Hell's Handbook

Chapter 278: Developing Psychokinesis

Abbas’ Spirit Power was a strange one and he had developed it really well. Su Jin had to admit that he hadn’t done such a good job of developing his own Spirit Power. At the same time, psychokinesis was much harder to develop in comparison, and even Xu Ran himself was still trying out various methods.

To a certain extent, whether a Spirit Power was a powerful one depended on what level of development the user was at. For example, when it came to Spirit Powers that could control others, psychokinesis was generally more powerful than hypnosis, but that wasn’t always the case. Some owners were very good at developing their Spirit Power and had explored the potential of their Spirit Power in great detail. Doing that could make a seemingly ordinary Spirit Power a force to be reckoned with.

Or for example, when it came to Spirit Powers related to water, a veteran who just awakened their powers would probably only be able to control the flow of water and basic things like that. But the geniuses would be able to develop their Spirit Power and could even reach a stage where they could suck all liquids out of a living creature. That would become a very powerful skill to have in a battle.

Abbas was the sort of owner who had developed his Spirit Power almost to perfection. The vast plains of northern Africa were especially helpful to Abbas, because there were so many skeletons buried in the ground that he could make use of. So, even though Su Jin’s ranking was higher than Abbas’, in this particular situation, Abbas might actually have the upper hand instead.

“This is going to be a fight to the death. If I run now, I’ll end up dying a terrible death instead!” Abbas knew very well what sort of situation he was in right now. He had no choice but to fight Su Jin to the death. Besides, the conditions here were favorable to him, so he had a chance of winning this battle.

Piles and piles of bones came to the surface, making the plains look more like a valley of bones. The countless bones came flying toward Su Jin in various ways. Some turned into spears, some turned into swords. Some came together to form giant skeletons. Their aim was to do everything they could to block Su Jin from getting close to Abbas.

The silver glint in Su Jin’s eyes kept flashing, but he still felt very frustrated. There were simply too many bones. He didn’t have enough psychokinesis to control so many of them, unless he unleashed all the psychokinesis that the Mad Hatter had sealed away.

Thankfully, besides his psychokinesis, his body was also very strong, so the bones could strike him without causing much damage. They could only temporarily stop him from advancing.

“He’s an owner in the top 100, alright. His control over his own powers is really incredible,” Su Jin couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder. The innumerable bones that came at him from all directions made him feel as though he were in hell. It made sense for Abbas to be at #100 since he had the power to control such a vast volume. But at the same time, it made Su Jin wonder, if Abbas was already so powerful at #100, exactly how powerful was Shen Wu and Xu Ran?

Actually, Su Jin could make a rough guess based on the fight between Xu Ran and the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter was a real deity, so even though the real world suppressed the extent of his powers, it was just a suppression and not a removal. So, even in the real world, he would still probably be more powerful than a full fledged demigod.

Yet, Xu Ran still managed to injure the Mad Hatter in that fight. Goodness knows what happened then: perhaps all of B City had turned into absolute chaos. Xu Ran was able to deal with the mess, anyway. At most, he could just brainwash the entire city’s population simultaneously.

As for Shen Wu, his ability to control heat was really terrifying. All living things were affected by heat. Any movement consumed energy, and heat was the most important source of energy for living things. Shen Wu could easily control any living creature’s body temperature and even their surroundings. Very few could fight something like that.

Su Jin’s situation wasn’t too bad. The skill that came with the Gift from the Gods gave him immunity from any attacks based on basic elements, and heat seemed to be part of this list. But just like what was mentioned before, the ability to control water could eventually lead to one being able to control the amount of water in a living thing’s body. He wasn’t sure what Shen Wu’s control of heat was in its original state.

“Control and change!” Su Jin shattered a giant skeleton to powder with one punch. He looked at the sea of bones before him and began to understand how important it was to explore every possibility his Spirit Power had.

“The bones rise like the ocean! Su Jin, your ranking is higher than mine, but it’s hard for you to win when the conditions are in my favor!” Abbas saw that he was in control of the situation, while Su Jin was trapped among all the bones and could barely move. His confidence began to grow and his initial fears transformed into a belief that he was going to win this battle.

Su Jin seemed to have gone into a daze. The silver gleam in his eyes dimmed and his gaze seemed empty now. His body stopped fighting back and he allowed the never ending bones to bury his body.

In just one minute, the sea of bones had flooded the previously empty plains. The bones had stacked themselves into a mountain in the centermost part of the plain, a mountain that was no smaller than one that was naturally formed. Su Jin was buried beneath this very mountain.

“I like Chinese literature and one of them, Journey to the West, is well loved all over the world. In that book, Buddha traps the Monkey King under a mountain for 500 years. Su Jin, you could be as powerful and versatile as the Monkey King, but I am like Buddha who can crush you under a mountain and make sure you never make a comeback!” Abbas had a maniacal smile on his face. So what if Su Jin was ranked #91? Abbas was still able to defeat him.

Just then, Abbas sensed something amiss with the mountain of bones. He could see a silver light flickering through the gaps in the bones. It was as though… it was about to explode.

SSHIING!

There was a loud sound that pierced the air as a dazzling silver beam of light shot out from the bottom of the mountain. That was a sharp blade without any handle, a blade made purely from psychokinesis!

The psychokinetic blade split the mountain in half and Su Jin walked right out. There was a look of understanding in his eyes. Psychokinesis was a high level type of Spirit Power and was not a derivation of any other Spirit Power, so how powerful it was depended on how an owner learned to use it.

“I’m not Xu Ran, so I have a path of my own. Besides psychokinesis, I also have an almost godlike body. In that case, I’m going to combine both the mental and physical and find a path that truly belongs to me!” The silver light in his eyes looked like it was about to flow out. He flicked his fingers gently and a sharp knife made from psychokinesis floated in front of him.

Su Jin grabbed hold of the knife and brought it down, turning all the bones blocking his way into ash. The knife was merely a manifestation of his psychokinesis. The knife’s characteristics were controlled entirely by Su Jin’s thoughts, so it could be just enough to cut a strand of hair, or it could be mighty enough to break the ground.

Abbas’ expression turned to one of horror. He could sense that Su Jin wasn’t the same as before. If this man was a knife inside a sheath before this, he was now out of the sheath and had been sharpened. Abbas was going to be a stone for testing this knife now.

“He’s made a breakthrough! Why did he make a breakthrough now of all times?!” Abbas was furious, but it was too late to run now. He pressed a hand against his Handbook and five figures appeared in front of him.

“Kill him! Let’s kill him together!” shouted Abbas. He pointed a finger at the bones around him and they all shattered. The marrow of the bones sparkled as they flew into the air and fused together around the bodies of the five figures, dressing each of them in a full armor of bones. But the bulk of these bones gathered around Abbas, giving him a threatening and bulky armor.

“My Armor of Death!” This was Abbas’ most powerful defense skill, an armor made from the marrow of bones. This skill could only make so many in a place like north Africa, since each set of armor required ten tons of bones. But Abbas felt that this amount was worth it, because these sets of armor were extremely resilient and were equivalent to an Earth Grade armor.

Su Jin slowly made his way forward, like he was taking a stroll around his own house. As long as an object made from bones came at him, he just had to wave his hand slightly and the psychokinetic knife in his hand would shatter it.

“These people… are dead owners!” Su Jin was surprised when he noticed that each of the five figures held a Handbook. He didn’t expect Abbas’ powers to be this terrifying. He could even control owners who died. If he was allowed to continue developing this power, then… would he be able to control a dead deity?

Su Jin didn’t have any answers to that, but he knew that Abbas wouldn’t have the chance to explore that possibility. Abbas had a formidable Spirit Power and he had developed it well, but he had picked a fight with the wrong person at the wrong time. Since Abbas dared to attack him and his friend, then Abbas had to suffer the consequences of doing so.

Boom! Su Jin brandished his psychokinetic knife and the bones in front of him exploded as though he had thrown a bomb at them. But Su Jin’s target wasn’t them, but the five dead owners controlled by Abbas who were hiding behind the wall of bones.

The five owners moved at around the same speed initially, when suddenly a pretty lady among them sped up. She made her way to the front of the rest and came straight toward Su Jin’s psychokinetic knife.

Boom!

A shield made from air appeared in front of her, because this woman’s Spirit Power could control air. She gathered the air around her and pressed it into a defensive layer to defend herself against Su Jin’s knife.

“Barbara died before the rules changed, but if she were still alive, she’d definitely be ranked among the top 200 owners. Also, she’s very good in defense, so I’m going to see how you…” Before Abbas could finish boasting about this woman, his eyes flew open. He watched as Barbara’s air shield suddenly shattered after holding up for just a few seconds. Su Jin had punched a hole into the shield and the knife had sliced Barbara into two, causing her body to collapse onto the ground.