The beginning of saving Qingmei

National Ability User Assessment Center, Qingtai City Headquarters.

The area it occupied was vast, enclosed by a high alloy fence, heavily guarded.

However, today, this usually quiet area was bustling with people.

As soon as Yang Yuan got out of the taxi, he was stunned by the scene before him.

Outside the huge arched gate, different areas had been demarcated. The outermost area was filled with countless private cars and anxiously waiting family members.

“Please, God, bless our little Ya to succeed! This concerns her entire future!”

A mother clasped her hands together, praying incessantly towards the main building of the center.

“Dad, stop pacing back and forth, you’re making me dizzy. Little sister will definitely be fine.”

A young man supported his anxious father.

In the slightly closer area was the media-permitted interview zone.

Several interview vans with the logos of major TV stations were parked there. Reporters, holding press badges and microphones, were reporting live to the camera.

“Good morning, friends in the audience. We are now at the scene of this year’s National Ability User Evolution Trial.”

Yang Yuan’s gaze passed over the crowd, looking towards the futuristic white main building, with only one thought in his mind.

‘I have to find a way in…’

He wasn’t a participant, nor did he have any official permission. He could only stand in the crowd, anxiously observing the situation, trying to find an opportunity.

Just as Yang Yuan was standing there pondering, almost in despair, a familiar figure caught the corner of his eye.

A baseball cap pulled down low, casual clothes that wrapped her up tightly, and a cool temperament that couldn’t be concealed even in a crowd.

‘Could it be…’

Yang Yuan’s heart stirred. He quickly walked through the crowd and went up to tentatively tap the other person’s shoulder.

The woman turned her head, her brows under the cap furrowing slightly, but after seeing that it was Yang Yuan, the vigilance in her eyes turned into a trace of surprise.

“It’s the fellow fan from the merchandise store! Are you here to join in the fun too?”

“Just call me Yang Yuan is fine.” The “fellow fan” title made Yang Yuan a little ashamed.

“I’m not here to join in the fun, I’m here to find someone.”

For some reason, Li Yu’an’s mood seemed to have improved a little.

Early this morning, she had been temporarily assigned an emergency hero mission, which meant she couldn’t watch the new anime she had planned to follow on time.

Her originally restless mood had inexplicably eased a little because of Yang Yuan’s appearance.

Yang Yuan looked at her attire and asked, “Are you dressed like this to buy merchandise again?”

“Of course not,” Li Yu’an’s tone returned to its usual coolness.

“It’s just a temporarily arranged hero mission. I just arrived and was about to go in.”

Temporarily arranged?

Yang Yuan thought of the prophetic content the masked woman had shown him in his dream.

Could it be that this temporary mission for the heroes was related to the content foretold in the dream?

This thought made him unable to remain calm any longer.

“Um… Miss [Saintess],” Yang Yuan took a step forward, his tone earnest.

“I have something very important and urgent right now. Is there any way you can take me in?”

As the No. 8 hero, [Saintess], Yang Yuan felt that she should have some special privileges.

“No,” Li Yu’an refused righteously without even thinking.

“The ability user trial is a top-secret national procedure. I can’t just let unauthorized personnel in.”

“I really have something urgent, it’s a matter of life and death!”

In his urgency, Yang Yuan couldn’t care less and directly grabbed the other’s wrist.

Li Yu’an’s body instantly stiffened. This was the first time in her life that she had been in such close contact with the opposite s*x.

The next second, Li Yu’an flung off Yang Yuan’s hand as if she had been electrocuted and turned her back.

While her mind was madly replaying the brief touch from just now, she thought to herself in shame and annoyance.

‘Boys these days are too… too open. How can they just grab your hand like that?’

Having his hand flung off by Li Yu’an, Yang Yuan thought his request had been completely rejected. His heart sank, and he had to turn around to find another way.

But just as he was about to leave, Li Yu’an turned back and grabbed the corner of his clothes.

“What are you going to do?”

Her voice was still cool, but her cheeks under the mask were already slightly hot.

“You’re not still thinking of finding another way to force your way in, are you?”

“Sorry, I have to go save someone. I must find a way in.”

Li Yu’an shook her head helplessly.

“It would have been fine if I didn’t know.”

“Do you think that with me knowing, I would still let you go and do something that violates the regulations?”

Li Yu’an let go of Yang Yuan’s clothes and instead took his hand.

“Come with me.”

Just like that, Li Yu’an led Yang Yuan, bypassing the crowded people, to a hidden side door at the back of the main building.

“I can take you in, but after this is over, I’ll need you to do me a favor too.”

“What favor?”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

Yang Yuan nodded and immediately agreed.

“As long as it’s not murder or arson, I can help you with anything.”

“What kind of person do you take me for?” Li Yu’an rolled her eyes at him, speechless.

She swiped her ID card and led Yang Yuan into the exclusive internal passage.

On the way to the central observation area, Li Yu’an held Yang Yuan’s hand tightly, which made Yang Yuan feel a little uncomfortable.

“Miss [Saintess]… do we have to hold hands the whole time?”

“Do you think I want to?” Li Yu’an replied, trying to maintain her composure.

“I definitely have to keep an eye on you. Who knows if you’ll run off and do something bad when I’m not looking.”

“But… your hand is a little sweaty…”

The moist and sticky feeling from the other’s palm made Yang Yuan unable to resist saying it.

Only then did Li Yu’an realize that her palms were covered in sweat from being overly nervous.

But she was still stubborn and forcefully explained, “It’s a matter of constitution. You just have to bear with it.”

Yang Yuan had no choice. After all, he was the one asking for a favor, so he could only silently endure this slightly sticky sensation.

On the way to the central area, Yang Yuan asked about the details of the trial.

“This kind of trial, will there be any life-threatening danger?”

“Of course not,” Li Yu’an’s tone was very certain.

“The evolution trial is not a real battle. It’s an ability advancement test project hosted by the state. All procedures have the highest safety standards.”

“But… it’s not easy either.”

Hearing this “not easy,” Yang Yuan’s heart still hung in suspense.

Li Yu’an seemed to have seen his worry and continued to explain.

“The trial process is led by the No. 5 hero, [Crimson Sin Empress].”

“She can use her own ability to guide the participants into a trial space constructed from their subconscious.”

“To put it simply, it allows the ability users to achieve ability evolution without any actual physical danger.”

“If there’s any violent mental backlash or signs of emotional loss of control, the central system will immediately terminate the trial process, and a professional medical team will take over.”

Yang Yuan frowned, “It sounds… a bit like having a lucid nightmare?”

“You can understand it that way,” Li Yu’an nodded.

“You’ll know you’re in a trial, but you also have to face the things you least want to face. Many people have fallen at this step.”

“Don’t be fooled by the fact that this trial has been held many times. In reality, only one person might successfully evolve this way every few years.”

After listening to Li Yu’an’s explanation, Yang Yuan relaxed a little, but the ominous premonition from the prophetic dream did not diminish in the slightest.

‘Xiaoyou, you must not get into any trouble…’

Soon, the two finally arrived at the observation hall where the trial was taking place. But as soon as they entered, Yang Yuan realized that the atmosphere was completely wrong.

It wasn’t noisy here, and the crowd was sparse, but all the staff members had tense expressions on their faces.

Some were constantly talking on their communicators, some were frantically tapping on the command panels of the control consoles, trying to restart some monitoring data.

There were also several fully armed security personnel rushing from the emergency door on the side into the core area of the trial.

“Beep—Beep—Beep—”

A shrill mechanical sound suddenly rang out, breaking the original silence of the hall.

The indicator screens above all the observation rooms lit up with yellow warning bars:

[Internal anomaly being processed. Non-staff personnel please evacuate the area boundary line immediately.]

“There’s a problem with the evolution chamber?”

“How is that possible! Didn’t they say the No. 5 hero was in charge? There shouldn’t be any problems, right?”

“Just now, the energy curve of trial number Z-01 suddenly went off the charts, and then the central system crashed!”

The exchange between the staff members made Yang Yuan’s heart sink to the bottom.

Just as he was about to ask Li Yu’an what had happened.

“Rumble!”

The entire building suddenly shook violently!

Not far away, on the outer wall of the evolution chamber, a black hole appeared out of thin air and silently devoured a large piece of the wall!

Then the black hole disappeared, and the devoured piece of wall actually appeared in mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground, causing a wave of panicked screams.

Then, a second, a third, a fourth…

Huge black holes began to appear randomly, devouring the surrounding buildings, equipment, and all tangible objects, and then casually scattering them out.

“This is… Xiaoyou’s ability…”

Yang Yuan’s breath hitched. He had already realized that these black holes were identical to the ability he was so familiar with, [Void Palm].

The scene from the dream was about to begin.