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Chapter 23: Chapter 23 – The Beginning

Within the past 30 minutes, Branch 18 of the Ministry of State Security had thoroughly changed and reshaped everyone’s three fundamental views—their views on life, their worldview, and their values. Although they were all still surrounded by hills and mountains outside the camp, and the tiny stars still shone dimly in the night sky, they felt as if their entire world had changed, and even the air felt fresher and more pleasing.

They now realized that this was the power of Reiki—energy healing and rejuvenation.

In Eastern cultures like that of Xuan Nation, this would be termed as Reiki rejuvenation, while in Western cultures as headed by the Pacific Federation, this would usually be termed as the opening of the mind’s eye, or the awakening of one’s superpowers.

Regardless of the term used, the unique characteristic of this was that there were only very few people who had ‘extraordinary abilities’. These people would unconsciously awaken their own abilities and be able to control the vast amount of ‘Reiki’ in the air, similar to dark energy. They would feel as if they were born with an extra leg or hand, with which they could perform extraordinary abilities.

According to Yu Kuangtu, an ‘Extraordinaire’ had already been sent into space in a man-made spacecraft launched by Xuan Nation three months ago. He was able to test the control of Reiki in the vacuum of space, which showed the possibility of Reiki being able to be garnered and recovered throughout the universe, and not just on Earth.

Consequently, with the existence of those with ‘extraordinary abilities’, people who possessed ‘ordinary abilities’ must also exist. Xuan Nation discovered through research that most of these people with extraordinary abilities appeared gradually over the last six months, and this was true in other nations as well.

Most of these Extraordinaries became more prominent in society after they discovered their extraordinary abilities and attempted to use their abilities to garner fame and wealth while only a minority chose to remain discreet about it. In many foreign countries, many of these Extraordinaires set up their own religions or gangs, or even threaten prominent figures and top leaders into submission.

Xuan Nation had been no exception. However, such Extraordinaires were quickly apprehended by the police and sent to a research center for abnormal people, for observations to be carried out.

Yu Kuangtu also mentioned that while most of the extraordinary abilities were related to fighting and martial arts, there were also abilities that allowed one to create things. For example, some of the Extraordinaires in the research center were able to produce superconducting materials. They were able to generate massive wealth from selling these materials, so much that they could afford to live lavishly for the rest of their lives.

On the other hand, Extraordinaires who attempted to use violence to seize the wealth of civilians had become criminals. After they were arrested, they were not given the death penalty, but were instead sent to the research center for further research as ‘disposable and destructible material’.

Yu Kuangtu’s tone was playful and casual when he talked about the Extraordinaire criminals, and it was clearly a deliberate warning to the civil servants who were listening below the stage. He was just trying to warn them not to commit any crimes with their acquired abilities.

To date, Xuan Nation had yet to discover a way to identify people with ‘extraordinary abilities’, nor could they pick out the nature and characteristics of these ‘extraordinary abilities’. However, after months of intense research and overtime work, they soon found a way to identify people with ‘ordinary abilities’.

They had already put the method to test in the military and very quickly identified a group of talents. This group of talents collaborated with the nation’s Reiki researchers while practicing the nation’s Reiki rejuvenation techniques. Their physical abilities strengthened rapidly, and they soon mastered many special techniques to utilize Reiki.

Thereafter, these talents were dispatched to different regions over the entire nation and collaborated with the civil sector and medical sector to pick out civil servants who had ‘ordinary abilities’ through health examinations. They would then teach and guide the selected civil servants to become the foundational practicing body of Reiki of Xuan Nation.

Indeed, the members of Branch 18 of the Ministry of State Security who were all clad in black vests were the first batch of Practitioners, who had been selected from the nation’s military!

On the other hand, civil servants like Ren Suo were those with ‘ordinary abilities’.

During the training, Ren Suo and the other selected civil servants would be taught by the men clad in the black vests the methods to practice Reiki, to master basic Reiki techniques, and be accustomed to the ways of the Practitioners.

Yu Kuangtu also mentioned that all the civil servants who were listening to his speech in the auditorium were newly-appointed civil servants who had cleared the background checks. When they had mastered how to practice Reiki, their information would be stored into their files within the Ministry of State Security, and both their immediate family and themselves would not be allowed to emigrate to other countries.

When they leave the training camp, they would be allocated to different departments under different ministries based on their learning progress as the nation’s foundational Practitioners. They would be in charge of leading and guiding civilians to learn and practice Reiki while setting appropriate guidelines and restrictions on their practice!

“Indeed, I was right!” exclaimed Xie Qiansi. The moment the group left the auditorium, Xie Qiansi blurted uncontrollably, “Haha! Joining the civil service sector indeed has its benefits. We are now going to become the country’s first batch of Practitioners…”

“The first batch of Practitioners are those in the black vests,” said Ren Suo.

“…Although those black cats are the first batch of Practitioners, they must not have been practicing for a very long time. As long as we work slightly harder, we will definitely be able to leap ahead of them in the large, competitive world of Reiki rejuvenation! Moreover, our Xuan Nation is the only country in the world so far to be so generous as to let civil servants like us start practicing Reiki immediately. We are going to become extraordinary people!” Xie Qiansi continued.

After Xie Qiansi’s plan to form a mini group failed, he remained determined and fell into the fantasy of having the world revolve around him. However, Ren Suo was not intrigued. Most of the people around him, regardless of gender, had smiles on their faces, as if they were going to become the next king of the world.

Their generation of civil servants was definitely not as grounded or down-to-earth as those who laid the foundation of Xuan Nation tens of years ago. In recent years, they were provided with many entertainment sources like anime, games, and novels, and this naturally influenced them to have an extremely strengthened divergent thinking.

Even if the older generation perceived the younger civil servants to be more mature for their age, it was not surprising that society was moving away from collectivism and advancing towards individualism, with the emergence of such heroic ideals that they were ‘heroes who could reshape history’.

“I wouldn’t be fascinated by that though. I’m confident that other countries will soon develop their own departments catered towards extraordinary abilities,” Ren Suo said. He smiled as he continued, “I am sure that this technique of identifying people with ‘ordinary abilities’ would be easily discovered by other countries too. If not, our nation would definitely not be so aggressive in searching for people like us with such abilities. Putting everything else aside, news of us attending this training camp could well have spread to other countries.”

Xie Qiansi did not understand. He asked, “Why do you say so?”

“If the screening method could not be easily replicated or had many technology barriers, our country would not have wanted to train so many people at once. Even though all of us here are civil servants who have passed background checks, we would still be sent out to different locations within our country. How would the government be able to ensure that all this information remains a secret? Furthermore, all of us are just those who were selected from Lian Province. According to the Deputy Director, the entire Xuan Nation is conducting training camps for the selected civil servants. It would not be difficult for such information to be leaked out,” Ren Suo explained.

“That’s right,” a round-faced young man beside them who had overheard their conversation said. He added, “The only reason for training so many people at once is that the screening method is so simple that other countries would be able to figure it out in no time if they started researching on the Extraordinaires. That is why our country is wasting no time to train as many people as possible to gain an edge over other countries.”

“Furthermore, with Reiki rejuvenation, the individual’s power will soon be stronger than the group’s ability. The more Practitioners are trained, and the earlier people start practicing, the stronger the collective might of the nation,” the young man said.

Jealousy was written all over his face as he continued, “If only we could stay here to practice for a longer time…We are only going to be practicing for five days and then be sent out to work, but these soldiers are able to train here for a much longer period.”

Ren Suo nodded his head in agreement. Although Yu Kuangtu had not disclosed these details directly, it would be easy to uncover these minute details if one were to think of Reiki as a global practice.

Ren Suo said, “This is just like playing a game. We are engineers who are sent into the field after a short production period. On the other hand, those soldiers who continue training in the camp would have to take on much greater challenges than us. Indeed, every cloud has a silver lining.”

“Nonetheless, the faster we progress, the larger the advantage we obtain,” the young man said with a sigh. He turned around and introduced himself to Ren Suo and Xie Qiansi, “I’m Yuan Dang. Let’s train together as a small group over the next few days.”

The three men exchanged greetings. Xie Qiansi glanced deliberately at Ren Suo, seemingly trying to ask, “Does this person have fate with you?” Naturally, Ren Suo did not make any comments but instead went over to Li Qingxuan’s group in an attempt to strike a conversation.

However, Li Qingxuan and Qiao Muyi had also gotten closer to the other girls in Group 8, and Ren Suo had no opportunity to chip in amidst the incessant chattering between the group of girls.

Soon, the large group dispersed and they headed towards their respective dormitories. Zhao Jingzhong, their instructor, led Group 8 to the sixth block. There were clothes piled according to their tagged sizes at the foot of the block.

“I will now split everyone into your respective rooms. When I call your names, come out to retrieve your keys and uniforms. The females would be staying in the rooms on the top three floors while the males would be staying in those on the bottom three floors. There would be four people allocated to each room. Your pillows and blankets are already inside the rooms. Do you guys remember the large supermarket we passed by just now? All your daily necessities can be purchased inside directly,” Zhao Jingzhong said.

“Do they sell condoms?” asked a voice from the group.

Everyone turned silent immediately. They looked around to find out just who had such great confidence in his looks such that he or she was brave enough to ask such a question. Everyone here was all civil servants who did not know each other well—how could someone be so direct about his desires?!

However, just like before, they could not identify the source of the question.

Zhao Jingzhong took out the roster and started going down the list. He called the girls out first, and Ren Suo looked on gloomily as Qiao Muyi retrieved her room key and uniform and headed upstairs while talking and laughing. It seemed that touching her in the night to retrieve the key was not going to be possible.

Zhao Jingzhong then started calling out the names of the guys. Ren Suo was in the same room as Xie Qiansi. At this moment, Yuan Dang came over and expressed his intention of staying in the same room as Ren Suo and Xie Qiansi. He exchanged keys with another young man.

“Why do you want to sleep in the same room as us? We don’t know each other prior to this,” Ren Suo asked curiously.

Yuan Dang laughed as he replied, “Since we don’t know each other beforehand, wouldn’t it be the same regardless of who slept in the same room as you? Anyway, I feel like I can have more interesting conversations with both of you.”

Apart from Yuan Dang, they had another roommate named Zhao Huo. He was a tall and handsome lad who wore earrings. Were civil servants allowed to wear earrings these days?

Zhao Huo seemed to notice that they were looking at his earrings. He pointed at his ears and said, “I am from one of the ethnic minorities, and this is an ethnic tradition. A girl gave this to me.”

“Wow…such lovebirds,” everyone remarked as they formed an impression of Zhao Huo. They headed upstairs to their room 6-213 and put down their uniforms before heading down again to the supermarket to purchase their daily needs.

When they reached the ground level, Ren Suo told the rest to go ahead without him. He waited for some time at the bottom of their building until Qiao Muyi and her roommates appeared. It was just like what Ren Suo had predicted—he recalled that they had not gone to the washroom ever since they had their dinner, so he had already expected that they would spend some time to use the washroom before coming back down.

“What a coincidence!” Ren Suo greeted confidently. He asked, “Are you all going to the supermarket? Let’s go together!”

Qiao Muyi whispered something into Li Qingxuan’s ears, and Li Qingxuan nudged Qiao Muyi with a shy look. The four girls started to laugh, and Ren Suo was clueless as to what Qiao Muyi had told them.

Nonetheless, Ren Suo did not fret over it. At the very least, they did not hate him.

Once we all get to know each other better over the next few days, Qiao Muyi might even allow me to touch her for a few minutes after she falls asleep…

At the same point in time, within the Tedamia mountains in the Wei Er region, a beautiful, golden-haired girl donning a training suit appeared…