A second before the Annihilation Wave exploded, He Xi suddenly saw a blur before her eyes as a figure stepped in front of her.
The person's hands moved in a gesture He Xi could not understand, as though drawing a circle. His arms were stretched straight, his hands opposing each other—one moving from top to bottom, the other from bottom to top.
His hands seemed slow but were actually fast. Afterimages filled the huge circle they traced through the air, as if he had grown hundreds or thousands of hands.
Then something miraculous happened. He Xi clearly saw Shen Jun's hands shine, one azure blue and the other deep green. The two colors radiated from his hands into the air.
They formed a circular pattern He Xi had never seen before. The utterly different colors were both opposed and intertwined, each containing the other, perfectly round and harmonious.
The moment the diagram appeared, it captured He Xi's attention. It was as though she had glimpsed the universe's deepest secrets within it, yet also as though she had seen nothing at all. She completely forgot that she was still in danger.
What Shen Jun displayed was the result of six months of arduous practice before the Trigonians arrived.
A result certain to shock the Protoss.
The fusion of Purification Psionic Energy and Void Psionic Energy.
In Protoss history, only Adun had been able to accomplish this perfectly. Even Tassadar could only mix them in a rudimentary manner.
Cultivating two kinds of psionic energy was not difficult. The difficult part was making them merge. If the method of drawing upon Void energy were taught to any High Templar, he could easily gain Void Psionic Energy, but they had no way to use both kinds of psionic energy at once.
Shen Jun did not know how Adun had done it, and the price of burning away one's life was also something he could not accept. So, he could only feel his way forward on his own.
This powerful psionic energy was not something an ordinary person could control. Shen Jun dared to do this because he met two conditions. First, he possessed extraordinary talent for controlling psionic energy. Second, he had Adun's genes. While he might not have inherited Adun's talent completely, he had at least inherited a considerable portion of it.
On top of that, Rohana, the Protoss encyclopedia, had personally guided him step by step. She could not use Void Psionic Energy herself, but observing Shen Jun's condition and determining whether he was about to explode from within was quite simple for her.
Even with conditions that could be called heaven-blessed, Shen Jun still did not dare fuse too much Purification Psionic Energy and Void Psionic Energy. He tested it bit by bit, with extreme caution. At first, Shen Jun simply assumed that mixing equal amounts of the two types of psionic energy inside his body would work.
As for the result, if Rohana had not interrupted Shen Jun in time, he would already have exploded from within.
After that, Shen Jun changed the ratio of the two kinds of psionic energy every day. Not only did it fail to solve the problem, it made things even more unstable.
Then one day, Shen Jun suddenly remembered a marvelous structure that might be worth trying.
He separated a small portion of Purification Psionic Energy and merged it into the Void Psionic Energy, then separated an equal portion of Void Psionic Energy and merged it into the Purification Psionic Energy. He let them maintain a stable state, then brought the two mixed energies into contact again. This time, he did not keep the psionic energy static. Instead, he made it circulate continuously, one before the other, one rising while the other fell.
Put simply, the structure was very similar to the Taiji Diagram.
It sounded utterly out of place, yet it really worked.
"This pattern can express countless meanings. It seems that the essence of the universe is reflected within it. Even viewed purely as a shape, it remains profoundly mysterious. So many geometric principles can be embodied in this diagram. It is the most wondrous figure I have ever seen. From the perspective of geometry alone, the world is like a unit right triangle. Its two perpendicular sides possess a mutually opposing and complementary nature. Like quantum entanglement, they overlap each other, and paired balance exists within a single thing; this opposing and complementary property waxes and wanes, maintaining paired balance, yet always remains equal to '1.' From this perspective, the geometric meaning of this pattern called Taiji is precisely paired balance and the unity of opposites. It is a geometric expression of 'the existence of that which exists,' a description of the basis of 'existence.' And from other perspectives, one can derive countless conclusions. I need to study it in depth before I can fully understand it!"
Those were Kerasul's exact words after seeing the Taiji Diagram.
Shen Jun could not help wanting to complain. If this diagram were brought back to his hometown, no normal person would think it was all that amazing. Even after transmigrating, he had never put much stock in that kind of mystical nonsense. Unless he had transmigrated into a cultivation world or a fantasy world—hell, even if it were a martial arts world, he would probably spend every day hugging a Taiji Diagram and meditating on it.
Yet he had come to a science-fiction world!
Hey, could you people act a little more like you belonged in a science-fiction setting? Shouldn't you be scoffing at stuff like Taiji Diagrams?
Every one of them looked as though they had found some priceless treasure. Had they never seen anything before?
He had merely felt that he had tried every structure he could think of. Besides, whenever two powers with different attributes combined in those novels, they always dragged out Taiji. He had not held out much hope from the start.
Could it be that those novelists could not come up with any better ideas beyond Taiji?
Ptooey!
It was nothing special!
For a time, Shen Jun fell into self-doubt.
But the fusion of psionic energy had undeniably succeeded. Shen Jun had become the second being after Adun capable of using two kinds of psionic energy at once. He simply had never revealed it in public—until today.
The blue-and-green psionic energy formed a shield, blocking Alarak's Annihilation Wave head-on.
Shen Jun sensed that the Annihilation Wave was about to explode and was just about to increase his psionic output.
However, at the instant it erupted, the Annihilation Wave suddenly changed direction and struck the ground.
Boom!
A deafening explosion sent towering clouds of dust into the arena, blocking the vision of every Protoss present. Soon afterward, the dust settled, leaving behind only a deep crater in the ground.
"What was that just now...?"
"It can't be wrong. The Hierarch used two kinds of psionic energy just now."
"I sensed the fluctuations of Void Psionic Energy too. I never imagined the Hierarch could become a powerhouse like Adun, but... wasn't the price of using that power...?"
Thinking of Adun's legend, they were proud of the Hierarch's strength, yet could not help worrying for him. Even Gao JianGuo looked solemnly toward the other side.
Only when Shen Jun appeared unharmed did the Protoss finally let out a breath of relief.
Gao JianGuo himself did not realize that he had actually felt a trace of tension just now. He was too shocked by the fact that Shen Jun could control both Purification and Void power simultaneously without showing any symptoms of discomfort. Even Adun had not been able to do that.
Though the Tal'darim had broken away from the Protoss long ago, they still held many positive opinions of Adun, the greatest hero of the Protoss.
"Has the Hierarch reached a level that even Adun could never attain...?"
Alarak silently praised him in his heart. This is what the Protoss Lord should be like.
Shen Jun emerged from the dust with a dark expression.
"This farce should end now!"
Shen Jun swept his gaze across the tens of thousands of watching Protoss warriors. "Are you all that idle? I let you celebrate your victory properly, and instead you're making things difficult for our guests. I know every one of you thinks highly of yourselves and looks down on everyone in the universe. You're making such a huge fuss over one or two jokes. Are you children who never grew up?"
"You like fighting, do you? Fine. From now on, every last one of you will return to your quarters and meditate in silence for a month. If your psionic level hasn't improved by then, don't even think about coming out!"
Then Shen Jun looked at Alarak.
"And you, Gao JianGuo. You go into seclusion too!"
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