Nan Zhi followed the instructions of the community loudspeaker and went downstairs, only to find that four long lines had already formed in the plaza below.
Everyone had smiles on their faces, exchanging glances with a sort of unspoken joy.
“Hey, you’re home too?”
“Of course! I heard this city-wide physical exam is only happening in our Qianli City. Even Jingbei and Shanghai don’t have it!”
“I just checked Weibo. It doesn’t seem to be a last-minute notice. The announcement for the city-wide exam was sent to all the offices three days ago, but our neighborhood is only starting today.”
“Who was shouting about spirit root testing just now? Why shout nonsense? I was lying comfortably in bed and thought I had transmigrated into a cultivation novel. Got my hopes up for nothing.”
“It’s basically the same thing. They have this device that goes ‘beep’ and can tell if you have spiritual energy.”
“Didn’t you see the news yesterday? Starting next semester, the radio gymnastics for primary and secondary school students nationwide will be replaced with Tai Chi, Bagua Palm, and the Five Animal Frolics. Even the elderly people doing square dancing in our neighborhood have someone teaching them Tai Chi and health-preserving martial arts for free.”
“Haven’t you heard? Nanhe Province has already added ‘Introduction to Qi Refinement’ to their elective courses. There's a massive blood test for all civil servants in the province. Anyone who doesn't cooperate is taken away by the police right on the spot!”
“What does this have to do with cultivation?”
“In my aunt’s neighborhood, they found someone a couple of days ago who was said to have spiritual energy or some kind of superpower, and he was carted off by the police immediately.”
“That overbearing?”
“Do you not watch the news? A few days ago, the Yellow River changed its course, and everyone said it was because of immortals or something. Abroad, vampires and werewolves are a dime a dozen now. Some time ago, there was also that psycho killer with superpowers. Our motherland must be trying to nip things in the bud and filter out the unstable factors!”
“Exactly. Which law says cultivation is forbidden? If you haven't committed a crime, why run? Do you really think our motherland would be like the Bald Eagle, locking people up to draw their blood for research?”
“Is it really a spiritual resurgence? In that case, will they add another exam subject to the college entrance exam?”
“I wonder if they'll give bonus points for cultivation in the college entrance exam. If it's a lot, I'll immediately have my son start practicing to get a head start.”
Standing behind the two aunts, Nan Zhi silently counted on her fingers, calculating how many bonus points she could get.
At the very front of the lines, four tents were set up. Inside each tent were doctors and nurses in white coats, as well as smiling officials directing the crowd with devices in hand.
The medical staff skillfully drew blood and administered needles before waving the next person forward. Meanwhile, the officials held devices resembling security scanners, quickly sweeping them over people's lower abdomens.
Nan Zhi could see clearly that drawing blood was merely a cover. The device that could detect spiritual energy was the real deal.
—She was not unfamiliar with the style of the uniforms worn by those officials.
The Qianli City Special Investigation Section was moving incredibly fast.
In the real world, it had only been a few days since the immortal rode the fish and the Yellow River changed its course, yet they had already realized that secret realms would affect the real world.
With the Four Provinces Continent breaking apart, secret realm fragments could appear anywhere.
If they appeared in busy downtown areas, ordinary people would undoubtedly suffer the most.
Cultivation for the entire populace seemed to be more than just a concept.
The courage and determination of the authorities seemed even greater than she had imagined.
Just as Nan Zhi finished this thought, she saw a young couple at the very front of the line, both of them with bolded level notations hovering over their foreheads.
【Xu Haisheng: 2】
【Guo Ting: 3】
The two of them had likely just stepped into Qi Refinement Level 1 not long ago. They couldn't even control their spiritual energy well. With every breath, the spiritual energy stored in their dantians slowly leaked out, gathering into trickling streams that wrapped around their limbs.
—This was a common mistake made by novice Qi Refinement cultivators.
They always felt that wrapping themselves in spiritual energy gave them a sense of security, allowing them to respond to enemy attacks at any moment. Little did they know that in the eyes of high-level cultivators, they had absolutely nowhere to hide.
Nan Zhi observed them with interest, noticing that both of them were extremely nervous, unconsciously exchanging glances with terrified expressions.
Naturally, Nan Zhi wasn't the only one who noticed such obvious expressions.
The officials around the tents made a hand gesture, and immediately, several black-uniformed officers from the Special Investigation Bureau quietly stepped forward, taking positions nearby.
As the security scanner lit up with a faint white light, the two of them panicked and shouted loudly:
“On what grounds is the state drawing our blood! We have a right to privacy!”
The immense psychological pressure crushed Xu Haisheng and Guo Ting. Before the doctor could even draw their blood, the moment they saw the white light, they whipped around and dove straight into the crowd!
“Someone’s running!”
“What’s going on? Why are they running?!”
“What happened up front?!”
The crowd erupted in gasps. Everyone craned their necks like silly roe deer in a forest, trying to figure out what was happening.
But in just an instant, the black-uniformed officers guarding the perimeter pounced forward like leopards, firmly pinning Xu Haisheng down:
“What are you doing! We’ve had our eyes on you for a long time! Xu Haisheng, Guo Ting, you are suspected of a gold shop robbery. Please come back with us for investigation! Please note that the state is committed to protecting the privacy and security of every citizen, so you have the right to remain silent, but everything you say can and will be recorded by our body cameras. You have the right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford one, the state will provide legal aid. But for now, please cooperate with our law enforcement!”
“!”
Seeing her boyfriend get caught, Guo Ting's lips quivered. The next second, she was also pinned to the ground by a female officer in black. Suddenly, an ice ball the size of a basketball condensed in mid-air and smashed heavily toward the crowd!
Nan Zhi didn't move, but she saw an officer in black leap high into the air with superhuman speed, shattering the massive ice ball with a single punch. Shards of ice rained down, the pitter-patter of them hitting the ground echoing continuously.
The crowd erupted in a thunderous cheer, swarming forward to surround the black-uniformed officer, staring from left to right:
“Holy crap! A top-tier Ice Spirit Root!”
“There’s a superhero! Quick, take a picture!”
“That was so cool! That ball had to weigh at least ten kilograms! And he shattered it with one punch!”
“There are really spells?!”
“We can really cultivate?! Holy shit! Is this for real?!”
“What gold shop robbery? Did those two do it? A Bonnie and Clyde duo, huh?”
“Residents, please stay safe and do not obstruct us in the line of duty!”
The officer in black was a young guy, barely in his early twenties. Surrounded by the crowd, he maintained an expressionless face as he kept order, but his ears were actually red enough to bleed.
Mm, tempering the physique and solidifying the flesh. He is indeed practicing the 《Small Twelve Bone Forging Method》, but without the aid of Snake-Bear Pills, his progress is slow. He’s barely at Qi Refinement Level 1.
Looks like I have to find a way to leak the Snake-Bear Pill recipe to the authorities.
Nan Zhi rubbed her chin, lost in thought.
...
Ten minutes later, an understated black business van drove into the neighborhood. The officers in black placed spirit-locking shackles on the two suspects, packed them up, and drove off, finally settling the commotion in the crowd.
“Don’t be nervous, everyone. The state will not wrongly accuse an innocent person, nor will it let a criminal go. That was just a sister agency performing their duties.”
It just so happened to be Nan Zhi's turn. An older woman in a police uniform glanced at her and said with a smile:
“It’s very simple. Just let us sweep you with this device and—”
The moment the scanner reached Nan Zhi's dantian, it suddenly erupted with a surging white light that pierced straight through the tent, nearly blinding everyone present.
The officer in black stared at the spiritual energy value displayed on the device, dumbfounded. It took him a long moment before he managed to squeeze out a sentence:
“Qi Refinement... Level 5?”
The tent instantly fell dead silent.
Someone stammered, “Should we test again?”
When they tested her again, the spiritual energy detector still shone with a warm, steady white light.
Several officers in black poked their heads in from outside, their jaws dropping one after another in disbelief.
—The Special Investigation Bureau had conducted numerous tests to develop this first-generation spiritual energy detector, using the accumulated spiritual energy of a Qi Refinement Level 1 cultivator as the baseline unit.
Since the device had worked perfectly just a moment ago, there was no possibility of it being broken or inaccurate.
Therefore, the girl standing before them truly possessed a cultivation of Qi Refinement Level 5.
But hadn't the Spiritual Resurgence only just begun???
She looked so young. How was she already at Qi Refinement Level 5?
Did she eat an immortal pill??
Even if she had started cultivating from her mother's womb, she shouldn't be this fast, right?!
We all went through the same nine years of compulsory education, so why are you so outstanding???
Rate on N.U.
