Continuing with this line of thought, if her plant-based abilities grew strong enough, she might even be able to manifest plant mechs for biological combat.
Her thoughts returned to the present, to the combat class. Huang Xiu’s eyes gleamed as she recalled her ideas from the previous night.
No boy could refuse mechs and Gundams, and she was no exception.
However, while the idea was thrilling, realizing this concept was far beyond the capability of a single Mercury Rank Awakened individual like herself.
Judging by the current strength of her ability, she estimated that a Gold Rank Awakened might manage a simple plant mech, but a truly mature one would require at least Turbid World Rank or even higher.
‘Not only does advancing in rank require the Tempering Method, but cultivating Void Arts also demands it…’
Huang Xiu grew increasingly excited for the afternoon’s lineage determination.
The Tempering Method was crucial for an Awakened individual to grow stronger, and lineage determination was the final obstacle on the path of Tempering Method cultivation.
Anticipation, however, always made time drag. Huang Xiu had to cast aside these distracting thoughts and focus her attention on the training during combat class.
This allowed her to escape the agony of waiting.
****
After class, lunch, and a short hour of napping, Huang Xiu arrived at the location for the lineage determination precisely at 1:30 PM, bringing her two roommates along. It was Ninghai Hall.
This was a five-story building with an extensive footprint, featuring three interconnected structures forming a ‘mountain’ character shape.
According to Teacher Wen Zhidie’s introduction, this place would become one of their frequent haunts in the future.
Ninghai Hall served not only as Tiandu University’s hospital but also as a partial experimental ground for Research Department students.
Moreover, it was where Exploration Department students like themselves would measure their physical data and internal energy levels.
Huang Xiu lifted her head, surveying her surroundings.
Outside Ninghai Hall, a considerable crowd had already gathered. They were all freshmen from Classes One to Five, who attended the same large lecture.
Grouped by class, they chatted animatedly, their conversations buzzing with enthusiasm.
Despite having only known each other for a few short days, their relationships had already grown remarkably close.
A student from Class Two spotted Huang Xiu and her two companions, quickly waving them over.
“Over here, over here!”
Huang Xiu led Ying Zhiyu towards them.
After parting ways with Jia Qianrou, around 1:45 PM, the main figure finally arrived.
With a crisp, rhythmic click of heels, Teacher Wen Zhidie, dressed in a white jumpsuit and high heels, walked gracefully from the end of the road.
She stopped before the crowd, her gaze sweeping over them.
“Class monitors from Class One to Five, please take attendance and confirm everyone is present.”
Tian Rong had already finished his count. After Teacher Wen Zhidie spoke, he waited a few seconds before responding loudly.
“Teacher, Class One is all here.”
“Good,” Teacher Wen Zhidie nodded, her expression neutral.
Only after the other four classes had completed their attendance and confirmed everyone was present did she continue.
“The lineage determination will begin shortly. First, I’ll go over two important points with you.
“First, hallucinations will occur during the lineage determination. No matter what you see, do not panic. Second, do not use your Awakened abilities or Void Energy within one hour after the determination is complete.”
“Understood?” Wen Zhidie asked.
“Understood!” the crowd replied in unison.
Wen Zhidie waved her hand, her tone decisive. “Good, everyone, head inside. Proceed to the rooms I mentioned yesterday in class, divided by class. Class monitors, maintain order.”
The five class monitors again affirmed, then led their respective classes into Ninghai Hall, heading towards the testing rooms.
Huang Xiu had a slight understanding of lineage determination from the Void Web’s forum section.
It was said that only large Awakened organizations possessed the capability to conduct such ability tests.
Tiandu University was, without a doubt, one of the major Awakened organizations within the Great Xia Nation.
Even the lineage determination could accommodate five classes simultaneously.
The lineage determination rooms resembled X-ray rooms in a hospital, divided into an outer room and an inner room.
The outer room housed Research Department students operating instruments, while the inner room was the actual site for the lineage determination.
A thick, heavy metal sliding door, embedded with a glass observation window, separated the inner and outer rooms.
The order of lineage determination was determined by the Research Department students calling out numbers.
Only when one’s number was called could they enter to begin the test.
Huang Xiu and her classmates were seated in the corridor, awaiting their turn.
Though she didn’t know how the order was arranged, the first few numbers called weren’t hers. Huang Xiu surmised she would likely be among the later ones.
She pulled out her phone, contentedly immersing herself in it. However, what she was actually doing was browsing the Void Web forum, aiming to enhance her understanding of the current situation.
New posts on the Void Web forum were innumerable each day, and her wallet couldn’t support constantly paying for every thread.
Thus, she typically focused on the daily trending sections.
“Hmm? Another hot post.”
Huang Xiu’s finger, which had been scrolling, paused, her gaze fixed on the post’s title.
[Hot: Large Void Realm Appears in Yunshang Province, Three Associated Void Realms Already Emerged. Latest Insider News Broadcast!]
A large Void Realm appearing in Yunshang Province…
Huang Xiu suddenly recalled the day she went home, when Professor Yuan had rushed out with Teacher Lu and the others.
‘Could it be Ying City?’
Her heart skipped a beat. She opened the post, paid the painful ten-yuan fee, and read it meticulously.
“It really is Ying City, or rather, its periphery.”
Huang Xiu’s expression suddenly turned peculiar.
Ying City was just an ordinary sixth-tier small county town, without even a high-speed rail station, and its population was only 570,000.
Why was it always plagued by so many disasters?
‘But I’m also from Ying City. As a rare S-rank, this only proves that Ying City is a land of outstanding people.’
After comforting herself, she continued reading the subsequent content of the post.
According to the post, the Void Realm Administration Bureau had recently determined that the historical maximum depth of this large Void Realm was 84.
Its current depth had already reached 60.
This meant that the distance between this unknown large Void Realm and the Present World had shortened by nearly a quarter.
If it continued to approach the Present World at this rate, within a year at most, or a few months at least, the large Void Realm would cross the Sea of Nothingness and descend upon the Present World.
At that point, a war would be inevitable.
[Currently, the Void Realm Administration Bureau has teamed up with the Void Realm Conquest Bureau and other agencies, planning to attempt to contain it in advance. The outcome remains unknown, but if the situation becomes critical, a conscription order may be issued again. All parties are advised to prepare.]
‘The Administration Bureau has already partnered with the Conquest Bureau? I hope they can grant me some power points.’
Huang Xiu clenched her fists.
She harbored the desire to slay the invaders, but lacked the ability to do so.
In a large-scale Void Realm offensive and defensive battle like this, Mercury Rank Awakened individuals could only serve as cannon fodder.
If she participated, she wouldn’t even be able to make a ripple.
Even if she wished to participate, Tiandu University’s administration and teachers would never allow her to take such a risk before she had fully matured.
‘According to the post, the descent of a large Void Realm will take at least a few months. Moreover, if the Administration Bureau’s operation succeeds, the arrival time of the Void Realm will be delayed.’
‘I still have time!’
Huang Xiu took a deep breath, silently steeling her resolve.
Only by reaching the Silver Rank and possessing such power could she carve out a place for herself among the various factions, instead of being filled with passion yet utterly helpless as she was now.
She had to advance to the Gold Rank as quickly as possible. Only then would she have the confidence to participate in such large-scale battlefields.
The time spent on lineage determination varied for each person. Some might take over ten minutes, while others might finish in a mere shiver.
Huang Xiu watched Ying Zhiyu enter. After about five minutes, she emerged, her face pale.
“How was it?” Huang Xiu whispered.
The results of the lineage determination wouldn’t be available until next week, so her question was only about the testing process.
Ying Zhiyu seemed still immersed in the recent hallucination, a hint of fear in her eyes. Her fair, delicate hands clutched tightly at the hem of her clothes.
She stiffly turned her head and replied, “It wasn’t very good. The hallucinations were terrifying.”
Huang Xiu wanted to comfort Ying Zhiyu but didn’t know how to begin, so she simply patted her head.
Then, she continued observing the other students undergoing the test.
Not everyone emerged with faces full of fear and unease like Ying Zhiyu.
Some laughed heartily, their faces beaming with excitement.
Others, having witnessed something in their hallucinations, emerged with tears streaming down their faces.
Even Tian Rong surprisingly walked out with a cold, indifferent expression.
‘It’s just as Teacher Wen Zhidie said; any kind of hallucination is possible.’
After seeing the expressions of so many classmates after their tests, Huang Xiu suddenly felt a pang of nervousness.
She wondered what hallucination she would see.
As if to confirm her fears, at that very moment, a Research Department student in the outer room called out loudly.
“Huang Xiu!”
Huang Xiu took a deep breath, then rose and strode into the inner room for the lineage determination.
Soft white light illuminated the inner room, whose four walls were painted sky blue, giving it a gentle appearance.
In the very center lay a bed covered with a disposable sheet, upon which rested a silver-white ‘motorcycle helmet.’
However, thick electrical wires connected the back of this helmet to the floor.
The heavy iron door behind her closed under hydraulic power, completely isolating the inner room from the outer.
The chatter from outside vanished instantly, and the inner room became utterly silent.
Huang Xiu could even hear the beating of her own heart.
“Please lie on the bed, put on the helmet, close your eyes, and count down from one hundred in your mind.”
Huang Xiu nodded gently, then followed the instructions given through the loudspeaker.
Taking off her small white shoes, she lay on the bed and put on the helmet.
She slowly closed her eyes, but her vision wasn’t completely dark. She could still perceive a faint white light filtering through her eyelids.
“Please begin the countdown,” the loudspeaker prompted again.
Huang Xiu began to silently count in her mind.
When she reached ninety-nine, a soft click, like a switch closing, quietly sounded.
The faint white light Huang Xiu had perceived through her eyelids vanished with the sound.
The lights in the inner room had been turned off.
Ignoring this, she continued to silently count to ninety-eight.
Lying on the bed with the helmet on wasn’t particularly comfortable; it felt a bit hard against her head.
She slightly lifted her head, then lowered it, and immediately caught a faint, delicate fragrance. It was a very natural, botanical scent.
Huang Xiu felt an odd familiarity with this fragrance, as if she had smelled it somewhere before.
As the scent continued to fill her senses, she felt her mind grow increasingly hazy.
Her will began to slide towards the brink of losing control.
Just as she was about to lose her self-awareness, Huang Xiu suddenly remembered the source of this fragrance.
‘This is the Spirit-Awakening Spray, developed by Tiandu University.’
‘Although it can quickly rouse someone from unconsciousness, the awakened person will exhibit symptoms similar to sleepwalking…’
Yun Ning’s words echoed in her ears.
‘Damn… so it’s a hypnotic spray.’
Hypnotic spray was the nickname Huang Xiu had given to the Spirit-Awakening Spray. She silently cursed it in her mind, then fell into a sleepwalking state, her countdown stopping at ninety-eight.
Immediately, the helmet emitted a faint hum, and glowing white patterns suddenly lit up on its surface.
They flickered gently with Huang Xiu’s breathing.
The helmet was also a Void Energy instrument used for testing.
“Buzz…”
Huang Xiu, with her eyes closed, suddenly furrowed her beautiful brows, letting out a soft hum, as if she was dreaming of something unpleasant.
Meanwhile, in the outer room, just a wall away, the Research Department student operating the controls turned to Teacher Wen Zhidie, who stood silently beside him, and nodded.
“It has begun to resonate.”
“Good.”
Wen Zhidie pulled out a specialized walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and said softly, “Huang Xiu has resonated. You all can proceed.”
“I announce the Skinning and Bone-Stripping Operation officially commenced.”
A magnetic, slightly roguish voice came from the walkie-talkie. If Huang Xiu were there, she would undoubtedly recognize the voice as Yuan Fei’s.
“Today, I’m going to find out which old scoundrel in the Dragon’s Den has been targeting my student.”
With that, Yuan Fei unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his well-toned muscles. He casually tossed it aside, exposing a map carved into his back with a knife.
Yuan Fei gazed at the ancient Dragon-Locking Well before him, loosened his tie, and casually tossed his suit jacket aside.
“It’s the ‘Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use’ operation. Don’t go changing the name,” the Old Man with a Sword said with a helpless expression.
“What ‘Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use’? My disciple is no hidden dragon; she is a true dragon already beginning to bare her fangs!”
Yuan Fei burst into laughter.
Ever since the Dragon’s Den was suspected of rioting due to Huang Xiu last time, this operation had been proposed at the previous meeting and passed unanimously.
The objective of the operation was simple: to determine whether Huang Xiu was indeed the cause of the Dragon’s Den’s previous unrest.
The only current method for lineage determination was to amplify the Awakened individual’s unique mental connection with the Void Realm.
This meant that if their hypothesis was correct, the Dragon’s Den would undoubtedly react when Huang Xiu underwent her lineage determination.
Yuan Fei and the other school leaders intended to use this opportunity to infiltrate the Void Realm and search for the Dragon Abomination that had been targeting Huang Xiu.
Whether they killed or suppressed it, they could temporarily stabilize the Dragon’s Den.
“The last Touchpoint in the urban village earned the Principal a severe reprimand,” the Old Man with a Sword said calmly. “This time, we must succeed; failure is not an option.”
Upon hearing the elder’s words, Yuan Fei’s smile only widened with amusement.
“Hahahaha, do you think the old Principal cares about criticism from above?”
He wiped away tears of laughter. “He was probably asleep during the meeting.”
The Old Man with a Sword wanted to retort but found himself speechless, for the old Principal truly was like that.
*Clang, clang…*
The chains hanging from the stone pillars into the Dragon-Locking Well suddenly vibrated.
“Time’s up! Let’s go!”
Yuan Fei’s smile vanished. He leapt into the well, and the Old Man with a Sword sighed, following closely behind him.