of the Vegroids. Fortunately, the efforts paid off, and Earth soon achieved its first victory in its long war with the Vegroids. Earth's army managed to expel the main Vegroid army from the star systems close to Earth during the year 169 of the Neo-intergalactic Calendar.

That victory was what marked the beginning of another revolution.

With the threat of alien enemies from beyond the Milky Way still looming over every Earthling's mind, the government decided to put another plan in action. It was a plan to boost Earth's combat abilities in outer space by producing even more heaven-defying weapons to destroy enemies.

Additionally, the government set aside funds to encourage top scientists and researchers to explore the notion of humans developing superpowers that would allow them to fare better in outer space warfare.

A few years passed, and during the year 177 of the Neo-intergalactic Calendar, a group of scientists and doctors studying the human brain uncovered a series of techniques to strengthen human mental capacity.

Originally, the scientists developed the techniques with the sole intent of helping soldiers and spacecraft pilots to focus better during crucial moments of combat. But later, during the year 189 of the Neo-intergalactic Calendar, a daredevil soldier named Axel Skog, who later became known as the forefather of all psionics, conducted a crazy experiment on himself.

Maybe out of ignorance or sheer madness, he ran his mental strengthening technique while absorbing a then-hazardous extraterrestrial energy resource called a psionic crystal.

Axel Skog almost died due to the influx of dangerous psionic energy within his body. But when he passed the critical stage and eventually woke up, he realized that a miracle had happened within his body.

Axel Skog had gained a superpower called telekinesis, which quickly allowed him to become a god of war on the battlefield. As he grew stronger, his flying knives and other projectiles became the nemesis of all enemy Vegroids he chanced upon, causing everyone to sigh with wonder.

Of course, the government scientists and researchers already somehow understood how he had gained his superpowers. They didn't waste time following his example and conducting more experiments.

Countless failures followed, and many experimental subjects perished as the scientists tried to uncover the secret of awakening superpowers in the human body.

Eventually, after three decades of trial and error, they established that only people with strengthened bodies and incredible willpower beyond a certain threshold could successfully absorb the psionic crystals to become super-powered individuals.

The discovery seemed simple, but it was ground-breaking.

The scientists had finally understood the core concept behind awakening superpowers in its totality, and they wasted no time delving into their research again.

They combined knowledge from various disciplines, such as ancient Chinese medicine, Hinduism, body-strengthening yoga, modern physiology, neuroscience, psychology, and ontology, to advance their metaphysical studies.

They also investigated many texts from excavated extraterrestrial ruins until they made some headway. Eventually, they worked out suitable procedures to follow and awaken superpowers using mental and body-strengthening techniques in conjunction with psionic crystals.

Those techniques and procedures were what evolved into the psionic arts of today, and their discovery caused humans to experience another earth-shaking change.

With the government's mighty hand moving things in the background, more people quickly learned about the sacred benefits of mental and body-strengthening techniques. They trained in them while using psionic crystals, and following that, more Earthlings quickly developed supernatural powers to give rise to the age of super-powered individuals called psionics.

What followed was only natural.

The development of those psionics caused Earth to fare even better during the skirmishes against the Vegroids in outer space.

A few decades later, during the year 294 of the Neo-intergalactic Calendar, the confidence of the psionics grew, and they grouped together to lead a full-scale offensive against the alien armies. And without even relying on superior technological weapons, they beat the Vegroids black and blue until they chased their main army out of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It was Earth's first major victory against the Vegroids. As such, it had far-reaching implications, especially for the psionics - the new breed of super-powered individuals who had contributed immensely during the war.

Earth's government and the entire populace started favoring the psionics, and their status slowly soared far and beyond the reaches of what common folk could fathom.

They became nobility on the planet, and for hundreds of years, even until the present, they continued enjoying all the pleasures of life, including wealth, power, women, and everything else they could ever want. This was Earth's history.

Tang Mu sighed to himself as the information quickly flashed through his mind.

He understood that if some of the humans hadn't evolved and become powerful psionics, then the only fate for Earth would have been total destruction under the continuous assaults of the Vegroids. This was the sad truth since human technology had not advanced to a realm strong enough to match the Vegroids.

"Why does your mood seem down?" Little Green's voice suddenly sounded in Tang Mu's mind. "Are you still worried about your training progress?"

"Not at all," Tang Mu replied with an audible sigh. "I'm just thinking about those aliens called Vegroids. They seem hell-bent on destroying my race and have been at war with the Earth Federation for centuries. Moreover, they are the enemies that led to the death of my parents twelve years ago. Just thinking about them causes my mood to turn very sour."

"Ohh," Little Green said. "Are the Vegroids you're talking about shorter versions of you humans with blue skin and three eyes?"

"Yes, that's them," Tang Mu replied. "I picked the star orb from a crash site of one of their ships."

"Then, you don't need to worry," Little Green assured. "Those Vegroids should be another weak race with measly potential in your universe. Their top-most combat strength should only include sages."

"If you continue training with the Star God Celestial Diagram, it shouldn't take long before you gain the required powers to defeat those sages. After that, you can effortlessly destroy their whole race and stop their continuous harassment of your homeland once and for all. It's as simple as that."

"I understand," Tang Mu said. "I'll work hard to grow my powers from now on. Thanks for the encouraging words."

"No problem," Little Green said.

Tang Mu smiled and jumped off the bed. His mood had lightened after he had comprehended Little Green's words. He quickly headed to the bathroom and took a warm shower before drying himself and returning to bed to sleep.

He had already finished making all his preparations for the following day. He had even risen to the level of a pseudo-rank-one and advanced his powers by leaps and bounds. What remained was for him to attend the Psionic Society's assessment and pass with flying colors.