Chapter 20: The Dark Golden Orb

In the quiet bedroom, the lights were off.

In the dimness, Luo Feng sat on a small personal sofa nearby, his heart unable to calm, “This power is too strong. An ordinary police small-caliber handgun would probably only leave a tiny hole in that garden rock. Yet when I control the steel thorns, I easily pierce through the entire rockery, the power increased dozens or even hundreds of times!”

The battle between humans and monsters had lasted for decades, and the reason for never achieving victory was because the monsters were simply too powerful.

Within the monster population, there were both strong and weak.

Even the weakest monster could easily ignore small-caliber handguns. Not only monsters, even the weakest human warriors could generally block bullets from such weapons with their muscles alone. As for powerful monsters, they were completely unaffected by conventional firearms. Only some heavy sniper rifles, large-caliber machine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and even cannons could pose a threat to them!

Of course, some peak monsters, such as the “Black-Crowned Golden Eagle,” could not even have a single feather shattered despite being bombarded by a 20mm Vulcan cannon! That was truly terrifying.

“I can actually control objects from a distance. This… could it be…” A thought suddenly struck Luo Feng, “Could this be the ‘Psychic Power’ of a Mentalist?”

As for Mentalists, Luo Feng knew very little.

Still, he knew some basic facts: Mentalists were also powerful warriors who cultivated genetic energy, just like other martial artists. However, in addition to cultivating genetic energy, Mentalists also cultivated a second form of energy—Psychic Energy! This Psychic Energy was commonly known as “Psychic Power.”

“But whether this is truly Psychic Power or not, I’ll need to investigate further in the future to confirm,” Luo Feng mused silently.

As for Mentalists, from childhood to now, he had only ever seen one.

That was the mysterious black-robed, silver-haired man whom Master Wutong of the Yangzhou City Limit Pavilion had referred to as “the captain.”

“The piercing power of the steel thorns is strong, but even heat-based weapons are useless against monsters at the level of the Black-Crowned Golden Eagle. Only laser cannons or nuclear weapons could pose a threat to them,” Luo Feng was well aware that although his current strength was astonishing, there were many existences in the world that were ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times stronger than him!

For instance, that peerless martial artist who had appeared in an online video, killing a Black-Crowned Golden Eagle—

His movement speed could exceed the speed of sound! A single slash could cleave the Black-Crowned Golden Eagle in two! A single kick could destroy a six-story residential building!

That was the power of a peerless martial artist.

“And the number one warrior in the world, ‘Hong,’ and the second strongest, ‘Thunder God,’ can even make the five major world powers treat them as equals!” Luo Feng took a deep breath. To have a nation treat an individual as an equal, one could imagine just how formidable such warriors must be.

“Even controlling steel thorns, I probably wouldn’t even be able to touch their bodies,” Luo Feng reminded himself. Although he was already very strong, there were still many stronger warriors out there.

Even with that reminder…

The distance between those peerless warriors and Luo Feng felt too far away. Right now, Luo Feng’s strength alone was enough to provide his parents and younger brother with a life of comfort.

“Keep striving!”

“I’m still young. Perhaps in the future, I’ll also step into the circle of the world’s greatest experts.” Luo Feng was filled with anticipation.

…

In this quiet bedroom, Luo Feng had awakened his abilities, and excitement made it difficult for him to fall asleep.

“Whatever, today was too exciting. I probably won’t be able to sleep easily. I might as well cultivate genetic energy instead.” Luo Feng sat cross-legged on the bed, adopting the posture of the Five Hearts Facing Heaven, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

Because he had experienced it once before, and because he already had genetic energy within his body,

It was easy for him to sense the presence of cosmic energy.

“Silk silk~~” Cosmic energy flowed into his body through the soles of his feet, the centers of his palms, and the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head. “Today, the speed of absorbing cosmic energy seems even faster than before.” The cosmic energy entered Luo Feng’s body through five channels, and every single cell in his body eagerly devoured this miraculous cosmic energy.

Through the mitochondria within the cells, the cosmic energy was transformed into genetic energy.

“Strange? My head…” Luo Feng sensed that a large amount of cosmic energy was rushing into his brain, and as his consciousness focused there.

Boom!

It was as if his entire soul had trembled. After that, Luo Feng was shocked to discover… his consciousness had arrived at a mysterious place.

This mysterious place was boundless, filled with endless mist swirling around. In the center of this mist, there was a dark golden sphere, slowly rotating like a star, continuously emitting streams of mist, constantly increasing the amount of mist in this mysterious place.

“This mist… is it… is this Psychic Power?” Luo Feng easily sensed that this misty force was exactly the same as the Psychic Power he used to control objects.

“And furthermore—”

Luo Feng clearly saw that thin strands of transparent energy were continuously seeping in from outside this mysterious place and were quickly transformed into misty energy. His consciousness also sensed that this transparent energy was cosmic energy.

“The mist is Psychic Power, while the transparent energy is cosmic energy. Cosmic energy is absorbed here and transformed into Psychic Power. My Psychic Power all originates from my brain,” Luo Feng’s heart trembled. “Is this place my brain? Or rather, is this my Consciousness Sea?”

The Consciousness Sea was a specific term martial artists used to refer to the brain.

“In the center of my Consciousness Sea, how come there’s a dark golden sphere?” Luo Feng’s consciousness observed in confusion. This slowly rotating dark golden sphere continuously emitted streams of mist (Psychic Power), and as it released these streams of Psychic Power, Luo Feng also felt his Consciousness Sea becoming very comfortable.

“I’ve fainted several times since childhood. It must have been because of this dark golden sphere,” Luo Feng had a sudden intuition.

“This dark golden sphere emits Psychic Power?”

“And before, I didn’t have any Psychic Power. It was only after this fainting episode that I gained it,” Luo Feng thought. “So it must have been during this fainting episode that the dark golden sphere released a large amount of Psychic Power, not only granting me powerful Psychic Power but also simultaneously transforming my body.”

His physical condition was strong, but compared to Psychic Power, it was far inferior.

“That’s right.”

“Earlier, when that group of prisoners attacked me, one of them threw a throwing knife at me. When the knife was about to pierce my shoulder, it suddenly changed direction. That must have been my Psychic Power at work.” Based on the facts, Luo Feng easily deduced some truths.

Indeed, it was during this fainting episode that the dark golden sphere released a large amount of Psychic Power.

However, in reality, on the very first night Luo Feng entered the prison cell and began cultivating genetic energy and absorbing cosmic energy, his Consciousness Sea had already begun to change. Even if the throwing knife incident hadn’t occurred, and the dark golden sphere hadn’t released a large amount of Psychic Power prematurely, over time, he would naturally develop Psychic Power.

The throwing knife attack merely accelerated his awakening.

“In the past, my headaches and fainting spells were most likely caused by this dark golden sphere. But now, the dark golden sphere continuously releases Psychic Power, so I probably won’t faint anymore,” Luo Feng felt. It was as if a dam had been built to hold back a flood, because in the past, the dark golden sphere had been unable to release Psychic Power.

That was why Luo Feng had suffered headaches every day. Now, there was a channel through which the Psychic Power could be released, continuously dissipating the pressure, so naturally, there should be no more problems.

…

The next morning, when Luo Feng left his bedroom and walked downstairs, he found someone sitting in the living room.

“Mr. Luo Feng, good morning,” a man in a military uniform stood up and smiled.

“Good morning,” Luo Feng replied, puzzled. “Where am I? How did I get here? And I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

The officer smiled and said, “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dong An, from the Yian District Detention Center. This is the military convalescent zone of Yian District. Mr. Luo Feng… we never expected that you would have successfully passed the warrior candidates assessment. Naturally, our detention facility no longer holds any jurisdiction over you. You are free to leave whenever you wish.”

“Return home now?” Luo Feng nodded.

He wasn’t surprised that after beating so many prisoners, especially striking metal tables and chairs with his fists and feet, people could easily determine his strength.

“I’d like to ask, who exactly tried to harm me?” Luo Feng frowned.

The officer hesitated slightly.

“If the detention center can’t provide an answer, I’ll go through the Limit Martial Arts Academy and file a formal request with the Jiangnan City Security Bureau to investigate this matter thoroughly,” Luo Feng declared. Once this incident comes to light, if it’s discovered that a quasi-warrior was assaulted within the detention center and the authorities attempted to conceal it…

The higher-ups at the detention center would definitely face serious consequences.

The officer quickly replied, “Mr. Luo Feng, please don’t rush. The situation is this: according to our investigation, a local gangster named Zhou Huayang arranged for those prisoners to attack you. According to our findings, their intention was to break one of your arms and one of your legs.”

“Oh?” Luo Feng frowned, “Break my arm and leg? That’s ruthless. They wanted to cripple me? I don’t even know this Zhou Huayang. Who ordered him to do it?”

The officer answered, “We’ve already interrogated Zhou Huayang. It was a young man named Zhang Haobai who asked him to help.”

“Zhang Haobai?”

Luo Feng’s eyes turned cold, “He really doesn’t know how to die!”

“He truly doesn’t know how to meet his end,” the officer chuckled. “Mr. Luo Feng, you may petition the Jiangnan City Security Bureau to apprehend Zhang Haobai. As an accomplice who orchestrated an assault on a quasi-Martial Artist, this constitutes a grave offense. A twenty-year imprisonment would be entirely appropriate.”

“Don’t blame me for saying this, but Zhang Haobai’s uncle is also a martial artist!” the officer added. “Mr. Luo Feng, you can choose not to give his uncle face and apply to the Security Bureau to arrest Zhang Haobai. The Security Bureau is the authority that manages martial artists, and their power is immense. Zhang Haobai’s uncle won’t be able to influence them at all.”

“You can choose to confront Zhang Haobai, even if it means offending his uncle…”

“Or you can let it be resolved privately, with the Zhang family paying compensation. The decision is entirely yours,” the officer smiled. “I’ve said my piece. Here are your phone and other belongings, Mr. Luo Feng.”

Luo Feng nodded.

Should he settle privately and demand a large sum of money from the Zhang family? Or should he insist on taking Zhang Haobai down?

“Hey, Dad,” Luo Feng picked up his phone and dialed. “I’ve already left the detention center. I’ll be home soon. We can have breakfast together! Don’t worry, Dad. Your son is strong now. How could anything happen to me?”