NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 162 - Training 10
Binding a space device requires the use of mental energy. Therefore, collecting items into the space device is done with mental power, and the strength of this mental power determines the weight of the items they can collect.
For non-mental ability users, the strength of their mental power is generally directly linked to their cultivation level.
Among the members of the Phantom Team, Yu Guangxi, Durant and Zhuang Huaiya have the strongest mental power, second only to Mai Dongzi.
The two of them can collect rocks that weigh about the same as their own weight, while the other members of the Phantom Team can only manage to collect rocks that weigh half of their own weight.
However, if they push their limits and collect too many rocks continuously, they will start to feel a dull pain in their heads, which is a sign of excessive mental energy consumption.
Whenever this happens, Mai Dongzi would sing soothing songs to them, and before long, they would feel their headaches disappear. After a song, their mental power would mostly recover.
If it were a normal situation, they would need a good sleep to recover.
That night, in addition to the large group of mutant beasts they encountered at the beginning, they also came across two other groups, each with only about twenty beasts. With their skillful use of large rocks, they had no pressure in hunting them down.
“It seems like there aren’t many food sources around here. Why are there so many mutant beasts?” Zhuang Huaiya wondered.
“These mutant beast groups don’t seem like they’ve always lived in this hilly area; instead, they seem to have migrated from somewhere,” Mai Dongzi said.
“How can you tell?” Zhuang Huaiya was curious about how his cousin figured it out.
“The family of five mutant beasts we hunted yesterday should be the local ones, while there are no young or old beasts in these groups, which isn’t typical for local mutant beast populations,” Mai Dongzi analyzed.
Everyone thought carefully, realizing that their captain’s reasoning made a lot of sense.
After daybreak, as the wind gradually picked up, their movements started to be hindered, so the Phantom Team stopped their actions and found a small hillside that was sheltered from the wind to rest.
The beast hides they processed the previous night were used not only for making water bags but each member also had a hide large enough to wrap their entire body.
Even though the Phantom Team was traveling at night in temperatures between minus forty to fifty degrees, their combat suits only made them feel slightly cold.
Now that the temperature had risen above zero, they certainly didn’t feel cold at all.
However, even though this small hillside was sheltered from the wind, there was still a breeze. In the harsh environment with flying sand and loose rocks, they couldn’t completely avoid the sand and dust.
Aside from those on guard duty, everyone who could rest wrapped themselves in beast hides. Although the smell of the hides wasn’t very pleasant, it was still better than having sand and rocks occasionally hitting their faces.
After taking turns to rest, it quickly became afternoon. They sat down, using the beast hides to shield themselves from the wind and sand, and took out food from their spatial devices to fill their stomachs.
They didn’t plan to wait until dark to continue their journey; instead, they prepared to set off when the “sun” tilted westward and the wind strength weakened enough not to significantly affect their movements.
They found that due to the interference of the mutant beasts, they couldn’t complete the distance they should travel each day if they only relied on the nighttime hours. They could only set off earlier and walk for an extra hour.
At this point, Mai Dongzi heard Yu Guangxi ask, “Captain, are you helping us enhance our mental strength?”
This question surprised the first-year students, including Zhuang Huaiya, while Durant showed no surprise at all.
Mai Dongzi hadn’t heard about the private conversation between Yu Guangxi and Durant regarding this matter, which showed how much they were in sync with each other.
Indeed, as expected of children from prominent families, they quickly realized Mai Dongzi’s intentions.
“I practice both martial arts and spiritual arts, so I clearly understand that practitioners of the same level benefit greatly from having strong mental power. However, since there are no specialized methods for enhancing mental strength specifically for martial artists, I wanted to see if this approach could help increase your mental strength,” Mai Dongzi said honestly.
If it weren’t for her being a sound therapist and a wood-type ability user, she definitely wouldn’t dare to attempt something like this, even if she could heal any unexpected injuries they sustained due to her experimentation.
“It’s effective,” Yu Guangxi admitted. “The large rock I collected the first time and the one I collected the sixth time are the same piece. I felt much more relaxed during the sixth collection compared to the first. During the first, my head was really hurting, but during the sixth, it only hurt a little.”
Ma Dongzi didn’t notice Yu Guangxi’s small actions, but she was aware of Yu Guangxi’s progress.
“Then I’ll try as well,” Zhuang Huaiya said, not as perceptive as Yu Guangxi.
Although he sensed that his cousin was deliberately encouraging them to collect heavier rocks, he believed that whatever his cousin did was for their benefit and didn’t think about whether there was any deeper meaning behind her actions.
Zhuang Huaiya also learned from Yu Guangxi to take out a large rock from his spatial device. Since extracting items from the spatial device consumed very little mental power, after he released the large rock, he immediately collected it back into the device.
“It’s definitely not as strenuous as the first time I collected it; my head just feels a little uncomfortable,” Zhuang Huaiya said in surprise.
With Zhuang Huaiya’s demonstration, the others also began to try, and they all discovered that their mental strength had increased slightly compared to when they first started collecting rocks.
After these individuals had consumed more than half of their mental power during their attempts, Mai Dongzi had to sing a healing song for them.
“You don’t need to be so excited; it’s probably because you haven’t had this kind of training before, which is why the speed of your mental strength increase is faster at first. I noticed that the increase in your mental strength was significant during your first and second attempts. From the third attempt onward, the rate of increase began to slow down, and from the sixth attempt, the increase stabilized at a certain level,” Mai Dongzi had to temper the enthusiasm of her eager companions to prevent them from thinking that passively enhancing their mental power was so easy.
However, having witnessed their captain’s impressive mental abilities, the members of the Phantom Team, knowing about the captain’s training plan to enhance their mental strength, enthusiastically continued to expend their mental power while receiving their captain’s soothing songs.
Although Instructor Li and Instructor Shan did not hear their discussion, they were observant and, with their extensive cultivation experience, quickly discovered the underlying significance.
Instructor Li pondered, “Is it possible that Classmate Xi has realized the impact of mental strength on a warrior’s combat power and is using this opportunity to enhance the mental strength of the Phantom Team members?”
As a mid-level cultivator who practiced both martial arts and mental techniques, Mai Dongzi should have a different understanding of the influence of mental strength on a warrior’s combat capabilities.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t repeatedly require the Phantom Team to expend a large amount of mental energy and then use sound healing techniques to help them recover.