Tempering 5
"Tell me... is there any chance that someone with B-level psychic power could pilot a mech?"
Inside Instructor Chen's quarters, Kai Ang, connected via holographic projection, made a speechless face.
"Chen Ai, have you gone soft in the head from teaching those brats?" He tapped his finger twice in frustration, looking like he wanted to reach through the screen and shake Instructor Chen. "Remember the Southern Yi Convention? How many people died in Master Duanmeng's lab? Anyone below A-level psychic power had their bodies completely collapse the moment they got in a mech. What kind of wishful thinking is this?"
Instructor Chen's mind flashed with the image of a figure weaving through the night, and he couldn't help shaking his head. "You're right. These brats have just been getting under my skin these past couple of days."
Kai Ang grinned. "If you miss me, just say so. Wait a bit—I'll be back in two days. Then we'll put those brats through some real fun."
—
Inside the infirmary, Sun Liao's resentful gaze clung to Xu Lingqu like it was glued to her, not straying for a second.
Even as Xu Lingqu stepped into the partitioned alcove and let the housekeeping robot clean her up, he kept staring, as if he wanted to charge right in.
Doctor Li turned to look at him. "Did you hurt your eyes when you fell too?"
Sun Liao sheepishly averted his gaze. Thinking back to how Jin and Xu Xiqin had double-teamed him with kicks earlier, he was brimming with resentment and rage he couldn't vent.
It was all Xu Lingqu's fault. All that woman's fault.
The moment he'd returned, he'd gone straight to the infirmary for treatment. His ankle was sprained, and the treatment had taken a while. The entire time, he'd kept a strict eye on Xu Lingqu's movements through his smart device, waiting for bad news to come. But instead, the woman returned in triumph, rendering all of Sun Liao's earlier curses utterly pointless.
After getting cleaned up and finally looking less ragged, Xu Lingqu walked out, hooked herself up to the treatment instrument, and promptly fell asleep against the wall. Not once did her gaze land on Sun Liao.
Sometimes, being ignored hurts far more than being despised. Sun Liao was so furious he put on an entire internal drama that amounted to nothing but a one-man show with no audience. Ultimately, he had to brainwash himself with "out of sight, out of mind," turned his head away, and went to sleep too.
As her body's functions recovered, this time, Xu Lingqu's dream held no apocalypse.
She stood in darkness. After a moment, a house in the mountains appeared before her. Xu Lingqu hesitated briefly, then pushed the door open. A young man she'd never seen before sat behind a tea table, looking up at her with a smile. The wind blew through the bamboo house, and wind chimes by the eaves tinkled merrily.
Two seconds later, the dream warped and blurred. Xu Lingqu woke up to find the infirmary completely empty—she was the only one left.
She removed the instruments and was about to head out when Doctor Li called her name.
"Curfew's started. I ordered the others back to their dorms, but I let you stay behind because your treatment routine wasn't finished and I wanted to wait until you woke." Doctor Li clasped her hands, fingers intertwined, and turned to face Xu Lingqu.
If she was saying all this, there must be something important to discuss. Xu Lingqu lowered her eyes. "Is something wrong with my body, Doctor?"
What Doctor Li wanted to talk about was inevitably related to her physical condition, so Xu Lingqu instinctively braced for the worst.
Doctor Li projected the data onto the air. "These are your body's readings from the past two days. Yesterday and today—in just 24 hours—your baseline stamina and physical functions have improved substantially."
Her face was a mix of astonishment and curiosity. "Combined with your state and training volume, I've found that as long as you manage to push your body right to its limit every time, and then receive proper recovery treatment afterward, your baseline skills and physical functions undergo a qualitative leap."
"Unfortunately, I don't have complete body data from the past few days, but based on my extrapolation, your first breakthrough of physical limits came after the Xilaike Gel treatment provided you." Doctor Li stood up, fixing her gaze on Xu Lingqu. "You've felt it yourself, haven't you? That's why other students aren't eager to come to my infirmary, yet you're inexplicably drawn here. You realized its special effect on you two days ago, didn't you?"
Xu Lingqu nodded sincerely. "That's exactly right. I have no reason to hide it. Before, with my physical condition, walking two steps had me spitting blood. But recently, I've noticed that every time I wake up, my body feels reborn. Is there a problem with that?"
Though she'd always had an odd sense of "familiarity" with this body, it was limited to being able to control it well enough to win a one-versus-seven fight in close combat—it never did anything to help her train her physique faster.
So she'd assumed this gel was responsible for her physical improvements.
Outwardly calm, she was secretly a bit nervous, since she couldn't be sure whether her unusual body condition was due to the apocalyptic-era soul residing within it.
Just as she was getting tense, Doctor Li laughed. She reached up and stroked her own ice-blue hair. "Your physique actually has documented cases in our medical database. It's just extremely rare—only two cases on record so far. Word has it the Federation has a few more, but they're unwilling to share data with us."
She spread her hands helplessly and continued, "As of now, I don't have enough data to confirm you have this physique. But such a constitution always comes with some congenital deficiencies, which matches your prior medical condition perfectly. It's precisely because the past two days of training landed right on your body's tolerance limits—and you pushed through them, with strong recovery treatment afterward to repair the damage, namely the Xilaike Gel you found so helpful—"
"—that your unique constitution has been awakened. As long as you maintain this state, you'll only grow stronger. The catch is that pushing your limits requires sufficient self-control and precision. Skimp by even a fraction, and it's all for nothing. Go past by even a hair, and it's suicide."
So that's how it was.
According to the doctor, the Xilaike Gel only played a supporting role. What mattered more was the special constitution of this body...
So the ease of control and familiarity she felt toward this body was also connected to its innate peculiarities?
Doctor Li sized up the girl before her. At a glance, she still appeared to be nothing more than a pale, sickly young woman—the biggest change from two days ago being an added rosiness to her cheeks. Right now, with that faintly surprised expression on her face, she looked far more adorable than when she'd been wearing that perpetually cold expression.
Doctor Li pondered for a moment, then decided to give Xu Lingqu a bit of confidence. "I won't lie to you—aside from you, the only other recorded case of this special constitution is the Galaxy Admiral. He was the greatest, most powerful mech warrior of the interstellar age. With someone like him setting the bar, you, as the one following in his footsteps, can't afford to fall short."
Xu Lingqu's heart gave a subtle leap at the mention of the Galaxy Admiral again.
"What a pity, though—my psychic power level is B." She smiled, accepting Doctor Li's emotional boost, and continued to put on a decent show on the surface.
"Then you can become the greatest commander." Doctor Li was unusually excited. If Xu Lingqu could truly prove she shared the same special constitution as the Galaxy Admiral, Doctor Li would get a slice of the glory in the Interstellar Empire's medical history. So now she could hardly hold back her eagerness to drag Xu Lingqu into the infirmary every day, feeding her encouragement and urging her to grow stronger.
"The reason I'm telling you this today is to hope you'll cooperate and come to the infirmary for checkups more often, so I can confirm it with more data." Doctor Li steered the conversation back on track. "Oh, and to let you know that once I have solid data, I'll inform your instructors."
Talk about a godsend—she'd have been coming to the infirmary every day even if Doctor Li hadn't asked. Xu Lingqu agreed readily. "No problem."
Seeing that she'd said everything she needed to say, Doctor Li opened the door and sent Xu Lingqu back to her dorm.
Standing at the entrance to the infirmary, Xu Lingqu rubbed her hands together and looked up at the stars glittering in the night sky.
The stars here were more numerous and more dazzling than those of Earth's apocalyptic era, forming a long river of clustered lights.
The Milky Way. She thought once more of that supposed fellow traveler from Earth.
That legendary admiral whose name was spoken by countless people—his era had already drawn to a close, his name becoming a monumental legend remembered by all.
And as for Xu Lingqu, the era of her own legend was only just beginning.