163: An unexpected "overflow of resonance" and a small outburst

To help Zhuoyue understand the boundaries, internal principles, and controllability of his unique "energy channeling" ability more intuitively and scientifically, Evelyn meticulously designed a simple yet profound teaching experiment. She hoped to connect Zhuoyue's subjective, vague "feeling" with objective, quantifiable data, allowing him to learn to perceive and control his spiritual power as if he were learning to use a precise scientific instrument.

The core equipment for the experiment was a highly sensitive detector for subtle energy field changes. This instrument looked unassuming, like a flat metal disc, but it integrated the most advanced quantum interference sensor arrays, capable of extremely precisely capturing extremely weak, non-electromagnetic field fluctuations in the surrounding environment. These could be, for example, certain bio-fields or information field disturbances generated by conscious activity that have not yet been clearly defined. Most crucially, its detection method was completely passive and non-invasive, emitting no energy towards the target, making it absolutely safe and harmless.

The experiment was conducted in a quiet training room. Evelyn aimed the detector's sensor area at Zhuoyue, who was sitting in a comfortable chair. On the connected display screen, a steady baseline slowly flowed, representing the "calm" state of the environmental background.

"Zhuoyue, relax, just like you normally meditate," Evelyn guided in a calm tone. "Then, try to gently and consciously 'feel' that 'warm energy' you mentioned flowing within you. Don't force it, just pay attention to it, and then imagine it flowing very gently towards your palms."

The initial stages of the experiment proceeded very smoothly, even exceeding Evelyn's expectations.

Zhuoyue closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and quickly entered a state of focus. When he simply relaxed, the baseline on the screen was as steady as a mirror. Then, as he followed the instructions and began to gently "guide" that internal "warm current sensation," something magical happened: the calm baseline on the display screen began to show extremely subtle but clearly discernible, rhythmic fluctuations! The amplitude of the fluctuations was small, and the frequency was gentle, like tiny ripples caused by a breeze across a lake.

"Look! It's moving!" Zhuoyue excitedly opened his eyes, pointing at the screen, his small face filled with surprise and joy. "It's me! My 'thoughts' made it move!" He felt like a child who had just discovered a new toy, or an apprentice touching a magic switch for the first time, full of novelty.

Evelyn smiled and nodded, encouraging him to proceed to the next step: "Excellent! Now, try to intensify your focus a little, imagine that energy becoming... more concentrated, like, a beam of warm sunlight."

Zhuoyue took a deep breath, concentrating even more, his brows slightly furrowed. As his intention strengthened, the amplitude of the fluctuations on the screen noticeably increased, and the waveforms became denser and more regular, as if ripples had turned into small waves.

"Wow! It's even stronger!" he cheered, completely engrossed in the game. Under Evelyn's supervision and permission, he began to experiment with various "thought patterns": when imagining a dazzling bright light, the waveforms became sharp and high-frequency; when imagining a babbling brook, the waveforms became gentle and continuous. He enjoyed it immensely, as if playing an invisible instrument controlled by his own thoughts, with the instrument screen as his wondrous sheet music. Su Mu watched from the side, unable to help but feel happy for him.

However, the path of exploring abilities is always accompanied by unknown risks. After many successful attempts, Zhuoyue's confidence began to swell, and an urge to challenge limits and see even more astonishing effects arose within him.

"Sister Evelyn," he turned his head, his eyes sparkling with eagerness, "What if I... what if I concentrate all my mind and imagine a very, very powerful energy, like... like a flood bursting forth? Will the instrument jump really high?"

Evelyn immediately became alert, sensing that this might exceed safe limits, and sternly reminded him, "Zhuoyue, don't try to push your limits easily! Over-concentration can lead to excessive consumption and discomfort. Our current goal is to learn control, not to pursue intensity."

But a teenager's curiosity and desire to explore power can sometimes override rational warnings. During a break in a routine test, Zhuoyue, while Evelyn was momentarily looking down to record data, secretly took a breath and decided to try it covertly. He suddenly tensed all his muscles, focusing all his attention like a convex lens focusing sunlight, fiercely pressing it towards an imaginary "energy core," and in his mind, he vividly envisioned a violent scene of "a torrent of energy surging and roaring!"

Just at that critical point, when his mind was highly strained and he was fully activating his intention, an unexpected interference occurred. Perhaps because his brain became unusually sensitive in this extreme state, an image he had accidentally glimpsed a few days ago flashed through his mind without warning, like lightning. It was a strange, distorted geometric symbol on the cover of a file (the forged "Dr. Van's Manuscript") that he had inadvertently seen spread out on Evelyn's desk when he went to find her. At the time, he hadn't paid attention, but now, this symbol emerged clearly, carrying an indescribable, cold and abrupt quality, and instantly triggered an extremely faint but sharp sense of aversion and unease deep within him!

This sudden, negative emotional ripple catastrophically interfered with the positive intention, full of a "sense of power," that he was fully activating! It was like dropping a drop of cold water into a pot of oil about to boil. Two completely different spiritual energies violently collided and twisted together, producing an extremely unstable, chaotic resonance!

The next second, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

Detector Overload: The instrument reading, which had been steadily rising with Zhuoyue's intensifying intention, suddenly surged wildly upwards, the needle instantly breaking through the red warning line of the range! A piercing overload alarm blared, breaking the silence of the training room!

Emotional Visualization Device Anomaly: Almost simultaneously, the emotional visualization device, which had been quietly projecting a soft orange-pink glow (reflecting Zhuoyue's excitement and focus during his exploration) on a nearby table, suddenly turned into a dazzling, unstable, frantically flickering bright white light, like a light bulb about to melt down. The projected pattern also twisted and shattered, losing all form!

Shock of Physical Phenomena: The most astonishing scene unfolded! On an auxiliary experiment table two meters away from Zhuoyue's seat, a common glass beaker containing half a cup of clear water, its calm surface, unexpectedly began to violently ripple and undulate with an amplitude and frequency clearly visible to the naked eye! Tiny splashes of water even erupted from the surface, lasting for about three to four seconds before slowly subsiding! It was as if an invisible force instantly pierced the air and acted upon the water molecules!

Zhuoyue himself let out a short, sharp cry of pain, "Ugh!" feeling as if his brain had been suddenly pricked by a cold needle, then violently stirred by a brutish force! A strong sense of dizziness and nausea swept over him, his vision went black, and his body involuntarily staggered backward, almost falling off the chair! The focus of his intention instantly collapsed completely.

"Zhuoyue!" Su Mu's cry of alarm and Evelyn's urgent actions happened almost simultaneously. Su Mu rushed forward in a flash, quickly steadying his swaying body; Evelyn quickly cut off the detector's power, and the piercing alarm sound abruptly ceased.

Emergency Handling and Preliminary Analysis

The training room instantly fell into a tense, dead silence, with only Zhuoyue's heavy and unsteady gasps remaining. Su Mu held him tightly, patting his back, repeatedly asking, "How are you? Where does it hurt? Are you dizzy? Do you feel like throwing up?"

Evelyn's expression was as grave as water. She first quickly checked Zhuoyue's pupils and pulse, confirming it was only a brief mental overload and slight dizziness, with no organic damage. Then, she immediately turned to the still slightly rippling water cup, her eyes filled with unbelievable shock and extremely deep worry.

She carefully picked up the beaker and examined it closely, confirming that it was just an ordinary laboratory glass vessel, with no vibration sources, electromagnetic devices, or hidden mechanisms nearby. The ripple on the water surface just now was a real phenomenon, unexplainable by conventional physics!

"Wh-what just happened?" Zhuoyue leaned weakly in Su Mu's arms, his face pale, his voice trembling. "My head... so dizzy... it's like... like something exploded inside... and that cup... how did the water jump by itself?"

Evelyn forced herself to calm down. She returned to Zhuoyue's side, knelt down, and said in as steady a tone as possible, "Zhuoyue, you might have... over-mobilized your mental power just now, and... it seems you were subjected to a bit of unexpected interference. This led to a... brief loss of control. It's like pressing the accelerator too hard in a car and suddenly skidding." She didn't mention the fleeting symbol, so as not to add to his psychological burden.

Su Mu lovingly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, her tone tinged with lingering fear and a hint of reproach: "You child! Were you secretly pushing too hard again? How many times have I told you! Take it slowly! Look how dangerous it was!"

A few minutes later, Zhuoyue's discomfort gradually subsided, and the instruments returned to normal. But the shock brought by this accident was deeply etched in Evelyn's heart.

She realized that what had just happened was very likely an extremely rare and brief "Resonance Spillover Effect." Zhuoyue's mental power, under specific conditions (a highly concentrated mental state, superimposed with sudden, strong emotional interference), produced a certain "field" effect that briefly broke through the usual scope limited to himself or very close proximity, causing a weak but undeniably real, direct influence on macroscopic, inanimate physical media (water) that transcended conventional physical contact!

This went far beyond the previously observed microscopic or subjective influences limited to LCL clusters, photocurrents, or others' subjective feelings. This hinted that the depth and breadth of Zhuoyue's abilities might far exceed their previous understanding, already subtly touching the extremely cutting-edge and unknown boundary of the interaction between consciousness and matter.

This discovery brought not only immense scientific excitement but also a heavy sense of responsibility and an urgent sense of crisis. Greater potential means greater risks if it goes out of control or is abused. If this "spillover" effect were to happen again, or even stronger, when Zhuoyue's emotions fluctuated violently or he was maliciously guided, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Evelyn did not blame Zhuoyue but seized this valuable instance. After he had completely calmed down, she patiently reviewed the entire event with him.

She helped Zhuoyue recall the entire process from normal focusing, to forced activation, to being interfered with by unexpected thoughts, vividly explaining why "pressing the accelerator too hard can lead to a crash" and why "it's dangerous to be startled suddenly while driving." She emphasized the importance of maintaining emotional stability and avoiding excessive consumption, transforming this accident into a vivid safety education lesson.

"So," Zhuoyue concluded with lingering fear, looking at the now calm water cup, "my 'thoughts'... if I mess around, not only will I get dizzy, but they can really... really 'touch' things..." In his eyes, lingering fear and an unprecedented sense of awe for his own power intertwined, while also irresistibly flashing with a hint of curiosity and excitement like discovering a new continent.

Evelyn nodded solemnly: "Yes, Zhuoyue. Therefore, learning to control it is more important than simply using it. It's like learning martial arts; you must first learn not to harm yourself before you can protect others."

Subsequently, Evelyn immediately adjusted the subsequent training plan. She introduced a more rigorous real-time physiological monitoring and threshold alarm system, set clear mental load limits, and added specialized emotional stability training and anti-interference exercises. She classified the detailed data of this incident as top secret, analyzed it in depth, and also became more determined to isolate all possible negative information interference for Zhuoyue.

This small accident, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, though its ripples had calmed, allowed the observers to glimpse an unprecedented depth beneath the surface. It foretold that the true nature of the dormant power within Zhuoyue might have only just revealed the tip of the iceberg. The future path of guidance will undoubtedly require even more cautious deliberation and deeper wisdom.