Marvel: The other side of the double-passing door is Devouring the Stars

Chapter 378 Danger that could erupt at any moment!
"So, did I pass your test?" Rowan asked nervously.

Arya didn't answer immediately. Instead, she walked to the viewing window and gazed at the starry sky. After a long while, she turned back: "Your mental strength is indeed impressive, and your willpower is unwavering, possessing the basic requirements for learning telekinesis. However..."

"But what?" Rowan's heart jumped.

“But cultivating telekinesis isn’t just about technique; more importantly, it’s about understanding the essence of the universe,” Arya said earnestly. “Are you willing to undergo a month of intensive training? During this month, you may face unprecedented challenges.”

“I do,” Rowan answered without hesitation.

“Very good. Then starting tomorrow, you will report here at eight o'clock every morning,” Arya said. “Remember, once you start, you can't give up easily, otherwise you will not only waste your time, but it may also damage your mental well-being.”

“I understand, Master, I will never give up halfway,” Rowan promised firmly.

“I hope you can keep your word,” Arya nodded. “Also, before you begin formal training, I suggest you learn some basic theories of telekinesis. The institute's library has relevant materials; you can take a look.”

That evening, Luo Wen went to the research institute's library and began researching materials related to telekinesis. These materials covered various aspects of telekinesis, including its history, theoretical foundations, and cultivation methods, giving him a more comprehensive understanding of it.

"So the history of telekinesis is so long," Rowan exclaimed as he read. "As early as the beginning of cosmic civilization, beings possessed this wondrous power."

According to historical records, telekinesis is the ability to manipulate matter and energy through mental power. True telekinetic masters can even influence the structure of spacetime. Some powerful telekinetic practitioners in history were able to move mountains and fill seas with their telekinesis alone, and even create small spatial rifts.

“This power is indeed alluring,” Rowan continued flipping through the documents, “but the difficulty of cultivating it is extraordinary.”

At eight o'clock the next morning, Rowan arrived on the top floor of the Psychic Research Institute on time. Master Arya was already waiting there. Today, she was wearing a simple research coat, and her long silver hair was tied up in a high bun, making her look particularly serious.

“Very punctual, that’s a good habit,” Arya nodded approvingly. “How was your review of the materials last night?”

"I've basically gone through all the basic theories," Rowan answered truthfully, "and gained a preliminary understanding of the history and principles of mind power cultivation."

“A preliminary understanding isn’t enough,” Arya said, walking to the center of the hall. “Psychic training requires a combination of theory and practice. However, before we begin formal training, I need to understand your current psychic level.”

As she spoke, Arya stretched out her hand, and a gentle wave of psychic energy emanated from her palm, condensing into a transparent sphere of light in the air. Intricate energy patterns flowed within the sphere, making it appear both beautiful and mysterious.

“This is basic telekinesis shaping. Try it and see if you can do it,” Arya said.

Rowan took a deep breath and began to concentrate his mental energy. He extended his right hand, trying to mimic Arya's movements. At first, nothing happened, but as he focused his mental energy, faint energy fluctuations began to appear in his palm.

A few minutes later, a blurry dot of light formed in his palm. Although it was far less stable and exquisite than Arya's orb of light, it had at least taken shape.

"Not bad, although it's still quite rough, it shows you do have a talent for telekinesis," Arya commented. "However, I feel your way of using telekinesis is a bit unusual. Could you demonstrate how you usually use telekinesis?"

Rowan thought for a moment, "Master, I mainly use telekinesis to control my weapons, especially a technique called Starburst Sky-Splitting Blade."

"Starburst Sky-Splitting Blade?" Arya frowned slightly. "I haven't heard of that name before. Could you demonstrate it?"

“Of course,” Rowan nodded in agreement, and then began to mobilize his telekinesis.

As he concentrated his mental energy, a transparent psychic sword suddenly appeared in the void. The sword's shape was very similar to the Void Slash, but it emitted a pale blue light, clearly composed of pure psychic energy.

“An interesting construction,” Arya observed with great interest. “Continue.”

Rowan took a deep breath and began to unleash the core technique of the Starburst Sky-Splitting Blade. Suddenly, the psychic sword began to split, first into two, then into four, then into eight. The splitting speed increased rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it became hundreds of small swords.

But this wasn't the end. Rowan continued to increase his psychic output, and the splitting continued. Hundreds of small swords continued to split, becoming thousands, then tens of thousands. Countless tiny psychic flying swords floated densely in the air above the entire hall, each radiating a sharp aura.

"This is the Starburst Sky-Splitting Blade," Rowan explained while maintaining the impressive formation, "It creates an attack effect of a rain of swords by continuously splitting the psychic weapon. The more it splits, the wider the coverage area."

A flicker of shock crossed Arya's eyes. "To simultaneously control tens of thousands of psychic weapons requires an incredible level of mental agility. How did you learn this technique?"

"I figured this out by accident while I was on Earth," Rowan said candidly. "At the time, I felt that a single telekinetic weapon had limited power, so I tried to split it, and the effect was surprisingly good."

“To have developed such complex telekinetic techniques without a teacher… your talent is even greater than I imagined,” Arya said, approaching the hovering swords and carefully observing their structure. “Each small sword retains its shape perfectly, and the energy density is very uniform. This precise control over mental energy is something even some seasoned telekinetic masters might not be able to achieve.”

"Thank you for the compliment, Master," Rowan said somewhat embarrassedly, "but I feel there are still many areas for improvement in this technique."

“That’s true,” Arya nodded in agreement. “Although your Starburst Blade is quite mature, I’ve noticed some problems.”

"Please enlighten me, Master," Rowan said respectfully.

Arya pointed to the swarm of flying swords in the air. "You see," she said, "although there are many, the power of each sword has been greatly weakened. This is an inherent drawback of the splitting technique—as the number increases, the power of each individual sword inevitably decreases."

“I’ve noticed this problem too,” Rowan admitted, “but I haven’t been able to find a solution.”

“Furthermore,” Arya continued, “maintaining so many clones requires a tremendous amount of mental energy. How long can you sustain this?”

"About ten minutes," Rowan answered truthfully. "If it's a high-intensity battle, it might only take a few minutes."

“That brings us to the second issue—sustainability,” Arya said. “In truly high-level combat, a few minutes are often not enough to decide the outcome.”

Hearing Arya's analysis, Rowan couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected. His Starburst Blade, which he had always been so proud of, actually had so many flaws in the eyes of a true psychic master. As if reading Rowan's thoughts, Arya comforted him, "Don't be discouraged. Your basic skills are already remarkable. Now, what we need to do is maintain our advantage while solving these problems."

"Does the master have any advice?" Hope rekindled in Rowan's eyes.

Arya walked to the viewing window and gazed at the starry sky. "Have you ever thought about why we have to pursue quantity so much?"

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked, puzzled.

“Your Starburst Blades aim to increase attack range and density through sheer numbers, but this inevitably leads to a decrease in individual unit power,” Arya turned around, “Have you considered doing the opposite?”

"Go against the grain?" Rowan was even more confused.

“Return to simplicity,” Arya said slowly, “Try the power of unity.”

"Reunite them into one?" Rowan tried to understand Arya's meaning. "You mean, reunite the split swords?"

“It’s not just a simple re-merging,” Arya said, shaking her head. “I mean fundamentally changing the core concept of the Starburst Skyblade.”

Seeing Rowan's still puzzled expression, Arya decided to explain in a more direct way. She stretched out her hand, and a telekinetic sword formed in her palm. The sword looked ordinary, with nothing special about it.

“What you see now is the most basic telekinetic weapon,” Arya said. “Now observe carefully.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the ordinary telekinetic sword suddenly began to change. It didn't split, but compressed. The blade became more solid, and its light became even more dazzling. As the compression continued, although the blade maintained the same size, it felt increasingly heavy and sharp.

“This is a technique for concentrating psychic power,” Arya explained. “By continuously compressing and condensing psychic power, the density and power of the weapon are increased. Theoretically, the greater the compression, the greater the power.”

Rowan carefully examined the sword in Arya's hand. Although it looked like an ordinary sword, he could sense the terrifying energy contained within it. The compressed psychic power gave off a dangerous feeling that it could erupt at any moment.

“Now imagine,” Arya continued, “what would happen if you reversed your Starburst Blade technique, instead of splitting one sword into tens of thousands, you concentrated the power of tens of thousands of swords into one sword?”

The idea struck Rowan like a thunderbolt. He had never considered this possibility before, always focused on how to split more, without thinking about the power of the reverse.

“This is indeed a completely new idea,” Rowan said excitedly. “If it succeeds, the combined sword will possess the combined power of tens of thousands of swords!”

“That’s right,” Arya nodded in confirmation, “and doing this will also solve the two problems you encountered before: insufficient power and excessive energy consumption.”

“But,” Rowan thought of a problem, “wouldn’t that drastically reduce the attack range? The original Starburst Blade could attack a wide range of enemies simultaneously.”

“This requires finding a balance between power and range,” Arya said. “You can choose different strategies depending on the battle situation. Use Split Mode against a large number of weak enemies, and Convergence Mode against a powerful single enemy.”

"This idea is fantastic!" Rowan became increasingly excited as he thought about it. "This way, I can flexibly adjust my tactics according to the actual situation."

“However,” Arya changed the subject, “theoretically feasible doesn’t mean practically easy to achieve. The aggregation of psychic energy is far more difficult than its splitting, requiring extremely precise control.”

“I’m willing to try,” Rowan said firmly. “No matter how difficult it is, I’m determined to master this skill.”

“Very good, let’s begin training now,” Arya nodded with satisfaction. “First, you need to learn the most basic telekinesis compression techniques.”

Over the next few hours, Arya began teaching Rowan the basics of telekinesis. This was far more difficult than he had imagined, requiring extremely precise control of his mental energy.

“The key to compression is uniformity and stability,” Arya explained as she demonstrated. “No part can be compressed at a different degree, otherwise the entire structure will collapse.”

Following Arya's instructions, Rowan attempted to compress a simple telekinetic sword. His initial attempts failed; the telekinetic sword either dissipated or became extremely unstable.

“Don’t be impatient,” Arya patiently instructed. “Telekinesis requires meticulous control, not brute force. Imagine you are sculpting a work of art; every detail needs careful handling.”

After countless failures and retrying, Rowan finally succeeded in completing his first psychic compression in the third hour. Although the compression was very slight, the power of the psychic sword did indeed increase significantly.

“Very good, you’ve grasped the basics,” Arya said approvingly. “Now let’s try some more advanced techniques.”

"More advanced techniques?" Rowan asked curiously.

“Multiple compression,” Arya said, “is compressing something on top of what’s already compressed, which allows you to achieve even higher energy density.”

It sounded difficult, but Rowan nodded in agreement to give it a try. The difficulty of multiple compressions far exceeded his expectations, requiring not only more precise control but also stronger mental fortitude.

After a morning of arduous training, Rowan had only barely mastered the technique of double compression. Although the progress was modest, Arya seemed quite satisfied.

“That’s enough for today,” Arya said. “You can practice basic compression on your own this afternoon, and we’ll continue tomorrow.”

"Master, I have a question," Rowan asked before leaving, "How exactly is the technique of merging two into one achieved?"

“This can’t be rushed,” Arya replied. “You need to master the compression technique first, and then we’ll study how to combine splitting and merging. This could take several weeks.”

“I understand,” Rowan nodded. “I will practice hard.”

(End of this chapter)