He could now freely open and close ninety percent of his energy pathways, selecting his output intensity with the slightest thought.
His rapid progress came partly from the rays themselves still being weak, making them easier to control, and partly from his mental power far exceeding that of ordinary people, giving him exceptional reactions and concentration.
Even so, the speed of his progress left Scott secretly astounded.
The energy of his Cyclops ability was far too violent. Without the specially made ruby lenses on his face, he could not even open his eyes.
The moment he lifted his eyelids, searing beams would erupt, incinerating everything before him in an instant.
The rays in Chen Xiao's eyes alternately narrowed into slender infrared threads and spread into a fan-shaped, transparent curtain of light, flickering like searchlights. Seeing this, Scott gave a small wave.
"All right, I've taught you everything I can. The rest comes down to practicing over and over until you've truly tamed this power."
Chen Xiao immediately reined in the beams and said sincerely, "Thank you, sir."
His gratitude came from the heart.
Even without Scott's guidance, he might have gained basic control over Heat Vision in a few more days, but some things could not be measured in time alone.
Besides, he was gradually realizing that merging with the Superman template had not made him a born Kryptonian. Rather, he was transforming toward that constitution step by step.
That meant the superpowers that should have been innate were more like talents unlocking layer by layer within him.
Sensing the sincerity in Chen Xiao's eyes, Scott's lips curved slightly. "No need to thank me. It's my duty as a teacher."
After a pause, he asked, "Vitas, your physical capabilities have improved again over the last two days, haven't they?"
Chen Xiao made no attempt to hide it and nodded frankly. "Yes, sir. My strength is noticeably heavier and steadier than before."
Scott pushed up his glasses with a fingertip, looking thoughtful. "It seems your mutant gene really does focus primarily on physical enhancement."
Then he abruptly changed the subject. "Vitas, since you can now precisely release and retract your rays, you can learn the Energy Body Tempering Method."
"The Energy Body Tempering Method?" Chen Xiao looked at him with mild puzzlement.
Scott smiled. "Haven't you ever wondered? Why is my physique tougher than that of quite a few fighters when the power I awakened is optical?"
"Isn't that... an enhancement that comes with your power?" Chen Xiao was somewhat surprised.
Scott shook his head. "All mutants do experience some physical improvement after awakening, but the extent is very limited."
"Only mutants like you and Colossus, whose powers center on physical enhancement, can unleash strength far beyond ordinary people."
He sighed softly. "Our teacher often used to say that most of us mutants have astonishing powers, yet generally can't withstand more than a few heavy blows. This weakness traced back to an accident that left him without feeling in his lower body."
Chen Xiao's gaze shifted slightly, but he said nothing.
Scott continued, "Later, he and our team spent years researching it and eventually developed this method: channeling the energy produced by mutant abilities back into the muscles and bones to strengthen the body ourselves."
"That's also why my physical capabilities are so solid. Even without activating my power, I can easily take down dozens of special forces soldiers with my body alone."
"The results vary from person to person, though. The purer the ability and the steadier its output, the more pronounced the enhancement."
"It only works for energy-type mutants. Those with psychic or physical-mutation abilities have difficulty converting consciousness or structural changes into usable energy flows, so it's essentially ineffective for them."
"Of course, there's a limit to the enhancement, too. It can usually increase muscle and bone strength five- to tenfold."
At this point, he shook his head slightly with a trace of regret. If only it could be stacked indefinitely.
Then Scott's voice grew low. "Vitas, I'll teach you this control method now. I hope it helps you take another step forward."
Chen Xiao's eyes lit up. "Thank you, sir!"
If a five- to tenfold increase could truly be achieved, it would offer concrete help in his current situation.
Soon, under Scott's hands-on guidance, Chen Xiao mastered the essentials of this energy conversion and body tempering method.
The method could be called difficult or easy. The key lay in precise control at the millisecond level.
And that happened to be exactly what Chen Xiao, whose mental power far surpassed ordinary people's, excelled at most.
As soon as he learned it, Chen Xiao nodded to Scott in acknowledgment, intending to find an open spot outside to bask in the sun and test the new method's actual effects.
But just after leaving the office, he saw a black-haired girl wearing headphones, curled up in a corner at the end of the hallway, her slight figure like a forgotten shadow.
Chen Xiao walked over, crouched in front of her, and asked gently, "Clarice, why are you here all alone?"
The girl kept her head lowered, her voice very soft. "Vitas... am I really that useless?"
"Why would you suddenly say that?" he asked with concern.
She wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on them, her voice muffled. "I've been at school so long, but I still can't even get third-grade arithmetic right. Everything the teachers say sounds like gibberish to me."
"Am I too stupid? Is that why nobody wants to talk to me, and even the teachers can't be bothered with me..." As she finished, her lashes drooped even lower, her expression so downcast that it softened one's heart.
Chen Xiao was taken aback. I haven't been to class these past two days. What happened in the meantime?
Then he silently grumbled, You wear headphones all day with a blank expression, and when someone speaks to you, all you say is "Mm." Who would dare come over just to get brushed off?
After all, nobody wanted to make a fool of themselves.
Besides, the teachers knew perfectly well that this was a school for mutants. Its core purpose was helping students master their abilities, not forcing them to compete over college entrance exam scores.
Bottom of the class? As long as their powers remained stable, nobody would push them into remedial lessons.
Outwardly, though, he continued smiling, his tone gentle. "Of course not, Clarice. Your foundation is just weak. You're not slow."
"Really?" She stole a glance up at him, her eyes full of tentative uncertainty.
Chen Xiao nodded firmly. "Really. You're so likable. How could nobody care about you? At the very least, I quite like our adorable Clarice."
"L-like me?!" Those words landed in her heart like a little stone. She jerked her head up, her cheeks instantly burning red, her mouth slightly open as she froze.
Chen Xiao rolled his eyes helplessly. "Don't get the wrong idea, Clarice. I mean I like you as a friend."
"You're only thirteen, still a little girl. If I really had any improper thoughts about you, I'd probably be invited to the headmaster's office for a little chat tomorrow."
"How about this? Starting tomorrow, I'll study with you. We'll try to catch you up with everyone else as soon as possible."
"Oh..." the girl answered softly, her cheeks warm as she quietly blushed at the wild thoughts she had just been having.
"It seems... it really isn't much use."
On the rooftop, violent energy surged around Chen Xiao, nearly tangible. Like a storm taking shape, it tore at the air and sent his clothes snapping, its oppressive weight pressing outward in every direction.
Though this ability only increased his strength fivefold, its visual impact was utterly stunning.
As the old saying went: how strong you were depended on the patch; looking cool was for life.
As his X-gene abruptly awakened, Chen Xiao clearly sensed that the dormant "stamina" inside him was actually energy lying deep within some of his cells. It was rapidly igniting, turning into torrents of scorching flame that erupted from deep within his veins.
Following the method Scott had taught him, he focused his mind and guided it layer by layer. It took a full half hour before he managed to forcibly reverse a wisp of frenzied energy, feeding it back into his body to complete the enhancement.
There was indeed an effect. His body's strength was increasing.
But... for him, this improvement was practically negligible. It was not even one-thousandth of his natural rate of strengthening while basking in sunlight!
In an instant, he lost all interest.
With a thought, the energy receded like a tide, and the fierce winds howling around him stopped abruptly.
May's sunlight already carried summer's heat. As it fell directly onto his shoulders, Chen Xiao immediately felt every inch of his flesh rapidly tightening, growing denser, and transforming.
Sure enough, getting stronger while lying around was still the most comfortable option. Cultivation? Forget it. Wasn't lying flat just perfect?
No sooner had the thought passed than his attribute panel silently appeared.
Host: Chen Xiao (Vitas Chen) Race: Human Bloodline: Kryptonian Superman "Bronze Age" Constitution: 980 Spirit: 472 Strength: 1190 "Grip strength: 16 tons" Agility: 952 "Instantaneous running speed: 150-180 meters/second" Ability: Heat Ray "Properties: 500-1,000°C heat, with a weak impact" X-gene ability: Energy Berserk "Level 1" Storage space: 1 × 1
In just two days, his strength had leaped forward again. His constitution was approaching a thousand points, already reaching a hundred times that of an ordinary person.
Such terrifying density made his bones harder than alloys, his fascia like entwined steel cables, and his skin as tough as raw rubber, difficult for blades to injure. Even handgun bullets striking him could barely pierce the surface before the knotted muscles beneath clamped down on them, preventing them from advancing any farther.
His grip strength had soared from six tons to sixteen. Even throwing a punch through brute force alone, without any added momentum from speed, his explosive force comfortably exceeded thirty tons.
Such tremendous force, compressed into the tiny surface of a fist, was enough to blast a living person into a mist of blood with a single strike.
Yet compared with his soaring constitution, the growth of his spirit and agility clearly lagged behind.
"That's strange. System, my agility is already more than ninety times an ordinary person's, and my constitution is nearly a hundred times theirs."
"The average person runs at about six meters per second. Logically, with a constitution a hundred times stronger supporting me, even if I can't reach six hundred meters per second, I shouldn't be stuck at around a hundred and eighty, should I?"
The system's utterly flat notification voice immediately sounded.
"The agility attribute reflects the host's nerve conduction speed, precision of limb coordination, and dynamic balance, not merely movement speed."
"Before mastering movement abilities, the human body's maximum speed is jointly constrained by muscular explosive force, air resistance, and planetary gravity."
"Your constitution is astonishing, but as speed increases, air resistance rises exponentially, and the restraint gravity places on your torso also grows increasingly heavy."
"Therefore, while your reactions and coordination have reached nearly a hundred times those of an ordinary person, your actual movement speed remains firmly locked down by the laws of physics."
"...All right." Chen Xiao thought it over briefly. That really was how it worked.
It was like a ten-thousand-ton ship whose engines produced a hundred thousand horsepower, yet could only manage twenty knots, all because the seawater held it back.
And once a person accelerated to a certain threshold, the air was no longer an invisible medium. It became a mire, an iron wall, forcibly pinning them in place.