Chapter 2210: Establishing Protection

In Mohawi's understanding, the process of Psionic Awakening is actually one where those who are uncertain if they can awaken naturally share the talent of someone who has already awakened Psionics during the process of Mental Energy Sharing.

Or, more accurately, they share the talent of an Artifact.

Because only those who possess a Mental Image World can awaken Psionics for others; in this sense, a Psionic Master can also do it.

It is just that because this process requires Mental Energy Sharing with others, it is essentially assimilation; although it is more often manifested as the strong assimilating the weak, the weak can also exert influence on the strong, especially when the weak possess a numerical advantage.

A Psionic Master who has already achieved mental independence is naturally unwilling to fall back into a state of mental entanglement with others.

Therefore, the Awakening Rituals in Zhamu Dasi are almost one hundred percent performed using Artifacts, and as long as the awakened person cannot create their own Mental Image World for a day, they cannot escape the influence of the Artifact for a day.

Once they die, unlike a Psionic Master who still has the possibility of rebirth, they have completely dedicated all their remaining light to the Artifact; even while still alive, they must passively contribute their power.

The so-called "Psionic Energy," in Mohawi's understanding, is the most important essence belonging to a sentient being and is the root from which Psionics originate.

But after fully browsing the information in Mohawi's consciousness regarding Psionics and Psionic Energy, Xia Duo boldly made an inference: the Psionic Energy that Mohawi believes in is perhaps what he considers the "Subconscious."

Mental Energy Sharing is Subconscious sharing, only the degree is not yet known; if it is merely sharing at the level of Meta-Thinking, then the Mind Network Xia Duo built at the Tower of Time based on the Inspiration Headband might also have a chance to generate Psionics.

If the degree of sharing is high, then the influence of the Artifact on the awakened person is likely far from as "subtle" as Mohawi understands.

That is to say, Artifacts cannot speak; otherwise, they would certainly also refuse all external subconscious pollution, just like Psionic Masters.

……

After roughly understanding the origin of Psionics and the process of Artifact awakening, Xia Duo believes that if he wants to awaken Psionics, there are roughly two paths—

One is to reach the level of creating a Mental Image World in the field of illusion, and then use the Mind Network to attempt to awaken on his own.

The other is to find a way to obtain a Mind Artifact, then purify the Artifact, and finally use it to awaken Psionics.

The former is relatively safe and controllable, but it is also highly likely to encounter the paradox of Psionic Awakening, where one can never awaken through such a method.

While the latter is similar to the Earth idiom of "borrowing a chicken to lay eggs," connecting essentially with the Artifact, treating the Artifact's Psionics as his own, and then slowly performing "personalized settings" during the process of use.

Until it completely conforms to his own thoughts and cognition; by that time, it might also be when he becomes a Psionic Master.

This method has a high probability of allowing him to obtain Psionics, but there are also quite a few problems, not to mention how to obtain the Artifact and how to purify it.

Even if these two points are satisfied, it is very easy to cause cognitive mutations during the process of sharing the subconscious.

In other words, by awakening Psionics through this method, he might truly awaken Psionics, but the final result might not be the mental independence he wants, but rather being assimilated by the Artifact.

So many people in Zhamu Dasi have awakened Psionics, but how many can eventually become Psionic Masters? Xia Duo does not think he is the special one.

Unless the Artifact is designed and manufactured by himself, which could be relatively controllable, but if there is no Psionic power, then how can one manufacture an Artifact?

There is also the method of manufacturing Artifacts; this does not exist in Mohawi's consciousness, which means that if Xia Duo wants to manufacture a Mind Artifact, he still has to go south and clash with Zhamu Dasi.

For him, who longs for peace, this is not a decision that can be easily made.

Therefore, Xia Duo is more inclined to try the first path, which is the method of combining a Mental Image World with a Mind Network; if it really doesn't work, then he will simply give up.

In his hometown, there is a philosophy called "I alone am honored," which originally refers to the importance of the "self." Xia Duo deeply agrees with this and naturally does not want to change his self for a magic system that even looks very special.

If his self is destined to have no connection with Psionics, then so be it. From his current understanding of Psionics, if nothing goes wrong, Psionics is also just a method of explaining the world from a different angle.

All paths of the Dao lead to the same destination; no matter which explanation, it will eventually point in the direction of the same truth.

Moreover, in Xia Duo's view, Arcane Magic, which is closer to the science of Earth (a magic system developed based on objective reality; Dwarves, Elves, and Netheril all have them, just from different angles), is more acceptable to him.

Psionic Magic is ultimately too elusive and is suspected of having an unstable foundation; even if it might be a shortcut to the essence of the world, Xia Duo believes that the same can be achieved through Arcane Magic.

……

Before, when he didn't understand Psionic Magic, Xia Duo's attitude toward it was somewhat anxious about gains and losses, but after having a certain understanding, especially after understanding the pros and cons, his mindset suddenly leveled out.

And the benefits brought by analyzing Mohawi's consciousness are far more than these.

The consciousness of a Psionic Master is more precious than any mineral deposit in the present world; in it, besides finding an overall understanding of Psionics, Xia Duo also found specific details of Psionic Techniques.

Although the effects of Psionics can be determined by the mind, and there are commonalities between people, especially those awakened who share the subconscious, individual characteristics have not been completely erased; otherwise, there wouldn't be Psionic Masters with mental independence.

Therefore, every awakened person has a certain tendency, or preference, or specialty when using Psionics.

For example, some awakened people can easily push a giant rock to a high altitude but find it difficult to ignite a ball of flame, or some awakened people can easily perceive other people's thoughts but find it difficult to cause any disturbance to external objects.

All these kinds of things, in the thousands of years of Psionic exploration in Zhamu Dasi, have gradually divided into two main paths: one is the Scholar, and the other is the Warrior.

The former is more about exploring the internal potential of Psionics and the mind, possessing many incredible powers; this path requires the most talent, and the vast majority of Psionic Masters are from a Scholar background.

The Warrior, on the other hand, focuses more on the interaction between Psionics and the outside world; the aforementioned pushing of giant rocks, igniting flames, or perceiving thoughts all belong to the category of Warrior abilities, although these are also within the research scope of Scholars.

Or to put it more colloquially, Scholars focus more on research, while Warriors focus more on Application; the identities of the two are not unexchangeable.

It is just that, generally speaking, the status of a Warrior is far lower than that of a Scholar, and they usually exist as followers or subordinates of Scholars.