Chapter Twenty-Four: Psychic Power

What is spiritual energy? All things born in this world possess a spirit; everything in existence emits spiritual energy at every moment. From the perspective of modern understanding, spiritual energy resembles radiation, for every object has a background of radiation—even the most extreme celestial phenomena, like black holes, are not devoid of it.

Yet as one who has been reborn as a top-tier cultivator of spiritual energy, Lan Yi can say with certainty: the essence of spiritual energy is not radiation. It is an uncertain presence that exists in the fissures between matter and energy—at once energy and matter, both everything and nothing. Thus, it can be absorbed into the spiritual energy furnace by cultivators, allowing them to alter the world through perception, or serve as fuel for the primordial breath, twisting reality with disregard for reason.

Wind, electricity, light, magnetism, waterfalls, ionized matter, magma, and high-energy ores—all are forms of spiritual energy, differing in attributes and efficiency. Yet in the atmosphere of Artificial Divine Realm 1909, the efficiency with which humans can use spiritual energy is exceedingly low. As a result, cultivators exist only in myth and legend, and no matter how hard practitioners train, they cannot transcend the ordinary, nor master the arts of refining qi or spirit.

But this does not mean that there is no method for large-scale manipulation of spiritual energy in this world. Fortunately, this era at least has power plants. Otherwise, Lan Yi would truly have had to start from scratch—staking out land to find hot springs, volcanoes, or waterfalls to build the so-called mage towers, which would have been a torment for him at this time.

A power plant. Its existence signifies that humanity has already shed primitive ignorance in their understanding and utilization of energy. Any cultivator with complete knowledge of the Daoist arts can use their expertise to convert the ceaselessly generated electricity of the power plant into spiritual energy usable by cultivators and warriors, employing a particularly crude device.

In Lan Yi’s preliminary plan, seizing control of the power plant was of utmost importance. If the plant were destroyed, restoring it to working condition would be exceedingly troublesome.

At this moment, the sunlight was tinged with yellow at the Puhai Power Plant. Guards stood every five steps, sentries every ten; this was no exaggeration. Of the two hundred warriors in all of Puhai, forty rotated through patrol and guard here, and among Lan Yi Immortal Master’s four heavenly generals, Martial General Huo Yuanjia and Ghost General Geng Liangchen ensured at least one was present at all times, preventing foreign engineers from not only refusing cooperation but also engaging in sabotage.

Lan Yi and Huo Yuanjia strolled between the humming, stable generator units.

The sight of working fluids driving turbines at high speed held a unique beauty for Lan Yi—a beauty born of ceaseless transformation of energy.
“You’ve done excellently. Everything is preserved perfectly here.”
“It is but what I ought to do,” Huo Yuanjia replied humbly.
“The future of this world is now beside us,” Lan Yi murmured, rare in his sentiment, for loneliness and backwardness had always haunted him.

With Town of Hell in hand, the next steps should not cost any lives.
“Immortal Master, there is a group of people whose handling may require your review.” Huo Yuanjia handed over a list.
“Oh?” Lan Yi turned his head.

The list contained several foreigners and a few Xinghan natives. Lan Yi soon understood the situation. These foreigners were engineers, and the Xinghan natives were the managers who delighted in currying favor with them. Ultimately, this land lacked the capacity to run a power plant independently; the large machinery and technical management were either imported or learned abroad. Those who had flattered foreign tutors thought themselves superior, dictating affairs at the power plant.

Because Lan Yi demanded complete control of these power plants, when the warriors arrived, their demeanor was civil, their actions refined and courteous. Yet, given the semi-enclosed state and mutual refusal to communicate, the arrogant foreign technicians and their sycophants declared that Puhai Power Plant was a foreign-invested asset and refused to serve unknown parties, threatening repercussions for any damage.

Fortunately, their arrogance did not come with stupidity. The warriors were armed, and their skills extraordinary. They merely relied on their foreign protector as a shield for stubbornness. The foreigners’ obstinacy was understandable, but their sycophants’ arrogance was intolerable. Geng Liangchen was prepared, awaiting the Immortal Master’s word to show, through death and terror, how laughable their supposed protection was.

“Such trifles need not be reported to me in the future. As long as the power plant keeps running, those without ability—drive them out. If they have committed many evils, kill them outright.”
“Those who are capable but evil, extract their skills quickly and thoroughly, learn all you can, and then send them on their way.”
“Go notify them.”
“Tell Geng Liangchen to maintain critical areas. No matter what happens next, the power plant must never stop operating.”

Huo Yuanjia was about to withdraw, but Lan Yi’s final words lingered in his mind, compelling him to ask, almost against his will, “What will happen if it stops?”
“I will certainly survive. As for you and this city…” Lan Yi paused, then spoke with a devi