Chapter 749: Psychic Inheritance! What Do You Think of Me?

"Maggot! How dare you return?"

When Xu Jingming charged back into the base, the familiar terrifying pressure slammed into him.

Under the influence of that aura, Xu Jingming felt as insignificant as an ant.

The giant skull across from him was the god who controlled everything.

Yet Xu Jingming felt not a trace of fear—instead, he became more certain it was all bluster.

After all, if a maggot dares to offend you, you crush it outright—not just shout at it.

"Just a fragment of a soul, and you dare call me a maggot?"

His gaze turned icy; the Extreme Radiance Thunder Ring behind him spun wildly. Xu Jingming raised his right hand slightly and clenched it toward the skull: "Thunder Prison!"

Crackling—

Golden lightning materialized instantly, swallowing the skull seated on the chair.

Under the ferocious assault of the lightning, the seemingly solid purple-black skull shattered and vanished.

"Damn you, maggot!"

A piercing scream rang out as purple-black smoke erupted from the skull, frantically fleeing toward the base's exit.

"Try to escape? Thunder Domain!"

Boom—

The furious Divine Thunder erupted violently, amplified by domain power, the psychic energy surging sharply as golden lightning instantly encircled the smoke.

"Domain?"

A terrified cry rose from within the smoke:

"Damn it! A seventh-rank mid-tier even has a domain? Is your civilization era this strong?"

He spoke in the language of the Second Civilization Era, but Xu Jingming had already mastered all of it—easily understanding every word.

A thought stirred; the golden thunderball, enclosing the psychic mist—roughly the size of a basketball—returned to Xu Jingming's palm.

"Alright. Now we can talk properly."

Xu Jingming's calm voice echoed: "First, tell me your identity."

"Why should I tell you? You're just a maggot!"

"In the past, a single thought from me would have erased you!"

The voice inside the golden thunderball remained defiant.

Xu Jingming said nothing—only drove the lightning into the center of the mist.

Sizzle!!

Dense, fine golden lightning pierced through the psychic smoke, and immediately, a piercing scream erupted:

"Ah!"

"Stop! Stop right now!"

"I'm sorry! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

After more than ten seconds, Xu Jingming ceased his assault, speaking coldly:

"One last chance to reveal your identity and origin—or I'll erase you."

After the disguise failed, he sensed the opponent's psychic strength through his Mind Net.

Roughly equivalent to an A-rank eighth-rank lower-tier Grand Master.

Useful against Thorn Sword Grass, but against him? Just crushed.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

As if fearing Xu Jingming would change his mind, a rapid, continuous voice burst from the thunderball:

"I'm Zachary, an S-rank ninth-rank peak psychic energy user from Jin State."

A world-ending disaster struck this research base, leaving only my fragmented psychic soul."

"If you gather celestial treasures to restore my psychic power and help me regain my peak, I'll grant you anything you desire!"

As he spoke, the voice grew subtly persuasive.

Hearing this, Xu Jingming frowned.

It was just like the old Earth's "I, Qin Shi Huang, send money?"

The former was fake; this one was real.

Of course, whether Zachary would repay him after regaining his peak? That was uncertain.

"You're lying!"

A sharp voice rang out; the holographic Eva pointed at the golden thunderball, furious:

"Lord Zachary didn't perish here—he died fighting the top-tier beast, the Blazing Fiend Monkey!"

"Who are you? How dare you impersonate Lord Zachary!"

After Zachary's death, his entire body was devoured by the ninth-rank peak Blazing Fiend Monkey; his funeral was only a ceremonial tomb for his robes.

Zachary sacrificed himself defending against beast invasions—for Jin State, for humanity—she would never allow anyone to impersonate him.

"Damn! You have an AI with access to Jin State's records?"

The psychic energy inside the thunderball was utterly stunned.

"Hmm?"

Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes and resumed the electric torture.

This time, the agonized screams lasted over a minute before gradually fading.

"I really am Zachary!"

After the screams, a noticeably weaker voice emerged from the thunderball:

"Since you have Jin State's records, you should know."

"As the war with the beasts entered its final phase, humanity fell back steadily, and many strong ones prepared escape routes."

"I am a fragment of Zachary's psychic energy, tasked with transmitting his psychic combat techniques."

"Though I'm not the original, I'm essentially no different from Zachary himself."

"Combat technique transmission? A powerhouse like you should have many students—why leave another transmission?" Xu Jingming asked, puzzled.

Before Zachary could answer, Eva beside him shook her head and sighed:

"Zachary was always strict with disciples. In the two centuries since his rise, he took only five students."

"All five died before him—on the beast battlefield."

"It's very much like him to split off a psychic fragment to preserve his techniques."

"I see." Xu Jingming nodded.

He hadn't studied the late Second Civilization Era's war in detail.

But from Eva's few words alone, he could sense how brutal the war had been.

"I lied earlier—I'm a fragmented soul split from the original."

"My psychic power can never be restored. My mission is to find a worthy psychic heir."

"To pass on all I've learned, and fulfill my duty."

"Now that I've revealed my identity, can you let me go?"

Zachary's voice emerged from the thunderball, tinged with quiet loneliness.

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming retracted his lightning; the purple-black psychic mist spread before him, forming the figure of a middle-aged man in a long robe.

"Since you're seeking a successor, what do you think of me?"

Xu Jingming grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth.

This was the inheritance of a ninth-rank peak psychic energy user—especially a psychic one!

Keep in mind that

The highest-ranked psychic energy user in Great Xia was only ninth-rank mid-tier.

Now that he'd found it, he wouldn't let it slip—even though he wasn't a psychic energy user at all.

"You?"

Zachary studied Xu Jingming carefully, then shook his head:

"I can sense your lightning energy is strong—at least S-rank or higher."

"Your psychic power exceeds that of a typical seventh-rank mid-tier Grand Master, but you're not a psychic energy user—you can't receive the inheritance."

"How can you know unless you try?" Xu Jingming radiated unshakable confidence.

A layer of lightning enveloped his towering, over-three-meter-tall Thunderstorm Form, emphasizing his ferocity and dominance.

Glancing at the furious golden lightning that had sealed the exit, Zachary's eyelid twitched, and he sighed helplessly:

"Fine."

Who could have imagined that a former ninth-rank peak powerhouse would one day be forced like this?

And worse—he had no choice but to agree...