Chapter 3085: The Evil Psionic Mage

"So, are both major schools of Zhamu Dasi currently plotting against the Northland Alliance's Computing Power Pool? Are they preparing to use it to forge a Psionic Magic Artifact?"

"Yes, even without my appearance, the Alliance would likely have discovered the clues soon enough." Regarding his decision to break with Zhamu Dasi, Kalishi appeared quite humble.

Xia Duo nodded, thinking once again of the recent abnormal consumption of the Computing Power Pool sub-network's gateways, though he did not mention this immediately, instead asking about the plan Kalishi knew of regarding Zhamu Dasi forging the Artifact.

To this, Kalishi did not hide anything, seemingly intending to lay all his cards on the table. He told Xia Duo, "Zhamu Dasi hid a lot from me, but through my own observations, I discovered the true secret of Psionic Artifacts."

"Essentially, so-called Psionic Artifacts are actually independent Mental Image Worlds, or they can be viewed as individual, special Psionic Mages."

"To forge a Psionic Artifact, one must prepare a material compatible with Psionic energy as a physical carrier in advance; only then can one consider which Psionic Master will sacrifice their own Mental Image World."

"In the past, the physical carriers for Artifacts chosen by Zhamu Dasi were usually the remains of deceased Psionic Masters. Those remains, having been long soaked in Psionic energy, could occasionally give birth to a special substance that, while possessing material properties, could also exist within a Mental Image World."

As Kalishi said this, Xia Duo suddenly interrupted his explanation and posed a question: "What is the relationship between this special substance and Spirit Quality?"

"There is no direct connection. The latter is not a purely special substance in the eyes of non-Psionic Mages, while the former is the matrix of the soul, possessing a certain materiality but closer to energy. Although Spirit Quality also cannot exist within a Mental Image World—it is even an important material for stabilizing a Mental Image World—it cannot be directly used to forge an Artifact."

"Alright, I understand." Xia Shao nodded, signaling for Kalishi to continue.

"According to what you say, isn't it possible for Zhamu Dasi to forge the Artifact at any time? Provided they don't insist on needing the Computing Power Pool."

"What is Psionic Energy?" Xia Shao asked again.

After Kalishi finished speaking, the Secret Ritual Chamber suddenly fell into silence.

"You didn't say there would be such serious consequences when you were at the Elder Council!"

"With a special substance compatible with Psionic energy as a physical foundation, and a Psionic Master willing to sacrifice their own Mental Image World to merge into the Artifact, the two most critical steps of Artifact forging are complete. All that remains is one condition that isn't so harsh: a surge of Psionic Energy."

"Of course, sacrifice is not common; it is only used in urgent moments. After all, as long as a sentient being is alive, they can continuously produce Psionic Energy. Even if the burst during a sacrifice is large, in the long run, it is not as good as letting them live to produce more."

Kalishi's answer was straightforward, but this put the other two present in a difficult position, especially Laruian, who even accused Kalishi right in front of Xia Shao:

Especially the latter; it is not something one can know just by obtaining the memories of a Psionic Master. One must possess the identities of both an Arcane Mage and a Psionic Mage to have such insight.

But Psionic Energy, whether from Kalishi's description or Mohawi's memories, is very likely an objectively existing thing, or what one might call a metaphysical existence.

If it were only collecting Wisdom, it shouldn't cause any damage to the Computing Power Pool or its users. After all, Wisdom is a metaphysical existence; for the real world, it can even be considered non-existent.

And Kalishi, precisely, is such an existence.

Kalishi is currently still a senior Mage within the (Elf) Arcane Magic System.

Speaking of this, Kalishi revealed a helpless expression for the second time today: "A major reason for Zhamu Dasi's constant warfare is to collect Psionic Energy!"

"Psionic Energy is born from sentient beings. Psionic Energy at the surge level must either be collected and stored over a long period, or it requires the sacrifice of a large number of sentient beings. The latter can obtain a large amount of Psionic Energy in an extreme amount of time."

"It is impossible to determine whether Zhamu Dasi will use the Computing Power Pool to collect Psionic Energy, but if they truly do so, it will cause Computing Power Pool users to suffer from sluggish thinking at best, or consciousness collapse at worst."

Xia Shao did not pay attention to Laruian's performance, but continued to ask Kalishi, "So Zhamu Dasi wants to use the Computing Power Pool to collect the Psionic Energy of Northland Mages?"

Before today, Xia Shao truly did not know that non-Psionic Mages could not perceive the existence of Psionic Energy. The memories of the Psionic Master he "devoured" did not contain relevant content; after all, that guy was not only not an Arcane Mage, but also very insistent on the views of the Zeqi School, believing that Arcane Magic was merely a form of expression for Psionic energy and should not be studied deliberately at all.

"That is the case. If they don't insist on the Computing Power Pool, then neither the Northland Alliance nor the other three kingdoms in the south could easily stop the other side. One cannot perceive the surge of Psionic Energy, and wouldn't even know the other side is forging an Artifact there."

"Then what about Psionic Energy?" Xia Shao asked again.

"For a Psionic Mage, Psionic Energy is a renewable, precious resource, but for a non-Psionic Mage, it is just like the physical carrier of an Artifact—it possesses no special nature. A non-Psionic Mage might not be able to perceive the existence of Psionic Energy at all."

"Hmm, continue."

Regarding this question, Kalishi's answer was—

Although Xia Shao did not trust Kalishi, the other party still brought him a lot of useful information, such as the changes in the Anti School of Zhamu Dasi, and the huge chasm that exists between Psionic Mages and Arcane Mages at the level of perception.

Once such a thing is taken away, it is hard to say what the consequences might be.

After encountering a bottleneck in Elven Magic, he accidentally came into contact with Psionic energy and subsequently devoted himself to it, but mastering Psionic energy did not mean losing the ability to cast Arcane Magic.

"Zhamu Dasi has conquered many indigenous peoples to the south and east over the past two years. If nothing goes wrong, their Psionic Energy reserves should be quite abundant. If that really doesn't work, they can just use sacrifice. Since they even sacrificed a Psionic Master, they certainly wouldn't mind the deaths of more indigenous people, or even ordinary people who have been assimilated in Zhamu Dasi for many years. However, for such a large plan, I estimate the Psionic Energy should have been prepared in advance."

"I had long heard that the Zhamu Dasi people in the south were very evil, but I didn't expect them to be evil to this extent!" Laruian, who was on the side, was perhaps hearing the story behind Psionic Energy for the first time and could not help but curse.

"The reason they told me was not that one, but that they wanted to use the Computing Power Pool to collect the Wisdom of the Northland Alliance's Arcane Mages to inject rules from the real world into the New Artifact. According to the theory of the Anti School, this New Artifact will become the most powerful Psionic Artifact in history."

After a moment of silence, Xia Shao continued to ask Kalishi, "Then do you think Zhamu Dasi will use the Computing Power Pool to collect Psionic Energy? If they really do that, what will be the consequences?"