Chapter 33: Chapter 33 – Huh? Good-for-nothing?

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

On the fifth day of their training, everyone gathered in front of the experiment and research laboratories.

Now that they could see the laboratory building clearly under the daylight, they noticed that a thick and heavy metal door, which was painted black, protected the main entrance to the building, and it seemed to be thicker than the surrounding walls. All the windows of the building were made of bulletproof glass and were such that people could not see what was happening in the building from outside even without curtains. The air ventilation inside the building was maintained solely by the ventilation system.

“Could this be the legendary windows that appear frequently in ****…the one-sided windows?” Yuan Dang said with an ironically calm and serious look on his face.

As a whole, Ren Suo found that his roommates were not quirky and would maintain a comfortable distance when interacting with other people. They did not fuss about seniority—they were only going to be together for a short five days anyway—and they barely talked to one another, even keeping much of their background undisclosed.

Nonetheless, their training was not a military training, but a stepping stone for them to cross from an ordinary person to become a Practitioner. It was natural even for the calmest and most cryptic of people to show some of their excitement during their training. Although the group was still relatively reserved, they were able to form decently close friendships, and the more embarrassing topics the guys talked about at night proved to be one of the most important exchanges in deepening their friendships.

Although Xie Qiansi befriended them with other intentions in mind, he had decent looks and could hold a conversation well, and he was naturally able to make friends with most of the people in Group 8. Yuan Dang who graduated from the top two institutions of Xuan Nation was the first person in the group to master the intermediate level breathing technique, but was not as competent as a leader, and liked to tease others or make explicit remarks jokingly. On the other hand, Zhao Huo represented the mass majority who focused diligently on their training.

“We would be leaving the camp in the afternoon. Are we not going to practice today?” asked Ren Suo. He sighed and said, “I have not even become a first-rank Practitioner yet.”

Similar to the development phase of the breathing currents, the transformation phase also did not require a very long time to reach. However, this also depended on the individual skill level. Those who were more highly skilled only required two to three days to reach the transformation phase, while those who required more time could even take a year. The middle-aged scholar explained the large difference in the time required during the introductory lesson to Reiki: the maturing phase is akin to the sperm fusing with and fertilizing the egg, while the transformation phase is similar to the development from a zygote into a fetus, and finally to a baby.

Some people could be born prematurely at just 28 weeks, while some people were like Nezha who required three years before he could wield his weapons skillfully.

It has been theorized that there was little correlation between one’s skill level and the duration it takes before one reaches the transformation phase. There had been Practitioners with a lower skill level activating their breathing currents in just a few days, and there had also been Practitioners with a higher skill level passing the maturing phase in the day and reaching the transformation phase by the evening.

The principle behind the relationship, or lack thereof, between the two, has yet to be explained, and it seems that it is based on one’s luck. Regardless, practicing is a definite way to increase one’s chances of reaching the transformation phase more quickly, which was the reason why Ren Suo did not want to waste any opportunity to train.

He had witnessed the power of [Clothes] and [Lock] the day before, and even though he had the game console from Subor Culture Company, he also longed to acquire such extraordinary abilities. Furthermore, the rewards from the games in the game console he had remained within the spectrum of abilities typical humans could acquire, and the only ‘special’ reward was the [Enhanced Physique] ability which seemed to have helped him activate his breathing current on the first day.

However, the moment Ren Suo opened his mouth, his roommates turned to look at him with looks of disappointment, as if saying ‘I understand you’ while giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Xie Qiansi said, “I understand that you would want to keep a distance for now…But don’t worry, there are plenty more fish out there in the sea.”

Yuan Dang said, “Also, you still have more chances, we are all from Lianjiang City.”

Zhao Huo agreed, “Mmhmm.”

They turned around to take a look at the girls standing at the front of the group, then turned back towards Ren Suo and let out a sigh.

Ren Suo finally used his brain to think about what they were referring to after he had realized for the first time in more than twenty years yesterday that his actions were misleading and could easily be taken as him chasing a girl. He had always been someone who focused solely on his targets, not thinking about anything else and never giving up until he finally achieved his goal.

At 8 a.m., the instructors walked over one after another, and Yu Kuangtu whom they had only seen once throughout the duration of the camp appeared once again. He walked towards the metal door of the building, then grabbed onto the handle with his bare hands and pulled the door open!

Everyone stared at him in awe as the instructors quickly added to their amazement. They said, “If you strengthen your ability of [Clothes] to its limit, withstanding the repulsive force exerted back on yourself by your opponent would become a child’s play. But unfortunately, all of you are still too inexperienced and do not have such skills.”

Yuan Dang muttered to himself, “This is the strongest and best lock in the world…”

Everyone agreed with Yuan Dang. It was indeed true that modern technology was of no use against this traditional metal gate, and only the most vicious and most fundamental form of force would be able to open such a massive metal door!

Or perhaps, only those who could use extraordinary, unfathomable techniques could open such a door!

After opening the door, Yu Kuangtu led a group of instructors into the building, while the rest of the trainees at the camp followed the instructions of the remaining instructors. The groups which were called out were told to line up and they proceeded to the research laboratory on the third floor, while the groups which were not called out remained outside the building waiting for their turn.

The situation was as if an inspection ceremony on the last day of a military training camp, and naturally, many people were displeased having to wait. However, the instructors who waited outside the building with them made use of the time to showcase some of the skills and uses of the [Clothes] and [Lock] technique.

Even though the students had acquired the [Clothes] and [Lock] techniques, but learning 1+1 does not equate to understanding Fourier transformation. The instructors took the chance to demonstrate some of the more advanced techniques [Clothes] and [Lock] were capable of, such as [Equip Partial Clothes], [Clothing Armor], and [Deadly Scissor-lock], and the students watched in awe.

The most impressive technique was the one Zhao Jingzhong demonstrate—the secret combination of [Clothes] and [Lock]! Anyone who came into contact with his invisible outer shield would become immobilized and be rooted to the ground, unable to control himself anymore!

It was only then that everyone found out that Zhao Jingzhong was a highly skilled first rank Practitioner. The ‘Clothes-Lock’ combination technique was top of its class even amongst the soldiers who were the first batch of people to undergo training as Practitioners. As such, even though the students knew the basic knowledge of the techniques, they still needed to spend countless hours honing their skills, and even so, such advanced techniques may not be attained by everyone.

When other people asked the instructors how they could learn such techniques, they only smiled slightly and said, “You will know when you get back.”

“Why does this sound like a bad omen, as if we will meet with unfortunate events after we leave the training camp…”

It was a familiar voice that had not appeared in a few days. No one could tell if it was a guy or a girl, and they could never figure out whose voice it was. Everyone turned silent. They had all thought that it was an annoying rascal who was making unnecessary remarks, but they all knew now that even the instructors could not figure out who was the one who had been doing so, and thus he must have been using some kind of advanced Reiki technique that had yet to be discovered.

After a short while, the members of Group 7 emerged from the building. Some of them were elated, some of them remained calm, while a few of them had cryptic looks on their faces. Zhao Jingzhong led Group 8 up to the third floor to wait outside a sealed room. They took turns to go into the room, and each person spent a few minutes inside.

When it was Ren Suo’s turn to enter, he noticed that the room was very big and empty, and only Yu Kuangtu and three other people clad in black vests were seated on one side. On the floor was a strange black tile which was four square meters in size, surrounded by four things resembling diffuser panels used in photography.

Yu Kuangtu signaled Ren Suo to step within the black tile. He said, “Perform your breathing rhythms for about one to two minutes.”

Ren Suo followed accordingly. After about one to two minutes, Yu Kuangtu and the other three men raised their eyebrows.

They looked at an anxious Ren Suo as Yu Kuangtu said calmly, “Your Reiki breathing score is 1.25.”

After a short pause, he said, “The current average score of the new batch of Practitioners is 1.77.”