Deep Dive

Psychic power does not originate from the psyker themselves, but from the Immaterium.

The Orks are an exception—their Waaagh! Field is a different matter entirely.

This makes it nearly impossible for a psyker to continuously explore their own abilities without assistance, until they fully understand everything.

As for those who use psychic power, the "small fry" psykers are essentially gambling with their lives every time they wield it, their deaths dictated entirely by fate. The gifted ones, however, have at least a rough sense of their own level.

But that's vague. Qin Xa doesn't need vague, and he doesn't trust vague. Just as he hadn't regressed into a child when he crossed over to this world, the work he did and the talent he possessed had always made him despise uncertainty and ambiguity.

Qin Xa wanted to understand exactly how stable his psychic talent was, then measure it in near-numerical terms, ultimately arriving at a scientific conclusion based on rational judgment. From there, he could develop and use it accordingly, while assessing and remaining vigilant against the probability of crises.

Only then could he utilize an ability—whether psychic power, certain scientific laws, or physical rules—with precision and efficiency.

That was why Qin Xa decided to take the risk.

Recalling certain details from what the Librarian had said, Qin Xa began to delve deeper into his psychic talent—that innate ability to wield psychic power, different from others, which he had possessed since birth.

As he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in meditation, Qin Xa suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness.

Then, it was as if his entire being was sinking into an ocean.

This was completely different from the scenes he had witnessed when the Librarian or other psykers attempted to step into the Immaterium.

But Qin Xa didn't panic at the difference. He did his best to remain rational and calm as he sank.

Until he finally fell into darkness.

Qin Xa began to sense, focusing his mind on a single question, as if asking some entity, to perceive just how stable his psychic ability truly was.

Stable.

That was the response he received from within himself, like an echo of his own soul.

But just like the complex tests with simple conclusions conducted by the Librarian of the White Scars and the mentors of the Grey Knights, or their own brief, tentative probes, this was a vague conclusion. Its only use was to let others know that this psyker named Qin Xa at least wouldn't become a flesh-gate for daemons to enter reality.

"Dive deep."

Qin Xa murmured to himself, continuing his exploration.

Beyond the endless darkness lay a translucent white energy, encompassing something vast.

Qin Xa could see countless threads coiled upon that energy.

"This might be The Veil."

"The threads are the Web of Fate."

Qin Xa made a rough judgment based on what he knew.

The material universe is wrapped in something called The Veil. It isolates the Immaterium and its creatures, but like any wall, it's not without blind spots or breaches.

Attached to The Veil are the Threads of Fate, forming a Web of Fate—the destiny of all living beings in the material universe.

Some psykers can prophesy by peering into and untangling these threads. That's the principle behind prophecy.

Qin Xa felt himself continuing to fall, and his vision and senses confirmed it. Soon, he left The Veil and entered the Immaterium—a mental space of extreme danger.

Up to this point, Qin Xa couldn't be sure whether what he saw was an illusion or if he had truly left the material universe.

If he had genuinely entered the Immaterium, whether on a physical or spiritual level, it was extremely perilous.

Qin Xa knew the danger, but psychic power was the only thing that could change his fate—and, by extension, the fate of a Primarch. Knowing the risk, he had no choice but to proceed.

Whether in illusion or reality, once deep within the Immaterium, Qin Xa found he wasn't alone in this bizarre place.

He looked around and realized he was inside something.

Surrounding him were stacked equipment, control panels, and a "ping-ping" sound like a submarine's sonar.

Qin Xa quickly turned around and discovered he was indeed inside a submarine.

Beyond the portholes lay the Immaterium.

Why a submarine? Qin Xa didn't understand, but compared to the sheer strangeness of the Immaterium itself, this was trivial.

Nothing in the Immaterium followed common sense.

Planets overlapped, nebula-like matter coalesced into clawing, snarling beasts.

A star with a fleshy eye stared at Qin Xa, watching the submarine drift slowly past.

Countless bizarre creatures swarmed around the submarine in droves.

As Qin Xa observed, some creatures passed harmlessly through the submarine. Then another group came and began attacking it.

They slammed against the portholes and the hull, but couldn't breach the submarine's interior.

Qin Xa even saw a daemon. It bore no obvious mark of any of the Immaterium's gods. It howled, clinging to the porthole, opening a gaping maw from which a person crawled out, roaring at Qin Xa—but he couldn't hear what it was screaming.

When Qin Xa had the thought to drive those disgusting creatures away, the submarine's torpedo bay released two torpedoes.

The torpedoes streaked through the Immaterium, spinning three hundred and sixty degrees, striking the Immaterium creatures at angles and trajectories that defied logic, instantly driving them off.

"What is all this?" Qin Xa muttered, at a loss for words. He turned and walked into the submarine's cockpit, sat down in the seat, and suddenly, as if he had always known how to pilot a submarine, began driving it.

When Qin Xa wanted to go somewhere else, the submarine started moving toward that place.

That "somewhere else" could be anywhere—anywhere Qin Xa wanted to go.

At that moment, Qin Xa had a thought—he wanted to see what his soul projection looked like.

All living beings have a soul projection in the Immaterium. This projection could be anything; it manifests a creature's inner self, emotions, desires, or other states, even traits the creature itself doesn't know about.

The soul projection of a psyker shines brightest in the Immaterium. When they use their psychic powers, their projection blazes like a lighthouse.

Immaterium creatures are drawn to soul projections, bringing danger to the psyker—this is one of the reasons why psykers are so vulnerable.

Qin Xa was piloting the submarine, but the moment he had the thought of checking his own psychic projection, the submarine remained utterly still.

This thing protecting him didn't move as it had before, cutting through demon-infested zones and past giant stars covered in eyes...

"Could it be that my psychic projection is this submarine?" Qin Xa looked around, his expression deeply skeptical.