169 mental power at six? The device must be broken

Three days before school started, Ye Jiyang called Ye Zhiqiu into the study.

"Come here. Let's measure your mental power." Ye Jiyang took a helmet-shaped device out of his desk drawer. It had a silver-gray metal shell and a ring of soft sensor pads lining the inside. It looked a little like a VR headset from Ye Zhiqiu's previous life, only lighter and thinner.

Ye Zhiqiu walked over, sat down in a chair, and turned the helmet over a couple of times. "How do you use this thing?"

"Just put it on." Ye Jiyang pointed at the helmet. "The screen will guide you. All you have to do is concentrate on the target."

Ye Zhiqiu slipped the helmet onto his head. The sensor pads pressed against his temples and forehead, cool against his skin.

Everything went dark before his eyes, then lit up.

A passage appeared on the screen, flanked by towering forests. The trees blotted out the sky and sun, with light filtering through gaps in the foliage. A little house was faintly visible at the far end.

"Just concentrate on looking at that house," Ye Jiyang's voice came from outside.

As Ye Zhiqiu looked down the passage, a strange thought popped into his head.

Why did this scene look so much like the hot-air balloon from the eye tests in my previous life?

Were those actually mental power tests too?

He almost laughed aloud, but held it in.

So testing mental power uses the same routine as testing eyesight. Was the designer cutting corners? Ye Zhiqiu grumbled inwardly, then focused his attention, locking his gaze on the little house in the distance.

The house was tiny, blurry at the end of the passage, as though veiled in mist.

He stared at it. The mist began to thin, and the outline of the house gradually sharpened. Roof tiles, walls, windows—he could even make out the moss on the steps by the door.

"Beep!"

A crisp tone rang out.

On the screen inside the helmet, the numbers began to soar.

Ye Zhiqiu couldn't see the exact reading, but he felt the helmet grow slightly warm. A faint vibration came from the sensor pads against his temples.

In the study, Ye Jiyang and Shen Qingwan stood beside the device, staring at the numbers flickering on its external display.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The numbers shot upward, showing no sign of stopping.

Ye Jiyang's brow first relaxed, then furrowed, before his expression froze altogether.

Shen Qingwan covered her mouth, her other hand gripping her husband's arm tightly.

The number finally stopped at 169!

"169?" Ye Jiyang's voice sounded a little unsteady.

"Yes... 169." Shen Qingwan repeated it, as though confirming she hadn't misread it.

They exchanged a glance, each seeing the same thought in the other's eyes: Was this device broken?

Mental power was divided into levels, from lowest to highest: the spirit origin realm, spirit connection realm, spirit sea realm, spirit abyss realm, spirit domain realm, and the divine origin realm, which could only be attained at the divine rank.

The spirit origin realm—the first beginning, when all things were renewed—was something everyone possessed from birth. It was the most basic level of mental power, ranging from zero to fifty points. Ordinary people remained within that range their entire lives.

Exceeding fifty points meant entering the spirit connection realm, where the mind connected with the spiritual and intent reached wherever thought went. This marked the beginning of mental power control, allowing one to sustain two yellow soul spirits or one purple soul spirit.

Anything from fifty to five hundred points fell within the spirit connection realm.

For many a Soul Master, this was the realm they remained in for their entire life.

Most teachers at elementary academies only had mental power at this level.

Yet Ye Zhiqiu was six years old, with 169 points.

Ye Jiyang took a deep breath, let it out, then breathed in and out again. Only after repeating this three times did he barely manage to suppress his emotions.

"The device isn't broken." He crouched down, checked the connecting cables, then examined the calibration data and confirmed everything was correct.

Shen Qingwan released her husband's arm and walked over to Ye Zhiqiu. She removed the helmet from his head and looked at her son's innocent face. "Zhiqiu, what... did you see just now?"

"A path, with trees on both sides and a little house at the end," Ye Zhiqiu answered honestly.

"Could you see it clearly?"

"It was a little blurry at first, but it got clearer later. I could even count the roof tiles."

Shen Qingwan glanced at her husband again.

Ye Jiyang leaned against the desk with his arms crossed. After a long silence, he finally said, "Six years old, 169 points of mental power, the middle stage of the spirit connection realm. Across the entire Heaven Dou Star, there probably aren't more than a handful of children your age who could achieve that."

"And..." He paused before adding, "Mental power naturally increases as a person grows, but the earlier the increase comes, the more precious it is. With a foundation like this at six, it'll only become more and more outrageous."

Ye Zhiqiu sat in his chair, swinging his legs, looking somewhat bored.

In truth, the result hadn't surprised him.

Having lived two lives, his soul was already considerably stronger than an ordinary child's. Add the boost from his twin martial souls, and it would have been strange if his mental power were only on par with an ordinary six-year-old's.

He even thought 169 points was a little low.

"Only 169? That's so low," Ye Zhiqiu remarked offhandedly.

Ye Jiyang: "..."

Shen Qingwan: "..."

"You call this low?" Ye Jiyang nearly took off his glasses and hurled them to the floor. "Your dad is over forty, and my mental power is only at the early stage of the spirit sea realm. You're a six-year-old kid who wakes up with 169 points after a night's sleep, and you still think that's low?"

"Well, it really isn't that high." Ye Zhiqiu spread his hands, his face innocent. "I'm not wrong. The spirit connection realm tops out at five hundred points. I'm not even a third of the way there."

Ye Jiyang opened his mouth to say something, then swallowed his words.

He realized his son's reasoning seemed sound, but it still made him sound especially deserving of a beating.

Shen Qingwan couldn't help laughing beside them. She ruffled Ye Zhiqiu's hair and said, "All right, all right. Stop winding up your dad. High mental power is a good thing, but don't get too pleased with yourself. Mental power is only the foundation. What really matters is actual combat."

"I know, Mom." Ye Zhiqiu nodded obediently.

Ye Jiyang put the helmet away in the drawer, then turned to his son, his expression growing serious. "Zhiqiu, listen carefully. Your martial souls, soul rings, soul spirits, and mental power—any one of those four would be enough for someone to brag about for a lifetime. But having all four at once isn't a blessing anymore. It's trouble."

"I know. Don't flash your wealth around." Ye Zhiqiu nodded.

"As long as you understand." Ye Jiyang patted his shoulder. "Once school starts, keep a low profile whenever you can. Don't reveal all your trump cards right out of the gate. Of course, if someone tries to walk all over you..."

He paused, a trace of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Then don't hold back. If anything happens, Dad will have your back."

Ye Zhiqiu's eyes lit up. "Dad, now that's what I like to hear."

Shen Qingwan rolled her eyes beside them. "You two are cut from exactly the same cloth."

Ye Zhiqiu hopped down from the chair and headed out. At the doorway, he turned back. "Oh, right, Dad. Can I borrow that helmet to play with for a couple of days?"

"What do you want that thing for?"

"To study it." Ye Zhiqiu grinned. "What if I can turn it into a gaming headset? Wouldn't that make us rich?"

"Get lost."

"You got it."

Ye Zhiqiu dashed away like a wisp of smoke.

Watching his son disappear, Ye Jiyang shook his head helplessly, then turned to Shen Qingwan. "Tell me... just what kind of monster is our son?"

Shen Qingwan considered it, then said seriously, "Whatever kind of monster he is, he's still our own flesh and blood."

"That's true."