CHAPTER 37: "ROOMIE"

For the past few months, this had been Yu Xi’s rhythm. He would wake up before dawn, wash up, and immerse himself in training until breakfast.

Afterward, he would return to the simulator, pushing himself through combat drills and psychic calibration exercises until Jian Ci inevitably called him, sometimes five or six times, to come eat lunch.

After lunch, Yu Xi would pore over the files Jian Rui sent. They were tactical briefings, historical records, empire schematics, and psychic theory he had to learn about. Then, after dinner, he would be back in the room, syncing his neural signature and diving into the simulations again.

Jian Rui was rarely around, buried in military operations. Jian Wei was locked in his lab, doing who knows what. That left Jian Ci, his constant companion and distraction.

But Jian Ci barely trained. He spent most of his time in the room downstairs, and when Yu Xi had asked what he spent his time doing, he found that Jian Ci was immersed in a game.

The game was called CoreSyn: Dominion Protocol.

It wasn’t just a game though. It was the standard for mech pilot training. Full-immersion pods synced with the user’s psychic signature, replicating high-stakes combat: urban warfare, zero-gravity duels and psi-enhanced mech battles.

It tracked neural latency, emotional drift, and refined performance with brutal precision. Military academies and Esper guilds used it religiously. Elite players competed in the Celestial Circuit.

Jian Ci, with his record-breaking psi-blade deployment, trained there. He had even offered to teach Yu Xi, but Yu Xi had declined. He needed to master his psychic powers first before he could risk exploring in that world.

Yu Xi woke at the same time he always did before sunrise, when the corridors of the estate were still steeped in silence and the world outside hadn’t yet stirred. He dressed quickly, tying his hair back with one of the soft-colored scrunchies Jian Ci had given him, and washed up in the dim light of the bathroom.

He moved through the quiet halls, his footsteps barely audible against the polished floors. The doors to the chamber slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the familiar glow of the control room. But today, something was different.

Jian Rui stood inside, arms folded, his gaze locked on the floating display that pulsed with data. The screen showed a holographic replay of Yu Xi’s last simulations, his figure darting through debris fields, psychic threads flaring as he deflected incoming fire with sharp precision.

Jian Rui turned slightly, acknowledging him. "You are here."

Yu Xi stepped in, nodding. "Yeah."

Jian Rui didn’t smile, but his voice carried a rare softness. "You have made so much progress."

He gestured toward the screen. "There are still improvements you will need to work on. Your psychic buffering is inconsistent. You are absorbing too much feedback during high-pressure maneuvers. That’s why your neural latency spikes mid-combat."

Yu Xi leaned in, eyes fixed on the replay. His mech twisted through a debris field, then hesitated mid-turn, just a fraction too long, before jolting forward with a burst of unstable energy that left a ripple of distortion in its wake.

"You are also relying too heavily on instinct," Jian Rui said, arms folded as he studied the display. "It works when you are synced, but in unpredictable terrain, you need to anchor your decisions in tactical logic. You skipped two optimal cover points in the last run."

Yu Xi nodded slowly, absorbing each word like a weight settling on his shoulders.

"And your emotional drift," Jian Rui added, tapping the screen. "It’s subtle, but it’s there. It’s dangerous and needs to be put under control."

Yu Xi’s fingers curled slightly at his sides. He didn’t speak, but his gaze didn’t waver. He knew exactly what Jian Rui meant. Every time his thoughts wandered to Jian Ci, his voice, his smile, the way he said "roomie", his psychic field flared, destabilizing his performance. That was the emotional drift. That was the risk.

Jian Rui turned to him fully. "You are not just training to survive. You are training to protect. That means control. Precision. And knowing when to hold back."

Yu Xi exhaled, steady. "I understand."

Jian Rui nodded once. "Good. I will run a regular combat simulation. I will be watching from here."

Yu Xi stepped into the simulator chamber, the door sliding shut behind him. This time, he carried Jian Rui’s words like armor.

The simulation loaded with a soft chime, and Yu Xi was plunged into a world unlike any he had faced before. Lush green stretched endlessly in every direction. Towering trees with bioluminescent veins pulsed gently in the dim light, their roots coiling like serpents through moss-covered stones.

The canopy above was so dense it filtered the sunlight into a perpetual emerald haze, casting shifting patterns across the forest floor.

The air was thick with humidity, fragrant with wild pollen and the electric tang of psychic residue. Somewhere in the distance, unseen creatures hummed and clicked, their presence felt more than heard.

Then the leaves rustled. Yu Xi stilled, every nerve on edge. The brush ahead trembled, and a low growl rolled through the undergrowth like distant thunder. He knew that sound. He had studied it obsessively.

The beast erupted from the foliage. It was massive, three times his size, a living fortress of sinew and armored hide. Its claws, curved like scythes, tore into the earth as it charged.

Its maw opened wide, revealing rows of jagged, psychic-charged teeth, and it roared, a sound that shook the trees and rattled the air.

It was a Verdant Maw, a high-ranking predator in the psychic-beast taxonomy. Known for sensory disruption, venomous horn strikes, and aura destabilization. It could track fear. Feed on hesitation.

Yu Xi didn’t flinch. His breath was steady. His mind, clear. His eyes flared a dazzling green, and the Soulforge Mantle surged to life, threads of psychic energy weaving around his body like living armor, pulsing with his heartbeat.

The forest shimmered with tension as the Verdant Maw lunged, claws slicing through the air with lethal intent. Yu Xi dodged, barely escaping the full brunt of the attack. The edge of the beast’s aura scraped his mind like static, a jarring buzz that threatened to unravel his focus.

He retaliated with a burst of telekinetic force, slamming the creature into a bioluminescent tree. The impact cracked bark and sent spores spiraling into the air.

But the beast rebounded instantly, enraged, its horns glowing with venomous psi-energy. Yu Xi ducked and rolled, but one horn grazed his shoulder. His vision blurred, pain lancing through his nerves like fire.

He gritted his teeth. "Focus, damn it," he thought to himself.

The beast charged again. Yu Xi leapt, twisting midair, and landed behind it. Reaching out with his mind, he seized the base of one horn and tore it free with a psychic wrench. The beast shrieked, staggering.