Promotion: Second Awakening!

As the sky grew completely dark, Starfire was taken away for psychological counseling, to keep her from being traumatized.

A considerable number of Handlers were also investigating the cause of this loss-of-control incident.

Mada was a Second-Awakening psychic and had been a Handler for several years. He was highly experienced.

He normally had no so-called "inner demons," nor was he anywhere near needing to advance.

Yet he had suddenly twisted during an operation.

The authorities were grieving, but they were also on high alert.

Groups of Handlers with all kinds of tracking and investigative abilities arrived at the scene, hoping to find the culprit by piecing together the smallest clues.

Had someone looked down from high above the giant city, they would have seen countless figures moving through the air at speeds ordinary people could hardly comprehend.

Meanwhile, the three rogue psychics caught during the logistics team's "team-building" outing were being closely watched and interrogated by the authorities.

They were rogue psychics from different districts, yet they had managed to gather together in the giant city and risk an attack on a Handler.

Clearly, someone had brought them together. The authorities had to follow the trail and find that person, eliminating the threat to the giant city in advance.

According to the information available so far, the other party's abilities were highly unusual.

It was said that they had some kind of mysterious means of communication.

They could contact each other with no time lag at all, and even reach psychics from the same faction in several different giant cities.

Some people would trade through this channel or issue missions. Those who completed them would receive potion ingredients or Psychic Weapons.

After each "contact," the items would be delivered to the recipient through some unknown means.

This made the organization incredibly difficult to track down. Even when the various giant cities noticed them, they struggled to root them out.

The mysterious organization of unknown origin and the sudden distortion of a Handler had created an oppressive sense of an approaching storm, putting the Processing Department's upper ranks on edge.

Neither could be underestimated. They had to stay alert and exercise caution.

Just then, a piece of news was reported to headquarters.

"Night General. That young man with the Mimicry Hegemon Facial Mask? He's already about to advance?" An elderly, white-haired man exclaimed in surprise. "That fast? How long has he been with the Processing Department?"

"Almost exactly a month," an elderly woman replied. "He's been through several battles and even shattered a Forbidden Item. He once faced a Ghost Immortal of unknown power head-on, too. I thought we'd have to wait another month, but apparently not. His mindset must have shifted somehow, allowing his Soul Well to extend."

"That's good. We still don't know what lies behind him, but so far, that being doesn't seem hostile toward humanity," the old man said. "It would be even better if we could catch a glimpse of that being while Night General advances."

"At the time, we only detected the Ghost Immortal's presence disappearing. We didn't see that being at all. What a pity."

Meanwhile, Li Yèlái felt his Soul Well changing. He confirmed that something in his mindset had shifted.

His Soul Well began to extend, reaching farther into the Void Realm.

It was a sign that he was about to awaken again.

So he said calmly, "I'm advancing."

He was now the fastest-promoted Handler among the dozen or so rookies in the four branches of Border City No. 3.

If Li Yúnyān had been there, she probably would have shouted,

"Today, I enter the Land Immortal Realm!"

To be safe, Cheese's expression shifted slightly before she said softly, "Congratulations."

Then she promptly hauled Li Yèlái into the car and notified Yáng Chén.

By the time the two of them arrived at the branch, Yáng Chén was already waiting at the entrance.

Yáng Chén didn't seem surprised by how quickly Li Yèlái was advancing. After looking him over, he nodded. "You're definitely about to advance. This is your first promotion, so before you succeed, you need to be careful of the Void Realm's influence seeping in, as well as any Void Realm Creatures that might interfere. Cheese, I, and the rest of your teammates will keep watch over you."

Advancement rituals were dangerous. If a Void Realm Creature interfered during the process, the odds of survival were practically one in ten.

That was because Void Realm Creatures had another way to enter the physical world besides performing some kind of bloody, evil ritual: taking over a psychic's body.

A perfectly compatible body was an irresistible temptation to a Void Realm Creature.

A few such cases could be found on the Processing Department's forum.

It was said that a Void Realm Creature with considerable intelligence had found a body that suited it perfectly and begun targeting the psychic who owned it.

After failing several times, it turned its attention to the psychic's children and descendants.

It persisted in interfering, hoping to claim a body.

As a result, psychics in that family had a very high rate of losing control.

And Void Realm Creatures couldn't be killed. Destroying their physical bodies only banished them back to the Void Realm.

The creature had become a nightmare for that family.

That was what made Void Realm Creatures so troublesome.

Of course, low-awakening psychics generally didn't attract the attention of Void Realm Creatures. The odds of someone at Li Yèlái's level encountering one were low.

"If I'm really unlucky and run into a Void Realm Creature, how should I deal with it?" Li Yèlái considered his own luck and figured that running into one didn't seem impossible.

"After a psychic opens up their Soul Well, their soul leaves a projection in the Void Realm through it," Yáng Chén explained as he led Li Yèlái and Cheese into the branch. "The more times you awaken, the larger your projection becomes."

"Got it. My projection is still too small for Void Realm Creatures to notice. After I awaken more times and it gets bigger, they'll naturally be able to sense me." Li Yèlái nodded. "But my luck really is terrible. What if one does catch me?"

"Don't say things like that." Cheese frowned and kicked him lightly in the shin, clearly displeased.

"But it's normal to worry about that," Yáng Chén reassured him. "While you're advancing, we'll be watching you from within our own Soul Wells. If a Void Realm Creature does find you and attacks you while you're only at your Second Awakening, it probably won't be very powerful. We can scare it off or hold it off until you finish advancing."

"No wonder you need to keep watch over me. It's like protecting someone during their breakthrough in a xianxia novel," Li Yèlái mused.

"So, with us here, what you really need to watch out for is the Void Realm's influence on you." Yáng Chén's expression turned serious. "Based on our analysis, that might be a rule of the Void Realm. It could lead you to give in to your urge to kill and turn into a murderous fiend. It could lead you to unleash your desires, or tempt you into pursuing some forbidden, mysterious knowledge..."

Li Yèlái had heard this warning several times, but he still didn't quite understand how dangerous it was.

"Does it directly change your personality?"

"Exactly. Once you're influenced, you're no longer yourself, and you won't even realize it." Yáng Chén's voice grew heavy. "For example, there was a Glutton I once handled."

"He'd been a family man, but the Ashes Church had led him to become a psychic, and he'd immediately twisted. To suppress his insatiable hunger, he eventually turned on his wife and children."

"There was also a prominent scholar who was bewitched during advancement and gained some kind of mysterious knowledge. In pursuit of that knowledge and the so-called truth, he experimented on his own daughter and students. It led to a tragic disaster."

"Turning a man who would die for his family into a cannibal who devoured them. Turning a kind scholar into a deranged monster. That's the influence of the Void Realm's power."

Li Yèlái was horrified. "The Ashes Church really has done every kind of evil!"

At the same time, Li Yèlái was glad he had chosen to join the authorities.

If he had been a rogue psychic, and lost control without being eliminated right away, who knew what would have happened to his younger sister? Would he have eaten her? Sacrificed her?

Li Yèlái couldn't believe he would do something like that, but that was the Void Realm's corrupting power.

Before being twisted, those psychics wouldn't have believed they could do such things, either.

But perhaps Mr. Shadow wouldn't let the Void Realm twist him so easily?

It was hard to say. Perhaps Mr. Shadow wanted to twist him.

He still knew too little about that being. He'd have to find a chance to sound it out.

Li Yèlái asked again, "As a psychic on the Myriad Paths, do I need to take a potion for my Second Awakening?"

Without the correct potion, a psychic's ability was randomly determined when they advanced.

Randomly!

So even psychics on the same path and at the same level could have vastly different strengths.

Some Handlers had formidable offensive abilities.

Starfire, for instance, had gained tremendous destructive power as soon as she became a psychic, turning into a human flamethrower.

Other psychics on the same path might get abilities like water-source detection or electromagnetic interference, which were more suited to support.

Two rookies on the same path could end up with wildly different combat strength. Wasn't that infuriating?

To avoid this, psychics needed to take potions.

Cheese, for example, had gained support abilities in her first two awakenings. It wasn't until her Third Awakening that she used a potion to acquire an offensive ability: Wordcraft.

She hadn't dared to gamble on luck anymore, so she'd spent Merit Points on a potion.

"No. The Processing Department doesn't have a potion for a Second Awakening on the Myriad Paths," Yáng Chén said with a regretful shake of his head. "We only have Second-Awakening potions for the Divine Control Path and the Nether Path. We don't have any for the other paths. Maybe some psychic families with ancient lineages do."

"For the Third or Fourth Awakening on the Myriad Paths, though, I can arrange a potion for you. I've even prepared some of the ingredients already. But there's truly nothing I can do about your Second Awakening."

Earlier, Yáng Chén had fought the Furnace Captain to obtain a relatively rare ingredient.

It could be used for a Third or Fourth Awakening, so he'd laid the groundwork for Li Yèlái's later advances.

"The champion captain sure is playing favorites!"

"Exactly!"

"Captain, that's not right!"

The First Team members present immediately started pointing fingers at Yáng Chén.

Yáng Chén grinned and shot back, "Which one of you haven't I helped?"

In truth, Yáng Chén had put a great deal of effort into helping Li Yèlái. He had also deliberately given him heavier responsibilities.

But this time, Li Yèlái would have to leave it to luck.

Li Yèlái nodded gratefully to Yáng Chén. "Thank you, Captain. But since it's my Second Awakening, even if I have to leave it to luck, there should at least be a general range, right?"

"Void Realm Beast Speech, or the ability to mimic some kind of animal. Rarer still would be mimicking the traits of a supernatural creature. Myriad Paths—an infinite variety of things..." Yáng Chén thought for a moment. "Remember the Furnace Captain? He's on the Myriad Paths, just like you. His Second Awakening gave him Mimicry Blade Sickle."

Blade Sickles were small supernatural creatures that lived in groups.

They had sharp fangs and claws, with razor-sharp, blade-like fins growing along their backs. Once they started rolling, they became a dangerous ring of blades.

These supernatural creatures lived in the Calamity Forbidden Zone, the Doomsday Forest. They were native to the area.

A single Blade Sickle might have been low on the food chain, but once they gathered in the thousands and spun their blades together, they could even hunt Calamity Beasts.

The Furnace Captain had gained the ability to mimic these creatures.

He could transform his limbs into weapons at will, greatly enhancing his close-combat abilities.

He didn't even need to prepare a Psychic Weapon.

After thinking it over, Li Yèlái nodded. "Understood. So in the end, I still have to rely on luck. What should I do now?"

"Sit quietly and meditate until you feel you can pass through. Then cross your Soul Well. Once your consciousness reaches the Void Realm, you'll have succeeded. Be careful the whole time!" Yáng Chén led Li Yèlái and the others into a small room in the branch, one lined with observation windows.

The room wasn't large, but it was filled with instruments Li Yèlái didn't recognize.

Most of them were designed to stabilize the user's condition.

They also allowed the people outside to monitor Li Yèlái's physical state.

"We'll stay in the outer room and keep you safe." Once Yáng Chén had seated Li Yèlái in the equipment, he left the room.

He appeared in the monitoring room outside.

"How long does it take to advance?" Li Yèlái asked from the reclining chair in the middle of the room.

"It varies," Yáng Chén's voice came through a speaker in the wall. "Some people finish in two minutes. Others take several days. We'll watch over you the whole time."

"Don't be nervous. Don't answer any voices calling to you, and don't be fooled by illusions." Cheese reminded him once more.

Just then, Cheese noticed that a frog doll had somehow appeared in the observation room.

It was holding up an advertising board.

[Good luck! Don't be nervous. I'm here ψ(*｀ー)ψ]

'The doll came to help keep watch over him, too? When did this kid get so close to the doll?'

Cheese wondered, but didn't dwell on it. She kept her eyes on Li Yèlái in case anything went wrong.

Inside the room, Li Yèlái closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Soon, his consciousness saw his Soul Well.

It was a passageway reflecting a brilliant starry sky, while his consciousness rested in a fog-filled space beneath it.

All he had to do was pass through the opening of the well to reach the starry sky above and successfully advance.

That was what Li Yèlái thought as he tried to pass through the passageway.

The moment he entered, a cacophony of voices rang in his ears.

Then scene after scene appeared before his eyes.

He saw himself seated on a golden throne, with countless figures kneeling before him. It seemed that a single command from him would grant him absolute power.

'Ridiculous. Even my wildest dreams wouldn't come up with something like this,' Li Yèlái thought to himself.

Then came mountains of gold and silver, as if he could obtain anything just by asking.

'Wow, that's so fake!' Li Yèlái thought, and kept moving.

Next, he saw beautiful girls in revealing clothes, smiling seductively at him.

It seemed that all he had to do was crook a finger and they would undress for him.

Among them, Li Yèlái even saw Cheese and the doll, as well as Heavy Cavalry and Shadowflow, along with many girls he'd only met once.

'They're not even trying. I haven't even been tortured, so why are they already using the honey trap?' Li Yèlái kept moving.

Then all the images vanished, but he heard a voice.

"Your father cruelly abandoned you, leaving your mother to die of illness while you and your sister relied on each other. Don't you want to know where he is now and what became of him?" The voice was low and elegant. "Turn around, and you'll see the answer."

Li Yèlái hesitated. He really was tempted to turn around and see where that bastard was now.

But reason held him back, and he continued forward.

He was nearing the exit of his Soul Well.

When he passed through the Soul Well, he saw the starry sky stretching overhead. A powerful force surged into his body.

He also saw Yáng Chén, Cheese, the doll, and the others, cheering with delight.

Li Yèlái smiled and suddenly made a sign with his hands.

'Want to go eat?'

Everyone looked confused, and words appeared on the doll's sign: [What's wrong? What do you mean [_?]]

Everyone stared at Li Yèlái in puzzlement.

Li Yèlái sighed. "How devious. They even pulled this trick!"

He knew that before the doll learned to write on the sign, the doll had learned sign language.

But this doll didn't know sign language, which meant it was fake.

Everything here was fake!

So Li Yèlái took another step forward.

In a daze, he heard Mr. Shadow laughing.

Then all the illusions before him vanished, revealing the true starry sky of the Void Realm.

A force surged rapidly into his body, making Li Yèlái's physical body and psychic energy increasingly powerful.

Li Yèlái had successfully advanced. His Second Awakening!