Chapter 53: Telekinesis Begins to Take Shape, Testing Soul Skills
The principle behind telekinesis sounded deceptively simple—using one's willpower to control matter or energy.
But when it came to actually doing it, things were far from easy. Even after more than an hour of focusing all his spiritual power and staring fixedly at the teacup in front of him, Lin Beiya couldn't get it to budge in the slightest.
Not only that, but the exhaustion that followed prolonged concentration left him barely able to endure.
"It seems that even if telekinesis can be cultivated, it definitely isn't something achieved in a single leap. It'll take day-by-day accumulation."
In the days that followed, aside from taking Hu Liena to the back mountain for physical training, Lin Beiya spent nearly all his remaining time in his room practicing telekinesis. His method was straightforward—continuously using his willpower to try and manipulate the teacup on the table.
Once his mind became fatigued, he would meditate to cultivate soul power.
Even with the experiences of two lifetimes, this dull and repetitive process wore him down. After all, he had no idea whether he even possessed the talent for telekinesis. All he could do was repeat the same basic operation endlessly.
Half a month later, Hu Liena—who had possessed innate soul power of rank nine and a half—successfully advanced her soul power to rank ten. After reporting to Bibi Dong, she was escorted out to hunt her first soul ring.
With the noisy little girl suddenly gone, Lin Beiya found himself oddly unaccustomed to the silence, prompting him to shake his head with a helpless smile.
After finishing his physical training, Lin Beiya returned to his telekinesis practice. Half a month without progress gradually smothered the enthusiasm he had begun with.
After nearly two hours of fruitless concentration, he finally prepared to end the day's telekinesis training.
"Looks like I really don't have talent in this area. I'll need to try developing other superpowers instead."
The Sixth Sense could awaken more than just telekinesis—elemental manipulation, mental control, mind-reading, etc. Lin Beiya planned to try each one in turn until he found the ability he could actually cultivate and then push forward with it.
He cast one last unwilling glance at the teacup on the dining table five meters away, furrowing his brows as he decided to make one final attempt.
Forcing his already exhausted mind to focus once more, he concentrated all his intent on the cup.
Ten seconds passed. Lin Beiya sighed inwardly and withdrew his focus.
But just then, the teacup trembled slightly under his gaze—only for a moment before returning to stillness.
It wasn't enough to be considered noteworthy—but what truly made Lin Beiya's heart race wasn't the movement itself. It was the fact that the teacup had finally gone from zero to one.
This meant that the path of telekinesis wasn't entirely closed to him after all. Whether his talent was high or low would depend on his future accumulation.
Rubbing his aching temples, Lin Beiya forced down the joy bubbling in his chest.
"It seems teleportation or mental binding might really be achievable in the future… I'll keep working hard!"
…
Three days later, the cup on the dining table no longer trembled faintly like before. Under Lin Beiya's will, it now shook violently.
He still couldn't lift it into the air, but three days wasn't nearly enough time to accomplish that. Still, there was no doubt—his intent had begun to fully act upon the teacup. As long as he continued strengthening his mental power, levitating it was only a matter of time.
Just as Lin Beiya prepared to begin the day's physical training beneath the morning sun, Hu Liena—absent for three days—quietly returned.
"Senior Brother, quick, quick… Come look at my first soul ring!"
Becoming a Soul Master marked the first true step on the path of cultivation. The little girl was bursting with excitement. And perhaps it was just Lin Beiya's imagination, but after absorbing her soul ring, her martial soul's charm seemed noticeably stronger.
Looking at her faint yellow soul ring, Lin Beiya revealed a knowing smile. He had walked this exact path himself.
"Not bad. But don't slack off in your future cultivation. As the Pope's disciple, countless eyes will be watching you. The moment your strength doesn't match your position… you'll drown under criticism."
"Uh…"
"I understand, Senior Brother. I won't slack off."
The excitement in Hu Liena's eyes dimmed slightly. Lin Beiya's words placed a subtle pressure on her. As Bibi Dong's disciple, her cultivation resources were far better than anyone else's—but the pressure that came with it often left her struggling to breathe.
"Your talent is already quite good. As long as you continue training diligently, you'll easily surpass others. There's no need to worry too much."
"Use your first soul skill on me. I want to see its strength."
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
Lin Beiya's gentle reassurance instantly cleared away her anxiety. The little fox girl eagerly activated her first soul ring.
"Senior Brother, my first soul ring came from a 400-year-old Crimson Flame Fire Fox. The skill is called Foxfire Command. It releases high-temperature flames that corrode spiritual power. You have to be careful."
A light pink fox martial soul appeared behind her, and pale red flames wrapped around it. As the fire intensified to its limit, Hu Liena guided the flames and sent them surging toward Lin Beiya.
"Crystal Wall!"
He still couldn't properly execute Stardust Revolution, but Crystal Wall was something he could already release without relying on his Gold Cloth's power.
A transparent barrier materialized before them. The foxfire splashed against it, completely absorbed without causing even the slightest disturbance.
"The power is only at the level of a typical Soul Master attack. That shouldn't be everything it can do."
Thinking this, Hu Liena's earlier words resurfaced in his mind. The "spiritual corrosion" aspect, however, that part intrigued him.
He extended a finger toward the Crystal Wall. A faint red soul power flickered, instantly transforming into flame that ignited at his fingertip.
A subtle sting hit the deepest part of his soul, making Lin Beiya's brows twitch slightly.
On the other side, Hu Liena tensed with worry, terrified that she might hurt him.
She was clearly overthinking it. With her current level of soul power, the most she could inflict on Lin Beiya was a faint, negligible pain.
A golden spiral of light rotated in Lin Beiya's hand, and the pale red flame—just beginning to burn more fiercely—was snuffed out in an instant.
He dispersed the Crystal Wall. Under Hu Liena's eager gaze, he pondered briefly before speaking:
"The fire's raw power isn't high. Plenty of Soul Masters could block it. But the spiritual corrosion… even a Soul Grandmaster would need to be careful. Techniques that burn spiritual power are extremely rare."
"Really?"
Hu Liena had felt a little disappointed when he said her flames weren't very strong, but hearing that her soul skill could force even Soul Grandmasters to tread carefully, her little fox tail practically curled up in pride. She couldn't hide her bright smile.
Seeing this, Lin Beiya didn't dampen her enthusiasm. He simply nodded with complete sincerity.
Truthfully, even though her flames couldn't harm him, how could Lin Beiya's spiritual power be compared to that of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster?
Not to mention his cosmo—those three years of relentless five-sense training had forged his spiritual strength far beyond any peer. Even among advanced soul master academies, no one could match him in this department.
Against Lin Beiya, Hu Liena's attack did almost nothing—but against other opponents, the outcome could be vastly different.
Some might be hit so hard by the spiritual pain that they couldn't even muster a proper counterattack.
"The strength is indeed not bad. But your first soul ring doesn't provide much enhancement to your physical body. If you want to absorb higher-year soul rings in the future, you'll need to keep pushing your physical training even harder."
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End of Chapter