Chapter 78

Chapter 78

As soon as Xu Qiao signed the contract, Sun Xuan asked to add her as a friend.

Without much thought, Xu Qiao accepted the request. Within moments, after Sun Xuan tapped on his screen a few times, Xu Qiao received a transfer of tens of millions of points.

Xu Qiao: “……”

Sun Xuan then took out a set of A-grade battle armor. “Xiao Shan provided the size. You can try it first. If it doesn’t fit, we can exchange it.”

Xu Qiao: “I already have a set of A-grade battle armor, given by the captain...”

Sun Xuan: “Everything is done according to procedure. If you don’t take it, people outside might think the official is withholding rewards for some reason.”

Sun Fushan: “Take it. It’s free if you don’t.”

In the eyes of the official, points exchangeable for beast cores and materials are just numbers, since the beasts are endless. The significance of researching spirit body upgrades is much greater, especially for these potential S-grade awakened individuals who are worth cultivating at any cost.

Before Xu Qiao could put away the armor, Sun Xuan enlarged the screen to display a 3D map of the central district, marked with some red dots.

Sun Xuan: “These are the villas available for you to choose from.”

Sun Fushan leaned over and pointed to a few red dots in the inner circle of the central district. “Here, the best!”

Xu Qiao looked and asked, “Where is the research institute?”

Sun Xuan moved the screen, still within the inner circle, pointing at Lv Chun’s lab. “Inside Professor Lu’s experimental garden. The renovation team is already there and it should be ready for use by noon at the latest.”

Having witnessed the efficiency of an A-grade renovation awakener through Qinchi, Xu Qiao asked Sun Fushan, “I might need to stay near the lab frequently. Do you have any recommendations around here?”

Having received the information in advance, Sun Fushan was well-prepared and pointed to a villa area south of Lv Chun’s lab. “Here, there are three villas. One for you, one for Meng Li, and one for Brother Qin.”

To avoid suspicion, Sun Fushan declined any rewards himself, though he didn’t need them.

Xu Qiao looked at Sun Xuan and gave Sun Fushan a subtle glance.

Sun Fushan didn’t understand.

Sun Xuan smiled. “He doesn’t want to participate in the research. That’s okay. I’ll continue to keep it a secret for him. Xiao Shan didn’t intentionally let it slip. Please don’t blame him.”

Sun Fushan: “……”

Feeling awkward, Xu Qiao selected her villa.

Sun Xuan needed to go find Meng Li and took his brother with him. If he went alone, Meng Li might feel pressured.

After seeing off the brothers, Xu Qiao knocked on the door of Unit 102.

The door opened, revealing a military academy instructor dressed in a black suit. Xu Qiao understood. “You’re leaving for the Second School?”

Qinchi: “Just preparing to leave, but there’s no rush. Come in.”

He went to the kitchen and washed some fruit. When he returned, he sat on the single sofa diagonally opposite Xu Qiao and guessed, “Moving?”

Xu Qiao shook her head. “Just staying there temporarily for convenience to the lab.”

Perhaps the environment in the central district was better, but the house in Ping’an Community was her home, and Xu Qiao had no immediate plans to move.

Qinchi: “Did you choose the villa?”

Xu Qiao: “Yes, near Professor Lu’s lab, about one kilometer away.”

Qinchi: “In an unfamiliar central district, won’t you be scared living in such a big villa alone?”

Xu Qiao: “...The official will arrange a guard force to protect us secretly.”

Qinchi: “Will they also arrange a chef and a driver?”

Xu Qiao couldn’t help but laugh.

Qinchi: “I’ll stay in the guest room on the first floor. As your teammate and lab assistant, it shouldn’t cause any misunderstanding. Of course, if you don’t mind.”

Xu Qiao: “I don’t mind. Having an A-grade Combat Department expert protecting me closely, I’ll sleep more soundly at night.”

Qinchi: “It’s my honor to protect the next S-grade healer of the Southeast Base.”

Xu Qiao’s face flushed, and she glared at him. “When that day comes, you can feel honored. I’m leaving!”

Watching her leave, Qinchi smiled. “I’ll come back for lunch at noon. Shall we go to the lab together after that?”

Xu Qiao: “Got it, Driver Qin.”

Using the remaining time in the morning, Xu Qiao reorganized her previous experiments. Checking the time, she saw it was 11:30.

She couldn’t let a military academy instructor who had just finished two classes come back and cook on an empty stomach. Xu Qiao checked her storage and headed to the kitchen.

Qinchi’s cooking had an artistic beauty, aiming for perfection in color, aroma, and taste. Xu Qiao wasn’t that particular and made three dishes and a soup her usual way.

The doorbell rang, and it was indeed Qinchi, with his black coat draped over his arm, wearing only a white shirt underneath.

After opening the door, Xu Qiao went back inside. “Sit down first. It’ll be ready soon.”

Qinchi hung up his coat and watched her busy figure in the kitchen. As he undid the cufflinks of his shirt, he talked about school. “Thanks to you, Xiaoyang and I have become celebrities at school. During breaks, the front and back doors of the classroom were blocked, and no one inside could get out.”

Mentioning Lu Yang, Xu Qiao felt a headache. “Xiao Yang probably guessed that I’ve already upgraded. I wonder what will happen when we meet tonight.”

Sun Fushan would be jealous of secrets between Meng Li and her. A sixteen-year-old military academy student would be even more sensitive.

Qinchi: “Indeed, his eyes were colder than usual today.”

Xu Qiao: “……Did you explain anything to him?”

Qin Chi: “He left as soon as the class was over.”

Xu Qiao: “……”

Regardless of whether the military academy students would get angry, Xu Qiao had her own matters to attend to.

At 1:30 PM, Xu Qiao and Qin Chi walked side by side into Lv Chun’s laboratory.

This time, Lv Chun came to receive them personally, smiling as she examined Xu Qiao. “Should I consider you as the parental representative for Zhou Cheng’s case, a collaborating healer, or my new research subject?”

Xu Qiao, her face red, said, “I apologize, Professor Lu, for keeping some things from you previously.”

Lv Chun: “It’s alright. The more surprises, the better. Come on, I’ll conduct a physical examination first and learn about your growth experiences, especially the part about your mental entity upgrade.”

This would take a while, so Xu Qiao looked at Qin Chi.

Lv Chun: “As long as you don’t mind, Teacher Qin can also come in to observe. Although most people wouldn’t admit it, the appearance of psychics themselves is a kind of mutation. Teacher Qin is an expert in this area and might provide us with some valuable insights for our research.”

Qin Chi: “Thank you for your recognition. I hope I can be of service to you.”

As Xu Qiao lay on the instrument, allowing Lv Chun to draw blood and conduct various tests, Qin Chi, draped in a white coat, watched from the side.

Xu Qiao felt a bit embarrassed but also reassured.

After recording all her test data for comparison with Sun Fushan and Meng Li’s, Lv Chun began a two-hour-long inquiry. The atmosphere was relaxed, and at one point, an assistant even brought in some fruit.

Lv Chun: “The increase in the lotus flower’s petals signifies a grade promotion. However, I speculate that during the two or three years between its two upgrades, your mental strength was actually continuously increasing. Next, I’ll record your mental strength data daily.” Ordinary psychics’ mental strength values are constant, with only minor fluctuations, and what they exercise is merely proficiency.

Xu Qiao: “Is there such a detection instrument?”

Lv Chun: “Yes, it was developed by the Northeast Base in June this year. However, the technology for combined use with the mental entity detection instrument is not yet fully mature. It is expected to be operational by next year. By then, each grade of psychic can be further divided into three sub-stages, such as A+, A, and A-, based on the mental strength interval.” In our lab, we can measure the exact strength values.

Xu Qiao immediately thought of the related beastification treatment. If it turned out that Qin Chi’s mental strength value wasn’t significantly higher than hers, she wouldn’t fear his mental entity turning against her during the treatment.

Next, Lv Chun took Xu Qiao for a mental strength detection test, which showed a result of 10021.

Lv Chun also provided the corresponding mental strength data intervals for each psychic grade:

Ordinary people’s mental strength value: “1-9”

E-grade psychic: “10-19”

D-grade psychic: “20-99”

C-grade psychic: “100-999”

B-grade psychic: “1000-9999”

A-grade psychic: “10000-999999”

S-grade psychic: “1000000-unknown”

Xu Qiao: “Even within the same A grade, the strength difference between the lowest and highest A-grade can reach nearly a hundredfold?”

Lv Chun: “Yes, the higher the grade, the greater the disparity within the same grade. A top-tier B-grade psychic defeating an entry-level A-grade is not just a fantasy.”

Xu Qiao, looking at her mental strength value that had just exceeded 10,000, said with a wry smile, “Suppose when I awakened as a C-grade, my value was only 100. After two years of accumulation, I successfully accumulated 9900 points. Even if I have the potential to upgrade to S-grade, there’s still a gap of 990,000 points from 10,000 to 1,000,000. That’s a hundredfold difference. In other words, if I maintain my previous training pace, it would take me 200 years to reach S-grade?”

Lv Chun smiled and said, “We still don’t know why your mental strength can increase, so we can’t summarize the efficiency of the increase. However, based on your experiences before and after the upgrade, I speculate that the survival instinct burst at a life-or-death moment or intense emotions triggered by certain stimuli could significantly boost mental strength. It’s like life realizations. Without a certain realization, a person might live in pain their whole life. But one day, if they suddenly see the light, the rest of their life will benefit immensely.”

Xu Qiao understood.

Lv Chun: “Alright, we’ll stop the tests here for today. Let’s talk about Zhou Cheng. Do you want to officially become his healer? There’s a salary. And if you’re willing to join my lab, that would be even better. We can discuss benefits and treatment.”

Xu Qiao, taking a backpack that concealed the space core from Qin Chi, retrieved a reorganized experimental log and handed it to Lv Chun, saying nervously, “I’m afraid that after reading this, you’ll think I’m not qualified to be a healer.”

She had violated the Healer Association’s fundamental principle of not touching a patient’s core and mental world.

But Xu Qiao firmly believed this was the only solution to treat the beastification issue of psychics. Even if Lv Chun asked her to leave, she would continue her experiments.

Lv Chun was still smiling when she took the log, but after reading just one page, her smile vanished. She looked at Xu Qiao in disbelief. “How did you come up with the idea of conducting such experiments on beasts?”

Xu Qiao concealed Meng Qiuyan’s illness, claiming she stumbled upon the mental world and became interested.

Meng Li was the only experimental subject whose mental world Xu Qiao had successfully interfered with.

Her hands, resting on her lap, were shaking uncontrollably, but Xu Qiao still looked at the esteemed S-grade healer and said her piece. “Zhou Cheng might be the first beastified psychic, but he won’t be the last. Since we’ve encountered such a patient, we should explore all possible methods rather than be bound by past experiences, which could delay Zhou Cheng’s treatment.”

“If you don’t trust the experiments I’ve done on Meng Li, I’m willing to open my mental world for you to verify. I’ll take full responsibility for any consequences.”

By the end, Xu Qiao’s hands had stopped shaking.

She released her recently upgraded lotus flower mental entity.

The lotus might be vain, but it had always been cooperative when it came to serious matters.

But what Lv Chun saw wasn’t just a beautiful, ethereal lotus. She also saw the bright future of a twenty-year-old psychic and the immense trust Xu Qiao had placed in her.

After a long silence, Lv Chun touched the lotus and said to Xu Qiao, “The experiments must be conducted, starting with beasts.”