Chapter 88: Arrival at the Provincial Capital

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Arrival at the Provincial Capital

The giant screen was still replaying the moment when Albert was defeated by Xia Zhe in a single move. Albert’s speed had reached its absolute limit—even slowed down tenfold, the footage was difficult for viewers to process. In the final critical instant, Albert pushed beyond his limits, darting from Xia Zhe’s front to his rear in a blink, yet even the replay couldn’t capture it accurately.

If it had been any other ability user, even some at the A-class level, they likely wouldn’t have been able to react to Albert’s super-speed movement—let alone launch an attack. The interval between actions was at most two seconds, but Xia Zhe’s attack landed precisely within those two seconds.

“At the very last moment, Xia Zhe—who had been at a disadvantage—counterattacked and clinched victory. Unbelievable!” Philina was still effusive in her praise as the replay rolled, and the audience’s cheers reached their highest decibel.

Xia Zhe slowly circled the barrier, bowed to the crowd in gratitude, and then returned to the lounge. Menghu and Nalan Sheng rushed to him from either side, leaping into his arms. Nalan Sheng, overjoyed, didn’t bother to hold back.

“Brother, you’re amazing!” Nalan Sheng kissed Xia Zhe’s cheek in admiration.

Menghu, unwilling to be left out, kissed the other side of Xia Zhe’s face, clinging to his arm and rubbing it against her ample chest until an annoyed Nalan Sheng kicked her away.

After a round of playful banter, the three left together, only to find numerous media outlets waiting outside to interview Xia Zhe. He hadn’t expected that even a mere qualifier would attract such attention. In truth, it was largely due to his feud with the Hoffman family, coupled with the recent coverage by Xinhuo Network, which had dramatically boosted his fame. His name now resonated throughout the Federation, accounting for the heightened scrutiny.

The other advancing contestants glanced around, realizing no one was interested in interviewing them, while Xia Zhe was the darling of the media. Disheartened, they muttered among themselves.

“It’s maddening how comparisons can kill hope,” someone sighed.

“Yeah, this kid hasn’t even been in the scene a full year, and he’s soared so quickly,” another groused.

“It’s all because of his ties to the Shentu family—and that little girlfriend from the Nalan clan, isn’t it?”

Suddenly, everyone recalled that even if Xia Zhe weren’t an ability user, his reputation would still precede him, leaving them somewhat deflated. After all, he excelled in both intellect and combat; to keep grumbling would seem pointless.

Escaping the press, Xia Zhe and his companions boarded the Foundation’s car. Having cleared the third qualifying round, they would compete in the fourth in two days, heading to the provincial capital of Trusvan Province—Bradia. If they passed the next round, they’d proceed directly to the national capital—Azure City—for the group stage of the main event.

“Brother, when Uncle and Aunt ask about your situation, are you still insisting they don’t watch the live broadcast?” Nalan Sheng leaned on Xia Zhe’s shoulder, asking softly.

Xia Zhe always worried his parents might struggle to accept his identity as an ability user—especially when witnessing his battles. So he hadn’t allowed them to watch the live broadcasts, suggesting instead they catch the edited highlights afterward. After all, the edited footage only included promotional, exciting moments, omitting anything too bloody or unsettling.

“Yes, my parents are quite traditional. Their understanding of ability users is more career-oriented, not about fighting or violence. I don’t want them to see those scenes,” Xia Zhe said, hugging Nalan Sheng tightly. Menghu had already gone ahead to Trusvan Province to make arrangements. She still saw herself as a servant, though Xia Zhe had never regarded her as such.

To spend more time with Xia Zhe, she’d even turned down all entertainment work lately. Making money simply held little allure for her now.

The car drove straight to Bradia, avoiding any unnecessary delays. After passing the round successfully, Xia Zhe felt exhaustion wash over him again and soon fell asleep with his head resting on Nalan Sheng’s lap.

Nalan Sheng stroked Xia Zhe’s hair and face, wishing these days could last forever.

With Xia Zhe’s fame growing, Nalan Zhi and Nalan Rong no longer interfered with her relationship with him, though they showed no overt warmth, merely offering convenience and support to Nalan Sheng in secret, remaining silent towards Xia Zhe.

Bradia was over four hundred kilometers from Portland. Several hours later, it was around ten at night when they finally arrived at their hotel.

After a few hours of sleep, Xia Zhe was refreshed, though Nalan Sheng yawned repeatedly, likely from tending to him all the way.

After a simple dinner, Xia Zhe told Nalan Sheng to bathe and rest, while he went up to the rooftop to cultivate.

The hotel was a classic hot spring inn, located on the southern outskirts of Bradia. The setting was tranquil, far from the city center’s commotion. On match day, it was only an hour’s drive to the venue.

Seated cross-legged on the rooftop, Xia Zhe slowly restored his mental energy, replenishing the spiritual consciousness in his mind. He had removed the Moonlight Wristlet and placed it in his storage pouch; it was of little use during cultivation, best reserved for combat.

“After opening my mind-sea, my mental recovery is indeed faster than before. But since restoring spiritual consciousness demands immense mental energy, and the skills I’ve learned consume a lot, I always feel on the brink of depletion,” Xia Zhe mused ruefully. Chen Xiu’s research seemed stalled, unlikely to make breakthroughs soon, even with a dedicated reward fund of a million.

The supply of Energy Pills was limited and their efficacy not ideal. The Moonlight Wristlet could restore energy quickly, but in extreme combat situations—if several skills were used in succession, draining all mental energy, then needing to unleash a high-level skill—the Wristlet alone wouldn’t suffice. Unless there was a way to instantly refill mental energy and restore spiritual consciousness.

After much thought, he saw no solution and shifted focus to practicing mental force. His control over it was becoming more refined, able to minimize the environmental impact to negligible levels.

In the final battle with Albert, few realized that the moment Albert moved at super-speed behind him to fire, Xia Zhe used the mental force “Repulsion.” Though brief, it was effective—Albert paused for about a second, likely unaware, as was everyone else.

That one-second interruption allowed Xia Zhe to seize the moment and unleash the improved “Divine Thunder,” defeating Albert in a single strike.

Now, on the rooftop, Xia Zhe repeatedly switched between “Attraction” and “Repulsion” mental forces, his figure flickering eerily in the moonlight, impossible to track. His range had extended to over fifty meters, and there seemed room for improvement.

Though still short of a perfect “Attraction,” the gap was small. With a few more days of practice, he believed he’d master it.

A few minutes later, Xia Zhe had to stop—his spiritual consciousness was nearly exhausted again. Mental force consumed it too quickly.

“How frustrating, only able to sustain it for such a short time. If I could maintain it for twenty to thirty minutes like Albert, my combat power would soar,” Xia Zhe sighed, resuming his meditation to restore mental energy.

As he continued cultivating Divine Path, both his mind-sea capacity and recovery speed increased slowly. After defeating Albert, he could feel a clear one-percent rise in mind-sea capacity, as well as recovery speed, though such gains were minimal.

“Right, President He once recommended I download the Association’s internal app—apparently, it’s a forum for mentalists to exchange ideas. Maybe others have researched this more deeply,” Xia Zhe recalled, immediately pulling out his phone to locate the app he’d downloaded but never opened.

He remembered the account and password President He sent him, logged in, and chose auto-login.

The app opened to a cosmic star motif, with a spinning yin-yang eight-trigram symbol at the center. As the trigram rotated, the stars shifted and a section appeared.

His freshly registered account was LV0—a rookie able only to read posts, not reply or comment, and limited to browsing the “General Exchange” section.

Xia Zhe didn’t mind and entered the section, scanning post titles. The interface was simpler than most apps, focused on academic and research discussions, experience sharing, and basic trading.

[Trade] “Mentalist newbie’s top-tier Peach Blossom Fan for sale—weapon or decor, refined or rustic, no nonsense, quick deal, ninety-five percent off for cool brothers and sisters.”

[Exchange] “LV1 newbie asking kind veterans: how should mentalists cultivate early-stage mental energy? Please help me out.”

[Help] “I excavated what seems to be an ancient manual in a remote southern border town’s underground tomb. Can any experts authenticate it? Reward offered.”

There were many such posts, and Xia Zhe read them with fascination, as if he’d entered a new world.

Unfortunately, his account level was too low to use keyword search. It required daily check-ins and accumulating points—reaching 100 would upgrade him to LV1 “Early Bird,” unlocking the feature (with three uses per day).

So Xia Zhe could only browse one by one, searching for what he needed. After over an hour, he finally found an old post from two years ago—a cultivation insight from a veteran, her ID now marked with an “Expert” tag. The app’s culture was interesting; everyone used nicknames regardless of status or fame, as if they were just netizens, somewhat like a full roleplay. The expert’s nickname was “Midnight Fragrance,” sounding feminine.

[Exchange] “On the feasibility of mentalists condensing mental pearls for instant and rapid mental energy recovery. Purely technical post—no complaints, please.”

“This is it,” Xia Zhe’s eyes lit up as he read the title.