Chapter Eighty-Three: Genius Equals Supernatural Power?

Inside the study of the Xin family mansion, the atmosphere did not ease merely because someone had knocked at the door. After Xin Qingyi and Wang Weifu entered, the room seemed even quieter, so still that one could almost hear one another’s breathing.

Xin Yan did not have the heart to interrupt the young pair’s reunion, and only watched in silence. It seemed to him that, in his own youth...

Time froze. It felt like the span of a single breath, yet also like an eternity of light-years.

In the whole room, Wang Weifu was the only one still fully aware. Looking at Liu Shaoyu and Xin Qingyi gazing at each other, then at Old Master Xin lost in memory, Wang Weifu felt deeply superfluous. With a resigned expression, he found a chair and sat down by himself.

A faint squeak sounded as the chair was moved, yet it somehow rang out with startling clarity.

Liu Shaoyu finally realized he had been stunned into silence, and when he looked again, Xin Qingyi’s expression had changed as well.

Following the source of the sound, the others saw Wang Weifu standing there like a child who had done something wrong, unable to decide whether to stand or sit.

"Uh... don’t mind me. Please, continue," Wang Weifu said awkwardly.

Xin Qingyi’s reaction made her smile a little, and that smile left Liu Shaoyu slightly dazed. At last, that person stood before him again—so vivid, so familiar.

"All right, stop standing around. Yier, come here and let Grandpa have a look at you. Truly, a daughter grown is no longer one to stay at home. The moment you came in, all you cared about was that foolish boy, and not even this old man got your attention," Xin Yan said, his words displeased, though his face betrayed him.

It could be seen plainly that Xin Yan was delighted. Liu Shaoyu was delighted too. As for Wang Weifu... well, for now, let him be. The three of them seemed to think so at once.

"My dear granddaughter, you’ve suffered," Xin Yan said, looking at her, and the stern old man’s face unexpectedly softened with a rare tenderness.

"You worried Grandfather," Xin Qingyi said, deeply moved by his concern, her face glowing with a smile.

But she was no longer the foolish, ignorant girl she had once been. There were some things Xin Qingyi would rather never know.

Xin Yan saw the change in her expression. So, she knew after all? The old man had never felt so helpless. Perhaps for decades, he had never been so sentimental as he was today. The weakness hidden deep in his heart was finally drawn out by the two young people, exposed again and again.

"Yier, sit down. Weifu, you come over here too." The old man waved a hand, motioning Xin Qingyi to sit beside Liu Shaoyu, then waved again for Wang Weifu to come and sit as well.

Thus the three of them took their places across from the desk, facing Xin Yan.

The old man composed himself. He had lived through too many stories and concealed too many secrets. Although the secret buried for so many years might now be uncovered, he did not intend to speak. Some things were not yet the time. Conceal them as long as possible—that was what he thought.

"Go on," the old man said calmly after settling his emotions.

Wang Weifu knew he was the one being addressed.

With a slight smile, he opened his personal computer and connected it directly to the full-spectrum screen on the desk, so that both sides could view the information at once.

"This is the data report on Xin Qingyi from the God Project," Wang Weifu said, gesturing for everyone to look.

The data on the light screen had already been organized into visualized charts, so even non-experiment personnel could understand it at a glance.

Xin Qingyi had already looked through it once on the way here, so she was prepared. Old Master Xin also seemed ready for the report and did not show anything unusual. Only Liu Shaoyu, upon seeing the data, stared with eyes wide open.

"This... what is this?" he asked in shock.

"Weifu, you explain it," the old man said with a smile, nodding to Wang Weifu.

"All right. This is the expanded and enhanced version of the God Project. I call it Dragon Soul." Wang Weifu paused slightly, glancing at Liu Shaoyu, who had already recovered his composure.

Liu Shaoyu nodded to show he understood, and Wang Weifu continued.

"Dragon Soul has actually existed for a very long time. Traces of it could already be seen during the ancient Chinese civilization thousands of years ago. The material that follows comes from the Huaxia Dragon Soul Organization, and it is classified at the highest five-star level."

As he spoke, Wang Weifu changed the images on the light screen.

"The Huaxia Dragon Soul Organization can trace its origins back to the Qin Dynasty of ancient China. It is made up of a small number of special individuals. What makes this small group special is what science fiction often refers to as psychic abilities."

By now, Liu Shaoyu understood. Wang Weifu was explaining this to him.

"Psychic abilities? They really exist?" Liu Shaoyu murmured, as if asking a question, and yet as if speaking to himself.

"Yes. They have always existed. It’s just that science fiction tends to exaggerate the definition. The manifestation of this ability in the human body is what we call an S-gene mutation."

As he explained, Wang Weifu changed the display to make comprehension easier. Liu Shaoyu listened intently and did not interrupt. Wang Weifu went on.

"This S gene is a hidden gene at the end of the human genome. Everyone has it. But most people never undergo a change in their lifetime. The probability of mutation is one in one hundred thousand."

At this, Liu Shaoyu felt a little puzzled.

"One in one hundred thousand? That’s pretty high," he thought. If that were true, wouldn’t the billions upon billions in the Galactic Federation mean psychics were everywhere?

Wang Weifu knew Liu Shaoyu would have questions here, so he quickly explained.

"That’s the misunderstanding. The mutation of the S gene, that is, the form taken by psychic ability, is different from the traditional understanding we get from science fiction. Every power is different, the most obvious distinction being intensity. Through continual refinement by those before us, this S gene has already been assigned a fairly systematic grading structure."

As he spoke, the image on the light screen changed into a pyramid-shaped chart.

"Look here. The level of S-gene change you just saw in Xin Qingyi belongs to the highest grade of S-gene mutation: S class."

Hearing this, Liu Shaoyu stared wide-eyed at Xin Qingyi beside him. Xin Qingyi, seeing his expression, only gave him a mischievous smile. It made Liu Shaoyu want to go over and kiss her, but impulse was the devil, and so he only thought about it.

"And the question you had earlier lies here: S genes below B class, and excluding B class, are all latent abilities. That is, abilities the bearer possesses but does not know how to use. Often, these abilities are not very significant. To put it simply, a hunter may initially have senses sharper than ordinary people, and when hunting he will make use of that acuity. Those senses may still improve, but the hunter will always believe it is merely the result of skill."

"You mean this kind of talent is what you call an S gene?" Liu Shaoyu asked.

"Exactly. What we ordinarily call talent is simply the manifestation of the S gene."

Good heavens, Liu Shaoyu truly felt enlightened. So all this so-called talent had actually been determined by genes.

"Then if someone has poor genes, doesn’t hard work become useless?" Liu Shaoyu joked.

"Not at all. Possessing an S gene is only the prerequisite. You must notice your difference and train it, and only then will you gain abilities corresponding to the S-gene level. If you merely think of it as talent and never make use of it, then the S gene is useless as well."

"Just like the saying that genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration?" Liu Shaoyu said.

"Yes. The line that follows—that one percent of inspiration is often more important than the ninety-nine percent of sweat—refers precisely to the S gene. And, for the record, later researchers determined that Edison’s S-gene level was also S class."

Then... what about you?

A Note to Readers:

My neck is killing me... and I’ll be heading off to study very soon. So I can’t guarantee that the nine a.m. update will remain stable. The update time will be moved to three p.m. instead, so there will be a fixed schedule. Thank you for your understanding.