Chapter 25: The Rite of Agony Level

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Lin Xiao couldn't help but crouch down, gently rubbing the little white fluffy head. "You've worked hard, having such a lazy owner like me."

Immediately, the little white dog let out a "Woof!" affectionately nudging Lin Xiao’s palm with its head.

It stuck out its tiny pink tongue to lick Lin Xiao’s fingers, its tail held high.

A cat that knows how to act spoiled is utterly irresistible. Lin Xiao grabbed the handle of the little cart and headed towards the shop, with little white following behind, occasionally standing on tiptoe to help push it along.

At this time, Yang Shubai’s shop should still be closed, so Lin Xiao approached through the back door.

As the man and cat rounded the alley behind the shop, Lin Xiao saw from a distance a figure dressed in a white silk robe leaning against the back door.

Though about fifty meters away, Lin Xiao couldn’t make out her face clearly.

But her extraordinary proportions—the ratio of head to body, the straight shoulders—framed a figure both slender and graceful, exuding an exquisite beauty even without seeing her face.

She was undoubtedly a stunning beauty!

Even the young girl in yellow whom Lin Xiao had just met was charming, yet standing before Yang Shubai, the difference was insurmountable.

This was definitely a temptress any man would find hard to resist, yet she lived a simple, undisturbed life.

Lin Xiao knew there must be a reason behind this but didn’t want to pry; everyone has their secrets.

As they drew closer, Lin Xiao clearly saw Yang Shubai holding a slender cane, her delicate face wearing a faint, almost teasing smile.

“Woof? Woof...”

(Oh no? Help!)

Little white suddenly froze, ears flattening instantly, its round body shrinking as it tried to hide behind Lin Xiao.

“小白! Does hiding help? Explain yourself!” Yang Shubai stood upright, tapping her palm with the cane gently. “How come the cash in the register’s change box is short by over three hundred?”

Hearing her words, Lin Xiao lifted the cover of the cart with a puzzled look:

Inside the cart were piled various premium cat foods, dried fish snacks, and even several expensive packets of catnip.

Lin Xiao glanced down at the cart full of supplies, then at the trembling little white, and suddenly understood.

Suppressing a smile, he shook a bag of cat food. “Miss Yang, your cat’s practically clever enough to steal money for snacks.”

Yang Shubai retorted with a mock frown, “The money in the change box is for it. But I don’t let it buy catnip because every time it does, it causes a ruckus in the shop. So it sneaks out to buy it while I’m asleep.”

She flicked little white’s backside lightly with the cane. “No more catnip! And the cat food and fish snacks for lunch are all gone!”

She tried to pull the cart away, but little white barked anxiously and leapt onto the cart in one bound.

It didn’t dare snatch the catnip but clung tightly to the most expensive packet of tuna cat food, claws digging in.

Lin Xiao chuckled, following behind Yang Shubai, finding this pair of owner and pet both amusing and absurd.

Who else’s cat would be so sycophantic yet cunning?

After they returned inside through the back door, Lin Xiao took out several stacks of cash from his bag and handed them over. “This is the money you lent me last night; please count it.”

Yang Shubai took it casually and set it aside. “You came all the way today just for this?”

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“Yes, but there’s one more thing.” Lin Xiao then took out a voucher given by Chen Xin and handed it to Yang Shubai. “Take this to apply for a tax exemption. It could save you 200,000 in taxes annually.”

This time Yang Shubai took the voucher seriously and examined it carefully several times.

“So you’ve hitched a ride on a big shot’s coattails?” Yang Shubai asked with a smile. “Got yourself connected to Miss Chen, huh?”

Lin Xiao: “???”

She didn’t ask about the tax exemption but instead cared about the irrelevant detail?

“She’s only been kind to me out of respect for Xu Tao. It’s not a real connection,” Lin Xiao explained earnestly.

He knew that in Chen Xin’s eyes, he was worth no more than the value of these vouchers.

If he thought this was enough to truly connect and tried to bother Miss Chen further, he’d only embarrass himself.

“I see. That’s a bit of a pity then.” Yang Shubai pocketed the voucher.

“Do you know that Director Chen?” Lin Xiao asked.

“How could I not? The youngest secondary tax supervisor in the East Sea region, and also the youngest level-four psychic. She’s quite famous throughout the federation. Many big shots highly regard her. Her life story is even studied as a model example by the public.” Yang Shubai said.

Lin Xiao was surprised. So Chen Xin was that formidable?

His country was the Southern Cross Star Federation, a federal state, with Donghai City as the capital of the Eastern Sea region.

From Yang Shubai’s description, Chen Xin seemed a superstar admired across the entire federation.

“Is she... really that powerful?” Lin Xiao asked.

As soon as he spoke, he noticed Yang Shubai gazing at him with curiosity, her eyes sparkling with interest.

“A 25-year-old level-four psychic isn’t impressive? A psychic awakens their extraordinary powers at 18 and has a growth period lasting until 35—only 17 years.

Chen Xin spent just seven years covering what 99% of people never complete in their entire lives. This means she has undergone at least six levels of the ritual.

In the future, she could very well become a level-six psychic or even reach level seven!”

Yang Shubai spoke slowly, watching Lin Xiao’s reaction as she spoke.

Lin Xiao’s mind was overwhelmed by the flood of information.

He had no memories of his original self, leaving him blank on much of the supernormal knowledge.

So the path of the extraordinary wasn’t unlimited; it only spanned a 17-year growth period from 18 to 35?

It was like human development—not infinitely growing, but ending after a set time.

But what was the level-six ritual?

Lin Xiao felt this concept was important and forced himself to ask, “What does the level-six ritual mean?”

Yang Shubai’s eyes gleamed with more curiosity. “You really don’t know? After enduring the pain ritual, isn’t this basic knowledge from the divine enlightenment process?”

Divine enlightenment?

Lin Xiao knew this was the information imprinted in every psychic’s mind after the pain ritual.

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When he advanced to level two psychic two days ago, the information that flooded his mind was a manifestation of divine enlightenment.

However, he had no memories of the divine enlightenment from the day of the pain ritual.

“For some unknown reason, I lost that memory...” Lin Xiao replied sheepishly.

Could it be a divine punishment? Fortunately, nothing happened.

Yang Shubai was a bit surprised and said, “This is the first time I’ve heard of someone losing their pain ritual memories.

But since you forgot, I’ll explain it to you.”

“You know the pain ritual has different levels of intensity, right?” Yang Shubai asked.

“Yes, I know. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward,” Lin Xiao nodded.

“The pain ritual is divided into nine levels based on the degree of sacrifice and reward, corresponding to psychic levels one through nine,” Yang Shubai continued. “Each psychic’s ultimate level can deviate by only one level above or below the ritual level.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiao understood Chen Xin’s strength.

A level-six pain ritual was already top-tier, meaning her potential psychic level lay between five and seven.

Judging by her current progress, she was very likely to reach level seven.

Level-nine psychics no longer existed in the world; level seven and eight were the peak elites. Lin Xiao suddenly understood why Chen Xin was so highly regarded.

Moreover, the level-six ritual was just Yang Shubai’s guess—what if it was even higher?

By contrast, low-level psychics at levels one or two might spend all 17 years just to reach level two.

That was why Yang Shubai said Chen Xin spent only seven years covering what 99% of people can’t in a lifetime.

But when Lin Xiao compared Chen Xin’s promotion speed to his own, he couldn’t help but gasp...

At this moment, Yang Shubai’s eyes were full of curiosity as she asked:

“You said you lost your pain ritual memory, but how do you compare to Chen Xin?

She spent eight months becoming a level-two psychic before turning 19.

Then took 24 months to become level three before 21.

At 24 years and five months, she officially broke through to become the youngest level-four psychic in the East Sea region.”

Lin Xiao: “...”

How was he supposed to answer?

He couldn’t say he reached level two in just 37 days.

What level pain ritual had he actually undergone?!