1TL: Part 1Since Lao gong is here, of course, we should help him unlock a layer of potential right away.
When Huo Lingqi heard Xu Yin’s words, a look of confusion appeared on his face.
Xu Yin quickly and decisively extended his mental power into Huo Lingqi’s mind. When Huo Lingqi’s expression shifted, as if he had sensed something, Xu Yin stopped and asked with a smile, “Can I continue?”
Huo Lingqi gave him a deep look.
Then, he grasped Xu Yin’s hand in return, his voice low and deep, “Continue.”
Xu Yin smiled and closed his eyes.
One couldn’t help but say that a five-star general’s mental power is truly unlike that of an ordinary person.
If most people’s mental power is like a small puddle of water on the road, Huo Lingqi’s mental power is like a vast and fierce ocean. As soon as Xu Yin entered it, he was met with wave after wave of overwhelming tides that seemed to block out the sky.
There was almost a barrier between them and ordinary people.
Following the waves against the current, Xu Yin quickly found the quiet “small water ball” hidden deep within the ocean.
There were six layers in total.
It was the most layers he had ever seen.
Xu Yin opened his eyes and looked at the man.
The man also silently gazed at him, as if his eyes were sketching out his figure.
There was no sign of wariness or suspicion in the man’s demeanor. He even gently asked in a low voice, “What did you find?”
“General, please get ready,” Xu Yin said softly.
For such a powerful man, unlocking even one layer of potential would likely unleash a terrifying surge of mental power, a threshold that was likely to be overwhelming.
After speaking, Xu Yin controlled his mental power and made a slight movement.
Huo Lingqi parted his lips. Before he could speak, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his entire body tensed up in an instant.
Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi were nearly driven mad after being captured by Xiao Jiu and brought to the scrapyard directly beneath the spatial tunnel. They were only saved by the two armies their father had sent to their rescue.
Both of them were disheveled and utterly humiliated.
Ming Yi pointed at Xiao Jiu, panting, and said, “I’m going back to report to the Xingyun Council right away. Just wait for the Sanction Army to come for you!”
The Sanction Army was a special force tasked with purging rebellious elements.
Xiao Jiu, instead of getting angry, smiled: “Let them come. Are we afraid of these pampered fools? Who do you think you’re looking down on?”
“You…” Ming Yi said in disbelief, “You still want to resist when the Sanction Army arrives? Do you know what that means? Are you really planning to rebel against Xing Guo?”
“Kid, let me tell you, our boss isn’t as easy-going as General Xu. Whatever you want us to do, we’ll do,” Xiao Jiu said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Loyalty to Xing Guo and loyalty to Xingyun Council are two very different things. What do you two think your fathers are worth?”
Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing’s faces turned ashen!
Xiao Jiu pointed to the still open rift in the sky. “Shall we go?”
If he got serious, Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi’s two teams wouldn’t last long.
Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi didn’t know Xiao Jiu’s combat capabilities, but the soldiers behind them did. Although they had been in the Xingyun Council’s Guard Team for years and never fought on the battlefield, everyone knew the strength of the 9th Legion, and everyone knew the abilities of the vice-generals under Huo Lingqi.
At that moment, when Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi tried to argue back, they were swiftly held back by their respective teams and practically carried off!
Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi: “???”
The soldiers were sweating coldly. “Young masters, please stop arguing. Let’s go back and talk!”
If the two were really thrown onto the battlefield on the other side of the spatial tunnel, it would only be them who would end up in trouble!
Xiao Jiu watched their panicked retreating figures and scoffed.
Then he looked up at the tunnel opening above, his expression turning cold.
If the incidents they encountered on the battlefield had indeed been caused by the Xingyun Council, then they had likely already colluded with the evolved beasts.
Was it the whole of Xingyun Council, or just a few individuals causing trouble?
If it was just a few individuals… then sending Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing was truly insulting their intelligence, treating them as fools.
Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi returned to the starship in embarrassment and immediately contacted the main star system.
“Huo Lingqi isn’t following orders at all. He didn’t even let us finish speaking before kicking us out!” Ming Yi said angrily. “Dad, the 9th Legion is completely out of control!”
He recounted everything that had happened since their arrival, and finally, breathing heavily, said:
“We must eliminate them. If we don’t, they’ll just turn into a ticking time bomb!”
The voice on the other end became deep and somber. “I understand. Give me an hour.”
Ming Yi took a deep breath after hearing that and forced himself to calm down. “Alright.”
After ending the communication, he let out a long breath, feeling somewhat relieved.
“What did uncle say?” Xue Yuanqing asked.
Ming Yi replied, “Deploying the Sanction Army shouldn’t be a problem. They should be about to hold a meeting now.”
With that, the two exchanged a glance.
Ming Yi lowered his voice, his tone cold. “I can’t believe Huo Lingqi actually survived the battlefield.”
If they could have dealt with him there, neither he nor Xue Yuanqing would have had to come all the way here. The other factions of Xingyun Council had no idea what Huo Lingqi had encountered in this battle.
These incidents had been quietly orchestrated by their two families.
But unfortunately, Huo Lingqi hadn’t died. He had managed to come through the spatial tunnel and, by some stroke of fate, uncovered the anomalies of the tunnel.
If Huo Lingqi truly discovered the secrets of these spatial tunnels in this star system, things would become problematic.
So far, Xingyun Council’s public goals and actions had been consistent, but if the other factions found out what the two families were doing, the situation would change drastically.
So, they had to keep Huo Lingqi in check and eliminate him as soon as possible.
With the villain’s accusation in place, the entire Xingyun Council should align on this matter, and their two families would be able to openly utilize the Sanction Army’s power to truly deal with Huo Lingqi.
Moreover, with his warning, it seemed that Xingyun Council wouldn’t just send the Sanction Army; this time, he would see if Xiao Jiu could still laugh.
Xue Yuanqing let out a light sigh at the thought.
Recalling the awkwardness from earlier, he slightly clenched his fists.
Both of their fathers had put in a lot of effort to get Xingyun Council to allow them to carry out this operation. Originally, it was to keep an eye on Huo Lingqi in case he discovered the issues with this star system. It was also to help them gain some recognition for future promotions within the military. Never did they expect such a situation.
Fortunately, they hadn’t truly come to negotiate with Huo Lingqi. Finding an opportunity to eliminate him once more would be even better.
The two fell silent, anxiously waiting.
However, the situation seemed strange. The hour their fathers had promised passed quickly, yet they hadn’t received any communication.
As time passed, the two of them began to sense that something was off.
It wasn’t until 6 PM that they finally received a call.
Ming Yi couldn’t believe his ears. “What? No Sanction Army?”
After hearing what was said on the other end, Ming Yi’s face grew darker and darker. When the call ended, Xue Yuanqing asked nervously, “What’s going on?”
Ming Yi’s face was grim as he replied, “The Xingyun Council couldn’t reach a consensus. The Sanction Army won’t be deployed.”
Xue Yuanqing was stunned. With Huo Lingqi acting like this, how could the Xingyun Council not reach a consensus? This was impossible!
He quickly came to a realization and asked, “Is it because someone…”
The lack of consensus meant that someone in the Xingyun Council was protecting Huo Lingqi, and there were definitely more than one person behind him. This would have been unthinkable before, unless something had happened privately among the chairmen in the Xingyun Council, leading to a change in circumstances.
“I don’t know. My dad didn’t explain it clearly. There must be a lot of issues to deal with,” Ming Yi said stiffly. “So, the situation now is that no one is dealing with Huo Lingqi… and they haven’t called us back.”
“Huo Lingqi is still here, so we can’t go back!” Xue Yuanqing bit his lip. “We have to keep an eye on the spatial tunnels.”
“…You’re right.”
After Ming Yi spoke, both of them fell into an uncomfortable silence.
But with Huo Lingqi and his subordinates being so unyielding, if something really happened, could they stop it?
At this moment, both of them were filled with deep self-doubt.
After a moment, Xue Yuanqing, bracing himself, said, “…Let’s go out first and try to talk to Huo Lingqi… and see if we can negotiate again.”
Although he said that, when they stepped outside, their steps were heavy.
Upon arriving at the administrative bureau, they quickly realized that something new was happening!
Both of the 9th Legion squads that Huo Lingqi had called from the battlefield were gathered in the hall. In the center of the hall was a mental power testing machine, with some people waiting in line to undergo the test. With each person tested, gasps of admiration and compliments could be heard around.
And the ones who were enthusiastically giving out those praises were all nervously looking at… Xu Yin?
The eager gaze from the soldiers was like a group of hungry children, desperate for attention.
“What’s going on?” Xue Yuanqing grabbed one of the soldiers from their team who was secretly watching in the corner and asked.
The soldier’s face still held traces of shock and longing. “It’s the 9th Legion… no, it’s Xu Yin. It seems that every time he touches someone, their mental power increases drastically!”
“What?!” Both Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi were confused.
“It’s true, just watch!” the soldier urged.
They looked up and saw Xu Yin walking in front of one of the soldiers in line.
The soldier, shy but expectant, raised his hand. Xu Yin smiled and gently held the soldier’s wrist, closing his eyes.
Instantly, the soldier excitedly turned to the others nearby. “It’s here, it’s here! I can feel it!”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“What does it feel like?”
The soldiers who hadn’t been tested yet peered forward, like curious children.
The soldier whose hand Xu Yin was holding seemed about to say something but suddenly fell silent, his eyes sharpening.
In that moment, even Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing, who were not far away, could distinctly feel the change occurring in him.
Xu Yin let go of the soldier’s hand and gently said, “All done.”
The soldier glanced at his hand, swallowed hard, and then looked up at Xu Yin.
Receiving a kind smile from Xu Yin, he immediately got up and rushed to the mental power testing machine, slamming his hand down on it with excitement.
Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of tension in their hearts. They quickly rushed over, focusing their eyes on the mental power testing machine, only to be stunned by what they saw!
The value on the screen was… 10,982,736?!
Over ten million… Million-level?! Ten Million-level?!
Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing stared wide-eyed, frozen in place.
After the soldier named Lao Zhou finished the test, there was another round of enthusiastic praise from the surrounding soldiers.
“Awesome, Lao Zhou!”
“Impressive, impressive!”
“Currently ranked tenth, haha!”
The soldier, called Lao Zhou, scratched his head and joked, “Only tenth? Not good enough!”
Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing were even more dumbfounded.
Ranked tenth?
Was it really the tenth ranking they were thinking of???
Wait, what did a mental power level in the tens of millions even mean… Only a five-star general’s mental power could reach that level. Among the entire population of Xing Guo, with its billions of people, maybe only four or five individuals could reach such a level!
But…
Looking around the hall, soldiers from Huo Lingqi’s army were taking turns to test, and almost all of them—almost all of them—had mental power levels in the tens of millions?!
This… this machine must be broken, right?! Are these soldiers just playing around?!
But why did they all seem so genuinely impressed when they praised each other?
Ming Yi and Xue Yuanqing were utterly confused and unable to comprehend what was happening!
As soon as the testing machine cleared, Ming Yi immediately placed his hand on it, channeling his mental power.
He was still thinking that the machine had to be broken. After all, everyone else was testing in the tens of millions, and the soldiers from Huo Lingqi’s side seemed to be playing around. The exaggerated reactions were obviously meant to mess with him!
With that thought in mind… the screen on the testing machine displayed the words “Please wait” for a couple of seconds, and then a value popped up: 44,444.
Ming Yi: “…”
The surrounding soldiers saw the number and immediately burst into laughter. “Haha, hey, that’s a nice number, bro!”
“Impressive!”
“Quick, take a picture! You might never see a number like this again in your life!”
Ming Yi: “……？？？”
He was seething with anger. “Is this machine broken or something? Why is everyone else getting those ridiculous results?!”
“It’s not broken. Isn’t the number you got your usual level? You should know that better than anyone,” one soldier said with a grin, gesturing to Ming Yi.
Suddenly insulted, Ming Yi fell silent. “…………”
He couldn’t make sense of it. He decided to skip over the question of whether his “44444” was his usual level and just firmly declared, “But your numbers are clearly wrong!”
“They’re right,” the soldiers replied, still smiling and looking at him meaningfully.
“？？？” Ming Yi was about to lose his mind. “Where is it normal?! Your numbers are completely off!”
“Then let that guy next to you try it, and see if our machine is really working properly!” someone raised their chin, signaling toward Xue Yuanqing.
